Ebooks Are For Amateurs

by: Willie Crawford

How do you get paid more for everything that you know and do? You become known as THE expert on a given topic. How do you do that? One very good way is to write a book. No, not an ebook - an actual print book. "What's wrong with an ebook?" I hear you asking.

The answer lies in the fact that anything that is too easy is not considered very valuable. That's why doctors and lawyers get paid more than taxi drivers and waitresses. The "barriers to entry" make it more "expensive" to become a doctor or lawyer, which makes being a doctor or lawyer a scarcer skill, which allows them to charge more for that skill.

Anyone can write and publish an ebook. To do that all you really need to do is:

1. Write your book (or short report) in ® Microsoft Word.
2. Convert it to PDF using a free program such as PDF995.
3. Announce to the world that you've published an ebook.

It really is THAT easy, and therein lies the problem.

Thousands of people have published "junk ebooks" that aren't worth the electrons they're "printed on!" If you're like me, you probably have dozens of these on your hard-drive right now. You know... free ebooks that sounded great, but when you downloaded them, you quickly discovered that they were worth exactly what you paid for them. These ebooks often contain out-of-date, inaccurate, or commonly known information. The very worst ones are those written by people who have no idea what they're talking about, so they repeat inaccurate information that they found elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong. Ebooks are a great tool. I use them for viral marketing, as a handy training tool, and even as for-sale products. Since ebooks are cheaper to produce, you will sell them to people who don't want to pay the higher price for a print book, or to people who simply don't want to wait to get them in the mail.

The big difference in writing a print book is that people perceive someone who has written a "real" book differently. People assume that writing a book is hard work, so when they hear that you've published a print book, they attribute lots of great qualities to you. They reflect back upon when writing and publishing a book was a BIG challenge.

My friend, Elsom Eldridge Jr., author of "How To Position Yourself As The Obvious Expert In 90 Days Or Less Without Spending A Fortune On Advertising," taught me all about why writing and printing a book is a very powerful way to firmly establish yourself as an expert on a topic. Being considered the expert on a topic does mean that you can charge more for what you do, say, and produce.

If writing a real book allows you to better brand yourself as THE EXPERT, then why don't more people do it? I think many people simply think that it's too expensive. I'll let you in on a secret...

... My first physical book was a cookbook. It's 184 pages, and contains 250 of my own recipes. I simply made a list of recipes, typed them out, had a cover designed, found a few graphics/photos, and had it printed.

I simply went on the Internet and found a number of printers, then I compared prices. Since one of the least expensive ones I found was a short drive from where I live, I scheduled an appointment to go over and discuss my project. In volume, these books were so cheap that I ordered a mini-warehouse full. You don't have to visit your printer to set-up your project - I did just because they were so close.

I chose a cookbook as my first project because I couldn't think of anything else at the time. A cookbook is easy to write, and if it's on the right type of cooking, it should sell well.

That's where I have the transcripts and MP3 from a teleseminar I did with two other cookbook authors on that very topic.

If you don't want to order lots of copies of your print book, you don't have to. There are companies that do print-on-demand. They will print as few as one copy at a time, and then drop-ship your order right to your customers.

Ok, so it's not that expensive to write a "real" book, or to turn your ebook into a print book. However, you need more reasons to go through all of that “trouble.”

Well...

1. Print books have a longer shelf life. People download ebooks and may never go back to them again. With a print book, they're at-least going to have to look at your book while dusting the bookshelf. Every time that they look at your book, they will be reminded of you and your products or services.
2. I think of a book as a glorified business card. My books all mention my websites inside them and on the cover. I put things in all of my books to drive people back to my websites. You should do the same. I sometimes actually give copies of my books to hot prospects. When you give someone you meet a copy of your book, they are likely to be very impressed AND to go check out your other offerings.
3. Every book that you write can, and should, have back-end sales built in. You should have a page or coupons for your other (bigger ticket) products. If you mail the books yourself, you should also include package inserts in EVERY package. If you have the books drop-shipped, you should have the drop-shipper or print-on-demand publisher, include your flyers in the package or inserted in the books. Consider having a tear-out insert printed right into the book!
4. Many offline stores and specialty shops may want to sell your book. Unless they're Internet-related, they're not very likely to want to feature your ebook. This exposes you to a whole new audience that would have never discovered you if you stuck to ebooks. Many country stores carry my cookbook.

As you can see, ebooks are "ok" but the real professional also publishes his books in print form. Hopefully, you see that it's not very difficult or expensive. Now that you know, you can separate yourself, in the mind of the consumers, from the perception many may have of ebooks. You'll brand yourself as a serious professional and an expert.