what kind of money are you people who write and market your ebooks seeing (with respect to the number of books you have written and are currently marketing and the average price you are selling at); or also for those of you who sell others' books (and the payment arrangements you have with the orig. author)
I don't mean for this to be a personal qestion, but i have written 2-3 ebooks, and was wondering what sort of return others are seeing from theirs.. and wether i should go further.
Posted on: 3:01 am on June 3, 2003
EBookCompiler
This type of question tends to get relatively few responses, as many people don't like to discuss their business in this kind of detail.
Remember: What somebody else might (or might not) achieve, is not necessarily indicative of how well or not you might do. As their business is very likely different in many ways from yours (topics of ebooks, prices, marketing strategy, sales letter, etc.)
Posted on: 5:14 pm on June 4, 2003
dj
As a person who is new to writing and marketing ebooks, I am also interested in this topic, as I think most newbies, and perhaps some veterans of the industry, are too.
Of course, no one need reveal details, but it would be useful and encouraging (I hope) to hear some comments from those ebook authors and publishers who do have some experience. On everyone's mind is the question of how much one can make, or can one earn anything from this sort of thing.
Perhaps the discussion could include the types of ebooks, and subjects, strategies, even levels of success or failure, in general.
I would think that this is one topic that is of interest to just about everyone. I would be the first to say that I have read a great deal about successes, including a lot of hype, but am looking for solid evidence as I step into this new venture.
Posted on: 6:13 pm on June 17, 2003
dreuby
Selling anything on-line is a long-term process. Ignore all those "how to make a million in the first month" ads.
And it's work - ignore all that "make money while you sleep" stuff. Marketing on-line is as hard as marketing off-line. You have to work at it every day, just as you would with a shop.
Posted on: 1:17 pm on June 18, 2003
racheldarcy
Inetersting as a publisher of ebooks I was talking, yesterday, to a publisher/printer. He told me that he used to specialise in ebooks but it didn't make enough money so he has moved into print on demand. However, he di give me some interesting pointers. He said that he had noticed that the ebooks that sell are non-fiction titles which appeal to a niche market. He said that a book written about a disease common but not talked about makes the author about £600 a month. There are no other books written in this area.
Other useful points he made were that fiction and childrens books do not sell well as there are so many on the market that people just do not buy them. He advised me that the best type of book to sell would be the type that costs $300 and claims to give you the answers to making lots of money and just ends up telling you how to sell on the very same book. This is an area that is not in line with my companies policies of selling good quality and well designed ebooks.
Posted on: 6:22 pm on September 30, 2003
jbsmith
I have assisted many people develop and market their own information products - not always eBooks - quite often courses, seminars, consulting packages, training packages, training CD's- etc...
It really runs the gammet - you could earn hundreds of thousands - as some of my customers have.
I myself market my own eBook and sell - on average 30 copies each month at $47/ea with little to know cost. I now offer 4 products - which are beginning to sell in the same range.
Trick is a) To focus on filling a HOT demand within a niche market and b) take action everyday (even if it's only 1-hour) on marketing (writing articles, refining website, publisihing follow-ups, placing ads, getting publicity, forming joint ventures, etc...)
Slow and steady wins the race!
Cheers...
Jeff
Posted on: 9:03 pm on September 30, 2003
talewins
I do things differently, by giving away free books which have my advertising in them. My best moving fiction book has been downloaded 28.542 times in the past six months. My second best fiction book has been downloaded 25,326 times in the last six months. Another nonfiction book that I give away (a cookbook) has had 20,302 downloads in the past six months. Tips for Writers has had 19,598 downloads in the past six months. The tutorial on making your ebook covers has been downloade 19,354 times. Hound of the Baskervilles has been downloaded 18,224 times in the past six months. Buffalo Bill has been downloaded 20,254 times in the past six months. David Crockett has been downloaded 14,601 times. A self-help book I made for a friend has been downloaded 12,987 times.
Each of these books have my ads inside. My earnings from these ads flicker from $1500 per month to $3,000 per month.
I do make a few direct sales. My best selling nonfiction book HOW TO BUY LAND AT TAX SALES, is earning right at $500 per month rather steadily, selling at $14.77 These sales are made from giving away a sample of the book with only four chapters inside. Having the book in electronic format helps the sales of the original book in hard copy. After three years the sales had all but quit, then I came out with the electronic format. Now sales are back up higher than ever. Those sales and profits are not included in the $500 figure.
Posted on: 8:34 pm on October 5, 2003
apfuchs
My eBook just came out a week ago and already my inbox is flooded, notifying me of sales. So, yes, you do see a good return provided you find your niche and fill it.
Posted on: 7:20 am on February 6, 2004
information biz
I got into ebook sales about 16 months ago. I started with a non fiction guide and within the first month I was seeing a profit. At first I was only making about $100/month, but now the same single product makes about $2000/ month. It's all about being a good marketer. Before this I had no online marketing experience, but it turns out I'm pretty good at it.
Sorry I won't provide you with the links to the books that have made me this money becuase I'm not interested in giving my self more competition.
Best of luck with your own ebooks. I think this industry is one of the most exciting industries out there. I work on my ebooks full time from home and don't require another job.
I don't find e-book marketing hard at all, I think the key is knowing what will sell before you start. That is most of it. Just like a hit record producer, you want to have something everyone thinks is a hit.
The book "Improve Your Credit Score In 24 Hours" sells about 25 copies a day, I do the marketing for one of my clients, http://www.thebestever.net, and I only check the search engine keyword marketing for it every few months. I don't "struggle" all week long to market. Maybe the hard work is finding the right book.
A knack for pay per click can help. Then again, one of my buddies wrote a probate real estate book, doesn't know pay per click at all, and started selling one book a day at 29.95 his first time out.
My two cents is probably that it's all about the title. Good luck!
Lani
Posted on: 12:46 am on December 7, 2004
Chris Choi
You can't really establish a solid number because it's just based on what kind of demand your market has (that your selling to).
To give you some numbers, some people are making 6 figures selling 27 dollar niche based ebooks.
Posted on: 11:38 pm on December 16, 2004
image32005
informationbiz... You saw a significant increase in your sales which started at $100 a month. Can you identify what you had done that moved you into the fast lane? What promotions have you found to be most successful?
Posted on: 6:30 pm on January 26, 2005
Storyman
image32005,
Nice website. If you are interested in better search engine ranking you might want to investigate SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Posted on: 6:50 pm on January 26, 2005
Ebook Architect
Image 32005....
Hey it's "information biz". Sorry I changed my name becuase I lost my password. Anyways, yes I did see a considerable jump in traffic from 100 up towards 30,000 uniques visitors per month. As you can See on my site using the link below (in my signiture tag) , my traffic increase almost every month. Probably the largest factor that brought on the large increases in traffic was solid partnerships and search engine optimization.
Partnerships are a great way to get immidiate traffic and SEO is great for long term growth strategy.
Hope this helps.
Posted on: 4:18 am on February 4, 2005
image32005
Thanks for the tip, Storyman...
I haven't done any reading on SEO, so it sounds like I'd better get at it, huh?
Glad you like my site.
(Edited by image32005 at 7:19 pm on Feb. 4, 2005)
Posted on: 2:16 pm on February 4, 2005
jbsmith
Hi all - here's an article I recently wrote after MANY emails from my subscribers and questions at seminars as to what they typical business model would look like for various six-figure income "How To" ebook authors.
Now, let me be clear, this is NOT the only business model, I know others who are earning the entire amount just selling ebooks, and I know others who give away their ebooks and make all their money from seminars, services, consulting, etc...
But - here is a balanced business model that mirrors most of the big money earners I know, and it's the model I currently use...
I just started my ebooks promotion campaign about 2 weeks ago... so far, zip. With limited financial resources, I'm reluctant to go the PPC route but Google AdWords has been getting a lot of hype lately. Writers are saying they've seen significant sales improvements using that program.
So far, the biggest difficulty in my campaign is finding the ezines suited to my book titles. In future, I'm thinking it might be more productive to find the market first, then write to suit, rather than the other way around. That way, you already know there's interest. The problem with that is, I'm not interested and have no fore-knowledge to write on those popular topics: Internet Marketing and Computers. Besides, I think they're already swamped.
Posted on: 2:29 pm on February 4, 2005
KathleenGageSpeaker
I also do as the person who mentioned giving a lot away. I have built a nice database this way. I just released an ebook yesterday that I am giving away. The backend business I generate from this is well worth it.
I not only sell books and ebooks, consulting services, keynote presentations and training.
I think the question of how much to charge is based on what the end result is one is looking for.
Posted on: 12:26 am on February 20, 2005
Kamarulzaman Baharom
I just finish my first EBook last week? Just want to know, what are the most effective marketing strategy for new Ebook in the market?
Posted on: 4:27 pm on February 23, 2005
jbsmith
Here are some of the most effective marketing methods for your new ebook:
1. Joint venture - partner with established websites and list owners in your market. Incentive is commission sharing which will mean you need to run your own affiliate program - either through built-in program like Clickbank or external affiliate management program using software or service.
2. Write articles within your topic and submit them to leading article directories so that other publishers will pick it up - including your resource box advertising your site: You will find the directories I like best near the bottom of this page: http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/resources.html
3. Do you have your own website marketing your ebook? If not, get one now. Second, signup with an autoresponder service and create a 4-7 part minicourse that will provide multiple exposures (multiple chances) for your prospects to buy. A great formula to follow for minicourse development is: http://www.create-e-mini-course.com
4. Send immediate traffic to your site using pay-per-click search engine - advice is to start with google adwords.
Feel free to wade through my free articles on creating and marketing information products here:
I think marketing an E Book is quite different from marketing physical product. Here your own imigination to market the Ebook is unlimited. I have read a lot of articles on marketing in internet. Every day I find a new approach or new techniques that sometimes I feel that you cannot learn all the techniques before you start your Ebook marketing.
Any way, thanks god because in this forum there are a lot of marketing gurus that are very generous and kind enough to share their secrets and hope share money as well. Just joking!
Posted on: 10:57 am on February 24, 2005
Tania
Wow. I'm glad to know so many people on these forums are so succesful.
Another key to success seems to be people that spend more of there time creating and finding new products immediately after they launch one. Those that try to tinker and master and make one website look too pretty waste too much time..time that can be used towards making new streams of income or new pages. People should not wait for there first site to start making a decent income...instead they should start seeking out there next product.
Posted on: 5:36 am on August 12, 2005
mickyboy73
I fully agree with jbsmith on this one.
Your marketing must combine these keys for the best impact.
I'm not going to mention names here but I have struck a JV with two big names in online marketing that are related very tightly to my niche market.
I offer them my new ebook to use as a free bonus item to their PAYING customers both past and future,. I make sure I have an affiiate program ready that uses ClickBank but I take it a step further with an affiliate script to create an affiliate center for my own affiiates.
I can get my new ebook in to the hands of 1000's of people who have a history of buying. From this I build an army of great affiliates but I also build an email list from my JV partners giving the ebook away as a bonus because their customers have to register at my web site before they can download the ebook.
This leaves me with great exposure for my new ebook, an instant army of affiliates and an email list I can promote my next product to with less effort.
I'm not about to reveal my success as this is private, just like in any other business but it works very, very well as you can imagine.
Posted on: 4:38 pm on August 12, 2005
jbsmith
Lani - you've hit the nail on the head. Good marketing will not sell a mediocre product - and before everyone screams, by mediocre I DON'T mean bad quality (though that will also limit your longer term sales and profitability), but what I mean is mediocre APPEAL.
I have been called in to coach so many people who have made their first attempt at ebook, book or other information product marketing, only to find that the biggest problem is that the idea, concept, title and desire they are trying to tap into just isn't compelling enough to ever sell more than a few copies a month.
Its not usually the market, but rather the specific "nerve" you are tapping into isn't raw enough.
To help your infoproduct business build momentum, run on autopilot and significantly lessen your marketing load, tap into something that is really a source of passionate, insane desire or demand. Then, find out how you can offer something that helps them achieve their desire, fulfill their passions and satisfy their demand better than anyone else.
From a writing point of view - this means create a unique approach to offering your target market the content they insanely want - your own system, a different format, a more entertaining way of offering the information, case study support, etc... THEN you have the two key elements of marketing built into your product from the beginning -- a strong desire (from which benefits are derived) and a killer system (from which your unique selling proposition is derived).
Hope all this makes sense...
Jeff
Posted on: 7:31 pm on August 12, 2005
Tania
JBSmith, couldn't have said it better myself, great advice.
Posted on: 12:19 am on August 22, 2005
johannradermacher
Hi,
I' m also a newbie to the ebook-business, which has partly got to do with the fact that here in Germany eBook-business is definitely not such a big market (yet). Let me get this straight, what you guys are doing is
a) write an ebook with appealing title/content b) register a domain-name and set-up a website promoting the book c) connect the site to a payment system and make the ebook-downloadable d) drive traffic to the site by GoogleAdWords for example.
Sounds very straightforward to me ;-) Anyone got an idea if this is already being done in Germany at all?
Cheers, Johann
Posted on: 3:05 pm on September 2, 2005
Storyman
Johann,
Why are you thinking only Germany? The last time I looked they are still teaching German in schools all around the world. (Ebooks in German for students might be something to consider.) Don't think in terms of borders because they may very well be a global market for your ebooks.
Posted on: 6:14 pm on September 2, 2005
merlinpietes
I think it's important to start small and concentrate on experimenting and getting feedback, if your in the early stages (like me) experience is worth more than analysis. because it gives you the faith to take the next step.
----
Posted on: 8:07 am on October 18, 2005
bebestix
Build yourself a solid reputation to potential customers and they will keep coming for your new written materials
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