Until fairly recently, publishing a book was a difficult and time-consuming process. But these days, traditional publishing houses have largely been replaced with the Internet. Just about anyone can write an ebook, then publish it with the largest book retailer in the world, Amazon. Talk about endless opportunities for both your website and membership site! It’s time to take advantage of self-publishing to promote your membership site.
In this article we’ll discuss how ebooks can help you market your site. First we’ll look at the benefits of publishing on Amazon and, second, we’ll look at how you can use ebooks on your sites. We’ll then consider some of the top tips for writing an ebook and how to create an exciting launch for it.
Connect with Your Target Audience
Whether you go with Amazon or just on your website, publishing an ebook is an effective way to connect with your target audience. You can share your ideas and expertise whilst you subtly explain the benefits of your membership site, which should encourage readers to sign up for your site.
An ebook is an excellent means of demonstrating your knowledge in an easily digestible format. There are those who may not be so sure about signing up for a membership site and all that it involves. But when you connect with readers through an ebook, you build their trust. As they gain understanding and feel more comfortable with your site and what it offers, they’ll be more liable to sign up.
Leveraging Amazon
While a self-published ebook available only on your site has its benefits, publishing with Amazon gives you a lot more exposure than your site alone ever could. So if you’re serious about membership-site promotion, you should definitely consider publishing with Amazon.
Exposure to the Masses
Like the possibility of being discovered by millions?  Publishing your book on Amazon is an invaluable way to get the word out about your site’s content. An ebook showcases who you are and why people should subscribe to your site. And it’s all for free.
Credibility and Authentication
You’re an expert in your field, and you want people to know it. Your author-bio page is a critical component of your ebook marketing strategy. Publishing your ebook on Amazon and having an author page gives you instant credibility, establishes your expertise, and authenticates your membership site.
Set Your Price Low
With Amazon, you can select your ebook’s pricing. It may be tempting to go with a higher price to try and make money from your book, but if you’ve published it to help promote your membership site, be sure to opt for a low fee.
There are thousands of ebooks available on Amazon. So unless you already have a following as a writer, people won’t be rushing to buy your book. If you price your ebook at the low end of the scale, those who haven’t heard of you or your membership site but are interested in your field may purchase your book—and become future members of your site.
Publishing Your eBook on Your Membership Site
If you don’t choose to go the Amazon route, no worries. There are other ways to use your ebook to promote your membership site. Let’s talk about some of them now.
Generating Leads
Using an ebook as an opt-in incentive magnet is an effective way to generate leads. For instance, you can give it away to anyone who signs up for your mailing list. And once these potential members are on your email list, you’ll be able to keep in contact with them and further promote your site.
A Reward for Signing Up
Membership sites sometimes offer rewards for signing up, renewing a subscription, or simply opting for a free trial. Offering your ebook as a reward encourages people to join up and adds value to your offer.
Bonus Material Inside Your Membership Site
You can also use your ebook as bonus content inside your membership site for paying members eye’s only. If you want members to renew their subscriptions, it’s important that you continually add interesting and relevant content in different forms. An ebook may resonate with many of your members and convince them that your membership site fees are well worth paying for.
An Extra Revenue Stream
Lastly, your ebook can always be sold to provide you with an extra revenue stream. Selling an ebook on your site can help grow your persona as an expert in your field. And if your book is well written, a customer who has bought and read it may could become a convert to your site.
Top Tips for Writing an eBook
When writing an ebook, the number-one thing is to make sure your content is interesting and relevant to your target audience. It should be based on the same topic as your membership site so you’re attracting the right kind of readers—those who could be future members.
The content of your ebook should also be of high quality. You want your readers to be impressed so they’ll take an interest in your site. Your goal is to demonstrate your credentials and promote your business, but be careful not to make it too self-promotional. Subtlety is the way to go.
If the idea of writing a book has never appealed to you, that’s okay. Ebooks don’t have to be lengthy or take years to write. Try compiling a selection of old posts and then adding an introduction and conclusion. Or use a ghostwriter to create the ebook for you.
Launch
Once your ebook is complete, it’s time to launch it. You’ll definitely want to create excitement around your book release. A good launch will help advertise not only your book but also your site.
So, where to promote your book? You can do that on your site, as well as create a press release for it. Also, ask other sites in your industry to review your book, and try to be interviewed about it on people’s podcasts and webinars. If it’s relevant to your audience, be sure to market your ebook in the local paper or on the radio. Having a new book out gives you something to talk about, so take advantage of any opportunity you get to promote your ebook and, in turn, your membership site.
Final Thoughts
Writing and promoting an ebook is a great membership-site marketing tool, but not unless your book is both high quality and relevant to your industry. It cannot be overstated. If readers don’t think your ebook is worth its salt, they won’t join your membership site. However, if you’ve created an ebook that checks off all the boxes we’ve listed in this article, above and you successfully promote it, you’ll drive traffic to your site, generate leads, and most likely grow your member list.
How have you used an ebook to help you promote your membership site? Please let us know in the comments below.
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