1. Completing your ebook before marketing it



Ideally, even before your ebook's being written, you'll have started a marketing plan, so that there's a lot of buzz and expectation as eager buyers wait for it.

Waiting until the book's complete is the biggest mistake you can make when it comes to selling your ebook. Even traditional publishers aim to build buzz well before publication day, and so should you.

You can build buzz in various ways: create a blog to publicize your ebook, and build a mailing list of people who are interested in the topic of your ebook.

2. Expecting your ebook to sell itself

Unfortunately, your ebook will not sell itself. Think "publicity" - the more efforts you make to promote your ebook, the more copies you will sell.

There are many ways you can create publicity, including:

* Arranging an affiliate program for your ebook, so that you have many salespeople promoting your ebook on your behalf; and

* Advertising. Arrange your advertising before you launch your ebook, so that everything is ready to go. If you're writing your ebook yourself, write the sales page as you write the ebook. If someone else is writing it, ask them to pull out the ebook's benefits as they write.

3. Expecting too much of your customers

Before you launch your ebook, arrange for customer support. Especially with a large launch, it's important that your customers have a way to contact you, and that they receive support in a timely fashion.

Although it's impossible to work out all challenges customers will have with your ebook, write a Frequently Asked Questions file, and post it on your Web page.

If you've created a blog, the blog will come into action here: you can post answers to customer support questions as they arrive.

4. "Sales page" syndrome

Although single Web sales pages were popular and effective a few years ago, that's no longer the case. Especially if you're using PPC advertising, your sales page should have several supplementary pages - a Privacy Policy, a Contacts page, and a FAQ page.

If your Web sales page is standalone, not only will you be forced to pay high PPC prices, your page may not be accepted at all, if it fails to meet Google's Quality Guidelines.

Therefore, your Web sales page should be part of a complete site, rather than a single page.

Complete the site and upload it before your ebook's launched. You can add the sales page on launch day.

5. Paying too much for advertising

Most ebooks need a paid advertising campaign. However, be wary of spending too much for advertising, especially when you're ebook's just launched. Use free advertising methods like blogging and article marketing as much as possible.

Your challenge with PPC and other paid advertising is that once you stop paying, your sales stop. Aim to promote your ebook through organic traffic methods, as well as paid advertising.

So there you have five things to avoid when selling an ebook. Avoid them, and your ebook will be on the way to becoming a bestseller.