How To Write An eBook To Sell eLearning Courses, Products, And Services
Don’t you think it’s time to learn how to write an eBook? We live in an age when you can find almost everything in electronic form. The list is endless, starting from eCommerce and eBanking to eTickets, eGift Cards, and so on; people just love the idea of doing literally everything from the convenience of their devices. Consequently, it’s no surprise that eBooks have joined the club of this digital revolution!
Of course, writing eBooks for a niche market such as eLearning can be challenging. Our market is already saturated regarding specific topics, so it might not be easy to break into the industry as a new author or brand. In that case, you should write an eBook for an eLearning niche segment instead. Don’t know what kind of topics you should choose or which personas you should target with your eBook? Don’t fret; I’ll clear things up in a bit.
Let’s see some tips on how to make your own eBook.
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eBook Tips: How To Make Your Own eBook For The eLearning Audience
So, what is an eBook, and how does it work?
An eBook, also known as a digital book or electronic book, is created in digital format. Users can read and display an eBook on electronic devices like computers, tablets, or smartphones. For the safety and protection of the eBook author, the text of an eBook is not editable. It is as if readers own a hard copy in digital format so that they can access it anytime, anywhere.
For this reason, eBooks are becoming more and more popular. Plus, they are less expensive when it comes to production costs. By choosing to write and publish an eBook, authors eliminate the burden of paying for printing hard copies of their work. Aside from the traditional reason for writing an eBook to tell a story, many companies also use eBooks in their marketing strategy. As we’ve highlighted many times, quality content is the core of inbound marketing. And that means that an eLearning company can use content to communicate with its customers and strengthen its brand reputation.
You see, publishing a great eBook that focuses on quality content can significantly impact how prospects perceive your eLearning brand.
If you are trying to attract potential customers to your courses or eLearning products, it’s an excellent idea to use an eBook and prompt users to try your services or even purchase products.
Do your plans include writing eBooks for business? Then read along as I explain what you need to do to write a successful eBook in the eLearning niche.
1. Research Your Target Market And Scope Out The Competition
Some can argue that making your own eBook is not easy. But I’d like to differ. If you check your competition and what seems to be working, you can create a professional eBook that has the potential to dazzle the eLearning audience. You just need to do your research, as always.
An SEO competitor analysis can help you investigate what your competition is doing. Then you can decide which topics would make the cut and what interests the eLearning audience.
Define your avatar/persona. It all starts with research. The first step is to consider which readers you want to target. That’s the most straightforward and best way to market your eBook to the right people. When deciding on your target audience, creating a content strategy that will interest your readers is essential to converting marketing into sales.
If you are looking for a good eBook marketing strategy, you should focus on a specific target audience. For example, this audience is people in a particular industry looking for training. Or it’s people looking for a specific training type and facing X, Y, Z challenges. Trying to reach every audience is foolish since it won’t do any good to your business. You’ll just end up having many leads without the intention of them buying your eLearning product.
For more information on targeting your ideal buyers, don’t forget to take a look at these marketing articles:
Your Ideal eLearning Buyer Persona Is Not A Unicorn
3 Ways To Improve Your SEO Strategy Performance With User Personas
2. eBook Topics To Get The Attention Of The eLearning Audience
If you want to write a successful eBook, providing exceptional value for your readers is key. You see, not all eBooks make the cut. Writing eBooks that are valuable and knowledgeable allows you to build stronger relationships with your audience. And, since you’ve done your research beforehand, you won’t struggle with your eBook marketing strategies as you promote it to the masses.
So, what’s the type of eBook that you want to write? That’s one of the first steps. Also, you must understand your topic of interest. It’s best to have a Subject Matter Expert work with you if you don’t have experience in the field. Because it will show in your content.
One cool trick I’ve discovered is that if you present your ideas in a unique way, you can win your audience over. So, make sure to tap your expertise and ideas to create a book that changes people’s lives after reading. Give them the solution they are craving. Help them tackle a challenge by showing them how it’s done. Along the way, don’t forget that your eBook needs to look good. We’ll talk more about making your eBook attractive in another section.
So, when creating your eBook content strategy, make sure to be very specific about what you want to talk about and who you want to target with your content.
Check here to get some ideas for eBooks.
3. How Long Should An eBook Be?
When writing an eBook, length, structure, and outline are the main things you must consider. Many of you ask me how many pages should be in an eBook. Does it have to do with the eBook topic? What about the eBook outline?
Your eBook can be as short or as long as you like, but is this effective? I think not. Sure, you might have much to say about specific eLearning topics, but maybe you’d be better off splitting it into an eBook series.
The point of writing eBooks is that users can read them on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. Another thing you should consider about eBook length is that using large blocks of text can be tiring to read. So, it’s wise to use more visuals to break up the text a bit. Or you can even consider devoting an entire page to a single pull quote.
What is undoubtedly true is that a single-page document cannot be considered an eBook. So, make sure always to hit double-digits when creating eBooks. Typically, you can see eBooks that range from 20 to 30 pages online. You can even find eBooks that are as long as 70 pages. However, the longer the eBook is, the less likely the author offers it for free.
When it comes to word length, you can write an eBook that is as long as 8,000-10,000 words. That’s if you want to follow best practices and be able to repurpose your content in the form of articles. Make sure to get enough attention and love from your graphic designers to make your eBook appealing. Just a note here; to hit the 20-page mark mentioned above, you’ll need to write about 3,000–4,000 words.
4. How To Write An eBook To Sell
Now that it’s time to make your own eBook, you must be wondering what the best practices are when it comes to creating eBooks for businesses that sell eLearning products.
So, you’ve got a course up, and your blog is rolling. But you need help finding a way to increase course sign-ups. Creating eBooks is a great way to draw in leads for your online course.
First, forget what you know about the traditional publishing industry. Writing an eBook to sell your online courses or promote your eLearning business doesn’t have anything to do with classic eBook publishing. Most eBooks are relatively easy to make if you’re familiar with writing articles or creating blogs.
That said, if you can write an online course, you can write an eBook for business purposes. And when using eBooks for lead generation and other marketing purposes, you can efficiently design and self-publish them as free PDFs or gated assets. The important thing is to write valuable content for your readers. Also, describing it accurately is vital to get the right people to download it.
Your expertise is the critical factor in your effort to start. Even though picking the subject matter of your eBook might be challenging, it’s well worth the trouble if you want to increase sales. So, always choose a topic that speaks to the needs and interests of your potential buyers. And, of course, don’t give much away. The trick is to make them sign up for your course or agree to a free trial or demo of your eLearning product.
It’s always a good marketing strategy to write an eBook. And remember, the key to a successful eBook is choosing the content level carefully.
Are you wondering how you can convert leads into buying customers? You’ll enjoy reading these:
Cold Vs. Warm Vs. Hot Leads: How To Attract And Close eLearning Leads In 2023
Lead Conversion: How To Convert Leads Through eBooks
5. Graphics, Media, And eBook Cover Design
Well, I bet you’ve heard the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover,” right? Not exactly. At least for eBooks, everyone judges a book by its cover. Especially when looking for information on the internet or when checking eBooks by different publishers and companies.
Trust me when I say that having a killer cover is vital if you want more downloads or eBook sales. By focusing on the eBook cover, you can make it appealing to your audience. If you’re looking for eBook cover ideas, make sure to take a look at eLearning Industry’s eBook library.
An exceptional eBook cover indeed creates a great first impression. And it helps stand out from the competition if readers can choose between different eBook options. Also, make sure that the written content offers value to your readers. And trust me, they know when you’ve worked hard to write something that matters or when you’re simply trying to sell something to them.
So, what makes a great cover? After seeing hundreds of eBooks on our eLearning website, I’ve found some key factors you should consider. First, ensure that you’ve used an appealing eBook headline and that the font is readable. Also, communicate how much the customer will get in the title. Sometimes less is more, so using an image is not always imperative. Adding a subtitle might give your audience something to think about.
You can even use eBook templates to save some time. There is plenty of free material online to help novice eBook writers. Or you can ask your graphic designer to create a few eBook templates for your content efforts.
Don’t forget to take a look at the eLI eBook sampler. You’ll find several eBook examples to help you create quality content that your audience will love!
6. Do I Need To Hire Professional eBook Writers?
I hear you—not everyone is made to write eBooks for a living. And talking about eBook authoring, well, sometimes you just have to leave it to the experts.
Time might not be enough to create content. Or you may lack the SEO content writing skills to attract the audience you need to your website. If so, you can hire a professional copywriter or content writer to help you by writing eBooks for your business.
Working with a content marketing agency is very common in the eLearning industry when it comes to publishing quality eBooks. Such content writers are called ghostwriters. You can either hire a professional content writer on a freelance platform like Upwork or Fiverr, or simply team up with a marketing agency. Just make sure the writer you choose has expertise in writing and publishing eLearning content.
Truth be told, when a business has experience in using information eBooks for marketing purposes, they know how to write an eBook to sell to a particular audience.
To make a partnership that works, please take a look at the following tips:
What The Best Content Marketing Agencies Offer To Clients
7. Best eBook Marketing Strategies To Try
When creating an eBook, you should have one goal in mind. What’s that? Driving traffic to your eLearning website, growing your email list, and focusing on boosting conversions. And, if it’s your first eBook launch, you should plan your eBook marketing strategies and promotion wisely.
Here are some ideas you can try:
Create A Compelling eBook Landing Page
As mentioned earlier, lead generation eBooks can drive conversions. So, the more leads you get, the better. Including the main highlights from your eBook on your landing page would be a good idea. Don’t forget to let your audience understand how they can benefit from getting your eBook. Create hype and work your way to convince your audience that reading your eBook is the best choice they could make. If your primary CTA doesn’t drive the desired results, then it’s time to optimize it. For more ideas, make sure to read about landing page optimization best practices and conversion rate optimization. This is one of the best eBook marketing strategies that eLearning businesses and successful online course creators follow.
Email Marketing For eBook Promotion
Through my experience in content marketing, sending out emails is one of the most effective ways to market eBooks. Do you have an email marketing list? Use it to reach your targeted audiences. And if you need more help, you can try several email marketing solutions to create more buzz around your eBook launch. List segmentation is critical to get the best results and increase conversion chances.
Tell Your Audiences Through Social Media
When your eBook is published, it’s no time to be shy about it. Leverage social media to make some noise about your eBook and let everyone know why they miss out if they don’t read it. Create more hype by being active on your social media pages like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Another great way to tap your audiences could be to get interviewed before the eBook launch. This type of content gets lots of attention. Many publishing websites do Q&As and thought leader interviews. Or you can even land an interview on an online show on YouTube or a podcast. Participating in an online show will increase your reputation and trustworthiness, and help you position your eBook and show your creativity simultaneously. Reach out to content creators with a significant following and team up with them to present your expertise.
Can you think of another way to get people interested in an eBook? Do share your opinion in the comments section!
Co-Promote Your eBook
Another great idea is to find a relevant partner in your niche when planning out which eBook marketing strategies to choose. I suggest asking a well-known figure in your niche to promote your eBook. There are plenty of eLearning influencers with whom you can work. Ideally, you can choose someone well known in the eLearning industry who delivers a similar type of service. Make sure that the person you decide to work with has an audience that matches yours.
For more info on this, please read the benefits of thought leadership marketing.
Offer Your eBook For Free
Sure, many decide to sell an eBook at a certain price. But, since an eBook is a fantastic lead magnet, you might be better off offering your eBook as a free asset to get people to sign up for your email list. By getting your target audience’s contact details, you can later on encourage and convert them into paying customers. Again, there’s a way to use influencers with this approach. You can offer your eBook to significant influencers to get more audiences. Or, another idea could be to share your eBook with people for free and ask for testimonials and reviews in exchange. That might prove fruitful, especially if you have eLearning software and are looking for ways to get more customer reviews.
Key Takeaway
By now, you must have gotten the gist of how to create eBooks for brand awareness, lead generation, and sales. If you’re planning to use eBooks in your strategic marketing plan for the upcoming months, you first need to consider what your ideal customers need. Therefore, focusing on what your customers want and how your eLearning product or service can help you can determine what to write in an eBook.
For example, if you’re offering eLearning services and complementary leadership development courses, you may want to write an eBook on the importance of leadership development training for different industries or how top talent can improve their expertise and skills with this approach. Such topics can grab the attention of your potential audience. By doing so, they might be intrigued to look at your eLearning website. Or at least consider what you have to offer to help them cover their eLearning needs.
And remember, a good eBook understands the customer’s position. It’s not about you and what you’re selling. On the contrary, it’s about how your services and expertise can prove helpful to the customer because they solve the X, Y, and Z problems. So, when creating an eBook for the eLearning audience, please keep their perspective at the top of your mind before even writing the content.
Look, there’s no magical way to write an eBook in 7 days, but you can surely make it happen if you follow the tips I shared in this article. It might take some more time and effort, but hey, quality content needs care, and you have to develop a strategy that works. No point in creating eBooks that people don’t like, right?
For more info on how to promote an eBook, check the eLearning marketing guide for eLearning companies.
