Electronic books, or e-books, are one of the quickest ways to make you an infopreneur, or someone who makes money by selling information. As a service business owner, it's also a simple way to sell the information that you have spent countless hours amassing to all of those who want to buy what you know but who cannot afford to hire you as a service provider.



The most effective way to market your e-book is via a one-page website. If you already have a website, I recommend that you set up a separate stand-alone page for this e-book. Most domain registrars will permit you to forward and mask your product domain to an internal page of your current website. If you don't have a site, you can create a one-page site with its own hosting.

Here's what you need to know to successfully market your e-book via a one-page website:

1. An identifiable target market. E-books work best as a product for a very specific niche market, like an e-book on how to teach your dog tricks, how to effectively meditate to relieve stress, or how to find a green career. You need to be able to identify and describe your target market, from determining what the target market needs and what they'll pay for (as well as how much they will pay) to what publications they read, what groups/associations do they belong to, and where they hang out both on- and offline. Make sure you understand what your target market needs and how to reach them before proceeding to the next step.

2. A domain name. The domain name for your e-book site should mirror or closely resemble your product name or a prominent feature of your product.

3. A give-away. You have two goals for your e-book site: get the contact info from your visitors and convert them into paying customers. Because not everyone will buy your primary product (thus providing you with their contact information), you need another strategy to collect your prospect's information.

4. A merchant account. In order to collect payments, you need to be able to take credit card payments online and provide electronic product delivery. Your merchant account company needs to offer a "virtual terminal", which lets you enter and process transactions online and interfaces with your shopping cart program.

The most commonly used virtual terminal is that provided by Authorize.net. If you don't want to invest in a merchant account, you can begin by using third-party processors like PayPal or Click Bank, but they offer less flexibility than a full merchant service.

6. Shopping cart software. Ultimately, your shopping cart software will be a workhorse for you and enable you to automate many functions of your online business.

7. Sales letter page. This is the primary sales page of your e-book website, containing a long sales letter with benefits of your product and testimonials of others who've used the product.

E-books are one of the quickest and inexpensive ways to help you establish your expertise and create another source of income for your business. Follow this simple e-book marketing plan and begin selling your information today!