Author: Shelley Lowery Developing a marketing plan is an essential part of your ebook’s success.You must develop and implement a strategic plan that includes bothshort-term and long-term strategies in order to succeed.Short-term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporaryboost in traffic. Although these techniques are very important to yourover-all plan, they are only a temporary traffic source and must not besolely relied upon.Short-term marketing strategies include:Purchasing AdvertisingAlthough there are many forms of advertising that may be purchased onthe Internet, the best form is ezine advertising. Consider purchasingsponsor ads within a publication that targets your specific audience. For further information, read the article entitled, “automatic lead generator — Purchasing Advertising.”
http://www.web-source.net/pur_advertising.htm
Forums (Discussion Boards)Participating in forums that target your potential customer is a great wayto share your expertise and make more sales. Although blatant advertisingis prohibited, most forums will allow you to include your signature. Search EnginesListing your ebook’s sales page with the top Search Engines andDirectories will provide you with some additional traffic. However, rankingwithin the top twenty or thirty search results is very difficult. You maywant to consider paying for a higher ranking. There are many SearchEngines that will enable you to bid on keywords and pay a specifiedamount for each visitor you receive. For further information, read the article entitled, “Internet MarketingStrategies — Paying For Traffic.”
http://www.web-source.net/pay_traffic.htm
Long term automated lead generation are those that bring you a steady streamof targeted traffic over time. These strategies will continue to produceresults even years down the road.Long term marketing strategies include:Opt-in List (Ezine)An ezine, also known as an email magazine, online publication or opt-inlist is simply a newsletter available via email and/or online.Having your own publication will enable you to build a list of targetedpotential customers. For further information, read the article entitled, “Internet MarketingStrategies — Building an Opt-in List.”
http://www.web-source.net/optin.htm
Free TrialA great way to increase your ebook sales is to create a trial version ofyour ebook and freely distribute it. This will provide your potentialcustomers with a sample of your ebook and encourage them to purchasethe full version. ArticlesWriting articles is one of the most effective strategies you can use toincrease your ebook sales. Write articles that target your potentialcustomer and allow them to be freely published. For further information, read the article entitled, “Write For Publicity.”
http://www.web-source.net/write.htm
By creating and implementing a balanced marketing automation lead generation, using bothshort-term and long-term strategies, you will increase your salesconsiderably.To further increase your sales, list your ebook at various ebook sites.Listing your ebook with a number of ebook sites will increase your salesconsiderably. Each site will pay you a specified percentage for each sale.This payment is known as a royalty. The royalties paid will vary at eachsite and will depend on your selling price and format. No matter which ebook sites you choose make sure that you retain all ofthe rights to your ebook. This will enable you to sell your ebook whereveryou’d like and not be limited to just one site.Here are a few ebook sites to get you started:InfoPost
http://www.infopost.com/
InfoPost will enable you to upload your ebook to their site, set yourselling price, and provide a description of your ebook. They take care ofthe rest. They’ll host and deliver your ebook and process your payments.They pay 80% royalties and you can withdraw your earnings in cash, useit for merchandise at their sites, or even donate it to your favoritecharity. You retain all rights to your ebook.BookLocker.com
http://www.booklocker.com/
Booklocker provides you with a web page for you to refer your customers.They handle all of the transactions and delivery. They pay 70% royaltieson ebooks priced at $8.95 and higher and 50% royalties on ebooks pricedlower than $8.95. You retain all the rights to your ebook. In addition,they offer of great print on demand option. They’ll print your ebooks oneat a time, accept payment and ship your book directly to your customer(usually within 48 hours). They pay 35% royalties on POD orders.1st Books Library
http://www.1stbooks.com/
1st Books Library is an online publishing company that will turn yourmanuscript into an ebook formatted in PDF and a number of otherformats. You retain all rights to your book. They provide your book withworldwide distribution and make it available in more than 25,000bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. They pay 100%royalties for ebooks up to the first $300 in sales and 40% thereafter.They pay 30% royalties for paperback and hardcover versions. Take your time and plan your lead generation and marketing automation. Track yourresponse rates for each strategy and concentrate your efforts on thestrategies that work the best for you. If you’ve developed a quality ebookand have followed the steps outlined within this series, you’ll be well onyour way to self- publishing your way to Internet success.
Shelley Lowery is the author of Ebook Starter. A complete ebook design kit that takes you step by step through designing, creating and marketing your own ebook. Giveyour ebook a professional look in just a few simple stepswith over 100 ebook interface and cover templates.
http://www.web-source.net/ebookstarter.htm
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