Archive for Content Marketing – Page 4

2 Goals for Experts Who Write Ebooks

Goals-by-Stuart-MilesBefore you write a single word of your expert ebook, step back and reconsider your goals in becoming an author. Most experts I speak with are driven to publish a book or ebook because of several factors:

  1. They’re accomplished in their fields and have reached a level of expertise that merits showcasing in an ebook.
  2. They’re in a professional service business helping others (as a coach, consultant or leader) and want to share their wisdom with a wider audience.
  3. They’ve developed a unique approach or specialized niche that would help more people if they only knew about it.
  4. They’ve worked for decades and want to leave a legacy and advice for those who follow.

Their goals for becoming an author extend beyond imagined fame or fortune. The experts I know want to write because it’s time to share their message, regardless of whether their book reaches best seller status. But they’re also practical and strategic. Read More→

Expert Ebook Writing: 5 Steps to Get Started

5-StepsIf you’re an expert in your field and want to publish a digital book, how should you get started writing content?

  1. Write down 3 – 5 of your most compelling stories, ideas, nuggets, mistakes, or experiences you think interest your readers.
  2. What’s your point? (What’s your unique message you want readers to know that will impact their lives?)
  3. Write out a working title and a tag line that clearly states what the book is about and what it is designed to solve for readers.
  4. What’s your conclusion, what you want readers to do, think, believe, act on…? What’s your call to action?
  5. Write an outline that explains in a sequential order how you will provide benefit to readers.

(Please note that in each of these steps, the word “readers” is mentioned. Your readers are clearly at the heart of your book. In other words, you aren’t, they are.)

At this point you can continue writing or start looking for a ghost writer. Ask yourself, is it worth my time to learn how to do this and actually write the sentences, or hire a writer who already knows how to string together sentences, paragraphs, chapters from preface to conclusion, to notes, etc.? Read More→

Who’s an Expert, and Why Experts Write Ebooks

ExpertEbooks-StuartMilesIn my current series of posts about writing ebooks, I’m primarily addressing the challenges of experts who want to write and publish a digital book, for example, on Amazon.

Who, exactly, is an expert? Who qualifies? I don’t know that there’s any definition or standard that one must go by. To me, my clients are professionals such as doctors, lawyers, consultants, coaches, speakers and educated people who’ve been practicing their skills for 20, 30 or more years. They’re experts.

Wikipedia defines an expert as someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public in a specific well-distinguished domain. An expert, more generally, is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience, or occupation and in a particular area of study.

I guess just about anybody can call themselves an expert, especially if they have knowledge and skills that others don’t. Writing and publishing an ebook doesn’t make you an expert, but it certainly shows your knowledge, experience and value as such.

Why Write an Ebook instead of a Printed Book?

There is no denying the shift that is happening in the book industry: ebooks are on the rise and here to stay. Check out some of the latest industry data:

  • E-book sales grew dramatically in the first quarter of 2010, jumping from just 1.5% of total US book sales in 2009 to 5% of the market in the first quarter of 2010. Source: R.R. Bowker
  • 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.

Reports from Amazon

  • Ebooks are now outselling hardcover books at Amazon, selling 180 e-books for every 100 hardcovers.
  • Jeff Bezos told the USA Today that he predicts Kindle ebook sales will outsell all books (including paperback) within a year.
  • The Kindle is now available at Target and Best Buy.
  • Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books in the first half of 2010 as in the first half of 2009.

Most experts I know believe that by publishing an ebook, they’ll get known by a larger number of people. They’ll establish credibility by writing about what they know best. They’ll connect with readers who may have exactly the kinds of problems they can solve.

To me, writing and publishing an expert ebook not only makes sense, but is a requirement for anyone who wants to use the Web to get found, get known and get clients. What do you think?

(Image: freedigitalphotos.net)

Expert Ebook Writing: Prepare or Just Do It?

Make-a-ListStarting to write your expert ebook is not the first step. What comes before ebook writing is key –

  • Research what readers want most
  • Find out what other books have been done
  • Decide what you have to say that will make a difference

Without smart preparation, you’ll find yourself bogged down with too much information and lack of focus. Fortunately there are online tools that will help you discover more about your ebook topic.

Amazon.com makes it easy for you to find out other titles, readers’ reviews and sales results. Survey tools like SurveyMonkey makes polling easy. As an expert, you can ask colleagues as well as clients for their ideas and opinions. And of course you can use social media pages to ask for other people’s perspectives. Read More→

Expert Ebooks: More Ways Ebook Writing Goes Wrong

Expert-Knows-too-MuchIn my previous post I mentioned that a big problem for experts who want to write and publish an ebook is this: like the spy who gets killed by his own agency, “they know too much.”

Experts know so much about their area of expertise that they tend to blast readers with a fire hose of information. Not only that, but they are in love with their own point of view. I say this with appreciation and understanding, really.

If you’re a professional who’s been helping clients for decades, you know a lot and you know what works. Of course you love what you do and the way that you do it. And of course you want to share it with the world.

But here’s the thing about successfully writing an expert ebook that resonates with readers: they will download and read your ebook if it will help them understand and fix one of their problems. They don’t care so much about your products and services or point of view, as long as you and your ebook will give them the results they want. Read More→

The Biggest Mistake Experts Make When Writing an Ebook

Fire-ExtinguisherExperts know a lot. Of course they do, any professional who’s been gathering experience for 20, 30, even 40 years has a lot to say. But many experts think they can pour out everything they know into an ebook and readers will want to buy and read it.

I call this the fire-hose writing approach. Give them everything you’ve got and hope that you hit a nerve that resonates.

You could be wrong. Readers don’t really want to know everything about your field of expertise. They mostly just want to fix a problem they’re having.

The biggest mistake experts make when writing an ebook is to focus on what they know instead of on what readers want to learn.

Reader Focused Writing

This is why you must shift your focus when writing an expert ebook from your expertise to how your readers and clients struggle.

For example, when listing a table of contents that takes the reader from A to Z – everything you know about coaching and goal setting – just to pick an example – your ebook contents needs to go directly to the reader, what he/she struggles with, why traditional solutions don’t work, what new solution you offer, and how the reader will benefit.

In other words, smart experts write an ebook following this progression:

  1. Who are you writing this book for, and why (which problems do readers face)?
  2. What common solutions exist and why they don’t always work?
  3. What new ideas and solutions can you share (challenge the status quo)?
  4. How will the reader benefit?
  5. What can readers do today to resolve their frustration?

This is not a new concept, but it can’t be emphasized enough when it comes to writing quality digital content designed to highlight your expertise in an expert ebook. Those ebook writers who start writing with a reader-centered focus will not only have an easier time writing their book, but they will also end up with greater appeal to their audience.

In website design, this is called “user-centered design” process. It’s frequently used in product development and R & D. In brief, it’s a process for creating products and services that work well for the end users. You create your design to help people achieve their goals in ways that will work for them.

As an expert, you should already know your targeted audience well since you’ve been working with them for years. Maybe they’ve changed, and if so, you need to find out what their frustrations are. Find the “sweet spot,” what they most want to discover.

Then help them understand and discover solutions they may not have thought of.

Readers don’t want to know everything you know, they don’t want to become experts. They want to fix what’s wrong and your job is to help them understand how to do that in plain language.

I’m guessing that the biggest problem that experts have in writing about their own field is that, like the spy who gets killed, “they know too much.”

Instead of blasting readers with a fire-hose, target their problem and pain with a small fire-extinguisher. It’s much kinder, don’t you think? Don’t ruin your chances of successfully publishing an expert ebook that helps you get found, get known, and get clients.

(Photo: freedigitalphotos.net)

Is Ebook Writing Different than for a Blog,
Webpage, or Printed Book?

Ebook-WritingIn this series of blog posts about writing an expert ebook, we explore these questions about digital content writing, or content marketing:

  • How is writing an ebook different from writing a blog post, a special report, a web page, or for a printed book?
  • Are there any grammar or style differences?
  • Formatting issues aside, what are the rules and best practices to improve readability and boost readership numbers?

Or, is it any different? Most people I know, including many of my clients for whom I ghost write and edit, assume that all book writing is the same. They try to follow the rules of style and grammar learned in school.

They could be wrong. If there’s one thing rapidly changing technology has taught us is to question everything. Don’t assume anything.

What worked for Dickens and Hemingway won’t necessarily work for you on the Web. It might work, but then again it probably won’t. Read More→

Start an Expert Ebook with an Outline:
11 Steps

Experts-Stuart-MilesAre 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. Read More→

How to Write an Expert Ebook

Computer and EbooksI get calls from executive coaches and consultants who want to publish an ebook. They ask me for help, to ghost write either for or with them.

The answer is yes: in certain fields, I am a ghost writer. I read a ton of books on leadership, and study how the big sellers on Amazon are written in this category.

Some people have clear ideas of what they want to say. They may even have an outline. Some have already published books themselves (“Never again!” some say). But most don’t have an outline, a story, a message, or a clue.

But they’re right about one thing: If you’re an expert, you should publish an ebook. It will help you get found, get known, and get clients.

I thought I’d put my best steps for writing an expert ebook into a blog post here, and create an ebook later. If I were  to write an ebook about how to write an expert ebook … how would I do that? What would I say?

First, remember that writing an ebook is not the same thing as publishing one. Two separate activities…

  • Each are important and each need a lot of time and expertise
  • Not everyone should write their own book
  • Not everyone should publish and market their own book
  • Decide which you want to do and outsource the stuff you’re not good at doing

If you want to write a book, start asking yourself some hard questions: Read More→

Smart Business Blog Linking:
Top 25 Content Marketing Blogs

Blog-LinkingIf your business blog needs to get inbound links, here’s a prime example of how to do it. Pay attention to this tactic, it’s easy, it’s smart blog marketing and a great way to get other blogs linking to you, thereby improving your search rankings.

I’ve talked about creating your own Top 10 lists before, and it still makes sense, even more so given the way SEO works today.

Recently our blog here, WritingontheWeb.com showed up on a list of the Top 25 Must-Read Content Marketing Blogs. Well, we’re listed as #24, but hey! Who cares?

Author Jennifer Barry, who writes for Hubspot as well, says on the Writtent.com blog:

“The marketing industry is diverse and ever changing, and one of the easiest ways to stay on top is to read the most relevant and pertinent blogs. There are thousands of marketing blogs out there that focus on different aspects of the marketing industry from optimization, conversion, advertising, and content.” Read More→