How to Write an E-book in 2 Weeks by Dennis Yu & Warren Whitlock - HTML preview

  4. Repurposing existing content 

What does repurposing content mean?

Repurposing content is the process of taking existing content and repackaging it to create new forms of delivery.

For example, a video on your website might be reused as a Facebook ad, or an article from your blog can be turned into an infographic.

Why repurpose your content?

To put it simply, repurposing content is an easy and effective way to establish authority with content that you have already created.

Whether you’re an influencer, business owner, or industry specialist, you should be producing video content.

This ties back into building your authority. People want to put a face to a name. If you aren’t currently making video content, that is the first step. For someone who wants to make a name for themselves, this is a hurdle that must be overcome.

Once you have video content, it can be repurposed into blog posts, social media posts, one-minute videos, and ebooks! Work smarter, not harder.

You’re going to use this same strategy to create your book. So instead of writing, you can just create a 1 hour- long video that you can then repurpose.

And this goes into the category of:

Long-form content

Long-form content can feel like a daunting task, but it is the perfect medium to explain your knowledge and expertise in depth.

Provide specific examples from your experiences and expand on what you have learned and why you should be their go-to in your industry. Establish yourself as an expert.

Again, look at this from a very niched-down perspective.

You don’t want to be another generalist in a sea of generalists. You want to stand out and speak exactly about your audience’s pain points, needs, desires. That’s how you create content that is worth consuming.

Without real value, it doesn’t matter how long your book is, how great the design, or anything else… you will not make a dent in the industry.

You might still be perceived as an expert because you’ve written about a certain subject, but the more knowl- edgeable prospects will be able to see beyond this if your content is not up to the level of expertise you’re trying to present.

Keep this in mind when you’re creating your video. Now that we made this clear, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

Identifying key points for your book

1. Creating an outline

If you are pre-planning your content production, you should already have an outline developed. Any kind of long-form content needs structure, so that’s where you should start.

Some important questions to consider when developing an outline:

• Who are you? (This can be a difficult question to answer, but it is important to explain your WHY to your audience)
• What is your WHY
• What specific pieces of information do you want to communicate to your audience? (Showcase your knowledge and expertise)
• How do you want your audience to feel after reading the final piece of content?
• What other questions might your audience be thinking? (Address any common concerns or objections)
• Provide specific examples (helps build authority)
• Tell us about your experiences in your industry related to your topic

OUTLINE

I. Introduction

II. The Mythical thing called Gut-Brain Connection

1. Interesting facts about your gut

2. The Connection

3. One root cause that ties them together

III. Gut-Brain Disorder Trifecta

IV. The Symptoms

V. Addressing Stress

1. The fight and flight mode

2. Rest and Digest Mode

VI. The Solution

1. What to Avoid

2. What you need

3. Ways to improve Vagal Tone

VII. What We Do

Now let’s take a step-by-step approach to develop your outline. First, start with an introduction that introduces yourself and ties into why you wrote the book.

Next, talk about why someone should care about your topic. This goes back to addressing objections or com- mon concerns people may have before reading it. The next step we like to take is giving a bit more background on the topic so readers can understand where we are coming from.

After that, break down your topic into three sections: all that information that you want to communicate about your topic and answer any questions you might’ve addressed in the introduction.

This can be your WHY and how it relates to your expertise, HOW you have achieved success in your industry, and WHAT steps people need to take to achieve success as you did.

Develop 3-5 subheadings under each main heading for further clarification. The final piece of content can be anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes, or more if you want to go extremely in-depth.

Translated into pages, this would be 16 to 24 pages or 32 to 48 pages depending on the formatting of your book.

The final product will be content that is short enough to not bore readers but long enough to showcase everything you need it to.

2. Creating chapters

Once you have an outline of your long-form content, you can break these down into chapters.

The most relevant key points should be your chapter names, with the option for sub-chapters within them.

Again, it is imperative that the structure is well thought out and easy to follow.

After you figured out the chapters and the sub-chapters, go ahead and write 1-2 lines for each. Use these lines as a reference for when you’re recording the video.

Don’t worry about making things perfect. You don’t need high-level production for this. You can use your phone in a place with good lighting.

Or, you can do it in a podcast format, audio-only.

The important part here is to get the information out there. You need solid long-form content that you can turn into a book.

It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes during the record- ing. Those can be edited later on, during the transcription process.

A Few More Tips to Remember:

• Make sure that your script is well-organized. The more organized it is, the easier it will be for you to follow and understand when you start recording.
• When writing, use quick phrases or sentences to guide the flow of how your recording should go. This will also help you avoid unnecessary fillers or pauses in between thoughts that can disrupt the rhythm of a speech.
• Explore different ways on how to deliver information in your script/outline. Your voice may sound fine as is, but sometimes by modulating it (e.g.: dropping intonation), you’ll create a better delivery for what you need. Test out different meth ods and see which one makes sense to use.
• Your script does not have to be in chronological order. In fact, you can even mix things up to make it sound more entertaining and engaging. Just make sure that you keep your main points and ideas intact – these are the most important ele ments of a book anyway.
• Consider recording the script with a friend or colleague. You might want to do this if you need someone to bounce ideas off of while creating your script.

Just to be clear, any mistake that you make while recording can be fixed in the transcription process.

And now,