One of the biggest difficulties facing people who are getting into the ebook business for the first time is finding the right subject ideas for their ebooks.
It’s important that there’s a market for the book. It’s also important that you stick to the things you know, the things that interest you or the things you would enjoy researching.
Here are 7 strategies you can use for finding that perfect subject. Try them out…
1.) THINK ABOUT THE THINGS YOU KNOW
One piece of knowledge or one experience is all you may need to create a top-selling ebook.
For example, we’ve all had negative experiences during the course of our lives (ripped off in a scam, serious illness, death of a loved one, addiction, backache, etc). Perhaps you can show others how they can prepare for – or cope with – a negative experience that you’ve already been through.
Do you know a great way to lose weight? Do you know a way to get through the working week without suffering from stress? Do you know a way of saving $200 on taxes? Do you know how to wallpaper a bedroom? Have you recently bought a house and learned an important lesson that can benefit others?
Imagine the title “Buying a home? This one tip will save you over two thousand dollars!”. If I were buying a home, I would spend $20 or $30 no problem to find out what that tip is.
There’s an infinite amount of simple ideas you can turn into great products. You just need to identify them.
2.) TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
You probably have ten potential books inside you just based on the things you enjoy in life – cars, sport, cooking, gardening, beer, Spielberg movies, jazz music, pets, computers,…
The fact that you’ll be writing about something you enjoy will make researching, writing and promoting your book much easier (and much more satisfying than tackling a subject that you know well, but don’t enjoy).
3.) RESEARCH SPECIAL OFFERS OR SERVICES
People are always looking for ways to save money or save time.
Provide information that will help them save money on their insurance, their mortgage, their vacation, their shopping, and so on. Do you know some great research techniques for quickly finding information on the Internet? Provide people with information that will save them time with their work, their surfing, their housework, and so on.
If you know a computer company that’s offering quality PC parts at bargain prices then that could be the basis for a valuable ebook.
Okay, you’re effectively giving great advertising to those that offer the product or service, but at the same time if you’re making $10 on every sale and your customers is getting the information you’ve promised, then everyone’s a winner.
The Internet is a great place to research just about anything and, as long as you’re giving people something of value, you can find the basis for a great ebook online.
NOTE: This idea can also be used to make free ebooks. Imagine you are selling an ebook related to dogs. You could put together a simple ebook that catalogs dog-related books that sell online. Tie the idea in with a few affiliate programs (like Amazon.com) and you can earn a little extra income as well as get free publicity for your site.
4.) ASK YOURSELF WHAT INFORMATION PEOPLE WANT
The fact of the matter is, there are tens of thousands of books waiting to be written. Every minute of every day people search for information they can’t find. Think about those things you’ve searched for and had difficulty finding. Locate a gap in the market and fill it.
Identifying peoples wants, needs, goals and desires, and then responding to them, is a sure route to success.
A great place to start is online newsgroups, forums and so on. Visit forums on topics that interest you and see what people are talking about. What are the common questions? Identify the common problems experience by people interested in the topic.
Leave very specific questions like “What’s the hardest thing about…?”, “What would you most like…?”. Solve the common problems these people encounter.
Follow these links to find forums, newsgroups and discussion lists on a vast range of topics:
-Topica: http://www.topica.com/
-Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/
-Delphi: http://www.delphiforums.com/
Another way to find out what people are interested in, is by finding out what they’re searching for on the internet. Follow these links to see what surfers are looking for:
-Search.com Top 100 Searches: http://www.search.com/top
-AskJeeves: http://sp.ask.com/docs/about/jeevesiq.html
-Overture Suggestion – see how many people have used Overture search in the past month for the keywords you enter: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
5.) BRAINSTORM
Brainstorming is about getting a group of people together to share ideas. This technique works best when all rational judgement is suspended. Nothing should be ruled out, every idea and contribution should be welcomed. Even ideas that, at first, might appear useless may lead to other ideas or further trains of thought.
The more thoughts that are introduced the better the brainstorming will work and the better the chances of coming up with really good ideas. Do this with family or friends and you may find yourself wondering which book to start first.
Also, ask family and friends to tell you the things that interest them. Is there a particular problem that they would like to see solved. Could you solve it?
Often this questioning will provoke joking responses like “a big house, loads of money and a flashy car”. Don’t disregard flippant responses like these. They can tell you a lot about people hopes, dreams and aspirations.
If you can tap into people’s dreams and make a product that will help them (even in a small way) to realize those dreams, you’re on to a winner.
6.) LOOK AT THE BESTSELLERS LISTS FOR ‘REAL’ BOOKS
Go to your local bookstore and browse the non-fiction sections. Take special note of which books are displayed most prominently (especially in the “how to” and “self-help” sections).
This will tell you a lot about what people are interested in. You can also explore the bestsellers on the Internet at these websites: -Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ -Barnes & Noble: http://www.bn.com/
Try taking a look at the headlines in glossy magazines. Those guys know how to push all the right buttons to get people to buy.
You’ll probably find ten things you could research and write about just by browsing through magazines that interest you (health, beauty, fitness, money, sport etc). The most inticing lines are always written on the front cover.
7.) MAKE A DIFFERENT VERSION OF AN EXISTING PRODUCT
There are some areas of knowledge that are already well covered by numerous authors (real-estate, for example).
Perhaps, however, you can identify a specific aspect of a given subject that hasn’t been covered (real estate in a particular state or region, real estate aimed at a particular type of buyer, and so on). No matter how specialized, the marketing power of the internet can be used to reach almost any niche market.
And there you have it! Seven ways to go about finding the perfect ideas for your next ebook.
Have fun!
Michael Hopkins owns BizzyDays Publications. BRAND NEW E-BOOKS FOR FREE! Customize them and give them away. FREE PUBLICITY for you, FREE CONTENT for your visitors AND you can EARN MONEY as well! http://freeebooks.bizzydays.com
