Selling Your eBook Through Your Own Website
By Stephen Bucaro
Even though you have your ebook is listed on amazon and Barnes and Noble, you may want
to also sell it through your own website. There are three main reasons why you should setup
your own website;
1. When amazon and Barnes and Noble sell a copy of your ebook you receive only a commission,
not the entire sales price.
2. Amazon and Barnes and Noble don't go to any great lengths to promote your ebook, your
description is the only sales pitch.
3. Someone on amazon and Barnes and Noble may give your ebook a bad review, which you sure as
heck are not going to do on your own website.
When I say "website", I don't mean a website in the traditional sense. What I'm talking
about is a specific type of website called a landing page. A landing page has two basic
parts; 1. The sales pitch. 2. A [Buy Now] button.
Setting Up a Buy Now Button
Setting up the digital delivery is the technical part of the landing page, but it's not
really that difficult. One option is to set up digital delivery through PayPal. First, upload
your ebook to a subdirectory on your website. Then:
1. Log in to your PayPal account and click on Merchant Services.
2. Click on Buy Now Buttons. On the next page, enter the name and price of your ebook.
3. Click on Add More Options and enter the URL of where you placed your ebook file.
4. Click on Create Button Now and copy the HTML code PayPal generates.
5. Paste that HTML code into your landing page.
A PayPal [Buy Now] will appear where you placed the code. When a customer clicks the
button, they will be directed to PayPal's website to make the payment. After making the payment
the buyer is redirected to your download URL to download your ebook.
There are many other digital delivery websites.
Gumroad
is one I use because they provide the storage for your ebook. You simply upload your ebook
to their website and they take care of the rest. They charge only 25 cents plus 5 percent of
the sales price, with no monthly hosting fee. They pay out your sales revenue every two weeks
(if you have a balance of at least $10.00) to your PayPal account.
Your Sales Pitch
As I explained earlier, the [Buy Now] button is the second part of the landing page.
The first part is the sales pitch. Any product or service has features and benefits.
It's important to list the features of your ebook. But it's more important to highlight it's benefits.
Let me give you as an example; the purchase of a new car. The features are the reliability,
fuel efficiency, cargo space. A benefit is how cool you'll look cruising down the road in your
new car, and how envious your neighbors will be when they see it parked in your driveway. Which
do you think will be better at selling the car, the features or the benefits?
The features of your ebook are the topics covered, the number of pages, and the number
of illustrations. The benefits are how reading your ebook will change your prospective customers
life. Will their life be easier? Will they feel stronger and healthier? Will they have more
money? Will they have more free time? Will they be able to impress their friends and relatives
with their new skill or knowledge? The features of your ebook are interesting, but the benefits
are what sells it.
One important thing you must do with a landing page is to build trust. The Internet is
like the wild west. A lot crooks and scammers are trying to rip people off. People don't like
to give their money to strangers on the Internet. To build trust you have to tell your customer
something about yourself.
Don't reveal personal information like your home address. Write about how you got interested
in the topic of your ebook. What other people have said about you and your ebook. Your reason
for sharing the information in your ebook. Make your prospective customer feel that they know you.
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