What's the best way to sell online booklets?
I have been selling health and wellness booklets on amazon and I want to get them out there so I am doing local speaking/workshops where I bring my books and sell them, I have them in 2 stores and I market them on social networks: FB, Twitter and recently I made a video which seems to be getting the most action. Are there any other ways that I am missing that could help me to market them? I have branded myself- connections between my blog, FB, FB page and twitter postings/pinterest..
I have also done some vending and recently radio talk show and will do another radio show this week, speaking on healthy living in mind, body and spirit.
Blog- www.body-mindhealth.com
Author page- www.amazon.com/author/dorisrichardsonedsell
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Sep 22, 2014
Hi Doris, I just released my first book a week ago and what you are doing to get your book out is great, don't stop. One of the best ways to get your book out is through the readers. You need the readers to endorse the book. If you have a few fans that really like the book, reach out to them and try to get them to help you push the book.
If you want to make a big splash to new readers a campaign will do the trick. Since you are already using Social Media platforms a good campaign will give you a big boost and then it will only be maintenance from there. I specialize in Social Media campaigns, I can speak with you about this if you'd like. Congrats and Good Wishes.
Sep 22, 2014
So here is the secret sauce to your success Doris. What background do I possibly have that makes this the right answer? My wife of course! She wrote an ebook on a very niche topic and in the first year sold $45,000 worth. She is in year 3 now and just launched a certification program that resulted in 70 sign ups...at $200/person.
1st rule of thumb...community, community, community. A couple of the answers below hit the nail on the head. You can't be social enough & you need to be getting email addresses and followers. Here's why.
You are a single person with a huge market potential. You don't have a sales force, don't have a marketing team, and likely don't have the budget (I wouldn't spend the money anyways). Use your existing buyers to do 2 things:
1. Testimonials (you will need these for a next step)
2. Content sharing (your own personal marketing army)
Now that you are getting people to join you on Facebook, Twitter and Email, it's time to build the landing page. @Jessica mentioned Leadpages. A great solution...especially if you are a little strapped for money. However, I am going to recommend that you create something that is a) yours and b) scalable. Your business will evolve (it should). You want to make sure you create a sales/landing page that you can add more pages and features to as you grow and want to offer more. One precise reason you want to do this now goes back to the #2 reason you are collecting previous buyers and your social army. If you create awesomely compelling content related to your booklets and share it with your social army, they will share it with their friends. These new friends come back to your site...which isn't just a sales or lead page, but an information resource as well...oooo ahhhh! As they are perusing the free, awesome content, they see a email field. If they enter their email, you are going to send them [insert neat offer here]. So...they say what the heck..enter their email, and you real them into your "not a buyer yet" mailing list net.
This now sends them their free whatever, or starts their free drip campaign for the next 4 weeks in which they are going to get a,b,c (plus a soft, less soft, firm, hard push to buy a booklet or two or three. This is automated.
If they like your content, they will come buying...FROM YOUR SITE! Step away from Amazon slowly turn the other way and walk. Amazon takes too much and there is no reason, at this point anyway, that you should be peddling your wares through their doors so they can reap your hard earned cash.
This is where your sales page is going to come in.
You are going to create the most awesome sales page that the creator of sales pages has seen. If you can hire someone who is amazing...do it! The payoff will make it worth it. If not...STUDY OTHER SALES PAGES (this means copy)(but add your own content of course).
I would recommend looking into https://getdpd.com/ or https://gumroad.com/ to host and manage your orders. They have some great features that will really create value added for you.
So now you have your sales page, your army, your automation for non buyers. It's time to build and maintain.
At the start of every week, sit down and come up with 3 content releases that you are going to create. These could be podcasts, blog posts, or videos. Keep it somewhat relevant to your products. Relevant could even mean a kick a$$ healthy pie recipe for fall (hint: if you see that people love your kick a$$ recipes, add a members only library of kick a$$ recipes and create value added for your products) Get the booklets, get the access.
Commit to your 3 contents and make sure you optimize for SEO and send the content out to your army. To optimize for SEO, add https://wordpress.org/plugins/squirrly-seo/ and https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/ to your WordPress site. This will help you create fully optimized articles. For sharing, you can add something like https://wordpress.org/plugins/social-networks-auto-poster-facebook-twitter-g/ to your site and set it up (or find someone). This will automate your posting elsewhere. So when you push the publish button on your blog post, it will post to your twitter, facebook, etc, etc automatically.
Now you will be getting organic traffic, social traffic, shares, likes and follows. You are building and maintaining.
Lastly...Build a reputation. Do a google search once a week for keywords pertaining to your industry. Change the advanced settings to time: past week. go down the list and start commenting on articles, forums, blogs, news, etc. Become a common face that people see in the industry. A lot of times your profile can contain a link or website link. Direct it to your landing page.
If you need to set up a profile somewhere, fill it out completely. Don't be lazy!
Although in writing it looks simple..it does take work. It will pay off though and you will create something that becomes a great income producer.
Good luck!
Contact me if you have any questions.
Sep 21, 2014
There is a huge market beyond Virtual World.. Try to connect with real world thru others means of projection.
Sep 21, 2014
I will. I have been getting myself out there more. I have 2 store connections now where I put my goods. And I have been going on the road vending and speaking. I will try to think of other ways besides what I am doing now.
Thank you, Doris
Sep 21, 2014
Hi Doris,
It's nice to hear about your booklets and other activities you are doing to promote it. I would like to suggest you why should you try the ad which is quite easy to target and make your product purchase quickly and easily. Major search engine like google and social media facebook makes it easier for users like to use their advertising opportunity.
Sep 22, 2014
Hi Doris,
Here are a few things you coukd try as well besides the great advise that you already received:
1. Join a local networking group such as BNI
Business networking is all about helping each other and referring business to others. The more active you become within your group, the more you will usually get out.
2. Joint venture
Think what type of business would be good for you to create a joint venture with? A joint venture is not a sharing the business but rather to be seen as a small business network between 2 or 3 businesses. In a joint venture you provide a referral fee or commission if the partner brings a customer and vice versa. Thinking on the top of my head I would believe that a good joint venture could be a local nutritionist, a spiritual healer, somebody in the medical profession. They don't have to do the same things you do but may have the same goal or similar goal such as you heal the spirit, they heal the body. Look for people who have the same target market as you do but are in no competition to you.
3. Add a letter with a small discount for your books to your orders
Maybe you do that already but after looking at your website and seeing the great products you're selling, I would add a voucher for your book with every order. This could be a thank you for your order voucher and if you are interested we also have some fantastic books and with this voucher you get 2$ off your next book purchase...or something similar.
4. Add the voucher to your fb
Invite your fans and give them a loyalty voucher valid for 7 days only...make it a promotion.
I think you should have some ideas by now that should keep you going.
All the best
Carsten
Sep 22, 2014
Thank you so very much Carsten. They are such great ideas. I am already joint venturing with a few people. A chiropractor friend and at a martial arts studio, the place where I teach yoga.
The loyalty voucher is a great idea.
Doris
Sep 22, 2014
Hi Doris, that sounds great and I'm glad that you already have some joint venture connections. It's important to create offers together, or when customers buy from you to promote their business (obviously that should be both ways). A voucher or free lesson/ session is always a great way to get new customers into the premises or to give a small discount for people to try it out. But the most important part is to utilize on the joint venture. Not many people do that unfortunately. Creating marketing strategies together, combined offers etc. will help both parties to create a buzz and hopefully generate more sales. It is also a great way to reduce marketing cost. Have a great day. Carsten
Sep 22, 2014
Hey Doris, I would check out Lead Pages, or a similar platform, where you can make quick and easy landing pages for your books, but also collect email addresses to help grow you list!
Check it out at http://www.leadpages.net/products/.
Sep 22, 2014
Hi Josh,
I am a Blogger Outreach Service Provider. I saw you are also interested in online marketing field so I just thought to drop you a message and see if there is any opportunity for me to work with you as a freelance blogger.
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I have many high quality all category blog.
Let me know if you have any requirements. I can definitely help you out.
Thanks
Dan
Sep 22, 2014
I would be happy to prepare a targeted list recommendation for you if you wanted to start a direct marketing campaign. We could consider a postal or email campaign or perhaps a multichannel campaign if that fit within your budget. Let's discuss this further when you have some time.
Sep 22, 2014
Hi Doris! You have already received a few great suggestions, I noticed you are using quite a few social media platforms. If you are maintaining the sites on a regular and consistent basis, there is no problem to have quite a few.
When you are on those social media sites are you providing the same kind of information on a regular basis? Are you collecting emails? On your FB site, I saw your number of likes, but of those, only 26 are talking about that. Your posts have no call to action and you are not getting engagement. This is kind of like having a party for yourself and by yourself with just a few friends. Get those likes engaging. People will come and visit a page, but there is not a high percentage that they will come back if you are not entertaining or providing something of value to them.
On your blog site, I would publish a few of the highlights from the book, or even a chapter, emphasizing strongly that it was an exert from your book. Put yourself out there even more by guest blogging, asking if they will mention your book. I went to the site to get the tip of the day...and I got "Buy This". I understand that is most likely not what you are doing on a regular basis, but it is today. When you connected on here, of course some of us are going to check you out. Go to YouTube and watch some of the Gary Vaynerchuk videos, we have to market in the year that we are in, and you are trying...how would you rate your social media success?
Go to the local television and newspapers with a press release. They love stories about down home authors.
Have you paid for any FB Ads? Have you targeted down your ideal customer? If so use that information and do FB Dark Posts to really narrow down that marketing. If not, start by figuring that information out to help you in what you are posting from this point forward. Really target those ads and those posts. Do you have interest lists on FB?
Do not ask for the business on twitter, build a relationship on twitter, then private message them, and it is best if you start conversing on a regular basis before you pitch them. You want them to like, respect and trust you before you are saying what you do. When I went to your about section and clicked on:www.body-mindhealth.com, I did not really go any where, but if I copy pasted the link and put it in the browser, I got where you wanted me to be. Double check all your links...You are supposed to be:
1. The Expert
2. This is your business...make sure it looks like a business
One last idea, what are you "Giving as Value" to your customers/clients. We are on Social to "join their party" and have those people get to know, like and respect us...So what is your regular value item that you give away? I did not see anything on the blog, web site or on FB. Try giving a "sample" of your book away on those various sites. That will allow you to not only collect those emails, but continue contact with those people on at least a monthly level, again, providing value until your next book came out. At that time I would offer a discount to my loyal customers and on the media sites a larger discount if they pre-buy.
Those are just a few of the ideas off the top of my head that did not seem to be mentioned. Blessings!
Sep 23, 2014
Your website is not being visited much. And that's where you miss out. Amazon alone won't do it. Neither will Twitter or Facebook and so forth. If you want help on how to get a website that works and gets found, go to http://seocreativity.com.
Sep 28, 2014
I have been working on many of the suggestions that people have given me. Thank you everyone. This week I was on a talk radio show which featured my books and website. Here is the link
http://podroom.a2zen.fm/podcasts/angela-levesque-health-and-healing/practical-guide-to-healthy-living-with-doris-richa#.VCXQqBefVLg.gmail
Thank you all
Doris
Oct 14, 2014
Hi Doris,
There are several questions I ask my prospective clients who want to sell via our mobile publishing system, the Embellisher:
Do you want to see instant results for your marketing effort?
Do you want to sell by text message?
Do you want to track your users' response?
Do you want to use multimedia with no problems?
Do want users to share your content?
With mobile marketing through an .epub3 eReader:
Your message can be marketing collateral with interactive elements, embedded videos, tutorials, tours, and other multimedia.
Or, it can be a promotion campaign for your next book, product or family gathering/celebration.
Whether you have a single enhanced eBook or a complete collection of eBooks and products, you can get your pamphlets delivered to your niche market.
Good luck with your search!
Thank you so very much for the great advice. Doris