Where to sell expensive content?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by zac439, Aug 8, 2007.

  1. #1
    I have recently begun creating an in-depth guide to the workings of Ruby on Rails. I have poured many hours into making the content fun and easy to read, offer fun facts, and of course be functional enough to educate the reader on what they need to know.

    The problem is, I know I will very likely not get the right price I am looking for here on DP. I would use Constant-Content, but the 30% cut is more than I could probably part with.

    Are there any other places to sell content, such as this? It is definitely book-quality, so perhaps I should make it into an e-book?
     
    zac439, Aug 8, 2007 IP
  2. latoya

    latoya Active Member

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    #2
    You could cold contact some websites and ask if they would be interested in purchasing the content.

    From my 5-minute Google research, it looks like Ruby on Rails is a programming language. Programming or web design sites might be interested in what you have to offer.

    Of course, you could always try auctioning it off on DP. Set a reserve and don't sell unless your reserve is met.

    Also, do a forum search and see if there's any chatter from Ruby webmasters on here. If you find some contact them privately. It's possible that there are some people who aren't actively looking for content (so might not visit the content forums) that might pay your price. I've sold lots of finance-related content that way.
     
    latoya, Aug 8, 2007 IP
  3. marketjunction

    marketjunction Well-Known Member

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    #3
    While you may think DP isn't a good place to sell it at (and you may be right), it's still worth a shot.

    Just list at at the price you want for it. If you have a Web site, list the sale there too.

    You can also create an e-book and sell it or sell rights to it.

    Giving up 30% isn't a big deal when you do no work to sell the item. One way to cushion the blow is to increase your fee a little. Won't sell now? Who cares. You didn't want to take the original price anyway.

    It's about getting your irons in the fire.
     
    marketjunction, Aug 8, 2007 IP
  4. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #4
    Yeah, auctions here can work surprisingly well. It's also a good way to pull out some of the webmasters that normally do pay better rates but who don't normally advertise for writing services.
     
    jhmattern, Aug 8, 2007 IP
  5. chimaera

    chimaera Peon

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    #5
    I'd go the ebook route. Or, turn it into a site/blog?
     
    chimaera, Aug 9, 2007 IP
  6. mr_kyle

    mr_kyle Peon

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    #6
    How in-depth is it?

    If it's around 30 pages or more you could turn it into an ebook and make a couple of thousand dollars easily.

    Plus you'll have residual income for years, and as the language changes and gets updated you can bring out new versions of the book.

    There is a big market for this sort of thing and with the right marketing you could make a mint ;)
     
    mr_kyle, Aug 12, 2007 IP
  7. zac439

    zac439 Notable Member

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    #7
    Thousands easily huh? How would you go about doing this?

    Just wondering. I already found a buyer. Just curious about the process.
     
    zac439, Aug 12, 2007 IP
  8. mr_kyle

    mr_kyle Peon

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    #8
    1. Write a good salesletter
    2. JV with programming websites - anyone with a list of programmers - split profits 50/50.
    3. Get on clickbank and get affiliates working to sell it for you.

    That's the basic outline... there is lots of other stuff you can do.

    But just think, some of those programming communities are HUGE. If you can JV with a few of them and get them to promote it to their lists it doesn't take too many sales of a $47-97 product to make a few thousand ;)
     
    mr_kyle, Aug 13, 2007 IP
  9. shuttle

    shuttle Active Member

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    #9
    I was gonna offer the same thing. A nice sales letter would do you good for sure.
     
    shuttle, Aug 13, 2007 IP
  10. turbosatan

    turbosatan Well-Known Member

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    #10
    i would agree with mr kyle

    put it on clickbank and make sure you have a decent amount of help in place for affiliates. make banners and sales letters etc which they can use and get it out there.
     
    turbosatan, Aug 13, 2007 IP
  11. sir_round

    sir_round Active Member

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    #11
    another option is to make a promotional site with portfolios uploaded on it. Then start using bookmarking sites, join groups where people discuss these topics. Like, for example, there are plenty of topics on that in the spicy page community.
     
    sir_round, Aug 13, 2007 IP
  12. Ankesh

    Ankesh Peon

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    #12
    There are a couple of options you can take:

    1. Make the entire ebook free. Publish it on the website on several pages. And then make money by selling ads on the pages. Thats what HTMLGoodies.com did years ago with HTML. Because Ruby is a relatively new language and lots of people want to learn it - by making your tutorial available for free - you'll attract a lot of traffic.

    Plus - you will position yourself as a Ruby expert and can sell your services through that website.

    2. Another thing you could do is create the ebook and sell it using clickbank.com. Many affiliates may be interested in selling the ebook.

    3. You can simply approach 1-2 big programming tutorial websites. And ask them if they would like to buy the licenses to your tutorial. They can sell your ebook and give you a cut (usually between 15-50% of the selling price depending on various factors.) Or they could pay you a one time fee and then do whatever they want with your content. By this strategy, you don't have to do a lot of work to sell. And your pay cheque is guaranteed.

    This is the best way to enter the market in my opinion.
     
    Ankesh, Aug 17, 2007 IP