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Home::Writing
7 Strategies for Finding Best-Seller Ebook Ideas
Author : Michael Hopkins
One of the biggest difficulties facing people who are getting
into the ebook business for the first time is finding the right
subject ideas for their ebooks.
It's important that there's a market for the book. It's also
important that you stick to the things you know, the things that interest you or the things you would enjoy researching.
Here are 7 strategies you can use for finding that perfect
subject. Try them out...
1.) THINK ABOUT THE THINGS YOU KNOW
One piece of knowledge or one experience is all you may need to create a top-selling ebook.
For example, we've all had negative experiences during the
course of our lives (ripped off in a scam, serious illness,
death of a loved one, addiction, backache, etc). Perhaps you
can show others how they can prepare for - or cope with -
a negative experience that you've already been through.
Do you know a great way to lose weight? Do you know a way to get through the working week without suffering from stress? Do you know a way of saving $200 on taxes? Do you know how to wallpaper a bedroom? Have you recently bought a house and learned an important lesson that can benefit others?
Imagine the title "Buying a home? This one tip will save you
over two thousand dollars!". If I were buying a home, I would
spend $20 or $30 no problem to find out what that tip is.
There's an infinite amount of simple ideas you can turn into
great products. You just need to identify them.
2.) TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
You probably have ten potential books inside you just based on
the things you enjoy in life - cars, sport, cooking, gardening,
beer, Spielberg movies, jazz music, pets, computers,...
The fact that you'll be writing about something you enjoy will
make researching, writing and promoting your book much easier
(and much more satisfying than tackling a subject that you know well, but don't enjoy).
3.) RESEARCH SPECIAL OFFERS OR SERVICES
People are always looking for ways to save money or save time.
Provide information that will help them save money on their
insurance, their mortgage, their vacation, their shopping, and
so on. Do you know some great research techniques for quickly
finding information on the Internet? Provide people with
information that will save them time with their work, their
surfing, their housework, and so on.
If you know a computer company that's offering quality PC parts at bargain prices then that could be the basis for a valuable ebook.
Okay, you're effectively giving great advertising to those that
offer the product or service, but at the same time if you're
making $10 on every sale and your customers is getting the
information you've promised, then everyone's a winner.
The Internet is a great place to research just about anything
and, as long as you're giving people something of value, you can find the basis for a great ebook online.
=====SIDEBAR======
This idea can also be used to make free ebooks. Imagine you are selling an ebook related to dogs. You could put together a
simple ebook that catalogs dog-related books that sell online.
Tie the idea in with a few affiliate programs (like Amazon.com)
and you can earn a little extra income as well as get free
publicity for your site.
=====SIDEBAR======
4.) ASK YOURSELF WHAT INFORMATION PEOPLE WANT
The fact of the matter is, there are tens of thousands of books
waiting to be written. Every minute of every day people search
for information they can't find. Think about those things you've
searched for and had difficulty finding. Locate a gap in the
market and fill it.
Identifying peoples wants, needs, goals and desires, and then
responding to them, is a sure route to success.
A great place to start is online newsgroups, forums and so on.
Visit forums on topics that interest you and see what people are talking about. What are the common questions? Identify the common problems experience by people interested in the topic.
Leave very specific questions like "What's the hardest thing
about...?", "What would you most like...?". Solve the common
problems these people encounter.
Follow these links to find forums, newsgroups and discussion
lists on a vast range of topics:
-Topica: http://www.topica.com/
-Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/
-Delphi: http://www.delphiforums.com/
Another way to find out what people are interested in, is by
finding out what they're searching for on the internet. Follow
these links to see what surfers are looking for:
-Search.com Top 100 Searches: http://www.search.com op
-AskJeeves: http://sp.ask.com/docs/about/jeevesiq.html
-Overture Suggestion - see how many people have used Overture search in the past month for the keywords you enter:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
5.) BRAINSTORM
Brainstorming is about getting a group of people together to
share ideas. This technique works best when all rational
judgement is suspended. Nothing should be ruled out, every idea
and contribution should be welcomed. Even ideas that, at first,
might appear useless may lead to other ideas or further trains
of thought.
The more thoughts that are introduced the better the
brainstorming will work and the better the chances of coming up
with really good ideas. Do this with family or friends and you
may find yourself wondering which book to start first.
Also, ask family and friends to tell you the things that
interest them. Is there a particular problem that they would
like to see solved. Could you solve it?
Often this questioning will provoke joking responses like "a big
house, loads of money and a flashy car". Don't disregard
flippant responses like these. They can tell you a lot about
people hopes, dreams and aspirations.
If you can tap into people's dreams and make a product that will
help them (even in a small way) to realize those dreams, you're
on to a winner.
6.) LOOK AT THE BESTSELLERS LISTS FOR 'REAL' BOOKS
Go to your local bookstore and browse the non-fiction sections.
Take special note of which books are displayed most prominently
(especially in the "how to" and "self-help" sections).
This will tell you a lot about what people are interested in.
You can also explore the bestsellers on the Internet at these
websites:
-Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/
-Barnes & Noble: http://www.bn.com/
Try taking a look at the headlines in glossy magazines. Those
guys know how to push all the right buttons to get people to buy.
You'll probably find ten things you could research and write
about just by browsing through magazines that interest you
(health, beauty, fitness, money, sport etc). The most inticing
lines are always written on the front cover.
7.) MAKE A DIFFERENT VERSION OF AN EXISTING PRODUCT
There are some areas of knowledge that are already well covered
by numerous authors (real-estate, for example).
Perhaps, however, you can identify a specific aspect of a given
subject that hasn't been covered (real estate in a particular
state or region, real estate aimed at a particular type of buyer,
and so on). No matter how specialized, the marketing power of
the internet can be used to reach almost any niche market.
And there you have it! Seven ways to go about finding the
perfect ideas for your next ebook.
Have fun!
About the Author
Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications.
Visit now to download original ebooks for FREE at:
http://www.bizzydays.com
This article first appeared in Michael's newsletter 'Ebook Times'.
To subscribe visit: http://www.bizzydays.com/free_newsletter.htm Related articles
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