Entrepreneurs: Increase sales potentials by adding e-book/e-publication sales to the products/services you offer.

[Arvo Lennart Vercamer]

There is one constant with every customer/client - their desire for new information, for additional knowledge. The products/services offered by any entrepreneur/business entity can satisfy some of this desire, but not all of it. This is why adding e-book sales to one's growing list of products/services is a "must have" tool. Here are a few ideas for consideration:

Getting started: Offer a free e-publication (e-book) download from your Website. This is one way to bring in additional visitors/customers. How about offering a free e-book download with every purchase? Of importance to note is that the e-publications being offered needs to be relevant to your business area and the information contained in those e-publications needs to be something that they value and can actually use. If you are selling widgets, the books/publications you offer to your customers need to be about widgets. It is not necessary to offer hundreds of free reading/download selections, a small amount, say 5-10 books, should be more than sufficient for most customers' needs.

Writing your own e-books: If you have some writing skills, think about writing your own e-books. Select a few topics in your business area, and start writing. For those who are a bit challenged in the writing department, consider contacting friends or freelance writers. Each downloadable e-book should be written like most any other professional publication. It should have a table of contents, perhaps a small executive summary, numerous chapters filled with good information, and perhaps an index at the end, some graphics, foot/end notes as appropriate, a nice cover page, etc. The publication should also be well-researched and well-written. The goals of the e-book is let the reader know that you are truly subject-knowledgeable about the content. If you wish to use freelance writer, you may wish to consider using them in a "ghostwriter" capacity - they write the book, but it is your name that appears on the cover.

Business and Marketing benefits of offering downloadable e-books: There is a little up-front investment required, especially if you plan to write your own publications. But once the books are up on your Website, they are almost a maintenance-free activity. You can offer some books/publications for free, then have another selection of e-books/e-publications that need to be paid for. This is where additional revenues can be tapped. Profit margins for e-publications can often be very high, because printing and shipping costs do not apply. An excellent idea for consideration is to rotate your e-publication selection list. Give your customers/clients/visitors another reason why they should come to your site, and bypass the competitors.