We are a small press that offers literature, curriculum, and support. We rebranded April 1, 2025 from Living Books Curriculum (long story, but necessary). We have 4, 400 subscribers and open rate of, on average, 35%. I send weekly and include a blog post. When I offer a free download that’s relevant I get as many as 100 downloads but no follow up sales (e.g Step into Narration with Aesop’s Fables – Living Books Press ) then offer Aesop's Fables with Scripture References – Living Books Press . It’s been just over a year since rebranding, engagement is increasing but not sales. What can I do to increase sales more than I already do?
Hey @sheila_carroll
First, your homepage doesn’t make the path from visitor to buyer obvious. You’ve got six “Explore Here” buttons of roughly equal weight. For a niche brand selling curriculum, parents need one clear “start here if you’re new” path, not six parallel ones. A new visitor lands and doesn’t know whether to start with Living Books, Curriculum Bundles, or Nature Study. Pick the highest converting path and make that the dominant CTA.
Second, almost no social proof anywhere on the homepage. Homeschool parents (especially in a faith-based niche) are cautious buyers, they want to see “trusted by 5,000 families” or testimonials from other homeschool moms before they spend on curriculum. No parent quotes, no review counts, no “as featured in” type signals. That’s a quiet conversion killer in this niche.
Also, one more thing that I’d like to add that why is there so much spacing in your product pages? Customers will be scrolling endlessly just to read a few lines.
Happy to dig into your product pages and download flow properly and share what I’d actually change if you’re interested. You’ve already done the hard part, real brand, engaged list, content that resonates. The conversion side is honestly the easier piece to fix from here.
Best,
Moeed
This is a great help. As I improve the site, I will circle back for more.
Yes, I get it! I will create this starting today. One more question. I have a product that gets oodles of looks but no buy. Can you tell me what I am missing? Writing the Charlotte Mason Way - Complete Homeschool Writing Course – Living Books Press
@sheila_carroll with your open rate and download numbers, this does not sound like an “engagement” problem. It sounds more like the bridge from helpful content to paid product is not clear or urgent enough yet.
I’d look closely at what happens right after someone downloads the free resource. Do they immediately see why the related paid product is the natural next step, or are they left to make that connection on their own?
A few checks I’d make:
- On the download thank-you page and follow-up email, make the next paid step very specific and directly tied to the resource they just requested.
- Add more “who this is for / when to use it / what outcome it helps with” language on the paid product page.
- Since you rebranded, make sure returning readers can quickly connect the old trust they had with the new name.
My guess is that people still value the content, but the paid offer needs a clearer next-step path from the free download. I’d test that before trying to increase traffic or email frequency.
Hello @sheila_carroll
As a Shopify Partner, we tend to view high engagement with low sales as an indicator of a disconnect between the path to interest and path to purchase. Free reports bring in top of funnel users, but you may not be leading them to the bottom of the funnel with paid offers. You might want to segment your download audiences and send out short email follow up sequences that connect the free asset to a related paid product. Enhance product pages with clearer outcomes, testimonials, and bundles. Connect each free asset to a specific paid offer and add a time-based incentive to take action within a window.