Ebook Sample Content Preview:
Authors' Warning - Content Farming
One of the problems with Amazon Kindle's Direct Publishing service is that while it is a create avenue to encourage new authors to freely publish their works, it is also being exploited by marketers in their effort to create schemes that quickly earn them money. A well-known strategy is through the purchase of Private Label Rights, otherwise known as PLR, which grants the buyer the rights to edit, revise and republish the content freely.
Through the purchase of PLR, some 'authors' merely revise materials and sell them under a newly packaged, newly branded title. While the e-books maybe picked-up fast by interested readers, the long-term effect of this is not worth-it.
For starters, your brand as an upcoming author is greatly affected. While your ebook maybe purchased by readers, the general feedback may be dissatisfactory if the e-book they purchased are nothing more than a compilation of PLR content that's mostly found online.
You should also take into consideration that many users take advantage of the review system built into Amazons network. Users can leave feedback regarding your e-books quality - the very same feedback that helps other users decide whether to buy your books or not.
It would also be noteworthy to mention that Amazon has recently put effort into maintaining the quality of work of authors, developing and researching strategies to limit if not totally ban the sale of PLR content. Just imagine how big of an impact this would create on you if you are currently publishing 200 PLR ebooks.
As such, I always suggest the tried and tested formulas: create your own original content and always maintain high quality.
Considering that e-books have the possibility of a high return on investment depending on your marketing strategy and sales volume, it would be practical for someone to invest time and effort in the creation of an original one. By creating original content, you save yourself from any headache in the long run, if and when Amazon does decide to go after those who publish PLR content.
And then there's the long-term benefit of creating and maintaining high quality e-books.
By maintaining high standards in all your e-books, you create value for your readers and at the same time, position yourself as a knowledgeable authority and your readers will not only develop a following for your writing but a relationship with you as well. Word of mouth advertising will come from them and by the time you know it, they would be an integral part of your advertising.
Getting Noticed - Marketing Your E-books
Assuming that you have successfully bypassed Amazon's review system and you were able to have your e-book approved, the next thing to do would be to generate buzz about your E-book through marketing. After all, what would an Ebook be for if not to make profit out of it?
Before anything else, I would like to share a good piece of advice before I share marketing tips and techniques. This has proven to be effective in all the e-books that I managed to sell online. The truth is, not only do you have to market your ebook but you must create authority for it too.
When you're looking for information through books, it would be instinct to go for someone who is an expert in the industry. Hence, if you're looking for a book on real estate, you would be more likely reading something produced by Donald Trump. This may not always be the case, but I can bet that it would be ridiculous not to even consider his thoughts.
Buying e-books is no different. While e-books are cheaper and even if you wrote them in the comfort of your own room, you don't have to let your readers know that. Hence, you will swerve towards creating what we call Branding.
Creating branding is a very big topic that cannot be covered in its entirety in this e-book. However, the principles are easy: create authority for yourself by marketing yourself as an expert in the field, convince your buyers that you have the knowledge and experience, and that your e-book provides readers with information that they are looking for.
Understanding the concept of branding is very important before you try and sell yourself online because by branding yourself, you control how your viewers see you, your products and ultimately, establish you as the "go-to-guy". Not only that, making a name for yourself makes it easier for you to have a following of people who will buy your new releases, recommend your products to their friends and family members and even follow your pieces of advice.
The following marketing strategies center around the concept of branding:
1) Create you own website
The first and most logical way to market your product would be to create a website either about you or around your products. This technique is very simple, by creating a website you are helping yourself build your image online. Not only will you provide users with a place to know more about you, you can even turn the website into a store if you have quite a number of e-book products.
For example: If I were an undecided buyer, I would naturally want to know who the author is first. They would search your name or the title of the book on Google and if you have a website, they can read more about you online. If they like what's in your website or are convinced that you are an authority in the industry, they'll definitely buy the book.
After buying the book and getting interested in what you can offer them, they can even see related writings or other books that you have written, check out what they have to offer, and in turn, buy those books as well.
It would also be a good idea here to introduce the concept of Landing Pages.
Landing pages are usually websites that are only a page long- enough to tell people 1) what they can get out of the book, 2) what value the book has to offer and 3) how ridiculously low the book is priced. Some people even create Landing pages that have special offers in them - like, get a dollar or two off the total price - or 10% whichever is higher, to entice readers to buy.
