So you have written an e-book. The hardest part is over.
Now it's time to start making money with it. How do you do it?
This article will teach you the mechanics of selling an e-book,
step by step.
1. Web Site
First, you need a web site. To find out how to set up your
very own web site, read this free book called "The Absolute
Beginner's Guide To Starting a Web Site" at
http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com/Guide.html
2. Credit Card Payments
You need to figure out a way to accept payments online -
after all, it's an e-book and when people are ready to order
it, they want a fast and easy way to do so. The easiest and
most cost-efficient way to accept credit card payments is
through a third-party processing company such as
ClickBank.com, iBill.com, and OrderButton.com.
All you do is sign up with one of these companies, set up
your preferences such as the price of your e-book, web address
of your "thank you" page where your customers can download it,
and how you would like to be paid for your sales.
Most companies send you a check every two weeks, though some
may give you an option of direct bank deposit.
3. Uploading E-Book
Now you need to put your e-book on your web site. You
upload it the same way you upload any other file - via
an FTP program such as WS_FTP or CuteFTP. Once it's
on your web server, you have to link to it from your "thank you"
page so customers could download it.
Linking to an e-book is the same as linking to any web
page. You simply specify where your e-book is located (URL),
as shown below:
http://www.helpingfoot.com/ebooks/profitsbook.exe
The above example shows the location of an executable file (I
removed the tag brackets so you could see the actual HTML).
When your customers click on it, they will be asked where
they would like to save it on their computer.
If your book was created as a PDF file, you might want to
tell your customers to right-click on the e-book link and
choose "Save Target As" (MAC users can simply drag the link
on their desktop). This will allow the book to be downloaded
instead of online viewing, which can be quite slow.
4. Protect & Deliver E-Book
One of the biggest e-book authors' concerns is protecting
their books from public downloads. You put so much work and
time into creating it, that you really want it to be profitable.
You don't want it to be downloaded by hundreds of not-paid
users.
You must password-protect your e-book which can be done
in many different ways. Let's look at the most common ways
of protecting your e-book.
a) One password protection. This is done via your hosting
company control panel (my host, Pair.com, offers an
incredibly easy interface for setting up a password) to
protect the files or the directories you want.
You can also install a CGI script that will allow you to do it
from your web browser. See the link below for free
password-protection scripts:
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Password_Protection/
If you have never installed a CGI script before, then you might
greatly benefit from a "How To Install and Troubleshoot CGI Scripts"
tutorial at http://www.installcgi.com.
The above method is quite secure, but there are still some
pitfalls. For example, a customer who purchased your e-book
can send the location of your "thank you" page with the
username and password on it to 20 of his friends.
You might want to manually change the URL of your "thank
you" page and the password on it every 7-14 days, for better
protection. In fact, some people prefer manual changes to
automatic set up because it gives a much better control over it.
The protection methods outlined below make an attempt to
create better and more automated security for your
info-product.
b) Multiple-User Protection. If you would like to allow each
customer to have their own password, then this is the method
you should use. Again, you can do it through your host's
account control panel if available, or install a CGI script
to manage users and passwords. At the link below you can
find a great wealth of such scripts, free or fee:
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Password_Protection/
c) Armadillo software protects EXE files. It is a powerful
license manager and software protection system. It can
generate keys for you, just like those you see on Microsoft
CD-ROM disks.
http://www.siliconrealms.com/armadillo.htm
d) Account Manager Lite will automate the multiple-user
protection and user approval. Each person will have their
own login information, and you will be able to track the
number of downloads made from each account. There are
many more excellent features in this program that will
help you automate some time-consuming tasks.
http://www.cgiscriptcenter.com/acctlite
e) Activ E-Book Compiler can be used to create limited and
full editions of your e-book. It allows your customers
to download your e-book before making a purchase. If they
like it, they can order a full version from you. You will
then send them a key that "unlocks" the complete features
of your e-book. I was very impressed by the number of
useful features this software offers. One drawback, though,
is it only creates EXE files which can be viewed on a
Macintosh system.
http://www.ebookcompiler.com
f) DigiBuy allows you to set up a small web site and sell
downloadable software and e-books. They create a temporary
URL for each customer. This URL will disappear after 24 or
48 hours to keep people from sharing the URL with others.
DigiBuy also handles the entire transaction and sends you
a check each month. This is the safest and most convenient
way of selling digital products, in my opinion.
http://www.digibuy.com
Remember, whatever protection method you choose, make
sure your customers can easily access and download your
e-book. Sometimes people get so obsessed with securing
their product that their customers have to jump through
hoops to get to it - not good for somebody who just
sent you their credit card number.
So, now that your web site is set up, online payment system
is in place, and your book is in a safe location, it's time
to start spreading the word about it.
But that's another article :-)
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About the Author:
Milana Nastetskaya is a full time web and the author of
two books: "Create Your First Busines Web Site in 10
days" and "65 Instant Web Design Answers".
http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com