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Questions for eBook authors

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by organicCyborg, Nov 8, 2009.

  1. #1
    I'm hoping some people who have written ebooks may be kind enough to answer some questions of mine. Or, if you have a general resource about writing and selling ebooks, that would be great as well.

    How did you sell your ebook? Did you put it up on its own website with your own shopping cart? Or did you put it on clickbank?

    Clickbank seems tempting, but most of the content is of horrible quality; I'm just not sure if I should associate with it. Plus, it's 50 bucks to apply.

    What forms of advertising / marketing did you do for your book? Did the advertising you bought help sales enough to justify the expenses?

    Is there anything else someone who is beginning with the production and sales of ebooks should know? I'm doing the writing basic formatting, but I'm outsourcing editing and design to third parties.
     
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2009
    organicCyborg, Nov 8, 2009 IP
  2. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #2
    I have a free e-book on writing e-books called How to Write an E-book in Just 14 Days. That will answer some of your questions.

    As for how to sell it, understand that putting it on Clickbank doesn't mean your e-book won't be on it's own site. You should still have a site set up for the sales page and thank you page at a bare minimum.

    Whether or not you use CB really depends on whether or not you want to take advantage of their affiliate network. I started with them, but left and went with E-junkie because it wasn't worth it. I already had a very broad reach in my specific niche, so affiliates weren't really reaching people I wasn't reaching directly already (and for every sale I made myself CB took a significant fee). I've been more happy with E-junkie, but I also don't want an affiliate program for these e-books. If that's a big deal to you then you might prefer CB simply because the affiliate program is more hands-off for the seller than E-junkie's is.
     
    jhmattern, Nov 8, 2009 IP
    organicCyborg likes this.
  3. organicCyborg

    organicCyborg Peon

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    #3
    I've been looking at E-junie as my other option. I saw that they also have an affiliate program, but you said it was more hands on than clickbank? After checking out their website, I think I know what you mean.

    No problem there. Since you've been using the service, do you know if I can these affiliate sales records are updated often or just once a month? I'd really like to pay any affiliates that make sales more often than once a month.

    I was hoping that CBs affiliate program would help push more initial sales. Unlike yourself, I don't have an audience yet since I'm just starting out. The other possibility would be to put it up on e-junkie first, and then also put it on CB. This would probably be against one or both of the companies terms of service though.

    Also, thanks for the free ebook link. It looks very useful.
     
    organicCyborg, Nov 8, 2009 IP
  4. alexa_s

    alexa_s Peon

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    #4
    Selling your e-book on Clickbank is not "associating with other CB products" in any sense of the words that your potential customers will be aware of. They'll click on whatever they click on to get to your sales-page on your web site, not on Clickbank's. It's only at "payment time" that they interact with Clickbank at all.

    Yes, it costs $50 to become a vendor. But far more important than that, it costs a huge 7.5% (+$1) per sale, because Clickbank is the retailer from whom your customers buy, and they buy from you at a wholesale price of 92.5% of your sales price, and then charge you $1 "stocking fee" on top as well (to be fair, I never actually bought any stockings for $1 ...).

    If you're planning to have affiliates sell the e-book for you, but don't want to have to deal with the affiliate payments, then there are certainly some advantages to using Clickbank (although there are still other options too, of course). If you're just going to be selling it yourself, there's absolutely no need to use Clickbank and pay those transaction costs.

    (I can't answer your other questions because the e-books I've written have been for clients).
     
    alexa_s, Nov 8, 2009 IP
  5. jhmattern

    jhmattern Illustrious Member

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    #5
    The fees Alexa mentioned are precisely why I left Clickbank. The $50 up front fee is fine. The payments withheld for affiliates would be fine. But if you're making the bulk of the sales yourself by tapping your existing audience (which you noted you won't be in your case), it doesn't make sense to keep paying Clickbank for every sale you make yourself. So I switched. Between that and the fact that Clickbank makes no effort to protect your downloads (you have to do that independently or people can just find your page and steal your products), I probably won't go back to them as a publisher. E-junkie is easier to use, gives me more flexibility (I can easily offer discount codes if I want to run sales), and they protect your files for you (with what CB charges, they should at least be able to compete on that front, but they don't).

    I don't use E-junkie's affiliate system, so I can't really address your question about that.
     
    jhmattern, Nov 8, 2009 IP
  6. PhilipR

    PhilipR Peon

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    #6
    For me, I sell mine via ads I put in other webmasters' sites.

    I thought about using ClickBank, but in the back of my mind I am thinking that they are small potatoes, that I would get only a few orders here and there. So....

    Yes, of course advertising justifies its expenses. If you do it right, that is.

    It isn't hard, and although advertising is expensive, you can get that back, along with a profit.

    Think volume! The more you advertise, the more money you make.

    If you want to make the money, and do it easily, you have to advertise anyway, so....

    There is no way around it.

    If you are in the begining stages, you want to get both your site and ads critiqued.

    That's the very first thing you need to do.

    You can advertise until you bleed all over your feet, it will do you no good if your site and or your ads suck.

    Ask family, friends, coworkers...

    Hell, I was at Starbucks, slurping on their God-awful coffee, and I asked one of the workers for her opnion.

    Ask anybody and everybody.

    Then get your e-book critiqued.

    Because it requires a lot of time reading, finding people to critique it may be very hard, so....
     
    PhilipR, Nov 8, 2009 IP
  7. sunny61162

    sunny61162 Peon

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    #7
    Well, I sell them on forums and through websites such as dealdotcom etc. :)

    If I get good reviews, and the product really takes off, I can launch it on Clickbank/Paydotcom.
     
    sunny61162, Nov 9, 2009 IP
  8. BizDetail

    BizDetail Peon

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    #8
    Forget Clickbank entirely. Complete waste of time and money. They charge you $50 to create an account, force you to make like 5 sales before you can access your money, and then they will charge you extra fees to boot. Go with Paypal, where you can actually access your money.

    As far as where to promote, I would start with search engines. Write content and build back-links. Once you start to make some sales on your own and you know your site converts, invest the money into well targeted advertising.
     
    BizDetail, Nov 11, 2009 IP
  9. alexa_s

    alexa_s Peon

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    #9
    Their average turnover is well over $30,000 per hour, day and night. You and I have different ways of assessing the size of potatoes, it seems.
     
    alexa_s, Nov 14, 2009 IP
  10. PhilipR

    PhilipR Peon

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    #10
    Ugh.

    Uhhhhhh, that is from volume, from everybody going there.

    Now, how does that have to do with what we are talking about?

    Helloooooooo???


    We are talking about if it is worth it for EACH individual going there.

    And give the source of that figure. ... If it is even correct.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2009
    PhilipR, Nov 14, 2009 IP
  11. zaggernaut

    zaggernaut Active Member

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    #11
    You tell me ONE system which is worth for 'EACH' individual. No system is good enough to serve the needs of everybody.

    Alexa is right about your 'small potato' comment. Clickbank has made millionaires. But again it's not for everybody for sure.

    Clickbank fee is hefty for sure, but nobody mentioned that they have a pool of thousands of hungry affiliates searching like mad for a profitable product to promote. And such a large number of digital-products affiliates under one roof is unparalleled by any other system. Correct me if I am wrong, please!

    Again depends upon your product entirely. Just like any other marketplace a dumb-ass product will be kicked out ruthlessly in no time. So, first thing is to focus upon your product first of all. EVERYTHING- pricing, promotion, channels,- everything should come later. If you are creating an ebook make sure it kicks-ass. Your many worries of promoting it will be looked after by its quality.

    Alexa I liked your 'stocking' comment.:D
     
    zaggernaut, Nov 15, 2009 IP
  12. kraftzy

    kraftzy Active Member

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    #12
    hmmm... I am actually in the process of finishing my first ebook and have a similar confusion whether to use Clickbank, ejunkie or any other. So, what I gather from the discussion in this thread so far is that if you already have a good reach to your target audience then ejunkie is the option to go, otherwise clickbank is a better way (and more so if you are not that good at promoting products, as the CB affiliate network will help here) even with its outrageous costs.

    Any other things to consider before going about selling your first ebook? any other platform I can use other than cb and ej?
     
    kraftzy, Nov 15, 2009 IP
    organicCyborg likes this.
  13. zaggernaut

    zaggernaut Active Member

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    #13
    'outrageous costs'..I don;t get it. While selling with CB, you don't have to spend in promoting ( apart from writing your sales page), you don't have to spend time in recruiting affiliates, you don't have to worry about managing affiliates.I have done a number of times and CB cuts down your promotion time by 70%.

    And you pay'em 7.5% +$1. Lemme ask you your other expenses of selling an ebook? This CB fee is ALL that you'd need to invest (+$50 fee) if you have a quality ebook/digital product to sell.

    Nobody stops you from using CB in combo with Ejunki or Paydotcom. Don't put your egss in one basket for sure.
     
    zaggernaut, Nov 15, 2009 IP
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  14. organicCyborg

    organicCyborg Peon

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    #14
    Good point you have there.
     
    organicCyborg, Nov 15, 2009 IP
  15. kraftzy

    kraftzy Active Member

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    #15
    So, you can sell the same product on CB & e-junkie? Won't be against the TOS of CB, ej or both? Am too lazy to go through them right now ;-)
     
    kraftzy, Nov 15, 2009 IP
  16. anthonywebs

    anthonywebs Banned

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    #16
    I wrote an ebook and put it here. Look into my threads and you will find it. So basically, I found a way to make money online, wrote a 5 page ebook about it, made a sales page here, and collected my $125 at the end of the week
     
    anthonywebs, Nov 15, 2009 IP
  17. pimpinkid

    pimpinkid Active Member

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    #17
    I used PayLoadz.com and Clickbank to distribute it.
    Book is currently in my signature with it's own website.

    Design isn't a huge factor at all, as long as you have nice, unique content you're set. Adwords helps quite a bit, although basic marketing through forums, SEO and Press releases works quite well too.
     
    pimpinkid, Nov 15, 2009 IP
  18. PhilipR

    PhilipR Peon

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    #18
    There isn't.

    Uhhh, yeah, and?

    And I never said that clickbank doesn't work. I just have this feeling, partially due to the possible lack of quality, hard-working affiliates there.

    And as someone with much more experience, I am usually right. Of course I could be wrong about this one. Duh.

    Name some of them.

    Although there are 10,001 dumbass e-books out there on "how to become a clickbank millionaire."

    *rolls eyes*

    Like alexa, learn to read thoroughly before posting. It just makes you look stupid. Part of the subject of this thread, organicCyborg's question is on what people think about clickbank. It's not about clickbank making money for themselves.

    And this isn't the topic of the thread, but so what if they make X amount of money? You can have each member making lousy money (not that they all do), but clickbank makes a lot of money themselves due to the volume.

    Just because clickbank makes money doesn't mean that an affiliate does.

    Ummm, it is two different things. lol

    :rolleyes: I wish people would think first before posting.

    Oh well.

    Yeah, unlike the more professional, better-run networks, they will take just about anything.

    It seems that most of their affiliates don't do a good job. They sign up, do a little bit of legwork, and then quit. It's very hard to find the TRUE affiliates there.

    But, so what if most of their content is horrible? Is yours? Well, then, there ya go.

    It matters what you can create, and then do with it.

    Try them anyway, as an experiment.

    Also try abestweb.com for additional, more professional help, along with more networks to check out.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2009
    PhilipR, Nov 15, 2009 IP
  19. zaggernaut

    zaggernaut Active Member

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    #19
    PhilipR, you sure have too much extra time that you could invest in thinking about your business( if you have one) rather than picking on DP posts.
    Neither me nor Alexa participate in forums to make fun of fellow posters.We like to learn and share our knowledge without a sickly dose of sarcasm!
    Thanks for your replies so far. You have been great help to everyone here.

    Great knowing you.
     
    zaggernaut, Nov 16, 2009 IP
  20. worldman

    worldman Notable Member

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    #20
    So far I have written 3 eBooks and working on my 4th and 5th. Its ironic because all of my customers were clients who I did previous work for.

    If you're interested in marketing an eBook, that is a different subject. But one of the best things to do is check other eBooks in your niche and find out how they market it. Also check out Warrior Forum as it has a lot of resources from people who market eBooks.
     
    worldman, Nov 16, 2009 IP