I can't even count the number of conversations I've had with clients who just get it. The stories of why they wrote their books or developed their products are all different, but the endings are the same: They're not selling diddly. Squat. Nada.
Before we get too far into the whys and why nots, let me warn you, I am not going to tell you what you want to hear. There's no magic formula to receive a "Special Report," nor is there a download of secret For Your Eyes Only" information. (In fact, my next rant will be about the web marketing trap.)
Instead, I'll go straight to the why, which is as complicated as it is simple: People can't buy what they can't find.
Most web marketing gurus will tell you that Search Engine Optimization will direct buyers to your book or product, so you should hire them to get listed front and center. I am not that guy, either. While I believe in the power of Google, let's be frank, there are major caveats:
1. Search engines are great when you know what you're searching for. Type in a name or book title into Google and look at the results. You may be at the top of page 1 and even have 22 different listings on the first and second pages. You may even generate the same results on Bing and other search portals. You might even show up first on Amazon.com, where your book is ready for sale to the masses. But you're still not selling many books. Here's the tricky part: YOU know your name and your book title, but does anyone else. People can't search what they don't know.
2. People can search for my incredibly, fantastical keywords, can't they? Well sure they can and they do. Let's assume for a second you have a book and it's about Politics, Money, Religion, Employment or any number of topics. Now go to Amazon and type in some keywords Politics, Money, Religion, Employment You just discovered there are 672,481 books using your Incredibly Fantastical Keywords, right? Now type in those same keywords along with your name or book title. Eureka! There you are. Now go back to No. 1 above.
3. Your website is gorgeous but not making you sales. The first solution is, LOOK AT No. 1, above. Are people visiting your site? Have you checked out your server logs to see what your traffic data looks like? You're probably thinking your webmaster takes care of all that, right? Unless your webmaster is getting a piece of the profits from every item you sell, odds are he/she doesn't really care. Let's be honest here, you're paying your webmaster whether you sell or not. Now, if your traffic data is showing that you're getting a boatload of traffic but no sales, maybe you need to be more realistic about how gorgeous your site really is. Looking good and converting visitors into buyers are two different things. But before you start blowing up your site, go back and LOOK AT No. 1, ABOVE.
Here's a bit of free advice: If your plan is to reach 100,000 book or product sales is based on people finding you without a clue who you are, keep your day job and forget about buying the fancy car with your profits. You need exposure. You need to get your name and the name of your book, product or business in the news in newspapers (they all put their content online nowadays), magazines and e-zines and blogs. Get yourself interviewed on talk radio and TV, if you can. Get your social network sites up and active and build a following.
Plenty of people do it themselves. If you find that too difficult or time-consuming, hire professionals to do it for you. There are millions of books and products for sale online. If you want folks to know what to search for, they have to know that you exist and what you have to offer.
And the happy ending will come.
Joe Thomas is the founder and owner of Left Brain Digital (www.leftbraindigital.com), a web development company. He's an award-winning web designer/developer with more than 18 years of experience in print and web design and development. Thomas' work became a major influence in graphic and web design in the "Y2K" era of the Internet's dot-com explosion.
Current Issue - May 2024