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Post by adrianallan on Mar 18, 2021 8:40:06 GMT
Like most of you here, my patience with Lulu is running quite thin.
Although my books are selling, my revenues are down. I have three books which are selling quite well. Last year, I was getting around £2 per book outside of Amazon, but this year it has dropped to around £1. I have no idea if this is due to tax changes. Could it even be because Britain has left the EU - I doubt it, as most of my sales are in the USA.
I am interested to know how many people have Lulu sales and revenues that are comparable to what they were before the upgrade disaster around a year ago.
Is it just me who is disappointed?
I will definitely be migrating at least one book elsewhere.
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Post by markcbrown on Mar 18, 2021 13:39:17 GMT
It's not just you. Keep the faith.
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Post by Ken on Mar 18, 2021 14:11:09 GMT
How do you promote your books?
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Post by adrianallan on Mar 18, 2021 14:57:23 GMT
How do you promote your books? Mainly through Facebook and I also have a wordpress website. I also get asked on a few podcasts etc. |
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Post by Ken on Mar 18, 2021 16:01:07 GMT
That sounds useful.
How do you analyse your sales?
Do you have any follow up processes?
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Post by Ken on Mar 18, 2021 16:29:49 GMT
Here are five simple steps to effectively follow-up after a sale.
1. Send a note to say thank you
Send email, enclose a card with the delivery note, PM in FB, or in Blog.
2. Check in
It’s a good strategy to call customers shortly after the sale.
3. Keep the lines of communication open
Ask the customer for if you can communicate with them.
4. Think second sale
By creating a relationship, you are going beyond a simple transaction and giving yourself an opportunity to offer more products or services to the client.
5. Ask for referrals
Happy customers will refer you other customers.
Here’s how the follow-up will help you.
* Boost your sales—Happy customers are more likely to come back and buy more.
* Increase customer retention—Satisfied customers are more loyal.
* Generate customer testimonials and referrals—Future clients will be more willing to trust you if you show them case studies that include quotes and names.
* Improve your performance—Customer feedback will help you improve your products or fix service problems.
* Innovate—By listening to customers’ needs and problems, you are gathering invaluable intelligence to create new products or services.
* Differentiate—By following up, you’re doing something most businesses don’t bother with and that sets you apart from the herd.
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Post by adrianallan on Mar 18, 2021 16:42:53 GMT
Here are five simple steps to effectively follow-up after a sale. 1. Send a note to say thank you Send email, enclose a card with the delivery note, PM in FB, or in Blog. 2. Check in It’s a good strategy to call customers shortly after the sale. 3. Keep the lines of communication open Ask the customer for if you can communicate with them. 4. Think second sale By creating a relationship, you are going beyond a simple transaction and giving yourself an opportunity to offer more products or services to the client. 5. Ask for referrals Happy customers will refer you other customers. Here’s how the follow-up will help you. * Boost your sales—Happy customers are more likely to come back and buy more. * Increase customer retention—Satisfied customers are more loyal. * Generate customer testimonials and referrals—Future clients will be more willing to trust you if you show them case studies that include quotes and names. * Improve your performance—Customer feedback will help you improve your products or fix service problems. * Innovate—By listening to customers’ needs and problems, you are gathering invaluable intelligence to create new products or services. * Differentiate—By following up, you’re doing something most businesses don’t bother with and that sets you apart from the herd. Some good ideas there but most of my sales are on Amazon, so I have no idea who my customers are. For private sales, some of those ideas might be useful but there is always a thin line between good customer relations and pestering through chasing another sale. |
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Post by JesusNinja on Mar 18, 2021 17:38:31 GMT
My sales are extremely down compared to last year. Started going down right after the update. I'm making one fifth of what I used to make. Of course six of my books disappeared from the main sites for six months and still are not up yet after repeated screaming at Lulu to put them back up. All of my book were dropped from Amazon the same week Lulu dropped Core-source. I lost all rankings and reviews which made it hard for my books to be found. Amazon did replace some but the rest are gone forever. I'm used to making $150 to $260 a month. Now I'm making $15. My books are still not up yet.
True unless you have your own website you don't know who your customers are. And Lulu won't tell you either. Advertising on Amazon gets expensive. Those who do are hurting those who don't. Sponsored books get put ahead in the searches while others get left behind. My books used to ranked as good as 30k and many times were number one in their categories. Now I'm lucky to get in the top 100.
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Post by Ken on Mar 18, 2021 19:08:47 GMT
I’ve never understood ranking. How does it work.
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Post by JesusNinja on Mar 18, 2021 21:47:02 GMT
There are around 10 million books on Amazon. If your book is not selling at all, it will be ranked 8,000,000 to 10,000,000. If it is selling the most books it will be ranked at number 1. The lower your book ranking, the better it is. First it shows your book is selling. If it's selling and the rank is better it shows up better in searches that customers are making. There is also ranking in category. Such as mine listed in Sports and Adventure. A few times my books were number 1 in that category which showed for that moment it was selling more than any of the other books in Sports and Adventure. Many people when selling a new book will set the ebook at free. Then the paperback at let's say $14.99. Then people will start downloading the free book. This appears as sales to Amazon and the book rankings starts to climb. At the rankings get better and better the book gets found easier showing up on the first few pages of a search. Which also makes the paperback show which will improve sales.
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Post by hulsey on Mar 19, 2021 9:59:27 GMT
Yes, my book sales have dropped drastically since this debacle. This morning I received a response from Lulu after sending it weeks ago. They insist that all book sales are recorded and paid accordingly. They reckon sales might be a few weeks behind. This is too much of a coincidence for the majority sales dropping for so many. I am working on a new novel but hesitant about publishing with Lulu again. Incidentally, I sold a book on Lulu. That is rare indeed.
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Post by Ken on Mar 19, 2021 11:00:29 GMT
Coming pack to promotions:
I understand that Amazon doesn’t provide customer info but there are lots of ways to follow up on sales. Self publishing is not the only one to want more details.
Another well proven method is the use of Coupons. No you can’t expect Amazon to stuff a coupon inside their delivery packages but there is no reason why you shouldn’t include one or another feedback request as an additional page or two in the book itself. We should all be including an “about the author” page so why not something else?
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Post by Ken on Mar 19, 2021 11:25:35 GMT
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Post by BlueAndGold on Mar 19, 2021 12:21:48 GMT
Sales?
What sales?
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