eBook, sales versus blog posts?

[Lucas]

I am writing an ebook for friends and family which is turning into a pretty great project, full of value and I actually feel like I have a ton of knowledge to share. I was going to put it up on my blog as a 3 part series of posts, but an ebook seems much nicer, especially in terms of format. Do you think it would be better to try market and sell it as a product, or just post it up on my blog with a free download link as well, in order to increase the value of my blog? I am split in terms of the pros and cons, and would appreciate more perspective I might not have thought of.

[Calculusaurus]

What's the topic of the ebook?

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by Calculusaurus

What's the topic of the ebook?

Its a book about selling your used stuff on ebay, but its kind of geared towards people who are minimalizing and downshifting. So a basic tutorial, but mainly strategies for deciding what to sell, doing more in less time and getting the most out of your auctions. It stemmed from about 6 people asking me to sell stuff for them (I sold about $4000 of my possessions and found items on ebay in the past few months), and I figured I would take the "Teach a man to fish" approach.

[g00dz]

HEY that sounds useful, could you give me any tips?

Personally, im all for the free information sharing. But, making money is always good too!

From an indifferent perspective, id say that selling an ebook on such a topic wouldnt harvest many sales, since there is already an abundance of ebay information out there on the net.

Bolstering the recognition of your blog, using adwords and other money making methods from your blog could more than likely be more profitable in the long run.

[Calculusaurus]

I've written a few ebooks, but finishing an ebook is only half the battle.

I'm not an authority on ebook marketing, but I've learned a few things from other people that might be of use.

First, I think you have to decide what you want your ebook to accomplish.

A free ebook can go viral and as long as the ebook contains some push to get people to your site, it can drive traffic. Additionally, a free ebook can contain affiliate links to make you money. Or maybe you just want the satisfaction of sharing knowledge

You can plaster your ebook across the net. There's a list of sites here: The Warrior Forum - Best sites to list viral/free ebooks?

If you want to sale your ebook directly, then marketing will make all the difference. Your sales page will have to leave a high perceived value -- testimonials work well. You can set up a newsletter to capture leads and push your product through email marketing. You can set up an affiliate program and submit the program to several affiliate directories. That way other people do the marketing for you . You can offer articles or maybe the first chapter of the ebook for free to capture interest.

Originally Posted by g00dz

From an indifferent perspective, id say that selling an ebook on such a topic wouldnt harvest many sales, since there is already an abundance of ebay information out there on the net.

The handful of internet marketing gurus I trust would disagree with you. If you can put a new spin on a popular topic, you will sell products. In the field of weight loss, people will always make money despite it being an "overcrowded" field. Yes, it's overcrowded, but there's a staggering number of potential customers in the weight loss field with credit cards in hand. When a marketer can put a new spin on an old idea (e.g. a new fad diet) then sales will come, sometimes in hordes.

This has been true for other "overcrowded" fields like the make money online niche. Despite everyone and their mom making a how to make money online product, some people still find a way to make a killing off such products. This usually comes from finding a new angle. One internet marketer called The Rich Jerk put a new personality (i.e. being a jerk) on the face of internet marketing and it worked very well for him.

Anyway, just my 2 cents...

[Peek]

Don't sell it, it is your marketing tool to get traffic to your site. Promoot it.
Put Donation Buttons on your site or maybe even in the book.
See what happens.

[Lucas]

Honestly, both sales or driving traffic to my site would be great for me.

I think that my information is quality, and its also niched down a bit in order to have a new angle. The problem is I haven't done any research to see if there are people searching in that niche for products. Quick looks say no, or my serch terms arent that great.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by Peek

Don't sell it, it is your marketing tool to get traffic to your site. Promoot it.
Put Donation Buttons on your site or maybe even in the book.
See what happens.

I was kind of thinking this route would be best. Kind of like the book is the flagship product, and the site being sort of a companion to it, and expanding on it. I think driving traffic might be more valuable in the long run too.

[karinalynn]

Why don't you offer an abbreviated version for free (and promotional purposes), and then if they want a full download charge them? Or, you could offer the download free if they sign-up for your mailing list. You could even create "add on's" that you charge for. Give away the e-book, but offer them another ebook on a specialized topic for a small fee. Selling ebooks is a great way to make a lot money, as people are actually willing to pay more for an ebook than a paper copy (I know, it blows my mind too).

Goodluck!

[uberinquisitive]

Make it a free promo tool.

This guy, David Meerman Scott, created a free e-book called "The New Rules of PR." It was fresh and snappy.

Fast forward about 2 years. That one free e-book has led to speaking engagements, book deals, tons of consulting work. All because he had something new and fresh to say (and also LOOKS great)

The key is to promote it to other blogs as well. I found out about David's e-book on Seth Godin's blog (Seth Godin's "Unleashing the IdeaVirus" has been downloaded over 1million times). In fact, I think alot of blogs picked up on David's e-book because they found it exciting.

And the rest is history.

You may want to look at some of Seth's e-books, and download David's also. See how they organize their info and design their books (always use landscape!).

[uberinquisitive]

Originally Posted by Calculusaurus

You can plaster your ebook across the net. There's a list of sites here: The Warrior Forum - Best sites to list viral/free ebooks?

Another great place to put up your e-book: ChangeThis

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by karinalynn

Why don't you offer an abbreviated version for free (and promotional purposes), and then if they want a full download charge them? Or, you could offer the download free if they sign-up for your mailing list. You could even create "add on's" that you charge for. Give away the e-book, but offer them another ebook on a specialized topic for a small fee. Selling ebooks is a great way to make a lot money, as people are actually willing to pay more for an ebook than a paper copy (I know, it blows my mind too).

Goodluck!

That might work. Though I wasn't really planning on writing a more specialized ebook on the same topic.