MAKE MONEY

by selling the right things

TRIZIA

English Translation by GIOVANNI FROSIO

Copyright Trizia 2022

All Right Reserved

Table of Contents

Preface

18th place. Books and newspapers

17th place: movies

16th place. Jewels and bijoux

15th place. Music

14th place. Toys

13th place. Software

Previous issues

LEGAL NOTICE

Preface

In the first two e-books, Rich on Amazon by selling e-books and eBay sales champions, I’ve shown you two failproof ways to optimize your sales on either one or the other marketplace by proposing, indifferently, either info-products or physical products.

I remind you that my personal experience makes me think that Amazon is an excellent opportunity for selling e-books and info-products. I’d discard it if you want to sell quality products, because in the end it hasn’t lost its nature of a large bazar open to everyone, where there are no clear quality parameters. On the contrary, eBay is a good platform for selling physical product, also of good quality, and where the (real) feedback system lets the best sellers make their way and create a good reputation, and lets the worst sellers hang themselves over time.

At this point, the questions arises almost automatically: yes, selling. But what? Which are the products that really get sold and today, in the internet age, still let you earn well?

In fact internet is a double edged sword: on one side it’s an ocean of proposals and possibilities, a real bonanza for buyers. On the other side, its nature of ocean itself somehow “drowns” the sellers, who have a very hard time “emerging”. Many small waterdrops forming a real waterwall between them and the possible buyers. Today, even more than yesterday, selling is a real art, requiring ability, experience, good products… but also and above all the knowledge of the new sales strategy, that can send the sellers skyrocketing with copious earnings but also throw them down to the ground, preventing them from having good visibility.

So here’s a little help from this e-book which, in a simple way and hopefully without boring you, will show you the categories of product reporting the best sales every year, which never go out of fashion or anyway let you keep and acceptable and sufficiently redditive income stream. It’s obvious that, whether you sell online or in a physical store, opening a good website where you advertise your product is always a priority!

For each category of the eighteen total, listed in order of sales from the 18th up to the first place, I’ll provide you with valid tags, exceptional passwords and failproof strategies to optimize your sales and navigate with mastery in the internet ocean.

Some of these categories are seasonal, i.e. they report sales peaks in certain times of year, which I’ll obviously explain. For instance, it’s the case of children toys, that report super sales at Christmas time; or the sales boom of gardening products in spring. Anyway, all the listed categories never go below the minimum sales level regarded as redditive for a seller: therefore, you’ll have positive peaks for some, but never negative ones. So, are you ready? Let’s get started!

P.S. I purposely divided the book into three parts, so those who’re interested in selling just one or a few categories can buy the relevant volume.

The product categories are ranked from the lowest to the highest sales, in groups of 6. You’ll already find the lists of the treated categories on the relevant e-books covers.

So, in the first volume you’ll find the best-selling products from the eighteenth to the thirteenth place.

In the second volume you’ll find the best-selling products from the twelfth to the sixth place.

In the last volume you’ll find the best-selling products from the fifth to the first place.

Subsequently, the complete volume will be available, covering all the categories, from the first to the eighteenth place.

I hope I’ve been clear and I’ve done something useful for those who may not be interested in all categories but just in some of the best-selling products.

Buy all these e-books: I ensure you that they’re born from true and tested experiences, subject to very little variation. Therefore, you may possibly find one day find books and newspapers at the fifteenth place in sales and clothing at the third place, but, as I’ve just told, there’s very little variation.

So… happy sales to everybody!

18th place. Books and newspapers

It’s no wonder that books and magazines are in the last place of the best-selling product categories. Let’s clarify it, among the thousands of possible selling categories an eighteenth place is still regal. Books and newspapers (or magazines, comics, etc.) will always get sold, among highs and lows, and they’ll never be out of fashion, in spite of the predominant ignorance.

However, nowadays people read less than yesterday. And the competition by e-books doesn’t help their sales. E-books and info products are a really nice thing; personally, in fact, I warmly recommend you to sell them. Anyway, they markedly lower the production cost (which is equal to zero), they can be duplicated and thus bootlegged, and as their supply is very high they may not be adequately absorbed in some sectors.

Still there are some extremely profitable niches, which I’ve already shown you in the e-book Rich on Amazon by selling e-books and I’ll show you in even more detail in some time with a dedicated e-book, anyway the huge supply notably lowers the profit margin.

The case is different for paper books, which are on a market upswing. But here, given the excessive production cost reported by Amazon (that practically prints books for national and international publishing too) as well as the Pay for use in libraries (offering online book reading for a few euro cents) and subscription services (offering the possibility of reading millions of books for a flat-rate monthly payment) the earnings for sellers are really minimal. The possibility to get rich with e-books still remains, anyway, because, while there are many around, their production cost is low, so you can earn thanks to the amount.

Then it will be the seller’s duty to offer the audience an adequate quality, and not just trash books that leave no trace behind.

The paper books market is not over anyway, it’s just changing direction: in spite of the public domain books and the printing monopoly by Amazon, there are still interesting niches, such as used books (on a marked rise) or even more rare and precious books, who have an audience of connoisseurs willing to pay good money to get hold of a collector’s book.

So, my advice is: if you want to earn well by selling books, opt for e-books and info products, if you want to make money fast thanks, to the quantity. And rare, collection or even good used paper books, if you want to offer quality and report good incomes in the long term.

This is because the audience is varied: connoisseurs need honest and especially reliable sellers, in order to be sure not to be swindled. But trust requires time and the sellers needs it to get a good reputation.

However you must know that, once you’ve won the customer’s trust, their loyalty is equal to 100%.

Your customers won’t leave you anymore and, if they’re satisfied with the products you’ve sold them, they’ll spread the word and let you win more customers. All in all, quality and earnestness will bring you good incomes… along with time.

On the contrary, offering tons of low quality e-books at very competitive prices (which is always possible, due to the quasi-zero production cost) will let you earn very well in the beginning, but if you can’t follow the fashion and trends your earnings will get lower and lower in time.

And what about best-sellers, you may ask me? What if I should offer good quality e-books by famous authors?

I’ll tell you a secret: best-selling books are sold mainly in paper edition, because here again, in order to become a best-seller, writers need to win the audience’s loyalty. And a fan wants to touch, smell and browse as a fetish the books by his favorite author. Especially if it’s autographed. Take good note of it!

Now, let’s move on to the hot phase of the sales. I’ll show you some basic steps to address if you want to make good money. They seem trivial, but I ensure you that they’re the basis of the sales process, that sellers often don’t pay enough attention to. So, for each category, we’ll ask ourselves:

a) Why do people buy such a product? What’s the force driving them to do this?

b) What are the categories or subcategories of this product, if any, from which I could draw to complement?

c) How can I attract the client to buy from me, rather than from others?

d) How can I attract the client to my marketplace, in the internet ocean? How can I get found? What keywords should to use?

e) How can I gratify / prize the client, so that after buying from me he’ll want to do it again?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll see that the path towards profits will be definitely easy and downhill. It may seem stupid, but sometimes it’s enough to ask yourself the right question in order to solve problems, although difficult.

Let’s ask ourselves the right questions.

Why do people buy such a product? What’s the force driving them to do this?

Oftentimes, the choice of a book or even of an e-book doesn’t stem from rational motivations, but rather from emotive ones. The customer isn’t buying a kilo of potatoes to satisfy his hunger, a primary need, but rather to satisfy his mind, that is to give himself and intellectual and/or emotional pleasure. Practically:

They want to be amazed, dream and know new things.

They want to acquire specific knowledge.

They want to spend time in peace, far from TV or PC or radio. Disconnect.

They want to collect books or magazines on topics they’re interested in.

They want to have the illusion of doing something useful while they’re actually just killing time.

It goes without saying that the best-selling book categories are related to these issues. It’s no wonder that the first place in the customers’ choices is held by narrative books, novels, photographic or very illustrated book, such as travel books.

Narrative, in turn, is divided in various subcategories, such as thriller, doing great, fantasy, in ascent, crime stories, always faring well, and romantic literature, definitely on the rise and not only among women.

There’s still one more subcategory that’s winning its way in the audience: the horror, but especially the porn (or erotic, whatever you want to call it) and very often a combination of the two. The horror-porn is very fashionable and, as internet lets you use your nickname or maintain your anonymity, it’s a subcategory that women seem to like as well.

Anyway, the most beloved category is still that of business or personal success, attracting more and more people. There are millions of customers looking around for their personal Bible to make money, falling for the fashion of the moment such as trading or affiliations, or reselling info-products with resale license, the real market of tomorrow. Making money is still the privileged fixation for everybody, and nowadays more than ever people go around looking for something that lets them earn immediately and without too much labor. Take note of this.

Cooking books as well as horticulture or gardening books are in a marked decline, supplanted by YouTube video tutorials. Magic, esoterism and astrology are in free fall: evidently their spirituality is much less attractive than making money.

There are many categories and even more subcategories, and many of them are niches. It’s up to you to find the one that’s most suitable to your needs and competences, and specialize in it.

What are the categories or subcategories of this product, if any, from which I could draw to complement?

Practically we’ve already answered this question, but I can add that, when you present an e-book or a book, you should always indicate something serving as an addition or integration to the product. For instance, if you’re selling a gardening e-book, you might add the list of do-it-yourself handbooks you sell; or, if you’re advertising ad e-book of children tales, you might integrate your offer with similar products, such as coloring books. And what about gardening tools? Pot, vertical gardens, lawn tractors... in this sector it’s fundamental to pass from theory to practice.

When choosing products, always look for a common thread among them, so that customers get attracted by variety. Then… one thing is born from the other, isn’t it?

How can I attract the client to buy from me, rather than from others?

I’ll never get tired to repeat that what meets the eye is important in sales, and often a good book cover gets more than half the job done. Especially if you sell e-books, consider that the average user doesn’t spend more than one second viewing the product, and he’ll tend to choose not only based on the contents but above all (and I mean above all) on empathy with a certain cover, its color and the represented image. Only afterwards will he take a look at the title, and later on he’ll peruse the synopsis resuming its content. So, be mindful about choosing to offer products that arouse interest and catch the eye by themselves.

Graphics is fundamental, and so is the color. Red excites and attracts, but it should be mitigated by a pleasant image, otherwise it will have a deterring effect on people. Green calms down but in the long run it can be boring.

Yellow is nice, and you’re not likely to go wrong by placing a nice sun-yellow cover in the foreground. Blue depresses and it’s better to use it just for “serious” books.

Fonts are important as well: the more pointy the font is, the less it will attract, unless the book is strong per se and it wants to evoke crude or harsh images. Sinuous lines win over squared ones, and a clear text, easy to read, always wins.

Images are fundamental and they must always be relevant to the book, so the reader has immediate clarity on what he’ll find in the book (or in the magazine).

Speaking of magazines, a clear line and a smooth rather than opaque page will create less diffidence in the readers.

Likewise, white pages with black fonts, small or too crude images will have a disturbing effect, and they’ll get the reader to pass beyond in his search. Be coherent and moderate in headlines. The reader, if he’s not stupid, hates being fooled by headlines that promise and don’t deliver. Instead of attracting, you’ll repel him.

Finally, the pairing with colors plays an important role: complementary colors attract in moderation, cold ones generate diffidence, warm ones need a balancing image. So, if in your internet shop you propose products to attract clients, take good note of these parameters, which are driving other less prominent products that you’ll present subsequently.

How can I attract the client to my marketplace, in the internet ocean? How can I get found? What keywords should I use?

Let’s start by saying that a great deal of people like promoting their products in search engines or with pay-per-click ads, because they’re good high traffic resources. The main goal here is to use or choose the right keywords which will increase the placing of your website or the sales of your products.

Here are some keywords and phrases to begin with:

books, pocket books, e-books

books, e-books, books on offer, top best-selling e-books, best-selling books, positive reviews, magazine, online newspaper, narrative, free, free books, free download, special offers, offers, new, online magazines, online e-books, free magazines, online reading…

Here are the cover images that usually attract the most:

Famous people of the moment

News that have become popular on social media around the world

An interesting and explicative scene from the book

Nowadays stories attract maybe even more than the book content itself. It’s a novelty introduced by social media, very fashionable these days. Currently, in fact, those who want to sell must necessarily add some news considered as background, some particulars making the reader feel he’s rummaging through the intricacies of the book and greatly increasing his curiosity about the author.

Explaining the way and circumstances the book was born will boost its sales. Adding some public news revisited as gossip will further increase attention. If the writer is dead, the cause and circumstances (maybe fictionalized) of his death will determine a boom in sales.

Another way to attract the reader is to offer him a diversification of the book itself. An audio version, for instance. Nowadays audiobooks are catching on , even if more slowly in Italy than in the rest of the world. It’s also possible to get a video version of the work, a trailer, which readers like very much.

If the book has private versions, with limited sales, or even autographed, sales will be very high, once the audience is conquered.

If you can have a book that’s selling well all around the world, even if in e-book version, and gratify the reader in diverse ways, spend a little more money and invest: you’ll be surely repaid.

How can I gratify and/or prize the reader, so that after buying from me he’ll want to do it again?

It’s needless to say that people love special offers, discounts and 3x2. Even if the offers may be just illusions, they’ll buy all the same, because people often don’t reflect. Without going to low levels of suggesting various ways to cheat the audience and get them into buying, I want to recommend you some winning ideas that will gratify them instead, operating a real and concrete loyalty operation.

Make part of the book downloadable. Extracts are always appreciated and they incentivize sales. Don’t be stingy, offer at least 10% of the book as a free preview!

Offer as a gift a book that may be out of style but is still relevant to the topic of the one you’re promoting, possibly by the same author, or in the same style. An immediately downloadable e-book will cost you nothing, but it will give the customer the satisfaction of making a good deal.

When it comes to paper books, a small welcome gadget will be very appreciated. It may seem absurd, but some time ago I advertised a book by offering a minuscule PC pen, one you can buy in stocks for a few cents. The pen was piggy-shaped and – you wouldn’t believe it – the book was sold out as long as the pen was available. I even received a few request of buying … the pen alone!

All in all, the possible ideas are many. Free your fantasy and don’t forget that, if you want to sell books or magazines, the emotional aspect is the