You’ll see one theme come up again and again on Copyblogger. If you want to create real revenue with your blog, you need to have something worthwhile to sell.
Most sites are disappointed by the nickels and dimes that come in from advertising. If your site gets massive amounts of traffic, it can work, but if not, you’ll want to find a much more profitable source of revenue.
But most of us find that it’s not all that easy to translate high-quality content from your blog into a high-quality product for sale.
Four or five years ago, you could have slammed together an ebook over the weekend and created a decent income with it. But in the current environment, buyers are more careful with their money, and you’ve got an awful lot of competition.
The good news is, most of your competitors still think it’s 2003, and most of their products are astoundingly lame. And there are still lots of buyers who need to solve their most pressing problems.
So there are still plenty of opportunities to monetize with an ebook. But it has to be terrific.
So what makes a terrific ebook?
For an ebook to work in this climate, it needs to:
- Solidly address the problems, concerns, or desires of a well-defined target market. Vague, fluffy or irrelevant junk isn’t going to cut it.
- Be a meaningful extension of the relationship you’ve already created with your audience.
- Stake out a compelling position in the marketplace.
- Reflect the confidence of top-notch content.
- Provide an exceptional return on investment for buyers.
- Be supported by an intelligent marketing system that fuels your customers’ need to buy.
The enemy of the successful ebook
So to create an ebook that works today, you’ve got a few more steps to take.
First you’ve got to research your market. Then you need to build a list and drive buying readers to your blog. (There can be a big difference between fans and customers.) Then research, outline, and actually write the book. And then you’ve got to figure out the whole launch thing: creating buzz, recruiting and managing affiliates, writing a sales page.
We bloggers are pretty good at taking action. We can do any of these things individually. And to tell you the truth, none of them is all that hard.
But take them all together and we find ourselves overwhelmed.
Before we know it, it’s been six months or a year, and we’re still trying to make it happen. Not because it’s beyond our abilities, but because without a detailed map, it’s easy to get lost in the process.
How to get it done
When I first picked up How to Launch the **** Out of Your Ebook, I didn’t read it right away. I figured I knew everything that would be in there, and I had so much on my plate.
When I finally got around to taking a close look at it, I was surprised. This wasn’t a simple connect-the-dots guide for newbies. There was real meat here. A lot of which was, in fact, incredibly useful to me.
I know the course creators and I’ve been consistently impressed with them, so it’s not like I thought it was going to be garbage. But I was still surprised at how extensive the course turned out to be.
How to Launch the **** Out of Your Ebook was created by launch expert Dave Navarro and small business marketing rockstar Naomi Dunford.
(Don’t worry, it isn’t full of curse words despite Naomi’s involvement. In fact, I think the missing word is Heck, don’t you?)
In five concise modules, How to Launch covers the entire process of writing an ebook that sells.
- How to research your market in 30 minutes or less. (If you don’t get this part right, you’re dead before you begin.)
- The simple strategy to drive targeted buyers to your blog.
- What to do when you don’t have enough time to write, and dozens of techniques that will keep your momentum going.
- How to convince big names to review your ebook.
- How to create a sales process that works.
- How to pick the right affiliate program, and how to find affiliates once you’ve made your choice.
The course is quite comprehensive, so I won’t bog this post down with the entire table of contents. But the thing that impressed me most was that wherever you might happen to get stuck, they’ve got the information to get you moving again.
True confessions
- Naomi and Dave are both friends of mine, and Naomi and I do business together. I’ve been following their stuff for a couple of years now, and I think they do exceptional work.
- The links in this review are affiliate links. So Copyblogger will make something on the sale, although not nearly as much as you will if you implement the advice you get in the program.
The worst confession is how long I’ve been sitting on this, because I’ve been meaning to review it for ages. But in light of the conversations Brian and I have been having about what kind of material we’ll be recommending from this point forward, I thought this was just about the perfect time.
Click here to get more details about How to Launch the **** Out of Your Ebook.
About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of Remarkable Communication.
Bookmark and Promote!
Related Articles
Copyblogger runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress
Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give you a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.
With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like Copyblogger, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.
{ 18 trackbacks }
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. I agree that it is essential now to rise above the noise and provide excellent content in your ebook.
May I ask if it had free software to create PDF for the product?
It’s so interesting that you posted this today Sonia, because I’ve been thinking of re-reading the ebook. I’ve implemented quite a few of the steps outlined in the book, but now I’m at a place where I have to actually take another step. Funny how that happens, isn’t it?
(If you’re friends with the authors, you might want to tell them that they have a problem with their GA code at the bottom of their page)
Great post. Very useful info on how to write and market a successful e-book.
@The Bad Blogger, their course doesn’t include a free PDF generator, but there are many of them available around the Web. I use PDFCreator, which works very well for me, and is free.
@netmeg, I’ll let ‘em know, thanks.
I’ve been pondering the idea of writing an eBook for some time now. Mostly my ideas revolve around my skills rather than anything I blog about though.
For example, I am a phenomally fast typist and people are always asking how I got so quick. Thinking about it, I can identify the how and could easily offer some good methods. I see this kind of book as a problem solver. I think a lot of books make bold claims and the awful pages that advertise them are a real turn off, I totally agree that many people still think it’s 2003.
It’s a shame that even on some blogs that talk about how to sell, (and why the hard sell often fails) you see the hard sell when it comes to sponsors/affiliates etc!
The disadvantage is that I currently have no channel to promote it on, my only knowledge of a demand for this kind of service comes from friends and colleagues.
Be interested to hear anyones thoughts on this, and I will have to check this book out Sonia
.
I think it’s important to distinguish ebooks sold as a source of revenue from ebooks that are freely distributed to build credibility. While many of the same rules apply, the latter kind of book needs to promote a different kind of value: the “sell” isn’t trying to part you from your cash, but convince you of the author/publisher’s expertise.
Great insights, Sonia (as always).
I just read an article in “FastCompany” mag about Amazon’s Kindle and was wondering about something. Do you think Amazon’s pricing of ebooks for their device at $9.99 (even the bestest best-sellers) will affect sales of ebooks priced much higher by their authors (particularly in non-IM niches)?
Thanks!
@Jonathan, that’s a good point, it’s 90% a very different animal, but there are still a lot of points of commonality.
@Bonnie, it does seem that Amazon is anchoring the traditionally published ebook at $9.99, so for something that looks like a traditional business book, a traditional work of fiction, etc., that’s probably what we’re stuck with. But the kinds of ebooks that create revenue for bloggers & other online folks are a different critter. They’re more practical, they solve problems rather than giving information.
A physical book’s been anchored at under $20 for years, but that hasn’t made information products any cheaper. (In fact, good information products are getting more and more expensive.) So I’m not stressed about the Kindle pricing, personally. It’s a different kind of content.
My ebooks are more ‘failures to launch’ so I’ll be reading this. Thanks for the recommendation.
Bonnie, keep in mind that the new Kindle has full support for PDFs, so no matter what your sales channel or pricing, Kindle users can use the technology with your product. I think the Kindle will become a boon for ebook producers, whether you use Amazon’s distribution channes or not.
(I’m leaning towards “not”).
Helpful post as I’m in the process of writing an eBook at the moment. I don’t think I have much competition in the market I’m writing for, but still a helpful post nonetheless. I might have to look into getting the book mentioned…the name alone made me chuckle
Ah, yes! One more thing for me to work on! No, seriously, thank you for sparking that interest again in my brain. Any ideas on the average length?
Thanks again Sonia,
Lawton
Hey Lawton!
To quote that old copywriting saw, the same length as a woman’s skirt–short enough to keep things interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.
The serious answer (which is really the same) is that it depends on what you need to cover to solve the problem your customer needs help with.
It’s so true that if you look at what’s already out there (from those who still market like it’s 2003), it’s obvious there’s still a market for quality ebooks. And you’re right, those of us bloggers who stick it out are action takers so it would be a natural extension of what we’re already doing.
I think I’ll check out that book too-despite the fact that I might run into some curse words. I’m sure I’ve heard worse-and said worse for that matter!
I believe slowly and steadily some day every blogger thinks of either having his own ebook or author a physical book (if I can use that word).
Although the latter is quite attractive it is next to impossible @ times. The former idea is easy to implement and can even be distributed free of cost to gain good traffic back to your blog. Thanks Sonia for reminding that we need to think abt this too
Everyone writes about how to create a great ebook but no one talks about how to design a great ebook. If you offer an ebook on your blog and it has an ugly front cover than no one will download it and read it.
“In fact, good information products are getting more and more expensive.” – That’s interesting, good to know. I notice the normal price being used by some of the top marketers right now is $1995 for their info products.
“I think the missing word is Heck, don’t you?”
.
It could be so many things
Exactly, Harrison–it used to be that it was “impossible” to sell a digital product for more than $100. Now $2K is pretty much the benchmark for a big product, and there are premium products going for much more than that.
Sonia -
Producing e-books whether used for free distribution, low cost reports, or complete training products result in a traffic juggernaut. This is an excellent post with several golden nuggets to help make the most of your time investment creating a treasure trove of content.
Thank you!
James
http://twitter.comAskJamesHolmes
Hey Sonia, I was just about to order this Ebook when I came across this post. And I’m so glad I did. Happy to buy something that will benefit a blog that has taught me so much.
Thanks for the review! Clicking on your link now…
Too bad I wasn’t around for the golden days of easy money making through ebooks… Great article! Thanks!
@The Bad Blogger you can start using Open Office now for free – it has a PDF creater build in
http://openoffice.org
I like the “sales page” very much – it already teaches you a lot
The most popular pages on my site are packing lists for a year long trip around Latin America. I’ve been thinking about writing an ebook on this topic but never got round to doing it. I’ll probably use some of your advice and apply it to my own ebook.
Thanks for the pointers.
Great post, this may help me get off the fence and start creating something of value to share with the world…
I’d like to also recommend that writers check out Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/
They provide an e-publishing platform that supports a wide variety of popular formats, including PDF and Kindle. In fact, I’d like to see a Smashwords review on copyblogger. Brian and Sonia, I’d be happy to write one for you if you like, let me know.
The last couple of ebooks I have read lately have been quite concise and to the point. I don’t see the need for some authors to add fluff and padding.
Hey…those e-junkie affiliate links should be disclosured
Is part of launching the whatever out of an eBook charging $97 for it?
I have total respect for CopyBlogger, but endorsing something that is clearly made to make money, rather than first and foremost help people, is beyond the pale.
Seriously upset by this.
Is anyone else concerned by the price/
Maria, does Smashwords actually work for selling ebooks? I spent a lot of time putting all of my ebooks on Scribd.com and few selling. Chatting with other authors , that also was their experience.
Great post I am wanting to write a simple report on wordpresss that I wanna put on my blog to give away to my list although I gotta build my list yet.
Anyway cool stuff
cheers
marcus passey
I think a best-selling ebook in these economic times would be “How To Avoid a Foreclosure”. Seriously, I’ve bought so many ebooks over the years…many of them have been a great resource to turn to. Great ebooks bring return customers!
I’m on the brink of launching an eBook (on July 10th). Mine’s a collection of fiction that has appeared in The Casual Observer (I have a fiction story every Friday, and varied content the rest of the week – news, sports, etc), as well as a new, longer story – a total of just unde 60 pages)
Mine’s a freeBook designed to promote (and reward) reader loyalty, as only repeat visitos (and RSS readers) will have access to this and future editions.
A pay eBook? Maybe in the distant future.
Great post. I agree that it is essential now to rise above the noise and provide excellent content in your ebook.
Sahail – e-book pricing, like most narrow niche publishing, is based on value delivered.
You may not wish to pay $97 for a romance novel, but if $97 can teach you how to make the equivalent of a year’s wage-slave salary, isn’t it worth it?
It’s about the leap of faith on value promised and your ability and willingness to execute their plan that will ultimately determine if you got your money’s worth.
Great post! I just finished a series of ideas for e-books that I am about to start – timing of this was perfect. Thanks for the tips!
I am going to adapt these guidelines once my blog get established and successful. I have even thought its title name “How to? Buster”
please you people don’t steal this name, I haven’t registered it yet with copyright office
great post i agree content is king when information is unique and contextual. As a writer we should know our target audience and their expectations. thanks for guidelines
Hi Darren,
What is “Third Approved Tribe”?
@Stan – http://www.copyblogger.com/two-tribes/
@Sahail – There is nothing wrong with paying for a decent product packed full of hard learnt knowledge, especially when it’s promoted in a transparent manner.
If you’re not happy about it, there are tons of free resources to keep you busy and entertained. Just go Google ’sell ebook’ or something of the sorts. It should keep you busy for at least 6 months at which point you may feel differently about authentic people promoting real and decent products to help others get ahead.
Phil,
I am not doing anything other than drawing attention to the idea that the cost was rather high!
Feels like I’m being hated a little here…
@Sahail – No hating going on
I’m just drawing attention to the fact that not everything that’s useful and helping people has to be free.
Great post. I am very soon launching an ebook and this was very helpful
Solid primer.
May I make a suggestion? Could you mention the need for some plausible claim to expertise on the subject matter? Writers ought to belong to professional organizations, be employed in the field, and some professional experience. For instance, I teach English at a university, belong to relevant professional organizations, and have worked as English as Second Language teacher for over a decade. My ebook is also published as a real ESL textbook.
A certain snobbery still exists that prejudices some against purchasing ebooks despite their advantages. For instance, I’ve sold my ebook to over 40 countries and I still lack a name international distributor for the hardcover version. Yet pursuing a variety of formats should not distract from the importance of filling practical needs for website visitors. Ebooks allow consumers on all five continents to almost immediately access your material.
One last note: perhaps adding some guidance on size of an ebook would also be helpful. I’ve been told that I should have divided my ebook into several smaller ebooks and that may be the case. Any suggestions? Rationale?
Stumbled across this post in a very timely manner as I look to undertake my first ebook project, thanks for the great advice and reminders on what the focus should be in terms of relevant up-to-date content which addresses needs and provides solutions and value. Will check the recommendation out. All the best
Tom
Nice post… You definitely need to have a solid product to build your credibility. Secondly, if your ebooks offers really powerful information, you buyer will want to buy more from you. So, content is king, if it helps the readers and resolves their problems.
Thanks for the tips. I have some work to do to get my ebook to the public.
Our E Book should be a smash with all the great information we are getting here. Great work.
I totally agree! A lot of ebook scammers these days, they only look for quick cash but do not provide quality content
Great post for my twitter followers
Thanks!
I created and published an ebook on Amazon. It was something I’d written, but never did much with. I’m glad I did it, since it helped me to better understand the technology. I sold a bunch, and now I’m thinking about my next one.