Info Digital Products mainly
in the form of eBooks are the hottest thing on the Web right now!
Authors with the entrepreneurial instinct are making anywhere from a few
hundred to tens of thousands of dollars per month by selling ebooks online.
BUT before you rush to write or create or promote a hot ebook, as with everything online, there are several key
ingredients that will separate the majority from the few really successful
authors.
Why are some authors doing so much better than others?
a2z Group has discovered 8 major tactics and steps that successful authors and
creators of ebooks take that separates them from the
majority that fail or make small profits.
1. Relevant, concise and well written information.
Many involved in I.M. have jumped on the bandwagon and made one of the
following mistakes:
* They cannot write well or spell but fail to use a ghost writer or as a
minimum have a well educated person check the spelling and content.
* They use a group of articles on a similar subject and reform them into
an ebook. This means that the information is already
circulating and the ‘new’ ebook has mainly old info
that is already yesterday’s news.
* The problem with using content from article directories is also that
many are badly written or do not say anything new or helpful. The article
writers are often also taking rehashed content from other articles or old ebooks, so by the time the info appears in the ebook it is very diluted and of little use to anyone!
Successful authors are able to
write ORIGINAL, relevant, interesting
and well written content that answers the problems or interests
of the reader.
2. They write to a specific, target audience.
Smart ebook authors know their market and
clearly define, identify and visualize who they are selling their ebook to. On the Web you must write to a targeted group of
people who have specific interests. Make sure that you know exactly who is
going to buy your ebook, and where you can find them
online. To put it bluntly – do you have a hungry group of readers waiting to
get their hands on the useful info that you have written about!
3. They focus their time by automating as many of
their business activities as possible.
Selling ebooks can be time consuming and
unless you do every step correctly or have some luck it is not a business where
you make hundreds of dollars per sale.
Automate everything you can - credit card processing, ebook delivery, as much technical support as possible. If
you can’t automate a function, delegate it to someone else.
4. They have a compelling title for their ebook.
Use words that convey the benefit of what’s in the ebook
that also your audience is familiar with. Make the title as specific and accurate
as possible and not too general. Also be careful of over-hyping the title as it
will put many off and affect your credibility. You are all familiar with lines
like “make 1000’s a day while you sleep on the beach” and “boatloads of auto
cash”. Usually if they are too good to be true and promise almost no work for
huge profits it will not live up to the over-hyped promises in the sales letter
or title.
A bad title for an ebook: “Promoting Your
Website.”
A good title for the same ebook: “77 Ways to Successfully
Promote Your Website.”
5. They do not cover too much ground and offer
something for everyone!
Many ebook authors convey a lot of information
but don’t cover anything in-depth. As a result, they never fully explain
anything in enough detail to provide any specific value to their readers. This
leaves the reader frustrated and with a list of questions and details that are
not explained fully or at all in the content. Consider that many of the best
selling ebooks are linked to titles like:
How to….. / The Best
17 Tips on……./ 7 Successful Ways to Promote……..
You get the idea – this means that it is even more important that your
17 or 77 How tos, Ways of, Tips on…contain relevant,
specific ways that work and have been proven to help you solve your problems in
that particular area or niche.
6. They are proactive in their marketing and
consistently looking for new partners and methods.
It would be nice if marketing for your ebook
simply happened on its own - but it doesn’t. You have to do it yourself and enlist
affiliates and JV partners to make it viral.
After you’ve promoted your ebook to the people
on your own mailing list (if you have one), you have to contact other Website
owners and persuade them to be your affiliates. This should be an ongoing
process. You need to use all the marketing avenues open to you like article
writing, posting in forums, advertising in relevant places or sites, posting in
blogs etc.
7. Make your ebook unique
and differentiate it from your competitors.
After choosing your topic based on your expertise, interests and keyword
research to determine if you have a market, either select a specific area that
is not well catered for or a different angle on the same subject that creates
interest.
Successful authors are also aware of what is in and hot and sells the
best. In other words some subjects or interests are based on current fashions
or fads or concerns and others are more constant and rooted in people’s every day and unchanging needs or interests like
health, sports and leisure etc. Whatever the topic make sure you are specific
and offer enough useful details and facts to capture your reader.
8. They write ebooks that
readers will pay for.
Many ebook authors write about information
that either people can get for free, or that people are not actually interested
in enough to pay for the information. That’s fine if you do not take much time
and are looking to build your list and reputation so do not mind giving it
away.
Before you invest weeks or months in writing your ebook,
invest a little time discovering if other ebooks on a
similar subject area are selling on the Web.
A lot of this is common sense, but with the explosion in ebook production and popularity, it is important not to
jump on the bandwagon and become another writer that few read or need. Be aware
of these 8 factors that successful writers and promoters of ebooks
use and YOU will have a far greater chance of success in this interesting and
exciting phenomenon.
David
Fowler
Ebooks
that can make a difference to your life!