Many information marketers have the erroneous belief that if they find a market with too many competitors, they shouldn’t write an ebook for that audience. To the contrary, competition can be beneficial for a variety of reasons including – * Researching. If there IS a lot of competition, you can reasonably expect there this to be a lucrative marketplace. 
Generally speaking, a large product and service line means there is large consumer interest and demand. I encourage you to LOOK for markets with lots of competition as it’s a shortcut to researching where revenue is available. * Partnering. The more competition there is, the more likely you can find other like-minded marketers to partner with in cross promotion efforts, co-op advertising, and other related joint ventures.
This is especially true if your ebook is “related” to other ebooks without DIRECTLY competing with them. (I.E. Raising metabolism is “related” to cutting calories in that they are both agents of weight loss.) * Educating. Another reason why competition is good is simply because your target audience is educated, at least in part, on someone else’s dime. That is, the marketing materials of your competitors educates the market on why the products are necessary or beneficial.
A good example is this: many marketers “educated” consumers on the need for using audio and video on their web sites, opening the door to a variety of related products and services to be sold. So, competition isn’t always a bad thing. It can be a good thing for these reasons and a handful of others. But ... The challenge comes in when you want to stand out among the competition so YOU can get marketplace interest.
There are many ways to stand out by creating your own “USP” (Unique sales proposition) that could be covered here, but I want to mention is this – Create a demographical version of your ebook.
Let me give you an example – Let’s suppose you are going to write an ebook entitled, “Weight Loss Secrets”. So, you write it and then you create a “demographical version” that is entitled, “Weight Loss For Christians”. Other examples might include – * Time Management For Homeschoolers * The Internet Marketer’s Diet * The Senior Citizen’s Guide To Investing * How Ace Your First Teacher Interview * How To Get A Hot Date: College Student Edition * Fundraising For Youth Groups
All you would need to do in order to create this “demographical version” of your ebook is take the same exact ebook you’ve written (your “regular” version) and add some specific references and ideas that relate to the particular demographic you’ve chosen. * If you decide to create “How to Get A Hot Date: College Student Edition”, then you’d add in a few references to specific places a college student can find a date that wouldn’t apply to your regular audience (I.E. Frat party), as well as pick-up lines, first-date ideas, practices and other content that apply only to college students.
In other words, you share the same content, but you speak THEIR specific language and provide ideas that THEY can put into practice in their setting. The PRINCIPLES of finding dates may be the same across the board, but the PRACTICES of finding dates are completely different for college students and widowed senior citizens! And if you can get creative in your content, you can make your demographical version even more appealing. Your “regular” version may have 5 main practices for time management. But in your “demographic version” those practices become 5 “Homeschooling Habits”.
So, what’s in this for YOU as the author? Let’s take a look at a couple of noteworthy advantages - Firstly, you STAND OUT among your competition. As a Christian, I can tell you that if 20 ebooks were available on weight loss and one of them specifically mentioned being for believers, I’d immediately take a look at that one.
Secondly, you EXPAND OUT among your competition. Now you can market your ebook to TWO entirely different audiences. For example: You can look for “weight loss” ezines and buy advertising in them. But, you can also look for “Christian” ezines (that have NOTHING to do with weight loss) and buy advertising in them. This allows you to reach audiences that you likely would have never been able to reach! Then, it’s simple a matter of doing it again for other demographics.
Rinse. Repeat. Reprofit. Start with ONE demographic and move on to many others ... * Christians * Homemakers * Senior citizens * Students * First-timers * Newlyweds * Office Workers * Teachers * WAHMs The list could go on and on. Most information products can be custom-tailored for different demographic groups to STAND OUT among the competitors ... and open up the door to new contacts that might never be reached through other means. If you want to STAND out and EXPAND out then create one or more “demographical versions” of your ebook. Like a screaming child at the library, you’ll get attention!
