I want to sell E-Books. Which niche should I enter of these two?

[Biggy]

I'm stuck! Right now I got site almost on autopilot. It's time to start a new project. Now I'm stuck because I want also to sell eBooks etc.

Which niche would you pick?

1) Younger niche, more business potential tutorials. Quite popular niche, but for advertising it can do quite good (based on my experience) Poor engagment on ads compared to niche 2. Quite high priced Ebooks etc.

2. In this niche people are a bit older not 20-30, but more like 40-60 years old, amazing interest in that, most likely super good also for advertising as older generation extremly comments and engages on posts. They've most likely also get higher (better) income. Big con. is it's not business oriented, but it's more like a hobby. Can we sell to them?

Now the hard part is. Which one to go with? 1. is good as we can add content and everything more on "build your own business". Compared to niche 2 which is more a hobby like, but they are older, more engaged, but not sure if they really want courses and even pay.

 

[Ryuzaki]

@Biggy, I'm pulling this information from the 3rd expansion pack in the Digital Crash Course I wrote on Copywriting you can read here for a deeper exploration.

​

This is Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's a model in psychology, and as we know, selling and marketing is a game of psychology. There are things people MUST spend money on and things people LIKE to spend money on, if they have money, and usually only if other things are taken care of first.

Your Niche #1 is business and teaching business it sounds like. It's people trying to satisfy the bottom of that hierarchy. They're trying to fulfill their physiological needs and safety needs (by making money). That's literally do-or-die type of stuff.

But just because it's business-to-business doesn't mean they have money. It sounds like they don't. Price accordingly and without DRM expect some bootlegging and sharing to be going on (which is never a good enough reason not to pursue something).

The older people in Niche #2 likely already have the bottom 3 tiers of the hierarchy settled. They also likely already have money and are stable. That's especially so if the demographic is interested in a hobby. They're trying to fill their time, gain self-esteem, do something their friends are doing, and reach self-actualization through activities. "You can become enlightened by becoming the best gardener in the world" type of stuff.

That's the positive of that niche. The negative is it's not do-or-die, and old people can happily suck at something and get just as much out of it as being good at it. And they're probably on a limited income from pensions, social security, and all that. That's one reason to get into hobbies, because you may not be able to afford to travel and do all that crap you dreamed of when you thought about retirement as a youngster.

I'd tell you to take a look at the Life-Force 8 in that post too. These are the life impulses that cause people to DO SOMETHING (aka spend money). I'll paste it here:

The Life-Force 8 (from Drew Eric Whiman's Ca$hvertiing book):

1. Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension
2. Enjoyment of food and beverages
3. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger
4. Sexual companionship
5. Comfortable living conditions
6. To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses
7. Care and protection of loved ones
8. Social approval

The only place I see "hobbies" on there is possibly in #6, but old people aren't competitive like that. Now take it back to Niche #1 of younger people trying to start a business. Starting a business is all about money (though they don't have any yet), in order to achieve every single one of those Life-Force 8 fundamental biological urges.

That's a start (and possibly already leading to a conclusion) on how to think about the earning potentials to effort ratio that's going to come with either of these target demographics.

 

[Biggy]

@Biggy, I'm pulling this information from the 3rd expansion pack in the Digital Crash Course I wrote on Copywriting you can read here for a deeper exploration.

​

This is Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's a model in psychology, and as we know, selling and marketing is a game of psychology. There are things people MUST spend money on and things people LIKE to spend money on, if they have money, and usually only if other things are taken care of first.

Your Niche #1 is business and teaching business it sounds like. It's people trying to satisfy the bottom of that hierarchy. They're trying to fulfill their physiological needs and safety needs (by making money). That's literally do-or-die type of stuff.

But just because it's business-to-business doesn't mean they have money. It sounds like they don't. Price accordingly and without DRM expect some bootlegging and sharing to be going on (which is never a good enough reason not to pursue something).

The older people in Niche #2 likely already have the bottom 3 tiers of the hierarchy settled. They also likely already have money and are stable. That's especially so if the demographic is interested in a hobby. They're trying to fill their time, gain self-esteem, do something their friends are doing, and reach self-actualization through activities. "You can become enlightened by becoming the best gardener in the world" type of stuff.

That's the positive of that niche. The negative is it's not do-or-die, and old people can happily suck at something and get just as much out of it as being good at it. And they're probably on a limited income from pensions, social security, and all that. That's one reason to get into hobbies, because you may not be able to afford to travel and do all that crap you dreamed of when you thought about retirement as a youngster.

I'd tell you to take a look at the Life-Force 8 in that post too. These are the life impulses that cause people to DO SOMETHING (aka spend money). I'll paste it here:

The Life-Force 8 (from Drew Eric Whiman's Ca$hvertiing book):

1. Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension
2. Enjoyment of food and beverages
3. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger
4. Sexual companionship
5. Comfortable living conditions
6. To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses
7. Care and protection of loved ones
8. Social approval

The only place I see "hobbies" on there is possibly in #6, but old people aren't competitive like that. Now take it back to Niche #1 of younger people trying to start a business. Starting a business is all about money (though they don't have any yet), in order to achieve every single one of those Life-Force 8 fundamental biological urges.

That's a start (and possibly already leading to a conclusion) on how to think about the earning potentials to effort ratio that's going to come with either of these target demographics.

Thanks so much regarding this.

Regarding niche 1. I won't say that this niche is for a super young people. Age is like 20 - 35, so I would say they can already have some income / job that they may hate, but would like to change.

I'm right now more looking at #1 because i found out. This older generation and courses that are already made are pretty cheap. Compared to #1 idea where courses are all from 60$ up to like 1000$ (some even more)

Why I like niche 1 :
1. Business oriented (it can be)
2. Enjoyment of life
3. Freedom (do what you like)
4. Do job you like
5. Winning / Ego (huge part in this business)
6. Or just learn new tips (some already have business, they just want to learn more about this process)
7. High ticket (100 - 1000$ some even more)
8. They want to feel special

Why I hate niche 1:
- Maybe there's not enough money, but I really doubt. I worked for a few people in simillar niche and they were going crazy on some specific stuff.
- Do they really need this as there needs to be specific profession to be made (eg. let's say it's about lawyers (it's not that complex) you can take our course / eBook, but you still need a specific degree. Good thing is that to get that degree costs 1500 - 3000$, so that's why most likely you can charge 300-900$)

Why I like niche 2 :
- Hobby
- Older people far older than niche 1 (maybe more money)
- Huge engagment & commenting
Why I hate niche 2 :
- It's a hobby
- eBooks that are already made are pretty cheap 20-100$ max.

 

[Ryuzaki]

- Do they really need this as there needs to be specific profession to be made (eg. let's say it's about lawyers (it's not that complex) you can take our course / eBook, but you still need a specific degree)

Let's call this a "study guide" then, just for the sake of illustration. All this really does is narrow your demographic, which might reduce the profit potential per year but there's always new students cycling in. Narrowing the demographic is good. You can get a tighter profile on them and market to them better and push their buttons harder.

If your demographic was "students studying law" then we can discard a solid 33% of them who are doing fine as is. Let's say 66% are struggling to some degree, and then that 33% are going to be okay but 33% are probably going to fail without some help. Those are the ones that will end up buying study guides and engaging tutors (unless they're too arrogant or afraid to do that, since reputation matters in law school).

The heat is on. You can hit them with a high ticket offer that pushes all the Life-Force 8 buttons, focusing both on the benefits (tying your product to their fantasies about what passing the test means) and what they lose by not buying (impending doom in all 8 impulses). Collect stats about the success rates of your students and so forth and tighten it all down as time goes on. That's a very hot, needy psychographic there. There is a lot to gain and a lot to lose. Easy marketing.

Why I like niche 2 :
- Hobby
- Older people far older than niche 1 (maybe more money)
- Huge engagment & commenting
Why I hate niche 2 :
- It's a hobby
- eBooks that are already made are pretty cheap 20-100$ max.

Huge engagement and commenting can work well for you or it can turn on you really fast too. It can be social validation or social ostracization if you don't come with the perfect product. And frankly, a bunch of old ladies with too much time and a love of gossip might hate on you anyways. Just something to consider and not anything some customer service can't handle.

The price of the e-book being $20-$100 wouldn't scare me if there is potential to sell a high volume. The reason is is that the barriers to break down to get the sale are already lower. People piss away $20 willy nilly every day, sometimes several times a day. That could lead to a higher volume of sales and a lower desire to bootleg it.

 

[Biggy]

Some more information :

The problem with 20-60$ (niche #2) is if I can make break even / profit. In the niche #1 with high ticket there should be more space to spend more / more profit in long run.

How many in USA alone are businesses already for niche #1 there: around 500.000 people that already do that. I bet a lot of them do not do in a "legal" way (without faculty). There's around i would say 10-15mil that use their services in USA alone or even more. Growth yearly is around 5.5 / 8% a year.

I'll go aggresively with marketing tactics, ad spend, marketing etc. That's what I worry most with #2 niche. Aggressive and quite low ticket price means I need big volume of sales like you said.

 

[Biggy]

Let's call this a "study guide" then, just for the sake of illustration. All this really does is narrow your demographic, which might reduce the profit potential per year but there's always new students cycling in. Narrowing the demographic is good. You can get a tighter profile on them and market to them better and push their buttons harder.

If your demographic was "students studying law" then we can discard a solid 33% of them who are doing fine as is. Let's say 66% are struggling to some degree, and then that 33% are going to be okay but 33% are probably going to fail without some help. Those are the ones that will end up buying study guides and engaging tutors (unless they're too arrogant or afraid to do that, since reputation matters in law school).

The heat is on. You can hit them with a high ticket offer that pushes all the Life-Force 8 buttons, focusing both on the benefits (tying your product to their fantasies about what passing the test means) and what they lose by not buying (impending doom in all 8 impulses). Collect stats about the success rates of your students and so forth and tighten it all down as time goes on. That's a very hot, needy psychographic there. There is a lot to gain and a lot to lose. Easy marketing.


Huge engagement and commenting can work well for you or it can turn on you really fast too. It can be social validation or social ostracization if you don't come with the perfect product. And frankly, a bunch of old ladies with too much time and a love of gossip might hate on you anyways. Just something to consider and not anything some customer service can't handle.

The price of the e-book being $20-$100 wouldn't scare me if there is potential to sell a high volume. The reason is is that the barriers to break down to get the sale are already lower. People piss away $20 willy nilly every day, sometimes several times a day. That could lead to a higher volume of sales and a lower desire to bootleg it.

@Ryuzaki what would you rather choose :

1) Monthly / subscribtion based offer. (10-20$ a month)
2. Fixed price ( example: 300-600$)

Why I feel like fixed price can be better is to get a cash flow. Where IF monthly subscribtion works it would be good on a long run, but advertising and getting positive return would take me way too much time.

 

[Ryuzaki]

It's hard to answer because we don't know what and who you're selling to, but you made it sound like it was somewhat related to needing or getting a degree, in which case people will eventually stop paying the subscription once the goal is achieved. I can't imagine ever subscribing to an e-book, or even the promise that new e-books will come out every month or whatever. I want the one-and-done payment. A course is a different story, though I've never subscribed to those either, but I can at least understand why people would, especially it's the gate I have to walk through to get to other things like a private forum and support and all that. It's never roped me in, personally, though.

 

[Biggy]

It's hard to answer because we don't know what and who you're selling to, but you made it sound like it was somewhat related to needing or getting a degree, in which case people will eventually stop paying the subscription once the goal is achieved. I can't imagine ever subscribing to an e-book, or even the promise that new e-books will come out every month or whatever. I want the one-and-done payment. A course is a different story, though I've never subscribed to those either, but I can at least understand why people would, especially it's the gate I have to walk through to get to other things like a private forum and support and all that. It's never roped me in, personally, though.

Got it, let's say we also talk about course. I think that testing and getting revenue / profit. Is much better one time payment for "quick cash" and then most likely expanding to other niches or upselling them. Monthly subscription is like tricky especially because of cash flow to break even after months. I think i'll go with fixed price.

 

[Biggy]

@Ryuzaki before making sales landing page etc. Do you have any sites in mind with really good landing pages and also those who have really good copywriting, pictures, ads. Branding?

What are some channels, sites to look at? Also any YouTube videos? Thanks

 

[Ryuzaki]

@Biggy, my answer to this would be to first look at competitors doing what you want to do. See what the conventions are that you may need to include because users in the niche may expect to see them. Then either include them all or go in the 100% opposite direction to stand out. But you should be able to see what the winners are already doing.

The second would be to go back to basics, and that usually means the old school stuff. Handwritten fonts, background highlighting headers, long-form landers (length = strength), and all of that. I use to recommend people look at "Warrior Special Offers" (WSO's) on WarriorForum but that entire forum died after Freelancer bought it and destroyed it, trying to turn it into Reddit. You can probably go through some historical threads and find the off-site landers that are still live. The ones made in the threads themselves these days aren't what I'm talking about, though.

What I'd recommend now is joining Clickbank (free) and looking at the high gravity products (meaning they're selling hot right now) and looking at their landers. They're the closest thing to the WSO's, which were like the old 1950's copywriting, which was and still is complete crack for selling. I'd look at TONS of them, screenshotting features, keeping track of which ones are great in general so you can re-visit them later, seeing what they all do in common, seeing what the best ones do that the worst ones lack.

The thing to consider is the best ones probably did a lot of split-testing too. Which means you can save a lot of money by incorporating what they did. It doesn't mean you shouldn't split-test, too. But it should put you further down the line immediately.

 

[Biggy]

@Biggy, my answer to this would be to first look at competitors doing what you want to do. See what the conventions are that you may need to include because users in the niche may expect to see them. Then either include them all or go in the 100% opposite direction to stand out. But you should be able to see what the winners are already doing.

The second would be to go back to basics, and that usually means the old school stuff. Handwritten fonts, background highlighting headers, long-form landers (length = strength), and all of that. I use to recommend people look at "Warrior Special Offers" (WSO's) on WarriorForum but that entire forum died after Freelancer bought it and destroyed it, trying to turn it into Reddit. You can probably go through some historical threads and find the off-site landers that are still live. The ones made in the threads themselves these days aren't what I'm talking about, though.

What I'd recommend now is joining Clickbank (free) and looking at the high gravity products (meaning they're selling hot right now) and looking at their landers. They're the closest thing to the WSO's, which were like the old 1950's copywriting, which was and still is complete crack for selling. I'd look at TONS of them, screenshotting features, keeping track of which ones are great in general so you can re-visit them later, seeing what they all do in common, seeing what the best ones do that the worst ones lack.

The thing to consider is the best ones probably did a lot of split-testing too. Which means you can save a lot of money by incorporating what they did. It doesn't mean you shouldn't split-test, too. But it should put you further down the line immediately.

Thanks for this info. Clickbank can be great, but aren't there almost all sites that do half legal way. Most of them dont advertise on youtube, fb, google or do they?

I see Clickbank sites ideas good, but what O remember there were way too spamy and salesy. I really hated them and some of them were promising waay to much.

I'm more looking to find some legal sites. Also if you got any site to follow etc. Let me know!