Who’s Going to Buy my eBook or eProduct when …
… it’s all available for free on the internet!
Yes, we’ve all heard that one before. Yes, everything is available on the internet … it’s all there, all mostly free, somewhere in all those hundreds of millions of pages or … is it billions by now?
Yep, why buy an eBook (I’m using the term ‘eBook’ as a catchall for info products in this post) when you can spend hour upon hour searching for the information you want for free? Oh you may come across good, solid information … good for you. But sorry, I can’t guarantee you that everything you find will be reliable. Sorry, no can do. There’s just too much muck out there for that.
And this is where the eBook comes in … (and I tone down the sarcasm).
eBooks offer value when they are targeted to a specific topic (a niche) to potential customers who “want” something, and are offered by someone who has credibility in that niche.
Yes, we are now a web 2.0 generation of internet uber users (ie: we, the reader runs the show, we have access to more information than ever before, and we can even manage it to some degree … or maybe we are just kidding ourselves: the constant clutter of information we dump on ourselves makes us less productive) and therefore, sometimes when you really need something, today … right now, a little packaged information is the way to go.
Example: If Darren Rowse (from ProBogger.net fame) came out with say, “How To Make Money With Blogging in 21 Steps” then I’d take notice.
If Seth Godin came out with something like “Being Remarkable : a 2-Hour Audio Chat”, then I’d take a second look up from my daily clutter.
Now if someone like David Krug (formerly of JOAB infamy) came out with “How to Win Friends and Influence People … in the Blogosphere” I’d have to pass on that. Sorry Dave. :-)
It’s all about building and selling your credibility. It’s all about giving what your customer wants in their preferred format. It’s all about saving your customer some time. If you run a business, then you know that time is money and business being such a competitive beast, information - and getting it quickly, concisely and correctly - can be the difference. And people will happily pay for information.
Do that right and you should never hear “why should I buy your eProduct when …”
4 Responses to “Who’s Going to Buy my eBook or eProduct when …”
By Easton Ellsworth on Jun 13, 2006 | Reply
Good point, Martin. *Random thought warning* I think the same might go for music, for example. On YouTube you can probably find someone singing along to one of your favorite songs - so you can sort of listen to that song for free - or you can actually go somewhere online or offline and buy a copy of that song.
I think it has do with how the content is packaged and presented. I think if you do things right, you can have lots of success selling an e-book even though some people won’t buy it because they think they can get the same info elsewhere for free. There is that little thing called time, though, that represents another cost to them. So if you can show people that your information costs less in time+money terms than finding it on their own would, you will probably have good success with it.
By Melonie K. Murray (SmallBizMentor.com) on Jun 14, 2006 | Reply
Easton’s got a great point here about the time…as do you, Martin, with credibility. The key, I believe, is the same with selling eBooks and selling services. If the person can figure it out for themselves, fine. But if you can convince them that a) you are an expert upon whom they can rely and b) it is a more efficient use of their time and money to pay you for your expertise, they will buy.
Business people are told all the time to establish their expertise…to build the brand that is “them”. If an information provider has properly built their brand, established their expertise in their field, they’ll make the sales. (Even when they may be quoted on the topic elsewhere in bits and pieces for “free”. After all, who wants to sit down and search out all of the expert’s interviews and articles and hope they find what they are looking for?
By Claire Tompkins on Jun 14, 2006 | Reply
I think presenting information that might well be already available for free is like curating a museum show. Out of all the artifacts available in the warehouse (or loaned from galleries or art patrons), the curator makes selections. Those selections demonstrate a particular point (Aztec daily life, for example).
You could gather everything related to the Aztecs that’s been discovered and put it on show but it would be overwhelming and have no clear purpose. It would be like reading an encyclopedia cover to cover.
I think people appreciate a reliable curator. They want the best and most pertinent information selected for them and coherently presented.
By Martin Neumann on Jun 19, 2006 | Reply
Easton, Melonie & Claire (I shall call you the KMM three :-) ) - all wonderful points you make.
Packaging and presentation is the thing. Combine that with selling “time” - in business, time is money, and you’ll have many prospects.
There will always be those who simply don’t need what you have to offer - that’s okay, as they wouldn’t be our ideal customer.
Melonie hits it right on the mark about developing your expertize in your field as the way to go with information publishing. I strongly follow this theory of building your name recognition in your field and earning a certain trust factor with your target market.
Great stuff guyus - thanks for taking this further.