Home Business Ideas
Start an E-Book Cover Design
Business
If you have an
eye for details and interest
in graphic design, then you
may be interested in
starting an e-book cover
design business. Info
products and downloadable
software products are hot
selling items online, making
this business in demand! You
can earn income offering
services creating e-book
covers, software box covers,
and header and logo
graphics.
Skills and Software and
Supplies Needed
You don't necessarily need to be a
professional graphic designer to start this
business, but rather just an eye for details and
the ability to listen to your customer's needs.
In order to start this business you obviously
need a computer and Internet connection, but
besides those basics, you will need to invest in
software to help you create your e-book covers.
We recommend investing in
Adobe Photoshop CS3. And if you really want
to expand your business, you can invest in Adobe
Photoshop CS3 Extended which is the ultimate
tool for film, video, and multimedia
professionals, graphic and Web designers. These
programs are a bit pricey, but if you want crisp
looking graphics and offer top-notch e-book
covers, then you will only want invest in the
very best programs and tools out there.
In addition to investing in Adobe Photoshop CS3,
you'll also want another tool to help you easily
produce e-book covers and software box covers.
For this job we highly recommend using
Cover Action Pro software. Unlike other
programs that produce blurry and pixilated
e-book covers, the Cover Action Pro program
delivers crisp and professional looking e-book
covers. Using the Cover Action Pro software
makes it easy for you to create your e-book
covers by allowing you to work from a template,
and then customizing the template to your own
specifications, easily! Also note, that you will
need to purchase or already have the English
Version of Photoshop 7, CS, CS2 or CS3 installed
on your computer in order to use the
Cover Action Pro E-Book software program.
Photos for your e-Book Covers and Software Box Covers
Once you invested in the
software programs needed,
you'll need to find places
to obtain royalty free stock
photos and graphics to use
for your e-book covers and
software box covers. We like
www.istockphoto.com and
www.bigstockphotos.com for
obtaining professional
looking photos. There are
many other places online
that offer royalty free
stock photos, but just be
sure to read the licensing
agreement before purchasing
and using the graphics and
photos.
When setting up your e-book
cover business website make
sure to give your potential
customers the option of
using their own photos and
logo in the e-book cover.
This is great because then
you don't have to scour the
Internet to look for your
own photos to use -- keep in
mind that not everyone will
want to use their own
photos.
Other Services You Can
Provide...
Selling e-book covers and
software box cover designs
is a great service that you
can provide, but you really
are limiting yourself if you
just stick with those two
services to offer. You can
also opt to sell:
- CD-Rom cover shots
- CD Jewel case designs
- Ezine binder designs
- DVD case cover designs
- Paperback e-book cover
designs
- Business cards cover
designs
- Membership card designs
- Banner ad design
- Flash banner ad design
- Website Header designs
- Website design
- Logo design
Startup Cost
If you include the top
software programs to start
this business, the estimated
cost to start this business
is from $746.00 and up --
depending on what extras you
buy. If you include buying a
domain name, and low cost
website hosting, your
estimated total would be
$761.00. It is also highly
recommended that you
trademark your business name
and copyright the work on
your website.
Building Your Online
Business Website
Your website should look
polished and professional,
because after all, you are
in the business of selling
graphic design services. You
can register a domain name
at very low cost at
MommyEmpireHosting.com.
Create your Online Portfolio
You will want to make an
online portfolio of your
work so that potential
clients can look at your
work. If you don't provide
sample or past work, you can
just forget about getting
customers! Obviously when
you are first putting up
your website, you won't have
past customer e-book cover
shots, but don't worry you
can display work that you
made from great test samples
you created.
Charging Customers
If you are just starting
out, you may want to start
out at a lower price
compared to your more
experienced competitors.
This is not a rule you have
to follow but rather to help
build your online customer
portfolio. If you feel you
want to start at the same
price or charge more than
your competitors, you most
certainly can. You may want
to play with the price you
will charge per e-book cover
when you first start your
business. But keep in mind
if you start out really high
and then charge low, past
customers may wonder why
your prices have fallen and
may feel ripped off, or
worse, want the difference
back.
You could test your prices
out by saying you are having
an online sale or special
discount for a holiday.
E-book cover graphics and
software box cover graphics
prices can range from,
$20-100.00 per design, and
normally includes 4
different sizes. You could
offer unlimited revisions or
a set number of revisions
for customers. It is best
you work out all of these
details before going live
with your business.
1 Design + 4 Different Sizes
= $_?_ Your price
Contact Forms and Order
Forms
When creating your website
you should include an order
form so that customers can
give the details of their
order. And even if you do
you use order forms on your
website, you should include
a customer support email
address and provide a
customer support help desk
just in case the customer
needs to contact you
further.
Marketing you E-book Cover
Design Business
Once you have your online
business website set up and
your e-book cover creations
down to an exact science,
then you will need to
advertise your business
online. You have a couple of
options to start bringing in
customers online, and, they
are:
- Advertising via
pay-per-click on all the
major online advertising
networks, like Google
Adwords
- Bid on projects at places
like Guru.com and Elance.com
(Note you will be charged to
sign up to use their
services)
- Word of mouth
- Search Engine Optimizing (SEO),
which will take you months
and effort. It's best not to
rely on this method only
- Advertising on like sites.
Not on another e-book cover
business site, but perhaps a
site where there are
internet marketers who might
be looking for an e-book
cover designer
- Advertise in online
newsletters
This is a great business for
someone who is very
interested in graphic design
and can listen to a
customer's needs and wants.
This business has very low
start-up costs and can
generate you a part-time or
full-time income depending
on how much effort you put
into your business. Most of
the time, info and software
marketers develop tons of
products online, and if they
love your work, they will
come back for more business!
Keep this in mind when
creating their e-book covers
because you will have a
customer for life.
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