From farmer to pharmacist, we all have special skills. If you are a professional or have in-depth knowledge (and please don't overlook all the special talents that you have acquired over a life-time) you might be interested in sharing this with others. How to choose a babysitter. Dealing with chronic illness. Games to play with your grandchildren. Things to look for when buying a house. These are all topics which might seem everyday to you, but to someone else can be a major dilemma.


Did you know that it is EASY to write an e-book?

If you've ever written a report in school, then you've already got the basics and are well on your way.

• Take a subject that really interests you and do some in-depth research. If you're the expert in your field, just go ahead and provide new information to the market.
  
  No matter how intrigued you might be with your subject, however, you need to look beyond yourself if you are planning to invest your time and money in the creation of a marketable ebook. Would the public buy an ebook on this subject? How would you even find out??
  
  A simple survey can answer these questions for you.
  Read this special report on how to effectively do a survey and create an instant best seller
  
  
• You've done your survey and the results were great! There's a definite market for your idea. Now it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Write an outline of the sample chapters you feel will need to be included. Think of how a prospective reader might view the subject, which questions they might be wondering about in their mind, and in which order.
  
  Don't forget to take your prospective reader's age and reading ability into consideration. Writing a children's book in university language just wouldn't work very well. :o)
  
  
• Write a rough draft. Show it to a few friends as well as to some business people or experts in the field. You want input from those who will honestly evaluate your work without worrying about hurting your feelings. This is no time for ego. If you want your work to sell, you NEED to know peoples' opinions.
  
  
• Listen carefully not only to what they are saying, but to what they might not be saying. What vital piece of information might be missing from your book?
  
  
• Edit! Edit! Edit!! I can't say this strongly enough. You might have the next top 10 best-seller on your hands, but if you are self-publishing, you NEED to get things like spelling, grammar and the "flow" of the book right.
  
  A book filled with mistakes - no matter how much it might be needed and wanted by the public - simply will not sell. So do not hesitate to edit, change things around, revise, add more information, and delete entire sections.
  
  The only thing I would caution you about is, if you are working on a computer, save those rough drafts and discards! Nothing is more frustrating than realizing the pages you wrote 3 days ago were your most superior work, and you've gone and deleted them!
  
  
• Once the body of the ebook is complete (including table of contents, credits, etc), you will need to come up with a pleasing book cover.
  
  Unless you are a graphic designer or plan to go through a publishing company, please do hire an artist for this job. After all, isn't it either the title of a book or the cover that first grabs your attention? A shoddy bookcover, without intending to, reflects on the prospective work inside.
  
  
• If you would like to write books like a professional, How To Write Any Book IN UNDER 28 DAYS by Nick Daws guarantees you will meet this goal by writing for a maximum of 1 hour per day. Fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, reports - he's got the exact methods you'll need to take your concept through to final manuscript. There are also some great time-savers & shortcuts.
  Click now to see How To Write Any Book IN UNDER 28 DAYS.

This was my first e-book creation

The Ancient Art Of Bonsai

From how to take care of your new bonsai plant to advanced techniques like wiring, this handy guide is a lovely introduction to an ancient art. Beautiful photos. FREE exe or pdf download

As you can see, you simply take your favourite hobby, interest, or career information and go from there.

And never be shy about doing some short little free ebooklets the first few times around. It will give you experience, plus you will see whether this wonderful, creative process brings you joy or causes you to tear your hair out.


Compiling Your E-Book

Your book has been written, double-checked for spelling and grammar mistakes, and you're darn proud of your creation.

CONGRATULATIONS!
You should be!

So now how do you turn it into something that people can download?

There are several options here. The one that up until now seems to have been standard is to turn the book into a pdf file. That's one that uses Adobe Acrobat Reader (it's free) to decipher it.


Back to compiling your book. If you want to put it into pdf format, just go to:


They give you 3 FREE trials, after which time you can create PDF files on-line for only $9.95 per month (at the time of this writing).

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The only frustration that I encountered working with pdf files is that they don't like colored backgrounds, can't handle animations, and always tend to have that standard "look" about them. The good part is that they are easily printed and the format is suitable for viewing on most computers.

If you would like to see the difference in the 2 formats, you can compare the finished result with these two versions... bonsai exe or bonsai pdf

Being somewhat creative, I wanted to try something more than the standard pdf files. I wanted people to be able to really enjoy the experience of reading an e-book. To that end I went searching and found a compiler that I highly recommend to anyone who is doing more than just words on a page.

Activ E-Book Compiler - with fully functional FREE trial download Make and sell your own information products: Simple to use Packed with powerful features Drive traffic to your web site Creates e-books that you can sell Start today - test run the software for FREE by clicking here

This is what I use for creating my own e-books. It truly delivers an outstanding product, and the service is fast, courteous and reliable. There's a section for total beginners, called E-Book Apprentice, which gently takes you through all the special features and shows you how things work. Plus it also has free scripts, advanced features and training included!

So let your imagination run free. Think of all the joy you can share with family and friends. Imagine if Grandma sends a special Christmas Story for the little ones...narrated by herself. Or you create a book of your own poetry illustrated with beautiful artwork.

E-books no longer have to be ugly!

Now to get your book onto the web.

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Welcome To The Web

It wasn't long ago that we were starting our first website. We remember the confusion of not knowing how to do things or where to find resources. To help you through those confusing beginnings, here are some links, tips, and resources that have proven invaluable to us.

GETTING STARTED:

A Couple Of Basics

For anyone who is going to spend much time on the web, I can't stress strongly enough the importance of a good virus detection program. My program of choice is Housecall by Trend Micro. They will check your computer via the net for FREE while you surf. Should the program find anything, they will either fix the problem with your permission, or will give you information as to how you can fix it yourself. Click Here For Free Virus-Scan

OK....now to get down to business!



DESIGNING YOUR SITE:

For those of you who are just starting out, there are 2 basic options for getting your business on the internet. You can either hire a good web person to help you with the design and implementation, or you can learn to do it yourself. The main factor here is time. In order to learn to design well you must have the time and motivation to get through the learning process. A designer can shorten that for you and have you up and running relatively quickly, but the main drawback is that you have to keep returning to the designer to implement changes and updates.

Things to look for in a good designer are:

• Personal attention to you and your project. Make sure you are not just one of a long list. Webmasters need to be available, but please be sure not to abuse this service. They are only human and need sleep too.
• Has a style and manner that is complimentary to your own. Ask to see a variety of the projects that they have been involved in. If you don't find a certain flair or style that you like, keep looking.
  *Remember though, that "results" far outweigh "look". Flashy graphics that dance across the page aren't everything. What you are looking for is the bottom line. Will the site get the sales?
• Is your webperson only there for technical support, or do you need extras like copywriting, editing, graphic manipulation, marketing, back-end work like extensive databases, e-commerce, etc? Talking things over before you set out on a course of action can save untold hours and dollars in redesign.

If you choose to do it yourself:

• HTML Goodies.com is a good site for the very beginner.
  
  
• Web Monkey takes you beyond the basics into the challenging world of programming
  
  
• BK HTML Body Builder:  You have to have this tool. It helps you match your colors to the graphics with incredible ease. No more trying to figure out hex code for those lovely shades. My most prized possession, and the ultimate life-saver!
  
  
• Or, if you are in a hurry to get things up and running, Site Build It includes everything you need to succeed on the web.

REGISTERING YOUR DOMAIN NAME:
(You might want to consider doing this first if there is a name that you desperately need)

As the name is the first impression customers will have of your business, NEVER hurry in it's selection. Think of good, descriptive words that fit your marketing plan.

To see if the domain name is available, go to the World's Largest Registrar - GoDaddy.com. They have great domain name registration prices, and also offer easy-to-use hosting with a terrific collection of FREE extras, such as:

• Complete Email account ($9.95 value)
• Starter Web Page
• "For Sale" Page
• Free Parked Page
• Getting Started Guide
• Domain Forwarding & Masking
• 100-Pack Email Forwarding
• Total DNS Control
• Change of Registration
• Status Alerts
• Domain Locking and more

Once the name is registered you need not have your site up immediately. Most sellers will offer free domain name parking. (Go Daddy provides free domain parking)> If by chance the name you want is taken, you can Backorder Domains



If you need SSL Certificates go here.


SITE CONTENT

Many things go into the making of an exceptional site that ranks well on the search engines, is popular, and gets the sales. Content needs to be of superior quality. Links and graphics need to work at all costs. And most of all, the site navigation should be so easy as to be almost instinctual. Nothing is more frustrating than not being able to find what you need on a site.

Make sure you have well-designed meta tags; they are often the keys that search engines look for. When selecting page titles and descriptions, use as many of your keywords as possible while at the same time making it read like an ad. Here is one example that caught our eye. It is from Growit Gold Garden & Landscape Design Software.

Title: Bring Your Dream Gardens To Life
Description: Affordable, easy-to-use garden & landscape design software amazes gardeners worldwide. For beginners to nursery professionals. A "BEST BUY".

Keep your pages fresh. Update as often as possible, and give your repeat visitors new things to look forward to. Repeat visitors are a very big key to continual growth.


TAKING PAYMENTS OVER THE NET

Having your own merchant account is a very valuable commodity to have in your Internet business, but in some cases you will want to use a third party processor to give you better real-time processing (that's when the credit card is either approved or declined within a couple of minutes). For those who are just starting and want to test the waters, this is a very viable alternative. Please read the fine print carefully though, as these programs are not all created equally. Some charge you what looks like high fees, but in reality can work out cheaper than others that don't charge you monthly fees, but have percentages and add-ons. Get out your calculator, do your math, and then make sure that the price you are charging will actually net you a profit (don't forget shipping and handling).

Here are a few of the popular credit card processors:
Internet Secure - a Canadian alternative
ibill.com
DigiBuy
Accept credit cards with ClickBank - plus they put your items in a mall
CCNow
IFulfill - will fill your orders and handle all details for you.




AFFILIATE PROGRAMS:

Affiliate programs can be great if used properly and in moderation. Not only can they generate some additional revenue for your site, but they can fill in some products that you might need. Affiliate programs aren't all run the same way, however. Not only do you need to look at percentages, you need to consider how this income will be coming to you. Does the program offer multi-levels or tiers? Do they set cookies to guarantee that the sale is credited to your account, even if the customer doesn't buy the first time around? What are their minimums before they will send you a cheque? Do they carry the balance forward from one month to the next? Once again, take the time to do the research.

Rather than put up a long list of potential affiliates, here are a couple that will be sure to get you started on the right foot:

• Commission Junction
• Click here to become a LinkShare Affiliate!
• ClickBank if you want to SELL your work through an affiliate program

SUBMITTING TO SEARCH ENGINES:

Submitting to search engines can seem like a very tedious process, but it is extremely important to your business success. There are quite a few programs on the market that will submit the data for you, but I'm finding that as the search engines themselves change their criteria, what might have once been a great submit vehicle for you can become obsolete. It's up to you how you want to do this, and how much money you want to spend.

Here's a great place that lists the top 100 search engines and lets you submit to them all from one source. Sure beats having to find each one first on the net! Submit Plus


DAY-TO-DAY MAINTENANCE:

It might sound like a lot, but through experience we have found that it is best to be willing to set aside a certain amount of time each day and devote it entirely to your website. Keep the information fresh. Monitor your rankings on the search engines. Add a little to your site. Have a lot of fun with your customers and friends. But above all - READ, READ, READ! Things change so quickly on the net.

Above all, don't forget the normal means of advertising - print ads, radio interviews, and business cards. Vista Print has great specials, and you can even get your first 250 business cards FREE. These are the tools that I use daily on all the websites that I am "webmamma" for. I hope they will be able to help you, too.

Wishing you great success in your website adventure!

Sincerely,
Sara