Why I’m Using Heyo Cart Instead Of Amazon To Sell My Next Ebook

Sue B. Zimmerman is an author, expert, and influencer who was looking for a way to sell her eBook on Facebook and Instagram to make more money. This is her story (originally posted at SueBZimmerman.com)

Without credibility, it’s tough to make a name for yourself online. Those who have gotten to the top started by publishing. Whether it’s paperback or PDF publishing puts your name in writing behind something you believe in for the world the see.

Where’s the best place to start in the publishing world today? eBooks.

Authors, experts and influencers sold $10 million worth of eBooks in 1995 almost exclusively through Amazon.

In 2014, they sold about $1.6 billion worth of eBooks on Amazon alone.

As sales volume grew, authors began looking for new ways to sell their content without relying on the iron fist of Amazon as evidenced by the Hatchett debacle last year.

Many influencers, experts and authors are also becoming more savvy with online marketing and have built their own email lists, Facebook fan pages and Instagram accounts – myself included!

As, #TheInstagramGal, I’ve always looked for ways to be different.

Now, I’m choosing to sell my digital content using Heyo Cart (heyocart.com), a new idea from my friend Nathan Latka!

Without credibility, it’s tough to make a name for yourself online. Those who have gotten to the top started by publishing. Whether it’s paperback or PDF publishing puts your name in writing behind something you believe in for the world the see.

Where’s the best place to start in the publishing world today? eBooks.

Authors, experts and influencers sold $10 million worth of eBooks in 1995 almost exclusively through Amazon.

In 2014, they sold about $1.6 billion worth of eBooks on Amazon alone.

As sales volume grew, authors began looking for new ways to sell their content without relying on the iron fist of Amazon as evidenced by the Hatchett debacle last year.

Many influencers, experts and authors are also becoming more savvy with online marketing and have built their own email lists, Facebook fan pages and Instagram accounts – myself included!

As, #TheInstagramGal, I’ve always looked for ways to be different.

Now, I’m choosing to sell my digital content using Heyo Cart (heyocart.com), a new idea from my friend Nathan Latka!

Heyo Cart allows authors, experts, and influencers to sell to their Facebook fans by asking their fans to simply comment “buy” to purchase.

Recently, I ran a test to see if Amazon or Heyo Cart would drive me more sales. I posted my latest eBook for sale on Amazon and also to my Facebook page using Heyo Cart.

On Amazon I sold 15 copies, earning $106.76 over the first 10 days.

Using Heyo Cart, I sold 95 copies on my Facebook page, earning $591.05 in the first 10 days.

You could say I was doing the #InstaHappy dance.

“The reason Sue had success using Heyo Cart as opposed to Amazon is simple – her fans commented buy and she made money,” said Latka. “With Heyo Cart, the traditional sales funnel is eliminated. Buyers don’t have to click any external links to complete the purchase – they just comment!”

So what was the biggest bonus I saw when using Heyo Cart? I was also able to capture the first name, last name and email address of my new buyers through the Heyo Cart reporting dashboard.

This made it easy to add them to my CRM system, ONTRAPORT,  for future content marketing. Amazon doesn’t allow me to do that.

Latka expects more and more authors, influencers and experts to sell their own products directly on social media in 2015.

With Instagram in mind, this means huge things for business owners. If you’ve been focused on building your Instagram and Facebook page imagine this…

You build a tribe of loyal Instagram followers. (I’ve got you covered)

You drive the traffic back to your Facebook page with the URL in your bio.  

You offer them a simple eBook or PDF download  with Heyo Cart.

Your followers already know and love you and are more excited to see that you have something to offer.

You turn fans into customers.

It’s an insanely easy way to drive revenue in your business.

By easily being able to sell something at a lower price point, I’m able to serve a wider audience while strengthening the opportunity to upsell later.

“There is an enormous opportunity for authors, influencers, and experts to sell digital products to their consumers inside of Facebook,” said Latka. “This is where consumers spend their time and it’s where they’ll buy.”

According to internal data from Heyo Cart gathered in Q1 of 2015, the best price point for selling eBooks and other digital content on Facebook is $9.00. This was based on a sample size of product prices shown to one million people who are fans of experts’ Facebook pages.

As authors, influencers and experts look for ways to share their content, make more money and gain popularity, Latka anticipates this trend toward social commerce to grow exponentially.

“Total transaction volume done on social media networks on both mobile and desktop will surpass $40 billion by 2025,” said Latka.

Want to see how it works in action? This is the post to my eBook “Instagram Basics For Business” that I shared on Facebook. It’s still live so feel free to snag it.

If he’s right, Heyo Cart might be the next Amazon for authors and influencers. I’m using it and loving it, you should click here to try it now.