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Market Your Business with an eBook
An eBook is just what it sounds like - A book that’s published online
and exists in an electronic format that can be downloaded from a
website. Anyone can write an eBook, including you, and use it to market
their business and its products.
An eBook can be free or something that people pay for. It all depends on
the content and how successfully it’s marketed.
The profit margin on an eBook is
naturally much greater than one that’s been printed on paper and
distributed through book resellers. Some authors do manage to make a
living from their eBooks but most are distributed free of charge.
Most people love to get something for nothing, especially if it promises
to give them useful information or entertainment. A free eBook is still
seen as a ‘real’ product and can have great value in the eyes of the
reader. The author (you) will be perceived as an expert and gain status
in the reader’s eyes.
You may have visited the website of an email marketing specialist, for
example, and seen a free eBook offered there. If you download it you’ll
find that it’s full of information about email marketing, and also
manages to ‘sell’ the marketing specialist to you as well.
An eBook can be a powerful marketing tool if you create it and use it
wisely. And the best part is that there are no publication costs such as
there are with paper-based publications. eBooks cost very little to
produce and can even be dressed up to look just like a ‘real’ book – and
print out that way when they’re downloaded.
Most eBooks, however are published and retained electronically. They can
be in any format you choose, although the Adobe PDF format is the one
that’s used most often. Their style can be determined by using an eBook
template; there are several available at very low cost or free.
eBooks let you leverage the knowledge you have into a communications
tool that can become a valuable resource for someone who visits your
site and shares an interest in your industry and your products. Here are
just a few of the many ways to use eBooks to market a business.
1. Offer a Free eBook from Your Website
This is the basic way to use an eBook to market a business. Based on
your expertise and experience, tell people how to do something, or how
to do something better. Give them expert advice and show them how your
products can enhance their business activities or personal life.
2. Offer an eBook as a Bonus Gift
‘If you place an order with us today we’ll send you our very useful
eBook…’ is another approach. It’s a reward for doing something and even
though it’s free it will still be valued for its contents by those who
receive it.
3. Offer Free eBook Updates
Whenever someone gets one of your eBooks give them the option of
receiving updates as they become available. This can lead to gaining
lots of new names on your emailing list, and you have their permission
to send them information from your business.
4. Use an eBook in Your Direct Mail
Burn your eBook onto a CD and send it out with any of your direct mail
efforts. It’s a tangible benefit that can be highlighted on the external
envelope and can show recipients the level of your knowledge and
expertise.
5. Offer your eBook to Others for Their Use
If you’ve got an eBook that someone else might like to use in their
marketing, let them have it. They can offer your eBook for free and give
you the email address it’s to be sent to. This will also be a good way
to build up your emailing list.
6. Send your eBook to All Your Customers
Give your existing customers a gift by sending them a copy of your
eBook. It might encourage them to make another purchase or tell somebody
else about it. It can be a present at Christmas or some other special
time of year.
7. Offer it to Newspaper Columnists
If you’ve written an eBook that’s related to gardening, offer it to the
garden columnists in your local and daily newspapers, telling them their
readers can get it for free. The journalists will want to see a copy, of
course, and that means you’ve already made an impression even before it
reaches their readers.
And finally, you might consider it so valuable that you offer it for
sale from your website. There are also websites that offer a range of
eBooks and could take yours on as a product, receiving a commission from
every sale.
eBooks are a very cost-effective, flexible means of promoting your
business. Smart marketers use the versatility of eBooks to market their
companies and their products in just about every industry. Think about
what an eBook could do for your business, and then start writing!
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