Among all the questions that I’m receiving on my blog about ebooks, probably the most important one is this one.
Because without this question — and a good answer — not much else matters. Bob wrote…
"First, thanks for the info in your e-mail and, yes, I would like a copy of your template(s).
I have a wide background in business and usually have no trouble writing but how do you find a topic that will really draw interest?"
Well, Bob, I wish more people would ask that question before sitting down to write (and then writing me for help) because everything — ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING — becomes easier once you answer this questions properly.
* Your title pretty much writes itself, and speaks DIRECTLY to your prospect.
* The ebook content becomes CLEAR to you, so writing the entire book becomes EASY.
* Almost all of the hard marketing work is already done, because you know exactly who to market to, who NOT to market to, and who’s going to buy your book.
And lots of questions never need to be asked, like…
"Why isn’t anyone buying my book?"
(That’s pretty much the worst one!)
Okay, so how DO you pick the right topic.
Well, my friend John Carlton has a way to put it. But I warn you, he’s not a subtle guy. John is one of the best copywriters in the world — and a mentor of mine — so he knows a thing or two about what makes things sell, offline or online.
So what I learned from John is this image.
(Again, I warn you, this is graphic.)
What you’re looking for is a customer with a bleeding neck.
Why?
Because a guy with a bleeding neck doesn’t ask the price, he doesn’t ask about tiny little insignificant details of the procedure…he just wants to stop the bleeding, and he wants it done NOW!
I warned you…it was graphic. But it illustrates the point.
So let’s use "bleeding neck" as a metaphor. What it really means is an urgent need that a customer MUST have satisfied NOW.
The urgency doesn’t have to come from a life and death situation.
* It can be a financial situation — either to make money or to save money.
* It could be a quality of life issue — like if you save someone some time, and show them how to do something faster.
* It can be a health issue — can you somehow decrease your reader’s pain?
* It could be something in the pursuit of pleasure or fun — Hobby ebooks make millions every year.
If you think about the customer you’re planning on writing your book for, does he have a bleeding neck? Is there some sense of urgency? Is there a burning need or desire inside of him?
If not, would it be difficult to create one?
The question to ask yourself, before you write your ebook, is WHY would someone buy this book?
And your next step, right after that, is to Title your book in a way that instantly communicates the major benefit you’re going to deliver.
Copywriters spend dozens of hours — sometimes days or weeks — coming up with a headline for their sales letter. Authors, who don’t often think of themselves as marketers, seldom put as much time into their book’s titles.
But I think you should.
If you want to share your topic idea — and you CAN do that without giving away all your content — then go ahead and leave a comment below. And feel free to ask other readers if they’d buy a book about your topic. And propose a title and ask for feedback.
I think you’ll be surprised at the answers you get.
To Your Success,
–Mark Widawer
P.S. Last week, I set up a download page for my ebook template. So far, exactly 663 aspiring ebook authors have downloaded it, and you can get it too, free of course.
Here’s the link to download it: http://www.BigBucksEbook.com/freetemplate
All I ask is that you tell me your MOST IMPORTANT ebook question. Leave it as a comment below, no matter how basic or complicated it might be. And I’ll do my best to answer it for you.
Okay?
Go get the template now.
(Oh, and by the way, simply requesting the template will be worth about $50 to you…I’ll tell you how in a day or two.)
-M