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Why I love Kindle

I feel like a one track record at the moment. All I can talk about is how easy it is to publish your book on kindle. I went for coffee with a friend and all I talked about was the fun I was having with price testing. I’m not sure she was totally with me on that one!

But I’m so excited by the prospect that any of us can put our creative endeavour out there. It’s total publishing freedom.

Now, maybe there are some books that shouldn’t see the light of the e-reader, but I think that if you’re an expert or an entrepreneur who is teaching, training, or advising on any way, then there are great reasons why you should create a kindle book.

And here are just five of the reasons why I love this growing platform.

1. It’s one of the biggest market places on the internet

With physical products, it seems obvious that we want to get them in a retailer.

I see it on Dragon’s Den. Someone comes on with a food product or a beauty product, baby toys, even a gardening product. And the mere sniff of a letter of interest or a distribution agreement from a major retailer will get the Dragons out of their seats and circling like vultures.

So why not widen the distribution channels for our online information products? And Amazon is one of the biggest market places out there.

If you have information or how-to expertise that is valuable to others, then cut through the time and the trouble it takes to pitch to a publisher, and just get it up on Amazon in a weekend.

If you were making jam you would want it on the shelves of your largest supermarket. If you’re writing a book you want it on Amazon.

2. Price testing is easy

I’m trained as an economist. So I know that there isn’t always a logical relationship between price and sales.

It isn’t a simple question of lower price = more sales.

Some products have a saturation point no matter how low the price, and some products will actually sell more – or at least will make you more profit – if you raise the price – the luxury goods factor.

So it’s complex. And the only way to find out is through positioning and then testing.

And one thing I love about Amazon kindle publishing is the ease of price testing. It’s just a click and a minor edit if you want to change the price. No need to set up your back-end shopping cart. No split testing. No need to check the sales page still works and all your buttons are linked up properly.

Just an easy few seconds to update the price. You remove almost all of the moving pieces you’d have if you were selling direct from your own website.

And then you simply wait to see where the sweet spot of maximum sales or maximum revenue falls (there are reasons why you might want to go for sales over revenue but I’ll talk about that another day!).

3. You get instant overnight credibility

I spoke at a conference last week. And although we were 400 bloggers and writers, I was one of only a very tiny handful of published authors in the room.

Do you think that made me stand out from the crowd?

And do you think it was good for my business (OK, and my ego!) when people came over and congratulated me on being a published author. A twice Amazon bestselling published author no less…. Would you like this for your business?

And with kindle it’s so easy to get published. To do it yourself or go through a publisher. And you don’t even need to get bestseller status to get the credibility. All that matters is that you are making a statement that you are the expert in that area.

Do you think this might help position you for speaking engagements? With new clients?

As trust seems to be declining on the internet, potential clients can go check you out really easily. Having a book for sale for just a few dollars or pounds from a trusted retailer like Amazon can say a lot more than pages of sales copy on your own site.

4. Low priced products can be a hassle to sell and Amazon takes a lot of that off your plate

It’s something you don’t see a lot of people talking about. But lower priced-products can be a hassle to sell.

There’s often a fixed cost of processing – you’ll no doubt pay for subscribers on your email list, and there’ll be a proportion of people who want to return, or who can’t download because of some technical glitch so you need good quality customer service support.

With kindle, Amazon takes care of all of that for you.

They handle delivery, they handle returns, they handle the checkout. You just sit back and collect the royalty cheque! (well OK, it’s a bit more work than that but definitely not as much as if you sold it from your own site)

5. It’s a great lead generator!

As online business owners, one of the never-ending puzzles is how to get in front of more people and how to get those people back to our websites.

If you have a well-positioned book on kindle you are immediately in front of an audience of people who are interested in your topic. Interested and looking to buy something.

Unlike people who are searching on Google, people searching on Amazon are there to buy – most likely anyway.

Now I don’t want to mislead you. It’s highly unlikely you’ll make a lot of money overnight (unless you already have a platform or another bestselling book). And, as ever, there are tactics that can make a big difference to your sales.

But once you know this, you can do it the right way for your business. And then Amazon can send a steady stream of new leads – and probably buyers – over to your site to find out more about you.

Is it for you?

Personally, I love the kindle platform. It’s easy to get content up, it’s easy to amend it if you find a spelling error (!), and it’s easy to test and adjust until you hit your sweet spot.

Of course, there are disadvantages. And whatever you do, don’t let the ease of the publishing process lull you into a place where you create easy content. You always want to put your best stuff out there.

If you’re as excited as I am then check out my programme on How To Publish Your Book On Kindle. And once your book’s out there, let me know so I can celebrate with you!

I’d love to know whether you’ve published. What attracts you and what challenges you’ve found in the process. And what more questions you have. Just leave a comment below…

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