Pick the Perfect Subject For Your EBook
You start by looking at yourself. Make a long list of everything you’ve ever done that could possibly be of value to you or anyone else. Make sure you include everything, no matter how small it seems. Then go over your list and see what stands out; see which of your list items might relate to strong needs in other people.
For instance, suppose you see that you have a history of outdoor sports, physical therapy, and regular exercise. You can relate your experience, knowledge, and resources to people’s need for better health or losing weight. You could recommend exercises that you know something about, and discuss productive methods of weight loss.
What hobbies did you have as a child or young adult that you loved? Maybe there’s a piece of gold that you dropped long ago. Those activities and those emotional reactions that you had indicate that there’s something there that’s important to you. You could explore that resonance in yourself as a means of finding a subject that you could enthusiastically promote to other people.
An example - suppose you were knowledgeable about comic books when you were a kid. As an adult, you might write an eBook about collecting and selling comics for profit.
Steps to Take Before Writing Your eBook
You’ll want to take these steps with each subject you think might be viable.
- Do research on that subject to find out if anyone wants to know what you propose to tell them.
- Find out if there’s anyone searching for this information.
- Discover how many people are providing a product similar to this.
- Do keyword research using keyword tools. Details about keyword research and tools can be found at Business - Do It Yourself. (A free eBook on keyword research is available on the site when you sign up for the newsletter.)
Keyword Research
One critical reason to use keyword research is to evaluate the market quantitatively. That means you need numerical results indicating that enough people are using this keyword in their searches to make your product profitable.
If you pick a subject that has too few searchers, no one will buy your book - and if you pick a subject with too many competitors, you’ll also have problems. So you need a subject that has enough searchers and not too many competitors. (Although if you have what you believe to be an irresistable subject, perhaps you can out-do any number of competitors.)
After Your eBook Has Been Written
Once you’ve created an eBook, you still have a lot of work to do to get a profitable return on your investment. And if you find your sales techniques are not working, you must consider a new subject and a different eBook. One critical tool for selling an eBook is to make use of the affiliate programs that exist, such as ClickBank or PayDotcom.
Another, perhaps more important selling tool is joint venture affiliates. A joint venture affiliate is a special relationship you have with an affiliate who has enormous resources to sell your product. For example, you could partner with a marketer who has a product that’s complimentary to yours. If this person has a large email list, he or she can use that to advertise your product, in return for a large commission. You’ll find details about joint venture affiliates at Business - Do It Yourself.
There are few restrictions for eBook subjects and formats. Long or short eBooks are equally good, so length is not an issue. It would be nice to have a source of images to break up the solid text and make the book more readable. And make sure to have a proof-reader go over your eBook before making it public. Spell-check alone is not sufficient.
So - let this eBook be the first product of your successful business. If it’s a subject you know, you’ll have no problem writing about it.
Suzann is a technical writer and copy editor. A graduate of Northwestern University, she contributes to the popular website, http://www.Business-DoItYourself.com