E-Books: Great Online Marketing Tool

The reason why Internet users love blogs is because they want to learn more about their special interests or share with other people who like the same thing. They also want to get the latest information from an expert–the person writing the blog, who may or may not be selling products or offering services. 

This is Why People Love E-books, too!

Here’s Ten–10–Reasons to Write Your E-Book Now

1) Driving Traffic: Your present or potential customers or clients are hungry for information on the subject you know best. If you offer this information, they will come to your site to obtain it.  This is a perfect way to encourage people to your Web site.

2) Building Lists : All web sites need to grow a list of people who are interested in their products or services. These are individuals who want to hear from you about new items, information and news about their product or service of interest. When you offer a free e-book, you capture the name of these people for future marketing.

3) Fighting Competition:   You need to distinguish yourself from your many competitors. What better way than offering free information?  When they have a choice, Internet users will go to the location with free valuable information rather than just a product or service listing.

4) Establishing Expertise: When you provide up-to-date, relevant information, you are building a reputation for being an expert in the field. People want to buy from individuals who are in the know.

5) Returning Customers: Internet users will go to sites where they find information and will return to these sites again and again. If you have e-books to download, they will keep coming back for more.

6) Growing SEO: Many of these e-books can be accessed by search engines, offering key words and extensive material to help with ranking.

7) Offering Flexibility: Do you know that you can now put your e-books on your own web site as well as book sites such as Amazon.com, free e-book sites, e-readers, electronic devices and other web sites? You can get a lot of exposure just with one book.

8 ) Growing Income: Once you establish a list that is interested in your topic, you can sell more in-depth and specific e-books to them. These can also be sold on other locations.

9) Making Contacts: Send a link to your e-books to potential customers or clients, the media, organizations who may need your services, consumers, legislators, professionals, and anyone else who would be interested in downloading them.

10)Publishing Ease: The best thing about e-books is that they can be done quickly, effectively and for a very reasonable cost.

**You have all the information in your head. You are the expert. You just need to get the information on paper. That’s easy with a few telephone interviews.

**An e-report of about 25 pages or an e-book of about 100 pages can be completed and on your site in a couple of weeks–cover and all.

**Just set aside several hours to establish the e-book’s theme, topics and chapter order, and a few times to be interviewed, and it will be done before you know it.

**Forget the high costs of ghostwriting a book from scratch. You are “writing” the book, but just with verbal versus written words.

E-Book Reader Battle in Full Swing

First Amazon had its Kindle. Then came Sony’s or was it Barnes & Noble’s e-reader?  Now the Ipad. And, of course about 20 other e-book readers that you probably don’t know unless you have a particular reading need. Everyone is battling it out.

That’s not all, by any means. As the battle continues on e-book readers, the same is happening for e-books. As you know, there are millions of e-books for free or sale online and through the libraries. These have been sold by Amazon and Kobo, as well as smaller online businesses. Many of these smaller Web sites have niches, such as a certain theme, or publish people’s works and then sell them on their site.

Google, is joining this area, too, in June or July. You will be seeing Google e-book stores that have about 4 million or so books for sale. This is going to have a major impact on all the smaller stores, and even the larger ones.  or need to quickly niche themselves. They need to differentiate their online business from the big guys. What can they offer to their customers besides the books and price?  This is why a blog and e-mails and e-zines to customers is so important. They build up a following.

Why am I writing about this? For three reasons: 1) It shows you the direction in which the industry is moving. People are getting used to reading their information in electronic form–including books. Also, they are reading this information on a variety of vehicles–online, mobile, ipad, laptops, etc. etc. 

2) Smaller businesses that are already in the e-book selling business should have established a niche in order to compete with these big guys. They need to differentiate themselves. That is why blogs, e-zines, e-mail and social media is so important. It builds up a following.

3) In the very near future, online businesses will have to reach their customers via other vehicles besides the Internet. They have to start thinking about developing marketing e-books, e-zines, reports, and other marketing tools for all those people reading information from their phones, ipads and e-readers. In addition to a blog, you are going to need an informative e-book/e-report that lets your customers or clients know about you and your business.  Let me know if you are interested in hearing more about this!

Creative Catalog Copy: A Must for Web Businesses

Too many times, small online businesses forget about Internet marketing when they are setting up their catalog descriptions. You do not want to use the same old descriptions that came with the product that everyone else on the Web uses. You need fresh material.

Thanks for an article by Vangie Beal that reinforces what is important for Web marketing.  As she notes, product descriptions that just cover the basics and are a rehash of what the manufacturer sent with the item are not enough for today’s customers. 

Plus, Google does not like when it sees the same copy at many different sites. If you are using the same descriptions of products as those of many of your competitors. Your copy, regardless of the keywords, may be ignored.  

Yes, it takes a great deal of time to write new, fresh copy for your products. It’s worth it. The potential buyers are much more interested in what you have to sell and the search engines are much more apt to pick up your copy.

No one should know your potential buyers than you. You should be able to write copy that caters to their specific needs. If you are selling health products, and most of your customers are baby boomers, then relate the copy to this target age. 

When you are writing your copy, you want to make sure that you put in your key words. Remember, not too many! And, they have to make sense as used.

You may also want to write product reviews of the newly introduced items. Ask your customers to rank them and send in their own personal thoughts, which helps others with their decision making and lets your customers know that you care about their input.

Remember when you are writing copy to mention other items that may be of interest to these customers, as well. In the dog food description, mention doggie snacks, for example, and link to those products.

Selling E-Books Well Worth the Production Cost

Online marketing vehicles come, and marketing vehicles go, but e-books selling is growing stronger.  Jack McKeown, Verso Digital business development director, analyzed the habits of 110 million virtual users and found that “Avid readers are using their eReaders to supplement their print reading habits.”

According to McKeown, a hybrid market of readers is emerging that  continues to divide its book purchases between e-books and print books.  A majority, or two-thirds, of these readers are 45 or older. In comparison, only 28 percent are in the 18-plus bracket. It is important when writing books to interest the baby boomer readeres and grow new readers with the younger crowd.

Interestingly, the survey also found the maximum price these avid readers would pay for e-books.  The results show about 28 percent will not pay over $10.  However, 37 percent say they are unsure about what they would pay. Somewhere in the $10 to $18 range may be the right price.

This once again shows the importance of e-commerce and online service providers to use e-books as a marketing and income-building tool. Readers want information, and are willing to pay for it. E-books can be produced at such a low cost that it makes it well worth Internet businesses to get them written and published.

5 Tips on Selling E-books Online for Business

Next year, Google is entering the online e-book store business, along with Amazon, Sony and Barnes and Noble.  Google Editions will let readers buy digital books on e-book readers, laptops and cell phones. If you have not yet thought about the e-book for your business, now is the time.

Even if you are just starting your online business, you should be thinking about the e-book or, at least, e-report, you will have on your Web site for business Internet marketing online.

Here is an online business guide on how to start your e-book.

1) Look at your business or service. What topic do you feel is most important for your present or future customers? For example, let’s say you rent vacations in the Caribbean.  Think about some of the topics that may be of interest such as recipes, snorkeling explorations, early history, and unknown places to visit.

2) Consider the questions your customers ask most before taking their trips.  Which of these would be important enough for an e-book?

3) Go on forums and read the members’ questions. You will have a better idea of what information they need.

4) Give thought to how you will be using your e-book: Offered for free to build your e-mail list, to build your expertise with potential customers, to encourage purchase of other products, to help jump start your new online business, or as an income builder. This will help you decide topic, length, and type of information to include.

5) If you already have an e-mail list of customers and potential renters, do a quick survey to see what topics they would like to see covered.

Online Business Idea: Community Newspaper

The saying goes, when you are given lemons, make lemonade. Well, the local traditional newspapers are getting more and more sour all the time. Every month more newspapers disappear. Those that are still alive, realize that they must have an online presence.

Just because the newspapers are folding does not mean that people no longer want to read local news about their community. It just means that the papers cannot survive, because they are losing their advertising money. Readers still want to wake up and read about the local crimes, weddings, news and obituaries. They’ll soon be getting used to doing it online or with their e-reader.

If you are a writer or have the ability of bringing together a team of writers and marketing people, you can start an online newspaper for your hometown. Then, expand into the next town, and the next, just like the print papers did.

You can begin with a blog and either charge a subscription price or get paid advertisements. They will be easier to get than offline, and you do not have to raise as much, since you overhead will be much lower. Then make sure that the most important beats are covered and that you give people a chance to send in an editorial. For very little money, you can build up a sizable online business.

How to Sell International: It’s In Your Grasp

“International e-commerce is within reach of every online retailer, even those without a global brand,” says an E-Commerce News article by Colleen Francis. But, it takes being careful of such factors as language and currency differences, shipping costs, fulfillment time and customer support.

Bill Gates says a business has to have an e-commerce presence to survive, so now’s the time to think about adding a virtual component to your brick-and-mortar. You can even expand globally without taking on significant overhead or structural changes.

Here are some other tips the article had for going global:

Simple Does It.  Because Internet capabilities vary considerably across the world, stay away from fancy bells and whistles for purchasing processes.

Watch Out for Fraud.  Research says global fraud has grown 67 percent over the past four years.

Also Be Careful of Hidden Shipping Costs. If you haven’t shipped internationally before, you may be surprised by the extra fees. Before setting a fee for shipping, make sure all costs are added on.

Promise Quick Turnaround.  Just because your customer is in another country does not mean that there should be a delay for delivery. Let your customers know when their orders will be coming and stick to that date.

Add Global to Your Marketing Mix. Some of the marketing you are presently doing will draw international as well as national visitors. You may have to prepare special marketing pieces for target global populations, such as e-zines in two languages.

This year, eMarketer forecasts 136 million Europeans online in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK. Advertisers will spend $7.5 billion to reach all Western Europeans, up 25 percent from $6.0 billion in 2008.

Get on the global bandwagon. 

Successful Online Business: Customer is #1

The saying, “The customer comes first,” actually appears to be even more important with an online business than it does with a brick-and-mortar. The competition is so great in the virtual world, and it is so easy to get lost amidst the hundreds of thousands of similar store fronts, the number-one priority is attracting and, just as important, retaining customers.

From day one when you begin to think about starting an online business, you need to keep those customers’ needs front and center. Is this a product or service they want or, even better, need?  How do you differ from the others online? Why will the customer want to buy from you?

When you develop your business plan and design your Web site, the customer should be in your mind all the time, as well. What processes are being put into place to ensure top customer service? What features will the customer want to see, such as a shopping cart or product ratings?

Information is a key element in your marketing plan. What will draw customers to your site and build brand in addition to product or service? Will you have articles of interest, a blog, regular e-zines, or a forum? Will customers have the ability to rate the products or send in comments?

Similarly, how will you use the social network to increase awareness and grow traffic? Will you be active on Face Book or Linked In, or twittering news?

The more you think about your customers and their needs, the better chance you have of succeeding.  When developing your online business, put a big “C” for “customer” in front of you. That’s the person you need to be addressing every step of the way.

Choose the Best Online Business/Domain Name

You can be selling the best product or service in the world, but your online business and domain name do not let potential customers know exactly how you can meet their needs.

It’s very important to choose the right name for your business and domain that will draw customers and give you high search engine ranking.

Your name must:

1) Say it like it is.  Your online business and domain name have to be specific. Forget something like shoes.com. Shoppers already have in mind what they want. Better yet, go with something such as snowshoes.com or hikingtrailshoes.com. 

2) Be short and to the point. No one will remember the domain name bobsandershikingtrailshoes.com. In fact, who can even read that domain name? You can have 63 characters in your domain name, but enough is enough!

3) Be very easy to remember. Forgetspelling words differently, puns, or bad combinations, such as bobswear.com for Bob’s clothing store or shoozeareit.com for a shoe store.

4) Include your city/town. If you are using your online store to bring more business to your brick-and-mortar, make sure that local customers can reach you, such as riverdalesnowshoes.com.   The business category and city are the two most common keywords for search engines.  This gets your local traffic.

5) Use keywords. These are words that searchers will use when trying to find your product or service.  Not only will your potential customers find you more quickly, but you will have higher ratings with the search engines on pages that are directly related to what you sell, such as kitchenlamps.com or bathroomdecorlamps.com.  

 5) Be thoroughly tested. Before choosing a name, spend an hour or two writing every name that describes your business products or services and includes keywords that consumers will use to find you. Then, narrow it down to the half a dozen or so best ones and survey everyone you know.  Put the names in the search engine and see what happens. Ask the opinion of expert colleagues on forums.

6) Be checked for trademark infringement.  You do not want to lose your name once it is up and running.  You also do not want a once-used name that has a bad history.

Remember, you are going to have this name for a long, long time. You may add other names as you sell more products, but this first name will remain the same.  You want to love it for good.

HO! HO! Holiday Online Shopping to Rise 6%

Thinking About Selling Online?  Shoppers are Getting Ready to Spend

The winter holidays have always been “the” time for brick-and-mortar stores to make big sales. Increasingly, online businesses are taking over this annual opportunity. An E-tailing Group Inc. survey reports that over half, 55 percent, of present Web shoppers could be shopping at your online store for holiday shopping. That’s an increase over last year’s 49 percent.

E-commerce is going to take a 26 percent share of holiday spending. That’s a jump from 2008’s 21 percent. If  you have an online product, now’s the time to start pushing it. All web merchants are gearing up to get their share of the holiday dollars. 

Here are some of the survey highlights:

•  The economy may be impacting people’s buying, but they are still going to buy a lot.  Of those surveyed, 48 percent expect to purchase   from 6 to 15 gifts, almost the same as last year’s 47 percent.
• Of these buyers, 43 percent say they will spend about $300 to $800 for friends’ and family members’ gifts.
•  Consumers are always looking for value, right? Well, 88 percent of these online shoppers report they will pay full price for “hard-to-find” products, convenience and good customer service. There’s that tip to go niche
• What’s important for these shoppers? Many, 91 percent of these buyers want free shipping;  81% are looking for free returns.  They also say they want to see retailer contact information.  In other words, you need to at least have a customer phone number, if not your address.  In addition, these buyers like the shopping cart feature.
• Time is still of the essence, with 85 percent of those surveyed saying they are shopping online to save time.
• Favorite items include books, clothing, music, gift certificates, toys, and consumer electronics for at least a third of the respondents.
• The gift of giving still ranks high.  The call for online gift centers had a huge increase from  30 percent to 49 percent .   

What’s the best way to capture this holiday traffic? Here are some tips from the survey:

• Think Phones. A third of the shoppers are going to use their mobile phone to ease shopping–18 percent to look your businesses up and 18 percent to compare prices.
• Keep e-mail steady but weekly–43 percent who are opted in to for e-mails want them once a week.
• Use social networking– 37% of these online buyers are going to be swayed by social networking sites, an increase from last year’s 24 percent.  But fewer than 20 percent will make a purchase as a result. Consider this a way to boost your image!
• Are you are an online and brick-and-mortar store?  In-store pick-up for products purchased online is important to 60 percent of shoppers.