Research Competing Products

Find competing products:

Go to Amazon.com to find competing products.

Go to Clickbank.com to find competing products.

Go to JVZoo.com to find competing products.

Go to DigiResults.com to find competing products.

Use a Google search to find competing products.

Inquire on niche forums about competing products.

Review competing products:

Review the table of contents of all competing products.

Review the sales letters for all competing products.

Read the reviews for all competing products.

Read the top three or four competing products.

Take note of what all topics are included in these competing books.

Determine the biggest selling points and strengths of the competing products (you’ll want to make sure your product includes these strengths).

Determine the perceived flaws of the top competing books (you’ll want to make sure your product improves on these flaws so that you end up with a better product).

Determine a USP for your book. (What will make your product different and better than the competing products?)

Create Your Outline

Create a rough outline based on the topics that your competitors included in their products.

Order your outline in one of the following ways:

Same order as competitors.

Step-by-step format.

Chronologically.

Beginner to advanced material.

Fast results to results that take longer to achieve.

Do additional research to better understand the topic:

Do a Google search for each topic on your outline.

Use trusted sources only (such experts’ websites, news sites, university sites, authority sites, research journals, and other sources that you know will provide complete and accurate information).

Use multiple sources to get a more in-depth look at each topic.

Interview experts to get details not found elsewhere.

Now fill in your outline with this additional information:

Create as detailed of an outline as possible, with topics, subtopics and tips you want to include in each section.

Assign an approximate word count to each topic and subtopic in your outline.

Note: This keeps you focused on those topics that are most important, plus it ensures your final product is right around your desired word-count range.)

Be sure to break down your outline into as small of sections as possible, with each subtopic being no more than 1000 words long. (This will make your writing faster and easier.)

Example: If one of your topics is “set up a blog” and you intend to have this section be about 2500 words long, then be sure you list subtopics under this section such as: “choose a domain name” (500 words), “get hosting” (500 words), “set up the blog through cpanel” (750 words), “customize the blog” (750 words).

Make notes of an examples or stories you could include in each section.

Makes notes of any pictures, charts, illustrations or other graphics you could include in the various sections.

Make notes of any tools you can include in the book, such as a quiz, a resource list, mind map, etc.

Makes notes of any links you’ll include in your books, especially links to your products or to affiliate offers.

Copy and paste your initial research links into the appropriate sections of your outline (so that you quickly refer to them later when you start writing).