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How to
Create, Sell and Distribute Your Own Informational Product
By Shelley
Lowery
With the rising popularity of the Internet, there is absolutely
no better time than right now to develop your own informational
product. Not only is there no better time, but it has never been
any easier for anyone to develop and sell their own products.
Information is the number one best-selling product on the
Internet. There are literally hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs
quietly making a fortune simply by selling information.
The first step in creating your product is to decide upon a
subject. Select a subject in which you have a great deal of
knowledge. The knowledge you have within your own mind is
extremely valuable. Simply write about what you know and
teach others how to do the same thing. It's that simple.
Creating an Outline
The easiest way to begin writing is to create an outline.
Begin your outline with an opening statement or Introduction
followed by a Foreword. Your opening statement might tell
your readers a little bit about what they are going to learn or
may be a statement in regard to the subject matter. Your
Foreword might include information in regard to who you are,
your credentials, copyrights, and what you want your readers
to learn.
Your next step will be to either create a Table of Contents or
go directly into creating your Chapter Titles. If you're writing
your information in the form of a how-to manual, you may
want to use a Table of Contents. This will enable your readers
to quickly locate important information. If you're writing your
information in the form of a book, then you can leave out the
Table of Contents and simply use Chapter Titles.
Whether you're using a Table of Contents or Chapter Titles,
write your titles so that when they're read, they tell the story.
In other words, when you scan your titles they will give you a
step by step description of what your information is all about.
Finally, at the bottom of your outline, wrap everything up by
including a closing statement.
Once you've completed your outline you can begin filling in the
spaces. Write your text in small blocks and leave a space
between your paragraphs. Select a font that is easy to read
and use black text on a white background. In addition, write in
an everyday language that everyone can understand.
Delivering Your Information
In order to deliver your information to your customers, you'll
need to compress it into a downloadable file, better known
as an ebook. There are different types of compilation
methods however, for this example we will focus on HTML
compiled ebooks.
Ebooks or electronic books are self-contained "executable"
files of HTML. This HTML may be a web site you've created
or HTML you've specifically prepared to be compiled into a
downloadable .exe file for distribution. When downloaded,
this file will self install on your clients desktop.
Your first step in creating your ebook will be to turn your text
into HTML. Simply divide your text into sections such as,
Introduction, Table of Contents, Chapters, etc., and create a
web page for each. Make sure you include good navigational
links to and from each page you create.
You can include graphics, live links, and almost everything
that HTML 4.0 supports.
Selecting a Compiler
There are many good ebook compilers available on the Internet,
but only three that I can personally recommend. Each of the
following compilers support almost everything that HTML 4.0
supports and will compile your HTML into a downloadable .exe
format. They are as follows:
E-ditor Pro - This is by far the easiest compiler to use. The
step by step interface will guide you through the entire
process. This program includes a pop-up message box that
loads prior to your ebook loading when your ebook is
launched. This box can contain system requirements,
copyrights or whatever text you'd like.
Cost: $69.95
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=2884
WebCompiler - This program is a little complicated the first
time you use it however, once you've figured it out, you can
easily create an ebook. This program will allow you to use
your own product icon.
Cost: $149.00
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=2889
Activ Ebook - This program isn't as easy as E-ditor Pro, but
with the aid of the instructions you can easily create a nice ebook. The great thing about this compiler is that it assigns an
ESBN number to each ebook you compile. It also has a free
demo that is fully functional for up to 10 files to be compiled.
You can create and distribute ebooks with the free demo, but
you must register the software if you'd like to sell your ebooks.
Cost: $29.95
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=105
They are all good compilers and each will enable you to
password protect your work however, for features and price,
Activ Ebook is the best buy all the way around.
Once you've created your ebook and you're ready to upload it
to your server, simply create a new directory where you store
your HTML files. You can name the directory "Ebooks" or
whatever you'd like. Upload your ebook in binary mode.
To create a download link on your website, most servers will
allow you to simply link to the address:
http://www.yourdomain.com/ebooks/ebook.exe
If this method of linking doesn't work for you, contact your
server administrator for assistance.
Taking Orders
In order for you to begin taking orders for your ebook, you'll
need to have the ability to accept credit cards. Unless you'd
like to get your own merchant account, the best way to
accept credit cards is to use an online service. The best
service I've found is ClickBank. This company will enable you
to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Eurocard, and Visa-Debit, MasterCard-Debit, and Novus cards.
They charge a one-time $49.95 activation fee, and a $1 + 7.5%
fee per sale. There are no monthly fees. The great thing about
this company is that over 60,000 affiliates can choose to sell
your products for you. ClickBank enables any web seller to
automatically pay sales commissions to affiliates. Clickbank
will bill your customers, pay you, and pay your affiliates a
commission. In other words, they'll run your entire affiliate
program for you.
http://hop.clickbank.net/?wsnet
There is absolutely no reason why you can't create your own
informational product. Think about it... Think about some
special talent you may have or knowledge you could share
and write about. Creating your own product will be one of
the best business decisions you'll ever make.
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the webmistress of Web-Source.net
http://www.web-source.net - Your Guide to Professional
Web Site Design and Development. For further information
on creating informational products, read her review of Make
Your Knowledge Sell. http://www.web-source.net/review2.htm
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