Many businesses today use ebooks to help promote their products and services. For some businesses, an ebook becomes one of your products. Here’s an overview of how to think about using an ebook in your business, and an overview of the ebook design, development, and distribution process.

• Before You Start: You use social media for your business.
• Learning level: 4 | Creating Solutions
• Article Last Updated: Friday, December 2, 2011

Ebooks And Social Media

Ebooks provide a great way to share information with your current and potential customers. They are easy to promote and distribute through social media to your online community.

There are two different types of ebooks people talk about using the same name. The type I’m talking about today are the PDF files that you create and people download to their own computers. In this post, I’m not talking about ebooks for e-readers like the Kindle or Nook.

I published my first business ebook more than three years ago. Since then, they have become an important part of how I share information with my online community. Here’s an overview of what I’ve learned from own experiences and from watching how other people create, use, and distribute ebooks.

Define Your Business Goal

You must be clear about the business goal for your ebook. For example:

• Do you want to increase your visibility by writing an ebook that a lot of people will want to read?
• Do you want to increase your email newsletter subscriber list?
• Do you want to prove your expertise so people want to purchase your products and services?

The business goal for your ebook is a major factor in the following types of decisions:

• Will you give away your ebook or charge for it?
• Will you make your ebook available for anyone to download (low threshold), or will you require them to subscribe to your newsletter or join your website (high threshold).
• What topics will you include or exclude? If you want people to purchase your products and services, you only want to give them a taste of what you share in those items.

There is one really important idea you must understand to add a successful ebook to your business. Your ebook must serve your community. It’s not about you showing off what you know. It’s also not about cashing in on your online community. It’s about giving people something that solves problems, improves their lives, and inspires them. If your ebook meets that criteria, it won’t matter if you give it away or charge for it. Your ebook will build loyal fans in your online community.

Make sure your ebook provides real value to your community.

Create Your Ebook

The most important aspect of your ebook is the content. It’s not enough for you to write about something you know and are passionate about in your ebook.

You must always keep in mind your reader.

• What does your reader already know about this subject?
• What does your reader need to learn about this subject?
• How can you help your reader solve a real business (or personal) challenge with your ebook?

You know the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover, ” but in truth, people will evaluate your ebook by the way it looks. You can have the best content in the world on your topic, but if your ebook doesn’t look professional, people will discount the contents.

It’s important that your ebook has a clean, functional layout, consistent design throughout, and that all language and grammar errors are removed.

I don’t know anyone who has all of the skills needed to create a great ebook alone. Start looking now for people who can help you with the parts that challenge you. You may have to pay for their services, or you may be able to work out a barter or collaboration deal with them.

Distribution Decisions

Before you tell the world about your ebook, you have to get your distribution mechanisms in place. For example:

• Your ebook is free. Write a blog post that explains the features and benefits of your ebook to your target audience. Include a link to the ebook file with a download button. You may also want to add your ebook to your blog sidebar for increased visibility.
• You require a sign up. Write a blog post about your ebook, and include the sign up form at the bottom of the post. Set up the form with your membership software or email list service. Mention your ebook in your blog sidebar with a link to this blog post.
• Purchase required. Write a blog post that explains the features and benefits of your ebook and include an e-commerce link in the post. Depending on your site, you may add a purchase button at the bottom of the post, or a link to the ebook inside the e-commerce portion of your site. This is the most complicated option, and may require additional technical assistance. You also want to make your product visible to all of your site and blog visitors.

It’s critical that you test your distribution before you tell the world about your ebook! Make sure that you have things set up correctly and that your customers will have a smooth experience getting your ebook. I can’t stress this enough! Test it many times.

Launch Your Ebook

After you complete your ebook and have the distribution system ready, it’s time to tell the world. There are many websites, ebooks, books, and courses online today to help you successfully launch your new ebook. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Instead of saying “you must get my amazing new ebook,” focus on the features and benefits your ebook provides to its readers. Talk about the problems your ebook solves. Go back to your writing decisions when you were thinking about the readers, and emphasize those points in your launch.

In general, you want to use all of your social media and customer communication tools to spread the news.

• Use your existing tools and publication devices (blog, mailing list, website, etc.) to announce your ebook to the world.
• Send notices to people who can share your ebook with their audience (bloggers, authors, PR agencies, customers, etc.)
• Post notices using your social media tools. Post it on your Facebook wall, share it on LinkedIn, and tweet about it.
• Include ebook information in your email signature.

It’s really important that you don’t do anything that seems spammy. If it seems like it might be spammy, don’t do it. For example, don’t send an auto direct message (DM) to your new Twitter followers with an ad for your ebook!

Your turn: Have you created an ebook for your business? What did you learn in the process? Have you loved an ebook someone else created? Have you been disappointed by someone’s ebook? Share your insights here.

Related Articles:

• Getting Started With Ebooks
• It’s Not Obvious To Anyone Else
• Find Social Media Topics For Your Business
• Talk About Your Business (Part 2)
• Social Media Press Releases