eBooks are a really great way to make money and build a following. Not only can you sell them on your own website, but you can get other people to promote them by offering them a commission. Not only does this make both of you money, but it sends traffic to your website, helping to build a following. eBooks can be used to make yourself a lot of money, or as incentives for readers to join your mailing list. Whatever you do with them, it’s important to know how to write them.

Planning

I’ve always stressed planning when it comes to writing content online, and writing for a book that you wish to sell is no different, in fact it requires a lot more careful consideration – you can’t just get started and hope for the best. The first thing you’ll want to do is to come up with a title, and although this may sound obvious, it actually has a big effect of how you write your book. My latest eBook is called “Site Traffic Domination – How To Get 100,000 Visitors in Your First 3 Months”, but it was originally just going to be a case study of my website. Soon after starting, I found it hard to find a focus and direction, so I came up with a much clearer title.

Once you’ve settled on a title, it then becomes a lot simpler to come up with what you want to write about. For me, I didn’t want to go into more than about five different sections as it’s a good number to work within and I could cover everything in enough details through subheadings. The headings which I chose all had ‘Section’ written in front, followed by a number and then a title. The titles were clearly laid out in the table of contents and they were ‘How I Got My Start’, ‘Where My Traffic Comes From’, ‘Content’, ‘Promoting Your Content’ and ‘Making Money’, followed by a final ‘Summary’ section, but we’ll get to that.

I’ve studied my posts in the past to find out which were the most popular (something which I recommend you do), and I found that aside from the top lists, my post popular posts were the ones that would cover the basics and break them down into small and easy to manage sections. Because I structured the eBook the way I have, it’s clearly a lot easier for people to understand and to track their progress. With all my heading laid out, I knew what I want to include under those headings, so all I had to do is write it all down on a piece of paper and get to work. I always plan on paper, and I’ve filled up many notepads in doing so, but it’s much better as you have something to look back on and you can quickly write down new ideas so that you don’t forget them.

What To Write & How To Write It

The main differences between something that I write on this website, and something I include in an eBook comes down to the length and quality. If you’re expecting someone to pay for what you’re writing about, when usually, they get it for free, you have to make sure that your content is up to scratch or they won’t be coming back for more. When I’m writing an eBook, I forget the word targets that I usually try to set myself and just write the best that I can over all the sections and subheadings that I’ve laid out in my plan. My latest eBook is 39 pages long including the contents, but after my first draft it was only 25 pages long. This is because I went back and added more that I had thought up as I was going along and tried to improve on what I’d already written. Remember, if you want to make a living off the Internet, you need repeat customers who are satisfied with your content.

Most importantly, you should try to set yourself apart from all the other writing on the Internet by writing better than anyone else. If your content is the best that the customer can buy, the more likely they will be to buy it, and the more referrals you’ll make from other sellers. Your first eBook may not make a lot of money to begin with, but as your following and reputation grows, the sales of older books will start to pick up, similar to how old posts full of Amazon Associates links still makes you money.

Whatever you choose to write about, make sure that you choose something that couldn’t be covered in a couple thousand words in a blog post. Take a complete overview of a subject and explore as many different elements as you can. The fact of the matter is that you could possibly break all of this down into a series of blog posts, but you won’t earn nearly as much money from that. My next book is going to be on night photography, and I’ve started to explore some ideas that I’ve come up with that I don’t think have been covered in detail before, meaning that I can offer something a little bit different to my competitors.

Content

Let’s start at the beginning. You always want to include an introduction to your subject, as well as a few personal anecdotes. I try to include at least one anecdote about something that I’ve experienced in each section of the book and your first one should be in the introduction, telling people what makes you different from the rest. My eBook is based around my website and how it’s grown over the past few months, so I thought I’d share with readers how that came to be. This first section is entitled ‘How I Got My Start’ as shares what I did differently to other people in my niche, and explains to my reader why I’m qualified to be writing the book. Some people like to include a disclaimer at the beginning of their book telling the reader that it’s illegal to share, but I personally didn’t as I don’t think it go very far in stopping anyone from doing so.

To help stay ahead, include content which you wouldn’t ordinarily include, such as assignments, as well putting more time into graphs. For my blog posts, I usually use a screen capture of a Google Analytic page if I want to show my results, but for my eBook, I took some time, exported the results and made an original annotated diagram. This looks a lot better and makes the reader see the separation from website to book, which gives them a reason to pay more. Below is a comparison between the sorts of graph that I use online and the graph that I use in my eBook – the difference is clear.

It is okay at times to include content that you’ve already shared on your blog, just so long as it’s relevant and not just being used to bulk up the book. If I do this, I tend to remove certain parts that aren’t entirely relevant as well as replace images which are no longer in keeping with my book. In my most recent book, I used ‘6 Types Of Blog Posts That Drive Traffic‘ but I took out the last two on the list as they weren’t as relevant to getting lots of traffic. Just because I’ve used it elsewhere, doesn’t mean that it’s not still really great information.

If you’ve done your planning properly then it should be no trouble to write all your content in order, covering all your key points. This also helps to keep the content organized and mapped out in a contents page. I used headings throughout my book to show importance and relevance, and then when you insert a table of content at the beginning, all of your titles come together in order. Have a look at part of my contents below, and you’ll see that because I was able to follow my plan in order and use headings to show their importance, I was able make my book much easier to follow. What’s more is that all of the headings in the contents page will link to the headings further down in the book, even after I turn it into a pdf.

It’s one thing to write an eBook, but if you want to build on your reputation and sell many future ebooks then you need to start producing results. The best way to do this is to start writing assignments within your book that the reader has to follow, which in turn, will provide them with results. I wrote assignments such as ‘Open an Amazon Associates account and start using it today’ and ‘Claim your facebook profile name by getting 25 friends to like your page’. These little calls to action have a great effect and walk the reader through exactly what they have to do if they want to start seeing results.

Finishing Your eBook

When you’ve completed your book, it helps to read through it again so that it’s fresh in your memory and then summarize it so that anyone who was having trouble following will understand better. There is always going to be some readers that you have to spell it out for, so it can’t hurt to share it with everyone by creating an easy to read summary. I usually start with a couple paragraphs summarizing how I feel about what I’ve written and perhaps a personal anecdote about my learning process. Then what I do, which separates me from a lot of writers, is go back through my whole book and pick out all the important lessons that were learnt and list them on one easy to read list. This really doesn’t take much time as I do it while I’m proof reading it; I just jot it down on a piece of paper and compile the list in order when I’m done.

I won’t share the list I’ve used in my latest eBook because that would just be giving it away for free, so instead, here’s a list for this blog post which you can learn from.

• eBooks are a great way to make money and can also be used as incentives to get people to join your list.
• Come up with a clear title before you start writing as it will shape the content that you produce.
• Properly structured eBooks are much easier to read.
• The quality and length has to be noticeably better than what you write online.
• Only sell content that you’re happy with because if you customer isn’t happy, they’re unlikely to ever buy from you again, and the same goes with affiliates.
• Anecdotes make the reader connect with you on a more personal level and trust the content more.
• A working table of contents is a great way to help the reader navigate their way through your book.
• Assignments act as calls to action, to help your reader produce the results they’re looking for.
• Summaries at the end will leave the reader feeling satisfied, knowing that they’ve learnt something.

Finally, as you’re signing off, this is a great time to promote your own material to the readers, whether it’s links to your website and Facebook page, or links to other books that you’ve written that they might be interested in buying. If they’ve made it all the way to the end then they’re in a pretty good position to want to buy some more from you so don’t waste this opportunity.

Could you describe what you do and how you earn your living John?

Officially, my title is Founder and CEO of TTZ Media Inc. However, I’m best know as the guy who makes money online by telling people how much money I make online. I earn my living by creating websites that help solve a problem.

You are living the life so many desire, The Internet Lifestyle! Can you tell me what the internet lifestyle means you to and how its changed your life?

Living the dot com lifestyle is like living the dream. The dot com lifestyle is about more than making a lot of money. There are many thing you can do to make a lot of money. The dot com lifestyle is about time freedom and location freedom. Most people who make a lot of money have very little time to enjoy it. In addition to that, they’re tied down to one place.

With the Internet, I have time, money and location freedom. I can be anywhere in the world and as long as I have access to the Net, I can make money. Right now, I am in Shanghai for a month long Asia trip. Just because I went away doesn’t mean paycheck stops. Try doing that with a job.

What advice would you give to a new blogger trying to drive traffic to their website? Could you share an example of the effects?

The most effective free way is to guest blog for an A-list blogger. Find the biggest blog in your niche and send them a guest post. If it gets accepted, you’re get some nice targeted traffic as well as bump in your brand because of the power of association.

I understand that you run three large websites, JohnChow, The Tech Zone and TTZ Media. How do you manage to run three really large websites and still have time for family and fun?

With the exception of John Chow dot Com, the other sites pretty much run themselves. TTZ Media is fully automated. The only thing I do is approve new affiliates and set up the mass PayPal payment every month. I have staff to run The TechZone. I spend an average of two hours per day running the John Chow dot Com blog.

The key is to automate and deligate. Too many try to do everthing themselves. If you do that, you’re falling into a trap. You think Bill Gates can run Microsoft all by himself? The sooner you can let go and get others to help you, the better off you’ll be.

When you first started blogging did you model yourself on anyone? How did you learn how to be a “Problogger” and do so well with your first blog?

I got into blogging for fun. I never intended for the blog to make money or to become a problogger. My blog grew because I applied what I learn from running high traffic websites to blogging. The marketing methods used to promote a regualar content site works with a blog as well. John Chow dot Com was my first blog but it wasn’t my first site. Experience counts.

Month after month you have been earning over $30,000 from your personal blog which is crazy! If someone is new to blogging and are looking to make money from blogging, what advice / tips would you offer?

Treat your blog like a real business. Because of the low barrier of entry, most people don’t take their blogging seriously because they don’t have much to lose if they fail. I mean, you can start a blog for zero dollars. However, a blog can make serious money if you take it serioulsy. Ask yourself this questions. If your blog cost $100,000 to start, would you be running it the way you’re running it now?

Don’t be afarid to test new revenue channels and models. Advertising is just one of many ways a blog can earn money. Never put all your eggs in one basket. Try to run as many revenue channels as possible while still preserving the user experience.

Capture ever lead that comes to your blog. If you don’t have a mailing list, get one now. Down the road, your list will not only be a huge source of traffic, but income as well.

Working less and making more money sounds like a good deal to me, have you got any tips for getting more done in less time?

Think passive income. Over the last year, I haven’t raised my ad prices and I haven’t added any new ad spots. Yet the income of the blog keeps going up. This is because a big chunk of the blog’s income comes from affiliate programs that offer passive income. For example, if I refer a new publisher to Market Leverage, the will give me 5% of whatever the publisher makes. Over the years, I’ve referred thousands of publishers to different ad networks that pay me a percentate of revenue. The reason my blog income keeps increasing is because I’m still getting paid for stuff I did years ago.

The really nice thing about going after passive income is it requires no extra time commintment. You do the work once and get paid forever. It’s also not dependent on the blog. If my blog were to go down today, I would lose my advertising income but the passive income will keep coming in.

What advice would you give to people just starting out with an online business?

Just like with making money by blogging, treat your online business like a real business and take it seriously. An online business has so much greater protentail than any normal business but it cost so much less to start. It’s a real some that most people associate high start up cost with seriousness.

If you could go back in a time machine to the time when you were just getting started, what advice would you give yourself regarding making money online?

Don’t do it all by yourself. You’re just buying yourself another job if you do that.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

If you can make something for a little less than your competition, and sell it for a little more, then you’re doing OK.

Thanks very much for the interview, Have you any plans (personal or business) that you can share with us about your future plans / goals / lifetime goals?

My short term goal is keep growing the business. Mid term, I want to set up a schoolarship to provide post secondary education to deserving students. Long term, I want to set up my own foundation to fund causes that I believe in.