Okay. You have been blogging for a while now. The AdSense checks may or may not be rolling in. You have a growing fan base. You can claim somewhat to be an growing expert in your niche.

Now how do you turn all that hard work into steady income? Easy. By creating and selling your very own eProduct … in this case, eBooks.

Okay it’s not as easy as it would seem, but it can be achieved.

Following are my 7 steps to a successful eBook.

1. The Idea
2. Planning It
3. Writing It
4. The Design
5. The Packaging
6. The Sales Page
7. Taking Payments

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1. The Idea
The basic theory of what makes a successful eBook is finding a problem and solving it.

Find a niche, research what they are looking for (what’s bothering them, what they want) and give it to them in a neat, concise package.

My number one idea generator comes from lurking around forums. It’s the ultimate focus group and I never fail to gather up a ton of potential ideas.

Once you have a general topic you can sit down and do some brainstorming. Jot down everything that comes to mind on the topic, leaving the internal editor behind. Anything goes in a brainstorming session.

Once finished pick one topic that’s fairly narrow in it’s scope and stick to it. Master it. You don’t want to be too wide in your eBook topic. A potential customer wants a very specific problem solved.

2. Planning It
The real art of completing your eBook in a reasonable time is organization. By breaking down the topics you will cover you can get to the writing part and do it in chunks. This makes what could be an overwhelming task in front of you to write the eBook more manageable.

As an example you organize your eBook into 10 chapters with each chapter having say, 5 sub-headings. Now you have a set schedule in front of you.

3. Writing It
The natural next step is to write the eBook being guided by the outline you have previously created.

By breaking down the actual writing to bits and pieces you can have the first draft completed within weeks if not days. Also, by having it outlined in front of you, you should never be really stuck for a word or where to go next. It has all been planned out well in advance. Remember, this isn’t some literary novel where you only write if inspiration strikes you. It is non-fiction writing. It’s a business.

4. The Design
If you want to be an information publisher for the long-term then the way your eBook looks is just as important as the content.

The design is a vital element in how you are perceived: How professional you are.

Taking your time to get the design right will tell your reader (and hopefully future buyers of your products) that you are offering up a quality product.

Issues such as consistency in various design elements can make or break you. Pick a font and stick with it throughout. Pick a color scheme and stick with it. Don’t change your font sizes from page to page etc., Take a look at how a tradtional book is presented.

5. The Package
Many may scoff at it but the virtual 3D eCover works. When you are marketing a downloable product that will never literally get into the hands of your potential customer the eCover is the next best thing. It makes your eBook a breathing, living thing.

It may even be the difference between making the purchase or not for some. Yes, it’s true! My initial surveys when I was in the pre-launch phase of ePublishingDaily showed up some interesting facts.

Fact: Over a period of three months I had a information publisher publish their eBook with two sales page - exactly the same copy, except one had a 3D eCover and the other didn’t.

The one with the eCover included sold 42% more eBooks.

But just as a good eCover may actually boast sales, a poorly designed one could have the opposite effect. There are a variety of eCover software and desginers out there - see me recent post: 7 eBook Cover Software.

My suggestion for new publishers is to search around the web and save every eCover they come across that they like. Study them. Why did it catch your attention. Then if you have a design bone in you go ahead and create an eCover with one of the software on the market. If you’re design-challenged like myself at times contract a designer to do it for you. It’s money well spent.

6. The Sales Page
Okay. Hands up those of you who have had it up to here with those longish one page sales letters? (I wrote about it recently in The Long Sales Letter). You’ve seen all the tricks. The dealine that amazingly finishes tonight. The five bonuses. It’s cookie-cutter stuff. It might have worked a few years back (and still does even today at times) but we are all much more marketing savvier. We can smell the soppy marketing a mile away.

I believe those long sales letters can and should be cut down to a third of their size. The sales page should provide a clear message. A strong headline. Real facts.

The fact of the matter is that the blogosphere can all make us famous in our selected niches. And this should be the backbone of your eBook marketing push. Blogging can give you credibitlity. With that credibility, blogging builds you a fan base. It’s from that fan base that you make your sales pitch.

7. Taking Payments
Very, very easy. If you want just the basics, thanks mamam .. then PayPal is by and far the best bet. It literally takes only a few minutes to set up a buy button.

You can also work with PayLoadz in cojunction with PayPal so that once a sale is made it can be instabtly and securely downloaded by the buyer - because isn’t that exactly what we want in todays instant gratification society: I Want It Right Now!

If you don’t want to go down the PayPal route (some people really hate PayPal) then I can recommend 2CheckOut.com as a good alternative.

For those needing more features including an affiliate program, shopping cart and autoresponder I’d recommend investing in Professional Cart Solutions.

I’m not a big fan of ClickBank but I have to admit that it can work - and does for many. It’s a rather simple setup and you have the added advantage of having access to a ready supply of willing affiliates ready to push your product.

And there you have - a quick look at the 7 steps to a successful eBook. Okay, this was just a broad brushstroke on the issues involved in going from idea to selling your ebook. I’ll be furthering the points I’ve made in a more in-depth 7-part series of posts in July.

As always, your thoughts and ideas are welcomed - and please take me to task if you feel strongly on an issue I’ve talked about here.