Hi, I am in a fix- I have reached a saturation level with my online writing stints and want to try something new. I have also reached an earning limit and I have peaked. That is, I cannot, possibly, earn more than I am earning doing what I am doing right now . So, I have posed myself a challenge- I will write and e-book (my first for my own self) and market it. The idea is still in its inception stage, I haven't chalked out the topics even, as we speak. I have thought of a few niches, though. I am giving myself a time of two months to write, market and sell this e-book. The only way I am going to market the e-book is using WF and DP. The prices would be the same at both the forums and you should see a BST thread in this regard coming up soon. I will also try and keep everyone posted about the progress I make on the e-book. Suggestions regarding the niche, pricing (keep in mind these two markets only!) etc. are welcome. My only motivation of writing an e-book and marketing it for myself is establishing myself as a stand-alone writer (not a ghostwriter) and successively rolling out e-books that are informative. If my first e-book is successful, I plan to get into e-book writing full time. Wish me luck!
Hi! I really like that idea! I'm thinking about writing an ebook myself. Keep us posted on how your challenge works out! Best regards
I have decided the niche, it is related to marketing freelance services- something that is very relevant to all of us. I won't be disclosing much about the chapters, but my book should focus on step needed to generate a stable income through freelance gigs.
Good luck with it. If you need a plan to help you get through the e-book planning, writing, and marketing process, you should read my free e-book from the All Freelance Writing 14 Day E-book Writing Challenge (we'll actually be running another challenge there sometime later this spring or summer). Let us know how it goes. That's actually very similar to the topic of my second Web Writer's Guide e-book that I'm working on. It's a good topic, and interesting.
This is one topic I can write on. I have tried a few methods of "stabilizing" my freelance income over a period of some time. I am now working on putting these ideas to paper!
Having a goal is the first successful step. As to time, two months is beyond more than enough unless your e-book is going to be very deep and complex. I still make money from an e-book I wrote about 9 years ago. That book has made me thousands of course and was written in one day and planned out over two days, so 3 total. E-books are great. If your topic is more evergreen in nature, you'll get a lot of milage out of it. Even if you need to research and are a slower writer, doing the e-book inside of a week is possible if you've got the time, so I'm betting on you making your goal. Rather than keep the prices the same, I'd recommend looking into doing a WSO at WF (prices can't be the same as here) first. That might help you get initial sales quickly. Pricing is something you need to figure out on your own through testing. Also, what is your priority? Would you rather make more money or move more units? For instance, I had one e-book where profit was more important than units. I was selling it at $14.95 and doing well. As part of my testing I bumped the price to $19.95 and found it still doing near 100% in sales compared to the previous price point. Finally, I jumped it to $29.95. Sales took a little hit, but my profits jumped. Overall, I ended up doubling my profits per book while only losing about 20% in sales. Month example old: 100 units $1495 Month example new: 80 units $2396 Given your niche and market, your price point could be pretty much anywhere. How deep is the info? How proven is it? (Example: doing at least $100,000 annually or?) Can it be replicated? What's your "authority" on the subject? Testimonials? These are things that help determine if the e-book will sell as just another $7 report on the market or just take up space or be something much, much more. Lastly, you have part of your goal down, but you might want to post (or at least have on paper) what the "success point" is for you. Would you consider one sale a success? Do you need to sell X books or bring in $Y dollars? Or is just actually completing the book the success point for your challenge? Anyway, good luck. Jason
I have jotted down my success points: 1. Completing the e-book in the first place (I gave myself two months because I wasn't sure how long would it actually take) 2. Selling at least 50 copies at WSO, within a week of the book's launch 3. Selling around the same number of copies at DP, at a higher price though! and most importantly, 4. Getting myself a loyal reader base and a permanent market for the volumes I might role out in the future
Hi Jason, What program do you use to sell your e-book? I'm assuming it needs an automated program for receiving payment and sending the e-book to the buyer? And how did you promote it? Thanks in advance!
Thanks a ton. Nice to see you here! I have developed a marketing plan, where, after a certain sales target is met, I would be giving away a cash-back prize to one lucky person. This prize would be 1/10th the total revenue that I might have generated by then. Hope it sounds like a good reward system to people here!
Well, I write it and do the layout then I put in PDF format. From there, it depends. The book I spoke about was nothing more than 1) getting paid and 2) emailing book. I wasn't using any program, so it wasn't instant. I'd usually mail the book within hours or the next day if they ordered like at 10pm. While people love/want "instant," if they feel a product is going to best solve their problem, they'll order and wait til tomorrow if needed. Later, I developed my own system using PayPal IPN and stuff. However, today I have Amember, which can be used for auto delivery of e-books as well as membership sites. There are other solutions out there too. For promotion, it depends on the product. The one I did 9 years ago was fairly simple: 1. Create a site on the topic and load it with lots of content (my own). 2. Create a "sales letter" site for the e-book. 3. Put links to e-book, sales pitch, etc on the topic site. 4. Build links to topic site via whatever routes you wish. 5. If viable, advertise. For this particular book I found a couple sources that weren't high in traffic at all, but gave me a positive ROI. The important thing is the content was good. While it wasn't my best writing by far (and I mean far), it was spot on with accuracy. And the content also moved the reader (either directly or indirectly) to the product I wanted to sell. One thing I didn't do (mistake) was to build a list. I could have had a newsletter going on the topic and made a lot more. Today, that's something I'd recommend (see Aweber.com). While I could focus on all the success of that book, it would be a crime not to look at the mistakes made. My profit would have been much higher. Honestly, making money online isn't complex at all. There are a couple simple "building blocks" you use and you're done. But, that's a conversation for another day.