The Launch

I'll upload pages, double check them, then head for search engines. Next, I'll get on about serious business, and wait a time. It takes a while these days to get listed.

I may take a crack at pay-per-click search engines, just to get hits more quickly. But to play this game seriously, you need hard data on hits versus sales.

Something Different

I'm going to use an approach that again is not supposed to work with fiction. However, it works great with How To titles, so I'll give it a try.

I'll let visitors download book and read first 50 to 60 pages or so. They will order only if interested in reading rest of it.

Checking And Testing

With above, site purpose becomes very simple: Generate a download of book. This is a lot easier to achieve than actually closing sale. Given any hits at all, effectiveness of site in getting this job done will be easy to measure.

Of course bottom line is, 1) Will anybody be interested? And 2), if so, will anybody buy? That last one is going to be a cliff hanger for a time.

What Next?

Given sales, I'll know 1) # of hits to get a download, #2) # of downloads to get a sale. Thus I'll know value of a hit. Sure, it will be soft data; you can't be sure until counts get into thousands. But hey, if $100/month seems likely, with upside potential, here's what I'll do.

Launch More Sites I have five other manuscripts that are equally good. So I'll put them up as described above. If results are equally good, I'll build a central site, still themed, to which original sites are satelites. Then ...

Watch My Dust

I'll open site to other quality work, perferably in genres no longer published. There are a lot of people like myself around who have written good tales that never made it into print.

If It Works

I'll be into a site that cost many hundreds of hours to put together, particularly when you add in some scheme for deciding upon new titles to offer and converting them to ebooks. Dollar costs might be more than $4000. But it will be a winner, for I will have demonstrated at every step along way that there are enough people who will read ebook fiction to make it fly.

An Unwarrented Risk If Built From Scratch

In paragraph above, I consider a fuzzy view of future, one that may not come about. But look at difference in risk of time and dollars. To build above, then finally accept failure a year out would be a disaster.

But with minimal risks in putting together that first mini-site, hey, this is going to be fun. I can easily afford a little time and a few bucks. And what if it pays off?

So What About You?

What crazy idea do you have down deep inside that makes people chuckle or laugh every time you bring it up?

However wild it may be, no matter how many scoff at it, risk a little time and a few bucks. You may be able to demonstrate you were right after all. And you'll be on your way to success.

And if it flops? No problem. Just try an even crazier idea. Keep it up, and you'll find gold. Lots of it.

What Do These People Want Or Need?

Again, just make hasty notes. What kinds of things would they buy from you?

Later, get serious about this. Check out websites where these people hang out. Read newsletters they like. Follow forums in which they participate. In time, you'll pick up on ideas about products they want. Hopefully you'll discover one or two difficult to find. Ideal candidates for products to offer.

More important, you'll discover more about exactly who these people are. And what makes them tick.

What Interests You?

Remember, we're just brainstorming here. Quickly jot down areas of interest to you.

If there's an area you don't know much about, ask yourself if you'd like to find out more about it. If so, it goes on your list.

Wrapping It All Up With A Bow.

While above is oversimplified, it is a great way to get started. There's no fun in working with people you would rather not be around. There's no profit in offering products people don't want. And you'll go nuts trying to keep up in an area that's of no interest to you.

But with an area of interest (niche), a group of people you enjoy being around (your target), and products these people want, you have a great start.

Note it doesn't cost a dime to come up with good answers to above questions.

Why Do So Many Overlook Such Fundamentals?

I'm not sure. Probably because need just didn't come to mind. I meet a few now and then who continue to persist in making their own rules. But for most part, those I have met having trouble with their business, simply never gave a thought to above.

Is That All There Is To It?

No. There's more. You'll want to be dead certain you can beat competition in your niche. And you need a solid definition of your Perfect Customer. Then a great USP (Universal Selling Proposition). But all this emerges from your answers to questions above.

Beyond this, build a website that offers your products effectively, and you are on your way to success.

Where Can I Find More Details?

Visit my site. Click Topics in navigation bar to left. Then select Getting Started or Niche Marketing or whatever else catches your fancy. There are lots of good articles here by top notch writers. And hundreds of annotated links to other resources out and about Web.

The Way To Go

Get basics clear in your mind. Sift through information available until you have a solid grasp on what you need beyond them. Then build a great site and go all out.