Once people understand the power of ebooks and see ebooks really can create truly passive income streams, many want to jump in with both feet. They can visualize themselves writing (or publishing the writing of others) and marketing ebooks on a regular basis. In fact, they see the power to such a degree that they want to immediately do it full time. However, the answer to the question “Can I really make a living writing ebooks?” is a resounding “Yes, but!”
Yes, you really can make a full-time living with ebooks, but it won’t happen overnight just because you want it to. You must build a business around ebooks that will create the income you need for both the short and long term.
Also, you don’t really want to just make a “living” writing ebooks, you want to build a business around ebooks that creates financial prosperity. If you do it any other way, you’ll end up hating it and give up before you really ever get started!
Step #1: Understand This Takes Time / Building Process
FACT: Building a business takes time. But building up an ebook business takes about the least amount of time of any REAL business I know. In order to make it work, you need to start getting little successes along the way to help you build momentum.
Instead of publishing a full “book” in the beginning, consider publishing a series of short reports – “mini” ebooks – that will get people excited about you, your information, and what you offer.
This strategy will also help you quickly move on with Step #2…
Step #2: Build a Following
The most successful authors in the world (online or offline) enjoy a following – a group of people who can’t wait to read what they come out with next. Social media and email make it a LOT easier to develop and nurture a following. People can follow you on Twitter and Facebook and you can give them lengthier updates via email. You can announce upcoming books, events, and other news your fans will want to know.
If I had to narrow it down to one thing, “Building a Following” is really the key step to the entire ebook business building process (other than turning out high-quality content, which is a given).
Step #3: Develop Related Income Streams
People who make big bucks with ebooks have related income streams. Ninety-nine out of 100 do NOT make all their money solely from ebook sales.
Most would call this the “funnel” where people start at the top with the initial ebook purchase and work their way down through a series of offers. These offers include: videos, more ebooks, coaching, webinars, home-study courses, live seminars, consulting, public speaking, etc.
You don’t have to do them all, but it sure helps if you pick the ones that make the most sense for your audience and your goals for your business. For example, a lot of people are making really nice livings building up businesses around their ebooks and related coaching. People buy the ebook to get the information and then hire YOU to help them implement it.
Step #4: Wash – Rinse – Repeat
You aren’t going to do this once and then “retire!” Lots of people think you publish one book and live fat and happy off the royalties for the rest of your life. It doesn’t work that way. You build your ebook business up by using the “wash-rinse-repeat” method. That means you write another ebook and release it to your followers and then use that new ebook to gather NEW followers and expand your sphere of influence. Each new ebook creates new income, new followers, and new opportunities for back-end profits.
And the wonderful, beautiful, predictable cycle repeats itself over and over as you ride a steady wave of profits in your ebook business. By the way, if you’d like me to lay out the entire process for creating a business around ebooks, including Amazon Kindle, check out my ebook course.
Jim Edwards
Selling online since 1997, Jim is an Internet Marketing Expert, Author, Elite Mentor and Coach
He specializes in helping individual entrepreneurs, small business owners and authors to understand how to use technology to build your online business.
Jim is the author of dozens of ebooks, hundreds of webinars, over 1,000 blog posts and articles.
His flagship ebook “How To Write and Publish Your Own eBook… in as little as 7 Days” – newly revised and updated with V2.0 – has been helping book and ebook authors create their own best-selling ebooks since 2001! Get more information about Jim and how he can help you get more readers, make more sales, and skyrocket your credibility here => 7 Day eBook
