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Praestabilis – Excellence in Marketing – 042
Welcome to Episode 42 of Praestabilis: Excellence in Marketing.
In Episode 42 the topic is around my belief that everyone should know how to write, publish, and market their own eBook. This is some of the information I share…
Why Everyone Should Know How to Write an eBook
Being an entrepreneur means wearing many hats, including author, publisher, marketer, product creator, copywriter, mentor, and more. As I move into my fifteenth year online I now see that writing and publishing an eBook on a topic I knew well within three months of starting my business on the internet was the wisest step I could have taken at that time. I firmly believe that everyone should know how to write an eBook to build an online business based on your current level of knowledge and expertise. This will also bring in some income and get you in the habit of creating something once and selling it over and over again.
When I started my online business in the spring of 2006 I was coming from twenty years as a classroom teacher and over twenty years as a real estate broker and residential appraiser. The writing and the technology were a struggle for me and I wasn’t sure how I was going to earn income with my new endeavor. Believing that everything would work itself out (I’m a positive thinker and believer) the solution came more quickly than I imagined and from an unexpected source.
My new neighbor, Lori, came to my door in tears one morning. When I let her in and we sat down to talk she told that her husband had said she had to get a real job because she wasn’t earning enough in real estate. His suggestion was for her to apply at J.C. Penney in the local mall and as she shared that her tears turned into a full sob.
“I don’t want to work at Penney’s. That would be just…awful!”
I gave her a hug and told her she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to do. Then I asked her if she was “farming” a neighborhood in our community. Farming refers to the process of choosing a geographic area of homes with the intention of connecting with the residents to let them know you can help them with their real estate needs. I had done this quite successfully over the years and finally had three farms I worked in on a regular basis. My question brought more tears and wet sobs.
“I don’t want to knock on doors every Saturday.”
“Every Saturday? You only need to go into your farm four times a year. I can show you how to do it.”
I believe Lori was more excited at the thought of not having to work at J.C. Penney (a wonderful store, in my opinion) than she was at the prospect of having me teach her what had worked well for me with farming over the previous two decades. But we had made a deal and I welcomed this opportunity to share knowledge and expertise I had garnered over the years with someone who desperately needed this information.
How to Write an eBook – Start With an Outline
Before my friend had walked back to her house I was already in my home office mapping out an outline on my mini legal pad. I wrote down what I would include in the information I was about to prepare for her, as well as what I would omit. I made two columns and wrote in my own shorthand to sort out what was of the utmost importance and what could be left out. Then I went to the computer and opened up a new Word document.
Remember that I was new to the world of online business and that in 2006 eBooks were a fairly new concept. But somehow I knew that from the five pages I wrote on that day something much bigger would evolve. Over the next several weeks my document doubled in size as I thought of more pertinent details to include. I even made a schedule and doodled a crude drawing of what I wanted to put into words.
At some point I turned one portion of my writing into an article and published it on two of the articles directories we used at that time. Both sites bounced my article back to me because of the titl...
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By Praestabilis - Marketing Excellence with Connie Ragen Green
4.5
44 ratings
Welcome to Episode 42 of Praestabilis: Excellence in Marketing.
In Episode 42 the topic is around my belief that everyone should know how to write, publish, and market their own eBook. This is some of the information I share…
Why Everyone Should Know How to Write an eBook
Being an entrepreneur means wearing many hats, including author, publisher, marketer, product creator, copywriter, mentor, and more. As I move into my fifteenth year online I now see that writing and publishing an eBook on a topic I knew well within three months of starting my business on the internet was the wisest step I could have taken at that time. I firmly believe that everyone should know how to write an eBook to build an online business based on your current level of knowledge and expertise. This will also bring in some income and get you in the habit of creating something once and selling it over and over again.
When I started my online business in the spring of 2006 I was coming from twenty years as a classroom teacher and over twenty years as a real estate broker and residential appraiser. The writing and the technology were a struggle for me and I wasn’t sure how I was going to earn income with my new endeavor. Believing that everything would work itself out (I’m a positive thinker and believer) the solution came more quickly than I imagined and from an unexpected source.
My new neighbor, Lori, came to my door in tears one morning. When I let her in and we sat down to talk she told that her husband had said she had to get a real job because she wasn’t earning enough in real estate. His suggestion was for her to apply at J.C. Penney in the local mall and as she shared that her tears turned into a full sob.
“I don’t want to work at Penney’s. That would be just…awful!”
I gave her a hug and told her she didn’t have to do anything she didn’t want to do. Then I asked her if she was “farming” a neighborhood in our community. Farming refers to the process of choosing a geographic area of homes with the intention of connecting with the residents to let them know you can help them with their real estate needs. I had done this quite successfully over the years and finally had three farms I worked in on a regular basis. My question brought more tears and wet sobs.
“I don’t want to knock on doors every Saturday.”
“Every Saturday? You only need to go into your farm four times a year. I can show you how to do it.”
I believe Lori was more excited at the thought of not having to work at J.C. Penney (a wonderful store, in my opinion) than she was at the prospect of having me teach her what had worked well for me with farming over the previous two decades. But we had made a deal and I welcomed this opportunity to share knowledge and expertise I had garnered over the years with someone who desperately needed this information.
How to Write an eBook – Start With an Outline
Before my friend had walked back to her house I was already in my home office mapping out an outline on my mini legal pad. I wrote down what I would include in the information I was about to prepare for her, as well as what I would omit. I made two columns and wrote in my own shorthand to sort out what was of the utmost importance and what could be left out. Then I went to the computer and opened up a new Word document.
Remember that I was new to the world of online business and that in 2006 eBooks were a fairly new concept. But somehow I knew that from the five pages I wrote on that day something much bigger would evolve. Over the next several weeks my document doubled in size as I thought of more pertinent details to include. I even made a schedule and doodled a crude drawing of what I wanted to put into words.
At some point I turned one portion of my writing into an article and published it on two of the articles directories we used at that time. Both sites bounced my article back to me because of the titl...