One of the most difficult parts of creating an e-book based on a desperate topic, is choosing the topic.

As I explain in Desperate Buyers Only, the topic is the bread-and-butter of your operation. And if you’re not choosing your topics wisely, you’re not going to see positive results.

I’ve recently begun taking existing problems (for example, things I hear on the news) and seeing how they can be molded into a problem solving reports for desperate buyers.

For example, right now the US dollar is taking a major butt whopping in the currency market. Last year this time, the US dollar was worth $1.08-$1.12 in Canada. Now, the US dollar is worth .99 there.

And this phenomena isn’t limited to the US/Canada exchange. (I wish!) All around the world US travelers and expats are losing value on the dollar.

In Europe the US dollar is only worth $.68. And in the UK, you’ll have to pony up $2.02 for a single Pound. (OUCH! No wonder the streets of Manhattan are filled with happy European tourists shopping till they drop.)

If traveling was your hobby – (as it is mine) – and your currency was the US dollar, wouldn’t you be looking for ways to save money on your overseas trip?

Lots of budget travelers do – especially now. In fact, the first question I asked a friend who just returned from the UK was “So how’d you manage with the dollar?”

The point is you can look at major events happening all around you, and ask yourself:

• What issues right now will cause widespread future problems within the near future?
• Who will those problems affect?
• Why will these people be desperate for a solution? (According to Desperate Buyers Only criteria.)

If you’re constantly looking with a critical eye, you’ll find that lots of everyday events being talked about that actually do match the DBO criteria like: The sub-prime mortgage fiasco in the US. What advice can you give to homeowners to help them negotiate lower interest rates, or even save their home from foreclosure?

Speaking of the mortgage fiasco… now that lenders are shying away from sub-prime mortgages, what can moderate income people do to make home ownership a reality? Hmmm.

It’s up to you to look, listen, and be willing to research potential opportunities.

Even though I’ve been selling e-books for several years now, I’m constantly learning new things.

Sometimes I have nice, happy surprises. Like when I accidentally discovered a strategy for getting a high rank in Google a couple of years ago.

And other times I get a arctic splash of water to my face. This article reveals three of those cold water surprises.

I’m not giving you this information to deter you from participating in this industry. On the contrary, I just want you to be aware of what can and does happen.

1) E-book theft DOES exist. (eeeeek!!!!)
I really wish this one weren’t true. But it is. And it’s not just happening with e-books. Popular print books (that aren’t published in e-book format) are also being distributed freely online.

The truth is there are ’secret societies’ where you can find every e-book and software product imaginable.

You literally have to know an existing member to get into these groups. They don’t openly advertise. And they don’t accept just anyone as a member. But once you get in, it’s like you’ve opened an infoproduct encyclopedia.

And just because you’ve got some new fangled e-book locking software doesn’t mean you’re protected. Not even by a long shot!

If these groups are blatantly stealing e-books and software, it goes without saying that they’ve got the tools to unlock anything you throw at them.

Now that’s not to say that you should stop being protective of your work. You should however be aware that it does happen. And if your e-book is good, it will probably happen to you. (And you’d never, ever know about it.)

And in case you’re wondering, yes… it has happened to me. And I sill make a very good living selling my e-books.

2) There’s no ‘magical secret’ to ebook writing and marketing.
You succeed in this business by selling great information… writing great salesletter copy… and marketing your products well.

It’s a very basic three-part formula. And when one of those parts is out-of-whack, it’s like trying to build a stone castle on quicksand.

The problem most people have in this business is that they want to sell bullshit information and write mediocre sales copy. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a whiz at marketing if the first two components aren’t doing their job – especially the sales copy.

3) E-books are easy to sell – but most infoproduct millionaires also do print products.
As someone who travels a great deal, I love the efficiency of selling e-books. I can be surfing in Hawaii, and not have to worry about running to the post office everyday.

But if you take a good hard look at who’s making the millions in the infoproduct business, you’ll find that more money is generated from those selling print manuals, CD’s, DVD’s and the such, than those who just sell just e-books. Not to mention that you can usually charge far more for a printed set than you can for an e-book.

A friend of mine (who prefers to remain unnamed) makes $1,000-$1,500 a week worth selling print manuals. She sells one set of manuals for $149, and that’s it.

Will 2008 be your year to branch out beyond the e-book?

I have a 53-year old aunt who’s an avid catalog shopper. She has a 1-year old Dell computer sitting in her office… high speed Internet access… virus protection software… and a keen knowledge of how to shop online (thanks to the instructions of her 27-year old daughter).

And even though she’s well-versed in online shopping, the catalogs continue coming. And she continues to fill her closets with merchandise purchased from those print catalogs.

My mother’s in the same boat. Relatively new computer, high speed Internet, existing computer knowledge. Only my mother’s shopping addiction is fulfilled by home shopping channels – rarely the Internet.

So when people ask me if the techniques in Desperate Buyers Only still work – (”Alexis, are you still making money using the techniques you advocate?”) – it’s always met with a resounding ‘YES!’

The Internet changes by leaps and bounds every couple of years. Most recently we’ve seen social media websites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and the such, draw millions upon millions of users. Lots of folks jumped on the bandwagon, trying to figure out how to promote their e-books on these venues.

I didn’t. And trust me, I’m not knocking anyone who did.

In all honesty I was too busy enjoying the fruits produced by the very marketing techniques I talk about in Desperate Buyers Only. I didn’t even stick a pinky toe anywhere else. (Ahem… let me correct myself… I did sign-up for a Facebook account. But I never did anything with it.)

In fact, you can fall into a coma today, wake up two years from now and I promise you’ll discover that:

1) People still go online to look for specific solutions to their problems.

2) People still use search engines to look for those solutions.

3) People are willing to pay for information if it solves an especially pressing problem.

4) People still read long, detailed salesletters if it speaks about solving a pressing problem that they have.

Yes, the Internet will have changed in two years. But that doesn’t mean your customers/prospects will also change their ways/habits in bulk.

Just like my mom won’t stop shopping on HSN. And just like my aunt won’t halt her love affair with snail-mail catalogs. Technology will ALWAYS progress faster than John and Jane Q. Public will.

So as the new year rapidly approaches, keep in mind that you don’t have to incorporate every new whiz-bang tactic into your e-book marketing routine.

Be willing to try new things. But don’t be so fast to discount or abandon the techniques that worked yesterday. Because in the end, the more things change, the more things really remain the same.