I normally try to stay out of the whole traffic and marketing field. Instead, I focus on planning for success in writing books and eBooks. But I answer questions from my clients. (Yes, I really, really do that... me, personally).
And anyone who is writing books or eBooks is going to get into the problem of marketing those books. So I get these questions about how to market ebooks. Sometimes effectively disguised as planning for marketing and sometimes not so effectively disguised.
Today, I got an email from a client in South Africa. (You know who you are and no one else needs to know.) And frankly, it ticked me off. Not at my customer, but at some of the pseudo-gurus who've sold him a bill of goods. You've seen these people or at least their headlines... Make Money Quickly By Writing an Ebook. Books Make Money! Wealth! Fame!
Borsht!
Can you make money with books and eBooks? Yes, you can. Especially with eBooks, now that Amazon and the Kindle are doing the marketing for you. Pick your keywords right, price your eBooks low (in the 2.99 - 9.99 $US range) and you'll make some money. How much depends on a number of different factors.
And if you've got an existing business, you can use books and eBooks to make even more money. They can help you to sell product or services. In fact, they can create a reputation for you that draws high value to your business, while it's gaining you new customers. So you end up winning both ways.
There is no question that writing books and eBooks can be the basis of a valuable business.
The problem is the promises that are made around that business. "I can show you how to make $10,000 a month in 30 days". "I can have you selling $100,000 a year in 2 days" Right, we've all heard the claims. And in 30 days, they'll have shown you how. Or sent you the eBook, which will take you about 2 days to read.
The result is that people like my customer end up putting the comma in the wrong place and end up believing that they can make a living on the internet, which is fine if you have a job and aren't looking for a way out of the dole queue.
The thing is you can make a living on the internet by writing books and eBooks. It is possible to build a real business. In fact, there are several ways you can do it. However, building a business on the internet is just like building a business anywhere. It takes time, energy and money. If you don't have the money, you need to put in the time and energy. If you don't have the time and energy, you need to spend money.
There is no free lunch.
Do you want to learn how to write a book in 24 hours? Take my brand new free course here: http://www.learningcreators.com/
Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/
Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.
