Among certain circles (my family, some of my coworkers, etc.) I’m known for my Googling skills. I can find anything, anywhere, in no time flat. My Google-fu is a helpful skill, but not one that’s shrouded in too much mystery — I’ve just mastered some very helpful search tricks and shortcuts and learned to quickly identify the best info in a list of results.

Sadly, though web searches have become and integral part of the academic research landscape, the art of the Google search is an increasingly lost one. A recent study at Illinois Wesleyan University found that fewer than 25% of students could perform a “reasonably well-executed search.” Wrote researchers, “The majority of students — of all levels — exhibited significant difficulties that ranged across nearly every aspect of the search process.”

That search process also included determining when to rely on Google and when to utilize scholarly databases, but on a fundamental level, it appears that many people just don’t understand how to best find the information they seek using Google.

Thanks to the folks at HackCollege, a number of my “secrets” are out. The infographic below offers a helpful primer for how to best structure searches using advanced operators to more quickly and accurately drill down to the information you want. This is by no means an exhaustive list of search operators and advanced techniques, but it’s a good start that will help set you on the path to becoming a Google master.

Infographic via HackCollege

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, LICreate

How to Write, Launch and Sell Your Informational Ebook

1 day ago by Alexis Grant 5

286
in Share

Share on Tumblr

email

share

in Share286

Share on Tumblr

email

share

Alexis Grant is a journalist, newbie entrepreneur and author of the eguide How to Take a Career Break to Travel. She tweets @alexisgrant.

Selling ebooks can be a great way to complement your income, gain visibility and build a network around your brand – not to mention, feel satisfied about creating a quality product. But if you’ve never created an ebook before, what’s the best strategy?

While plenty of authors use digital tools to publish fiction, other writers are becoming successful in the how-to and non-fiction genres, partly because informational products often sell at a higher price. If you’re looking to share your expertise, this is the type of ebook to aim for.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing and selling your first informational ebook, along with practical tips that will help make your launch a success.

---

1. Create

---

Choose a topic. Address a specific problem. Then offer a solution.

What questions do your friends or blog followers often pose? Determine whether you can answer that question in ebook form. Answer the question as simply as possible, then flesh out related practical tips, insight, anecdotes and examples. If you frame your ebook as a solution, your readers will recognize how it could help them.

When choosing your topic, consider leaning toward solutions that will help your readers make money. Potential buyers may be more willing to shell out cash to purchase your product if they know the information will help them earn that money back.

Write. To make this potentially daunting task more manageable, outline the project and focus on one section at a time. Many writers are more successful when they set a goal of 500 words per day. Commit to working on the project regularly, whether that means setting aside time every evening, every weekend or one weekend each month. Set a goal and stick to it.

How long should your ebook be? That depends on the topic, your audience and your writing style. Rather than shooting for a specific word count, write until you’ve included all pertinent information, and then trim excess until the copy is tight.

Don’t forget to include anecdotes. Readers are more likely to buy your ebook if they can relate to your voice and ideas. Tell your story, but in a way that will help achieve a reader’s goals.

Finally, write like you blog. Throw the stiff voice out the window. In the brave new world of informational ebooks, stiff is out and conversational is in.

Hire an editor. Even the best writers need an editor’s eye to produce a fabulous product. Editors will not only help to catch copy and factual errors, but they can also provide insight into the book’s overall organization and message.

If you want to be perceived as a professional, don’t skip this step. Eat the costs – because you’re going to make good money off this ebook anyhow, right?

Find a cover designer. Potential buyers get strong first impressions from a book’s cover. Your book’s cover will significantly influence whether a consumer pulls out her credit card. I went the DIY route on this for my first eguide, then replaced the cover with a professional-looking one as soon as I realized my mistake. Here’s to you not making the same newbie error.

A professional designer will create a cover for about $300, but consider hiring a junior designer or even bartering for the cover. Remember that potential buyers will see your cover as a thumbnail, so the title and image should be clear, simple and convey meaning even in a small size.

Choose a format. Or two or three. Standard PDFs are readable on most devices, but you may also want to create ereader versions of your book too – for Kindle or ePub. That decision can depend largely on your target audience.

Format the ebook. If this sounds daunting, you can hire a professional for this step too. Although foramatting can be tedious, know that it’s certainly possible to format on your own.

You want your PDF ebook to look appealing on both an e-reader and a computer screen. Don’t think in terms of old-school book formats. Favor easy to read, large font and plenty of visually-friendly white space. Notice the details in ebooks by other writers (and ebooks on how to write ebooks) — the appearance of their header and footer, the location of page numbers, etc. — and incorporate effective presentations into your own work.

Know your options. If you don’t want to put the time and effort into all these details, companies like CreateSpace, Lulu and Lightning Source offer packages for putting together ebooks. But beware: Just because you pay a company to produce your ebook, doesn’t guarantee it will sell. You have to put in the promotion effort.

---

2. Sell

---

Pick a price. How much should your ebook cost? While prices vary, informational eguides often cost more than traditional books, partly because they’re considered an affordable form of consulting. It’s not unusual to see them priced at $19, $29, $49 or more.

Of course, the higher you price your product, the fewer people will buy. That’s why some writers are experimenting with lower price points, selling ebooks for $2.99 or even $0.99.

Decide which approach is likely to be more effective for you. Do you want to price low and aim to sell thousands or even tens of thousands of copies? Or will a smaller group of buyers pay a higher price, making it equally worth your while?

Because this is a relatively new medium, there’s no magic formula for figuring out how to price your work. Research your niche, ask for feedback on the price you’re considering and then go for it.

Choose a platform. Will buyers purchase the book directly from your site or through a distributor like Amazon?

The advantage of selling through your site is you get to keep all the profits. Enticing, right? The catch is that you need a decent-sized platform to do this successfully. Furthermore, you’ll need to drive traffic to your sales page by publicizing effectively.

That’s where Amazon can help — if you’re willing to give it a cut of sales. Amazon offers authors who charge between $2.99 and $9.99 (and follow certain rules) 70% of every sale. But Amazon might not be so effective if you’re selling at a higher price point.

If you take the sell-it-yourself approach, E-Junkie is the go-to site for ecommerce. It costs only $5/month initially, routes your sales through PayPal and sends your ebook to buyers automatically.

E-Junkie also provides an affiliate option, which gives bloggers a commission for books they help sell. At least 33% commission is standard for affiliates; many ebook authors offer 50%.

Create a sales page. Especially if you sell from your own site, you’ll need an effective and visual product page that convinces readers to buy the book. This page presents a great opportunity to communicate your initial focus: What problem will your ebook solve for readers?

---

3. Launch

---

It seems like writing the ebook would be the hard part, but even after that’s complete, you’ve got a long way to go. To spread the word about your guide, create a smart launch plan.

Throw yourself into promotion. Approach bloggers with big platforms and ask for reviews, Q&As or guest posts, keeping in mind that you’ll have to actually write the guest posts you promise.

Use your network! Keep track of the people to whom you pitch and their responses in a Google Doc. If you do this properly, you’ll be able to remember everyone who’s helping spread the word about your book and thank them accordingly.

Add a bonus. What else can you offer buyers to sweeten the deal? Your bonus could be another product, a service like coaching or some other special deal.

Before releasing my eguide, I made a deal with another author who published an ebook on a similar topic. When people bought my eguide, they received 50% off that author’s related ebook. This deal appealed to potential buyers, not to mention, created more exposure for the other author. Win-win.

Offer a launch discount. To encourage browsers to buy now rather than later, offer a significant discount redeemable only during launch week. Offer a pre-launch discount to your newsletter subscribers too. If you show your appreciation to these loyal readers by offering an awesome discount before launch, they’ll no doubt reciprocate by helping spread the word about your ebook.

Create a review package. Make it easy for bloggers and journalists to write about your ebook by putting together a zipped folder of helpful materials: a sample copy of the book, an image of the cover, your headshot and bio, affiliate materials and whatever else makes it simple for bloggers to communicate what you have to offer.

Increase Your Dating Success with Statistics

Dating isn't easy and love isn't a science, but the judicious application of statistics to your dating life may make the difference between a Saturday night alone and a fun night out. Here's a look at a few dating trends, studies, and statistics that may help improve your love life, both on and offline.

I've spent the last year or so going on a dates that went poorly for a variety of different reasons. That led to a lot of frustration, so I started to keep track of my own behavior in order to figure out what, if anything, I was doing wrong. I also looked for statistics and studies that offered advice about compatibility, how people approach various dating situations, what expectations I should have, and so on. With the help of popular dating site OKCupid's blog, Psychology Today, and a few other helpful sources, I was able to learn quite a bit about navigating the dating world. This post is an in-depth look at how that information helped me and may be able to help you, too.

While there are many positive things you can take away from a scientific look at love, it's important that you remember that people are unique and not easily defined by statistics. If a statistic suggests a person who loves zucchini will also hate every cat owner she meets (note: this is not true at all), you don't want to spend your life running away every time a date has a photo of a kitty in his or her wallet. Statistics and studies can be fascinating, illuminating, and helpful, but it's easy to take them too far. Use the information in this post to help you figure out new and better approaches to dating while avoiding judgments and assumptions on and about the people you meet. You may love zucchini, but that doesn't make every cat lover evil. Keep that in mind as you read.

Online: What to Do Before the Date

How to Make First Contact

Full size

When you're dating online, most interactions begin in the same way: a message. This can be a little daunting because you want to say the right thing, avoid saying too much or too little, and do whatever you can to get a reply. OKCupid did a little analysis of which first messages receive the most replies and what they have in common. First, write well and avoid netspeak like "ur" and "wat." Second, avoid missing apostrophes and simple misspellings. Third, avoid physical compliments. They tend to receive lower reply rates, and those low reply rates plummet as the compliments become more extreme. What you want to do is bring up a person's specific interests and appear to be different from the average guy or girl. You also want to keep it to just a few sentences (and sometimes even shorter). While your messages will vary depending on the specifics of the individual you're contacting, here's an example:

How's it going? Maybe this is a weird question, but have you ever been to Din Tai Fung? Your profile said you love dumplings and that place has the best dumplings I've ever had. Anyway, you seem cool and I think we'd get along. Say hi if you're interested.

The information you pick should be something that stands out as something important to your prospective date and it should be a sincere common interest. If they say they're "obsessed with dumplings" that makes it a good choice. If they simply list it as something they like, it's probably not that important. The goal is to find something you're both excited about and make that the focus of your first contact.

It can also help to get the conversation moving on the first message, so you may want to add a question if it isn't already part of the message (like the example above). You can ask something based on what you've already said, or even something more generic (e.g. "How's your week going?"). In most cases, you won't win a person over in the first message so you want to keep the conversation going for a few messages to see if you both want to go out on a date.

Set Expectations for Yourself and Your Prospective Dates

In any situation, dating or otherwise, it helps to be realistic. When you're talking to someone new it's always helpful to uncover any potentially major problems so they're not a point of tension later. For example, if you're a devout Catholic you might want to share that information with a certain atheist who's got you hot and bothered. You don't want to share everything right at the start, of course, but if you're already anticipating friction because of a specific difference it'll help to know how you're going to handle it. If your wall is plastered with Obama posters, you don't want to find out your date has a wallet full of Sarah Palin photos in the middle of dinner. Even if you have opposing political views and interests, you may get along swimmingly. Rather than judge outright, you want to know your actual deal breakers and keep an open mind about everything else.

Discover Your Major Deal Breakers

We all have a list of major deal breakers, and it's a good thing to figure out if any of those deal breakers are present in a guy or girl you like before you go out on a date. But—and this is a very important but—you need to be reasonable. As sex advice columnist Dan Savage puts it, if you've got a list of deal breakers that has more than five things on it you are the problem. Your deal breaker list should look something like this:

1. Heavy drug use
2. Has no ambition
3. Still in love with ex-boy or girlfriend from a decade ago
4. Says "I love you" on the first date
5. Owns more than two cats (you know, if you hate cats and have a pet hair allergy)

It should not look like this:

1. Chews with mouth open
2. Leaves mayonnaise out on the counter
3. Has opposing political views
4. Is shorter/taller than me
5. Doesn't think Titanic is the best movie, like, ever!!

You might be surprised by how easy it can be to get over the things that you think make a person completely unappealing. You have to make sure you don't rule anyone out because they occasionally forget to turn of the oven or have been known to enjoy pornography. That said, you don't want to waste your time going out with someone who isn't compatible. One of the benefits of online dating is that you can exchange a few messages and ask these sorts of questions. You don't want to ask "So I was wondering…are you a heavy drug user?" but rather bring up the topic so it can be discussed. Perhaps you're talking about your weekend and you went to a party where you had to leave early because you hate the smell of marijuana. Or perhaps you stayed for hours because of the same reason. Whatever the case may be, try to slip into these topics naturally. Not only will you find deal breakers, but you'll also learn a lot more about a person than you would from just asking "hey, what's up?"

Expect Lies

According to OKCupid's statistics, people lie. This is probably not a shock to anyone, even if you're pretty honest yourself, but it's good to know what most people lie about so you're not too offended when you learn the truth.

Both men and women commonly lie about height, reporting to be around two inches taller on average about 10-15% of the time. Both sexes also inflate their income. As a general practice you can assume they make 20% less than what they boast, and the likelihood of an inflating income grows with age. Finally, when you see a particularly attractive picture, chances are it's fairly old. Most of the photos OKCupid users considered "hot" were from a year in the past (or more). While lying is definitely off-putting, and not recommended, these are the kinds of little things you can forgive. Everyone is trying to put their best foot forward, and some people will want to appear as though that foot walks in an expensive shoe and is attached to a slightly longer leg. If you expect these little lies, finding out the truth won't be unsettling and the deception will be easier to forgive.

Offline: How to Handle the First Date

Good Questions and Topics of Conversation for a First Date

Anyone who has ever been on a handful of dates in their lifetime will happily advise you on what you should and shouldn't say on a date. In reality, what is and isn't off limits relies pretty heavily on the person you're with. Figuring this out often means listening carefully and reading your date's body language for relevant signals, but there are a few surprising topics you can discuss in order to learn a lot about the person you're with.

The Three Unusual Questions with Revealing Answers

One thing dating site OKCupid does to help its users get to know people better is allow them to answer user-submitted questions and submit their own. With millions of answers, they found that an answer to a simple and shallow question can reveal the answer to something a bit more personal. For example, they found that women who answered "yes" to whether or not they liked the taste of beer also frequently answered "yes" to whether or not they'd have sex on the first date. (The likelihood as about 60%.) But if you're looking for a relationship, three questions stood out as the right ones to ask on a first date:

• Do you like horror movies?
• Have you ever traveled around another country alone?
• Wouldn't it be fun to chuck it all and go live on a sailboat?

When couples agreed on one or more of these questions, it generally foretold a successful relationship. OKCupid figured this out by analyzing 34,260 real-world couples who deleted their accounts because they met someone via the site and didn't need it anymore. Of the 34,260 couples, 32% agreed on the answer to all three questions. While disagreement should not be a reason to rule out a potential mate, similar answers are at least cause for a little optimism.

Be a Storyteller

While the specifics of first date conversations might be unique, the topics generally are not. AskMen, iVillage, and eHarmony all suggest topics and questions that make for good conversation on a first date and there's a lot of overlap. Common topics include family and friends, pop culture, life goals, hobbies and free-time activities, and personal tastes (e.g. movies, music, etc.). While these are all good things to discuss, a date can turn into a two-way interview if you're simply exchanging information. Since you know which topics will inevitably come up, it's good to have a few entertaining stories at the ready. Sharing more about yourself and being a little vulnerable can 1) make your date more comfortable, and 2) move you out of interview mode and into a good, authentic conversation.

Obviously the stories you choose are going to depend on your experiences but I've found that the best ones are the kind your friends enjoy and that you enjoy telling. If you know they get a good response from people you like and you're charismatic in your delivery you can make the safe assumption that they'll play well on a date. If they're funny, that's always a bonus as well.

One thing you want to remember is that virtually no topic is off-limits. For example, I've sometimes told the story of how I ended up being a cameraman for a porno. Out of context this seems like a bad topic for a first date, but it's an interesting story under the right circumstances. If you're comfortable with what appears to be embarrassing information on the surface, most of the time your date will be comfortable too. Use your best judgment. Revealing yourself can be beneficial under the right circumstances, so don't hold back when you have something fun and interesting to share.

Photo by Aerolite.

Present the Most Attractive—and Honest—Version of Yourself

Full size

We like to present ourselves in the most attractive light, but sometimes that light can be a little too flattering and unrealistic. Photoshopped faces, poorly lit photographs, and portraits with sunglasses and hats blocking out most of a person's features are all common on dating web sites. These types of images may make you look good, but they're frustrating to others. Despite what we tend to think, there are actually two things that statistically make you more attractive to others: the parts of you that you probably consider ugly and just a small amount of effort in the areas of presentation and fitness.

Just Take Care of Yourself

Dr. Jeremy Nicholson, writing for Psychology Today, found a 1997 study that surveyed university students to discover what they actually found attractive about one another:

[B]y far, the most attractive features fell under the category of "self care". These features were changeable aspects like good grooming, neat hair, nice fitting and quality clothing, good posture, and healthy weight. Essentially, the most attractive features about a person (male or female) is that they put forth some effort to shower, groom, select some nice clothes, stand up straight, and manage their diet a bit. No plastic surgery, major gym time, or extensive overhauling required.

Rather than worrying about the things you can't change, you're far better off spending time worrying about what you can. In fact, it appears you don't need to spend much time at all.

Photo by Judy Reinan.

Don't Hide What You Consider Ugly

Full size

When it comes to the things you can change, like your huge nose or your fat lips, you may actually have an advantage—at least if you're a woman. OKCupid discovered that, statistically, when men disagree whether or not a woman is hot it works in her favor. Disagreements tend to happen over women who have unique features like that large nose. Tattoos and piercings also make a difference as well. The takeaway here is that if there's something unique about you, feature it rather than try to hide it. Aside from it being a statistical benefit, you want someone to be honestly attracted to you from the get-go. Honest attraction is always going to yield better results, so don't worry about what you think makes you look bad.

Photo by Do2Learn.

And Yes, Be Yourself

While statistics, studies, and trends can guide you towards making better choices in dating, they all ultimately point to one thing: just be yourself. It's a cliché for a reason. It's good to be honest and genuine about who you are. The trick is simply identifying what parts you share first and what you save for later. There's no scientific formula that's going to make dating easy, but by keeping an eye on your behavior and the behavior of others you can learn how to handle it all a little bit better.

---

You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook. Twitter's the best way to contact him, too.

Related Stories

• Creepy App Lets You Creepily Meet (Creepy?) Strangers Gizmodo

• These First Cousins Should Really Start Seeing Other People Gawker

• How To Keep Your Social Life Alive In A Long-Distance Relationship Jezebel

If you would like to watch a lot more talks and lectures than TED can provide, then you may also need to check out the Do Lectures. These so-called “unconferences” may have been around for a while, but this collection of lectures from the most engaging, inspiring speakers from around the world still provide viewers and fans of a daily staple of ideas and energy.

The Do Lectures collection include talks about business, creativity, environment, food, technology, well-being and more. Distinguished speakers come from great diverse backgrounds and disciplines. While the talks spark wildly different ideas, the binding idea is that the people who do things can inspire others to do things too.

The videos in the website have very good quality, while finding the talks that you love is a breeze. You can browse by topic, tone of the lecture, or by speaker. You can also read the short biography of each speaker in the video.

The Do Lectures is a great resource for teachers, students, or just about anyone who are looking for great ideas to either supplement their own ideas or find new ones.

Features

• Inspiring and engaging speakers.
• Similar to TED conferences.
• Browse by speaker, topic, or tone of lecture.
• Read bios of speakers.

Check out TheDoLectures @ www.thedolectures.co.uk

If a disaster that might disrupt local public water supplies seems imminent, it is prudent to store extra water to get through the situation. Large jugs of bottled water are effective but can be difficult to find once word of the disaster gets out. While your water is still running you can create a temporary water storage tank using plastic garbage bags and cardboard boxes.

Instructables user yoav_liberman shares this method for building a 2-5 gallon tank: Cut an upside-down triangle on one side of a cardboard box. Insert the garbage bag into the box and carefully pull one of the corners through the triangle cutout and then twist the corner and pull into the point of the triangle. Fill the bag with water and tie the bag shut. The box protects the water filled bag from punctures.

When you need to use the water cut the end off the corner you pulled through the triangle in the box; you can stop the water by twisting the corner shut and tucking it back into the point of the triangle.

If you do this you'll definitely want to use food-safe plastics, as some manufacturers lace garbage bags with pesticide to keep bugs out of the trash. Even so, I'd be more inclined to use this water for washing and flushing the toilet rather than consuming. If you know a water outage is on the way make sure to fill all your bathtubs and any other empty containers as well.

A water tank for emergencies made from a cardboard box and a trash bag

 

 

Road trips are a great alternative to costly flights but they can be pretty mundane and overbearing if you don’t know how to enjoy them. One great way to do so is travel through scenic drives and MyScenicDrives can help you find one that wouldn’t require deviating from your route.

Simply enter your starting and ending addresses and the tool will build a map. Click anywhere on the map to view the scenic drives in that region and add them to your itinerary. You can also search by places of interest such as lakes, mountains, etc, and add them to your route. Once done, update directions to include your waypoints and if you want, find places to stay near these points.

Features:

• Find or create road trips.
• Search by places of interest and add them to your route.
• Find places to stay near by.
• Find scenic drives by state.
• Add labels, notes and schedule for any point.
• Similar sites: Rome2rio, RouteFriend, Route4Me, Route Planner, POIs Along A Route, UMapper and The Route Planner.

Visit MyScenicDrives @ www.myscenicdrives.com