Passive income. The holy grail of online businesses. Products, courses and offers that make you money while you sleep. I’m here to tell you that there’s real work behind generating passive income!
This week’s Minima question comes courtesy of one of my readers, Lucy.
“Can you share how you launched your book and how you continue to market it as an evergreen product?”
There are a lot of ways to sell information online – from time-released courses to one-time downloads to ongoing membership sites. E-books are a simple way to get your feet wet with selling your information online – as they are typically cost little to create and maintain.
I released my own e-book, The Minima Guide to Launching Your Site late last year. My primary goal when I created it was to use it as a lead generation tool rather than as a revenue stream (though I have been pleasantly surprised on both accounts). And if you’ve been following along with my mini blog series on the the Art of Creating the Online course, you’ll notice that the meditation course I feature is also an evergreen product.
When dealing with courses or products that are available for a limited time only, your marketing benefits from scarcity thinking and FOMO (the fear of missing out). But evergreen products (those products that are always offered for sale) have their own set of challenges.
Here are a few tips on how you can promote and market your own evergreen products.
Tip 1: Remind people of what you have to offer when they join your list
Hopefully you’re always getting new people into your funnel – and they may have no idea about what types of products you offer. When people sign up for my newsletter, I have a note that tells readers about what I’m going to share with them – and at the very bottom I share a link to my Minima Guide sales page.
Tip 2: Have a sales or landing page just for your product
I have a sales page on my main site that guides people to the e-book. This allows me to test various SEO strategies, opt-in offers and ad campaigns.
Tip 3: Add it to your resources page
I love a good resources page – the best tools, tips and services YOU personally use and support. Why not list your own products there! (See my resources page here).
Tip 4: Reference your products in your blog posts and share it via social media and your newsletter.
I schedule most of my tweets – and several times a week I link back to my blog posts. Now I make sure to provide value in my blog posts (I believe in the 90/10 rule – at least 90% of the time I’m providing value to my audience and 10% or less am I asking for anything) – but I’m always linking back to my website where people can read my content, opt-into my newsletter and view my offerings.
Another quick tip: I create a promotional block area that appears right after my blog post content (and before comments) to feature products or additional calls-to-action.
Tip 5: Test various opt-in offers
Setup a list (or sub-group) of people interested in just this product. Then you’re able to share with them special offers or value added downloads. Creating a follow-up sequence of emails with relevant information.
Tip 6: Affiliates
I’ve had several strong affiliates share my work in Facebook groups and I’ve gotten a great conversion rate. Affiliates need to be a clear fit with your work (and you need to verify that how they share your work is in line with your standards). I’m using Gumroad to sell and distribute my e-book and it has a built in affiliate program (and I’m manually choosing my affiliates). If you’re looking for a simple WordPress affiliate plugin, check out WP Affiliate.
Tip 7: Limited time promotions
I’m not a huge fan of discounting techniques because it trains your audience to look for future deals rather than purchasing right away. However, consider offering a great value add item like a recorded webinar, additional useful download or other bonus digital goodie if they purchase by a certain date.
Tip 8: Test test test!
Track everything – and focus on what’s working! I setup goals in Google Analytics and keep track of what is working to convert viewers into buyers (and subscribers).
How are you promoting your evergreen products?
Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you so much for answering my question so thoroughly! This is really helpful and ties in with some of my ideas for marketing my new ebook. Wishing you continued success with yours, Lucy.