Of the one billion people who now use the Internet worldwide, the vast majority are searching for information -- seeking financial services, looking for medical information, checking real estate listings, chatting with newsgroups, researching products and services... and looking for information that will answer their questions and solve their problems.

So what does that mean for you, the entrepreneur? It means that information is a hot product!

Information products can be wildly profitable!

To profit from this overwhelming demand for information, one of the first things you'll need is an affordable and simple way to package and distribute information products securely online.

And that's where eBooks come in. eBooks (electronic books) are not only the perfect vehicle in which to package your valuable information product, they are also easy -- and free! -- to duplicate and deliver. Plus, once you've put in the initial time to create them, your costs are zero... so you keep 100% of the profits!

But the best part is that, because eBooks are FREE to duplicate and FREE to deliver, you keep 100% of the profits from each sale!

Important Announcement: eBooks aren't just books anymore!

Unlike a paper book, which can only contain words and maybe the odd chart or illustration, an eBook can contain absolutely anything that can be delivered over the Internet.

This means you can easily take any multimedia presentation -- including audio and video files -- that would work on a web site and package it in an eBook.

In fact, there are literally dozens of ways for you to use eBooks to increase sales, capture opt-ins, generate sales leads, and more! For example, with eBooks you can...

• Record a video presentation of your best salesperson pitching your product. A video salespitch is a great way to reach a far wider audience because you can easily send it around the Internet!

• Create an interactive demonstration of how your product works. People love to be able to see how something works before they buy it, and if you capture the contact information of everyone who views your demonstration -- you can easily follow up with these leads!

• Create "preview" chapters! This is an incredibly powerful sales tool. You can let visitors to your site download your eBook and read one or two chapters, and then prompt them to "unlock" the rest of the eBook by paying for it! Once people prove to themselves that you are offering valuable information, they'll gladly pay to get the rest of it!

• Increase your sales with free or paid trials of text, audio, or video products. It's easy to sell "free trial" eBooks that give readers full or partial access to your information for a limited time. If you collect each customer's credit card information at the beginning of the free trial, you can simply bill them after the trial period is up. And if a customer decides they don't want your product, you can simply shut off their eBook access from your own computer!

• Compile audio or video interviews with industry experts. This makes for a highly marketable eBook that is fun and easy to create. Most people will agree to an interview if you approach them professionally and explain how they stand to benefit from the exposure of participating in your eBook.

... and those are just a few examples! eBooks have come a long way from the simple electronic delivery of text-based documents. Just use your imagination and let eBooks help you to create and distribute professional-looking information products that will wow your customers!

Use eBooks to create a "viral" marketing campaign and attract swarms of new customers!

"Viral marketing" is a strategy that encourages your customers to pass on, or spread, a marketing message to others. Like a virus, your message has the potential to spread exponentially throughout online communities.

With eBooks, you now have a hot new way to take advantage of this powerful strategy to drive floods of qualified buyers to your web site by giving away tons of valuable information -- and encouraging readers to share it with their friends!

With viral eBooks, word about your business can spread fast. For example, let's say that you persuade 10 people to pass your eBook on to their friends, and those friends each share it with 10 of their friends, and so on. In no time at all you will have thousands of people opening up and reading your valuable information!

And the greatest part is that your eBook is landing right in the hands of your best potential customers, because readers of your eBook will only pass it on to friends they think will be interested in what you have to say.

It's also surprisingly easy to create a viral eBook! There are five basic steps you need to take:

1. Create a SHORT report (10 to 30 pages) that solves a problem OR shares valuable information about a hot topic for a specific group of people.

2. Turn your report into a professional-looking eBook.

3. Add a "VIRAL BUTTON" to your eBook -- so any reader who likes your eBook can easily share it with friends by simply clicking the VIRAL "send this eBook to a friend" button.

4. Give away FREE copies of your viral eBook -- and invite readers to share unlimited copies with THEIR friends and colleagues.

5. Watch as 1,000s of people share your viral eBook with friends... who share it with THEIR friends... and so on!

Of course, right now you're probably wondering, "How does giving away FREE eBooks translate into more SALES?"

That's a great question.

For your viral eBook to be successful, you must create a free, information-rich product that's packed with value, then encourage people to download it, read it, and share it with friends.

The secret is -- DON'T SELL in the eBook.

In fact, don't even push readers to visit your web site! Just be generous about the information you share to win the trust and respect of these hot sales leads!

Then, wait until a few days AFTER they've had a chance to read your eBook... and send a follow-up letter... with an offer for your product! The key to making a viral campaign like this successful is being able to collect the contact information of each and every person who wants to open your eBook.

This means that every person who wants to access your viral eBook must be able to "register" it by providing you with their first name, last name, and e-mail address -- so you can follow up with personalized e-mails that contain relevant product offers.

WARNING: If you choose the wrong eBook software, you could be at risk!

It's important for you to realize that all eBook compiling software is not created equal. To start generating 1,000s of visitors to your web site with viral eBooks or selling secure and wildly profitable information products, you need to be using the right software.

If the eBook solution you use to create and distribute your eBooks doesn't contain the following features, you could be at risk of not being able to fully exploit all of the benefits eBooks provide! To be effective, your eBook compiling software must...

• Let readers share your viral eBook with a single click! To pass your eBook along to one friend -- or a hundred! -- all your readers should have to do is click an "E-mail a Friend" button in the menu bar of your viral eBook.

• Collect user information from everyone who reads your viral eBook! When readers download a copy of your eBook, they must be prompted to register their copy by entering their own name, e-mail address, and any other information you require. This is a HUGE feature! If you can't follow up with potential sales leads, you'll lose thousands of dollars in future profits.

• Use real-time contact lists and statistics to follow up with your readers! You need to be able to see exactly how many people have downloaded and registered your eBook at any time -- and review contact information you have collected from all your readers! This makes it simple for you to determine exactly how quickly your viral eBook is spreading around the Internet... and follow up later with all your potential new customers!

• Have robust security features to keep your information safe! To prevent thieves from "buying" your eBook, downloading it to their computer, and then demanding a refund, your eBook solution must allow you to "deactivate" any eBook you've sold from right inside the software. So if someone asks for a refund or puts a "chargeback" on their credit card, you can simply deactivate their eBook -- making it unavailable to that user!

... And that's just the tip of the iceberg! If the eBook software you choose doesn't have these capabilities, you simply cannot take advantage of the awesome profit-making and lead-generating potential of eBooks.

Final thoughts

As you can see, eBooks are terrific not only for selling wildly profitable information products, but also for driving swarms of targeted traffic to your web site by taking advantage of their powerful viral marketing features.

However, most eBook solutions do not contain all of the viral marketing and security features we just discussed. That's why I'm extremely excited to announce that we've just released the brand-new, updated version of our secure eBook publishing software, "eBook Pro 6.0."

eBook Pro goes way beyond the basics of most eBook software available on the market. With eBook Pro, you also get access to "point and click" wizards that walk you step-by-step through the entire process so you can build and start selling your first eBook in just minutes.

Plus, the latest version of eBook Pro contains new features for creating and distributing viral eBooks as well as state-of-the-art security measures to ensure that your valuable information is safe from thieves.

To learn more about how YOU can use eBook Pro to start an eBook publishing web site, or give away FREE eBooks as lead-generation tools, go to www.eBookPro.com.

Before we wrap up, please keep in mind that eBooks have moved well beyond the simple electronic delivery of text-based documents. With eBooks you can now package audio and video -- not just text -- in an attractive and easy to navigate publication, as well as harness the contagious power of viral marketing.

However, if you're going to use viral eBooks as a marketing tool for your business, you can't approach writing them the same way you would approach writing an advertisement.

You must be generous with the information you share to win the trust and respect of your readers, which will entice them to pass on your eBook to friends. Then, with the contact information you have collected, you can follow up with personalized e-mails that contain relevant product offers.