The first place you will want to start is with your book. Photograph your book using a digital camera or you can use a traditional film camera and have a photo lab put the prints on a disc. You will want these photos to look as nice as possible since you will later upload them so that others can see the book they will purchase.
Next, you will want to determine the price you would like ask for your book and find out what the average rate of shipping will be. This information will help determine where you would like to sell your books.
If you own your website you should consider one of the many payment gateways that are available such as PayPal or 2Checkout.com. Each one has it's advantages and disadvantages. The payment gateway will offer an API format to allow you to connect to the system from your site.
The biggest step will be implementing a storefront. There are many different ways to do this, but your goal is to have a system in place where the end customer arrives at your site, sees the item they are looking for, and buys it all in one continuous trip.
There are other solutions out there such as eBay (the mega auction site) where you can use the services to sell your products to the highest bidder and Amazon.com where used books are sold right alongside brand new titles. Ultimately it's a matter of offering the book with a clear price and shipping costs established. When you build a reputation of being a great book seller you will have no problem moving books to your customers.
But he doesn't have an online shopping cart!
He expects people to call his 800 number and give him their credit card number over the phone.
He also asks people to send checks to his post office box.
While both calls to action might seem normal, they are so 1980!
In today's world, people expect to pay online. And you as an author should have an online shopping cart in place to take their money.
Here Are 7 Reasons to Use a Professional Online Shopping Cart & Stop Taking Orders by Phone
1. People live in dozens of different time zones. Do you want to answer the phone at 2 a.m. your time because someone in England is having her first cup of coffee and wants to order your book?
2. People shop on weekends. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be out in my kayak on a weekend than sitting by the phone waiting for a book order.
3. Telephone tag. Let's say you just appeared on a talk radio show and people are calling to order your book. They will get a busy signal since you can talk to only one person at a time. You'll find that you have to call back a dozen people. If this happens, you run the risk of playing telephone tag - and possibly never connecting with them.
4. Expensive phone charges. When you return phone calls, you risk paying long-distance rates including international phone calling rates. Your cost of taking the order just jumped through the roof.
5. Too much time, not enough money. When you take orders over the phone, you have to be nice. There's nothing wrong with being nice, but you have to engage people in a conversation: How's the weather? Where are you calling from? How long have you been interested in this topic? If you don't ask questions like this, people will think you are rude and might not want to buy your book! This all takes time. Is your time worth money? Well if you take 10 minutes to call someone and accept the order, you could be out $20 if you charge $120 an hour for consulting services. Now, if you have to make a lot of book order sales calls, you can be out hundreds of dollars.
6. When you only take order over the phone, you have to sell the person, not just take the order. Many authors are not comfortable selling on the phone. Or they are bad at asking for the order. You could blow the sale.
7. Too many mistakes. It is all too easy to misspell the person's name, mailing address or credit card number. I call this unintentional dyslexia. You think you typed in "54" and you said "54" to the client, but you really wrote "45."
If you had an online shopping cart, like MyEasyOnlineStore.com which is used by many authors including myself, you'd solve all these problems!
5 Reasons to Get a Professional Online Shopping Cart Now
1. Online shopping carts take orders 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without you being present.
2. It can handle multiple orders simultaneously. So if you get flooded with orders, your buyers won't get a busy signal on the phone. Instead, they'll get a confirmation note from the shopping cart that the order has gone through.
3. You can spend your time make money and creating new products, or providing services to your clients. You won't spend time verifying orders.
4. No mistakes. People will type in their information correctly. If the credit card info is wrong, or if information is missing, the shopping cart will alert the buyer immediately.
5. Online shopping carts protect you from fraud. If the card isn't valid, the shopping cart won't let the order go through. On the other hand, if you get a bad check in the mail and you deposit it, your bank will charge you a fee. If you already mailed the product, then you will have lost the price of your product as well as the postage - and your time.
Add an online shopping cart to your website today and you will sell more products and services while protecting your time and energy. And, it's very easy to get started. Just go to www.prleads.com/meos for a special report on how to choose a shopping cart. You'll even find information on how to get started today!
Dan Janal has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Marketing Tips and Shopping. Author and Serial Internet business entrepreneur, Dan Janal has built multiple six-figure income businesses using MyEasyOnlineStore.com. Now, for the first time ever, he's revealing the hidden truth behind automating your business, making more money onlin. Dan Janal's top article generates over 8100 views. Bookmark Dan Janal to your Favourites.