Transcription
I'm going to show you how to create and sell your first ebook online in three days or less, using only free tools. One of my recent ebooks made over $4,000 in just 11 days, and I only had to create it once. After that, it continues to sell on autopilot.
Ebooks are one of the best ways to earn passive income online because people are always searching for quick, valuable solutions to their problems. And if your ebook can help them do that, they're willing to pay. So, let's get into it.
I created my first ebook a few years ago called Digital Workbook for Etsy sellers, and I charged $18 for it. I designed the first version of it within a few hours using a free tool. I published it for free, and not only did I sell multiple copies of it, but I was able to scale it to a higher-ticket digital product down the road, which was a digital course. I was able to dive deeper into the topics I covered in my ebook and charge more for it. And that's exactly what you can do as well.
So, here's how to land on your unique, profitable idea that no one else can replicate. You need to identify your sweet spot, which ultimately lies in the center of these two key points: your skills and the market. To identify your sweet spot, ask yourself: What do people often come to me for help with? What have I figured out that could save someone else time, money, or stress? What personal stories, experiences, struggles, or accomplishments can I share to illustrate what I want to teach? It could be anything you have solved for yourself or for someone else. For example, budgeting tips, content creation, skincare routines, learning a new language, or how to meal prep for the week.
Then head over to search engines like Pinterest, Amazon, or even just Google, and type in your topic idea. If you see many related products or posts getting traction, that's a good thing. It means people are already interested in your idea and, more importantly, willing to pay for it. A bonus is finding existing books on similar topics that are already generating consistent sales and reviews.
So, how do you create your ebook in just a few short hours? First, you need to keep it simple. Profitable does not mean complicated. In fact, the simpler and more streamlined your ebook is, the more likely it is to sell. Use free pre-made templates so you're not just starting from scratch. And leverage AI as your personal writing assistant throughout the entire process so you're not staring at a blank page and constantly experiencing writer's block.
To get started, open up a blank Google Doc where you're going to brainstorm, outline, and write out your entire ebook from start to finish. Then open up Chat GPT in another tab and place it side-by-side with your notes like this. The key is to give Chat GPT as much context as possible so it can help you craft a valuable, unique, and actionable ebook that truly reflects your expertise. Be specific about what you want to create, who it's for, and what transformation or result you want your audience to achieve by the end.
So, in this example, I've shared my background, the idea I have for the ebook, who my target audience is. I then asked it to give me 10 title ideas for this book, and help me outline it into four to six well-defined sections. I also included some of my own ideas and insights to make sure the results are specific to me and aligned with what I want to create. Since I was super specific, I was really impressed with the ideas and structure that Chat GPT gave me.
At this point, I would just copy and paste everything into my Google Doc and start building on it. I usually brain dump more ideas for each part, then feed those bullet points back into Chat GPT and ask it to help me turn them into a few concise, helpful paragraphs. In this example, I'm jotting down a bunch of notes for section one of my ebook, just ideas from my experience, stories, and lessons I want to share, then pasting it into Chat GPT to help me turn it into clear, structured sentences. It really becomes a back-and-forth process, like having your own writing assistant that helps you shape a high-value ebook way faster than doing it alone. I would then repeat this process for the rest of the ebook.
Once you have your sections mapped out, you can keep things super simple by saving your ebook as a PDF and selling it as is, especially if you're happy with how it's formatted. But if you want to give it a more polished, professional look, you can easily use pre-made templates from Canva or KD to make it visually appealing without overthinking the design.
For this demonstration, I'll use Canva. And all you'll need is a free account to follow along. So, if you don't already have an account, you can just sign up right now using your email. And once you're on their homepage, type "ebook" into the search bar and browse through their available templates. If you're using the free plan, make sure to pick a design that does not have the little crown icon that looks like this because those can only be accessed under the pro plan.
Once you find a template you like, just click on it and select "customize this template" to start editing. From there, you can replace the text, colors, and graphics to match your ebook content and style. Just like before, you can have Canva open on one side of your screen and your Google Doc on the other and start copying and pasting everything from your document into your Canva design. Canva is very beginner-friendly and easy to use, even if you've never touched it before. And if you want a bit more guidance, I actually have a full Canva playlist on my channel that you can check out. But honestly, feel free to play around with it, and you'll quickly see how intuitive it is.
Once you're happy with how all your pages look, just click the share button on the top right corner and download your ebook as a PDF file. I also recommend downloading your cover page separately as a JPEG file because you'll need this image to create your product mockup for your sales page or listing. So, just select JPEG as the file type and choose only the first page.
You can go back to Canva's homepage and search "ebook mockup" in the search bar to find a free mockup image to use. I'll choose this one here since it's free and I only need to display the first page for this example. In order to bring in the cover page JPEG file from your computer that you just downloaded, you can go to "uploads" on the left side here or simply drag it into the artboard from your computer and replace the default image in the mockup with your cover page. Change up the text, fonts, and any other elements to match your brand and aesthetic. And when you're ready, you can download this as a JPEG file to upload to your sales page.
Now, to quickly publish your ebook entirely for free because, again, we're only using free tools for this tutorial, you can use PayHip, which allows you to sell digital downloads and all types of digital products. It's super beginner-friendly, and they have different plan options you can choose from. So, I'm going to select the free option for this demonstration, which is all you'll need to get started. I've talked about PayHip in many of my previous videos, so I'm super excited to be partnering with them in this video.
To get started for free, just click right over here and then sign up with your email. Once you've logged in, you'll be brought to your dashboard. And I'm just going to go ahead to "products," and then I'm going to click on "add product." Then select "digital product." And then this is where we're going to upload the product file. So, this is the ebook PDF file that your customers are going to receive after they purchase. All right. So, there's my PDF right there. And then under "title," I'm going to call it "The Ultimate YouTube Launch Plan." Under "price," I'm going to make it $15 US. And then under "cover," you can add up to nine images of your digital product. So, I'm going to upload the mockup that we already created in Canva. So, there it is right there. It looks good. And it does say that the recommended minimum image width is 1,000 pixels. So, just be mindful of that. And I do recommend adding in a few more images to showcase what your digital product is all about. Maybe add in a teaser of the interior pages so your customers know what they're getting.
Under "description," you can actually get Chat GPT to help you write out the benefits and features of your digital product, which is exactly what I did. So, I'm going to copy and paste in my description that I've already put together in a Google Doc. All right, everything looks good. I'm just going to go in and reformat a few sections here. Okay, that's good. So, under "visibility," I'm going to keep it at "visible" because I want everyone to be able to see my product. Under "advanced options," I'm going to select "product is an ebook." Everything else looks good. You can go through this and just select anything that's relevant to your product. But I'm going to go ahead and add my product.
Then to preview our product page, let's just go to "show me my product page." And everything looks good. I love the image, the title, description, and if you added in more images, you'd be able to cycle through all of them right here.
Now, to make sure you can receive payments, go into "account," and then click on "settings." Then select "payment details." And then this is where you can link your PayPal account or your Stripe account. I typically like to provide both options. So, I would link both of them here.
What's great is you can also offer your ebook in a physical copy because PayHip does have a print-on-demand option with Book Vault. So, I'm going to leave a link to this article which provides the step-by-step instructions on how you can provide that option to your customer, whether they want the digital copy or the physical copy of your book.
PayHip also has an online marketplace where you can publish your ebooks at no extra charge. So, this will give you extra visibility and exposure. So, basically, you're tapping into their existing audience—anyone that's already going on to PayHip and looking for a specific ebook. If you're covering that topic, then you have the potential of making even more sales. If you don't have an existing audience, it's super simple to add your ebook to the marketplace. So, under "products," just click on "marketplace," and then you'll see the step-by-step instructions on how to do it. Just select "learn more," and it will walk you through how to edit your product page and then the minimum requirements to be eligible. It also has built-in security features like download limits and PDF stamping to protect your work from piracy. So, I know that's a common concern of many digital product sellers.
Once you're happy with your product, you're ready to share the landing page. So, click on "share/embed." And then this is your product page link. You can copy and paste it to wherever you're planning to promote it.
Now, it's time to promote your ebook. And here's the truth: You don't need a massive audience to start making sales. What you do need is a warm audience—people who trust you, value your perspective, and are already interested in the kind of transformation that your ebook offers. The best way to start building that warm audience is by offering something valuable for free that directly ties into your ebook. And to make this step easier and quicker to execute, you could take a section out of your ebook since you've already created it—whether it's a one-page checklist, a sample chapter, or even a short video lesson if you're including tutorials as part of your ebook. This is because it's much easier to sell to someone who's already received value from you rather than trying to convince a cold audience on social media, then upload it to a free email service provider. And many are free up to a certain number of subscribers.
Once someone signs up to download your freebie, they'll be added to your email list, and that's where you can continue to build that relationship. From there, send a follow-up email or a short automated sequence that shares your story, the problem your ebook solves, and how it can help them take the next step. At that point, you're not selling to strangers. You're offering a solution to people who've already raised their hand and said, "Yes, I'm interested."
Make sure to sign up for PayHip entirely for free using the link in the description box below so you can upload your ebook and start making sales within the next 3 days or less. Check out this video next to learn exactly how you can make $150 a day with a $12 ebook. So, I'll see you there.