ebook writing tips

Want to create buzz around your brand, build trust with your audience, and add tons of fresh names to your email list – all at the same time? Create an ebook. This type of content is a winner for marketing your business. The trick, however, is to keep the content inside the ebook totally free of sales pitches and chock-full of value. It needs to reach must-read status for your audience to want to pull the trigger and trade their details in exchange for a download. Sounds good? If so, let’s get into why ebooks are so awesome for business marketing, plus five rules to follow when creating your ultimate lead magnet. Why Create an Ebook for Your Business Marketing? Ebooks are valuable for your marketing because they don’t look like marketing at all. If you do it right, your ebooks should provide nothing but relentless value in the form of expert, informative, useful content – without selling or pitching anything. That, right there, is their draw for your audience. They get tons of value in exchange for nothing more than their name and email address. It’s not a hard trade, and it will pay off for you in spades because your list will grow by leaps and bounds. (And, as we all know, your email list is a powerful tool.) Another huge plus: Ebooks are relatively inexpensive to produce. All you need is some well-written content and basic design to pull it all together. Here’s an example of an ebook from Jeff Goins on growing your blogging audience: It’s a 55-page PDF that includes a table of contents, 3 parts, an introduction, and a conclusion. Pretty cool, right? Yours doesn’t have to be nearly this long, either. You can create an ebook as short as 3-5 pages, as long as the information inside is super valuable. Feeling excited yet? Follow these 5 rules to create an ebook, and walk away with an awesome lead magnet that will draw in tons of interest and new subscribers to your list. How to Create an Ebook: 5 Basic Rules 1. Find the Right Topic, Tone, and Style If you want to create a desirable ebook, you have to begin the process with the right topic in hand. After that’s accomplished, you need to write the ebook with a tone and style that’s consistent with your brand voice. How to Find the Right Ebook Topic When I say the right topic, I mean one that your readers will eagerly look forward to reading. It’s one they want to know about, have questions about, and one for which you can provide concrete, valuable answers. That’s why, before you start on your ebook, topic research is essential. Here are a few tips to begin: Search for industry hashtags on social media and look to see what people are talking about. Follow conversations and find the questions people are asking. Could you answer topically related ones in your ebook? Search for industry keywords on BuzzSumo and see what major topics come up over and over in top-shared posts. Look for knowledge gaps you can fill with your ebook content. Look at your own blog posts for inspiration. Which topics are most-shared? Which ones get the most follow-up questions and comments? You could potentially create an ebook that dives deeper into these subjects. Consider common customer problems you hear about regularly and write an ebook that helps solve them. [bctt tweet=”Before you start on your ebook, the first step you should do is topic research. Here are a few tips in finding the right topic for your next ebook. @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] How to Ensure Your Ebook Tone and Style Are Consistent with Your Brand AND Non-Salesy When creating ebooks, consistency is key. If the writing style and tone of your ebook content differs from your brand style and tone, it will be glaring to readers. That disconnect makes for a disjointed experience with your brand, which you never want. To keep the writing style and tone on-brand, ensure you/your writers are familiar with: Your brand style guide (Don’t have one? This how-to from 99designs is a good primer) Your blog posts Any other materials that effectively showcase your communication style For a good example of a brand with a consistent style across their content and communications, check out our post on Panera Bread’s content marketing. Image: Mitre Agency After you (or your writer) have a clear idea on your brand tone and style for writing your ebook, you need to turn your attention to non-salesy writing. The purpose of your ebook is NOT to sell your brand, products, or services. Its only purpose should be to hand your reader tangible value in the form of useful information. That’s it. To avoid salesy language: Keep your focus on the reader, not on your brand. Think about what the reader wants/needs to know to fully understand the topic you’re covering. Answer questions you encountered in your topic research. Provide your unique expertise on the topic. 2. Include Premium Content To create a must-have ebook, it needs to include premium content. That means: You haven’t written about the topic elsewhere, like on your blog, where readers can easily access it. If you have written about it before, you haven’t covered the topic in a deep way. The topic requires research to provide a full picture. In other words, premium content needs to be exclusive, exhaustive, and the highest quality possible. It needs research and your best writing. The main reason premium content in your ebook is necessary, though, is because it builds trust with your readers. When you offer such a valuable resource for free (in exchange for their name and email address), your reputation and authority will grow by extension. That’s why an ebook is so valuable to you as a marketing tool. Great example: Brian Dean of Backlinko started offering “content upgrades” (A.K.A. premium content) to his blog readers in exchange for their email. In this way, … Read more