He was stumped.

Stumped because he’d followed the DBO criteria to a tee - but try as he might, he was having a doozy of a time generating sales. He even split tested giving away a part of the e-book, and selling the other half. Still nothing.

I told him that I would relay the advice I gave him (leaving out the actual topic) because I thought it would be of interest to other DBO readers.

The reader - let’s call him “Phil” - was targeting a well-known niche. A niche that had received A LOT of offline publicity over the past 5 years. I’m talking heavy rotation on everything from your local morning news to CNN and everything in between.

Needless to say, we (as in every reader of this blog) would recognize this problem if I mentioned it.

Anyway, Phil had been in this worrisome situation. He stressed and sweated through it. And in the end he came out okay. So what did Phil do?

He packaged his experiences and decided to sell his intimate knowledge on how to solve this desperate problem.

Seems Ideal, Huh?

Aaaaaah… a niche with lots of media publicity. Everybody knows the problem is in fact a problem. Easy sell, right?

Wrong. And that’s why Phil and I were exchanging pleasantries at 9:30am this morning.

The Problem (I Told Phil)…

Was that the niche had been exploited SO MUCH over the past several years that more people were looking to prevent the problem, rather than solve it.

When I ran the traffic numbers through Google, it was like 5,000 searches a month for solving the problem - but 1 million searches for preventing it.

In all actuality, I would target a niche that had 5K searches a month because I realize a lot of low performance e-books can add up to big numbers over the years.

But Phil Had Another Strike Against Him

The media had done such a good job at educating the general public, that most sufferers of the problem already had a built in Pavlovian response to solving the problem. In other words, if you had this problem, there are a whole series of steps you’d most likely undertake BEFORE getting online.

My guess is that most people wouldn’t care that much about looking online to solve the problem because they equated the solution with offline actions.

However Just Because the Niche Had Been Super-Publicized, Didn’t Mean it was Dead

On the contrary.

What I suggested to Phil was that he could still target the niche. But instead of selling a solution to the problem, he should focus on selling prevention to people who were most desperate to prevent the problem.

In this situation, I found that the problem was affecting children now. (This hadn’t been the case a few years ago.) Your 3-year old could have this problem, and it could be extremely harmful for them in the long run.

Now it’s one thing if I have a problem. I’m an adult. I can take care of myself.

But it’s an entirely different ball of wax when your kid is at the receiving end of the unsanctioned whipping post. As a parent it’s your job to prevent your child from being harmed. And if you’re truly about your job, you’re going to do your darndest to prevent your child from being hurt.

Parents are inherently desperate people.

And that desperation level can go from 10 to 100, depending on the risk involved. That’s a good thing, in a DBO kind-of-way.

You Don’t Necessarily Have to Solve an Existing Problem. You Can Also Show People with Naturally Desperate Tendencies How to PREVENT a Problem.

For example, competitive body builders have naturally desperate tendencies. If you’re an amateur and you want to go pro, you don’t want to get any injuries that are going to stop you from competing.

And if you know that 50% of amateur bodybuilders get an injury that halts their career, you’re going to eat 100 eggs in 10 seconds to learn the secrets for preventing that injury. You have naturally desperate tendencies. And you’re RIPE for selling to.

Can you think of anyone with naturally desperate tendencies?

Will that be in the next DBO?

Perhaps.

In between cooking, cleaning, going to the zoo, school shopping, grocery shopping, and taking my 83-year old neighbor out to dinner, my days are FULL.

I normally like to begin my work day at 8:30pm. But lately I haven’t been able to get started until midnight at the earliest. That only gives me 4 hours of work time a day.

My only saving grace is that I have trained myself in a writing skill that ALL WRITERS (yes, even you seasoned pro’s) need to covet.

Four hours doesn’t look like a lot of time to get any sort of serious writing done.

But if you have a game plan for writing fast, you can get A LOT done in only four hours.

Let’s say you can crank out 1,200 words an hour.

In four hours that’s 4,800 words.

A 25,000 word manual (around 80-90 pages) would only take you 7 days - if you factor in writing, research time and bathroom breaks.

And that’s the point of today’s blog post. Learning how to write faster is a skill that will empower you beyond your wildest beliefs.

If you can DOUBLE your writing speed, you open yourself up to far more profit opportunities.

You already know that I create information products for a living.

But I bet you didn’t know that for a while (this year, in fact) I actually moonlighted as a SEO content creator.

Not because I needed to. I wanted to test out my fast writing techniques to see if I could actually handle a deadlined work load (a deadline that wasn’t my own).

The fast writing techniques worked so well that I was clearing $25-$45 per 400-600 word article.

I got so busy that I had to stop accepting assignments.

All I was doing was writing article after article, all night long. I’d turn in 4 and get 8 more. Not a bad position to be in!

But I’ll be honest with you… my information publishing business is far more lucrative. So that’s what I chose to stick with.

Though I did learn a valuable lesson.

I learned that knowing how to write fast is an extremely underrated skill - especially if you’re a content creator, or you aspire to be one.

And you have even more at stake if you write books, e-books and reports for a living.

One e-book, (or even a simple report as DBO readers know from my own experience), can easily translate into $20K-$50K a year - if you choose your topic carefully.

Now imagine if you doubled or tripled your writing speed, and worked hard for 6 months to create as many information products as you possibly could. That could easily equal 2-4 new product A MONTH, if you’re working at an optimum speed.

You’d only need 3-4 of those products to become cash cows in order to take a mini-retirement over the next 6 months.

And that’s exactly what I do!

I hustle my butt off for 6 months. (Not always 6 consecutive months.) And then I spend the other 6 months fulfilling my spiritual needs, I do hospice volunteer work, I take up new hobbies to write about, I catch up on my reading, I take classes, and so on.

Of course I could be a helluva lot richer if I worked my butt off the entire year like most other information publishers.

Then again, I make no apologies for enjoying the fruits of my labor. I work hard, I play hard. The end.

And once again, that’s part of the hidden pleasure of increasing your writing speed. You’re not sitting at the keyboard for 6 long months slaving over a single e-book. When your output increases, you can afford to recharge more often.

My latest title - The Good and Fast Content Creation Formula - is a guidebook to the techniques I use for fast writing.

Though it’s not just about fast writing.

It’s also about choosing a topic, and researching the topic, and being able to put the research together to write your content quickly.

What I did was examine every part of the writing process to see where I was getting stuck. I asked many DBO readers about their writing issues during their free consultation sessions.

Then I went through each step to figure out what I could do to make the process go more smoothly.

That was one of the reasons why I created Rack and Write. I used to have a hard time coming up with article ideas when I wanted to use article marketing to promote my titles. Rack and Write simplifies that process, thus making the writing process go a lot faster.

And that’s only one of the tricks that I’ve been using to increase my writing speed.

Would you like to see the rest?

Get the full scoop on The Good and Fast Content Creation Formula …

I originally put them together for my own benefit because I sometimes found it difficult to come up with articles to promote my information products. (Remember, I do sell other information products besides the ones advertised here.)

Well after I put them together and got them into a usable interface, I began showing the templates to a few consulting clients. They were very well received, so I continued adding to the list.

Several of my initial beta testers asked how much I’d be selling this tool for. They were surprised when I said it would be free.

I Made it Free for One Reason…

I go away and come back, go away and come back, and I STILL have an incredibly loyal group of readers.

I appreciate that loyalty immensely.

And even though I can’t give away everything I write, I wanted to give you something that would benefit your information publishing business for years to come.

You’ll find that this tool is 100% evergreen. You’ll be able to use it today, next year, and ten years from now.

It’s ideal to use for most topics. And I’m always adding new templates to keep it fresh.

So What’s Behind the Curtain?

Some of you might’ve noticed the ad in the right hand side - “Generate 1,262 content ideas…”

Well if you click on that ad you’ll be lead to Rack and Write.

Rack and Write stands for, “Rack up ideas so you can write your content.”

See the graphical image of the interface below? You simply type in 8-11 keywords (nouns, verbs).

Rack and Write will insert those keywords into the idea templates. So if you fill out each box, you’ll receive over 1,200 idea templates.

However, depending on your keywords, you’ll notice that some of the templates don’t make sense. (When you use it you’ll see what I’m talking about.)

But that’s okay because I’m sure you’ll walk away with AT LEAST 100 article, book chapter, blog post or report ideas.

And that’s what makes Rack and Write such an exciting tool. By changing your keywords, your content idea base can grow by leaps and bounds.

So what are you waiting for?

Click on over to Rack and Write… watch the tutorial… and give it a spin. Remember, it’s free!

And when you’re done, I want you to do 2 things for me…

1. Come back here and leave some feedback. I’m always looking for ways to make it better.
2. Share it with other information publishers. They’ll love you for it.

Long time no see, huh?

I’ve been in a serious writing phase these past few months. Creating new reports, constructing new strategies, testing those strategies, writing some more.

In between all of that, three things have happened.

1) I moved.
This time from New York City to Center City, Philadelphia. One incident that prompted this move was the guy who bypassed my buildings concierge, and followed me and my daughter into the elevator. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled like a porcupine because he didn’t press a floor when he got on the elevator.

By the 3rd floor (I lived on 14) I dropped my shopping bags, removed my gloves, turned to face him, looked him directly in the eyes and gave him a look to let him know that he wasn’t going to catch me by surprise.

Even though he could’ve been going to see another person on my floor, I just knew that wasn’t the case. I was 100% sure he was going to harm me. It was a distinct feeling that I absolutely couldn’t ignore.

In the movie New Jack City, there’s a scene where Ice-T (a rapper in real life, but a cop in the movie) is telling a story about a thug who killed his mother in order to be initiated into a gang. It was a random killing.

Well THAT was the thought I had as soon as that elevator door closed. It was truly a gut feeling at its best.

Long story short - it didn’t get gory, but it did get scary. He was found waiting for me to come out of my apartment. In fact, when he ‘attacked’, he didn’t know it was the police coming out of my apartment.

I packed up, found a gorgeous condo in Philadelphia, overlooking Rittenhouse Square, and the rest is history.

All hail the portable lifestyle of information product creation!

BTW, this isn’t meant to scare anyone away from visiting NYC. I still feel very safe in the city. I just didn’t feel like the building I was living in was secure anymore. And for the money you have to pay to live in NYC, the stress of that incident took A LOT away from me.

I’m a pansy that way - a pansy who’s determined to be around for a long time.

2) Meanwhile on the Internet… last month I realized that I had a super scamming affiliate.

He had two Paydotcom usernames - both shared a similar phrase.

He sent a number of orders for Desperate Buyers Only in June. I paid him for those sales on July 1st. In July I started getting more orders from him.

Then all of sudden, I started getting chargebacks. First it was one a day, for three days. Then one day I got like four chargebacks. I looked at where the sales came from, and sure enough they all came from that one affiliate.

And all the customer e-mail addresses looked exactly the same - first name, last name, with a Gmail or Yahoo domain. Or first name, last name, and a number.

I went through and refunded the rest of the orders he sent, terminated my relationship with him, and closed the DBO affiliate program to new applicants.

I was so pissed off! Especially since I’d just gone through that PayPal account freezing incident this year.

Apparently Paydotcom got complaints about this person, and they reported him to PayPal. I also reported him to PayPal as soon as the chargebacks started coming in. But that call probably fell on deaf ears.

When I called PayPal about the incident, the rep didn’t even know what an affiliate program was! That’s idiotic.

How the heck can PayPal put their reps on the line to talk about e-commerce issues, and a rep NOT know what an affiliate does? There’s something wrong that picture.

That incident further prompted me to continue launching my new products with Google Checkout.

Speaking of new products and Google Checkout, I’ve been VERY pleased with the service so far. I’ve been with them for 5 months, and I have nothing to complain about.

Amen to that one.

3) As I mentioned in a previous blog post (when PayPal originally froze my account) I’m currently adding more print products to my lineup.

First off, when you snail-mail your products you have a tracking number. So you have fewer problems with chargebacks. In fact, when I did print products early on in my career, I won around 75% of my chargeback cases because I was able to provide tracking information, and show that the person signed for the delivery. (They frequently claimed they didn’t get anything.)

But even more important - (because in reality, chargebacks and problem transactions are the exception - not the norm) - print products create a better long-term image.

I think we all get a little excited and anxious when we’re waiting for something in the mail. I order at least one thing from Amazon nearly every, single week, because I like getting stuff in the mail - (and I read a helluva lot).

As I’m bombarded with information online, I can appreciate being able to pop something in my bag to read at the park.

Yes, e-books are far easier to deliver, and they give the customer the benefit of instant gratification.

But when you want to start going into higher price points - as I wish to do, you’ve gotta go print.

So my brand new $129 product - The Good and Fast Content Creation Formula - is print. And that’s just the beginning.

In case you’re wondering, I’ll talk about The Good and Fast Content Creation Formula later this week.

Until then!

According to Brian Burke, eBay’s Director of Global Feedback Policy, “To preserve the integrity of the Feedback system, effective March 31 all goods that can be digitally downloaded or transferred electronically must be listed using the Classified Ads format.”

They’re apparently doing this for two reasons:

1. Ebooks can be easily reproduced.
2. This can lead to feedback manipulation.

Okay so let’s not overlook the obvious… feedback manipulation does exist.

I’ve read ebooks where authors have suggested that you buy 100 cheap ebooks (under $1 each) as a tactic to raise your feedback score quickly. A new seller with 100+ feedbacks looks more reliable at first glance.

But it also works the other way around. Sellers also list a bunch of $.01 ebooks to boost their feedback rating as well.

However I’m having a hard time believing that feedback manipulation was rampant enough for them to halt digital product auctions altogether.

And then to only give 7 frickin’ days lead time is almost criminal to long-time sellers. (eBay JUST made the announcement on March 24.)

In any case, if you want to sell your ebooks on eBay you’ll have to pay $9.95 a month for a 30-day classified listing. It looks like you can still feature your ad, bold it, etc. Plus you can provide a direct link to your website.

But as Alan LeStourgeon over at Affiliate Confession pointed out, “Auctions excite people into making a buying decision, classified ads don’t.”

I agree. I’m an eBay shopper, and each time I’ve seen those classified ads I’ve scanned right past them. The whole countdown concept of an auction is what forces people into a faster buying decision.

So What Do I Suggest?

Your best option as this point is to paper-ize your ebook for the eBay market. And if your product isn’t suited for paper, then put it on a DVD or a CD.

If you’re selling cheap ebooks (under $1) , then obviously you’ll have to raise the price to $2-$5 to make it worth your while.

It’s a little more cumbersome. But it gives you the power to stay within the high paced auction game.

And if this announcement has just turned your financial world upside down, you have my deepest condolences…

A couple of years ago I created a report where I examined the completed auctions of a few Powersellers who were selling cheap ebooks.

One seller was making something like $3K a week - and all of the ebooks he sold were $1 or less. I was stunned.

I can only imagine how those sellers feel right now.

I virtually weep for you.

But in spite of all the reasons I just gave, I see my own future filled with lots more long detailed sales letters. And for one good reason… they produce sales.

And I think what most naysayers forget is that sales copy is A LOT more than mere words on a page.

Long sales copy is the equivalent of me (the salesperson) selling you (the buyer) a $2K dress by telling you how another customer got her fiance to marry her while wearing said dress. Long sales copy is me fixing the dress on you… clasping a necklace around your neck and handing you the perfect mini clutch so you can get the full effect.

You ever go into one of those home goods stores (like Bed, Bath and Beyond here in the States) and get stuck sitting on one of those massage chairs? Long sales copy is having the test massager constantly running on a chair.

Long sales copy is Ikea’s children’s play area. Parents drop off their kids before they start shopping, allowing them the time to shop longer.

Short Copy is a Ticking Time Bomb for Disaster

If you let a desperate buyer leave your site, they’re probably NOT going to come back. Why? Because they’re desperate for a solution. They want answers now.

You can’t be stingy with your sales copy when people want answers AND they’re in a position to buy your product right there and then.

You have to answer all of their questions. You have to make them feel like you identify with their situation. You have to show them the end result of using your information. You have to make them feel comfortable about buying from you – a complete and total stranger.

And that doesn’t happen in 5-6 paragraphs. Period.

So even if you’re cussing the technique, suck it up, and keep on writing. The career you save by being a little chatty just might be your own.

Once I forgot to check my comments here for a week, and I’d accumulated so much spam that my browser froze up every time I tried to delete it.

Being the non-technogeek that I am, I had to do a Google search to find out how to delete the spam through the database, blah, blah, blah.

It was an un-frickin-believable pain in the arse.

But I recently started using a plugin called WP-SpamFree. And let me tell you… it’s better than Akismet (which is probably the most popular Wordpress spam prevention plugin, but a hassle because you have to get an API key, etc).

Not ONE single piece of spam has made it past WP-SpamFree since I started using it 3 weeks ago. WooHoo!

If you’ve got a blog spam problem, this is THE solution.

Locating Experts

Absolute Write: List Your Specialist Subjects
A fantastic list of people who are experts on a variety of topics. Good for browsing if you’re looking for an ebook topic.

Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons
You can search for experts in any of dozens of categories. A good resource because these experts are seeking the free publicity and normally respond quickly.

GuestFinder
Find experts to interview on a variety of subjects.

Kasamba (soon to be LivePerson)
They have over 30,000 experts who will chat with you on a variety of topics. Fee’s start at $1.50 a minute and up. And experts are reviewed.

Improve Your Writing Skills

Visual Thesaurus
An interactive and visual dictionary/thesaurus that creates awesome word maps. I love this one.

Daily Writing Tips
Find simple, yet effective writing tips.

CVisual.com List of Active Verbs
Active verbs add excitement to your writing. Print this PDF out and keep in on your desk.

Key Action Verb List
This one features verbs normally used on a resume. Good for business orientated writing.

Improve Your Writing With These Editing Skills
A nice list of editing tips.

50 Tools that can Improve your Writing Skills
50 Great tips culled from the Poynter Online.

Hire a Ghostwriter

Elance
One of the most popular site for hiring ghostwriters and freelancers.

AbsoluteWrite: Writers Wanted - Paying Markets
A forum where you can list paid opportunities for writers.

Rent A Ghostwriter
You post your project and wait for freelance ghostwriters to bid on your job. Over 750 writers are listed here.

Hire a Ghostwriter
Similar system as Rent a Ghostwriter.

Get A Freelancer
Post your writing jobs here.

Hire an Editor/Proofreader

EditAvenue.com
You choose an editor based on their qualifications and reviews. I’ve happily used this service on a few occasions.

Editors’ Association of Canada
Search for Canadian-based editors according to genre.

Editorial Freelancers Association Directory
Search for editors according to their specialization.

Ebook Cover Designers and Images

Killer Covers
I’ve used this service and have been very pleased with the results.

eCoverArtist
They do ebook cover designs, virtual box covers, CD covers, membership cards, etc.

Nitro Covers
They create 3D ebook covers and website headers.

Cover Action Pro
A software program that enables you to create your own ebook covers.

iStockPhoto
An excellent (and inexpensive) site where you can find graphics for your ebook.

Flickr
You can find free images here. But be sure to read the following tutorial…

A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images
Skellie has created the end all/be all guide for using Flickr images.

Tools to Help You Format Your Ebook

Create Adobe PDF
Instead of shelling out $200+ for the desktop program, Adobe has this $10 a month version. However it’s only available in the US and Canada.

CutePDF
They have a free program that allows you to format your files as PDFs. They also have a $49.95 program that gives you more features.

VeryPDF
They also have a free PDF writer and a $29.95 version with additional features.

Camtasia Studio
Create online video tutorials using Camtasia.

eBook Pro
Create viral ebooks (ebooks that people pass on to others) and get paid, using eBook Pro. The Internet Marketing Center (publishers of this program) have been around for over a decade.

eBookGold
Create ebooks with audio, video, and more.

Digital Text Platform
Publish your ebooks in Amazon.com’s new Kindle bookstore.

Ebook File Creation From HTML
Learn how to format your ebooks for ebook readers, PDAs and smart phones.

iPod eBook Maker
Easily converts .txt and .html files to ebook files for the iPod, iPod Mini and iPod Nano.

Process Payments Without Having a Merchant Account

PayPal
Hands down the most popular payment processor on the Internet. They charge 2.9% + .30 per transaction. And you have immediate access to your funds if you use your PayPal debit card. (Please check out The Paypal Lockdown post to read about my experiences with them.)

Google Checkout
Open to US and UK residents only. They charge 2% + .20 per transaction. If you spend on AdWords all sales up to 10 times your AdWords spend are free. I am very happy Google Checkout user.

2Checkout
There’s a $49 set-up fee, plus they charge 5.5% + .45 per transaction. Several readers of this blog have e-mailed me regarding the positive experiences they’ve had with 2CO.

Clickbank
There’s a $49.95 set-up fee, plus they charge 7.5% + $1 per transaction. They’ve been around a long time - very reliable.

Ebook Delivery Systems

E-Junkie
They will lead your buyers to a download page, send them a thank you e-mail, and allow you to have an affiliate program. Prices start at $5 a month. And the service works with PayPal, Google Checkout, 2Checkout, Authorize.Net and Clickbank. I LOVE this service!

PayDotCom
I’ve been using them for a couple of years now, and I’m happy with the service. However they only integrate with PayPal and they don’t have as many features as E-Junkie.

PayLoadz
The first month is free. Then they have a tiered payment system based on the amount of sales you make each month. For example, if you make $1K in sales every month, you’ll be charged $70. The service works with PayPal, Google Checkout and 2Checkout.

WAHMCart
$1 for a 14-day trial period, then it’s $29.95 a month. They have a complete shopping cart system allowing you to have an affiliate program, custom thank you pages, recurring billing, split-run ad tracking, unlimited autoresponders and more.

1ShoppingCart
Try it out for 30 days, only $3.95. They’ve been servicing ebook authors for at least a decade. I suggest the Professional Package for $99 a month. You’ll find that it has a ton of features.

Publicity/Marketing Services and Products

Book Video Trailers
For $150 they’ll create a video trailer for you ebook, and submit the trailer to a number of video sites.

Authors Tour the World With Virtual Book Tour
Print book author Cheryl Kaye Tardif gives tips on conducting a virtual book tour. The advice is also useful for ebook authors.

Virtual Book Tour System
A complete system created by popular Internet marketing expert Alex Mandossian.

What Can a Teleseminar Do For You?
An audio product by Alex Mandossian.

Press Release Pros
Get your press release written and distributed by former award winning TV reporter, Glenn Selig.

Booklocker
They carry ebooks on a variety of topics. And they’ve been around for many years.

Wordpress Tutorials
Sherman Hu is a friend and Alexis Dawes blog reader. If you’re going to build a blog to promote your ebook, and you don’t know where to begin, this is an excellent site to check out.

Other Ebook Publishing Experts

Jeff Smith’s Higher Trust Marketing Blog
Jeff Smith has been around a LONG time, and he knows what he’s talking about.

Joe Wikert’s Publishing 2020 Blog
Joe is the Vice President and Executive Publisher in the Professional/Trade division of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. He focuses on the future of book publishing.

Bill Myers
Bill is an old school direct marketing pro, turned infoproduct creator. Although he doesn’t technically focus on ebooks, a lot of his advice is valid for ebook authors.

Self Publishing eBooks Blog
Quick tips for publishing and marketing your ebooks.

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