Bit 'n Java

It has always been acknowledged that the greatest way to get business and acknowledgment in a field is to pre-sell yourself. The traditional ways of doing this was through public speaking and writing articles. Through the use of these mediums, people remember you and when they need your services they will call on you to render your expertise to them.

The newest way to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise is through the web. The Internet offers many great avenues through which one can publish their knowledge on a particular subject whether it be on a career or a hobby. Web sites on a particular niche that you are familiar with is a great method of getting published and sharing your background at the same time. However, unless someone has the newest Internet enabled phone, getting access to that information  could be a challenge.

Publishing ebooks is the answer to getting your knowledge published on the Internet as well as into a format that could be taken offline to read later on just about any device that can open an ebook or digital document. To some, this is a topic that is hard to comprehend. I have found this myself in talking with people new to the concept. So, What is an ebook?

An ebook is basically the digital equivalent of a traditional printed book which can be read on any computer, mobile device or dedicated ebook reader. They are typically written using a word processing program on a computer or hand-held device, saved as a standard file such as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file.

The great thing about ebooks is that you can embed hyperlinks into them which readers can then click to gain access to websites. Because ebooks can be handed from one person to another, it is a great form of marketing one’s products or services while explaining the topic in detail. This will not only establish yourself as an expert in the topic, but also lead your readers to your website(s) or blog for more information.

Creating ebooks is quite simple. All one needs is a word processor such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Write, AbiWord, or Corel WordPerfect. You simply format your document the way a book or report would be written and then saved as a PDF file that can be universally be read. If your word processing program doesn’t have the ability to save to PDF, there are many FREE utilities that will do it for you, such as CutePDF.

After you’ve created your PDF, how you choose to market it is up to you. You may simply choose to give it away free as a promotion or sell it as a product on an online store, eBay, or dedicated web page. 

For more information about the process of writing, promoting and using ebooks, download the Ebook Creation Toolkit.

I hope that you all begin to explore the many uses of ebooks in marketing your skills and hobbies and make a little money too in the process.