Have you ever heard a successful author discuss his or her idea generation techniques? If so, you probably remember at least one talking about keeping a digital voice recorder, or pad and pen, readily available 24/7 so that whenever and wherever inspiration strikes, a great idea is not forgotten.
But, maybe your problem is not forgetting ideas for topics to write about.
Perhaps y
ou just can’t seem to come up with an idea for your first or next e-book.
The good news is, there are plenty of proven ways to give your brain a kick-start so you come up with a killer topic for an informative, engaging and financially successful e-book.
Here are 7 ways you can use to come up with a great e-book idea every time.
1 – Ask your audience. This is so easy and obvious that it is often overlooked. You can do this through a blog post, survey or email autoresponder sequence. This method allows you to put the power of multiple minds to work for you, and ensures you will have people interested in purchasing the final product, always a plus!
2 – Start with “how to avoid _____”, filling in the blank with something that applies to your area of interest, blog or marketplace. For example, how to avoid “gaining weight on the holidays”, “re-gaining weight after losing it” or “cheating on my diet” are all great ideas if you have a weight loss blog.
3 – Cheat – well, not really cheat. Let successful writers do the research for you. Check out a magazine stand, a bookstore or library. Look for titles that relate to your blog or online business. Use these ideas for the topic of the book or magazine, and get to work. DO NOT COPY OTHER PEOPLE’S WORK!!
4 – Browse online groups and communities. Forums, chat rooms and social media sites are great places to look for free information regarding your area 
of expertise. For example type “weight loss forum” into Google (if your niche is weight loss) and see what comes up. You can also replace the word “forum” with chat rooms, social media sites, Facebook pages and other phrases that describe where people hang out and talk about their problems and interests.
5 – Reread old blog posts. Your blog posts and web pages contain a lot of information. This is a simple way to brainstorm ideas for a possible e-book. If you track your visitors (and you should) see which posts had the most engagement.
6 – While you are looking at the problems in your niche you might solve, identify those you can solve in a short period of time. Ebooks that promise results in 7, 14, 21 or 30 days sell extremely well. People are in a rush and don’t want to wait around for results.
7 – Write about something you recently did in your business. Did you just start building an email list? Are you good at giving webinars? Bloggers and other online business owners looking for ideas to write an e-book about need look no further than their own online presence.
These 7 methods should be more than enough to help you find the topic for your next e-book.
… or maybe not an e-book… maybe a course instead… hmmmm.
Until next time!
Barb
