The Truth about Writing EBooks to Promote Your Freelance Business

I’ve seen so many articles written about the fast money to be made from writing an e-book that I wanted to dispel two common myths around this phenomenon, and give some tips for direct and indirect income streams to be made from writing an e-book.

I write from first-hand experience, of course!

1) I can make a lot of money immediately writing an e-book. False. While writing an e-book might be a relatively easy task – if you know your subject matter intimately and are disciplined enough to actually finish – it still has to be promoted.

If there is one myth I wish I could get freelancers to understand, it’s this – you must market to be successful -- your book, your services, yourself, etc. I don’t care how good your e-book is, how packed with information, people just don’t part with their money easily – whether you're charging $5 or $50. FYI, this holds true for anything you sell/promote.

Writing the book will be the easy part – you will expend 20 to 30 times the energy you spent writing it to promote it.

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2) Writing an e-book will bring in more business. True. BUT, over time. Writing an e-book positions you as an expert. There’s just something about being an author that makes people think you are more knowledgeable, more professional, more of an expert. You can have the same credentials and experience as someone who hasn’t written a book, but as soon as you add “Author of …” to your profile, you stand out.

BUT, I repeat – this will not bring an avalanche of business immediately. It will take time. Being an author is just another piece of the puzzle for customers which makes you stand out from the crowd. So, it is definitely worth it to write one, but don’t sit back and wait for the business to roll in. You STILL have to market.

Capitalizing on Your E-Book: Tips for Direct & Indirect Income Streams

1. Use it as a promotional tool rather than a direct source of income. For example, you can use it as a free giveaway to newsletter subscribers. This increases your subscriber list continuously. Web surfers in particular are mostly seeking information. An e-book is the perfect giveaway because, once written, it costs you zilch to give away.

2. If you intend to use your e-book as a money maker, sign up with one of the major affiliate programs like Clickbank (Clickbank.com). This way, you can have literally hundreds or thousands of “salespeople.” Then, you can focus most of your efforts on other marketing endeavors – eg, seminars, teleclasses, etc.

3. Speaking of teleclasses and seminars, develop one of these based on your e-book. When you write your book, you will have everything you need to put together an on- or offline seminar or class. Usually, you will have to add supplemental materials and revamp the format somewhat, but the bones of a class will be right in front of you. As the groundwork has already been laid, this can be an additional stream of income.

4. KISS: Keep it short and simple. While there is a lot of garbage out there in e-book form, I’ve found that most give great information from first-hand sources – especially “how-to” information.

So, get right to the point in your e-book. This is no time to be Maya Angelou or Toni Morrison. Make it an easy and informative read. That’s why people buy e-books – so that they can learn about their interests easily and immediately.

5. Finally – promote, promote, promote! Whether you’re using your book as a promotional tool or a direct source of income, promoting it never stops because it all adds up to dollars in your pocket – directly or indirectly!
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