Start an Expert Ebook with an Outline:
11 Steps

Are you an expert? Then you need to write and publish an expert ebook. Now. Before your field gets flooded with too many on the same topic (if it isn’t already). Trust me on this one.

Just as business blogs caught fire in 2004-2005, expert ebooks are what smart professionals use as a key marketing tool to get found, get known and get clients.

If you’re an expert and want to get found online, there’s no better way than to give visitors to your website or blog a free report that shows your expertise, builds credibility and starts conversations.

An expert ebook is a longer version of that report and can easily be sold on Amazon. Traditional publishing barriers have fallen. All that’s standing between you and published author status is a little time and work. So let’s get busy. Here’s why:

This is one of those opportunities on the rise. Don’t miss being on the early crest of the wave.

• The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) reported U.S. wholesale ebook sales for January, 2010 were $31.9 million, up 261 percent from the same month a year earlier.

• Ebooks are now outselling hardcover books at Amazon, selling 180 e-books for every 100 hardcovers.

Yesterday I began a series of posts on how to write an expert ebook fast and efficiently. Here’s how I suggest you start with an outline in 11 steps.

Sample outline process:

1. Pick a topic, say ‘how to be a better boss.’ (This is not a title, which comes later; this is what you are going to write about, in a nutshell. Later we’ll refine to include keywords and to take into account what’s selling on Amazon.)
2. List, define, and elucidate the key problem people experience with this topic.
3. Describe solutions, traditional approaches and why they don’t always work.
4. Use 3-5 examples of either failure or success, include emotions
5. Use research to show actual situations and make them come alive
6. Use your own experiences as a professional and your own perspective
7. Ask ‘what if?’ questions that are compelling and that suggest better solutions
8. Describe the benefits of arriving at better solutions
9. Tell stories of how you were able to help people, clients. (This can include your own personal story of a turning point in your life. Perhaps a pivotal moment when you or a client said “enough”)
10. Describe common objections and barriers to success; include a story of someone who wasn’t successful. Include values, morals, emotions.
11. A conclusion that review the lessons or message you are passionate about; tie back to research or to real people; tie back to you, what you can do for people. Include a call to action.

Remember that:

• People don’t care what you say (or write) until they know you care.
• You aren’t the hero of the story, they are or can be.
• You have some experience with both success and failure.
• To share your values and driving motivation as congruently and authentically as you can.
• Leave them with a compelling call to action. (This leads to the marketing phase and should be strategically planned out.)

This is just a rough draft of my thoughts. I’m sure the list is incomplete. What are your thoughts? Have you had experience with writing an ebook, or trying to write one? I’d love to hear from you.

(Another great image from Stuart Miles at Freedigitalphotos.net)