That's just what Heather Armstrong, author of "It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had A Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita" is going through – and just yesterday she appeared on Oprah (albeit by Skype rather than in person) as part of her show on new Moms.

You see, the idea for her last book came with her last child when she decided to tell the world the "other" side of having children.

Most books for new Mom's (especially those written by men) tend to only look at the positive side of chid rearing – but really anyone who has been a parent knows there are TWO sides to the parenting coin. 

I know as a father that there is anxiety, worry, stress, anger, frustration and…did I mention worry…all wrapped up in parenting – and that's only me – the FATHER.  Mothers have that time 1o!

I want you to head over and read this brief, but great interview with Heather on how she started publishing her blog which led to her first book (hmm….where have we heard that before?) and on to a star-studded publishing career, fame and ah-hem…fortune, right Heather?

Now – as aspiring authors and information publishers, what can we learn from Heather?

1. Everday life events hold the secret to top selling topics.  Heather began with her blog telling tales of her first parenting experience and it caught on – because it is REAL and other people want to know they are not alone, that there are others going through what they are going through.  Then came the book – out of experience writing about REAL feelings and REAL stuff, Heather clued into an angle for her book that has made a huge difference in her life. 

2. Blogging can lead to great book ideas and info product topics.  Look, if you aren't sure about your "angle", unique value proposition or particular topic, then just start writing – blogs are a great way to build a following, attract some participation from your market and begin to collect information on what they are interested in…that WILL lead to book ideas and topics

3. Heather decided to be somewhat of a contrarian – she saw that most parenting books were skewed toward either theory or a positive representation of the experience when in fact, there are two sides to parenting – well 3 actually – the good, the bad and the ugly.  So, she chose to take a unique position in the publishing market and address the bad and the ugly.  That sets you apart from your competition – smart thinking!

So – your assignment for today, should you accept the challenge, is to pick a few things from the last 6-months you have gone through in your life that you could write about, here are some examples to get you started:

• A new pet
• Dealing with an ageing parent
• Retirement
• A major career or geographical move
• Taking a year off work
• Being fired (or sorry "let go")
• Dealing with the trials and tribulations of middle age
• Downsizing your house or lifestyle
• Taking a beating on the stock market and learning from it…

With each of these areas come major lifestyle changes AND you know that hundreds of thousands of others are going through the same thing.

If you are not quite sure what a book, ebook, or membership site on the topic might look like, then start blogging – head over to InfoMarketer'sZone where we can help you with ideas on how to turn information into a business income so you can fulfill your dreams of turning your hobby for writing, blogging or publishing information into a full-time income with just a few hours each day. 

Just as Heather took a very common life experience and began sharing her information with the world, you can do the same and find you have created your own information publishing business – like it or not!

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Along with the Kindle of course comes the ebook Revolution – the increasing acceptance (dare I say desire) for electronic versions of books, magazines and newspapers. 

Suddenly, ebooks are cool.

Readers are discovering the "long-tail" selection they can get very economically through ebooks (given that publishers don't have the overhead of having to print copies of physical books) and they can be quite cost effective for the consumer. 

And then…there is the COOL factor that must fuel any mass consumer adoption, and the Kindle definitely has that buzz going for it.

Here's the REAL question though…do you have your own ebook?

Do you have a title that you can call your own and tap into the flood of demand for electronically published information?

I'm not kidding…the increasing demand for information combined with the acceptance of ebooks and electronically delivered information is leading to a "perfect storm" of opportunity,  the only question is will you be a player?

We've seen demand increase by a factor of 3 in techniques and systems that average people can use to produce their own ebook, report or "how to" digital electonic information products.  Membership to our special training, mentorship and tools site has more than tripled in the last 3-months alone!

Part of this demand is no doubt a result of the poor economy fueling desire by the masses to finally take back control in a wildly uncontrolled economy by starting their own internet business offering information, training and ebooks to a public that has shown no sign of slowing down their demand for information. 

Some InfoMarketer'sZone members are looking for things to write about while others are seeking out techniques for getting their own ebook written fast…then there are those that already have their first report or ebook and now seek ways to expand sales, tell the world about their new ebook. 

Regardless, there is no doubt that we are heading into an 18-24 month tidal wave of demand for electronic products – putting together your own "how to", informational product tailored to any one of thousands of niche markets including health and wellness, travel, business, alternative health, pet training, gardening, relationships, personal development and countless other sub-topics within each of these markets is simpler than you think.

In fact, the clues as to what information people want the most – and are willing to pay for – is right in front of you on the internet itself…these are the methods we teach inside of InfoMarketer'sZone.

Once you have a hot topic, putting together 30-40 pages of information around that topic is a simple exercise in research and content development – for many, the actual task of writing can be inexpensively outsourced – while the creator gets to keep months and years of significant profits as their ebooks continue to sell like wildfire.

What about you…how can you take advantage of the huge spike in demand for electronic books?

Jeff

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In fact, topics exist all around us each day.  Through your own experiences, frustrations you hear others speak about, online discussion forums, and even the news…YES, the news. 

When I first logged on this morning to answer my mail, process orders and provide customer support to customers of my various businesses – my browser default page is My Yahoo – where I immediately get access to top stories in areas such as Health, Entertainment, Business and Lifestyle topics. 

There are dozens of hot topics each day that present themselves as news stories each day that could easily be turned into top selling information products – they have a built-in, proven audience or they wouldn't have made it to the front page of Yahoo in the first place.

For example, I see "How To Land A Job In The First 10-Minutes" – a story that rightly points to the fact that any job, including your dream job, the decision is made in the first 10-minutes and then goes on to share several points that can help given this reality. 

Terrific market (hungry, desparate job seekers), great topic (how to master the nerve-racking interview) – but you know what is missing? 

Detail, specifics, expert opinions, a method and checklist that you can turn into a report, ebook or home study course in how to prepare for interviews. 

The same goes for articles you find in magazines, even chapters in books you see in the bookstore can be turned into more detailed information products – the great thing is that the demand for the topic is already proven!  No guesswork, if the story appears in a top magazine, news portal or as a chapter in a book, then the topic has already been studied for demand quite thoroughly – so you are safe in knowing that your efforts will not be wasted in producing your infoproduct.

The next step…use the formula presented in our 45-day To Your Own InfoProduct Profit video course inside InfoMarketer'sZone and be seeing the profits of your new online business within 2-months.  Finally, a real business online in less than 60-days.

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Traditional authors and writers are just now figuring out how powerful the internet can be to creating awareness, publicity, attention and sales – discovering how to market a book online. 

Even the most progressive authors and information entrepreneurs are still missing out on opportunities to get more prospects in front of their books, reports and other information products.  To help, here are 10 tips to help you market a book online more effectively:

1. Your own website.  It starts by having a website that is focused on your topic and target market.  Slapping a webpage up with your picture and book title is not the answer – you need to draw your readers into your sales funnel by attracting them by tailoring to an interest.

2. Follow-up sequence.  No matter how good a book, infoproduct or other product you are selling online the fact remains that less than 5% (often less than 3%) of first time visitors will buy – and with the millions of websites, they are likely to disappear as fast as they came without ever visiting your site again.  So, make it your goal to offer your visitor something of value, get them on your mailing list and follow up with them at least once each week.

3. Dynamic communication.  The internet has moved beyond one-way communication toward two-way exchange of thoughts and ideas that lead to involvement with your customers.  Use forums and blogs as a tool to exchange ideas, thoughts and answers with your marketplace. 

4. Affiliate programs.  If you are marketing a self-published book or information product then setup an affiliate program so that you can pay a commission to those who already have thriving businesses online and want to share your product with their loyal customers.

5. Articles.  Creating content and submitting to top article directories with a resource box linking back to your site is still a very powerful way to draw search engine attention and traffic to your websites. 

Stay tuned…in the next post, we'll give you 5 more ways to market a book online that will turn your book writing and marketing business into overdrive. 

Remember, we have the #1 book marketing and information product support site over at InfoMarketer'sZone for those of you who are ready to take your book writing and marketing business to the next level.

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Do you start with a topic you want to write about? 

What about researching keywords people are searching for online as a guide to your ebook topic?

Maybe it's better to target a **new** problem, one that hasn't already been "done to death" – where you can really differentiate yourself from the competition?

Or — does your ebook topic need to be in line with a few hot selling niche markets to make sure tap into pockets of demand?

These are all natural questions that information product entrepreneurs ask on their way to earning a living selling their products online.  By the way, if you are NOT asking these questions, then perhaps you should – the faster you can come to terms with the methods for turning information into money, the faster you will be able to get out of that crummy job, become a real, high paid player in your target market.

When we put together the "Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package" (Now on it's 5th edition) - a good portion of that system outlines how to recognize the critical factors of why people buy information, how they decide on what price they will pay, and what topics can make you a fortune versus those that bring you in a hobby income.  It's must have reading for those who are about ot embark on the incredible journey of creating their own products to sell online or those that want to get serious about growing their business over the next 3-6 months. 

One of the key concepts we introduce as part of this end-to-end system is that your ebook topic or infoproduct niche market should focus on existing, proven challenges that many of us experience in our lives. 

Each week I get another subscriber or coaching client telling me that they want to avoid markets simply because there is already too much competition…

Everyday new top selling books, ebooks, reports, audio and video packages and membership sites become top sellers focusing on the same challenges that existed years ago.

Case in point…a new ebook launched today titled "Powerful, Graceful Success" by Steve Chandler – poised to sell extremely well.  What problems does he tackle:

1. Reduce and manage stress

2. Eliminate worry

3. Achieve success without the pain of stress, worry and being unhappy

Do these sound like New problems to you? 

Of course not! 

There have been books written for 100's of years on these same topics and there will continue to be information products that earn gigantic fortunes for many years to come. 

Certainly, you need to differentiate yourself – but you do that by developing a concise, simple and effective set of steps to achieve the stress-free, worry-free, success-based life that has been the target for so many others with top selling products. 

Don't let finding your next ebook topic or information niche market the blocking factor to your inevitable success.

It's not rocket science folks, you can become the next highly paid information product producer, information marketer and expert in your chosen target market – head over to "Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success System" to find out how.

Jeff

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If I had to put my finger on the #1 reason most new online entreprenuers fail to build their business to the next level based on packaging information products for profit it would have to be getting sidetracked by the least important aspects and NEVER making progress on the primary function of getting your product defined, outlined and launched. 

Over at InfoMarketer'sZone we have helped hundreds of highly motivated internet marketers, writers, speakers and professionals re-focus their enthusiasm, desire and effort on the most important tasks helping them get their infoproducts out much faster. 

Instead of wondering how many pages your ebook should be, whether you should have a cover page, or how to take payment or distribute your ebook, we first focus on the MOST important part of create a top selling information proudct – the very basis of building a strong and vibrant online business. 

IT'S THE SYSTEM THAT SELLS

Think about it – when you buy a "how to" or informational product you are starting with an objective in mind and will buy if you are convinced that a given product or product creator has the system, process, or experience that will help you achieve your objective in less time, with less pain with more effectiveness.

If your goal is to lose weight – then you need to be convinced there is something both unique about the program you are considering AND it needs to be easier or more effective in some way for the type of person you are. 

TAKING YOUR PROSPECT FROM A-Z

Most high quality infoproducts are built upon a system for getting from A-Z in a simple and more effective way. 

You identify Z then put yourself back in the shoes of A – walk them through each step of way. 

But don't stop there, test the system either on yourself or on some initial beta testers (just like software companies test their new code to discover bugs or enhancements required).

Once you have a system that works, then you have endless choices about how to turn that system into a product or series of products. 

For example, perhaps your system is quite simple, but execution of the system is tough.  Then you give away your up-front system (or sell it as a low-priced product or even create an affiliate program where you pay affiliates majority of up-front revenue) while you create a back-end membership site, coaching program, monthly insider's club to keep them up to date. 

On the other hand, if the biggest value is in the uniqueness or clarity of the system itself, you can get more money for the up-front product – perhaps launching right into a high-end product immediately which will work as long as you have some proof (testimonials and case studies) that your system that you tested really does work. 

In any case, focus less on trying to write the first chapter of your ebook and more on outlining and testing the system you will offer – then worry about packaging it – hell, get someone else to package it for you at that point.

Something I have found works very well for me and in teaching those who have been struggling with "getting started" and "getting their infoproduct finished" for years is to NOT look at your project as a product at first, instead look for a nagging, emotionally charged problem to solve and outline a set of steps that would allow anyone to solve the problem. 

Most high quality infoproducts are built upon a system for getting from A-Z in a simple and more effective way. 

You identify Z then put yourself back in the shoes of A – walk them through each step of way. 

But don't stop there, test the system either on yourself or on some initial beta testers (just like software companies test their new code to discover bugs or enhancements required).

Once you have a system that works, then you have endless choices about how to turn that system into a product or series of products. 

For example, perhaps your system is quite simple, but execution of the system is tough.  Then you give away your up-front system (or sell it as a low-priced product or even create an affiliate program where you pay affiliates majority of up-front revenue) while you create a back-end membership site, coaching program, monthly insider's club to keep them up to date. 

On the other hand, if the biggest value is in the uniqueness or clarity of the system itself, you can get more money for the up-front product – perhaps launching right into a high-end product immediately which will work as long as you have some proof (testimonials and case studies) that your system that you tested really does work. 

Regardless, instead of focusing on the details of your ebook or business online, get your system down first – after that you have dozens of options about how to package that system into ebooks, books, membership sites, services and more. 

Let me recommend heading over to InfoMarketer'sZone where we work each and every day to help our members focus on high-profit niche markets and topics, design their information product business, get their "system" developed and pakcaged right through to launch. 

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Will it sell?  What should your next step be to test the market before developing your ebook idea?

I typically like to see some sign of buying activity around your chosen topic…for many that scares them because it means competition but for me it means less risk that the topic isn't HOT enough emotionally to have people spend their money.

But..the opposite is the real problem – when you become so scared of competition that you convince yourself there is a topic with no (or little) existing competition and surely your customers will buy the information you package against that topic, but WAIT!

Many of the members we now have over at InfoMarketer'sZone thought that way too…but then quickly changed their minds after taking the courses and reviewing the processes we have outlined in this InfoProduct Entrepreneur's Private Site. 

For example…

Ask yourself this…"Is the problem you are targeting a problem you THINK or feel people will buy a solution to or is it a problem where you see EVIDENCE of money being spent?"

Money being spent could be…

1. Other products being sold on Amazon

2. Magazine articles that target your specific topic

3. eBooks or online digital infoproducts

4. Seminars, workshops, and higher-end products and services

5. Affiliate programs on Clickbank, commissions junction, linkshare, etc…

In addition to using these research techniques (we outlined exactly how over at InfoMarketer'sZone) – you should also begin by setting up a "mini-content site" where you can quickly begin to attract traffic and build a smallish list of a few hundred prospects to which you can survey and get some additional, direct input into your ebook idea and infoproduct business plans. 

If you follow the research techniques above AND begin by building a core prospect list you WILL get the answers as to what topics hold the most potential within your niche removing risk and significantly reducing the time to profit for your new online business.

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In response to the various videos and content we've produced over the last few weeks on starting and growing your own infoproduct business (our latest video is over at http://www.infomarketerszone.com/public/305.cfm?sd=2 ) I've noticed a trend toward people asking technical questions about how to write their ebook or how to turn a MS Word or Open Office document into a PDF format or what format should they write their ebook in.

In addition, there are many questions about the techniques for taking payment on your ebooks, web hosting and ways to secure your ebooks when they are ready to put up for sale.

Now yes, all of these questions are important and necessary to answer prior to you launching your business, but when I see brand new people interested in starting their ebook or infoproduct business asking these sorts of questions…and ONLY these sorts of questions I WORRY.

The reason is that there are basically 4 BIG things that will make the entire difference of whether your ebook or infoproduct will make money for you or not…and no, one of them is not how you convert MS Word into PDF.

Here are the 4 most important questions you need to answer before you can really start making serious sales and profits from packaging information into ebooks…

1. Is My eBook Topic In Demand – what is the compelling desire for information that you will fill with your information product – ebook, report or any other form of packaged infoproduct.

2. What is your overriding business goal – is this your entry into a marketplace where your plan is to build a business involving multiple infoproducts, a consulting service, – what is your medium term objectives with your project?

3. Who will be the expert content generator – will it be you or will you find someone else who is to help you put the content together?  NOte, I use expert here not in the context of someone with dozens of years experience but someone who has some experience and can master the content. 

4. Do you understand your distribution channel - a major part of generating income with ebooks and infoproducts has to do with selling through distribution channels…content channels, joint ventures and affiliates, Web2.0, etc…

So, if you are thinking about writing an ebook or developing your own infoproduct to sell online, then sit down with a sheet of paper right now and answer these 4 critical questions. 

If you are already running an information marketing business…this exercise will make you even more money.

Give it a try, post a comment with your questions or comments…let us know how you answered your questions by leaving a comment. 

Jeff

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I've often said myself "If this market actually had X, that would really help them".

Then, you charge off and spend two months building your internet marketing business around that niche market offering them product X only to be sorely disappointed when nobody comes to visit and sales are non-existant. 

What was the fundamental internet marketing mistake?

We assumed we knew what our market wanted, or more precisely, we assumed THEY knew what we thought would improve their lives. 

Right or wrong, it doesn't matter – the fact is you were out of alignment with the desires that your market had at a specific point in time and that means low sales.

TWO FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF INTERNET MARKETING…

Ready, here's the first principle:

1. Only give a market what they want (not what you think they want)

Ah yes, but there's an even bigger secret…

You may believe the best way to research your market is to see what they are asking for on discussion groups, interviews and surveys, BUT…

What about all of the things they really want but aren't telling because they either haven't realized it yet or do not respond consciously in a survey…it may be too personal or sensitive or important for them to come right out and tell someone. 

So, you've got to figure it out by studying their buying behavior.  We have dozens of techniques inside InfoMarketersZone that help top information product entrepreneurs look deeply into the buying behavior and trends in their niche markets to uncover hidden pockets of demand – demand that even the prospect themselves sometimes do not fully recognize.

Jeff

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You know I am a big fan of information-based products…it's one of the very few businesses that is low risk, can be ramped up in just months, keeps YOU in control of your own products AND builds you a reputation or platform that will elevate your value placing you as a PREMIUM resource in your marketplace. 

But…this business only works for those that take action, that can work past the uncertainties, decisions and get rolling. 

The information product publishing and marketing business is based a great deal on quick response from the marketplace and momentum – so let's see if we can help you get your decision on choosing a target market for your business FAST, getting you on to building profit and momentum in your business. 

Watch this 7-minute video – it will help answer many of the questions around what makes for a niche market full of opportunity –

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