Yes, I’ve been bad. I’ve been selling books on Amazon. I’ve learned my lesson. I will never build my brand (or at least not the brand I want) if I am selling on Amazon as a third-party reseller. It’s hard to give it up! It’s addictive. You find books, ship them to an Amazon warehouse (for a reduce shipping rate) and someone else stores them, picks and packs them when the time comes, and handles all the details. But we pay a premium for that service, and it is costly. Not only is it cutting into my profit margin, but it is costing me the growth and exposure of my own brand, which is non-existent as long as I am relying on Amazon. I’ve got to quit.
I need to absolutely quit.
I quit.
The remaining titles are being “picked and packed” from the warehouse to be returned to me over the weeks to come. I’m getting everything listed on the new website.
I’m the only one left!
Now, the most obvious difference between listing on Amazon and having your own website is the exposure. Tens of millions (LOTS of tens of millions) of people go online to shop Amazon. People pay over a hundred bucks a year just to be a member. How many online stores can get their customers to do that?
What this means for me is I have to do all my own marketing and advertising. The build-it-and-they-will-come marketing plan has only ever worked once, and that was in a movie. I am promoting through social media right now (this blog is a part of that, obviously) and that takes time to build momentum. I have promos of various flavors and one of them is for getting people to sign up to receive email promotions. I’ve had that one running for a solid day now and I have one lead. Granted, it’s not a huge-budget campaign, but it’s a start, I suppose.
There are going to be more opportunities and some of them will be mistakes. The trick is to find more of the former and as very little of the latter. I know I need to develop as much direct marketing potential as possible, and that is analogous to when rich people say “The first million is the hardest” and then chuckle aimlessly. It’s a long row to hoe.
If anyone has any cost-efficient and highly effective methods of promotion, I’d love to hear your suggestion. Have a great evening!
Kurt's Books 