Today's digital world has made the dream a reality for many people. Now, owning a profitable business is within the grasp of just about anyone.

How? E-books are a great way to make money online. By following the step-by-step approach below, you can create a business quickly and easily… in your spare time.

Few other businesses allow you to become profitable so quickly with such a small investment. You don't need to be an expert at building web pages; you don't need to be an expert at the e-book topic.

But what if you...

Are short on cash? Not a problem! For a small investment and a few hours of work, you can create a potentially profitable business.

Are short on time? Not a problem! Many people are surprised that it takes such a short amount of time. That's the beauty of the internet: you can start a business in the next couple weeks that can have you earning money by the end of the month.

Have a day job? Not a problem! Selling e-books requires a little time to start the business and nearly no time to maintain it... It's completely automated.

So how do you do it?

Simple, just follow these tried-and-true steps and soon you'll be earning your way to real riches from digital downloads. (Note: cost and time information is estimated).

1. Decide on a topic you think might sell. It can be a hobby of yours or one of the many hot topics out there that you know will probably be a popular seller. Cost: $0. Time: 30 minutes.

2. Hire a freelance e-book writer to create the book for you. Depending on your needs and your budget, you can get a book from 25 to 150 pages very affordably; and it may even be ghostwritten so you can have your own name on it! You can find good writers at Guru.com. Cost: $100 - $1000. Time: 1 day to 3 months.

3. While the e-book is being written, purchase a URL, a website, and web-hosting from one of the many affordable providers online, like Godaddy.com. Many of these online web-hosting providers will also provide templates that let you put together a website very quickly without any technical experience. If you're not sure of which web-hosting company to use, ask your e-book writer for a suggestion. Cost: $100 - $300. Time: 1 - 4 hours.

4. When the e-book is written, sign up at a digital information seller like Clickbank.com. They may have additional requirements that you need put on your site to help people buy your e-book. Cost: $50. Time: 30 minutes.

5. Depending on your e-book topic, you may want to advertise. Google AdWords is a popular and simple method of advertising. Your freelance e-book writer should have a few other suggestions for you. Cost: $25. Time: 30 minutes.

Once you've done all that, how does it work?

A customer goes to your site and reads what you have to say about the e-book. If they decide they want to buy it, they click the "buy now" button and are taken to the digital download site. That site takes their payment and sends the customer back to your site and the download process begins. The digital information seller will send you the money for the book (minus a small fee for payment processing).

That's it! It's that easy!

And since it's that easy, so many people are doing it right now. Do you want in on the action? Do you want to turn your entrepreneur dreams into entrepreneur reality? You can!

And here's a bonus tip for you: You should be able to create one of these businesses every month, just from working one or two weekends on it. If you start now, by this time next year you'll have 12 automated businesses making money while you sleep, work, or play!