Web Design Discussion

Instead of suddenly introducing the ebook to your readers, ready their minds to receive it. As a consumer of numerous ebooks, I often will not purchase it right away but make a note to come back to it. This gives me time to think before making a purchase. Often the sales page is so enticing I buy it immediately based upon an emotional decision, and subsequently gets buried in a folder on my computer.

7 Ways to Pre-sell Your Ebook

1. Newsletter List

If you send out a regular newsletter to your subscribers, introduce some of the content of your ebook. Mention you are in the process of writing a complete book on the subject. When you’re ebook is completed you’ll already have prepared your subscribers to receive it so they will be more inclined to purchase it.

2. Create a pre-launch offer

Since you have a list of of loyal newsletter readers, offer them a specially reduced price before you do your official launch. You could so this before you have gathered all the testimonies for your sales page. Ask readers if they could offer a testimonial saying they will get a free link to their web site on the sales page. This means more traffic for them because the sales page (with their link displayed) will get heavily promoted.

3. Create a web site

Your web site should look attractive and professional. Include an image of your ebook cover. In your web copy include the main benefits of your ebook. Include a sign-up form with a free offer. The free gift can be a report, ebook, or software. This helps
build a large list of subscribers. When your ebook is ready for publication offer it to your new subscribers.

4. Offer an e-course

Many people don’t purchase immediately after reading your sales page. This is because their minds are not prepared to make that decision. Introducing your offer to them only once is not enough. Your offer needs to be seen several times for them to make an informed decision.

Offering an e-course by way of an autoresponder prepares the mind of the reader over a period of time. Create at least 7 folllow-up emails with quality content the person can use. At the end of each message offer the reader a chance to purchase your ebook.

5. Offer a short report

Create a short report from some of the content of your ebook as a free giveaway. People who want to receive the report must leave their name and email address. Mention they will be receiving follow-up emails from your e-course.

Distribute this free report to free ebook directories, include it in your email signatures, and the resource box of your articles.

6. Write articles

Create high quality articles related to the content in your ebook. The resource box at the end of your article allows you to create a call to action and include a link to your web site. Submit these articles to the top article directories.

Write a high quality article for major online and offline publications in your niche. Identify newsletters, ezines, magazines looking for guest writers.

7. Create a press release

Create a press release about your ebook outlining why people want to read it, then send it to online press release sites.
You can find them by googling “online press releases”.

Using the points mentioned above lays a strong foundation to sell more ebooks than not making any prepariation. The consumer is placed in a buying mood so he is much happier to make the purchase.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

Smart marketers use Google AdWords to test the profitability of their products by split testing their domain names. Selecting the correct domain name can make a huge difference in your click through rate (CTR).

How do marketers split test different domain names?

You register 2 domains..one for your web site, the other redirects to the same web site. With this technique you can determine which domain receives the most clicks.

From April 1st, 2008 Google will no longer allow you to post a display URL in your Google ad that is not your own website’s real domain name. This means you can’t use automatic redirects.

You can still use multiple domains but with no redirects.

What is the solution?

Bryan Todd has written an article how to get around the redirect problem without getting penalized by Google. It’s a totally fine method you can use to achieve the same results.

http://www.perrymarshall.com/adwords/domains.htm

Read The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

If you spend time formatting your ebook correctly your readers will thank you for it because it will be easier to read. It will also be easier to edit during the proofreading process.

1. Write the title of your document and the No 1 benefit at the top of your first page. Use a large font for this.

2. Place a large image of your ebook cover below the title (this is assuming you already have created the ecover otherwise it can be inserted later).

3. Write an introduction that mentions why you wrote this ebook and why it will benefit the reader.

4. Create a table of contents for all your chapters. Link each chapter to it’s location in your document so readers can easily access the content by clicking on the chapter title.

5. Set the text to Arial 12pt double spaced. If the sentences are too close together you will lose readability.

6. Use short paragraphs, bullets, text boxes, sub-sections to keep the information easily accessible and the pages visually interesting.

7. Use lots of white space for aesthetics and readability.

Open Office Settings to format your document:

To create double spacing

Format-paragraph-indents and spacing-line spacing-double-ok

To insert page numbers

Insert footer
Insert fields-page number
Align center to center the number on the page

8. Include your web site address in the footer of every page. Make sure it’s a live link
so you receive backlinks to your web site when distributing your ebook.

9. Include links to any affiliate programs you want to mention. Use anchor text (text with a live link) so you don’t have ridiculously long URLS. Alternatively you can cloak your affiliate URLS to make them short.

10. Create an “About Author” section at the end of your ebook. Include URLS of your other web sites if you wish to promote them as well as a picture of yourself. This adds a personal touch and credibility to your readers.

11. Upselling. Include the product you want to upsell at the end of your ebook. If readers are inspired by your content, they will be hungry to receive more.

12. Proofread your content. Get several people to read your ebook. Other people often see mistakes you may have overlooked because you are too close to the content.

13. Create the PDF document by clicking on the PDF icon at the top of the Open Office window. You can also use the free software at pdf995 (http://www.pdf995.com/)

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

I’ve found that the more organized you are the faster things get done. You know the saying a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind.” The same applies to the organization of your ebook content..completing it will be faster if you’re organized.

If you write an article a day create a folder with the name of your ebook. Within this main folder create a separate folder for each chapter. When you are ready to put your ebook together you’ll have easy access to all your files.

If you’ve already written all your articles, organize them according to how you want your content to flow. One easy way to accomplish this is to print out all your articles, then spread them out on the floor so so you can see all the titles. Now you can easily organize the articles for each chapter by shuffling them around. You could do this on your computer but its much faster doing it this way because you can view your content at once.

Organizing them in this way enables you to see where the information gaps are, fill them with more content and create smoother transitions between each chapter and topic.

Length of your ebook

Don’t worry about how long your ebook should be. If it gets too long you have the option of creating another ebook which could be used as an upsell. An upsell means you offer another product (often with at a higher price) immediately after the customer has purchased the first product. It’s easier to sell to customers who have already purchased something than sell to new customers. This is because they are hungry for more information.

An ebook doesn’t have be over 100 pages long. You could have one that is 10 or 20 pages long and sell it as a report or offer it as a gift for subscribing to your newsletter.

Software to use

Compose your ebook in Open Office (openoffice.org) or MS Word if it’s on your computer. I use Open Office because it’s a free download, functions almost the same as MS Word and has the added feature of converting your content to a PDF file with one click. PDF is the standard file format for creating ebooks.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

Creating a quality ebook takes a lot of time and commitment. It’s difficult to just sit down and write continuously until it is completed. It’s difficult to just lock yourself up in your room to remove all distractions and responsibilities (particularly if you have a family). For most people this is not an option.

Create an outline

Instead, create an outline of your ebook by writing down all the possible topics you want to cover. Organize them according to how the information needs to flow. It must flow naturally if you want to retain the interest of your readers.

Create a deadline

Without a deadline your ebook may never get finished. For example if you want to complete the writing of your ebook in 3 months, try to write a part of it each day. This breaks it down into easy steps and moves you towards your goal. If you pass your deadline without having completed your ebook, set another completion date. I initially had the goal of completing my ebook in the first 40 days of the year but got too busy with web design projects to focus on it. Instead, I selected a later date to finish it.

Methods of writing your ebook

Create a series of articles

Write an article a day for each topic you wish to cover. If you have a lot to write about create sub topics. At the end of one month you will have 30 articles. An article a day makes it easier to write your ebook because you break it down into smaller steps.

Create a series of blog posts

One of the easiest ways to stay on track writing your ebook, is to write a tip a day on your blog. A series of these tips can be combined to create an article. The articles can be composed into an ebook. One of the benefits of this method…you can begin pre-selling your ebook by getting visitors to your blog, commenting on your posts, subscribing to your newsletter and interact with blogs related to your topic. When your ebook is ready to be published you’ll already have an audience hungry to purchase it.

Hire a ghostwriter

If you don’t have the time to write the ebook yourself, hire someone else to write the ebook for you. Visit elance.com (or other bidding sites) to post your project and have someone bid on it. It’s inexpensive because the person may be from a country that has low wages or a stay-at-home Mom that could use some extra cash. Make sure you check their credentials and see samples of their work before you hire them.

Use Private Label Rights (PLR) content

You can purchase PLR articles that are already written on your subject. These packs are often sold to a limited number of people for distribution. Instead of writing an article from scratch you can modify these articles to make them unique and put your own name of them. They are not copyright protected.

Tip

After creating your first ebook, the process gets easier. Creating and selling several ebooks on a subject or subjects you are passionate about will produce ongoing passive income.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

Google is one of the best tools to conduct market research on your ebook topic. It’s the most popular search engine people use to find information. Using the list of the web sites below will help determine if your ebook idea will be a profitable one.

google.com/trends - provides trends of what people are searching for.

www.google.com/alerts - subscribe to google alerts to receive up to date news based on your topic. This content can also be used to update your blog.

Google.com - use quotes around your keyword to display the number of sites in google. Not using quotes will give you a larger number because it includes other words mixed in with your primary keyword.

allintitle:keyword - enter allintitle:keyword in the google search box to find sites that display your keyword in the title of their web site.

allinanchor:keyword - enter allintitle:keyword in the google search box to find sites that display your keyword in the anchor text.

link:www.competitorssite.com - enter link:www.competitorssite.com in the yahoo.com search box to display the number of backlinks for a competing site.

Forums and Blogs
To find a list of forums or blogs in your niche enter keyword+forum or keyword+blog in the Google search box. Participate in conversations related to your niche by interacting in the forums and commenting on blogs.

Survey your niche
Use http://www.surveymonkey.com/ to survey potential customers in your niche.

Per Per Click
Create a pay per click campaign to determine if people are interested in your niche. Write different ads to see which one pulls the best then use this content in your ebook and on your web site.

Read
“The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords”

and

“Find your best keywords using PPC”

Note: Use an excel spreadsheet to display the results of your research. This makes it much easier to view the whole process
and decide what topic you will write your ebook about.

Working through this market research phase will help determine if your ebook will be profitable. You will know where your audience resides on the Net, what the latest trends are, how much advertisers are willing to pay how popular your topic is and if you can make money with it.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

Keyword research is only one part of the necessary work needed to create a successful ebook. You also need to look into the current market to see if your idea will be profitable.

Why wouldn’t your ebook idea be profitable if there are a high number of searches for it?

Many people use the Net for researching information but may not be willing to pay for it. Some of these people may include educators, researches or individuals pursuing their own interests.

You need to visit the locations where people congregate based on your ebook topic. Read their blogs, forums, newsletters and subscribe to current news feeds and trends.

You don’t want to spend 100s of hours creating your ebook, only to find no one is interested in your content. You will have wasted a lot of time and money and possibly come to the conclusion that marketing your information online
does not work for you.

Market Research Web Sites

Listed below are web sites that offer a wealth of information that will help you make a well-informed decision on selecting the best topic for your ebook.

Search It! - provides all the research tools you need in one place
read the review at http://www.isitebuild.com/search-it-review.html

Here are other research tools you can use:

amazon.com - find books written on your subject.

magazines.com - browse the main topics then research the sub topics

ebay.com - use the search tool to see if there are products being offered in your niche. https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal - find keywords related to your niche topic and see advertiser competition.

spyfu.com - displays how much advertisers are willing to pay for your keywords. ie if thee are paying $10/click you know it’s worth developing this subject.

ezinearticles.com - if many articles have been written on your subject, it’s a good indication you have hungry readers.

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Receive fresh, in-depth articles articles on how to design, optimize and promote your web site by subscribing to my “Marketing Tips” newsletter at: http://www.isitebuild.com/

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

If you want to have a wildly successful ebook you need to be passionate about it. There will be many distractions during the creation process so keeping to a plan will help you stay on course. You may not want to stop with one ebook but create a series of them or develop other info products that relate to your first ebook.

1. Do a brain dump

Write down all the ideas you are passionate about. When you begin this process you will be amazed what pours out of your brain. Keep adding to the list until you have exhausted all your ideas. The reason for creating an exhaustive list is that not all your ideas may be profitable. This is fine if you are not intending to make money from your ebook but if you plan on selling it for profit it needs to be marketable. You may have a good idea but it may not be what people want or desire.

2. Prioritize your list

Move the ideas that you are most passionate about to the top of the list in descending order (No 1 should be the topic you have the most passion for).

3. Keyword research

A. Use the free wordtracker tool to see how many people searched for your No 1 idea. To do this you need to find keywords related to your idea. Use the GoogleAdWords Keyword Tool to find related keywords.

Here’s a list of related keyword phrases that appeared for “web site design”

web site design and hosting
corporate web site design
design a web site
website design software
free website design
real estate web site design
best website design
how to design a website
design your own website
website design templates
website design company
flash website design
ecommerce web site design
custom website design
real estate website design
website design awards
professional website design

You will notice that web design and website design are both used. Be aware of different spellings for the same keyword.

B. Feed each of these keyword phrases into WordTracker to see which one returns the most searches. A high number indicates that particular keyword phrase is very popular, therefore it may be a very competitive. it won’t be much of a factor if you are passionate about your subject.

Do similar research for your top 10 ideas then choose one. You can always develop the others later in future projects (save your research). Don’t analyze your ideas too much as you may get overwhelmed. To create an ebook you mostly need to take massive action. You aren’t going to get it perfect the first time but will improve as you get more experience.

Resources

Passionate for Life - What is your passion, How to Discover Your Passion
http://www.passionateforlife.com/

Receive fresh, in-depth articles articles on how to design, optimize and promote your web site by subscribing to my “Marketing Tips” newsletter at: http://www.isitebuild.com/

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

6. Build link popularity

Google and other search engines use backlinks (incoming links) to rank web sites. An ebook that is distributed through many channels on the Internet will generate a multitude of backlinks that drive up your web site rankings.

Make sure the anchor text (link text) in your ebook contains keywords related to your product or service.

7. Become an expert

If you write lots of great content that helps solve peoples’ problems, stimulates their emotions or peaks their interest, you will become recognized as an expert in your field. Visitors will seek you out to get more quality information.

You don’t have to stop with one ebook, but you can build a whole business from it by writing several ebooks or even creating a printed version.

8. Re-purpose ebook content

Ebook content can be re purposed (or modified) into audio, video, teleseminars, ecourses, podcasts, home study course etc. You are only limited by your imagination. By re-purposing the content you attract different types of visitors (some prefer audio or video reading) resulting in more traffic and sales.

9. Interactivity

Re purposing the content of your electronic book into audio, video, teleseminars, podcasts will encourage visitor interaction. Social media sites are currently very popular so you can generate a lot of buzz over your ebook.

Here are 3 ways to achieve this:

* Create a forum - Use the main titles of your content for forum topics and encourage visitor comments.

* Create a blog - provide daily tips on the content of your book and invite visitors to add their comments.

* Create a YouTube Video - produce a video on one chapter of your ebook then invite visitors to purchase
it to read the rest.

10. Make money

Creating an ebook is one of the easiest, fastest and cheapest ways to make money on the Internet. It can be set up to automatically generate income without any human interaction. Your ebook can be downloaded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You just need to cash the checks (if you use clickbank as your credit card processor).

You can even build a whole business from one information product. By re-purposing, repackaging, modifying and creating more great content you can create another income source.

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Receive fresh, in-depth articles articles on how to design, optimize and promote your web site by subscribing to my “Marketing Tips” newsletter at: http://www.isitebuild.com/

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization

Do you want to attract tons of visitors to your web site without spending any money?

Ebooks provide a great way to generate free publicity for driving lots of traffic to your web site.

Top 10 Benefits of creating ebooks

1. Easy to create

If you’ve written a number of articles you can easily compile them to create an ebook. Ideally, pick a subject you love or know a lot about, then make an outline of the chapters. Under each chapter heading, write 7 tips, then fill out each tip by writing a paragraph or 2 about it. Soon you will have created an ebook you can market.

If you write your ebook in the OpenOffice software (free download at openoffice.org) it contains a feature that converts your document into a PDF file. It enables you to generate headings, add images, change fonts, font color and number your pages in the correct order.

2. Inexpensive to produce

There is no paper involved because the ebook is created on your ebook on your computer. It is delivered through the internet. This means it can be distributed anywhere in the world at any time of the day or night without paying for postage. The only requirement is owning a computer and having internet access.

3. Quick delivery

Ebooks are primarily delivered electronically. You download it to your computer then start reading it on your monitor. You can also load it into your iPod then read it whenever you have some free time. You are no longer limited to just reading it at a computer location.

4. Easy to market

Once your rebook is created, you can market it on your web site, or build a web site just to sell it.

Here are 10 ways of getting traffic to your web site to sell your ebook:

Newsletters
Forums
Blogs
Search engines
Search engine directories
Pay Per Click campaign
Social media marketing
Article marketing
Press releases
ebook directories

5. Viral marketing tool

If you create a free ebook containing high quality content then give it away freely, people will want to offer it as a a free gift to their subscribers, blog or web site visitors.

Make sure you include links to your web site(s). If 1000s of people read your free ebook they will be led to your web site thus increasing your web traffic. Your ebook wcan be an ongoing source of traffic for years to come.

Read Part 2 in my next post

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Receive fresh, in-depth articles articles on how to design, optimize and promote your web site by subscribing to my “Marketing Tips” newsletter at: http://www.isitebuild.com/

Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Site Design, Web Hosting, Search Engine Optimization