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Ebooks Are For Amateurs!
Copyright (c) 2005-2023 Willie Crawford
How do you get paid more for everything that you know and do? You become known as THE expert on a given topic. How do you do that? One very good way is to write a book. No, not an ebook - an actual print book. "What's wrong with an ebook?" I hear you asking.
The answer lies in the fact that anything that is too easy is not considered very valuable. That's why doctors and lawyers get paid more than taxi drivers and waitresses. The "barriers to entry" make it more "expensive" to become a doctor or lawyer, which makes being a doctor or lawyer a scarcer skill, which allows them to charge more for that skill.
Anyone can write and publish an ebook. To do that all you really need to do is:
1) Write your book (or short report) in ® Microsoft Word.
2) Convert it to PDF using a free program such as PDF995.
3) Announce to the world that you've published an ebook.
It really is THAT easy, and therein lies the problem.
Thousands of people have published "junk ebooks" that aren't worth the electrons they're "printed on!" If you're like me, you probably have dozens of these on your hard-drive right now. You know... free ebooks that sounded great, but when you downloaded them, you quickly discovered that they were worth exactly what you paid for them. These ebooks often contain out-of-date, inaccurate, or commonly known information. The very worst ones are those written by people who have no idea what they're talking about, so they repeat inaccurate information that they found elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong. Ebooks are a great tool. I use them for viral marketing, as a handy training tool, and even as for-sale products. Since ebooks are cheaper to produce, you will sell them to people who don't want to pay the higher price for a print book, or to people who simply don't want to wait to get them in the mail.
The big difference in writing a print book is that people perceive someone who has written a "real" book differently. People assume that writing a book is hard work, so when they hear that you've published a print book, they attribute lots of great qualities to you. They reflect back upon when writing and publishing a book was a BIG challenge.
My friend, Elsom Eldridge Jr., author of "How To Position Yourself As The Obvious Expert In 90 Days Or Less Without Spending A Fortune On Advertising," taught me all about why writing and printing a book is a very powerful way to firmly establish yourself as an expert on a topic. Being considered the expert on a topic does mean that you can charge more for what you do, say, and produce.
I recently did a teleseminar-interview with Elsom on this very topic. You can grab the MP3 recording and/or the PDF transcript of this interview from my website at: http://WillieCrawford.com/write-a-real-book.html
It's my free gift to you :-)
If writing a real book allows you to better brand yourself as THE EXPERT, then why don't more people do it? I think many people simply think that it's too expensive. I'll let you in on a secret...
... My first physical book was a cookbook. It's 184 pages, and contains 250 of my own recipes. I simply made a list of recipes, typed them out, had a cover designed, found a few graphics/photos, and had it printed. I now sell this cookbook from my website at http://Chitterlings.com/cookbook.html for $16.95 per copy plus shipping and handling. The secret.... it costs me less than $1 each to print these books.
I simply went on the Internet and found a number of printers, then I compared prices. Since one of the least expensive ones I found was a short drive from where I live, I scheduled an appointment to go over and discuss my project. In volume, these books were so cheap that I ordered a mini-warehouse full. You don't have to visit your printer to set-up your project - I did just because they were so close.
I chose a cookbook as my first project because I couldn't think of anything else at the time. A cookbook is easy to write, and if it's on the right type of cooking, it should sell well. You can find more information on how to easily write and produce your own cookbook at: http://WriteACookbook.com That's where I have the transcripts and MP3 from a teleseminar I did with two other cookbook authors on that very topic.
If you don't want to order lots of copies of your print book, you don't have to. There are companies that do print-on-demand. They will print as few as one copy at a time, and then drop-ship your order right to your customers. A print-on-demand printer that I work with a lot is at: http://WillieCrawford.com/print-on-demand.html
Ok, so it's not that expensive to write a "real" book, or to turn your ebook into a print book. However, you need more reasons to go through all of that “trouble.”
Well...
1) Print books have a longer shelf life. People download ebooks and may never go back to them again. With a print book, they're at-least going to have to look at your book while dusting the bookshelf. Every time that they look at your book, they will be reminded of you and your products or services.
2) I think of a book as a glorified business card. My books all mention my websites inside them and on the cover. I put things in all of my books to drive people back to my websites. You should do the same. I sometimes actually give copies of my books to hot prospects. When you give someone you meet a copy of your book, they are likely to be very impressed AND to go check out your other offerings.
3) Every book that you write can, and should, have back-end sales built in. You should have a page or coupons for your other (bigger ticket) products. If you mail the books yourself, you should also include package inserts in EVERY package. If you have the books drop-shipped, you should have the drop-shipper or print-on-demand publisher, include your flyers in the package or inserted in the books. Consider having a tear-out insert printed right into the book!
4) Many offline stores and specialty shops may want to sell your book. Unless they're Internet-related, they're not very likely to want to feature your ebook. This exposes you to a whole new audience that would have never discovered you if you stuck to ebooks. Many country stores carry my cookbook.
As you can see, ebooks are "ok" but the real professional also publishes his books in print form. Hopefully, you see that it's not very difficult or expensive. Now that you know, you can separate yourself, in the mind of the consumers, from the perception many may have of ebooks. You'll brand yourself as a serious professional and an expert.
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Willie Crawford is a corporate president, published author,
seminar speaker and host, tele-seminar speaker and host,
retired military officer, karate black belt, Master Network
Marketing Trainer, and lifetime student of marketing. He shows
people how to actually generate substantial income on-line
using very simple, easily modeled systems. An example of
such a system that you can study and duplicate is at:
http://ProfitMagician.com
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Top-Level Category: Articles
10 Most Recent Articles Written by Willie Crawford
How To Have An Endless Stream Of Highly Qualified Free Leads (Part 2)
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2011-07-26 |
Word Count: 854 |
Page Views: 5272
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
In part-1, I mentioned how to publish on Kindle to create
free leads. Now here's the rest of the strategy to easily
get several books on your topic working for you as lead
generators.
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Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2011-07-24 |
Word Count: 675 |
Page Views: 5234
| Votes: 7 |
Rating: 1.86
Do you dream of having so many customers that you can be
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Follow The Experts Who Do What They Teach
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-11-02 |
Word Count: 897 |
Page Views: 5539
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 0.40
As I'm sure that you realize, not all online marketing
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Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-10-28 |
Word Count: 1200 |
Page Views: 5033
| Votes: 6 |
Rating: 1.17
All online marketers eventually realize that a steady flow
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How To Earn An Online Living As A Writer
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-07-27 |
Word Count: 373 |
Page Views: 5033
| Votes: 6 |
Rating: 1.17
Since 1996 I've written over 1600 articles. These articles
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Your Internet Marketing Virtual Vending Machine Route
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-04-13 |
Word Count: 1456 |
Page Views: 5202
| Votes: 4 |
Rating: 2.75
When I'm being introduced at seminars and tele-events, the
emcee often points out that I have over 1600 websites. This
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So, let me enlighten you.
A False Economy I NO LONGER Practice Do You?
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-03-15 |
Word Count: 676 |
Page Views: 4971
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 0.40
Many of us go out and buy some of the best software and
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My New Top 10 Free Website Traffic Generation Methods - Part 1
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-03-10 |
Word Count: 885 |
Page Views: 5612
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 1.20
In 2008, I wrote an ebook that revealed my most effective
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The End Of Dumb Affiliate Marketing
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-02-09 |
Word Count: 921 |
Page Views: 5077
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 1.20
One of the saddest things that I witness day after day is
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Are Your Websites Secure Or Is The Back Door Wide Open?
Written by: Willie Crawford |
Distributed: 2010-02-02 |
Word Count: 722 |
Page Views: 4592
| Votes: 2 |
Rating: 0.50
One of the topics that all of us online business people are
aware of but usually don't feel totally on top of is
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All of Author's Articles on this site: Willie Crawford Articles
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Written by: Jeb Maxwell |
Distributed: 2010-01-20 |
Word Count: 595 |
Page Views: 4757
| Votes: 8 |
Rating: 1.25
Ann Arbor, Michigan is the home of the University of Michigan, a
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Flowers Are The Perfect Gift For Father's Day
Written by: Wesley Berry, AAF |
Distributed: 2008-02-20 |
Word Count: 486 |
Page Views: 5927
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.24
Dads everywhere have Sonora Smart Dodd to thank for getting
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of her mother.
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Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 718 |
Page Views: 4397
| Votes: 14 |
Rating: 2.64
If you want to experience adventure at every level of your next
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Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 563 |
Page Views: 5305
| Votes: 11 |
Rating: 1.36
If you want to have a party that everyone will be talking about
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light show. Hiring a DJ can actually be fun. Just follow these
simple tips, and you are sure to have a fabulous DJ for your
party.
Building your Credit to get a Mortgage
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 840 |
Page Views: 5363
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.24
You are thinking about purchasing real estate. However, you are
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are things that you can do to build your credit so that it is
worthy of any mortgage that may interest you.
1569 Unique Ways To Get A Free Lunch
Written by: Steve Robichaud |
Distributed: 2006-05-07 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 3624
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
Everywhere you turn - T.V., Radio, magazines, or the Internet,
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Distributed: 2006-05-07 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 3907
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
Your novel is finished, you’ve had it edited by a professional Editor, and you’ve done the rewrites. What? You haven’t had an editor edit your work yet? This is a must. There are many editors advertising in Writer’s Digest.
NEVER Reply to an eGroup Post!
Written by: BIG Mike McDaniel |
Distributed: 2006-05-07 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 5158
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
eGroups are collections of people subscribed to a
common (discussion list) address. When one member
sends an eMail message to the eGroup address, it
is automatically sent to everyone else on the
list. As subscribers open and read their eMail,
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the ability to join in at your convenience as
opposed to the confinement of live chat rooms.
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Written by: Jessica Horowitz |
Distributed: 2006-05-07 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 4955
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
Pain between the shoulder blades, or any pain for that matter,
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There are a multitude of possible causes of pain between the
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Written by: Wendy Hearn |
Distributed: 2006-05-07 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 4435
| Votes: 4 |
Rating: 0.75
Bearing in mind the fast pace of business today and the
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TAKING RESPONSIBILITY - LIFE'S BIGGEST QUESTION
Written by: Richard Sparky Bryan |
Distributed: 2006-05-07 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 13810
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
When did Americans stop taking responsibility for their own
actions? My friend agreed
that the slide began in the late 1960's with the growth of the
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But he was quick to emphasize that although the sixties began
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Along about 1993, the slide began to sharpen. It was not until
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High Thread Count Bed Sheets. How Many Threads Does A Bed Sheet Need?
Written by: Liz Beresford |
Distributed: 2004-09-14 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 6588
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
High thread count bed sheets, often called percale, are much
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Written by: Bill Lampton Ph.D. |
Distributed: 2005-12-01 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 6331
| Votes: 4 |
Rating: 0.50
During my twenty-three years in management, I dealt with
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Here are my suggestions for muzzling the motor mouths:
Better Than Botox is there a Safer Substitute?
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2005-09-08 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 6227
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
Women since time immemorial have always looked for ways to
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Written by: Ivana Katz |
Distributed: 2005-03-29 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 6197
| Votes: 3 |
Rating: 0.33
You are very excited!! You have finally created your own
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Transform Your Work Area into a Homey Environment
Written by: Ted Roberson |
Distributed: 2006-02-24 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 6031
| Votes: 4 |
Rating: 1.25
Nothing enables one to think and work better than a comfortable
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you've got to have little knick knacks around that will enliven
your spirits or which you can look at for inspiration or just
to zone out in relaxation.
Flowers Are The Perfect Gift For Father's Day
Written by: Wesley Berry, AAF |
Distributed: 2008-02-20 |
Word Count: 486 |
Page Views: 5927
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.24
Dads everywhere have Sonora Smart Dodd to thank for getting
Father's Day started. In 1909, Sonora sat in a church in Spokane,
Washington listening to a sermon expounding on the virtues of
motherhood. But, as she sat there, she thought about how special
her own father was since it was he who raised her after the death
of her mother.
Sell Yourself, Not Your Products or Services
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2004-05-03 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 5650
| Votes: 2 |
Rating: 0.50
Sell yourself, not your products or services. The point we
need to make is that your products and services will change
over time as your business adapts to the realities of the
marketplace.
Building your Credit to get a Mortgage
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 840 |
Page Views: 5363
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.24
You are thinking about purchasing real estate. However, you are
not sure if your credit is good enough to get a mortgage. There
are things that you can do to build your credit so that it is
worthy of any mortgage that may interest you.
7 Tips to Hiring a Good DJ for your Party
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 563 |
Page Views: 5305
| Votes: 11 |
Rating: 1.36
If you want to have a party that everyone will be talking about
for days and years later, hire a good DJ to run your music and
light show. Hiring a DJ can actually be fun. Just follow these
simple tips, and you are sure to have a fabulous DJ for your
party.
Highest Ranked "" Articles
Finding the Adventure in Travel Again
Written by: Helen Bergstein |
Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 718 |
Page Views: 4397
| Votes: 14 |
Rating: 2.64
If you want to experience adventure at every level of your next
trip, you need to go beyond the usual resorts and places to stay.
If you're like most travelers, personal safety remains a priority,
especially in today's world. A growing number of savvy travelers
have found the perfect balance between adventure and comfort.
Freedom- or Burden of Choice?
Written by: Patsi Krakoff |
Distributed: 2004-09-30 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 1100
| Votes: 7 |
Rating: 2.57
Everyday decisions have become increasingly complex due to the
overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.
A trip to a typical supermarket reveals enormous choices such
as 85 different crackers, 285 types of cookies, 230 varieties
of canned soup, 80 different pain relievers, and 360 kinds of
shampoo. Does this improve the quality of our lives?
Building your Credit to get a Mortgage
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 840 |
Page Views: 5363
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.24
You are thinking about purchasing real estate. However, you are
not sure if your credit is good enough to get a mortgage. There
are things that you can do to build your credit so that it is
worthy of any mortgage that may interest you.
Flowers Are The Perfect Gift For Father's Day
Written by: Wesley Berry, AAF |
Distributed: 2008-02-20 |
Word Count: 486 |
Page Views: 5927
| Votes: 17 |
Rating: 2.24
Dads everywhere have Sonora Smart Dodd to thank for getting
Father's Day started. In 1909, Sonora sat in a church in Spokane,
Washington listening to a sermon expounding on the virtues of
motherhood. But, as she sat there, she thought about how special
her own father was since it was he who raised her after the death
of her mother.
Testimonials and Reviews Increase Your Real Sales Potential
Written by: Bill Platt |
Distributed: 2006-02-10 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 2934
| Votes: 9 |
Rating: 2.00
The one essential ingredient for online success in
any endeavor is gaining your prospect's trust.
7 Tips to Hiring a Good DJ for your Party
Written by: Kamau Austin |
Distributed: 2006-05-11 |
Word Count: 563 |
Page Views: 5305
| Votes: 11 |
Rating: 1.36
If you want to have a party that everyone will be talking about
for days and years later, hire a good DJ to run your music and
light show. Hiring a DJ can actually be fun. Just follow these
simple tips, and you are sure to have a fabulous DJ for your
party.
Ann Arbor, MI Offers A Lot Of Year-Around Family Fun
Written by: Jeb Maxwell |
Distributed: 2010-01-20 |
Word Count: 595 |
Page Views: 4757
| Votes: 8 |
Rating: 1.25
Ann Arbor, Michigan is the home of the University of Michigan, a
leading institution of higher education. Ann Arbor is a wonderful
place to visit. The University is co-mingled with the city and
greatly expands the cultural places and events available in the
area.
How to Decorate Your Home on EBay
Written by: Pamela Cole Harris |
Distributed: 2005-09-14 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 2162
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 1.20
If you are on a budget (and who isn’t?), a wonderful place for
find home decorating accessories is auction sites like eBay. But
before you go a’baying, here is some advice...
The "Proprietary Blend" Nutritional Supplement
Written by: Will Brink |
Distributed: 2006-02-10 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 3514
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 0.60
In a nut shell, I went onto cover each of these common marketing
terms that are used to sell supplements to unwitting consumers
and explained each in detail as to what I view as their common
misuse within the market place.
Brink's Unified Theory of Nutrition
Written by: Will Brink |
Distributed: 2006-02-24 |
Word Count: 0 |
Page Views: 2324
| Votes: 5 |
Rating: 0.60
Regardless of the topic, a unified theory, seeks to explain
seemingly incompatible aspects of various theories. In this
article I attempt to unify seemingly incompatible or opposing
views regarding nutrition, namely, what is probably the longest
running debate in the nutritional sciences: calories vs. macro
nutrients.
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