Three Key Factors for Effective eBook Viral Marketing

If you are an Internet Marketer, you probably heard about Viral Marketing. It is often considered as the word-of-mouth on the Internet though you are not literally using your mouth to spread word about it. The term Viral is also synonymous to "Spread" which is also linked to something called a good virus. As all of you know, viruses spread like crazy especially when your computer is already infected. The same principle is used for viral marketing - to spread word about a company, product and services like a virus.

One of the most effective types of viral marketing is the use of ebooks for marketing purposes. If you are reading books from libraries or bookstores, these e-books are the same but you can only read it on the computer or any kind of handheld device with readers.

These ebooks look so simple but they are one of the most effective ways to get more traffic to your site and probably, get more clients and customers in the future. So what are the things that you need to do to fully utilize the benefits of using E-books for viral marketing?

EBook Creation

You might be shocked on this revelation since ebooks can also be considered as actual books on the real world. However, they are easier to create unlike the books that need to be published. As a matter of fact, you do not need to be a professional writer or editor to create an ebook. The content can be simple information about important facts on your niche market or product. You must keep in mind that the topic must be directly related on your niche or product. You can also try to look for topics that can easily get the attention of the readers.

The Format of the Ebook

You can convert your work into an EXE file, PDF, HTML, DOC or TXT but the recommended format to use is PDF because it is usable to both Windows and Mac. You must always consider the format that can be used by a wider audience. Do not make a gamble in using other formats that may not be opened on other computers or gadgets. PDF files are also compatible to handheld devices so they are the perfect choice.

Circulate Your EBook

After creating your E-book, the next last step is to allow it to circulate on the Internet. You can make use of document sharing sites and social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and more. You can also use it to get names and emails from people without forcing them. However, make sure that you distribute your ebooks for free through the use of giveaway rights. Your goal is to gain as wider audience as possible for your business through this method.

You also need to allow the people to rebrand your ebooks so they will easily circulate on the web. After rebranding, they will give it away and it will be great for your online business. This is a particularly powerful tactic as by providing your readers with the ability to rebrand - for example by inserting a link to their web site or their affiliate link to one of your products or services - you are also providing them with an incentive to give your ebooks away and circulate widely which In turn helps to attract traffic and potential clients to your own web site.

When you start to create and distribute your own ebooks, or next time you produce one, bear these tactics in mind to help spread your products virally over the internet. Finally, be sure to insert details of your own web site, contacts details and other relevant information about your business in each of your so readers and potential customers to easily contact you.

2 Ways To Monetize Your Ebook   Have You Thought Of Creating Your Own Information Products?   A History of E-Books   Learning Some Lesser Known Facts About EBook Conversion   

Take EBooks at Your Leisure: EBook Formats

This is the first of a series of articles all about ebooks. Other in the series include:

* eBook Encryption (DRM)

* eBook Reading Devices

* eBooks and eReaders: Desired Features

* eBook Publishing

* eBook Marketing

* eBook Stores: Desired Features

eBook Formats

The most powerful eBook formats are those that are the most flexible, portable and mobile.

For example, the mainstream eBook reader platforms allow one to read eBooks on dedicated eBook readers (Kindle, Nook, and Kobo), on smart phones and other general purpose mobile devices (Apple, Android, Blackberry, etc.), and on desktop/laptop computers (PC, Macintosh). They allow customization of the reading experience to personal preferences and to the characteristics (size, contrast, etc.) of the specific eBook reader. They also synchronize attributes such as bookmarks, notes, and highlights across all user reader devices.

In order to give these platforms the ability to shine, the eBook formats must be universally adaptable.

In this context, the term "format" refers to the rules, conventions, and syntax that govern how documents are stored and displayed.

Document formats are typically associated with software applications capable of creating documents that obey the rules of that format.

Other software applications interpret and display the documents according to the rules of the format. These "reader" software applications are typically incompatible across formats.

For example, a document formatted in Amazon's proprietary MOBI format cannot be read by Apple's iBook reader.

The past several years have witnessed an explosion of hardware and software options for eBooks. We are not going to talk about all of them here because there are about 40 in total... instead, we will concentrate on the most popular.

Popular eBook Formats

EPUB

To date, the best candidate for a universal eBook standard is the EPUB (Electronic Publication) format. EPUB is a free and open eBook standard designed by the International Digital Publishing Forum that provides support for reflowable/resizable text, embedded images, bookmarks, notes, tables, audio and DRM (Digital Rights Management). Internally, the EPUB format uses XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language).

Electronic books created in EPUB format can be read on many popular readers under Windows PC and Macintosh:

* Adobe Digital Editions

* Lexcycle Stanza

* AZARDI

* FBReader

* Mozilla Firefox add-on EPUBReader

* UBook

In addition, the EPUB format can be read on many mobile devices, including:

* Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod

* BlackBerry

* HTC / Android

* Samsung Tablet

* Barnes & Noble Nook

* Sony Reader

* Kobo eReader

* Bookeen Cybook

* Aluratek Libre

* Iliad

* Nokia

* Hanlin

* COOL-ER

Unfortunately, the Amazon Kindle does not support the EPUB format. However there is software available (e.g. calibre) which can convert a non-DRM EPUB file into the unprotected Mobipocket format that the Kindle can read. Additionally, Amazon offers a free program called KindleGen which converts EPUB and several other formats.

MOBI

MOBI (often referred to as AZW format also) is Amazon's proprietary Kindle eBook format.

The MOBI format is based on the Mobipocket standard (Amazon purchased the French eReader company Mobipocket in 2005) with the inclusion of Amazon's digital rights management (DRM) components. The MOBI format supports text reflow, bookmarks, notes, tables, embedded images, and DRM.

The kindle file format has gone through several generations. With the release of the Kindle Fire reader in late 2011, Amazon.com also released Kindle Format 8, their next-generation file format. The .kf8 file format supports HTML5 and CSS3.

Other than the Kindle reader itself, the Kindle format is now available on a variety of platforms, such as through the Kindle app for:

* Apple iPad, iPhone

* BlackBerry

* HTC / Android

* Windows Phone 7

And of course, it's also available on Windows PC and Macintosh.

PDF

PDF (Portable Document Format) is a "page oriented" format. Developed in 1992 by Adobe, its original intent was to ensure that an electronic document shared with another person will print for the recipient exactly as the document creator intended, regardless of the computer and printer being used. Its primary purpose, therefore, is to faithfully reproduce the printed page, and it accomplishes this exceptionally well, as it works on virtually all computer platforms.

The PDF format has evolved over its 20-year existence. Modern PDF documents can be protected from unauthorized access, modification, printing, etc. They can include navigation features and links to external content, can contain multimedia components, and can be used to collect information (forms). Adobe released the PDF format to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as an open standard in 2007-2008 (ISO 32000). This allowed other software vendors to enable their applications to create and read documents in PDF format, though Adobe Reader and Acrobat Pro remain the most robust and widely-distributed PDF tools. PDF documents can be viewed within Web browsers and users can create a PDF by "printing" virtually any Web content to a PDF "printer".

Since the format is designed to reproduce page images, the text traditionally could not be re-flowed to fit the screen width or size of the new breed of smart phones and "palm-sized" devices. As a result, PDF files designed for printing on standard paper sizes are less easily viewed on screens with limited size or resolution, such as those found on mobile phones and e-book readers. Adobe has attempted to addressed this drawback by adding a re-flow facility to its Acrobat Reader software, but for it to work the document must be marked for re-flowing at creation, meaning that existing PDF documents won't benefit unless they are tagged and re-saved.

The most noteworthy features of the PDF format are its portability (the "P" in PDF) and device independence. PDF files are supported on Windows, Macintosh, and Unix computers as well as the full range of portable operating systems and e-book readers including:

* Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod

* BlackBerry

* HTC / Android

* Amazon Kindle

* Samsung Tablet

* Barnes & Noble Nook

* Sony Reader

* Kobo eReader

* Bookeen Cybook

* Aluratek Libre

* iRex iLiad and DR1000

* Nokia

* Hanlin

* COOL-ER

* Foxit eSlick

* PocketBook Reader

The PDF format supports bookmarks, notes, tables, embedded images and DRM.

PDB

The PDB (eReader) format is a specification to hold information in a database for Palm OS and other operating systems. When used to represent an eBook, the data stored in this database is the text of the book and the commands that control the way it is displayed by its reader.

The program supports features like bookmarks and footnotes, enabling the user to mark any page with a bookmark, and any part of the text with a footnote-like commentary. Footnotes can later be exported as a Memo document. Text reflow, tables, embedded images and DRM are also supported.

In addition to Windows PC and MAC, the following support eReader:

* Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod

* BlackBerry

* HTC / Android

* Samsung

* PalmOS (not webOS)

* Sony Ericsson

* Symbian

* PocketPC (2002 or Earlier)

* Windows Mobile Smartphone and PocketPC 2003 or Later

* Nokia

* Linux (Ubuntu 9.0.4 or later)

* OQO

It's also worth noting that the Stanza application for the iPhone and iPod Touch can read both encrypted and unencrypted eReader files. This may be your best bet as there are rumors that the itunes eReader app my not be available for much longer.

HTML

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the standard format used to represent Web pages. You may struggle with the idea that HTML is an eBook format at all because it is in fact the core format or software language that makes up a large portion of the almost 400 million websites on the internet today. But as the HTML format supports text reflow, tables, and referenced images, it can indeed be listed as one of the elite. What's more, many of the other eBook formats are based loosely on HTML... making it fundamental in the evolution of the eBook industry to date.

HTML documents are plain text files with embedded commands (markups) that specify the way the Web page will look. These markup commands also allow a HTML document to link to other HTML files and multimedia files.

HTML files can be read by Web browsers such as:

* Internet Explorer

* Firefox

* Safari

* Chrome

* Opera

A number of eBook retailers still make ebooks available (online and offline) in the HTML format.

Other formats worth mentioning

Microsoft Reader

Navigation works with a keyboard, mouse, stylus, or through electronic bookmarks. A user can add annotations and notes, create large-print e-books with a single command, or create free-form drawings on the reader pages. A built-in dictionary also exists.

Microsoft announced Microsoft Reader will be discontinued on August 30th 2012.

Mobipocket

The Mobipocket e-book format is based on the Open eBook standard using XHTML and can include JavaScript and frames. Readers can add blank pages in any part of a book and add free-hand drawings. Annotations (highlights, bookmarks, corrections, notes, and drawings) can be applied, organized, and recalled from a single location. It runs on most platforms and operating systems.

Amazon, the owner of mobipocket, has discontinued support... although it's still available for now.

FictionBook

FictionBook is a popular XML-based eBook format supported by free readers such as FBReader, Bebook, Haali Reader and STDU Viewer.

Multimedia EBook

Multimedia ebooks include a combination of text, audio, images, video, and/or interactive content formats.

Plucker

Plucker is an Open Source free mobile and desktop e-book reader application.

Plain text

Speaks for itself.

Conclusion

As the eBook market has grown and adapted to the changes in technology, we have seen a variety of eBook formats crop up. Some of these formats have now disappeared, some have grown strong with development and support, and some have hung on despite all efforts to get rid of them.

When you crunch through the data, the eBook formats listed in this article may only show a small number of the eBook formats available out there, but they are the cream of the crop. There are a variety of formats I have not mentioned because they are just not really used anymore or perhaps only in very small niches.

I think it is safe to assume that the above listed eBook formats will form the core of eBook reading for the foreseeable future.

2 Ways To Monetize Your Ebook   Have You Thought Of Creating Your Own Information Products?   A History of E-Books   Learning Some Lesser Known Facts About EBook Conversion   How to Write an eBook Fast and Not Fail in the Attempt   

EPub Conversion and EPub Creation Services Help Publishers Access New Streams of Revenue

Amazon is the biggest book seller in the world. Since the last two years, Amazon has been selling more eBooks than paper books. The unexpected success and popularity of Amazon Kindle and the growing demand for eBooks has changed the way publishers think. The cost of creating digital books is lower than the cost of producing printed books, and the more digital books one sells, the lower the cost of production per book is. As it is a relatively recent development, there aren't many companies that offer ePub creation, eBook conversion and formatting service.

Publishers and writers all over the world now have an option of selling books to millions of readers who use their Kindles, tablet PCs and smartphones to read books. Digital books come in different formats; ePub is the standard format. Readers using Mac, iPhone, iPad, Sony reader, Nook, Kindle, and Android tablets can easily read ePubs on their devices.

Today, there are billions of smartphones, tablet devices and eBook readers in the market. The physical nature of the printed book is a barrier that stops the book from reaching a worldwide audience. On the other hand, an ePub book is distributed electronically; so, nothing stops you from selling books to people living in different countries. For instance, if you wanted to sell a few copies of a paper book to people living on different continents, the transportation costs would be a lot higher than the cost of the book. However, you can easily send the ePubs through the Internet without spending a single cent.

The advent of digital books is a blessing for publishers and writers. Through ePub creation, ePub conversion and formatting services, the writers and publishers can get access to new streams of revenue. The best part is that eBooks are a lot more fun to read than printed books. While there are a few people out there who refuse to read eBooks and insist on buying paper books, there are hundreds of millions of people who'd never think of buying a book, but who are happy to download digital books on their devices!

Also, eBooks offer a lot more to the readers than printed books. It is possible to add animations, sound effects and several other special features to the eBooks. Also, most eBook readers are equipped with a decent dictionary; this ensures that the readers do not have to close the eBook to find meanings. All they need to do is bring the cursor to the unknown word; the meaning pops up on its own!

A reputed ePub creation, eBook conversion and formatting service provider can help you to convert your printed books, submit them to the right place and market them online. For publishers who already have thousands of printed books, the cost of converting all those books may be rather high. But you can always enter a partnership with the ePub conversion company; you don't have to pay for the services; instead, the service providers will settle for some part of royalty from the sales of your digital books.

Or, you could simply pay a flat fee per book. This is the sensible option for writers who want complete rights to their eBooks, or for publishers who intend to convert just a few of their paper books to eBooks. The conversion of an eBook doesn't take too long, it doesn't cost too much, and it can give greater exposure to your book. Needless to say, you also have the chance to make a lot of money through online sales.

2 Ways To Monetize Your Ebook   Have You Thought Of Creating Your Own Information Products?   A History of E-Books   Learning Some Lesser Known Facts About EBook Conversion   Why There Is a Need for Creating Information Products   

eBooks - How to Make $97-$297+ Per Sale by Making a Few Simple Changes to Your eBook

Yes, eBooks are all the rage! As of the early part of 2011, eBooks are now outselling hardcover and paperback books! eBooks are an important part of any online business plan as they are a great marketing tool that will help build your online list. Many people write eBooks because they want to create a new stream of income, however, you should consider taking your eBook and transforming it into an online course, also known as an eCourse, that you can sell for $97 to $297 and up.

It's really not that complicated, if you follow these 7 steps:

Reformat your Existing eBook into Modules - The first step is to take your existing eBook and break it down into modules or "lessons" (depending on what you are teaching); The easiest way to do this is in Microsoft Word. I would have a nice cover page with a professional graphic/image of your eBook, then separate your material into lessons, i.e., Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3, etc. or Module 1, Module 2, Module 3, etc. I can't tell you how many Lessons/Modules you should have because it depends on the size of your eBook that you are converting into an eCourse. My suggestion is 4-6 Lessons/Modules. Any longer than that and you may lose the person's interest. Remember, most people have very short attention spans. So shorter is better. Note: If you do have a lengthy eBook that you want to convert to an eCourse, simply create a "Level 1" package and a "Level 2" package. For example, in Level 1, you would have 6 Lessons and then in Level 2, you would have 6 additional "Lessons." Save Final Copy as a PDF - Once you have taken your eBook and broken it down into Lessons/Modules, then you need to convert it from a Word document to a PDF document. Make sure you have your website address and copyright information in the footer of the document. Write a Long Sales Page for your eCourse - Selling online is an art. Believe me when I tell you that you absolutely MUST have long sales copy to sell your eCourse. It also helps to add audio or video on your sales page as well. I have a sales page template that I give to all my students to help them write the sales page for their online course. Good sales copy is critical to your success. A long sales page should include the following: An attention grabbing headline, a photo of you, your personal story, benefits to the potential customer, how the eCourse will be delivered, a brief description of each lesson/module, testimonials, the pricing, a link to sign up, and a money back guarantee. Don't leave any of these elements out. The longer the better. Benefits and Pricing - The key to pricing your eCourse properly has to do with what "benefits" you add to it. I tell my students that an eCourse is just an "eBook with benefits". So here are some benefits you can add to your eCourse: unlimited eCoaching during the eCourse (email coaching), individual coaching, Special Reports, eBooks, Access to a Private Member's Area, Video Tutorials, etc. Remember, the more benefits you have, the more you can charge. I have 3 packages for my eCourses and each one includes different benefits and my eCourses range from $97 to $297. Deliver your eCourse through Aweber - There are many ways you can do this, however, I personally use and prefer Aweber to build my list, to communicate with my list and to deliver my eCourses. Aweber is very user-friendly and you can set up each email message with your Lesson as an attachment. So once someone purchases your eCourse, you can manually add them to your Aweber list for that eCourse or you can have it automatically connected through a shopping cart program. Test your eCourse before your Launch - Go into AWeber once your eCourse is set up and test it by adding yourself to the list as a "customer". Make sure everything is working properly before you launch your eCourse. Launch your New eCourse - Once you have your Lessons set up, your payment method, your sales page and your online course set up in Aweber, then it's time to launch your eCourse! You can do this through your current list, social media, emails to family and friends, etc. If you teach classes or live seminars, you should have a sign up sheet and have those attendees sign up for your online course. Offer them a discount to do so. Promote, promote, promote.

There you have it! By taking an existing eBook and changing the format as well as the way you deliver it, you will increase your income and profits tenfold! Remember, it is important to re-purpose your material into a variety of formats because each customer is different. Some prefer eBooks, other prefer eCourses, others might prefer MP3 recordings. I find that most people love the eCourse format and feel more connected to the Teacher/Trainer and they have more success this way too!

So if you want to increase your income, then start creating and selling eCourses!

2 Ways To Monetize Your Ebook   Have You Thought Of Creating Your Own Information Products?   A History of E-Books   Learning Some Lesser Known Facts About EBook Conversion   Success Is Subjective When It Comes to EBooking the Author of the Article Explained   

Effective Ebook Marketing Strategies For Beginners

Selling ebooks is an online entrepreneur's dream. There are so many benefits. You don't have to deliver anything, people can download the product automatically. Customers can be put into your autoresponder sequence for the selling of another product. An eBook can be created over the weekend. And getting it published everywhere is easy.

Ebooks are still a popular seller in the online business and internet marketing niche. Most people buy ebooks because it gives them the opportunity to get their problem fixed almost immediately. When some customers buy ebooks, some of them read the entire book in one sitting. For others, they read some pages, and then finish it as the week or month progresses.

No matter the style of readership, selling ebooks can make you very lucrative. So do you know how to make an ebook? It's very simple. Here's how I create mine:

1) Type it out in Microsoft Word

Open MS Word on your computer and get to writing. All you need is about 1 weekend to create a 50 - 100 page ebook. After you've written up your ebook, convert it into PDF format by going to pdfonline.com. This is a free service that will allow you to transform your book into the most popular way to view ebooks. Here's the next tip for making your ebook.

2) Upload it to your website

On your website control panel (depending on your hosting provider), simply go and upload your PDF book onto your website. If you don't know how to do this, contact customer support or simply add the book online via FTP. FTP stands for "file transfer protocol", and it's a great way to upload a ton of files over the internet, and onto your website. Here's the next tip.

3) Market it

This is where things get tough. For some people, marketing on the internet is the hardest thing in the world to do. But this just isn't true. In fact is really easy to market your business online - you just have to work at it everyday. You have paid advertising, and free advertising at your disposal.

With paid advertising, when the money is all gone, so is your traffic. So see if you can monetize all the traffic that you get from paid advertising (especially pay per click or PPC). If you're going to do free advertising, I think it's a smart thing to do. Some people do nothing except free advertising. I personally like to combine them both.

Creating and selling your eBook doesn't have to be a pain. It's quite easy and the actual hard part just comes down to marketing it and sharing it across the world. But with a little practice, even this task can be boiled down into something that is incredibly simple and easy to do.

So are you ready to create your first ebook? Hopefully you are. It's one of the easiest things that you can do, and you can definitely earn a lot of money from it if you stick to a solid marketing plan.

Good luck with using this information to have a lot of success in your business.

2 Ways To Monetize Your Ebook   Have You Thought Of Creating Your Own Information Products?   A History of E-Books   Learning Some Lesser Known Facts About EBook Conversion   Writing an eBook - The 5 Most Important Tips for Newbies   

How To Make Good Money Online Selling Your E-Book

These days more and more people are turning to the internet for generating more income. If you have been around the whole money making game for any amount of time you probably realized that one very popular way of making money online is by writing and selling your own e-book. If you do not know what an e-book is the very short answer is that it is an electronic book that is read on some sort of device such as a computer or some sort of mobile device. E-Book sells seem to be increasing every year.

The cool thing about making money selling e-books is that it's really not that difficult to. Practically anyone that wants to create their own can. Before you start to create your e-book you will want to know that there is some sort of market out there for what you are going to be offering. No need to worry though, there are tons of articles and information online that can help you determine this. Once you've found your market it's time to create your e-book. There are 2 ways of doing this.

You can write everything yourself using a simple program like Microsoft Word. Once again there's tons of information available online on how to write your own e-book. A simple Google search will do. You can actually outsource the whole creation of the e-book. You can register with sites such as Freelancer.com and Elance.com. You could probably get everything you need done for a $200-$300. There are several good outsourcing companies out there. If you decide to go with this option I would recommend taking some time in finding a quality person for the job. It really shouldn't be that hard to do.

Now that your e-book is all done, how do you sell it? The good news is that there are many ways that you can go about making money selling your e-book. I am going to go over 1 of the most popular ways of doing it.

Put It On Clickbank - Clickbank is one of the largest digital product distributors online. This is a place where you can list your product and get affiliates to sell your product for you. Make sure that your sales page for your e-book is nice and that you provide some good promotional tools for your affiliates to use. You will want to give your affiliates access to attractive banner graphics, articles and email swipes. A great thing to remember is, the easier you make it for affiliates to sell the more they will want to sell.

Selling e-books on Clickbank has made a lot of people a lot of money and is doing so even as we speak. This is definitely one of the most popular ways of selling e-books online.

2 Ways To Monetize Your Ebook   Have You Thought Of Creating Your Own Information Products?   A History of E-Books   Learning Some Lesser Known Facts About EBook Conversion   Write and Cash in on Short Ebooks Now