Many of us service providers are using self-published books as a way to demonstrate the value of our services to potential readers, but getting our books in the hands of the right audience is no small feat.
When writing my book, Release: A Woman’s Guide to Releasing Weight in Midlife Through Becoming Your Body’s Best Friend, I created various bridges for readers to connect beyond the book, such as QR codes to access a collection of bonus content, a podcast playlist, and client testimonials to illustrate the concepts being described.
In the hopes of accelerating the initial results I was seeing, the strategy I am currently using to get my book in the hands of my ideal readers is a low-ticket acquisition funnel using Facebook Ads. I sell my book directly to consumers as the first step into my high-ticket course funnel, where I then focus on turning customers into clients.
The book sales page
The basis of my funnel is simple. The ads send potential readers to a landing page with social proof (recommendations from users), reasons why my book is right for them, and the bonuses included. In my current offer, priced at $9.99, the reader receives the downloadable e-book in PDF and ePub formats; the audiobook, which I narrate myself; and a collection of bonus content. I also have one upsell in place, offered at 60% off the normal retail price of $497.
Once the purchase is complete, a thank-you page is displayed that shows a short video, which includes: a message thanking them for their purchase and explaining how to access their order; the offer of a surprise bonus: they are invited to pick a time on my calendar for a high-value call; and the option to read some testimonials from previous clients before booking the call, which is displayed below the video as well. I believe adding the video is key, as it starts to build trust and connection with the reader.
Creating the right upsell offer
Which upsell should you offer? There are many opinions on this topic, and I am coming to you not as a marketing expert, but as an author in the women’s health field who loves business and has tested every approach imaginable over the last decade.
By placing myself in my reader’s shoes, I have concluded that a great upsell helps the reader to implement what they will learn in our books. The main questions I asked myself when designing my upsell offer were: What does my reader want (their dream vision)? What is preventing them from getting there? What would someone now need, right after reading my book, to be able to implement and get results? In my case, my upsell offer helps clients tap into their inner motivation to actually see results, which I know is a major pain point in the health and wellness field.
I pre-sold the beta version of my mini-course Motivated: Master Your Mind, Love Your Body so I could get real-time feedback, and then repackaged it as a do-it-yourself offering. A potential client can work with me on a smaller scale to ensure that my coaching style and philosophies resonate with them, while I help them get the most out of my book.
Tech tools to make it happen
I currently host this and all my offers in the digital content platform Kajabi, including the thank-you page, at no extra cost. Each user receives a secured login, making it possible for me to track who has listened to the audiobook. Also, if a reader decides to upgrade to my signature program, The Weight Release Shift, they are already familiar with the platform.
The main landing page and upsell page are currently hosted in Thrivecart, which also acts as my payment processing interface, making the process simple for the consumer and fully automated. Both platforms also communicate with Facebook Ads Manager, making it easy to track each purchase.
Lastly, I use Zapier to connect each purchase to my email provider, Flodesk (my digital marketing service of choice), and my customer relationship management (CRM) tool. There are several good options for this step, with nearly no manual work for you or your team. After a purchase, all we need to do is nurture each lead and eventually offer to schedule a call.
Facebook ads that convert
When I first started, I worked with an expert on building Facebook ads. Their recommendation was to use the Dynamic Ad feature, in which Facebook lets you test multiple creatives, copy, and headlines in one campaign. I set up 10 different creatives, a short and a long copy, two headlines, and two calls to action and tested it for four days.
My intention with this strategy is to eventually hit a break-even point, where all subsequent sales are profit for my business. For example, if I sell 10 books at $9.99 and I am able to upsell one person to the $197 mini-course, this means I can spend up to $29.69 per lead to break even and now I have already paying clients in my business that I can nurture and continue to serve.
With my first test, I was able to achieve a 2400% return on ad spending by converting readers into participants in my signature program, but it is my goal to keep refining my ad to get to a break-even point without having to rely on my high-ticket offer to recoup the ad spend.
Takeaways
What I have realized is that a reader is a more sophisticated lead. They are at a place in their journey where they want to invest more time in consuming content, rather than just another freebie that may sit unopened in their inbox.
All of the above pieces are quite simple, but the difficulty is in the implementation. If you have the funds, investing in experts may save you time and money in the long run. As mentioned, I did rely on some contractors along the way to help me build some of the pieces of the puzzle, but the overall strategy I know can be easily repeated by anyone. I hope that my experience will give you some insight into what you can implement, and I wish you much success with your book sales.
