Internet marketers usually hone their writing skills by writing blogs or e-mail newsletters. Some have even monetized their virtual real estate with Google ads, affiliate marketing, joint ventures (JVs) and occasional soft sells to their subscriber lists.
Even if you have earned some money from past efforts, isn’t it time to put your writing talents to better use and get more leverage? Writing and selling e-books is so incredibly easy these days and a great way to make extra money online.
It’s all about exploiting a tried and true formula of online selling: Offer a premium (digital) product to your website visitors or subscribers at a nominal to modest price.
Consider the major benefits of selling ebooks below, all of which should motivate you to write something yourself (right after reading this article!).
1. Proven Demonstration of your Expert Status
You are aware of the “know, like and trust” factor in online business and traditional business. We all need it, and e-books can go a long way towards giving it to you. After all, being an author is one of the quickest ways to establish your authority and expertise.
However, the simple, “run of the mill” e-book that merely rehashes clichés and conventional ideas won’t do. To be recognized as an expert in your chosen niche, write about important, complex topics in a conversational tone. Don’t worry about length – the people who genuinely appreciate your work will be impressed by premium content, not page counts.
Free e-books are OK for building e-mail lists and getting your foot in the door. Selling ebooks on Amazon Kindle is another option. However, selling your own ebooks directly from your own site for premium prices is offers the highest profit margins and a great way to make passive income online.
The key here is to make sure you are in a market that you are passionate about and ideally have expertise in; and also in a market that has proven profit potential so you can actually make money doing it.
2. The Simplicity of Predictable, Passive Income
E-book publishing is tailor-made for building recurring streams of income (“Do the work once, get paid many times over.”). Your initial efforts may be time-intensive, but once you get the formula down, it quickly becomes a matter of seizing the right subject and plugging it into your e-book system.
Don’t get me wrong – you will have to market relentlessly to keep your name and digital products in people’s minds. However, as your traffic generation and sales copy skills improve (or as you access strong expert marketing advice), generating income from selling e-books will become easier and can possibly rival the income generated from your primary business activities.
Not only that, you’ll start building a list of customers who will be eager to buy your newer products. Not only that, but you can also create higher-ticket items; combining your ebooks into larger packages, and even consider offering coaching and mentoring.
3. Easy to Create with Little Costs
If you can use word processing software, you’re qualified to write an e-book. Period. Write your masterpiece and convert it into a popular format (PDF, Amazon Kindle, EPub etc.) You don’t need traditional book publishers to get things done.
Become a self-published author and market, promote, and sell your e-books online.
You can even turn your ebooks into print books and have them look as nice as professionally published books. Some people still prefer print books, so this is an easy way to add another income stream to your ebook business – without doing much additional work.
The mobile technology explosion allows people worldwide to read e-books from their cellular phones, smartphones and tablets. You can adapt your document creation to make e-reading easier for your current and potential customers. An attractive cover page and marketing pitch will encourage impulse buys – if you offer real value.
Don’t want to write your own e-books? You can make money selling other people’s e-books as an affiliate marketer.
4. Establish your Credentials with Business Networks
Becoming a prolific and successful e-book author not only draws the attention of casual visitors, but also attracts successful people in your niche.
In fact, the greatest benefits of selling e-books online may not be the direct sales, but rather the opportunities they open up for you to grow your overall business.
Among the possibilities include: Guest writing opportunities, joint ventures (JV), webinars and podcasts, and speaking engagements at major conferences (events).
As mentioned earlier, ebooks can just be the start. You can grow your ebooks into a full blown information marketing business. Ebooks are a great way to get started and get your foot in the door for even bigger and more profitable opportunities.
5. Growing Bigger Subscriber Lists
E-books are an excellent way to grow your subscriber lists and gain more visitors for your blogs. “Free” e-books are standard fare for people to opt-in via your squeeze pages, but premium books give readers even more reasons to sign up.
Use teasers, i.e., pages of your high quality e-book, to draw attention and create a desire to make purchases. At worst, you will be promoting your newsletter and introducing visitors to your business universe. Again, the huge value of having a list of email subscribers gives you the opportunity to promote the other products, services, and future ebooks you write to your existing audience.
Final Thoughts on Selling E-books Online
Writing and selling e-books online is tailor-made for any type of self-employed entrepreneur, but is especially suitable for:
- Freelancers, writing consultants in any field.
- Creative professionals (e.g. painters, cooks, gardeners, landscape artists, etc.).
- Industry experts, coaches, and consultants.
Really, no matter what your business is, whether a service based business, physical product business, or information based business; you can benefit from the power of using ebooks to reach more people, increase profits, and lead prospects and customers into higher-ticket offers in your business.
Chances are you already have content worth repurposing. Why not repurpose it into one or several e-books to build up your reputation and start earning another stream of passive income online?
