An eBook is a PDF file that is sold as a solution to a specific problem. Whilst most people associate this type of business with the Internet (digital media), it goes back a LOT further than that, namely with direct response copywriting & products – many of which exist today. When considering putting together an eBook, you need to make sure you have a product worth buying. If you’re doing it purely for money, you’ll have to sell into one of the dumbass markets like Forex or Investing. In this article, I will explain the steps to take to make an eBook and sell it online.
Firstly, you need to know what you’re going to sell information about. The absolute WORST thing you can do is to make an idea in your head, and miraculously hope it will get promoted online. Whilst this works in some cases, for most it does not. Actually, to be specific, it DOES work if you’re prepared to be patient and find the appropriate audience. As mentioned, the largest audiences are generally the most stupid — “investing” and “Forex” being the prime culprits.
To find a market / topic worth writing about, the best thing you can do is write from experience. If there was ever a “secret trick” you found / discovered / encountered, you’ll be much better placed to make it work. For example, I had a penile yeast infection some time ago and found that using anti-dandruff shampoo fixed the majority of the problem. Unfortunately, some more of it was buried under the skin which lead me to find my own (painful) way to resolve it. This is the type of material someone would buy from an eBook. $9.99 for a simple solution.
If you have a market / topic you have some expertise in, you need to then put the book together. Doing this is very simple – and now free. You just need to load up a new “Google Docs” document and type out what you want. I won’t explain the structure you should use (that’s better for another article). You just need to write it and then afterwards, you can save as PDF. This gives you your eBook. If you want to publish it online, either make a simple HTML website OR use one of the myriad of “website builders” that have popped up online in recent years (Wix etc).
As for selling the eBook, use ClickBank. It’s the largest “digital retailer” and has by far the largest number of affiliate promotional partners. This is basically like a digital sales force – working on your behalf to sell your product. For $50 you will get your product into the ClickBank marketplace, which should allow you to get it sold relatively quickly.
As a pro tip – you need to look up the “free line” by Eban Pagan. He wrote a hugely successful eBook called “Double Your Dating” under the penname “David DeAngelo” back in the early 2000’s. Since turning to business consulting, Eban explained many of his principles and giving away a LOT of value up front was one of them.
Finally, the killer point here is that there needs to be one killer reason why someone will buy your product. The key is to then GIVE THAT AWAY on the website. For example, with my penile yeast infection thing – just make a video explaining the WHOLE process and give it for free. Then say the book is $9.99 if they need more technical details / information pertaining to what may go wrong.
