Ebooks are Promotional Powerhouses
Ebooks are part of the new frontier of cyberspace. They are an
entirely new medium for sharing marketing information, ideas,
techniques, and expert knowledge. Each day the number of people
accessing the Internet grows, causing the exposure of your ebook
to increase incrementally. It's obvious why electronic
self-publishing has become so popular so quickly.
The publishing industry, I hope, does not intend to forever
banish the printed word to the dustbin of history. Books in
print have their own special qualities and merits, and the world
would be diminished by their disappearance.
Having said that, let's look at what makes ebooks so important
and so unique. Ebooks have certain abilities and qualities that
other mediums do not possess.
For example, ebooks are fairly easy to produce, and their
production cost is inexpensive. Just think about it: you don't
need a publisher, an agent, a printing press, offset film, ink,
paper, or even a distributor. You just need a great concept, the
ability to write it or to hire a writer, and the right software.
Additionally, ebooks are easily and rapidly distributed online.
They are also easily updated; they do not require a second print
run. All you need is to go into your original creation and
modify the text or graphics. Because of this flexibility, ebooks
can change and grow as fast as you can type.
Ebooks are also immediately obtainable. You don't have to go to
a bookstore or search through endless titles at an online
bookstore. All you have to do is download it from a website, and
presto! It's on your computer, ready to be read.
Ebooks are interactive. This is one of the most unique and
specific qualities that ebooks offer. You can add surveys that
need to be filled out, order forms for customers to purchase
your products or goods, sound and video that draw your reader
into the virtual world of your ebook, even direct links to
relevant sites that will expand your ebook outward. The
potential is virtually limitless.
Ebooks have a particular kind of permanence that other mediums
do not possess. Television shows and radio shows air once, and
then may rerun a few times. Ebooks remain on your computer for
as long as your choose, and they can be read and reread whenever
you choose to. They can even be printed out and stored on the
shelves of your traditional home library.
Another wonderful quality is that ebooks have no barriers in
terms of publishing. You don't need to go through the endless
process of submitting your manuscript over and over again, and
then once you land an agent, having the agent submit your
manuscript over and over again. Nor do you have to shell out
thousands of dollars for printing a self-published book. All
ebooks require is a writer and appropriate software. Figure out
your market, write your book, post it on your website, and with
the right business savvy, your audience will come to you.
Finally, you have creative control over your ebook. You don?t
have to compromise with an editor or the publishing trends of
the time. You don't have to haggle with a designer or wait for
copyedited galleys to arrive by snail mail. You are in complete
control of the design and the text.
How to Use ebooks for Marketing and Promotion
There are innumerable ways to use ebooks to promote your
business and drive quality traffic to your website. Once posted
on your site, you can turn them into a daily course, which
brings your customer back to read the next chapter. You can use
them as a free gift for making a purchase or for filling out a
survey. Put your ebook on a disc, and you will have an
innovative brochure. Blow your competition away by inserting the
disc into your sales packages.
The most effective marketing products are those that are unique.
Copyright your ebook, and immediately, you have a powerful tool
that you, and you alone, can offer to the public. People will
have to visit your site to acquire your ebook, which increases
the flow of quality traffic and the potential of sales and
affiliate contacts.
Make sure that you keep your ebook current. Update it frequently
as the market and trends change. Add new advice and techniques
to show your prospects how your goods or services can enrich
their lives. By constantly keeping abreast of new trends and
techniques, you can continue to see profits from your ebook for
years after your original creation.
Another phenomenal advantage of ebooks is that you can test
their marketing potential without putting out hardly any cash at
all. You can even produce an ebook one copy at a time, each time
you receive an order, eliminating the need for storage and
inventory. By this method, you can gauge the saleablity of your
ebook, and make adjustments as necessary until the orders start
pouring in. Ebooks allow you to learn about your market and
customer habits and motivation over a period of time, without
risking your precious financial resources. They also provide you
with an invaluable way to gather marketing information, which
you can use in many different facets of your business.
Use your ebook to discover what the specific goals and problems
are in your specific industry. Then figure out how to solve
these problems, and publish an ebook with this invaluable
information. This will increase the value of your business,
upgrade your reputation, and get you known as an expert in your
field.
You can extend the value of single ebook by breaking the book
down into chapters for a serial course, into special reports
available on your website, or into audio or visual tapes. Ebooks
can be broken down into several different promotional materials
by excepting some of the articles and using them to promote your
product. You can include a catalog in your ebook to promote all
the products or services you sell. You can include a thank-you
note for reading your book and an invitation to download a trial
version of your product. Or you can include a form for your
audience to contact you for further information or with
questions, thereby building your business relationships and your
mailing list.
Using ebooks in this manner helps to cut the cost of
individually producing separate promotional materials. You can
use a single ebook to entice new prospects and to sell new
products to your current customers.
No other medium has this kind of flexibility and ability for
expansion. Think of your ebook like a spider spinning a
beautiful and intricate web. Now go and create that web, and see
how many customers and prospects you can catch!