It’s thinking that you can just just create a product to sell online and buyers will beat a path to your door, buy thousands and make you a millionaire before you know it…

It sounds pretty darn easy doesn’t it?…

Here’s what really works…

You must create a product that people want to buy, in a niche that’s in demand today.

Here are the steps for determining what people are really looking for that you:

1)  Go to Google and Yahoo and type in ‘top keyword searches’ and search for the keywords that are most searched…

2)  Type ‘article directories’ into Google or Yahoo and find a list of article directories…

Go to the topical section of the keywords you found in (1) and find out which subtopics are receiving the most article views…

3)  Search for those subtopics on Google and Yahoo and notice how many ’sites are available for each subtopic…

How much sponsored advertising is being done?

Go to inventory.overture.com and find out how many searches are done monthly for each of the subtopics…

4)  Go to Google and Yahoo and look up forums + your subtopic…

Go into the forums and ask people what they think is the most needed product for their niche…

When you follow these steps you’ll soon notice a pattern developing in people’s interest for the subject you’ve chosen.  Fill the gap that needs to be filled by creating a product that people WANT to buy and they will buy!  Don’t worry too much about competition, that’s if someone else has the same type of product as you.  The internet is huge my friend, and if you can market your product/website you dont have to worry about competition.  Just do the market research, create a product, fill the needs of others, rinse and repeat!!

Happy New years Everyone!!

It is always great to be able to reflect back on what we did over the past year so we can learn and grow from it before making goals for the new year.

Whilst writing or making money online period might seem like a daunting task it doesn’t need to be if you follow these simple steps this year.  Lets start fresh, and more importantly start every day like you’re starting fresh.  Bright eyed and bushy tailed every day eager to face todays challenges.  Theres no doubt you’re going to learn something, as you always will.  But if you’ve finally decided to take thing whole online making money thing seriously, then its time to wake up and dont make the same mistakes as you did tomorrow.  Prioritize what is most important right now, and go with the flow but focus while doing it.

For most aspiring entreprenuers, we don’t know where to start and have no idea on how to start the writing process. And why I keep saying writing is because to make money online you have to write.  At least the way I know how to, that works best for me.  And Im just starting! So let me make this endeavor a lot easier for you. Follow these Goals for 2009 and you are guaranteed to help improve your writing, and therefore make more money online than you did in 2008:

I Establish my objectives…

What do I want to achieve? Do I want to earn money from them or am I using this as my stepping stone so I can advance further in my niche?

The clearer my objectives, the better your income will be.

I Pick my topics….

I will dabble in something I know very well and it must be something that truly interesting to my potential customers.

I like what Im writing about and make work enjoyable as much as possible.

My products will sell like hotcakes online because I write quality information that is helpful to other people, who are reading what they expected to, and will benefit from it.

I Create compelling titles for my products….

I will capture my customers attention through my titles.

I create headlines that are enticing and follow the WIIFM rule (whats in it for me). They are short, direct to the point, well written, and keyword rich.

I Write for my readers….

I know who my readers are  so you can easily make your content targeted to their needs and demands. Aside from their profiles and  target to their needs. I identify pressing issues, aspirations, the things that they would like to achieve and their most frequent questions.

I make my writing readable.

My ideas flow smoothly and my content promotes continuity.

I will make an outline that will guide me throughout the writing process. My content is easy on the eyes.

This year will be the best year to date! Keep positive and stay focused.  Best words of advice!

1. Make money by selling it.

2. Build a customer’s list and an opt in list.

3. Leverage it for Joint Ventures.

4. Establish credibility and authority.

OK, I’m gonna let you in on one of the EASIEST ways to create your first product – Audio Interviews!  And they’re a great way to create products in more ways than one!!  You get to meet new people, potential JV partners, and plus you get some great tips and techniques on what is working for the pros!

MOST marketers, depending on schedule, find it hard to resist being interviewed. Call it an ego thing

Go and download Skype, get a mic, a headset and  download ‘audacity’ from sourceforge:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
(no-cost download)

Use audacity to record the skype interview.

And the best part, after you’ve interviewed them, you can ask them to promote that product for you
too! A great way to get in to the JV partnership side of things as well.  Basically you want to get your name out there, so either way this is a win win situation. You get the goods and they know your name.  Sure your doing the interview about someone else, but people are also going to recognize the interviewee too Hmm interviewee…is that a word?  Well you know what I mean anyways   So go for it!  Now is NOT the time to be shy guys and gals.  No, nows the time to make money.  And sometimes to make your dreams come true you have to come out of your comfort zone.

Yeah, I’m serious. Don’t write your ebook…..yet.  If you want to sell ebooks online, you’re going to have to start with a hungry crowd of buyers who want your ebook even if they dont know it yet because that will be your job to determine it. You want them eagerly waiting for it, and gladly willing to pay you to give it to them.

And where do you find such buyers? On your blog. And what’s on your blog? Everything they want, which is the content they’ve been looking for. So plan out your ebook, and while writing your chapters, post a short excerpt of it on your blog regularly. Make them interested. Get their attention.  You want them to want to know what happens next, whether its how to knit a scarf or how to drive 1,000 unique visitors to their website in 5 minutes.

As visitors to your blog read your content, they will want more. Tell them you’re planning an ebook on whatever topic it may be and ask them what they want to learn from it. This gives you free information, information that will be vital to the success of your ebook.  For every one person that wants it, theres another one hundred who do too.  And those one hundred people are another one hundred Potential customers!! So remember, every small thing you take in to consideration can mean big profits for you in the end!

* List your work experience – all of it

* List your current and past hobbies

* Any volunteer work?

* Any military experience?

* You can also list things you would like to know about and research the subject(s)

* Anything else you know about?

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert to write an EBook on the subject you choose. With the Internet at your fingertips, you can research your subject to fill in the blanks.

Narrow down your list until you end up with a few items left. Save the others for the future, though.  Now comes the hard part – choose one subject for your EBook. Now that you have a topic to write about, next comes the outline.  Start with a title, introduction, and then the chapters that further teach your reader about your topic. For example, it should look something like this:

How-to Give Yourself a Salon Quality Manicure

* Introduction (Introduce your reader to the subject any way you like. You can include the history, a summary, your thoughts, etc.)

* Chapter 1: Manicure Supplies You’ll Need

* Chapter 2: Why You Need Supplies and How They Work

* Chapter 3: Basic Nail Care

* Chapter 4: Getting Your Nails Ready

* Chapter 5: Proper Polishing

* Chapter 6: Using Fake Nails, Stickers, and Other Accessories

* Chapter 7: Types of Manicures

* Chapter 8: Getting fancy with Colors

* Chapter 9: Nail Maintenance

* Chapter 10: Extra Tips, Tricks, and Advice

See how it flows from the first chapter to the last in introducing the information to the reader? Once you have your outline, you can come up with subcategories for your chapters, and start writing! Don’t worry too much about the writing itself – it can always be revised later, which brings us to the next point. If you are not a writer or have poor spelling and grammar, I suggest getting an editor or proofreader to look over your work and help you on that end. Readers want to be able to understand the information you are trying to convey in an easy to read format.

Formatting is also important in EBooks.  People will be reading your information online, which means your EBook needs to be skimmable. Sections need to be broken up as much as possible for easier reading. Two pages of only text and very little white area will bore your reader. Separate sections with subheadings. You can also add images and pictures to your pages. All of this should be done in your word processor (I recommend Microsoft Word), and then put into PDF format.

Here are some free programs to turn your text document into a PDF file, which all EBooks come with:

http://convert.neevia.com/

http://createpdf.adobe.com/

http://www.pdf995.com/

http://www.acrosoftware.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

Now that your EBook is complete, it is time to start selling!  Here are some places you sell your EBook where you should be able to keep all rights to it, meaning you are free to sell elsewhere.  Read the fine print for this one.

http://www.payloadz.com/

http://www.artopium.com/library/sell_ebook_downloads.htm

Another great option is to create your own website and sell your book there. Market and promote it through advertising, asking family and friends to pass along the word to their email buddies, join relevant Yahoo groups, start a blog and others, etc. Once you are done, you can get started on the next one! Get that list out!

Additional Resources:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/site/editorial.htm

http://www.enhancemywriting.com/

http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/t out!

http://www.ebooktemplatesource.com/

http://www.publishingcentral.com/subject.html?sid=92&si=5&kwd=e-book+publishing+writing+e-books

http://www.profitpuppy.com/writing-and-selling-ebooks.htm

http://www.excessvoice.com/write-ebooks.htm

The fact is you can easily, and I do mean easily SELL what you know over and over and over again in the form of a digital ebook.  Ebooks are sold online everywhere and everyday, and many people make a million dollar living just from selling “thin air” as I like to call it.  So don’t be shy, start writing!!!  But if you really feel that you can’t or if you’re simply too lazy too (hey no worries, been there done that!) then outsource!  You can just as easily pay someone online to write an ebook for you of your choice.  For this matter, I am going to discuss outsourcing in a later post, but if you do not understand the importance of outsourcing then I really recommend you read the book called ” The Four Hour Work Week”.  Go to any retail bookstore and grab it now, and you will thank me later!!