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!
Copyright 2005, RAN ONE Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from www.ranone.com.
Chris’ combination of academic credentials, career experience and temperament ideally suit his calling as a business development advisor. Clients say he has a mind for business and a heart for service.