Simple methods are a viable option for serving your customers, but there are other methods that may serve them better - and therefore increase your income. The methods below may take a little more work, but can make your solutions much more enticing.
Any worthwhile author will tell you that it takes time to write and publish his work. There are hours of organizing thoughts, writing the content, rewriting, formatting the document, etc. But the results of sharing your knowledge are a huge value to your customers.
Why would someone write their own ebook if they could buy the Resell Rights (see previous section) for other ebooks on the same topic? Keep in mind that if ebooks are being sold with resell rights, then you will be competing with many other sellers of the same ebook.
Imagine being able to make a unique offer "found nowhere else online." This would certainly make your offer more attractive than others in the same niche. Wouldn't you search elsewhere to check prices if you knew it was being offered in multiple places? I would. In fact, I recently found one such ebook being offered for sale on one website and then found it for free after doing a quick search.
It may take more work, but making an exclusive offer immensely raises the value of your offer. So consider writing your own ebook. Fill it with some of your best ideas and proudly offer it to a niche hungry for great information. You can also combine your own work with other related ebooks and sell them as a package.
Tiffany Dow has an excellent low-cost system for writing, selling and protecting your ebook. The name is a bit over the top, but the content is really spot-on for newbies and veterans alike. Tiffany’s program is called Building an Ebook Empire. I has great reviews and I highly recommend it. If you’re serious about writing your own ebook, her system is the one you want.
You can buy PLR ebooks. PLR stands for Private Label Rights. PLR allows you to not only resell the ebook, but to actually edit it and put your name on it instead of the original author.
If done properly and honestly, it can be a great product to build on. But here’s the scoop – most PLR ebooks and articles are outdated material that no longer sell on their own. So it’s packaged in a low cost PLR offer, which too many newbies – and dishonest veterans – snap up and try to sell it right away. No updates and no edits – other than putting their name on it. By doing this, the markets get filled with outdated junk. This makes it very hard for newbies to get current info and ideas.
Also, many PLR ebooks are filled with personal success stories. I believe it to be dishonest to be the “author” of an ebook in which the stories written about didn’t happen to you. Inevitably your customers will ask you about these stories (that they believe to be true for you). This puts you in an awkward position and you’ll lose credibility quickly.
The reason I’m mentioning PLR ebooks is because they can be a great help to get you started on your own ebook. Sometimes it’s difficult to write an ebook from scratch if you’ve never done it before. Buying a PLR ebook in your niche can give you something to build upon. You can make it relevant for today by editing it and including your own stories. Just make sure you use it properly and keep your integrity intact. Your reputation will be the key for long-term success.
This method is very popular and highly competitive. Basically, as an affiliate marketer, you sell other people’s products in exchange for a percentage of each sale you refer.
You start out by searching for affiliate products (more on this in a moment) to sell in your niche. You can sell outside of your niche, too, but it limits what you can write if you don’t know much about the industry or product. You can choose as many products as you feel comfortable recommending. You register as an affiliate (see Clickbank and Paydotcom below) and receive a special link to use in referring each product.
After you get your special link, you can use it in a variety of ways. You can use it in an email to your customer list, an online newsletter, an article, a blog or a website you set up yourself.
Many affiliates set up their own web page (called an opt-in or squeeze page) that uses their special link for buyers to click through. It typically takes them to the sales page of the product owner or to a direct buying page.
An easy way to begin affiliate marketing is to go to clickbank.com and search for products there. Clickbank has thousands of vendors who sell their products through affiliates. It pays you twice a month (the vendors do not pay you), and they are always on time. Clickbank is currently the most popular place for promoting online products. Simply click on the “Promote Products” tab and follow the instructions.
You’ll notice that Clickbank also has a tab for “Sell Products.” This means you can offer your own product for sale and give commissions to other affiliates who can sell for you.
Paydotcom.com is another very popular site and is set up similar to Clickbank. The difference is that Paydotcom uses Paypal as their payment processor and Clickbank processes its own transactions. They are the top two affiliate programs being used today. Take the time to explore both.
If you sell or promote multiple products, you can make a very nice income. Many do this full time. Like any other professional, you’ll want to constantly learn more and grow in your knowledge of marketing your product.
This will eventually become the fastest way to expand your income and
This will eventually become the fastest way to expand your income and 31), you can approach (or be approached) by partners with similar products. For instance, let’s say you have a website on dog grooming and sell grooming supplies and an ebook on grooming tips. You could partner with someone who has a website on obedience training or underground fencing.
This is called a joint venture, many times written simply as “JV.” Here’s how it works - you email your list with an offer from your partner and he/she does the same for you. It’s a win-win situation where you can sell more of your products to a great list (of dog lovers, in this example) and also collect the names of new customers for future offers. This is a huge boost of income in a short amount of time.
Of course, your partner receives the same benefits. This typically leads to great friendships and sharing. You’ll find out about other dog loving groups you may have never heard of. It may lead to seminars, brainstorming teams and a host of other opportunities that will lead to even more joint ventures!
Always treat your partners as equals - even if you have more experience or a larger list. Don’t try to measure who has more value on the table. Always choose 50/50 deals. Even if you think what you have blows your partner’s widget out of the water.
Happy partners come back. They will help you. If they have been made to feel small or unimportant, they will never work with you again – even if they made money the first time with you. Joint ventures (JVs) are a great way to move your business to the next level, so make sure you make this part of your goal as soon as you feel you have a great list or product to offer another partner.