Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Six Steps to Creating a Successful E-Book

Six Steps to Creating a Successful E-Book

E-books can be very effective for your small business, and very profitable as well. Here are six tips to follow when you create your own e-book.

The biggest mistake that "wannabe" e-book publishers make is to first write a book on the subject that they themselves would probably be interested in, and then try to hustle up a market from a related niche and persuade them, without much success, that they too should have the same interests in buying the book. Needless to say, this is not the best introduction into the world of e-book publishing.

As a small business owner, you will most likely be publishing an e-book about your products or services, which is excellent as starting with a subject you are familiar with is the first key to success.

Step 1 - What Subject Are You Familiar With?

Make a list of all the areas within your business you could confidently write about. It's much easier, and less like work, to write about a subject in which you already have knowledge and an interest. Please don't make the mistake of assuming that because you are knowledgeable about a particular subject, others are sure to know the same. You would be amazed at what some people don't know.


Step 2 - Find Their Itch And Scratch It!

You need to know what your customer's and future customer's problems are and find out what is missing in their life. The answer to these questions, and others, should be your main line of attack as it relates to your small business or products.

You need to focus on what they don't have, sometimes you even have to tell them what it is that is missing and why they need it, and when you give it to them. They will reward you financially.

Step 3 - Do Your Research.

Be prepared when you intend to start writing. Don't sit at your desk one day and then decide that today, here and now, is the time to write your first e-book, IT WON'T WORK - or maybe it will, but one thing is for sure, it will be disjointed, facts will be missing and the general flow will not be right!

You must first research your subject; collect all the information you possibly can, put it into a specified folder on your computer. And when you feel you have everything together, then you can proceed to bring it all together in an organized manner that is fluent and easy to read.

Step 4 - Create Your Masterpiece.

Get down to it and start writing. Refer to your folder (the one where you stored all of your researched material), choose from your organized lists and start writing.

A tip that helps me when it comes to writing, is to start and don't stop. Write down everything that comes into your head. If you try to think at the same time, e.g. "yeah that's a great line bit it doesn't fit just now, I'll save it and use it later" - WRONG! You'll forget it and then get angry because it was exactly what you wanted to say! Get it down in print that you will be editing and correcting at a later date.

Do it in bite sized chunks! Or suffer the indigestion of writers block. Most importantly, keep it simple. Keep in mind the average reading age of adults is twelve! So don't write as if you've just devoured two dictionaries and a thesaurus for breakfast.

Conversational, everyday language is the key.

Step 5 - Check Your Work.

Now is the time to re-read and edit your work, check spellings and grammar, read it through several times. If it's hard for you to read, it will be twice as hard for others to read; hopefully you knew what you were trying to say!

Pass it on to a member of the family or a good friend, ask them to read it through and give you an unbiased opinion as to weather they understood it, and if not, why not? If necessary, re-write it. After all is said and done, it will be your name hung on to the end of the content for the entire world to see.

Step 6 - Bring It To An End.

Somewhere along the line you have to decide that your book is finished. There will always be something that crops up later, that little snippet that you regret not having used. Don't worry about it; the main thing is that you have passed on some form of information, no matter how small, to someone who was in search of that information.

Once your e-book is complete, you are ready to offer it as a premium on your website for new customers who sign up for your e-zine or to learn more about your products, or simply as a free offer for customers visiting your store.





Six Steps to Creating a Successful EBook - To learn more about this author, visit Caroline Melberg's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Read Steph's Blog
Meet Steph and Dave
Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich
- Visit Stephanie Robey's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
- Visit Jeff Foster's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Caroline Melberg
(Visit Caroline's Website) Entrepreneur and outdoor photography adventurer Caroline Melberg is President and CEO of Small Business Mavericks, a division of Melberg Marketing. She has over 20 years of experience creating marketing communications materials and writing copy for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Her small business columns are syndicated online, and she publishes the popular eZine, "Small Business Maverick Secrets." Learn insider Maverick Marketing secrets you can use immediately to find new local customers and increase your sales. When you subscribe, you'll also get a FREE copy of her e-Book, "Local Small Business Internet Marketing Secrets" - learn insider secrets to marketing your local small business on the Web today! Get your FREE subscription at http://www.SmallBusinessMavericks.c om.

Caroline Melberg is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
Small Business Marketing Mavericks - Turning small business owners into Marketing Mavericks who lead their industries and grow their sales!
Small Business Marketing Mavericks
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Caroline Melberg's

Complete
List Of
Small-Business-Consulting
Articles

Name
Email
Author's Free Downloads
Internet Marketing Secrets Icon Internet Marketing Secrets

More Caroline Melberg
Blogging For SEO How To Get Maximum Search Benefit From Your Small Business Blog
Whats Your Story Part I
How to Prevent Accusations of Spam
The Top 5 Small Business Marketing Tips for BudgetMinded Business Owners
5 Ways to Know that Your Website Needs a Makeover
Your Local Small Business Online Marketing Funnel
EMail Marketing
How to Use Twitter for Business
How to Run With the Big DogsEven With an Underdog Marketing Budget
Online Reputation Management For Your Small Business
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Anne Barr  
Dianne Crampton  
John Power  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Different QuickBooks Versions Icon Different QuickBooks Versions
Entrepreneurship Or Job? Icon Entrepreneurship Or Job?
Internet Marketing Secrets Icon Internet Marketing Secrets
Sample Press Release Icon Sample Press Release
Mirror Marketing Icon Mirror Marketing
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year
 
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts - Best Posts for Productivity
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts
Best Posts for Productivity
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Tabrey Beatrice Nitop One  Bamenda N.W.P  B, Cameroon,
Tabrey Beatrice
Nitop One Bamenda N.W.P B, Cameroon
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Erez Zevulunov, $150k to $504k in 2 years
Erez Zevulunov
$150k to $504k in 2 years
John Zarei and Shaan Parekh , $516k to $1.5 Mil in 2 years
John Zarei and Shaan Parekh
$516k to $1.5 Mil in 2 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
J.P. Morgan, JP Morgan
J.P. Morgan
JP Morgan
Simon Fuller, 19 Entertainment
Simon Fuller
19 Entertainment
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
David Allen, Getting Things Done
David Allen
Getting Things Done
Guy Kawasaki, The Art of the Start
Guy Kawasaki
The Art of the Start
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Leadership Coaching Overview
By Michael Schutzler
     Courage in the face of fear
By Michael Schutzler
     Empirical Skepticism
By Michael Schutzler

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information