Should EBooks be Part of Your Internet Marketing Strategy

Ebooks have become and inseparable part of the new frontier of cyberspace. They are a great medium for sharing marketing information, ideas, techniques, and expert knowledge. Each day the number of people accessing the Internet grows, causing the exposure of your ebooks to increase incrementally. It's obvious why electronic self-publishing has become so popular so quickly.

Ebooks can assist small business website owners market their sites and in some cases even become a source of revenue. Having said that, let's look at what makes ebooks so important and so unique.

"Ebooks have unique characteristics that printed books can't match. For example, ebooks are relatively easy to produce and they can be inexpensive to produce. Just think about it: you don't need a publisher, an agent, a printing press, offset film, ink, paper, or even a distributor. You just need a great concept, the ability to write it or to hire a writer, and the right software.

"Ebooks can be easily updated. As information changes, ebooks can be updated without a second print run. All you need is to go into your original creation and modify the text or graphics. Because of this flexibility, ebooks can change and grow as fast as you can type.

"Ebooks are convenient. You don't have to go to a bookstore or search through endless titles at an online bookstore. All you have to do is download it from a website, and presto! It's on your computer, ready to be read.

"Ebooks are interactive. This is one of the most unique and specific qualities that ebooks offer. You can add surveys that need to be filled out, order forms for customers to purchase your products or goods, sound and video that draw your reader into the virtual world of your ebook, even direct links to relevant sites that will expand your ebook outward. The potential is virtually limitless.


"Ebooks have a particular kind of permanence that other mediums do not possess. Television shows and radio shows air once, and then may rerun a few times. Ebooks remain on your computer for as long as your choose, and they can be read and reread whenever you choose to. They can even be printed out and stored on the shelves of your traditional home library.

"Ebooks have very low entrance barriers. You don't need to go through the endless process of submitting your manuscript over and over again, and then once you land an agent, having the agent submit your manuscript over and over again. Nor do you have to shell out thousands of dollars for printing a self-published book. All ebooks require is a writer and appropriate software.

"Ebooks are great for Niche content. Ever wanted to find a book on a highly specific or niche product? Looking for tips on mouse killing? Good luck finding that in print. The costs are prohibitive and bookstores can't afford the shelf space. But with an ebook, no shelf space is needed so even the most niche content can find a place on the Internet.

"You have creative control over your ebook. You don't have to compromise with an editor or the publishing trends of the time. You don't have to haggle with a designer or wait for copyedited galleys to arrive by snail mail. You are in complete control of the design and the text.

If you're not convinced that ebooks are something you should consider click over to Google and search for ebooks. At last count there were over 70 million search results. Something with that kind of Internet presence is not something you want to miss.

How to Market Your Ebook

Writing and marketing your own ebook is an excellent way to help build your online and/or home business.

Being able to offer your own informative, quality ebook will establish you as someone who knows what they are talking about. This will earn you trust and respect and go a long way towards building your online presence.

People will start coming to you and your site when they need products, advice, support, help, etc. thus bringing you many more customers and /or subscribers.

There are many ways to market your ebook. Some of the best ways are listed below:

Put your ebook in your sigtag along with a free bonus. The free bonus will attract more people and bring in more sales.

Joint Ventures: Team up with other ebook authors or ezine publishers or webmasters to cross promote each other's products or services. Agree to send referrals to each other and recommend each other's products.

Use an excerpt from your ebook as an article and submit it to as many directories as possible. Be sure to mention your ebook in your resource box.

Search out quality targeted ezines and purchase solo or top sponsor ad spots.

Submit your ebook to as many ebook directories as you can. The more links to your ebook, the better.

Write a keyword rich sales page and optimize it for the search engines with meta tags and page title.

Offer two or three free bonuses with your ebook. make and offer that is very hard or impossible to refuse.

Ask a few people to write reviews for your ebook in exchange for a free copy. Post the reviews on your site.


Offer a free report as a lead-in to your ebook. People love free information and if you offer a quality report that gets them interested they very well may want to buy your ebook.

If you publish an ezine, ask other ezine publishers to swap solo or top sponsor ads. I prefer top sponsor ads but many marketers have said that solo ads get the most results.

Start an affiliate program and offer people a percentage to sell your ebook. One of the best places to do this is Clickbank. For a small fee you can set up your affiliate program and increase your sales many times over.

Offer the first chapter or two as a freebie. Be sure and leave them wanting more.

Visit message boards or join discussion groups to learn marketing strategies that have worked for other publishers and authors. If it works for them, it can work for you as well.

As with any marketing campaign, you have to stick with it. Be consistent. You cannot submit to a couple of directories and post to a couple message boards and then sit back and wait to get rich. Marketing is a daily commitment.

The possibilities are endless as to ways to market your ebook. Be sure and combine many of the strategies for one successful marketing campaign. Be creative and come up with new innovative marketing ideas. Find out what works and get started marketing that new ebook!