Write a Killer E-Book for Your Business!

E-books are becoming increasingly popular ways for entrepreneurs to expand their brand and introduce themselves to the world. They make for incredible additions to a website; a free e-book is an excellent way to get people to subscribe to your website!

Because they’re so easy to distribute, they make for great exposure tools, too. Having your wisdom set down in a file on someone’s computer as opposed to on a web page means that they’ll feel more connected to the material; they can also access it offline on whatever e-book reader they might have.

If you choose to sell the e-book, then it can make a nice new revenue stream, too! So how exactly do you go about getting this from conception to completion and through to publication? And how do you make yours stand out from the rest? Here’s a quick guide.

Research the market

There is a low barrier to entry when it comes to e-book publishing. You don’t have to have a bunch of editors and salespeople involved in the publication, as with traditional physical books. Even if you want to publish something on Amazon, it’s easy and free. So the chances are there are works out there that cover the subject you’re looking into. Have a look at some of them and see what they’re missing. What’s the demand for books like this?

Remember what your readers want

Your readers are downloading e-books because they want a solution. With this in mind, it might make sense to ‘write backwards’, in a way. Define what the end result of your book is going to be, then work your way backwards from that. What are the stages that get you to that result? List them out in the form of a draft contents page. Don’t worry about formatting at first; once you have a strong and accessible plan down, start writing. Make sure it’s as accessible and informative as the writing you put on your website.

A good cover is essential

You may not think that a cover is all that important when it comes to an e-book. After all, if it’s not a physical product that people are actually going to hold, then why bother with anything outside of the main text? The answer is that the cover is the first thing people will see when they find your book in search results. It’s what will call attention to your work. If you want to pay a designer or a photographer to work on it, then this might be a good idea. If you want to keep the budget low but the quality high, then use a good stock photo.

Give away or sale?

So what do you do now? Should you charge people for your book? You’ve put time and effort into it, so why not try to get some cash from it? I would suggest that you consider the length. A lot of e-books don’t reach beyond 80 pages; asking people to pay more than a dollar or two for such material may be pushing it, though it depends on how exclusive you want to keep it. If your main goal is promotion, then you should aim to give it away in exchange for subscriptions.

Check out my books for entrepreneurs

Here is a link to my business plan book which is used in a number of universities around the country.

License books to re-sell on your site

If you don't want to write, you can acquire books today and begin selling them. You can do that via PLR (Private Label Rights) licensing. This page which explains how you can license my books via PLR.