Internet Marketing Success - Sell Physical Products

My "Stock Trading Riches" book on Amazon.com was selling pretty well, and the Stock Trading Riches website was converting between 5-9% of unique visitors.

So, it was going very well.

I then decided to expand and offer an eBook version of my book. I used PayDotCom, set up a separate webpage for ebook affiliates, modified the main sales page to promote both versions, and created affiliate tools - such as popups, etc.

I even advertised the 5-9% conversion rate - which is much better than the standard 1-3%.

But, the verdict is in. Expanding to an eBook lost me sales and money.

What happened?

1. I had no affiliate eBook sales - all my eBook sales were non-affiliate.

2. My book sales dropped down.

Even though I grossed more from each non-affiliate eBook sale than from each book, sales of the former did not make up for a drop in sales of the latter.

Why were book sales affected? I think this proves that a successful sales website must be simple and focussed on selling ONE thing.

I have therefore discontinued the eBook version. Anyone interested in selling Stock Trading Riches can still promote the book through Amazon Associates.

Some takeaways:

1. The most stable business model on the internet is to sell your own products. It is more dependable than selling affiliate products, or expecting affiliates to sell your product. The product creator is more likely to succeed because they have the knowledge, motivation, expertise, and creditability.

2. Keep it simple. This is my mantra and philosophy and, looking back, I did have reservations about selling both an eBook and book version. Over the years, I have learned that keeping things simple, uncluttered, and straight-forward pays off.

3. Published books have more credibility and demand than eBooks. From my own experience, I know that, on the whole, I have been much more satisfied with physical books than eBooks. Too many people slap together crappy eBooks.

Publishing a physical product (books, cds, dvd's) requires a certain barrier of effort - and effort weeds out the get-rich-quick lemmings and forum-junkies.