Could You Create Your Own E-Book? Why Not?

Digital & Hard Goods

Creating your own infoproduct or e-book to sell on the Net is do-able once you get past this simple 5-word question... "What do I write about?"

Some brainstorming sessions will help you find the best answer to that question. For example...

1) What are your 3 top talents? Create a how-to guide that will help others perform each of these activities just as effectively.

2) What 3 things do you enjoy talking, reading or learning about? Passion makes work fun and easy. What is it that you love to talk about? Read about? A hobby? What special body of knowledge have you learned from your job? What do you do day after day, without even thinking about it (ex., child-rearing) -- think about what you tend to do in a typical day, and what you've learned from it. What sections of a bookstore or a magazine shop do you automatically gravitate toward? What kind of TV shows do you tend to like most? Movies?

3) What activities do you enjoy most about your current occupation? Is it research? Helping customers achieve their goals? Managing other people? Teaching or explaining things to others? Talking/selling on the phone? Organizing things? Making a process easier? Discovering or creating new products or services? Marketing or promoting products or services?

4) What are the three biggest problems in your workplace? Jot down solutions for each one. If solving a workplace-related dilemma isn't your cup of tea, replace it with any other problem. For example, if you're a step-parent, what were the biggest problems that you've encountered, and how did you conquer them? New problem or old, there's always room for greater and better answers.

5) How would you improve your competitors' e-book (within your same niche)? Which techniques would you change? What new ideas would you introduce? How can you make a process easier to understand?

6) What comes "before" or "after" your competitors' infoproduct? What topics are a prerequisite to what you've read? What would you want to read after? What information could you talk about that's a little more advanced than your competitors' material?

The next phase of your brainstorming sessions is to match the type of information you can provide with what people are actively searching for on the Net.

Of course, there is one essential prerequisite... Is this a topic that you really have a great deal of interest in? Will you genuinely enjoy writing about it?

See Make Your Knowledge Sell! ("MYKS!") for more advice and tips on creating your own e-book.