Hi. I’ve just been fixing some old links in an article of mine called 10 Things You Can Do Today to Boost Traffic to Your Website.

It’s been a while since I wrote it, but there’s still some good traffic advice to be found in there. So, if are ARE looking for something PRACTICAL you can do right now to boost your traffic, the why not check it out?

All the best,

Michael

Hi,

Following up on my recent post on how to make PDF ebooks, here’s a short video that shows you how to do that using Microsoft Word 2007, Open Office and more…

You can watch the video below, or view it on YouTube here.

I hope that helps.

Michael

Hi. The question below is one that I get asked quite a lot so I figured it was time to turn it into an Ebook Times Q and A.

Here we go…

Q. I’ve just finished writing a book on a text editor. What do I need to do to make it an ebook and add it to my website?

A. What you need to do now is convert your text document to PDF format. Once in PDF format, you can distribute your ebook on the internet — and it will be compatible with just about every type of computer (Mac, PC, Hand-held etc.).

There ARE other ebook formats/types that you can make but none are as universally compatible as PDF.

To make a PDF ebook, you need a PDF-compiler.

There are lots of options available (including the original Adobe Acrobat which sells for $450+ here).

Here are a few alternative options that won’t go quite so hard on your pocket…

- You could download the free office suite here because its text editor includes an option to convert your files to PDF:
http://www.openoffice.org/

- You could try the free software available here (it forces you to look at some ads during the process of making the PDF — you can disable these ads for a one-off $9.95):
http://www.pdf995.com/

- This is a nice little PDF compiler that I sell myself. You can even get the resale rights to this one:
http://www.create-pdf-files.com/

- You can try the Adobe online PDF creator here (US and Canada only):
http://createpdf.adobe.com/

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are LOTS of other PDF compilers available out there — with varying features and ease-of-use. If you search Google for PDF compiler (or converter), you’ll find plenty of other options.Once you’ve created your PDF, you need to add it to your website so that others can download it.

You’ll find the information you need for this at these links (select as appropriate)…

• I just want to make my PDF available for public download on my site
• I want to sell my PDF and make it automatically available for download via a private ‘thank you’ page

One last point…

Even if you don’t want to write an ebook of your own, this same procedure is all you need in order to convert some of your PLR (private label rights) articles or PLR ebooks into brand new products that you can call your own.

While you may not be too comfortable with selling an ebook created using PLR content — you could certainly use it as a free promotional vehicle for your other products or affiliate products that you promote. Just find the right content, add YOUR links, compile it into a PDF and then make it available for download.

• Here’s a tutorial on turning PLR into new ebooks of your own.

Okay, that’s it for now. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. (At the very least, you’ll get a nice backlink to your website.)

UPDATE: I’ve just added a video that shows how to make PDF ebooks using MS Office 2007. You’ll find that video here.

All the best,

Michael

Hi. My current traffic strategy is to try out ONE technique and stick with it for a while to see how well it goes.

Right now, that technique is Twitter.

Since my last email, I’ve continued studying it and testing it out a little.

I posted a message (Tweet?) a couple of days ago that said, “Just added a new blog post to Ebook Times. If you’ve any Twitter tips, please leave a comment: http….. ”

Much to my surprise, I received 11 click-thrus within minutes and a few more since.

Now, I know that doesn’t sound like much BUT…

- It’s only my second post ever and I only had FOUR followers at that time.
- Since I submitted that post, my number of followers has grown to 29!

Not bad considering how quick/easy it is to make a simple post (with a maximum of 140 characters). And it’s especially not bad when you consider that I’ve made NO effort to grow my number of Twitter followers.

What all this means is…

If I can get these results with just one Tweet, then you can too.

And it will grow and GROW from there.

So, I’ll say it again: if you haven’t already opened your Twitter account, go there now and do it right away.

You can open your account AND follow me on Twitter (if you want), by clicking here:
http://twitter.com/Michael_Hopkins

And now, your download…

Sticking to the same theme, I’ve got a nice PDF for you called “Mastering Twitter in 10 Minutes… or Less”. There’s nothing to sign up for, you’ll find a direct download link here:
http://www.ebooktimes.com/MTD_2201

One last note…

If you’re already using Twitter and have some tips or techniques to share (or if you have any questions or comments), please leave a comment below. (Don’t forget, you’ll also get a search-engine friendly backlink to your website too!)

All the best,

Michael

P.S. I’ve got a nice new ebook with master resale rights. It’s called Unlimited Social Traffic and you’ll find the details here.

Hi. I’ve just completed a Christmas Version of my Resale Rights Blowout Package which means you’ve got a terrific deal to offer your visitors/subscribers for the holiday season.

There’s a special discount for the first 50 fast-movers — and this deal is available for 10 days only.

You’ll find all the details here:
http://www.ebooktimes.com/CRRB_0312

By the way, I want to thank all of you who’ve left comments on the Ebook Times Blog.

You’ve given me some terrific ideas for new content, new tutorials and new approaches to Ebook Times in 2009. It’s gonna be great!

If you haven’t already left a comment, it’s not too late to have your say (and get a nice free backlink to your website). Please read this short post for details:
http://www.ebooktimes.com/backlink/0112

All the best,

Michael

Hi. Thanks for visiting! Okay, here’s the deal…

I want to continue improving the Ebook Times Newsletter and Blog. To do that, I need your help.

Basically, I want you to tell me what you want from Ebook Times in 2009.

Do you want more free stuff? Do you want more resale rights and private label rights products at discounted prices? Do you want more tips and tricks to improve traffic, grow your list, design your website, develop your ebooks….?

Whatever you want more of in 2009 and beyond, just leave a comment in the box below and tell me about it.

And your backlink?

Well, just include your website’s URL in the field provided and, hey presto, you’ve got an instant link pointing to any website of your choice!

Simple isn’t it?

You don’t need to leave a long or detailed comment… Something short and sweet like “More resale rights special offers” will do the trick. But, if you DO have things you want to say, consider this a good opportunity to get it off your chest.

Two last points…

1. You can make sure that your backlink carries extra weight by bookmarking or ‘stumble-ing’ this post using the tools below and..

2. Feel free to leave relevant comments for other posts across the blog too.

And now, over to you…

All the best,

Michael

Hi. With the launch of the latest Giveaway event, I felt it was a good time to re-visit a topic that's close to my heart — the idea of keeping focused on your objectives and not allowing yourself to be distracted by every single freebie that comes along.

If you were a subscriber of mine back in August 2008, you'll have read this already (but I think it's worth repeating). Here goes…

There's a lot of stuff to download on this giveaway site so, before you go there, I think it's worth saying a few words on the subject of downloading stuff.

The first thing I would say is, don't download everything you come across just because you CAN. It's important to remained focused in your business. It's very difficult at times, with all the distraction online, but it's very important.

One way to stay focused is in terms of the ebooks, software etc. that you download. If you have no intention of selling products on Ebay, then there's no point in downloading an ebook on the subject. Similarly, if you're thinking about downloading an ebook on, say, building a list, think before you click.

Haven't you ALREADY downloaded 17 ebooks about building a list — and never even looked at them…

Don't do it! Don't click the download link, you don't need it. The only exception in the two cases above would be if the product came with resale rights or private label rights — if you're into that type of thing.

But, again, there's no need to download every resale rights product you see. Ask yourself if you're going to put it to use. If you're inclining towards 'no' then move on.

There's plenty more where that came from. Plenty which are better or more relevant to your business.

We're being bombarded with more and more free products to download so it's important to remain in control by developing a filtering system. If not, we risk spending countless hours just downloading with little time left to actually DO anything.

Even by staying focused, there will still be no shortage of stuff that you'll want to download so it's important to develop an efficient way of storing it all on your PC. For a long time I had the habit of calling folders things like "new-stuff-from-free-viral-giveaway-site" and then downloading everything in there. Pretty soon all I had was heaps of stuff in heaps of folders and no idea what's what.

A far more efficient system (in my opinion) is to store your downloads based on theme or topic. So, you create, for example, a "Downloads" folder in your "My Documents" folder and, inside that "Downloads" folder you create a number of sub-folders each covering a topic.

So, you might have a folder called "ezine publishing" and a folder called "copy writing" and a folder called "traffic" and so on. Now, when you download an ebook that deals with the topic, you place it in the corresponding folder. That way, when it comes to the moment that you want to work on that area of your business, you'll be able to go directly to that folder and have a wealth of information and resources already sitting in one place.

Also, if a product includes resale rights, then here's a simple trick to make that fact stand out… place something like this at the start of the ZIP filename: "_RR_" So, for example, let's say you download a product plus sales website and the ZIP file is called: productname.zip Change this to read: _RR_productname.zip The underscore at the start will make sure that all these products are listed together at the top. You can do the same thing for other traits, such as "_PLR_" for Private Label Rights and so on.

Another good idea, if you BUY ebooks from time to time, is to put a "bought" folder inside your topic folders. That way you'll see that you've actually spent money on something related to this topic, so let's see if you can get a return on your investment. I can't remember buying it but, if I bought it, it must be because I though it was worth it at the time. Let's check it out.

It's also important that you delete the junk. If you've just wasted 10 minutes on something that turns out to be a bit of a dud, then get rid of it. Don't leave it on your PC ready to waste another 10 minutes of your time again in the future. Just say "Go away useless junk!" and hit the Delete button.

—– Sidenote —–
Here's an excellent resource to help you organize your downloads. It's a PDF ebook called "The Expert Guide to Organizing Your Internet Marketing Information" — and it may be just what you need to bring FOCUS to your online efforts. You'll find a direct download link here: http://www.ebooktimes.com/IM_Organizer
—– End Sidenote —–

And, seeing as I've rambled this far, here's another thing you could do this week to help bring focus to your business…

Get a sheet of paper and make a list of all the things you'd like to achieve with your online business between now and the end of the year. You might want to, for example, write a number of articles for your website/ezine, create a viral ebook to promote your site, start that new website you've been half-planning for ages, put some resale rights products online…

Write them ALL down. Leave the sheet of paper on your desk for a few days and, when something comes to mind, add it in. Now, look over the list and put everything in order of priority. The more important it is, the higher it goes. Once you've done that, look at the top, most important points and list out what's required to get them completed. A list within a list.

By breaking down the task in a series of smaller parts, you'll be better prepared to take it on. Now, one day every week between now and the end of the year, use the lists you've made to make a new list of the things you want to achieve over the coming week. There's no need to get fancy. No need to put down exact times etc. that you're going to complete each task (unless you want to).

Just make a simple list for the week and remain focused on it for the entire week. Your primary objective is to strike as many things as you can off that list. You'll be amazed at how much focus this will bring to your work and you'll be doubly amazed at how quickly things begin to move once you GET that extra bit of focus.

An thus ends the ramble.

Stay focused!

Michael

Hi. This is an example of a question I get asked quite a lot, so I figured it was time to address it in an Ebook Times Q&A.

If you have comments, questions or suggestions of your own, don’t hesitate to use the comment box at the bottom of the page. (If nothing else, at least you’ll get a nice backlink to your website.)

Okay, here we go…

Q. With MRR can the item be given away and can the item be changed? (For example, can I change the graphics?)

It’s all down to the individual product in question.

Nine times out of ten, a product with resale rights or master resale rights will include a licence explaining what you can or can’t do with it. The document is usually a text or PDF file which you’ll find inside the product ZIP file.

In some cases, you’ll find the details within the product itself. If you can’t find any licence details, try contacting the author/developer for clarification. If that doesn’t work, it’s best to forget about it rather than risk getting into trouble for doing the wrong thing.

The licence usually explains details like whether it can be bundled together with other products, whether it can be given away for free or whether you can sell it on auctions or add it to membership sites.

That will answer the first part of your question — whether the product can be given away for free or not.

The second part of your question — whether, for example, the graphic header can be changed or not — is rarely addressed in standard MRR licences.

Essentially, there should be no problem in doing this. Personally, I would encourage you to do everything in your power to set your version of a reseller product apart from others who are selling the same thing.

I’d encourage editing the sales page to some extent. Certainly, you should tweak the page title, description and keywords. This will give you an instant advantage over other resellers with regards to the search engines.

A case in point… if you run a search on Google for eWriter Pro, you’ll see my website ( http://www.create-pdf-files.com ) tops the results even though that same software is being sold by a LOT of people. You could argue that I have a Google Page Rank 3 on that site (which certainly helps). However, as another example search Google for Resell Rights Videos. Again, my site tops the list ( http://www.resellrightsvideos.net ) even though it’s only been online since October 15th and it has only one inbound link — from the Ebook Times blog. (I’m not showing you this to boast, just to illustrate the importance of making some changes.)

I’d also recommend tweaking the sales page itself a little. Again, with regards to the search engines, this will help set you apart from the others who are all using the same sales page. (You can quickly change a sales page by, for example, changing the order of bullet points, shifting a few paragraphs around (making sure that the logical order remains intact) and, perhaps changing some key words down along the page.)

The Resell Rights Videos site is an example of one that I tweaked quite a bit.

Changing the graphics can be a good idea if (A) the existing graphics are pretty poor and (B) you can get quality graphics produced to replace them.

The eWriter Pro site is one where I did change the graphics. There was nothing wrong with the existing ones, but I DID want to set it apart from all the others.

Before you go changing the graphics, however, you should clear it with the author/developer first if you’re in any doubt.

(Sometimes a licence will include a line like “basically, you can do ANYTHING you want with this product…” In that case, go ahead and change the graphics if you want.)

One last thing that you should aim to do on your reseller sites is add some RELEVANT bonuses. No matter what type of product you’re planning to resell, you most likely have one or two related products on your PC that you could add in as a bonus. (Mak sure that the licence agreement for THOSE products allows for them to be included as a bonus).

If you really want more freedom in terms of what you can do with a product, then private label rights (PLR) is the way to go.

Withy PLR you can change just about anything — the product title, the actual content, the graphics etc. You can, for example, add links to promote your own products or affiliate products. Essentially, you’re free to do what you want. (Having said that, always check the accompanying licence agreement just to be absolutely sure.)

(One great source for PLR content is PLR Wholesaler which you can join for free.)

To sum up… basically, the short answer to your question is… “it depends”. Check the licence and, if still in doubt contact the original author/developer. That way, you’re sure you won’t go wrong.
Did you find this helpful? Do you have any questions — or something to add. If so, please use the comments box below.

All the best,

Michael

Since the advent of the current economic crisis, a lot of doom mongers have been saying that the end is nigh for us ‘small time’ internet marketers.

Infoproduct sales are down, they say. Affiliate commissions are down, they say. In fact, if you were to listen to them, they would suggest that any opportunity that exists to make money online is about to wither up and die.

This, of course, is nonsense.

Sure, times are harder right now and people are feeling less financially secure. But that doesn’t mean that all the opportunities to making a decent online income have suddenly gone away.

Far from it. Regardless of the economic climate, there will always be opportunities.

For a lot of people, the downturn itself will be seen as an opportunity.

Rather than complain that they can’t sell product X, they’ll go out and promote product Y instead.

For example, it’s hardly unreasonable to suppose that, with more and more people feeling the financial squeeze, we can expect a big increase in the number of people who will turn to the internet to see if they can find a way to generate some extra income.

So how DO you go about making extra cash online?

If you know the answer to that question, then you can improve your own financial situation. You can also help your visitors and subscribers to improve their financial situation.

And if you don’t know the answer?

Well then I’ve got just the ebook for you.

It’s a refreshingly excellent 247-Page PDF ebook called 20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online.

Written by members of The Internet Marketing Inner Circle, this is probably the best ebook on online earnings that I’ve ever read.

Some of the tactics covered here might be familiar to you — many of them won’t.

All 20 money-making methods are explained in considerable detail by someone who specializes in that tactic. Each one is explained step by step, with lots of examples and resources included.

Despite the attention to detail, the ebook is incredibly easy to read.

Each of the contributing writers keeps tightly focused on providing all they key information. Each one gives you a thorough education — without leaving you worn out by the end.

And, by the way, this is not just for those starting out. More experienced online entrepreneurs should get their hands on a copy too.

Why?

For three reasons…

1) Regardless of how well you’re doing at the moment, it’s well worth having a look at alternative ideas. You may just stumble upon something that you can tap into right away.

2) This ebook provides a good way of focusing the mind and reminding you of the basics. If you’re already doing okay, you might discover some ways that you can do better — while changing very little in your current setup.

3) There’s a 100% (customer-only) affiliate program available that pays commissions live and direct to your PayPal account. That means, if you already have a lot of visitors and subscribers that are interested in learning how to make money online, you’ve got an excellent ebook to tell them about — and a great way to profit from the current economic downturn.

In short, whether you’re looking for your own answers on how to make some decent money online — or whether you’re looking for a great product to recommend to your visitors/subscribers, then 20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online is the perfect ebook for you.

All in all, this is one of those ebooks that you would expect to cost $97 and which would (for once) be actually worth $97. But, thankfully, it costs quite a bit less than that.

Grab your copy today and learn how you can start earning money online too. You’ll find all the details here:
http://www.ebooktimes.com/20Ways100

On a separate (but not un-related) issue, here’s a nice freebie for you.

Do you find yourself running around in circles with your internet business? Are you trying a little bit of this and a little bit of that — without any CLEAR idea of how you want your business to develop?

If so, then I highly recommend you download this ebook. It’s called “Plain, simple business plan for Internet Marketing” and it will help you greatly in determining your short and long term goals — as well as helping you stay focused on achieveing those goals.

There’s nothing to sign up for. You’ll find a direct download link here:
http://webbasedwealth.com/blog/?page_id=200

All the best,

Michael