How to Create and Market an Ebook or Report

November 6th, 2007 | 32 comments

One of the more profitable online income streams is creating and marketing ebooks and/or reports. One good product has the potential of bringing in thousands of dollars in sales and can turn into residual income in you have the right affiliates promoting it.

In the few months that I’ve been blogging, I’ve noticed many bloggers concentrate much of their efforts on blogging, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if their blog is bringing in a nice income. For those of you who have not yet created an info product, I’d like to explain just how easy it really is.

First, above all, you need to come up with a topic that you have alot of knowledge in. If you’re making little or no money online then you shouldn’t create a product showing how to make money online etc. Instead, choose something non-IM related and write your ebook/report on that.

Once you come up with your idea, start writing. Use Microsoft Word or OpenOffice to compose the product. You don’t have to be a stellar writer in order to do this. I’m nowhere close to being an outstanding writer, but many people believe my products are of high quality simply because the information is very useful.

Personally, I don’t care what the page count is, but some do. The only thing I care about when purchasing a product is that it provides what I’m looking for. But, I’m not the one buying my product so I always try to keep the word count up when possible.

If it’s a report you’re writing, depending on the price your asking, anything over 10 pages should be fine. If it’s an ebook, somewhere around 30 pages should be the minimum page count.

Once you’ve completed the ebook/report use OpenOffice (free) to convert the document to pdf form. You’ll notice that there is a “PDF” button at the top. Do not use this button! Instead, click the “file” tab and select “export as PDF.” Doing this will trigger a pop-up with different options. You can generally leave all options at default except for the “security” tab. In the “security” tab you need to restrict copying and enable printing.

Now that your product is complete you’ll need a sales page. If you have the money you can outsource the “copy” to an awesome copywriter like Eric Louviere. If you don’t have the cash you’ll have to do it yourself.

Writing copy is extremely important. If it isn’t done correctly it won’t convert. If it doesn’t convert you’re leaving money on the table! However, it isn’t extremely difficult to write a good sales page that will convert at least decent.

Just open up about 3 or 4 sales pages of some of the most popular products you can think of. Without copying the page, read it all and take notes. Compose your sales page in a similar way. You want to trigger emotion and excitement when writing it. You want to make that customer feel the pain that you’ve went through. The same pain that they are probably going through. Don’t lie to them, but get the point across that this product will answer their questions and relieve the pain, and the product should!

Now that you have the product and sales page complete you’re ready to start selling!

The first place I go is the Warrior Forum WSO section and run a prelaunch WSO. This is a great place to get several initial orders and affiliates as well. Last year alone I made almost $10,000 selling ebooks and reports as WSO’s.

After that I submit the product to ClickBank. Once accepted the charge is $50 and it stays in their marketplace forever unless you fail to get at least one order every 6 months I believe. Having your product in the ClickBank marketplace is huge. There are thousands of people looking for products to promote there. If your product is even close to being decent, you will obtain affiliates that will sell your product with absolutely no effort on your part!

Once the product is live on clickbank it’s time to start contacting possible JV partners. Find other sites in your niche and send them a friendly email. How you compose your JV request is on you, but make sure it’s a personalized email and not a blanket email sent out to loads of people.

There are many people with large lists who will promote your product if you speak to them like a human being and you’re honest.

Finally, do a little SEO for some organic results. With just a few articles and some basic promotion, I’ve manage to get one of my products “Article Marketing Domination” to the front page of Google for “article marketing,” “article marketing ebook” and several other keyword phrases. This brings in a few orders a week not counting the orders I receive from affiliates.

That’s pretty much it. After your first product you’ll realize how easy it really is. If you don’t want to go all out, just write a quick, informative report without a sales page and sell it as an exclusive WSO.

Info products are extremely valuable. But just like anything else, it’s all about taking action and making it happen!

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32 comments

Caroline Middlebrook (32 comments.)
6th November, 2007 at 7:56 pm

Wonderful post Josh! I wonder if you could expand on a few things… First of all sales page – I assume you just get a domain and put a single page on there and that’s it? You’re not creating a whole content site around the product correct?

Warrior WSO – there’s a $20 fee, is this just a basic ad? Any tips here?

Lastly, JV – what you you be requesting here? I have no experience of doing a JV wih anyone. Could you give some examples of how this could work?

I know I’ve asked a lot of questions – sorry!
Josh Spaulding
6th November, 2007 at 8:37 pm

Thanks Caroline.

First of all sales page – I assume you just get a domain and put a single page on there and that’s it? You’re not creating a whole content site around the product correct?

This is correct. Your basic sales page is a single page and that’s all you need. In many cases you’ll find an affiliate page salespage.com/affiliate.php for example, which provides information about how to promote the product as well as some graphics they can use if you decide to create some (recommended.) If the product is through ClickBank you can just show them how to create a hoplink (affiliate link) through ClickBank, which is explained in their FAQ.

Warrior WSO – there’s a $20 fee, is this just a basic ad? Any tips here?

There is a $20 fee, but you WILL make that back and more, I almost guarantee that. I’ve never made less than $100 dollars on any offer I’ve posted as a WSO.

It’s pretty much just a forum thread you write. But it must truly be a special offer, which is offered solely to the Warrior Forum. In other words, if you are offering $10 off (for example) you can’t offer that anywhere else. That seems a bit harsh, but believe me, theres ALOT of money in the WSO forum!

One thing to consider though when running a WSO, is your post count. I would build up some quality posts at the main forum there http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/ before posting a WSO, simply because people will think you’re there just to make a quick buck. I’d say 50 – 100 posts would be ok to submit your first WSO.

Lastly, JV – what would you be requesting here? I have no experience of doing a JV with anyone. Could you give some examples of how this could work?

You’re pretty much finding others in your niche that have a newsletter/ezine with a high circulation, an authority Website, blog etc. (some way of getting alot of exposure) and contacting them with hopes that they will promote your product for a cut of each sale through ClickBank.

The trick is to speak to them just like you would if you were standing in from them them. Don’t just email them and say “Hi, my name is John, I just wrote an ebook title “this ebook” and I was wondering if you would promote it for me.” That will get you marked as spam and definitely won’t do you any good.

There are several ways to get JV’s. Offering them something for free ie. articles, links, services etc. is one effective way. Offering to review and promote one of their relevant products on your blog/newsletter etc. is another.

I’ve always gotten the best results by establishing some sort of a relationship with the person before requesting a JV. For instance, I comment on your blog quite often, if I ever create a product that I think your readers would enjoy, I would contact you and I would have a better chance of you accepting my proposal now, than if I never commented on your blog etc.

I hope that helps.
Thomas Sinfield (4 comments.)
6th November, 2007 at 9:52 pm

Some great tips, I am currently in the process of writing my first ebook and learning that information about clickbank and warriorforum could make me more money than I was expecting!
Josh Spaulding
6th November, 2007 at 9:57 pm

Hi Thomas,

Theres definitely alot of money in info products and the Warrior Forum is the best place to learn about it, as well as just about everything else within Internet marketing.

Good luck with your product I’ll see you around the forum (UN: Josh Spaulding)
Amanda
7th November, 2007 at 12:15 am

Hi Josh,

Do you have any advice on how to price products for niches outside IM? I know there’s a lot of factors to take into consideration and testing is important–but are the any rough guidelines to start with? Maybe just scoping out the competition?
Maurice (TheCaymanHost) (63 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 2:59 am

Hi Josh

Great little post, I’ve tried to launch it on BloggingZoom for ya!

I’ve never created a digital product, but you make it sound very simple and hopefully this will make others feel a bit more confident in their ability to market their informational products.
Court (1 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 3:06 am

I had no idea that you could change a file to a .pdf with Open Office, that’s going to come in handy someday.

Digital products are a great way to make money. Combine a digitial product that sells with an affiliate army and you can really make a lot. I’m pretty sure that I’ve come across ‘Article Marketing Domination’ but haven’t read it. That’s a great title!
Josh Spaulding
7th November, 2007 at 5:25 am

@ Amanda, this is a topic that sparks more arguments that political debates I know this isn’t the answer that you’re looking for, but it really is about testing. Some products, for one reason or another, will convert better at a higher price, while others will do quite the opposite.

@ Maurice, Hey thanks alot Maurice. I just looked and saw it on the front page

As with anything else it does take some work, obviously. But it really isn’t all that hard. I’ve created several products and make a nice chunk of cash doing so. Granted, I’m not Mike Filsaime and most people haven’t heard of most of my products, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make money with them.

@ Court, Yep, OpenOffice is a nifty tool! You’re right on there. Article Marketing Domination was picked up and promoted by Dr. Ralph Wilson not long after launch. That’s a testament to the effectiveness of running a product through ClickBank. Ironically, Dr. Wilson told me that he found the sales page through an article I had written on article marketing and that’s a testament to the effectiveness of article marketing.
Vabs (1 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 5:54 am

Hi,

Nice post.

Kindly review my blog as I am new.

Kindly suggest a few things that can help me improve.

Thanks and regards,
Vabs
Josh Spaulding
7th November, 2007 at 6:00 am

Hi,

Nice post.

Kindly review my blog as I am new.

Kindly suggest a few things that can help me improve.

Thanks and regards,
Vabs

Hi Vab,

Kindly stay on topic. Kindly find a different approach and I’ll kindly help you out.

Josh
Vern (35 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 6:36 am

Hi ~~Chris~~ Josh,

This makes me feel like I’m losing out even more I’m still “blog-less” … Anyway, with this – I’m also excited and nervous at the same time.

Nervous because I’ve never really offered anything on WSO before and normally by watching it – the WSO has to be really, really good… or else.

Thats just me.

But I’d like to hear it from you. Also, for the part in terms of “my excitement”, if I do create a product and start to do JVs I wonder what kind of info products would do well since IM stuff is pretty much – crowded like you mentioned?

Last ! me and a friend of mine have tried converting Pdf’s with some anchor text hyperlinked in the Word doc before.

It doesn’t work well.

Do you think OpenOffice will?

Thanks in advance Josh,
Vern
Stephen Cronin (34 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 7:44 am

Hi Josh, you’re getting me interested in this. After reading this post, I’m certain I could do this, IF I could find a suitable topic. That’s my biggest problem at the moment… I mostly write about blogging and web development. There is bucket loads of free information on these topics and I’m not a sufficient authority on these topics (yet!).

Am I right in assuming that the Warrior Forum would only be suitable for selling IM related products? That means finding a suitable audience / forum to sell to for my niche. Once again, it’s very difficult to sell to technical types. Any advice?
Caroline Middlebrook (32 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 10:05 am

~~John~~ Josh, thanks very much for the very comprehensive reply! That is great. One thing I have noticed is that those people who are actually *making* money online, rather than just talking about it, seem to mention the Warrior forum a lot. I think I need to start spending some time there!
Josh Spaulding
7th November, 2007 at 4:50 pm

@ Stephen, you’re the only one who got my name correct so you get the first reply I’m working on an in-depth blogging ebook as we speak so don’t pick that one How about a dummies guide to html or something similar? Just threw it out there, I don’t know if it would sell or not. The WSO forum is for marketers, but marketers target other niches as well. Products with master resell rights, PLR rights etc. do well at times even if they aren’t in the IM niche. In general IM related product do better though, as you mentioned.

The WSO forum is just a jump start though and not a long term thing. You can still do well with a product, whether it’s IM related or not. It’s all about establishing relationships with people who run big newsletters, ezines and authority sites/blogs.

@ Vern, the product will have to have value, of course. If you can’t come up with a good enough topic in the IM field that will solve a problem many people have or ease the pain, you probably shouldn’t do it. However, I almost guarantee there is something non-IM related that you have alot of knowledge in that you could use to create an informative product. For the WSO forum, the best way to come up with ideas is by searching through them all and seeing which ones do better. Of the popular WSO’s, figure out whether or not you could come up with something similar that provides value.

Converting from Word to PDF with OpenOffice makes an exact copy. So if you have linked anchor text in the Word document you’ll have linked anchor text in the PDF.

@ Caroline, no problem at all. About the time I started participating at the Warrior Forum is about the time I started to make a pretty decent income. If you’re serious about IM, and I know you are, you really should become a member and at the very least search through the forum often. You’ll find loads of free info!
Vern (35 comments.)
7th November, 2007 at 5:12 pm

Hi Josh,

I deeply apologize about the mistake.
I must’ve been sleeping when I posted it!

You’re right. I’m probably going to have to
figure out what I would be really providing
value with what I learned.

Tanks for the advise, could I comment something
else?

I have my firefox on and it works fine. But when my
IE browser is used to view your blog in IE format the
comments got kind “squeezed to the side”.

do you know what this happens?

Vern
Josh Spaulding
7th November, 2007 at 6:03 pm

No problem Vern it happens.

I had someone mention the same issue when I was using an older theme, but thought it was fixed. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll take a look.
Brian (2 comments.)
8th November, 2007 at 6:05 am

Hi, Josh,

Thank you breaking down this process in such a linear and straightforward way. I often wonder how much Clickbank is helping those who are “low ranking” in their various markets. It seems more difficult to do research on those products, but it is of course easy to find information through CBTrends, etc., for the bigger products.

I am curious, can you suggest some sales pages that you find inspiring and well done?

Thanks much and success to you,
Brian
Todd Morris (3 comments.)
8th November, 2007 at 6:39 am

Hi Josh,

Very informative post … even more so with the added conversation between you and Caroline here in the comments. I used to go to the Warrior Forum years ago. In fact, my first website was on Host4profit. It’s been quite a while though. I suppose I should probably check back in one of these days. Keep this good stuff coming, I’m learning alot from your blog.

I appreciate your efforts
Josh Spaulding
8th November, 2007 at 4:29 pm

HI Brian,

Sure, Here are a couple http://ez-onlinemoney.com/100dollars.html and http://www.bloggingtothebank.com/ also any sales page you can find by Eric Louviere is top-notch.

Todd,

Thanks, the Warrior Forum more active then ever. I’ve never used Host4Profit, but it still comes up every now and then. I don’t believe I’ve even seen Allen promote it.

Thanks again
Brian (Free Film School) (2 comments.)
9th November, 2007 at 8:07 am

Josh,

Thanks so much. I will keep an eye out for Louviere’s writing. I look forward to your future blogs. You have a very direct no-nonsense style, which is appreciated. I am focused on the entertainment industry, which of course is whole other beast from IM, but a fun challenge and definitely my “knowledge base”.

Best,
Brian
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Ryan Shamus (1 comments.)
20th November, 2007 at 9:56 pm

Hi Josh,

I used Eric Louviere to write the sales copy for one of my sites also. I think I got him at a special discount price of about $2000! His price has gone up to about $5000 now.

I just added the link to this article at the bottom of my making money on clickbank article as its on a similar topic and will help my readers.

http://ryanshamus.com/publishing-ebooks/how-to-make-money-with-clickbank/

Keep up the good work.
Em
21st November, 2007 at 2:13 pm

Josh, thanks for a very well written and informative article. I don’t have the skills to create an ebook but have access to ebooks that can be resold, so have gained some good info.

Em
Carpentry Jobs (2 comments.)
21st November, 2007 at 9:19 pm

Perfectly agreed with you. I recently wrote an ebook, a pretty small one and I was surprised to see to see the number of copies sold through ClickBank. If it is for money, then go the ebook way!

- Andrew
Josh Spaulding
21st November, 2007 at 9:27 pm

Hey Andrew,

Glad to hear of others doing well with ClickBank as well. It’s important for people to realize that you don’t have to be a “big dog” to make money with info products. You and I both know that I’m working on my newest product as we speak.
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Allen (4 comments.)
15th August, 2008 at 11:20 am

Hi Josh,

Just wondering about such article directories such as Buzzle.

You suggest, and I do agree that it is good to submit articles related to your ebook and sending the readers to a squeeze page in the signature of the article.

My questions is, what do you do when some of these directories, like Buzzle, forbid and backlinks or any mention of your website?

How do you work around this?

Thanks!

Al
Josh Spaulding
15th August, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Hi Al,

Buzzle doesn’t forbid links to your site, nor does any other good article directory. If an article directory didn’t allow links to the authors site, there would be no point in submitting articles to them, so they would receive no articles.

You may be thinking of the article body, which in most cases, it isn’t allowed to insert self-serving links. No big deal. The signature is where your links go.