Imagine if you could develop a product that could be sold worldwide, cost almost nothing to create and could be shipped to your customers instantly. Don't think this is possible?

Let me introduce you to this "ideal product", also known as an ebook. Short for electronic book, ebooks took the internet by storm forming a new generation of online authors. Almost every person surfing the web is looking for information, so there's no shortage of potential readers.

Here are a few reasons why you should consider self-publishing:

• The startup cost is quite low and affordable.
• Unlike traditional books, updates can be done quickly and easily at no additional costs.
• There's no need to buy or rent a warehouse to stock your product, because an ebook is compiled into a single file that can be sold over and over again. Also, unsold copies are no longer an issue.
• After the order has been processed, the customer is redirected to a page where they can instantly download the product, day or night. This eliminates shipping costs saving you time and money. Online sales can be fully automated leaving much more time to invest in other important aspects of the business.
• Profit margins are significantly larger due to low business expenses and production costs.
• If the ebook is truly informative, selling another product would then become almost effortless, especially if a mailing list was included in the marketing campaign.

Everyday, more and more students, stay at home parents and even grand-parents are turning ideas and knowledge into a passive income stream. Some of them even go on to produce several more ebooks, or a single bestseller, and leave the 9–5 lifestyle behind for good.

If you have expertise in a certain field, whether it's guerilla marketing or cooking for kids, you too can enjoy the benefits from self-publishing your very own ebook. Put a unique twist on ways to solve everyday problems, and you could retire sooner than you think!

Would you like more information? Check out our resources here.

Editors and copywriters working away in the small press biz sometimes have a difficult time understanding the differences between Marketing, Advertising, PR and Branding (as well as their importance). Marty Neumeier's illustrations—taken from his book "ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands"—provide the best explanation we've seen: