My First Experiences With E-Book Sales - Launch, Sales, Statistics, And More
My First Experiences With E-Book Sales - Launch, Sales, Statistics, And More - It has been exactly 4 weeks since I started selling my first e-book.
My First Experiences With E-Book Sales - Launch, Sales, Statistics, And More
In this article, you will find out what experience I was able to gain during this time, how the launch went, and what I learned from it.
My First Experience In Selling E-Books
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| My First Experiences With E-Book Sales - Launch, Sales, Statistics, And More |
The creation of my e-book took a long time. I had the idea for the e-book more than 2 years ago, but it wasn't until the end of 2014 / beginning of 2015 that I managed to finish the niche-page structure of the e-book.
Since it was my first e-book and my first paid product ever, there was a lot of uncertainty. Of course, I have read many articles in German and English and also looked at many examples. And I got tips from one or the other contact.
But the bottom line was that it was quite an exciting and uncertain story.
Completion
There are different ways of handling an e-book sale. Since I wanted to do without a third-party shop for this e-book, e.g. Amazon Kindle, it was only about how I implement the payment processing.
Installing something myself was actually out of the question for me. The legal and technical challenges are not only extensive, I simply don't have the time for them. That's why in the end I decided on Digistore24.com.
This provider from Germany offers quite a few functions for selling your products, including an integrated partner program, upselling function, various payment methods, and more. In the end, not everything is optimal, but for me, it was the best available solution.
The creation of the product and the order page is carried out using extensive forms, which, however, can be implemented very quickly thanks to the good documentation. Here one or the other could certainly be made a little clearer and less complicated, but overall it's okay.
And so I was able to activate the order page punctually on February 23, 2015, and advertise it on my blog in a relatively short time.
Format, ISBN, Price, And Fixed Book Prices
Unfortunately, it is not as easy in Germany as in other countries.
An ISBN is not necessary if you don't want to sell the e-book on platforms like Amazon, but fixed book prices still apply. However, I did not find a 100% clear statement, and even asking my lawyer did not provide a very clear statement.
It is probably the case that you can only change the price if, for example, there is a new edition. Short-term price promotions (e.g. One week 50% cheaper ’) are therefore not allowed.
Since I only sell it on my pages, I only used the PDF format at first. Other formats, such as Mobi, would be possible, but I didn't have the time.
I then set the price of my e-book relatively quickly before it went on sale. It wasn't supposed to be a cheap e-book for 3.99 euros, as you see so often on Amazon. In my opinion, that alone depresses the image of e-books.
But I didn't want to make an offer of 99 euros either, as some Internet gurus do, who then also tell you that you will save several hundred euros in the process.
So I took a middle ground that is neither dumping nor a usury strategy. Most readers thought the price was okay. I received little feedback that it was too expensive. There have also been some who viewed the price as a bargain.
Start Offer
At the start, I tried to get as much attention as possible. However, time was short, so I was only able to add a weekly schedule to the niche site challenge as a bonus. The buyers got this in the first week.
I don't think the effect of this bonus was great. Most of them probably just wanted the e-book and the checklists. For a future product, I would certainly plan a little more time with the bonuses.
Overall, in my opinion, it was a good start for the e-book. I don't have a direct comparison, but the absolute worst case, that nobody wants to buy the e-book, happily failed to materialize.
If you go so much in advance, as with an e-book, there is of course always the fear that in the end, no one will buy it. But since I obtained feedback from my readers regarding the e-book at an early stage, it quickly became clear that the worst-case would certainly not occur.
Marketing
The good start was of course also due to my marketing strategy. I announced the e-book in advance on Self-employed in the net and on Niche Pages-Guide.de.
In addition, I set up a newsletter only for the e-book, in which interested parties could register. When this newsletter was sent on the day of sales, there was at least an open rate of more than 60%. That is very neat.
At the start of sales, I also published an article about the e-book on Self-employed in the net. I have also installed a sidebar teaser for the e-book on these blogs.
I also referred to the e-book in my Self-employed in the net newsletter and the newsletter of the niche site challenge.
And of course, I promoted the e-book publication on my social media channels on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
All in all, I used the options available to me quite intensively, and for one or the other reader, it is certainly a bit too much. But I tried to keep it within limits and not to promote it every day.
Above all, I see the e-book as a long-term investment, which is why I don't want to overdo it.
Revenue
Let's get to the specific figures.
I sold 381 e-books in the first 4 weeks (February 23 to March 22, 2015). This has resulted in total net sales of EUR 8,650.15. As a seller, I get a net income of 7,465.70 euros from this.
That's a percentage of 86.3%. That is a very high proportion compared to what you get at Amazon, for example, or even as a book author at a publisher. With the last two, of course, the range is higher.
I am happy to pay the around 14% commission that Digistore24.com receives, as I do not have to worry about payment problems, invoices, repayments, etc.
In the 4 weeks, there was 1 return and 2 return debits. The latter is annoying because I also have to pay a chargeback fee of 12 euros.
The order form on Digistore24.com has a conversion rate of 23.82%, which I don't think is bad either. But there you can certainly still optimize and test a little.
The launch effect is visible in the sales and shows that my measures (newsletter, preliminary reports, etc.) worked.
The chart shows that most of the sales took place in the first few days. In the last few weeks, it has leveled off at a low level.
Payment Methods
I allowed all available payment methods because I didn't want to join anyone. Nevertheless, most users prefer PayPal. Around 2/3 of the buyer paid with it.
This is followed by direct debit with around 14% and credit cards with more than 12%.
If I had only offered PayPal, I would have missed some sales.
So It Goes On
I am very satisfied with the first four weeks. Of course, there will certainly be readers who think in other dimensions when it comes to e-book sales, but I think an additional turnover of more than 7,000 euros in a month is very good.
For the near future, I'll be pushing the e-book again from time to time. I will introduce it again in more detail on Affiliate Marketing Tips. In addition, I will certainly mention it again in my newsletters and on the social web.
I also assume that by the end of the niche site challenge, if things go well with my new niche site, there will be more eBook sales again. A lot of people just want to see that it works and I can understand that very well.
In addition, I have only used the partner program as a test so far. It will be publicly available shortly and I'll see how this affects sales. Maybe I'll try to get a few reviews on other blogs.
All in all, I expect that the e-book will continue to generate income on the side. 2-3 sales per day would generate a four-digit monthly income.
And at some point, there may also be a revised version of the e-book, but that will take some time. Probably for the next niche site challenge at the earliest.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed the insight into my first e-book experiences.
If you have any questions or something is unclear, just leave a comment.
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