When I first started this venture — my plan was to “re-purpose” the classics since we really don’t have the life experience to appreciate them in high school, and I thought they would be so good for book clubs, but wanted to help readers out who might be intimidated (and there weren’t many free guides available or that were sufficient for the classics). So, I spent all summer creating kits — which take about 30-40 hours to create (each).

To my surprise, what ended up happening was I started to get orders for what tend to be “hot” book club books (contemporary) — even though there were already free guides available! Originally I hadn’t planned on competing w/ “free”!

So, I have been trying to shift my thinking the past few months. I am really not good at marketing — which is why I’ve only tried AdWords so far (which bring in 2-7 orders a week, but the conversion rate isn’t great).

@Trish — I am intrigued to try your price psychology idea! I do think the kits are worth more, but I was thinking a lower price would encourage people to give the kits a try w/o too much of an investment. I look forward to experimenting!

@Mark — I love your ideas and look forward to brainstorming ways to extend my product portfolio! I really should branch out w/ my advertising, too… Thanks for the kind words, too!

Thank you for all of the help, everyone!

I think Kristen – and any of us who ply the online waters selling info – need to create strategies that will overcome “I can get this free” mindset with clear, practical value that prospects will understand and desire, because they lack the time or expertise to get or make it for themselves. Your suggestions speak to exactly my point.

Just another way of looking at the challenge

If I’m on the same page with the challenge, then if the alternatives are of similar quality you can either build additional perceived value around the sale (additional tools, services, information, book subscriptions/discounts etc – see Edward de Bono’s “The 6 Value Medals”) or build a really solid brand out of the business/owner so that the purchase becomes emotionally driven but rationally supported (eg people who spend $1500 on a pram/stroller when a $200 option would suffice).

Guess my quick key points are:
- extend product portfolio (eg book club management tools)
- create strong brand/personality outside of the website
- increase transparency (who’s behind the website, what’s your story, can I trust you with my money, testimonials, etc)
- consider long-term need to help people create new book clubs rather than just sell to existing book clubs (low hanging fruit)

(I will say that the bookclub website is a really well put together site)

The $100 per month equates to 4.8% of budgeted revenue being allocated to advertising. For an established brand/product, this doesn’t feel too far off the mark. For a new product/brand trying to assert itself, I’d suggest upping the budget to 10-15% of budgeted revenue for the first year or two.

AdWords should only be ONE part of the channel mix for this spend. Online businesses need to establish credibility so using other online and offline media/PR is critical to this.

If you were to build a business around helping people build and manage successful book clubs with this product being one of a suite of products, you’ll widen your sphere of influence and increase your target audience. I feel you need to do the hard yards first before you can sit back and reap the rewards of a passive income stream…