Should You Publish Your eBook First or Start Marketing
When I launched my first eBook, I wrote many posts promoting it on my social media and blog pages, before I even started to create write the eBook. I did most of the marketing before I had the product ready (although I did know exactly what the product was going to look like and what was going in it). When I launched my second eBook, I wrote the eBook first and then took my sweet time getting around to marketing it. I’ve tried both options — creating my product first and marketing the product long before there’s anything to sell. With that experience behind me, it seems obvious which step to take first.
1. The Argument for Marketing First
There are quite a few people who feel strongly that you should start marketing your idea before you even figure out exactly what form it will take as a product.
2. The Argument for Creating Your Product First
On the other hand, not having a clear idea of what you want to sell makes it a lot harder to market. You might start out with one concept but as you build it, you will tweak that idea, if not entirely change it to go with something else. That makes marketing a lot harder.
The Chicken or the Egg?
It’s hard to argue against knowing your audience inside out before building your product — especially when you’re creating something like an eBook for the very first time. But it takes only one little slip up on delivery to ruin all the hard work on your marketing.
It’s anecdotal evidence, but in my experience, the best option is to have your product to a point where you’d feel comfortable selling it before you start marketing hard. You can and should do everything you can to prove that your audience wants what you are going to sell beforehand, but you can do that by blogging, surveying and otherwise establishing a product — not marketing something that doesn’t exist yet. Build your product first and you’ll be in better shape to market it.
