Writing your ebook part 3

Following on from my previous post:

c.     Writing your ebook

Here are some tips to remember when writing your ebook:

• If at all possible try to answer the question “What is the purpose of your ebook?” in your introduction.
• Think about your readers whilst you are writing. Is this ebook giving them good value? Visualise your perfect reader and ask yourself what they would want to know about this topic. Make decisions about the content, form, and style of your ebook based on your understanding of your readers’ expectations.
• Try to write in a way that makes the reading experience easy and enjoyable. Put your own character into your writing and it will appear much friendlier. Don’t be afraid to write as you would speak. It may not always be grammatically correct but your writing will be less stilted and more flowing. One idea is to use a Dictaphone and record yourself talking about the subject. Compare this to your writing and you will see the difference. Combine both to produce a nice flowing script.
• In conjunction with the last point, try to break up the length and structure of your sentences and paragraphs to make sure that your writing doesn’t become monotonous.
• Give your readers’ eyes a break by leaving sufficient white space.
• Indented quotes and examples, as well as section and sub-section headings, will help you keep your reader’s alertness.
• Could you use an image and/or graph to get your point across? “A picture paints a thousand words.”
• Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered.
• Find a font that’s easy to read and stick to it. There is nothing worse than continuously changing fonts! Stick to the more common ones such as Arial and Times New Roman.
• Get a good dictionary and Roget’s thesaurus.
• Try to open each chapter with a hook to grab your reader’s attention. There are a number of ways to do this. You could start with a few thought-provoking questions or shocking facts that relate to your readers’ problems. Also try to keep each chapter’s title clear, concise, and compelling.
• Try to keep in mind hot selling points for each chapter. This will help you remain focused on your topic and you are also preparing to market and promote your ebook whilst writing it!
• Add quotes that are relevant to your subject.

  “The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what – these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence.” William Zinsser

Keep your subject matter narrow.

Remember; don’t make your subject matter too broad or general: give your readers specific ideas and solutions they can use right away.

“Shrink your subject. Most of us are way too ambitious when we set out to write. So we end up with a flood that’s a mile wide and an inch deep. Give your readers some depth so that they can enjoy the water. Pick the most interesting, unusual, or surprising aspect of your subject and dive in.” Jack Hart

If you keep these tips in mind when writing your ebook you will be well on the way to writing a clear, concise, informative and enjoyable product.

Next time we will look at the next important step; editing your work…

Writing your ebook part 2

Following on from my previous post:

B       Research and gather information for your ebook. 

Top tips to help research your ebook

• The amount of research that you will need to do is dependent on your level of expertise in your chosen subject.
• If you are already knowledgeable, write down everything you know. Write this under each chapter heading, then do extra research if you need to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. Also, it is important to ensure that your information is current.
• If you don’t know much about your chosen subject, you will have a lot of work to do in terms of research in order to provide value for prospective customers. Organise your research. Take methodical steps. Use files and folders and begin collecting and organising your information. Always try to keep hard copies as well as digital copies. You could use Squidoo lenses to help organise your research. Squidoo lenses provide modules which you can use in the same way you would use index cards. Use a different idea for each module and link to the source of the information for easy reference.
• Keep a record of your sources of information. You never know when you’ll want to go back to a specific resource so make sure that this is easy to find. Also give credit to others if you are using their ideas.
• Don’t just limit your research to online search engines. Make sure you make good use of books and magazines too. If you know, or have access to subject experts, talk to them; you could then use these interviews as an audiobook option.
• Look at all the points in your outline/mind map and research them all thoroughly to ensure that you’ve covered everything that is needed to convey the information that your readers need. Be clear and concise. Don’t be tempted to waffle.
• Whilst researching your topic, if it looks like your book is going to be 500 pages long, your topic is too broad. See if you can narrow it down into sub niches. If you are lucky, your broad topic could provide you with subject matter for several products. You could then sell them separately, as a bundle or give some of them away as a free gift.

Next time we will look at writing the ebook…

Writing your ebook

So, you’ve chosen a topic you’re passionate about and determined that there are people out there looking for information on your topic and more importantly willing to pay for it. You’ve also determined that although there is some competition in your niche, there’s enough room for your product. Good. Now it’s time for you to start writing.

The basic process will look something like this:

A. Determine the structure of your ebook.
B. Conduct research and gather your information.
C. Write your ebook.
D. Edit your ebook.

Let’s look at these stages in a bit more detail over the next few posts:

A.       Determine the structure of your ebook – develop a Table of Contents

When thinking about the structure of your ebook the best way to stay on track is to develop a table of contents and then an outline. It may also be good to write your sales page first. This will keep you focused on what your ebook needs to include to appeal to its target audience. Once you have written your sales page, which is basically a list of the benefits that your ebook will provide to your readers, you can use this as the basis for your table of contents.
If you need ideas when writing the sales letter , search for ebooks on your chosen subject and look at their sales page. Don’t copy other people’s sales pages; you’re just looking for ideas and inspiration. Think about how you could make yours better and stand out from the rest.
Once you have developed your table of contents you can use this to create an outline for your ebook. This should include chapter headings and the points you want to make listed under each heading. Some people prefer to use mind maps instead of outlines, just use whichever method is best for you.              
(A mind map is a graphic technique used to represent ideas, using words, images, symbols and colour. Write down the topic at the centre of a piece of paper, then draw branches leading out from this topic, and smaller branches leading out from these. The branches are organic and free-flowing, instead of being structured and rigid. The first level of branches are supposed to represent the key benefits you can provide your readers. These will become your chapter headings so only use a few words per branch. Then, from each key benefit , branch out into supporting facts, anecdotes, resources etc. It’s a good idea to use colour and images when creating mind maps to further stimulate both memory and imagination.)

You can use Amazon to brainstorm a table of contents by using their “Search Inside This Book” feature to get an idea of the content provided in books in your niche. You could also write the table of contents as a list of questions that your audience wants answered.

Remember that each chapter in your ebook should ideally solve a particular problem related to your topic.
Remember this when developing your table of contents too: every chapter needs to solve a particular problem or add a benefit to the reader.

Next time we’ll look at researching your ebook…

Is there a market for your ebook?

The importance of market research 

It is very important to determine whether there is a market for your ebook and whether it is overly saturated.

If you want to write and publish an ebook to make money you need to find a market where people are willing to pay for your knowledge in your chosen niche. So before you start writing, you should conduct market research in order to determine the following two things:

1. Is there adequate demand for your chosen subject?
2. Is there too much competition?

You want to find a subject that is in high demand, but that doesn’t have too much competition. This is NOT easy! The last thing you want to do is to waste your time writing, publishing and marketing an ebook, only to discover that there’s very little demand for your chosen topic or that the market is already too competitive.

Tips to use when assessing your competition

Your objective is not to find a niche where there’s no competition as this usually means that there is little demand for your information and thus poor profit potential. And even if it could become a profitable niche, you’ll to have to work overtime to educate the market as to why they need your information.
When looking at your competition ask yourself questions such as :

• Do the ebooks and guides currently available cover your subject matter well or are there any gaps in these ebooks that you can exploit?
• Are the ebooks directed at the same target market?

You must have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that makes your ebook stand out from the ebooks already available. You need to give a potential buyer a reason to prefer your ebook over the competition. Read the reviews of the books in your niche that sell well on Amazon. These reviews can be a great source of  information and ideas to make your own ebook better, and may also give you ideas about how to cover an aspect of the topic that others have neglected.

Conduct Market Research on Your Readers

If you have a blog write a few posts on the topic you’re planning to write your ebook about and see how your readers respond.
Is the response lukewarm? Did your readers appear to be  interested in learning more about the topic? Did you get lots of questions in the comments section?
You can also ask your readers to let you know if they would be interested in buying an ebook on your chosen subject.

Set up a poll or survey on your blog and monitor the results closely.

This is important. DO NOT try to sell your ebook to everyone. Consider this fact: “approximately 58% of US adults never read another book after high school.” Then, bear in mind that among potential customers, your ebook is just a needle in a very big haystack. But don’t despair! I am not saying this to deter you, far from it. But for this reason it is far better to concentrate on a small subset of the market – that subset that you have permission to talk to, where you have credibility, and most importantly, where people just can’t live without your ebook.” If you can identify this subset and target them you will reap the rewards.

“A book is a living engine of marketing and idea spreading . . . You should write one.”

I am writing a FREE guide!

This is just a quick post to let you know that I am writing a new guide about making money by writing letters and articles. This will be FREE to all my email subscribers and I when it is finished and uploaded I will let you know.

To receive this guide, just pop your email address in the box on the right and you will receive it when it is ready.

This is just my way of saying thank you to all those people who take time out to read my musings.

Thanks…

 

Choosing a topic for your Ebook

This may appear simple but it is surprising how many people get stuck at this stage and can’t decide what they want to write about. Keep in mind that it’s not just about selling information as people are bombarded with information all the time. More importantly, it’s about selling advice, ideas, original concepts, analysis, expert guidance and how-to guides to help people solve their problems.

The most popular topics for ebooks are:

• How to make money.
• Self help.
• How to save time.
• Learn how to do something with the least amount of effort.
• How to achieve better health (through diet, exercise, etc).
• To learn more about their hobbies and interests.
• To have better relationships.

You need to start thinking of a long list of possible topics that you would like to write about.

Brainstorming ideas for your Ebook

Remember that you’re looking to solve a problem for others. Whilst brainstorming, remember that your main goal is to come up with as many ideas as you can (think quantity, not quality at this stage). Don’t judge, evaluate, or criticise the ideas that you come up with at this point. You will probably come up with a lot of ideas that are closely related, as well as ideas that may seem farfetched.
Here are a few ways to start your brainstorming:

Use your own knowledge, skills, and talents

• What are your innate abilities  (your information product can be based on something in which you excel).
• What skills do you use at work?
• What did you study at school/university? What additional courses/seminars have you studied?
• What do you like to read or learn about? What types of magazines do you like to read?
• What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? What are your hobbies?
• Do you have pets? If yes, how do you look after them?
• Are you a parent? Can you provide practical advice on parenting?
• Do your friends and family generally turn to you for help or advice in a particular subject?
• Have you overcome a problem in your life that may be experienced by others, such as ways to deal with a difficult boss, got out of debt etc?

Visit Clickbank and Amazon

• Find topics for ebooks-or even printed books-that people are buying right now, and enter the market yourself.
• To find popular ebooks visit Clickbank (they let you sort by popularity).
• Also research which topics are selling well in printed books by visiting Amazon.

If you have a blog

• What are your readers saying?
• Which are your most popular posts (in terms of visitors and/or comments)? Can you expand on them?
• What questions do your readers tend to ask you in the comments section or via email?
• Consider conducting a poll to ask them what they would be interested in learning more about.
• What trends are emerging in your niche?
• What’s the biggest problem or challenge for people in your niche?

Ebook Tip

Pick a topic that you’re passionate about. You’ll be spending a lot of time researching and writing your topic and you’ll also have to spend a lot of time marketing your ebook. This does take some work, and if you’re not passionate about your chosen subject, this will come across in your writing and you will be much more likely to give up.

Write an ebook that contains information that people are desperate for.

Another option for finding a great topic for your ebook is to brainstorm a list of problems that people are desperate to solve. Instead of selling basic how-to information-such as an ebook about how to take a great picture with a digital camera,you should sell to desperate buyers. That is, people with pressing issues they need to solve right now; people with problems that are clear, bothersome (eg. haemorrhoids), and maybe even embarrassing. These people are going to be rushing to you for a solution to their problem instead of you having to chase after them to try to sell them your ebook.

Once you have finished brainstorming and have a long list of ideas,  examine them critically. Evaluate their merit as possible subjects for your ebook. Consider related ideas or concepts. Try to establish three or four strong ideas that are good potential topics.

“And remember this; you need to give customers what THEY want, not what YOU think they want.”

That’s it for now…

Could I ask you a quick question?

I am trying to determine what obstacles stop people from starting an online business. I will use the results to try to tailor my posts to address these issues.

So, if you could  please take a few seconds to answer this quick poll I would be most grateful.

Thanks…

10 top tips to help with writing an eBook

Try to follow these tips before you write a single word and you will be much more likely to be successful and write and publish your eBook.

1. Write a title for your eBook. This will give you focus and ensures the reader knows what topic(s) the eBook will cover.

2. Write a thesis for your eBook. A thesis is a brief statement addressing the problem(s) that your eBook covers and how your eBook will solve it. Knowing the thesis before you start writing will keep you focused. All chapters should be written with the thesis in mind and reinforce it.

3. Determine the level of interest for your chosen subject. The fear that your book won’t sell isn’t unusual so don’t worry. Ask yourself this simple question; is it relevant? Then write it! Does it give the reader useful information? Does it have the potential to positively affect people’s lives? Is it lively, humorous? Does it help answer important questions for the reader? It costs very little (if anything) to write an eBook so the most you’ll have lost is your time. If it doesn’t sell, forget about it and move on. DO NOT dwell on it and think of it as a failure.

4. Target your audience. This is vital to the success of your eBook. Not everyone will want to read your book. What is the age range of your prospective readers? Are they more likely to be male or female? Are they interested in personal growth, making or saving money, or “how-to” guide books? What types of challenge do they face? Are they likely to be business people? What magazines and websites do they like? Are they Internet savvy? Once you have targeted them, write a sales letter and tell them why you’re writing your book and the benefits they can expect.

5. State your reasons for writing your eBook. Your readers will want to know the reason you wrote your eBook so be prepared. For instance, “I wrote this book because so many of my clients and students asked me to. They didn’t want theory; they wanted practical advice to help them. “

6. State your personal goals for your eBook. Would you like to give it away to family members? Is it going to be a free gift to your readers or do you want to sell it? How many copies do you want to sell? How much money would you like to make each month? What publishing format will you choose; will it just be distributed as an eBook or will you also sell physical copies via self-publishing or traditional publishing?

7. Organize the sections of your eBook. Keep your sections in separate files; keep your introduction in one and your chapters and your index or resource section in others. Include your bibliography and keep a file of all people you will quote in your book who may give you a testimonial later (if relevant). ALWAYS keep a backup copy! It may also be a good idea to keep a properly indexed paper copy. Better to be safe than sorry.

8. Write down the format of your eBook. Readers will expect a clear map to guide them through the text. They like consistency. Each chapter should be approximately the same length and have the same sections. To bring your writing to life, try to include anecdotes, headings, photos, maps, graphs, exercises, tips. Readers like easy-to-read side bars in boxes.

9. Write a brief synopsis before you start writing. This “outline” will help to give your book direction and helps you focus only on what’s important to your subject. You only have a few seconds to impress your prospective buyer so include what sells: customer testimonials, a benefit-driven headline to hook the reader and bulleted benefits, pretty much all the information you should have in your sales letter!

10. Try to envisage your eBook cover before you start writing. Take your time when designing your cover or freelance it out. There are many types of eBook cover software available so I would definitely give it a go yourself before paying a graphic designer. Unleash your creative inner artist! Once designed keep it next to your PC to inspire you. To sell your products, your cover and title only have a few seconds to hook your buyer. Covers may well be more important than what is inside! Browse a high street bookshop as well as other eBooks to get a few ideas to get you started. Do you have any colour preferences? Is you title powerful and to the point?

Writing an eBook is much less daunting when you can break it down into bite-sized chunks. As soon as you master these ten tips you will be well on the way to finishing your first eBook.

Identify the right keywords for your online business

Continuing from my previous post…….Most online business owners make the  mistake of not taking the time to conduct thorough keyword research. With regards to our “martial arts business” they would brainstorm the first 10 words that pop into their heads for their niche (like “martial arts” and “Huddersfield martial arts lessons”) and never dig deeper into the minds of their prospective customers.

Effective targeted marketing  relies on proper keyword research. A keyword can be a single word (like “martial”) or words strung together to create a keyword phrase (like “martial arts lessons for adults”).

The more specific your keyword phrase is, the better. This helps to narrow down the people searching in your niche. Plus, it usually means fewer competitors for the phrase in search engine results pages.

Use keyword tools, such as those from WordTracker and Google AdWords to really dig down to come up with the best keyword phrases for your website.

The more in-depth you get, the more you’ll be able to find the words or phrases that your prospective customers will type into a search engine. If you can hit upon some of these phrases, you’ll see a big increase in the right kind of traffic.

You can look at keyword phrases from a number of different angles. Many keyword research tools provide information on how many searches are being done for a particular keyword phrase, but that’s not all there is to it. You should also look at how much competition there is for that phrase, as well as its Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI).

KEI refers to the ratio between the amount of competition for a particular phrase and the number of searches done for that phrase. The higher the KEI value, the better. You’ll usually want to use phrases where the searches for it have been plentiful and the competitors scarce.

WordTracker allows you to find the number of searches being done for a particular keyword phrase, and to see how much competition there is for that phrase, along with the KEI value.

WordTracker isn’t free to use, although it does provide a  free trial which allows you to research 30 keyword phrases, but it only returns search results from MSN. The paid option gives you a number of different ways to research as many keyword phrases as you like and you can specify which search engine you want to receive results from.

To start your keyword research in WordTracker, enter a basic keyword or short keyword phrase that describes your business. For instance, you could type “Huddersfield martial arts lessons” into the search box.

WordTracker will then return a list of related words and phrases for you to choose from – like “martial arts,” “martial arts lessons,” and “instruction.” Click on one to see related keyword phrases on the right side of the screen. Clicking on “martial arts,” for example, might elicit a list that includes “martial arts shoes,” “history of martial arts,” “martial arts moves,” and “martial arts lessons.” Clicking on “martial arts lessons” might then elicit a list that includes “martial arts lessons for adults” “martial arts lessons for children,” and “free online martial arts lessons.”

The next step is to pick the keyword phrases that are most closely related to your product or service. In WordTracker, this adds them to your “keyword basket.” For our martial arts business, we’d choose “martial arts lessons for adults” instead of “martial arts lessons for children” or “free online martial arts lessons.”

Try to think of as many specific keyword phrases as possible, and use WordTracker’s “dig-down” feature to get even more specific choices. Once you’ve filled your keyword basket, you can look at  the competition.

The competition analysis page is where you’ll get the most information regarding your chosen keyword phrases – the number of searches that have been done on them, the amount of competition for them, and their KEI values.

WordTracker recommends using keyword phrases with a KEI greater than 10, but if possible try to come up with keyword phrases having a KEI over 100. A real gift is a phrase with a KEI greater than 400. A high KEI value means that you’re likely to be ranked within the first few pages of your targeted visitors’ search engine results pages… if you optimise your website pages for that phrase.

By identifying and choosing very specific keyword phrases with a high KEI value, and sprinkling those keywords around your website and advertisements, you’ll be able to get the most targeted traffic to your website i.e. the people most likely to actually buy your product or service.

As you build your list of keyword phrases, start putting it to use by including these phrases on your website, in your blog, in content you post in article directories, and in pay-per-click search engines. As time goes by and you see how important keywords are to the success of your online business, you’ll get into the habit of conducting thorough research and expanding your list for a greater reach on the Web.

How to drive the right type of customers to your website

Whether you already have an online business or you’re thinking of starting one up, the most important thing you should focus on is driving traffic to your website. Learning this skill is vital to your success. After all, if you don’t have potential customers browsing  your products or services, how can you sell them anything and make money?

Let’s say you’ve started teaching martial arts lessons in Huddersfield and you’ve set up a website to help you find more students.

Now, you probably realise how important it is to get as many visitors to your site as possible. Common sense right…more visitors equals more sales. However, you may not realise that there are two types of traffic – and only one of them is really worth the effort to attract it.

In general, traffic is classed as targeted or untargeted. Targeted traffic is the best.

The most effective way to generate targeted traffic to your site is to master the use of keywords. Please don’t underestimate how vital keywords are to your success in making money online. Try to learn how to use the various tools on the Web that can help you maximise your ‘findability’.

When creating content for your website, whether it be information about your product , information about yourself, even articles related to whatever it is you’re selling – you want to make sure you include plenty of keywords that your potential customers could be searching for.

Well, that’s it for now. Next time, we’ll look at how to identify the best keywords for your business…