Comments on: Create Sellable Content the Easy Way by Repurposing Blog Content

By: Azam

Azam — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:00:11 +0000

That is the hardest part which you have to create your own product. Especially for someone like me that not really good in explaining things.
Anyway, more or less I need to learn and start to do it one day.

By: Elisa Anderson

Elisa Anderson — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:23:31 +0000

Michael: Thank you for the good advise! Just needing to drive more traffic to myblog site Elisa

By: Keiron

Keiron — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:28:47 +0000

Aha, the problem is the blog you’re looking at is my personal blog – just random titbits and the posts in question started off as more of a reminder to myself (I’ve referred back to them thousands of times myself!).

I run other blogs targeted to very specific niches, it’s just that these two posts on my personal blog get so much attention it would be nice to do something with them!

By: Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

Michael Martine, Blog Consultant — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:16:04 +0000

@Carrie – There is a correlation between size and price. There has to be some “there” there for people to feel that what they’re getting is worth the money. A general rule of thumb is that an ebook (as opposed to a white paper or a report) should be at least 25 pages.

There is no correlation between price and quality, but there is between price and value. Never give away something you couldn’t charge for and expect to sell. Establish a value for what you give away so people know they’re getting something valuable for free. Nobody wants something worthless for free! When you do charge, generally the more you charge, the more value people will see in the ebook. However, it needs to deliver on its promises and have happy buyers, otherwise it will be seen as a rip-off. The value can be higher than you might at first think, but of course it must be real (and I’m sure you wouldn’t do it any other way).

By: Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

Michael Martine, Blog Consultant — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:06:48 +0000

@RC - Good question, but first I'd like to point you to my comment policy, which is above the comment write box. I appreciate your comments, but it would be great if you didn't put keywords into the name field. You may have read somewhere that's a good idea... it isn't. Use your real name and people will think more favorably of you and be more likely to click through to your site (think traffic, not PageRank). Ebooks are not dead. Not by far. But they are not the only medium for information products anymore. My recent product, WordPress SEO Secrets, consists of an ebook, mp3 files, video files, and a continuity add-on in the form of a PDF newsletter (essentially an ebook). Membership sites provide access to content on the web, but many also provide PDF downloads for people who don't want to read web pages or watch video. Ebooks are also a great way to test the market for a bigger product, such as a physical product, live seminars, or membership sites.

By: Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

Michael Martine, Blog Consultant — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:55:32 +0000

@Keiron – I don’t think the answer is to necessarily do a spin-off blog. There are two forces at work here: what your audience wants from you, and what you want for yourself. When those two things are in alignment, magic happens. If you thought of your blog as a business instead of “just” a blog, what would you do differently? Maybe drop some of the personal stuff (you can use other social media for that). Maybe focus on the topics that your audience hungers for, and about which you love to write.

It depends on what your ultimate goal is in blogging. Better yet, think about your life goals, and then see if you can draw a map of how blogging and internet marketing can help you reach those goals. If you don’t have goals, that would be the first place to begin.

By: Keiron

Keiron — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:51:04 +0000

Michael, I realise the need for immediate download and would probably write or purchase a script capable of doing that for me.

I see what you’re seeing about my blog, but I do rank number 1 for this particular search term with one of my posts, and it’s hugely popular – is the real answer to create a spin-off blog just on this topic (arrrghh, not another blog to maintain!?)

By: rc cars

rc cars — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:36:55 +0000

Hmm,

This is an interesting topic….I have crteated ebooks before but I have never thought of what you have suggested before!

I must confess that I am a blog newbie and should really use a blog more to boost my business etc.

One question though…isn’t the ebook thing getting a bit old hat now(in terms of selling them?) I have been around the internet and internet marketing for a while now and I think that ebooks may have gone a little out of flavour what with the onset of audio/video etc…However, they still make great freebies…

I could be speaking complete baloney here so If I am, please put me right:-)

Grant

By: carrie

carrie — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:15:54 +0000

Thanks Michael, this was a helpful video. Since I’ve had my blog, carriewriter.com, for about 3 years now, I am thinking of compiling some of the topics as an e-book, so this give me food for thought. Wondering if this should be free, or if it ends up being longer, then I should charge a small fee. Is there any correlation between the length and charging or not?
Thanks

By: Michael Martine, Blog Consultant

Michael Martine, Blog Consultant — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:49:59 +0000

@Keiron – You could do that if you want to, but then you will run into fulfillment problems. When people buy a digital information product online, they expect to download it instantly. So, unless you want to sit there in front of your inbox waiting for orders to come in, that’s not a very good way to do it.

You may have difficulties because your blog is not about one subject on which people need help or on which people can see you as an authority.