DB: Dave Buck!

Susan: And Susan Austin!

TJL: Today's focus is on e-books. I'm going to be sharing some of my experiences as well as those of Dean Jackson who makes about half a million in revenue on "Stop Your Divorce" first, we're going to be with the question - Why bother? We're going to give you reasons why and how to make money as well. We'll also go through the steps of setting up an e-book. Dave, what are some reasons you would write an e-book?

DB: The big reason why I'm in the process of creating an e-book is credibility and an intention to become widely known as an expert on creating your own brand. That's why I'm going to d it. I'm starting with an e-book because it's so much easier to get done. If it's successful, then I'll likely to go a printed book.

TJL: Great; you can also use the structure to become an expert on a specific topic. We all know stuff we could convert to an e-book pretty readily, but it will help you to use this structure to truly master the knowledge of the subject. For example, when Dean Jackson created his book, he used a marriage counselor expert, and wrote the book based on interviews he did with the person. He then took those 10 sessions transcribed them and turned them into an e0book that has great sales. For people like Dave, for example, he knows all about branding but as he writes his book he's probably finding out more things he didn't know and tapping into the information around him?

DB: That's right; it's expanding my knowledge and getting me more and more well known with people.

TJL: Great; my guess is that you have premises or assumptions on which the book is built, right? Just by starting the process, that'll start to crystalize what you do know, find out what you don't know, and find ways to articulate stuff to someone in a passive format. It takes more to turn conversations with a client into information anyone can se.

Susan: I call this a seductive idea, but appears to be a major time use. This sounds like a really big project.

TJL: Anybody will tell you that writing a book is a huge project; writing an e-book can be a lot quicker project. Rather than sitting down for 6 hours a day and pounding away, I would recommend starting an 3-zine or e-course and divide it into certain 'lessons' that people can comment on, ask questions about, etc. You will get the quantity in a few weeks, rather than years and it forces you to think in terms of "chunks". You'll also get questions, stories and ideas to upgrade your thinking around the topic. When I did the attraction principles book, I started out with 12, and wound up not only punching up the ones I had, but getting several more along the way.

DB: Yes; I think another method of doing this is doing a teleclass on the topic; while you're teaching the class you're getting a lot of feedback, and it forces you to get your information organized.

TJL: Yes, you can it and package it into a dozen or 2 dozen different ways.

DB: You're also reaping benefits along the process.

TJL: You're getting people who are become well-informed as well. They want to deepen their understanding of the topic and they'll contribute to you as well. Other reasons would be…..

DB: So you have the process of becoming expert, but it'll also generate revenue eventually. Having a passive revenue stream is a great comforter. Definitely the revenue side is very important.

TJL: It's also a way to build client referrals as well. We'll now go into the 3-step model - 1. Pick a popular situational topic that truly excites you; the trick is to pick something that will excite at least 1 million people. It's not a guarantee to make money though; I would do it for personal development reasons. Another thing you want to choose is not just the topic, but the angle. You could publish one on a trend or call it a special report. Once it's packaged in some way, it's portable and folks can pass it on to those in their network and becomes something that gets passed around. Other formats; principles of something, secrets of, stories around a theme, and so on.

Step 2- research your approach and find ways to get it written. Dean just interviewed folks and had it transcribed and took it from there. Teleclasses are also a good way. Make a list of 10 points you want to go through - you want to be immersed in a conversation for at least a month or 2, share what you know, and have them share what they know.

DB: Yes, and you can also have them transcribed as information and/or stories that can be used. You have a 12-session teleclass and you'll have a lot of content!

TJL: Yes, you can also have an e-course; just start writing something down every day and share it. I recommend you have someone to work on this with. it's so much easier.

Susan: Generally, how long does this process take?

TJL: A couple of days if you have the information; most people will do it, though, over a period of 90 days.

DB: I have a person who's interviewing 30 people, rather than 1, and have them recorded and transcribed to use in her book. She's just really having a lot of fun!

TJL: Yes, and that's the key thing. It's really going to lead to an expertise for you as well as more folks knowing what you're about. Also, a technical note, you're going to be printing this electronically into a PDF file, with Adobe Acrobat. It can be easily stories on a website and read by most anybody.

Okay, the 3rd step - market and sell it. There are 3 approaches to selling. Use pay-per-click search engines. Every time someone clicks on a search engine you've paid for, you pay for that. Your job is then to convert them to purchasers. I recommend everyone to view Dean Jackson's website, www.stopyourdivorce.com. It's a very plain website but he's made it very situational and speaks from that voice. Another one you want to look at is www.instantsalesletters.com. They're similar. The trick is to get traffic, obviously. Dean has deals with 2 large portals who act like an affiliate. He spends about $10 per book in marketing costs, but sells it for $79. he also offers a 100 percent money-back guarantee.

Dave or Susan, any last comments?

Susan: I like the concept but don't think I'm ready for it right now. I can see how this will all fit into the whole marketing process, once I pick my topic.

TJL: That's the key! Everything seems to become connected and ties your whole process together. Then you become known as someone with something. Dave?

DB: Yes, once you go past it, you never go back! When I set up my e-commerce system, it was just so exciting.

TJL: And it happens from the moment you get your first sale! And again, you're adding value. Here's a way to actually coach a million people in some way, and your good work is getting done. Why restrict it to 30 folks a week? Thanks - this is the end of our first segment.

(moment of silence)

TJL: And we're back. Anybody like to share any comments or ask questions?

Janet: I think all this very useful information. I have my focus, but again, a lot of input is necessary and I'm thrilled about the directions I can go with that.

TJL: Great; who's next?

Joe: you could almost use an e-book as a way of building an R&D team.

TJL: Exactly; it's almost like the honey to the bee!

Joe: Exactly.

TJL: Well said; thank you. Who's next?

Donna: I like the idea of not having to sit down and write it all at once, but chopping it into little chunks as an e-course or e-zine. I can handle that so much better! One thing that's helping us is that we're using live workshops to develop some of the materials.

XXX: How do you narrow it down to say "THIS is what I want to do."?

TJL: One thing you'll find - for me, I never know which one I'll like better, so I'll start 3 at once. You never know what the market is going to respond to. Come up with 3 topics, and ask your R&D team or network, for example. I never know the best thing, but my environment does!

Marilyn: I really got that - I was worrying - I really want to do this, and can do all of them; this is great!

TJL: Great; who else?

Karen: I got 4 things out of this - particularly working with experts. That really intrigued me. this will allow me to learn from so many people, I'll get to do that social piece I've wanted to do, I'm hoping that I can learn from them and they'll learn from me as well, and they're a great marketing source for me.

TJL: And it's a benefit to them and you. What happened to Dean and his friend Homer is that Homer now gets a significant percentage of his clients as referrals from the book. Who else?

Hari: This has been great; it's confirming to me that I'm on the right track. I've been writing a certain number of pages a day and sharing it with my network. I chose a topic that I really knew was popular with the people I'm sharing it with. what I'm discovering is how this topic is really linked to a million people.

TJL: There's a commonality in a smaller group that can be expanded to a larger number. How did you figure out this would be applicable to a larger group?

Hari: It's really mystical; there's something resonating that there's a much larger vision to this than I thought. My topic is the subtle business of success. As I write, I can see a whole niche of people that haven't been spoken to yet.

TJL: And did you know this when you first started?

Hari: No, I didn't.

XXX: I have a question about copyrighting - do you have an attorney to handle this?

TJL: I don't, and I probably should. You can go to copyright.com and get the information on how to do this for yourself. Dean also has an ISBN number, which puts the book into the real world of publishers.

XXX: Thank you.

Gail: Where you get that ISBN number?

TJL: I don't know, but if you go to isbn.com, or type in ISBN, or publisher's code, or something, you'll get some more information on that.

XXX: I have a question about the ebook - what's a good number of pages?

TJL: I would say 25 to 75 pages. How about you, Dave?

DB: I would say 75 pages or less.

XXX: Is there a benefit to selling hard copies of the book?

TJL: Yes; you can go to a just-in-time publisher who can help you take your content and put it into their format. They can print a single book in about 3 minutes, and people can purchase it. The covers are very nice; it can be close to the New York publishing standard. Another approach is just to go to a publisher than does printing runs of 1,000 to 2,000 and just get copies printed. Who else?

Joe: I'm curious about the pros and cons of whether it should be web-based information or e-book based information. I was thinking an ebook is something that someone can download and read at their leisure, versus having it web-based where they have to read it from the Internet.

TJL: You can go to killercovers.com. For a couple hundred bucks, they'll create a 3-dimensional cover and makes your book look really great. This helps you make your e-book look even more exciting.

Joe: Thanks; then the other thing - there's another topic I'm thinking of doing an e-book on. it seems that building traffic is the hardest thing up front. Would it make sense to offer it free for a limited time period to generate traffic and advertise it in different bulletin boards?

TJL: It's tempting but you're assuming that because it's free, it's going to drive traffic, and I wouldn't use that assumption.

DB: Free just reduces a barrier to entry, but doesn't necessarily make a compelling reason to keep coming.

TJL: I would say to use your e-book to educate people on what you do; don't' look at the e-book as that valuable by itself unless you're Dean Jackson. But I would encourage you to keep experimenting.

Joe: That's a great thought.

TJL: You're welcome; who's next?

XXX: I've heard that e-books in PDF aren't really e-books, but there's another format. Have you heard that?

TJL: There are several formats. You can even buy software that creates an executable file from your MS Word document so someone doesn't have to have the Adobe reader to read the file. Right now, the publishers are producing in the PDF and the Microsoft equivalent, rather than the executable files.

Thank you all for your questions! Have a great day!