Puts Your Books Where They Belong:
IN FRONT OF BUYERS!
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BookWriter Web Puts Your Books Where They Belong: IN FRONT OF BUYERS! |
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"Thanks again for a wonderful program, everyone thinks I'm a genius. But it really is due to your great and simple software. Good things are always simple to use -- like Microwave Popcorn!" -RM, Shelby, MI
THE SHORT EXPLANATION
 THE LONG EXPLANATION For customers, the rule is: "I want it, and I want it now!" It's astonishing how many Internet companies have missed this simple concept. Imagine someone wants to buy a book. They searched for it on Google or Yahoo! -- and failed to find it. Now what? Do they "just somehow know" what to do next, or where to go? The answer is: NO. Most people do not. They either try searching for something else or give up entirely. Now, imagine that same person has searched for the book they want, found it near the top of the search results list, clicked on it and -- ended up in your web site, where they can buy it right now. This is the most ideal scenario imaginable -- a Direct Find/Buy Relationship. It's what the Internet was intended to accomplish when commercialization became a reality. It's also why Amazon's One-Click Ordering has been the cornerstone of their success: it provides the only thing that really sells on the Internet: INSTANT GRATIFICATION. How People Actually Buy Things over the Internet The assumption the vast majority of sellers make when they put merchandise on-line is that their books will somehow be found by buyers. Guess again... 75%-90% of potential Internet customers never "go" anywhere when they want to buy something. Instead, they do what you would expect: They type what they want to buy into the Web Search box that appears by default in their browser. For example, most people who want to buy a copy of the "Boy Scouts on Hudson Bay" type exactly that. No surprises there. Then, they look at the results. Does your copy show up in the Top 100 results? LET'S FIND OUT...
Did your copy appear in the Top 100? Did it appear at all? If your merchandise doesn't appear in search results, then you've just learned something important: No one can find your books!
There is a world of difference between this scenario and receiving top ratings in search results. Most sellers have had to rely on listing services to submit their books to search engines and, unfortunately, most of them don't do it very well -- or at all. That's one of the main reasons BookWriter Web was created: To efficiently produce the properly-composed static web pages that will insure your records will appear in search engine results. Your books will compete head-to-head with those of the largest companies on the Internet -- and even surpass their ratings in many cases! "Your BwWeb software was a nice Christmas present for me. When I use BwWeb, I feel like I'm in the cockpit of a jet fighter! I've already posted a catalog of African-American Studies. It really was easy to prepare once I learned a bit about your program. Nice job, Tom!" -CH, Morganton, NC
The Myth "If you build it, they will come." Many dealers (and most hosting services and web developers) firmly believe that customers will find a web site of its own accord. In practice, a one-time submission to search engines of your site's URL is usually the best an ISP can offer. You can purchase "categories" on search engines and pay a lot for them, but the results are also usually poor -- mainly because few buyers search for categories. They search for merchandise, not topics. Even if your web site shows up high in search results, then what? If the item a buyer wants to purchase didn't lead them there in the first place, chances are they won't find it -- because book buyers in particular don't search for web sites! They search for books. If you already have your records in a web database, you may notice that your individual book records aren't showing up in search engine results. Why? Because few databases are indexed directly by search engines. Most web spiders index web pages, not databases! Nevertheless, most records are placed in databases. The reason for this is most web developers have been taught that on-line, active databases with active server pages are the correct way to do things. And indeed, in some cases, this approach is both appropriate and effective. The new "Froogle" system is intended to improve this situation for retailers, but it also has some serious drawbacks. For example, it will still place your records in another vast electronic mall, alongside every other dealer selling the same thing. And, only some copies will show up -- not all of them. Plus, you must assign a transaction URL to every record to close a sale -- Froogle won't do it for you. And, given the limited computer skill of most consumers, there is little evidence to suggest that buyers will know enough to "go" to Froogle in the first place. Sounds like the same old set of problems... Whose Business Are You Building? There was a time years ago when it made sense to put booksellers all together under one roof. Many of today's booksellers well remember "The Golden Years" when the on-line world was just getting started. But competition is dramatically on the rise. Almost anyone with books to sell is now "a bookseller." Price wars are a reality. Dealers are struggling to make ends meet. There is a glut of merchandise and not enough buyers -- or so it appears. Please understand: This really is just an appearance: Sellers who list books exclusively through listing services are restricting themselves to the minority of customers who know enough to "go" there in the first place. Even worse, they have to share this minority with everyone else selling the same thing! Think of it another way: When a dealer directs a customer to a listing service to buy one of his/her books, the dealer is in effect saying to the customer: "Here are my books, along with those of 10,000 other dealers. I sure hope you buy mine!" This is not the best possible business plan... "Yes, you may certainly quote me. I have 2,844 web pages online right now, and I received your software when - yesterday? Wouldn't have believed it. The descriptions look beautiful, it picked up my images and correctly placed them, and all the links work. You've really got something here!" -RT, Jamesville, NY
They're Your Customers, Not Someone Else's Let's be clear: There's nothing wrong with listing services. They serve a purpose, which is to supplement your business income. But relying on listing services to provide the majority of your business income is very risky -- and often not very profitable. One of the hardest points to make to dealers who inquire about BwWeb is that, as a seller, the most fundamentally important thing to consider is YOUR business, not someone else's. It's truly not about forums or mailing lists or belonging to a "community," or free pencils, posters, and bookmarks with your listing company's name on them. Do any of these really help YOUR bottom line? It's also, frankly, not about the books either -- it's unlikely there will ever be a shortage of them. It's equally likely that you could go out of business tomorrow and have little measurable impact on the book trade as it exists today. So what's it all about? It's about SALES and SURVIVAL. It's about growing your company, not someone else's. It's about getting your books in front of buyers! Therefore: The most important factors with respect to growing YOUR Internet business are (a) Getting your records indexed correctly in major search engines, and (b) directing customers immediately to THE place where they can experience Instant Gratification. As with many things in life, the simplest solution is often the best. No amount of advertising, promotion, reciprocal links, partnering, affiliates or any of these traditional methods of Internet marketing will ever come close to the effectiveness of a direct Find/Buy relationship. They're not someone else's customers -- they're yours! Remember: You must have a SIGNIFICANT PRESENCE in search engines for your books to be found by buyers. This can only be achieved by satisfying the indexing criteria of the search engines. "I can't tell you how pleased we are with the program. It's fast, flexible, and reliable. Congratulations!" -PM, Princeton, NJ
What Will BwWeb Do For Me? BookWriter Web creates pages that identify your individual books to search engines. It gives your records a strong, lasting and significant presence. BwWeb composes complete web pages, with or without images, one record to a page or a hundred, as many as you like. Every page conforms precisely to the HTML standards as they were created, and upon which the web spiders used by search engines rely to help rate the quality of the pages they index. All supported Meta Tags, document declarations and other code components are handled automatically. Create one page or ten thousand -- just like that! NO PROGRAMMING SKILL IS REQUIRED TO CREATE PROFESSIONAL-LOOKING WEB PAGES
Once you've uploaded your pages, it normally takes anywhere from 7 to 30 days for your records to be indexed, faster if you perform a site submission. Either way, once your pages have been found and catalogued, your significant presence will be a reality. And it will continue.The results can be spectacular. It has not been possible for most independent sellers to create the significant presence required to compete head-to-head with large companies. UNTIL NOW. "Most small dealers are now hoping to gain some distance from the listing services and develop their own web sites. BwWeb seems like the right product at the right time." -CH, Morganton, NC
What Else Do I Need? Other than BwWeb and your book records, all you need is a web site. Internet storage space is one of the least expensive things you can buy these days. In fact, a number of BwWeb users are already hosting their sites on FREE servers. Most sites can be set up literally in minutes. Better still, most hosting companies are eager to please because competition is so fierce. This can work greatly to your advantage. If you don't want to do it yourself, you can purchase any of our website setup packages. We will do all of the site setup, page layout, composition and uploading for you. Please see the ordering page for additional information. For the Do-It-Yourself bookseller, setting up an independent web site is relatively easy. Simple sites are very easy, and complex sites require more attention to detail. It all depends on your needs. Either way, BwWeb does the page composition for you. All you have to do is upload the completed files (or we'll do it for you if you elected to purchase one of our setup packages). Your pages can be very simple or very complex -- it all depends on your business needs and what you want to accomplish. Take a look at a few of the sample pages we've included in this site for your review (these are among the many sample setups included in the BwWeb software). However you choose to go about it, creating your own web sales venue provides a full measure of freedom and independence from listing services. Given the very low cost to set up a site and the minimal effort involved to manage it using BwWeb, the returns can be enormous. Best of all, your buyers don't come through a distant 3rd party -- they come directly to YOU. "I feel a little reluctant in recommending BwWeb to other book dealers, particularly those in my specialty. I'm afraid of what would happen if everyone started using it. Can't we just keep this between us?" -DS, Starville, TX
What's The Bottom Line? Do we want to sell software? Of course we do. But, we also want to offer something intrinsically valuable to you, the dealer. We believe we've accomplished this objective, so we've tried to price it attractively. BookWriter Web retails for $129.95, but is currently on sale for $79.95. You can use your Visa/MC, PayPal, or mail a check or money order. When the full BookWriter suite is rolled out, the ENTIRE COST of BwWeb will be applied towards your purchase. You'll also receive free e-mail support. More comprehensive technical support packages are available but, frankly, we doubt you'll need them. The program contains an extensive Help system, a comprehensive Tutor and a wealth of information to assist you. Please take a look at some of the features the program has to offer. Review some of the screen shots and answers to frequently-asked questions we've put up for your perusal. And, take a look at some of the sample pages composed by BwWeb. We think you'll agree you're getting a huge value for your money. And Please Remember... Good Internet marketing is not based on anything more complicated than: (1) Your customers must be able to find your merchandise without first being expected to "go" somewhere to find it, and (2) your merchandise should sell smoothly and regularly as a result of being easily found by buyers. It is, after all, a "World Wide Web," isn't it? AGAIN: The fundamental objectives are (1) to achieve a significant presence in search engine results, and (2) drive sales at the lowest possible cost to you. These are what ultimately will build your Internet business, both in the short and long term. It's almost too simple. Perhaps that's why it's so often overlooked. Nevertheless, that's what effective Internet sales are all about. Independence means promoting and building YOUR business, not someone else's. BookWriter Web can help you achieve all of these goals -- right now!
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