Archive for the ‘iBook’ Category

This image is from my time with adult coloring books last year – trying out colors, experimenting. I love symmetry, but then I also like something a little unusual….which is where I am right now as I approach a new project. I really need to develop  more sources for passive income. I’m taking a free class right now from Convertkit on Product Creation – great ideas, and after two weeks of reading the information (a daily lesson), I decided to start at the beginning and develop a series of products that are useful to others. Hence, Organizing for Marketing.

The title is going through some revisions – still not catchy enough for me. But I already have all this content – in an iBook that isn’t selling  – and yes, I really haven’t done much to market it in the three years it’s been available (or is it four? Funny how time stretches out when you’re not teaching….).

So this is my first brainstorming at trying to make sense of what I want in this ebook product. I am very good at marketing and creating and organizing, so it makes sense to focus right there. When I reviewed the book last night, there is enough information to make it into three or four smaller ebooks and develop a continuous stream of ideas and techniques for people.

The first key is targeting my market. I work in fiber and textiles – pretty much a niche market when looking at the art world, although we are slowly making progress into mainstream. Thus I want to focus this on those of us who do art that is generally out of the mainstream. What can we do to get our work looked at, sold, appreciated?

Here’s my accountability checklist for this coming week, ending Tuesday, May 16, with my initial thoughts:

• Determine revised structure of the ebook. I need to break up the information in the original book into smaller segments for action, and increase the information included in each of the segments.
• Determine my ideal customer for this book. Who is my audience…artists without a lot of money to spend on marketing, artists with unique products, artists who have issues getting organized and accomplishing tasks.
• Write two additional blogs this week – what questions do you want answered in a marketing book for those of us working in a niche market, and how would this be different from all the other marketing books out there? I need to make sure I start getting feedback from folks to help direct my work.
• Evaluate ebook publishing sources and ease of use. CreateSpace seems mostly for print; research it more fully. Kindle seems easy and quick to do. IBooks seems too limiting, although I do have experience with that platform.
• Plan for a “bonus” for people who buy this ebook. Already thinking about many of the blog posts I’ve already done in my Top Ten series. I think these could be manipulated into a bonus, once links are checked, and focus determined. Happened to just think about expanding ideas for Top Ten for other Bonus offerings.
• Keep playing with title ideas. Suggestions certainly welcome! Organize, marketing, niche products…….
• Determine launch date for the ebook – probably beginning of August.

Feel free to give me ideas and help keep me accountable to this project! You can be in the book with your website and product for helping out.

ORIGINAL BOOK

Ready, set, go – give me feedback!

I do, I do. My whole computer history has been with Macs. I started in 1989 with an Apple GS – didn’t pay the extra to get a hard drive – who needed one? The whole package was $3000, even with educator discount. I think even then I knew I wanted the capability of graphics and school software (which at the time was almost exclusively on Macs). Then 6 years later I bought a Performa 6300. Wow – that machine (which was incredibly heavy) got me on the internet for the first time – and on that machine I learned to do my first website – with Pagemill2.

Six years after that I went to my first iMac – all in one, and I got it in “snow,” because I couldn’t see what the big deal was in having them colored. Again, six years later I bought my current machine – which seems like an amazingly fast machine -and much lighter in weight! When I was doing all the changing of files (buying Pro Care is a great deal), the young computer guys kept referring to my old machine as a dinosaur – wow, had things changed.

I love this Mac – I love iBook, iTunes, everything that comes with it. Last year for the holidays I made my first iBook for our second mom. It was wonderfully received, and last night we just finished our second iBook for her, based on her Italy trip. I’ve learned so my – I just wonder where this computer will be in another five years – since that seems to be the trend…..