Earning an Income by Writing Short E-books

Times are changing. It used to be that a downloadable e-book had to be lengthy to be perceived as valuable. The problem was that they usually contained only three or four gold nuggets of information hidden in “tons of fluff.” Some of the tricks used to make an e-book appear longer included:

• Using a larger font size and increased line and paragraph spacing.

• Adding an introduction that rambled on for pages about how great the e-book was including numerous and repetitive generic testimonials.

• Adding articles obtained for free from article directories.

• Lots of sales hype that encouraged you to purchase additional e-books and software. The e-book author, of course, earned an affiliate commission for each of those supplementary sales.

• Use of large graphics, such as screen shots to also lengthen the e-book.

As an experiment, I took a 100-page e-book, converted it to a Word file and reformatted it with a 12-point font and normal spacing. It was actually 17 pages in length and contained only a couple of points of any value. From there it went into the trash.

Today, people are willing to purchase short e-books or e-reports if they perceive the topics as valuable. They do not want to wade through the fluff to find the gold nuggets. They are in a hurry and are paying you for information that will immediately help them.

The following are some key suggestions if you wish to write and sell short e-books and e-reports for profit:

Researching Your Topics

1.   Target a specific niche audience and identify what problems they wish to solve (“how to” and “problem solving” information sells best). Topics that people would prefer to keep confidential sell well online, as they prefer not to purchase these items in public.

2.   Assume that your target audience has general knowledge about the niche topic. Do not insult their intelligence by offering what they already know.

3.   Visit online forums, blogs and groups that focus on your niche topic and read the posts. Look at the questions being asked and the solutions being discussed. This is the best form of market research.

4.   Use niche keyword phrases to search the Web and see what information is provided by the “Top 20” Websites. This will provide you with the information being offered by your competition.

5.   Use the information gathered from point three to determine your e-book’s topic and the information from point four to see what is already being offered (both free and paid) by the competition. Review the pricing.

6.   Review the ads that appear in Google, Yahoo and MSN when you type in your niche keywords. This will show you what others are advertising and selling. This will help you to avoid writing a “me too” e-book.

7.   Determine what is not covered or offer a new twist that will interest your niche audience.

8.   Research your topic by searching for non-main stream Websites and off-line sources, such as a library or bookstore. Use Amazon.com to conduct your initial research for published books on your topic.

Writing Your E-book

1.   Write a laser-focused niche e-book. Get to the point and write to cover your topic and not to any particular length. The more focused the topic, the shorter the e-book can be.

2.   Use 12-point type and one and one-half inch spacing. Write in short paragraphs. This makes your e-book easy to read on the screen, as well as in printed form.

3.    If you include links to Websites, use the entire URL including the “http.”  This will make them active within your document.

4.   Distribute your e-book in PDF format and not as an exe file. The PDF format is cross platform so Macintosh users can also read your e-book.

5.    Zip the PDF file prior to storing it on your Website for downloading. This not only makes the file smaller for faster downloading, but prevents the search engines from making it available for free when surfers are searching specifically for PDF files.

6.    Use a conversational tone and connect with your readers as if you were discussing a problem with a friend.

7.   Determine the benefits that readers will experience from buying your e-book.

8.   Obtain testimonials that you can incorporate in your sales letter.

9.   Write a benefits-driven sales letter and post it on your Website. Link it to your shopping cart that will forward customers to your “Thank You” page where they will download your e-book.

10. Promote your e-book on the niche forums and groups where you conducted your initial market research. You can then further promote your new e-book on the Web to increase sales.

Conclusion

People are willing to pay for information that they cannot find for free. When writing your short e-books or e-reports, remember that your readers are in a hurry and want to quickly apply your solution. Do not subject them to a “hunting expedition” for what’s important within your document. Treat your readers as friends who are coming to you for help and you will have customers for life.

Resource Box
V. Michael Santoro is a published author, Internet Marketer, and creator of the Authorpreneur Program. He provides original Internet book marketing information on his website http://judy1234.vmti0126.hop.clickbank.net. Sign up for the free Authorpreneur e-zine and receive a powerful PDF creation program as a free gift.