(The Walking The Talk series was created to show an ebook launch from idea to salesletter to marketing. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2.)

Yesterday I gave you a glimpse at how to use free information that you find online, to use as content for your ebook.

One such way is to decide who else knows how to do what you want to teach.

For instance, my ebook will teach apartment dwellers how to get rid of bad house smells.

Instead of focusing my search strictly on what other apartment dwellers are doing, I did a search to see how property managers (landlords) handle the problem.

After all, the techniques that property managers use are far less accessible to the average person. Yet, smelly homes are in fact a big issue for them as well.

So I started my search today. Below you’ll find the results of what I’ve discovered…

#1 – The search phrase I used: property manager get rid of house smells

Search engine: Google

The following 2 articles came up on the first page of results:
* Smelly Carpets, Meet Silver Ions: Products for an Odor-Free Home
* Can High-Tech Gadgets Rid Your Home of Odors?

Since I found these two on the same site, I decided to continue my search on the same Real Estate Journal site using the keywords “odor” and “smell.”

“Odor” doesn’t yield anything new.

“Smell” leads me to an article about new fangled air fresheners. Not quite what I want.

#2 – The search phrase I used: property manager get rid of house odors

Search engine: Yahoo!

The Monterey Herald had a Q&A column featuring a disaster cleanup expert. This fella is a recognized expert in commercial and residential mold remediation, fire restoration, dehumidification and drying, sewerage cleanup, asbestos abatement, lead removal, heat ventilation and air duct cleaning, and trauma and biohazard site clean up.

Another lightbulb moment!

Perhaps I could interview a disaster cleanup expert for my ebook.

This column not only offered some great ideas from a bonafide expert. You can also ask questions, and he’ll answer them. Awesome!

#3 – The search phrase I used: landlord get rid of house odors

Search engine: Yahoo!

On the third page of results I found a link for a publication called Realty Times. I thought this site might have a search option, so I clicked on the link.

Sure enough there was a search option.

I entered the term “odors.”

I found a couple of helpful articles including:
* How To Take The Odor Out Of New Carpeting 
* Are Seller’s Pets Soiling Your Chances of Selling Their Home?  - In this article I found an interesting point I might be able to use later on, “Hospital supply companies are also a great source for heavy duty stain and odor control products.”

When I did a search for the term “smells,” I didn’t get anything good.

On the ninth page of results there was a link from the Allergy Consumers Review.

I thought this on would be an interesting lead because people with allergies can be sensitive to smells and odors. I have asthma, and certain odors make me start wheezing.

Bingo! An article on that page gave me some vital information on the dangers of certain air purifiers.

This site also had a search feature, so I did a search for “odors” and “smells.”

There was a virtual motherload of information that I can go through for both terms.

NOTE- If you perform the same searches without “landlord” or “property managers,” you get completely different results/solutions.

So it’s definitely worth going beyond the obvious search terms, and digging a little deeper into the problem.

Dig deeper and grow rich,

Alexis Dawes

(The Walking The Talk series was created to show an ebook launch from idea to salesletter to marketing. Here’s Part 1.)

In Desperate Buyers Only I offer details about taking free information that you find online, and using it as the basis for a fee-based product.

The concept is often hard for people to grasp.

The logical thinker asks, “If information is free online, why would people actually pay for it?”

I say…

1. Because everyone’s not a pro at finding the exact information they need.
2. Free information isn’t always optimized as well as fee-based information, so it might be harder for people to find.
3. Sometimes the free information found online isn’t enough to solve a particular problem.

Let me give you an example.

As you remember from my first post in the Walking The Talk series, I’m working on an ebook that’s tentatively titled, No More Smelly House.

Besides some ideas I culled from my dear Granny, I also began researching the Internet potential solutions for stinky houses.

Using STEPs #2, 3, and 4, on pages 13-19, in Desperate Buyers Only, I found that bad house odors affect more than just the people living in the apartment.

It also affects apartment managers.

They have to get rid of overwhelmingly bad smells in order to rent an apartment. So their interest in this topic is even stronger than an apartment dweller.

(And here’s where it gets juicy.)

Instead of basing my search on ideas I find from apartment dwellers – (like sprinkling baking soda on the carpet, for instance) – it might be way more efficient to see how property managers solve the smelly house dilemma.

I bet there are a bunch of tricks property managers use that the general public is clueless about. I’m sure I can snag a few free ideas for my fee-based ebook using this strategy.

See how painless that was? 

Keep reading to see how my search goes.

Alexis Dawes
(Questions, comments, suggestions? Talk to me right here.)

Last week I did some last minute tinkering to make sure that my latest e-report – The Book is in the Buzz – was finished.

The site is now done, and The Book is in the Buzz is up for sale.

I created this report because–

(1) A lot of ebook writers tend to choose topics without much forethought because they can have a great salesletter written, and they know how to put together an Adsense advertisement.

But in my world, the topic IS the holy grail.

If your topic sucks, people aren’t going to buy your book. It doesn’t matter how keen you are in other departments.

(2) I wanted an alternative to Wordtracker as a way of ascertaining demand for a topic.

The Book is in the Buzz is very keen in that aspect.

The basic contents are 287 sites where you can discover what types of information online users are reading or accessing the most.

I’ve chosen sites where you can see lists of most frequently viewed articles, forum posts with the most replies or pageviews, topics that receive the most numbers of searches, etc.

I think it’s a very stress free way to gather topic ideas for your next ebook project.

It really gives you a more precise view of what people want, instead of relying on just a few keywords.

Plus it’s inexpensive at only $19.95.

Check it out at (http://www.BookIsInTheBuzz.com).

Choose your topics wisely and grow rich,

Alexis Dawes