Make More Money From Your Ideas

"I can speak easily. Writing takes me some time - even though the outcome is reported as good. What is the quickest and easiest ways to creat a saleable ebook as a speaker?"

1. Find out what problems your audience members have (just hand out a simple survey at your presentations)
2. Figure out which problems you can solve, and jot down some notes about the solutions
3. Record yourself talking about the problems and the solutions
4. Get somebody to transcribe the recording
5. Hire a ghostwriter to then make this into an e-book
6. Finally, sell it to your audiences (either directly in your presentations or bundled as part of your speaking fee) before you go out aiming to sell it to the masses.

Find out more about publishing e-books.

Labels: e-books, writing

Both! Some people prefer the physical products, and there's a certain feeling of quality to have something you can touch and feel. Others prefer the convenience of having them on-line. If you're going to create the physical CDs, it's then an easy matter to make them available on-line.

If you'd rather not do both versions, survey your potential customers and find out their preference.

Find out more about creating products.

Labels: product creation

"How do I, who couldn't get a Clydesdale plough horse in a typing competition, get the material onto the 'page'?"

This is an excellent question, because too many people don't write because they have this problem of getting the material out of their heads. Fortunately, there are ways to write your material faster without having to "write" it.

For example, you could have somebody interview you and record the interview. Then get it transcribed into text, which you can then edit. In fact, you can even hire a ghostwriter to do that editing for you!

Find out more about writing books fast!

Labels: writing

"Just how do you market information and knowledge that you know they really need to cynical accountants who think they either don't need it or they know it already?"

It's certainly harder to market to a cynical or ignorant group, than to market to people who already know they have a problem. So you must identify their pain and sell them a solution. For example, with accountants, you might have to show them just how much money they are losing to smarter competitors. It's only by identifying their pain that you can convince them to change.

Find out more about researching the market.

Labels: market research

Better to find a hungry niche with competition! If there's no competition, maybe it means that there's nobody interested in buying products in that niche.

There are various techniques to find a niche market, particularly one that draws a good response. One simple technique is to use the Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool, which tells you how many people have been searching for certain words.

Labels: market research, niche marketing

"Some people seem to be able to "dash out" a book in a couple of days. I tend to be a perfectionist. It would take me months to put it together, which is time I don't have. Is there a formula for doing it quickly and it still be quality?"

Yes, there are certainly ways to improve the writing process.

If you're really stuck and can't get it finished, at least publish parts of it as articles, newsletter issues, blog posts, etc. That way, you haven't lost the value of what you have written, even if you don't get the book completed.

Labels: product creation, writing

"How do I prevent people from ordering my eBook (which I offer a money back guarantee), and not have them download the eBook and cancel their order 5 minutes later?"

First, congratulations on offering a money-back guarantee. This will certainly increase the number of orders.

To answer your question: There really isn't any way of stopping them, and you shouldn't worry about it. After all, you're offering a money-back guarantee anyway, so you've already decided to take all the risk out of the customer's purchase.

A few people will abuse your guarantee, a few will legitimately ask for their money back, and most will be happy enough not to ask for a refund. Offering the guarantee will probably get more sales than you will lose from unethical customers.

Find out more about eBooks.

Labels: e-books, e-commerce, guarantee, money-back, shopping cart

"Is it OK/advisable to market someone else's products on your web site (with their approval of course) particularly when one first starts. Or is it better to start with less products or even just one product, but one that is 100% mine?"

The more important question is to discover what problems you're solving for your customers and clients. If you have products that solve those problems, sell your own; otherwise, find other products and sell them.

Most Internet marketers will tell you that they eventually end up selling their own products. But the key word is "eventually" - they don't always start out that way!

Find out more about creating products.

Labels: internet marketing, product creation

"How do I create leverage most quickly and effectively in the SPREAD of my upcoming free e-book around the world? How do I make it like an idea-virus?"

First, make sure it's interesting and applicable to a lot of people (or at least a lot of people in a particular niche). If it's good enough, you won't have to ask people to copy it - they will do so anyway.

Next, make sure you clearly state that it can be copied and distributed. If you don't say this, some people will copy it anyway, but most won't.

Next, make a direct approach to the leaders in your field, particularly those with big mailing lists. Offer it free to them, and make it easy for them to share it with their own readers and Web site visitors. This will probably generate the most buzz.

Find out more about e-book publishing.

Labels: e-books, e-mail newsletter

"What are some effective ideas for finding out what people want to know in relation to my field of expertise? (My field of expertise is the benefits and potential of leisure interests for personal development, but the question can apply to any field of expertise)."

First, if you're an expert in the field and have experience in it, you probably already have a pretty good idea, because you know what people are willing to pay for.

Next, if you've got a database of interested people (such as an e-mail list), write to them and ask them. Just ask them to hit the Reply button to tell you what most interests them. If you offer them some incentive (such as a free e-book), that will increase your response rate.

Finally, if you're marketing to complete strangers, create a survey page on your Web site and use Google AdWords to bring people to that page. That's fast and cost-effective.

Find out more about bringing people to your Web site.

Labels: expertise, survey

"Once I have my product, how do I go about cost effectively marketing it? Writing it is the easy part..."

Market to your existing clients first. It will be easier to sell to them than to strangers.

Find out more.

Labels: marketing