Unique Book - Little Competition. Need help.

7 replies
I'll try to keep this as concise as possible.

I have a very unique book that is very useful for a specific niche - those facing time in federal prison. There is very little competition - there are two or three others with quality products and that's it.

Over 100,000 people are indicted on federal charges each year that could result in time in federal prison. There is a market.

My site: federal-prison.org used to rank top 3 for just about every keyword related to my niche. (This, after months of SENuke back in 2008 and 2009). Book sales were good (20 to 30 a month at $97 each).

Then April 2013 I believe it was, Google changed the algorithm and I fell out of the rankings. I wasn't penalized. I just didn't rank for much of anything anymore. I hired some 'expert' SEO people to fix the problem and they gave up after a few months. Now I pick up a handful of sales each month with adwords, but it's nothing to write home about.

So here's the situation:
1. I have a very useful, very unique, high quality product that is potentially of interest to 100,000 people a year (plus their families).

2. I have 2 or 3 competitors.

3. I know from past experience that if I can the book in front of people who are facing federal prison/ their relatives, that the book sells.

4. I need to find a way to reach my target market.

One obvious starting point is trying to recover in the organic rankings. So far, two companies have been unsuccessful. I don't know how qualified they were.

Other things I have tried:

1. Google press releases about federal indictments and then send a letter about the book to the home of the person who was indicted. Problem is that for privacy reasons, they do not publish the exact address. So I may see that a Jason Smith, 37 years old of Willamsberg, PA was indicted, but then I check out whitepages and see there are 10 different addresses for this name and age range. Not very scientific and very time consuming.

2. Send the book to top federal defense lawyers. They thanked me, but they don't seem to be pushing it on their clients.


So that's the situation. I believe that this book could reasonably sell 50 copies a month at $97 each. That's based on the days that I ranked at top for for all my keywords. There may be other ways to get it in front of potential customers that would boost the potential well beyond 50 copies a month. Imagine if it was standard practice for every federally indicted person to be advised to purchase my book!

If you believe you have ideas that could boost sales, I'm more than willing to generously share in the revenues. Please do PM me.
#book #competition #unique
  • Profile picture of the author news2cash
    The solution is going to be about expansion and diversity. The statement
    people who are facing federal prison/ their relatives' shows it would do well marketing on social platforms. I would think about lowering the price and adding an affiliate system
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    • Profile picture of the author JonathanR
      Thanks for the ideas. As far as social, can you offer any examples of what a successful social strategy might look like?

      I was approached in the past by potential affiliates who wanted upwards of 70% of the $97. Their sole strategy was adwords. It just didn't make sense. If there are affiliates who could generate real sales outside adwords, then I agree, this is something I need to look at.

      A long time ago the book sold for $49. It actually started selling more when I raised the price and I now offer the 'premium' product in this category.

      I forgot to mention that I haven't created it for iBooks and Kindle because the DRM are too easy to strip and I'm pretty paranoid about the entire book ending up on the internet as a free PDF.
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  • Profile picture of the author RichBeck
    JonathanR,

    The last thing I would do is reduce the price.... I may even ponder raising it...

    It is a "unique premium" product.... NOT a "garden variety" Internet Marketing e-book...

    As far as getting traffic from Social Media, I would personally look at this $7 product; it is a simple and no cost method...

    DISCLAIMER: This is not an Affiliate link.... I don't know the WSO seller from Adam. :-)

    All The Best,

    Rich Beck BCIP, MCSD, MCIS
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    • Profile picture of the author humbleknights
      Originally Posted by RichBeck View Post


      The last thing I would do is reduce the price....
      That sounds a confident approach. It would work , but can take time. Try talking about the book on youtube or allow first 2-3 pages for preview.
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      • Profile picture of the author wmrwl
        Try to go to forums, like prisontalk.com, etc. and post helpful advice in the appropriate section. Establish your name in their community and maybe put a link in your signature.

        It's at least a starting point to get your first few sales out the door.
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        • Profile picture of the author wmrwl
          I don't think defense attorneys are going to sell it for you. I would probably make an informational free report that you can give to them to give their clients for free. In the free report you should give some general pointers, but sell the book inside the free report.

          Just my 2 cents
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          • Profile picture of the author wmrwl
            Sorry for the triple posting, but I believe sentences and such are public record. See if you can get access somehow (paid or unpaid) to those databases and you'll have some good prospects with their mailing addresses.
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