One of the biggest problems that any non-fiction writer has is to choose a topic for their next eBook. How can you do it and be sure that your reader will want to read it? After all, if your reader is not interested in the topic they are never going to pick up your book to read it. Literally, pick it up in the case of a printed book and theoretically, in the case of an eBook.
It may seem like an insurmountable problem but it really isn't.
The solution is to create a marketing plan for your eBook. Part of that plan will include choosing the topic for your book. There are four main methods you can use to ensure that your book is well received. Each is used for a different purpose and under different conditions.
The first method is used when you are first starting to build an eBook business. It is sometimes referred to erroneously as choosing your niche. However, it is really a matter of mixing niche marketing and micro marketing. It begins by micro-marketing. In other words, you choose a market or product that you wish to write in. Then you begin to compress that market until you have a small topic that you will address. For example, you might choose to sell into the money market and eventually pick a micro-market of building an information marketing business. In internet marketing, this is typically accompanied by identifying a niche or target customer. You then identify a problem your target customer might have and a solution to that problem. This solution becomes your topic.
The next method occurs when you've begun to build your business but you're customer list is still quite small. In this case, you can examine your solution and then determine the next place your customer will have a problem. This becomes your next topic. This method works well if you know your topic well or better still know your target customer. However, it is always possible that you will guess wrong. Your customers may not experience the problem in the same place as you predict. In that case, your customers won't be interested in reading your eBook. You'll have failed.
The third customer based method is to simply ask your customers where they are having problems. What is it that is preventing them from progressing? The solution to that problem becomes the topic for your next eBook or course. This works best if you have a large number of customers and if it is built into your email marketing campaign.
The fourth method is used when you are not building a business using eBooks. Rather it is used when you are building a business out of writing eBooks. These eBooks are typically being sold for the Kindle or iPad platforms using Amazon or the iBookstore. They tend to be independent and your focus is less focused on relationships with your customers. In fact, it's simply an internet version of the traditional book selling industry. In that case, you don't have customers. To make up for that fact, you can use Google to identify potential keywords or questions that your readers will be looking for answers to.
