This post is about realistic ebook-selling strategies and is dedicated to 2 types of people:
#1- anyone of the thousands of people who have bought my product the IM Toolkit
THANK YOU, the business is always appreciated and I hope it’s been of great value to you
#2- anyone who wishes to sell digital products.
Realistic Ebook-Selling Strategies
#1 – In some markets hype sells the best, but what exactly is hype?
HYPE! could mean everyone’s talking about it, there’s a buzz going on, there’s a launch and some affiliates offering 3k dollar bonuses for a 17 dollar product
HYPE! could mean sales copy promises the world and delivers something perceived as less than that by the buyers
Hype can be great sales copy and buzz combined altohugh you can have one without the other.
A great sales letter might seem hype-ish but they always convert better. It’s an irrefutable fact that emphasizing the benefits and promises instead of the work you can expected to do to achieve realistic results means more sales for your products.
#2 – People want tactics, methods, secrets, back doors, quick and easy etc…
My IM Toolkit talks about how I made 10k in one month using some tactics and that’s what the sales letter emphasizes in its headline and sales letter copy.
How did this guy earn 10k in one month as someone who was, at the time fairly new to the industry?
That’s the hook, and the question most readers of the sales letter will want to know the answer to.
The reality of most ebooks and the reality of most money-making methods is….
You most likely won’t apply any of the tactics in the ebooks because it’s simply not something you feel like doing, and may not be a good fit for you right now. I’ve bought hundred sof enooks explaining tactics that worked for other people, and would most likely would work for me but in my mind I said to myself,
” I don’t feel like doing that, but cool e-book!… good to know that this method works for this guy/gal etc…”
Tactics sell… “hype” sells…and good copy sells, so as an e-book seller you want to lead with hype ( A.K.A. great sales letter copy) but back it up with valuable content. To be continually effective as a marketer and seller of products you need take into consideration all facets of the sales process.
Facets of the sales process:
- Intro to the product via email or advertisement
- The sales letter
- The content itself
- The follow up with customers
Here’s my methodology behind my IM Toolkit product:
I reveal in the sales letter that I will show you how and why I made 10k in one month doing something that may be considered a tactic.
Then in the ebook itself I mention how I did that, but most of the content is about the strategies for running a successful business and how you can position yourself to achieve the same type of experience and income.
It’s my philosophy that you really do need to care for your buyers. I know what people WANT and I give it to them, but I also know what people NEED and I focus more time on that with my IM Toolkit.
Important marketing maxim:
Give people what they want to BUY and you’ll make money all day long. People buy into promises and want tactics and buy based on emotions and good sales copy generates the emotions necessary to compel readers to buy something.
Important business-building and relationship-building maxim:
Have a true and sincere focus on helping people build real businesses and you’ll have happy customers and clients. Deliver unexpected value, give people what they want and need and you’ll affect people’s lives and business in a positive way!
Are you in business to help people or make money, or a little bit of both?
Most people that I’ve come into contact with in the make money online” niche want to know for themselves how to generate full-time incomes then show others how to do the same, but you really can’t provide great help unless you’ve been there, done that and speak from personal experience.
- When you give people what they want… you make money
- When you give people what they need…you actually help someone
How to tell if you, as a marketing newbie are destined for a very long path towards eventual success:
When you buy an ebook looking for tactics, realize that the tactics aren’t something you want to implement, but ignore the strategies and true business-building advice given within the products (if this information even exists in the products!)
If you’ve been overloaded with information and emails from “gurus” and aren’t getting anywhere with your business and online income, it’s probably because you’ve been tactics and gimmicks and easy-path-to-riches-focused.
I appreciate that infrastructure and strategies aren’t “sexy” topics for discussion but it’s what every business needs to focus on prior to developing tactics.
XFactor Adsense sites, Google Sniper sites, product launch promotions, these are all things you should explore after you’ve developed a good core for your business.
NOTE: I made 1300 in sales off one product launch this month (so far) and the number would have been a lot lower if I didn’t have a core business built up first. Sales for that ONE particular product are generated from a combination of 3 new websites that took me 2 hours to build and one website that I work on daily and gets 250 unique visitors a day.
- Websites with good information are assets and resources…
- Trust built with your clients and audience are assets and resources
- Strategies determine what kind of assets you will build and are the build blocks for a business infrastructure
- Tactics are things you can comfortably implement without drawing too much time away from your core business.
OK, I’ve rambled on long enough, hopefully there are some valuable insights for you here.
Please leave feedback, thanks
Download Targeted Subscribers Wordpress Plugin Here
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Dan,
This info is very helpful. Maybe some of us (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) are starting to get it.
I appreciate your concern for your subscribers.
Carlton
@carl friedman, Sure thing Carl, hope this helps you out.
Thanks,
Dan
Great post Daniel. I’m right at the start of developing my first product and this very topic is where I am struggling to find the right balance. I take from your post that it’s a fine line between how you present the ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ if a product is gonna succeed but ultimately as long as I deliver quality to my customers then that’s key to long term success.
Hi Paul, that’s correct. Some products are evergreen in nature ( my IM Toolkit is) and some are only worthy of mini-buzz, mini-launches types of attention span. The more evergreen your products are, the more stable your affiliate program will be, and affiliates like products with zero refund rates and happy subscribers thanking them for the recommendation.
But this is all a philosophy of mine that maybe others will disagree with . I know many people who slap some PLR together, tweak it a little bit, and add some uspells and sidesells and BAM!, they’re in the info-product business. I don’t like doing things that way, is my point….. but there’s nothing preventing anyone fromm doing so
Interesting information and a great post! I hope you’re doing Dan. Stay connected! ~Lee
.-= Lee Hale ´s last blog ..How Facebook Can Explode Your Lead Generation Results And Grow Your MLM Network Marketing Business with Personal Efficiency. =-.
Re: “If you’ve been overloaded with information and emails from “gurus” and aren’t getting anywhere with your business and online income, it’s probably because you’ve been tactics and gimmicks and easy-path-to-riches-focused.”
Interesting post, but regarding the above comment – if you read the sales copy from some (not all) of these “gurus”, it’s not difficult to see why many marketers are “easy-path-to-riches-focused” – so many sales pages promise overnight fortunes, etc. Hype does convert, but doesn’t always deliver results for the buyer.
Hey Sam, thanks for chiming in. Yes hype does convert and it’s what sells best so hopefully there’s substance behind the hype.
Not everything is the product owner’s fault though, many many people never even attempt to implement the strategies and/or tactics espoused in these ebooks.
What I dislike immensely, is poor quality products that make it almost necessary to buy the upsell in order to succeed with whatever the ebook is selling