Learn how to create an ebook and sell it online from a tutorial - using ebook templates, AI, Canva and social media!
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00:00Hey friends, I'm Anastasia and in this video I will guide you through the entire process of creating and selling ebooks
00:07I will show you how to design an e-book for free
00:11Even if you have zero experience in this. Then I will show you how to set up your own online store and on top of it
00:18I will give you some effective strategies to promote your e-book and reach a wider audience
00:24The first step in creating your e-book is to decide on your topic or subject
00:34Think of anything that you can successfully teach
00:37Anything that helps someone get from point A to point Z and that can be your topic
00:44For example, you could teach how to organize your home using minimalist principles
00:49Or how to launch a successful blog in 21 days
00:53Or healthy meal planning e-book
00:56Or maybe think of something like building an investment portfolio one-on-one
01:00Okay, so you will choose the topic of your e-book
01:03And if you are a little bit like me, you probably want to know all the important parts of the puzzle first
01:09Before you start doing anything
01:12So you might want to ask me where and how you can sell your e-book
01:17Of course, you need a way for people to buy it
01:20And there are two main options here
01:23One is a simple checkout link and you will have your e-book saved as a PDF here
01:28You can start with a free plan on ConvertKit, which will soon be called, by the way, just Kit
01:34And it allows you to sell digital products and collect email subscribers in one place
01:40You can go up to 10,000 subscribers on the free plan
01:44And it integrates seamlessly with Stripe for Payments
01:48All you need to do is share your link and people can buy your e-book instantly
01:54Kit will deliver the PDF to their inbox upon the purchase
01:58And the second option is to build a full website
02:02So if you're planning to expand your offerings, maybe sell multiple e-books
02:07Then creating a website is a great idea
02:10Platforms like WordPress, Podia or Wix are perfect for this
02:15With a website, you can share your story in a blog, offer additional products or services
02:21And even add a merchandise line
02:24This is ideal if you want to build a business around your e-book
02:28So when you're just starting, you can stick to the easier option, which is Kit that I mentioned
02:34And as your business grows, you can later transition to a full website
02:39And I'll share how you can build that a bit later in this video
02:43Now, the next step is to actually create your e-book
02:47With the advancement of AI tools like ChatGPT, the process is even easier
02:53You can use ChatGPT to generate e-book title ideas or suggest a table of contents
02:59And I've used it before for several projects and it does a great job
03:04Though you'll want to make some tweaks for personalization, of course
03:08As for designing the e-book, the simplest and the fastest way, in my opinion, is to use Google Docs
03:16And I recommend you to download these 12 free e-book templates from HubSpot
03:21They're not just the cover page templates
03:23They include all the important pages you might need in an e-book
03:27Including the page about the author, table of contents, chapter title pages
03:32And even a closing call-to-action page where you can have a link to something else that you want to sell or offer to your audience
03:40These templates are available for PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Adobe InDesign
03:46I suggested to use Google Docs, so that's how the templates look like if you click on the Google Drive link
03:53They will open in Google Doc files for you
03:56My favorite element in these templates is this one for quotes that you can use if you want to highlight an important part of the text
04:05Once you're done editing your e-book template, make sure to save it as a PDF
04:10In Google Docs, go to File, then Download, and select PDF Document
04:15That's it! You have your e-book ready
04:18And I'd like to thank HubSpot for making these e-book templates possible for free
04:23So, download them using the first link in the description below
04:26And we're moving to the next step, which is how to make an e-book mock-up
04:31So, before we move on to selling the e-book, we need to create a product photo for your e-book sales page
04:38It is important to show your e-book in a mock-up that highlights its digital nature
04:44You want to avoid accidental purchases from people who wanted a paperback book
04:49and didn't get it from your sales page that they were actually buying an e-book for download
04:54Creating mock-ups like this is super quick and easy, taking less than 2 minutes
05:00And we will do it for free using Canva
05:03So, go to Canva.com and type e-book mock-up in the search bar
05:07You will see tons of templates, many of which are free
05:11Choose one that looks great and suits your style and the topic of your e-book
05:16I recommend one that shows the front cover nicely
05:20Then tap on the template that you like and click Customize this template
05:24Use the same skills from earlier
05:27First, update the wording
05:29For example, if your e-book is about keto diet recipes, you might title it something like Keto Meal Plan e-book
05:36Next, usually you will also want to add a subtitle
05:40And adjust the text placement for better alignment if it is necessary
05:45Then change the cover image
05:47You have two options here
05:49One is to take a screenshot of your e-book's front cover
05:53On a Mac for this, you can use Shift plus Command plus 4
05:57Or you can upload the front cover file directly into Canva
06:01So, once you've made these changes, your mock-up is ready to go
06:06This image will be perfect for your website product listing
06:10giving potential buyers a clear idea of what they're purchasing
06:14And now we will talk about how to build a website for your e-book
06:18I mentioned earlier in this video that the easiest way to start is just with a link in BIO
06:24that goes to something like KIT
06:26which is a platform that processes your e-book sales and collect emails all in one place
06:32But if you're getting to a more advanced stage
06:35I recommend having your own website for complete control
06:40And to have all of your content related to the e-book under one roof
06:45So, for selling digital products, I recommend you to start with Podia
06:49Because it's a platform where you can have everything that you need under one roof
06:53And for free, including web hosting, a customizable podia.com subdomain
06:59And you can build a landing page for your e-book with an intuitive page builder
07:05Your site can look like something like I have here
07:08AnastasiaBlogger.podia.com
07:11And the best part is that you will be able to build your blog on the same platform
07:16where you can also sell your products as well as collect emails from your readers
07:21You can start with a free plan here and you can sell one e-book on it
07:26collect emails, build a blog, and even a whole website on this platform
07:31They will only charge a 10% fee from your product sales on this plan
07:35So, if you're not selling anything, you're not paying anything
07:39But if you start selling a lot of your e-books, at some point
07:43you will likely want to switch to a monthly plan that has no sales fees
07:48I have a detailed tutorial on my channel showing how to build a blog on Podia
07:53and how to sell products on this platform
07:55So, I'll link it for you up there
07:57And if you want to start a blog on Podia for free, use the link in the description below
08:02Next, let's talk about marketing your e-book
08:05So, this next step is to build an audience that cares about the topic of your e-book
08:10and, hopefully, that cares about you too
08:13Some of you might think that this sounds like too much work and that you don't want to do it
08:19But trust me, it doesn't take as long as you think
08:22I started selling my digital products when I had around just 1,000 subscribers
08:27And my audience grew faster because of the tools that I'm about to share
08:32So, you need to start creating content
08:35First, choose your platform
08:37Whether it's YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, or TikTok
08:40Just start sharing your experiences related to your topic
08:45So, on YouTube, you can create content that shares your journey and experiences around your topic
08:51And you can look at my oldest videos on this channel
08:54This channel started because I had a blog myself and I was successfully driving traffic to it from Pinterest
09:00So, I created videos sharing my tips and my own journey with blogging and with Pinterest marketing
09:06And this channel helps me sell my e-books and even my online courses till this day
09:11So, your content should demonstrate your expertise without giving away all the details
09:17Show that you're knowledgeable by sharing your journey and behind-the-scenes experiences
09:23This approach makes people interested and inspired
09:27They want to get even more detailed information, which is where your e-book comes in
09:33You can drop the link to your e-book under all of your videos
09:36This way, your content promotes your e-book and viewers who want more information can easily purchase it
09:43Now, social media is a powerful tool
09:46And organic marketing can drive significant traffic without spending money on ads
09:51So, my favorite platform for marketing is actually Pinterest
09:55It's a visual search engine where people look for broad topics your e-book might cover
10:01I drive to my blog about 85,000 monthly sessions from Pinterest for free
10:06You can check my video linked up there to learn how I do it
10:10But to make it short, I love Pinterest because there you can add links to your products from every single pin
10:17in addition to the link in your profile
10:20And I also like Pinterest the best because you can get away there with only images
10:25You don't even need to show your face
10:27So, I love that it's a search engine and you can create pins
10:31and they will drive your traffic even a few years down the road
10:35You can also watch my free on-demand Pinterest masterclass focused on Pinterest SEO or search engine optimization
10:42The link will be in the description below
10:45Then you can also use Instagram
10:47And because if video isn't your thing, Instagram offers multiple formats like Reels and regular posts
10:54And the key is to be strategic
10:56Educate, entertain, and inspire your audience
11:00Use call-to-actions in your posts such as
11:03Check the link in bio to learn more or get my latest e-book
11:08And also, don't rely solely on social media
11:11Build an email list using tools like Kit
11:14These platforms allow you to collect subscribers and send them updates about your e-book
11:20ConvertKit offers a free plan for up to 10,000 subscribers
11:25And it includes features like landing pages and even automation
11:29And if you have created a website on WordPress already, you can easily integrate Kit with your website
11:35If you found this video helpful, please hit the like button for the YouTube algorithm
11:40And subscribe to my channel so I can continue creating these free tutorials for you
11:45Remember, your e-book will not sell itself
11:48You need to put in the effort to promote it
11:51Just because you have invested hours in writing it and setting it up
11:56It doesn't mean that sales will automatically follow
11:59If you want to learn more about Pinterest as my favorite free traffic source
12:04I will link for you my Pinterest marketing playlist up there
12:08With my latest videos about Pinterest algorithm and updates
12:12But don't click there just yet
12:14Subscribe and like this video if you found it helpful
12:17And I'll see you in the next one