Developing Your Marketing Strategy

By Shelley Lowery
Posted Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Developing a marketing plan is an essential part of your ebook's success. You must develop and implement a strategic plan that includes both short-term and long-term strategies in order to succeed.

Short-term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporary boost in traffic. Although these techniques are very important to your over-all plan, they are only a temporary traffic source and must not be solely relied upon.

Short-term marketing strategies include:

Purchasing Advertising

Although there are many forms of advertising that may be purchased on the Internet, the best form is ezine advertising. Consider purchasing sponsor ads within a publication that targets your specific audience.

For further information, read the article entitled, "Internet Marketing Strategies -- Purchasing Advertising." (http://www.web-source.net/pur_advertising.htm)

Forums (Discussion Boards)

Participating in forums that target your potential customer is a great way to share your expertise and make more sales. Although blatant advertising is prohibited, most forums will allow you to include your signature.

Search Engines

Listing your ebook's sales page with the top Search Engines and Directories will provide you with some additional traffic. However, ranking within the top twenty or thirty search results is very difficult. You may want to consider paying for a higher ranking. There are many Search Engines that will enable you to bid on keywords and pay a specified amount for each visitor you receive.

For further information, read the article entitled, "Internet Marketing Strategies -- Paying For Traffic." (http://www.web-source.net/pay_traffic.htm)

Long term marketing strategies are those that bring you a steady stream of targeted traffic over time. These strategies will continue to produce results even years down the road.

Long term marketing strategies include:

Opt-in List (Ezine)

An ezine, also known as an email magazine, online publication or opt-in list is simply a newsletter available via email and/or online.

Having your own publication will enable you to build a list of targeted potential customers.

For further information, read the article entitled, "Internet Marketing Strategies -- Building an Opt-in List." (http://www.web-source.net/optin.htm)

Free Trial

A great way to increase your ebook sales is to create a trial version of your ebook and freely distribute it. This will provide your potential customers with a sample of your ebook and encourage them to purchase the full version.

Articles

Writing articles is one of the most effective strategies you can use to increase your ebook sales. Write articles that target your potential customer and allow them to be freely published.

For further information, read the article entitled, "Write For Publicity." (http://www.web-source.net/write.htm)

By creating and implementing a balanced marketing strategy, using both short-term and long-term strategies, you will increase your sales considerably.

To further increase your sales, list your ebook at various ebook sites.

Listing your ebook with a number of ebook sites will increase your sales considerably. Each site will pay you a specified percentage for each sale. This payment is known as a royalty. The royalties paid will vary at each site and will depend on your selling price and format.

No matter which ebook sites you choose make sure that you retain all of the rights to your ebook. This will enable you to sell your ebook wherever you'd like and not be limited to just one site.

Here are a few ebook sites to get you started:

InfoPost
(http://www.infopost.com/)

InfoPost will enable you to upload your ebook to their site, set your selling price, and provide a description of your ebook. They take care of the rest. They'll host and deliver your ebook and process your payments. They pay 80% royalties and you can withdraw your earnings in cash, use it for merchandise at their sites, or even donate it to your favorite charity. You retain all rights to your ebook.

BookLocker.com
(http://www.booklocker.com/)

Booklocker provides you with a web page for you to refer your customers. They handle all of the transactions and delivery. They pay 70% royalties on ebooks priced at $8.95 and higher and 50% royalties on ebooks priced lower than $8.95. You retain all the rights to your ebook. In addition, they offer of great print on demand option. They'll print your ebooks one at a time, accept payment and ship your book directly to your customer (usually within 48 hours). They pay 35% royalties on POD orders.

1st Books Library
(http://www.1stbooks.com/)

1st Books Library is an online publishing company that will turn your manuscript into an ebook formatted in PDF and a number of other formats. You retain all rights to your book. They provide your book with worldwide distribution and make it available in more than 25,000 bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. They pay 100% royalties for ebooks up to the first $300 in sales and 40% thereafter. They pay 30% royalties for paperback and hardcover versions.

Take your time and plan your marketing strategy carefully. Track your response rates for each strategy and concentrate your efforts on the strategies that work the best for you. If you've developed a quality ebook and have followed the steps outlined within this series, you'll be well on your way to self- publishing your way to Internet success.

About the Author
Shelley Lowery is the author of Ebook Starter. A complete ebook design kit that takes you step by step through designing, creating and marketing your own ebook. Give your ebook a professional look in just a few simple steps with over 100 ebook interface and cover templates. (http://www.web-source.net/ebookstarter.htm)