It all depends whether E-Books can make a significant impact on your business or not. The success of E-Books depends upon the type of business you have or whether you supply products or services. It depends upon the numbers of your market – your current and potential customers. It also depends upon how competitive is your niche or how many other people are also writing E-books on the same topic.
Most people who make E-Books available as a marketing tool find at least some success in growing their business using the E-Book as a tool. They have also made the decision that spending the time and resources works for them because they can afford to hire someone to do the writing or they have no problem writing it themselves.
During a meeting which happened to focus on outsourcing content, I spoke to about a dozen people who used E-Books as a marketing tool for more that a year. I asked what they liked about using E-Books. Their replies:
- E-Books save shelf space and trees.
- It’s easier for their customers to find an E-book about a particular topic then go to the library or shop on Amazon.
- Most of the E-Books they find when the search on a topic are free and easy to download. All of them use that same model – free.
- Those who are authors of E-Books found them easy to create and easy to reuse as topics for blog posts.
- Publishing E-Books is not costly. Authors can publish their own books in whatever quantity they want.
I provide an E-book to loyal customers. It’s a plus for me and my market. Everyone likes a free gift and an E-Book on a client’s favorite topic always works.
- They make a great viral marketing tool especially when you give them away free. You can use your posts form your blogs for more content.
- Another member of the group says he uses E-Books to promote a new product.
Almost every one I spoke to said they had trouble pricing their E-Book. They found it amazing that so many people are willing to pay for information, especially if it’s hard to find… It’s usually information that they take for granted.
A couple of the negative comments were:
- It’s hard to read an E-book in bed.
- You can’t share them with friends especially when it comes to I pads.
- One of the people I spoke with said she earned a modest income with a couple of her E-Book Reports
Using an E-Book as a marketing tool works for some depending on their topic, and doesn’t work for others, also depending on their topic. Your next step is to examine and evaluate the steps you need to consider about using an E-Book for your business. That includes deciding whether your E-Book has value for the reader. For instance you can’t price a book about a hobby as high as you could regarding a business product. If your information is how-to information for a popular product you may be able to change $150 or more.
Think about what you plan to do and how well it all fits into your business. Create a strategic plan, budge your time, write your content and you’re off.
Much success with you E-Book project.
Ruthan
Ruthan Brodsky
Content Marketer and copywriter
Freelance health writing
Freelance Business Writing
