So Why Would Ebooks Sell Anyway?

You would think that e-books were just invented by the hype arising from the Kindle, Sony eBook Reader and now iPad and even the iPhone as Apple offers a growing number of ebooks through their iTunes directory.

In fact, eBooks have been around for more than a decade and have been selling extremely well – mainly in PDF format – for most of that time. 

We have had our Create & Market Your Own Ebooks System in place for 8-years now helping hundreds of people successfully create and market their own digital ebooks – and that was BEFORE the big push with e-book readers. 

But certainly, mainstream adoption of ebooks is suddenly opening up the world of self-publishing and writing ebooks to millions who had previously though that the world of publishing was only for celebrities and experts.

A common question I get now is “So Why Would An Ebook I Write Sell Anyway?” 

There are two doubts, the first is why would someone buy an electronic version of a non-fiction book versus the physical version they can get in the bookstore and second, why would anyone buy something that they would write?

To the first question, while you can certainly market an ebook version of a typical bookstore book, that is not the really big opportunity…in fact, the bigger opportunity with digital ebooks and info products is to go beyond the general fluff you get with most formulaic books in a bookstore targeting more desparate markets with pin-point, laser-focused systems and information that fulfill their desires.

I think of these as more digital training packages than ebooks,  a more valuable asset to your customer because they can use your ebook to achieve something that is backed by great emotional desire and desparation…and for that they will pay a premium. 

MY STORY — A $67 EBOOK?

I have helped companies put together Million dollar training seminars and consulting programs for years, then in 2001 I wrote my first info product package which consisted of a 95-page Guidebook, 25-page workbook, two 5-page special reports and 2 audio interviews selling for $67. 

At the time, my costs to start that business were less than $100 (mainly graphics for website and basic setup for webhosting/autoresponder, etc…) – I made 12 sales in the first week of that product going live which returned many times my investment. 

What is even cooler is that the same product (with updates each year) still sells like crazy today, but now we have 11 others. 

70% of our sales are digital products while 30% are physical – books and DVD’s. 

EBOOKS DO SELL IF…

1. You focus on a desire your market has to be, have, do or avoid something at a highly emotional level. E-books are emotional buys to exceptionally desparate buyers.  Think someone who is at wits end trying to deal with a troubled teen, an alcoholic spouse, a lifetime of shyness, a mountain of stress, a painful health condition, a frustration with their current life situation, a passion to play an instrument like their favorite idol, etc…

2. That you package a system – your own method for solving a particular problem or achieving a strongly desired end result.  Most books in the bookstore are general overviews of a particular topic (Ex Yoga for Beginners), but what you can do as an ebook author is APPLY that knowledge to partucular sub-niches – Yoga for the new Mom, Yoga to deal with Anxiety…  Do you see what I mean?  By taking general knowledge often available in bookstores and apply it to specific market desires you can charge more, keep far more of the profits (with ebooks you keep it all) AND have a happier customer because they get it instantly.

3. That you continue to serve your customer with additional help and products.  This is your hidden, powerful advantage — When someone buys from our company, they are put into a system where we continue to send them useful information, updates, interviews (many at no charge), and then when we have a new product to release, the customer is happy to buy from us. 

It is the close relationship of having someone buy your ebook online that allows you to keep this close relationship with your reader – something that is much harder to do for authors that write books in bookstores.  

As anyone in business knows, acquiring your customer is the toughest part, so being able to continue feeding that relationship and offering them additional products and services is what builds the immense growth in your own info product business – all started with your ebook. 

Let me put this to rest once and for all…ebooks do sell, they sell extremely well and they CAN sell for much more than books do in the bookstore AND they can fuel tremendous income opportunties and business options that are virtually limitless.  With the current mass market adoption of ebook readers, that opportunitiy will now grow astronomically – and this is the right time to get moving. 

You will find all the information you need about what is involved in creating and marketing your own ebooks online  to decide if this may be a direction you want to take…better move fast!