In the world of eBook retailing, selling direct to customer is akin to running a boutique clothing store. Selling direct means that you are responsible for not only the product, your eBook, but also every other aspect of the business including the shopfront (in this case, a website), launching promotions, marketing campaigns, social media, customer service, taking payments, issuing refunds, dealing with needy customers….the whole kit and kaboodle. (If the very thought of this leaves you absolutely exhausted and de-motivated, that’s ok, there is a lower-touch alternative to selling your eBook established eBook distributors like Amazon).
Whilst there a huge benefits in terms of exposure and reach by listing your eBooks for sale on the eCommerce giants like Amazon.com, the unfortunate reality is that they take a rather sizeable share of the revenue for themselves, in the vicinity of 30% to 65%. With more than half the revenue received from all of your hard work lining someone else’s pocket, it’s probably starting to make a bit more sense why selling direct to the customer is a good idea. If you are willing to do a bit of hard work setting up your own website allowing customers to purchase your eBook/s from you directly, over time you will enjoy greater profit margins by encouraging sales through your own direct channels.
My recommendation is to develop a blended sales and distribution strategy for your eBook, including a direct channel strategy combined with leveraging the major established eBook stores. This will give you as many bites of the cherry as possible, allowing your publication maximum exposure while also presenting you with the opportunity to ‘make some cream’ from the direct revenue you will amass over time.
How to create a direct channel (i.e. website) to sell your eBooks
Assuming you have purchased something, anything online within your lifetime, the process which takes place when selling your eBook direct to the customer via your website is straightforward:
- A prospective customer hears about your book
- They locate your website
- The customer adds the eBook to their shopping cart
- Their details are entered and payment is made
- Voila! The customer receives the download link for the ebook (in their desired format)
A note about desired formats
Once downloaded, customers can easily transfer the files they have downloaded onto their e-reader or mobile devices to read them. I suggest selling your eBook into all of the popular formats:
- .mobi files for Kindle
- .ePub files for other e-reader devices
- PDF for any other devices
When considering the flow of customers from their first visit to the website through to purchasing and downloading your eBook, there are several (somewhat obvious) components you will need in order to establish your direct sales channel. These include a website that can easily be found when searched for, has shopping cart functionality, that can accept payments and can then provide a download link.
First up, your website. Whilst there are plenty of options available for building sites, I urge you to consider the guide I have developed called Website on a Shoestring, designed specifically for startup businesses to create premium websites, without the premium price tag.
Next, your website will need an eCommerce add-on. This will make online payments for your eBooks a simple and straightforward process. I recommend using one of the following add-ons for making the eBook selling process on your website seamless:
- E-junkie.com – Is a simple shopping cart that can easily be embedded into your website. It’s $10 per month with no transaction fees, and also has some affiliate promotion options. However, it is Paypal or Clickbank only payments and the customer’s experience is not that intuitive.
- Gumroad
- Payhip
- Selz
- Clickbank (y)
- Clixgalore (y)
There is one other option that I haven’t mentioned just yet. If you are the type of operator who likes to cut corners whenever possible, consider using the Shopify platform. Shopify can essentially act as your website AND your eCommerce store in one. Of course, such convenience comes at a cost, with monthly fees starting at $29US, plus transaction fees for each sale. You will also miss out on some of the affiliate promotional opportunities mentioned in the add-ons mentioned in the previous section, which means you’re on your own with marketing. As a Shopify is potentially much quicker to get up and running, it’s really a case of weighing up how much control you require and how much you are willing to spend on monthly website up-keep and marketing.