If you’ve been following my posts for the last few weeks, you’ll know that I’ve been featuring a series of posts on lessons learned from my first ebook launch in May. In this post, though, I’m going to talk about the reasons behind why you should write an eBook in the first place.
Many people who will be reading this will say “yeah well, I would write an eBook if I could but I really haven’t got the time”.
When you think about writing an eBook, I bet you’re thinking that it could take months to write – and you’re right it could, but it doesn’t have to.
If you think of an eBook as a series of posts, suddenly it becomes much easier to imagine writing it.
But this is not a post about how to write an ebook, it’s a post about why you need to write one.
Why you should write an eBook
Establishing your credibility
Look at the non fiction books on your book shelf. All written by experts right? Chances are until they wrote a book and you bought it, you’d never heard of authors. Some of these people writing these ebooks will be people like you. If people are already reading your blog, couldn’t they be reading your ebook too?
For example, in 1999 Seth Godin wrote a book Unleashing the Ideavirus which is about how ideas spread. It’s based on the premise that free ideas spread quicker than expensive ideas. Which explains why radio is so important in selling music. (ie the more you hear it, the more likely you are to buy it and tell your friends about it)
Essentially if you have an idea that you want to share, whether that’s your thoughts on the economy, how to travel the world or how to loose weight in 6 weeks promoting an eBook via your website could be one of the easiest ways to share your ideas. Take for example Chris Guillebeau, he published his manifesto: A Brief Guide to World Domination which has been downloaded and distributed 1000′s of times. In fact putting ‘A Brief Guide To World Domination’ into Google generates 1.3m results.
Do you think that you’d be more inclined to buy their products (whether that’s books or ebooks) if you’re familiar with their ideas? Or do think you’d be more likely to visit their sites regularly if you loved the ideas in the manifesto or free ebooks?
Income generation model
One of the most common ways to monetise your blog is by selling information products which as well as defining who you and spreading your ideas is also a useful method of income generation.
Whilst many people think that ebooks have been done to death (which may well be true around the niche of internet marketing), there is plenty of demand for ebooks. (I recently read that 30m had been bought this year). This demand can only increase with the launch of the Ipad and as more people get used to reading books online.
However, to make an eBook successful you need to write something worth writing about. Something that people will want to know about and want to share.
There’s many things you can write about and finding a subject to write about is really a post in itself.
So what do you think, give away or sell online and grow your passive income stream?
What’s your plan?
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Hey mathew,
Really great Post. Writing an ebook is something that i should start.
You’ve mentioned some great points. I really like the point about credibility..!!
Thanks for sharing this great Post. Retweeted.
~Dev
Dev | Technshare´s last [type] ..7 Guaranteed Ways to Reduce Your Blog Bounce Rate
Thanks Dev, glad you enjoyed it. You definitely should be getting started on one!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Book Review- Rework
Hey Matthew,
You definitely make a good argument for writing an ebook. I have done a few. Mostly as a free give away but one ebook I monetized and cashed in a decent amount of income on it.
One thing I would add to your overall message here is the question “What do you possibly have to lose by writing an ebook?” The most common response I get is “it might be a waste of time” which is a terrible way of looking at it in my opinion. The act of creating an ebook is about the discipline of thinking like a product creator. Even if no one buys your ebook, you will have created a product that you can give away to build a name for yourself.
Creating products is one of the best things you can do to get yourself out of the “trade my time for money” mentality. You aren’t losing time by writing an ebook, you are investing the time into something that has the potential to offer exponential returns (not just money wise but in many areas)
Justin Popovic´s last [type] ..Are you a Spectator or an Achiever
I think that’s a really good point Justin – why the hell not?
Getting into the mindset of a product creator is the first step to monetising your blog. Thanks for pointing this out so well.
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Book Review- Rework
I’ll be giving away ebooks, as well as selling them in the years ahead, along with a few gazillion other products/courses, etc. I don’t think they’ve been done to death at all. There’s a whole world of folks who are new to the internet that have never downloaded an ebook in their lives. We tend to forget that because we’re on here every day, seeing what appears to be ‘the same old thing’ and forgetting who our target market really is.
Jean Sarauer´s last [type] ..How to be Your Own Blog Post Fairy
You’re absolutely right Jean. I read that over 90% of the population have never earned a single $ from the internet. Good point we tend to forget.
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Why you need a consultant
Matthew, I’ve written two e-books on freelance writing that I sell, and I’ve written several other books for mainstream publishers.
A key point about writing an e-book: be careful it doesn’t take too long and suck up a lot of your time and energy.
John Soares´s last [type] ..Consolidating Your Online Marketing Base
One of the big challenges we face is making something perfect (and never quite finishing it)
Get it good enough then get it out ther and get it sold.
Thanks for highlighting this John.
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Why you need a consultant
Hey Matthew,
I think this is a no-brainer. There is no reason to avoid writing an ebook. Those that I have read have been no longer than 30 pages at most. So, as long as you can write it fairly quickly, it seems like an excellent use of time.
Now, where did I put that pencil…
Have a great day!
mark´s last [type] ..How Change Can Happen to You
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment. You’re right what’s stopping you?!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Why you need a consultant
Hi Matthew, yes I’ve been thinking about this. I definitely have enough content to fill and ebook but not sure exactly what it would be about, any ideas on how to limit yourself?
Jorgen @ Personal Branding´s last [type] ..Name Recognition is Your Personal Brand Awareness
Hi Jorgen,
Have a look at this post which may help you select your topic:
http://bigredtomatocompany.co.uk/2010/05/how-to-write-your-ebook-part-2/
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Why you need a consultant
E-books are the best way for someone starting out to establish credibility. I have always wanted to write one and I launched my first one a week ago. Great post by the way. I learnt something new.
Di@Legacy4Life´s last [type] ..Create a custom header for WordPress with PowerPoint
Hi Di, thanks for you comment. Congratulations on your ebook launch!
I’m off to check your site out now!
Matthew Needham´s last [type] ..Why you need a consultant
Well, I can’t disagree, having done it in the past, and having already stated a few more, hence me being quieter lately.
The other benefit is, ebooks are indexed, so it’s backlinks too.
rob sellen´s last [type] ..Moulding to shape- slowly but surely
Matthew, you called me out in an email today but I have to hand it to you – it was a kick in the rear that I needed.
For everyone, think of it this way: the hour you spend commenting, lurking on forums, talking on Twitter; that could be an hour invested in your ebook.
If you wrote 2,000 words an hour, if your ebook was 10,000 words in length you could have it done in an afternoon or stretch it across a workweek.
Lots to think about but gotta thank ya Matthew, it’s time to get to work!
Murlu´s last [type] ..How-To Setup A Simple Online Store Using Paypal
Ahhhh….Just wait.