How to Make $50 Dollars a Day Selling Short PDF Reports

28 replies
Yep, this is probably the oldest IM advice that you can find when it comes to making money online, but there's a reason why it's so common - it simply works.

Creating and selling short but high quality PDF reports (or "hot sheets" as many like to call them) in a desperate niche is a proven way to start bringing in some decent cash - given that you're doing it right.

It's easy because you just focus on one problem/one solution in 10-15 pages, instead of writing a 200 page ebook. Price your report at $10 and all you need to do is make 5 sales a day to reach $50 dollars.

Why isn't everybody doing it?

Creating the report is actually the easy part - selling it is what many find difficult. But does it have to be that way? Nope. Selling becomes a lot more easier when you focus your efforts on getting laser targeted traffic to your sales page using the power of content marketing.

How can YOU do it successfully?

Create a blog on the exact topic of your short report and start posting quality (relevant) content consistently without giving away the 'meat'. Have your report's sales page linking to your blog. Promote it across the blog using banners and also tactfully recommend it from time to time within your posts. The more good content you post on your blog, the more search and social media traffic you will generate. As people start visiting your blog, there's a good chance that after reading your free blog posts a percentage of them will want to buy your paid report. And once they are on your buyer's list, you can create and sell them more such reports.

Don't let the simplicity of this method fool you. A blog can prove to be a powerful traffic generation tool that you can use to get exposure to your report and get consistent sales. And ultimately build an online business that you are in full control of.

All the best!
Mustafa
#$50 #day #make #pdf #reports #selling #short
  • Profile picture of the author JRJWrites
    Have you personally tried it and had good results with this IM vehicle?
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    • Profile picture of the author xohaibx
      Originally Posted by jrjohn View Post

      Have you personally tried it and had good results with this IM vehicle?
      Yes, I personally vouch for this method. Look around and you'll find that there are many bloggers selling information products to make money. You don't even need to get high traffic on your blog to see results - just targeted traffic.
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      • Profile picture of the author mitz
        I can vouch for this too!

        Yes this is so dam simple but it works!

        I actually had a blog first and took some of the content off that.. For example I had a section about formatting Windows... I packaged it into a book and clearly stated that the info was also free on my blog...but people wanted convenience and paid for the book. That is how I got started with Ebooks...

        Awesome money makers!
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  • Profile picture of the author auseek
    I would suggest..
    Squeeze.. to .. Free Report..
    using Paid Traffic !
    It's a lot quicker !!

    -Theo-
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  • Profile picture of the author Nytshade
    I also vouch for that... although I create a membership site instead of a pdf report but it's one and the same thing. Good advise OP!
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  • Profile picture of the author troy23
    Yes it works.
    I've used it for years.
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  • Profile picture of the author veekay31
    Is there a specific niche that works well with this strategy? Like an embarrassing health niche?
    Because people may not be all that desperate for solving all kinds of problems by reading an e-book.
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    • Profile picture of the author ajbarnes777
      Originally Posted by veekay31 View Post

      Is there a specific niche that works well with this strategy? Like an embarrassing health niche?
      Yup...

      I strongly recommend desperate and embarrassing health niches!

      People suffering from back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, having a small endowment , acne, eczema, mens health issues, womens health issues, etc. are all HIGHLY motivated to find a solution for their problems (including myself since I'm suffering from back, shoulder, and knee pain... )

      Following Mustafa's tips, write a report detailing how to fix something specific (i.e. LOW back pain), and then write content without too much meat (i.e. 3 mistakes in the gym that causes low back pain) on your blog and also utilizing article syndication to help drive traffic to the salespage promoting your report.
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      • Profile picture of the author cooler1
        Originally Posted by ajbarnes777 View Post

        Yup...

        I strongly recommend desperate and embarrassing health niches!

        People suffering from back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, having a small endowment , acne, eczema, mens health issues, womens health issues, etc. are all HIGHLY motivated to find a solution for their problems (including myself since I'm suffering from back, shoulder, and knee pain... )

        Following Mustafa's tips, write a report detailing how to fix something specific (i.e. LOW back pain), and then write content without too much meat (i.e. 3 mistakes in the gym that causes low back pain) on your blog and also utilizing article syndication to help drive traffic to the salespage promoting your report.
        Is it legal to offer health advice in such a report or is it only a problem for certain health topics?
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        • Profile picture of the author ajbarnes777
          Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

          Is it legal to offer health advice in such a report or is it only a problem for certain health topics?
          Offering advice, alternative healing methods, etc. I believe is okay with the niches I suggested (such as alternative natural ways and exercises to cure joint pain).

          That being said, offering solutions to cure serious illnesses in my opinion is out of the question... unless you are a medical professional and have the necessary approvals to publish this material.
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by cooler1 View Post

            Is it legal to offer health advice in such a report or is it only a problem for certain health topics?
            Originally Posted by ajbarnes777 View Post

            Offering advice, alternative healing methods, etc. I believe is okay with the niches I suggested (such as alternative natural ways and exercises to cure joint pain).

            That being said, offering solutions to cure serious illnesses in my opinion is out of the question... unless you are a medical professional and have the necessary approvals to publish this material.
            I would strongly recommend avoiding the word "cure". Same for "advice", as offering medical advice without the proper credentials is a criminal offense in many places. It's called "practicing medicine without a license."

            Offering personal experiences (real ones, not fiction devised to con people), alternative methods of alleviating symptoms, and such should be okay with the proper disclaimers.

            "Here's what I did, and here's what happened to me" is much different than "do this, and that will happen."
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            • Profile picture of the author WillR
              Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

              I would strongly recommend avoiding the word "cure". Same for "advice", as offering medical advice without the proper credentials is a criminal offense in many places. It's called "practicing medicine without a license."

              Offering personal experiences (real ones, not fiction devised to con people), alternative methods of alleviating symptoms, and such should be okay with the proper disclaimers.

              "Here's what I did, and here's what happened to me" is much different than "do this, and that will happen."
              Exactly. Nothing wrong with telling people what you did and what worked for you to cure a problem you were having. It's not to say it will work for everyone, it's just what worked for you. People love that stuff because a lot of times it's different advice to what the doctors have been telling them.
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    • Profile picture of the author xohaibx
      Originally Posted by veekay31 View Post

      Is there a specific niche that works well with this strategy? Like an embarrassing health niche?
      Because people may not be all that desperate for solving all kinds of problems by reading an e-book.
      It works in any niche where there is a problem to be solved. A desperate niche where people are looking for a valid solution. So you don't have to limit yourself to the health niche. For example, self improvement is a good niche where people are always asking for help/looking for solutions or ideas. Just use your common sense when it comes to niche selection.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lee Glynn
    Yes this method definitely works but I think one thing should be added here. It's best to try and find a niche that is desperate as mentioned above AND where you can potentially increase your product range.

    Can you create a more expensive solution to sell to these people. it's all very well making $50 a day but how much work are you putting into the site? Some niches can be tricky to service an email list and it's always better to have a few price points (all your products) to offer to your targeted traffic.

    It's easy to get overwhelmed creating more than one product but you don't have to do it immediately. Get your cheap product out there to test the market and your traffic methods. If it does well, increase your product range (focused) and then broaden your offers with complimentary affiliate offers.
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  • Profile picture of the author retsced
    Yes, this works really well. Just make sure your reports are fluff free and only focus on one problem. You don't necessarily have to focus on one ailment either. You can simply pick a large market and focus on solving many problems within that market.

    If you know how to create high quality reports then you'll get the same people buying all of your products. This is why having an email list is also very important.

    Learn how to structure your reports in a way that forces your reader to take action with the advice given. If they don't take action, they don't get results. If they don't get results, they don't come back to you again to solve other problems.
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  • Profile picture of the author An Al
    Good luck selling anything without traffic. And no, just posting on your blog isn't going to generate traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author Malcolm Thomas
      Originally Posted by An Al View Post

      Good luck selling anything without traffic. And no, just posting on your blog isn't going to generate traffic.
      Actually you're WRONG.

      Contrary to popular opinion it IS possible to generate traffic to your site by ONLY posting high quality content consistently.

      As a matter of fact, I don't perform ANY SEO on NONE of my blogs nowadays because that's a very easy way to get your site penalized by trying to manipulate the search engine.

      Just check out all of the SEO threads of the people complaining about Penguin 2.1 and Hummingbird.

      If you focus on delivering high quality content, the traffic WILL eventually come.
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  • Profile picture of the author elitesales
    "Selling becomes a lot more easier when you focus your efforts on getting laser targeted traffic to your sales page using the power of content marketing."

    You gloss over this like its so easy, hilarious. I have been busting my butt with quality content for three months with nothing, sorry, its not that easy.
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    • Profile picture of the author xohaibx
      Originally Posted by elitesales View Post

      You gloss over this like its so easy, hilarious. I have been busting my butt with quality content for three months with nothing, sorry, its not that easy.
      I never said it's "easy", you assumed that. I said "it becomes a lot more easier" when compared to other free traffic generation methods. It's common sense that you will have to "market" your blog by networking with other bloggers, gaining quality backlinks, etc. In other words, it's about marketing your content marketing.

      There are many good bloggers who busted their butt for 6 months before they started seeing positive results even if after creating quality content. Your success not only depends on the kind of content you create, but also how much time you spend to get the word out about it.
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      • Profile picture of the author ValCDesigns
        I can also vouch for this method, it does work and I've been doing it for years. Obviously if you're just starting out with a new site it will take you months before seeing any meaningful traffic, this is not a get rich quick scheme, it's a solid business model.

        One thing I suggest is to also promote at least one recurring affiliate program inside these reports. In time they add up.
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    • Profile picture of the author MJ Collins
      Originally Posted by elitesales View Post

      "Selling becomes a lot more easier when you focus your efforts on getting laser targeted traffic to your sales page using the power of content marketing."

      You gloss over this like its so easy, hilarious. I have been busting my butt with quality content for three months with nothing, sorry, its not that easy.
      Maybe you need to bust your ass a little more. You have very few posts in the forum and your signature offers no reason whatsoever to follow it.

      A great newbie strategy to build traffic is to post relevant comments on related blogs and in related forums. Let's get the positive mindset going, eh? And back it up with some old fashioned elbow grease.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    Create a blog on the exact topic of your short report and start posting quality (relevant) content consistently without giving away the ‘meat’. Have your report's sales page linking to your blog. Promote it across the blog using banners and also tactfully recommend it from time to time within your posts. The more good content you post on your blog, the more search and social media traffic you will generate. As people start visiting your blog, there’s a good chance that after reading your free blog posts a percentage of them will want to buy your paid report. And once they are on your buyer's list, you can create and sell them more such reports.
    Don't let the simplicity of this method fool you. A blog can prove to be a powerful traffic generation tool that you can use to get exposure to your report and get consistent sales. And ultimately build an online business that you are in full control of
    A very vague, basic, and simplistic overview here that fails to go into any real detail and glosses over most of the nitty gritty details.

    You say don't give away the 'meat' and whilst obviously if you give everything away you'll have nothing left to sell if you publish vague and wishy washy information (like your OP) lacking in any detail no one will buy anything from you anyway.

    Posting content to your blog does NOT bring traffic. You have to promote that content.

    Originally Posted by Malcolm Thomas View Post

    Actually you're WRONG.
    Contrary to popular opinion it IS possible to generate traffic to your site by ONLY posting high quality content consistently.

    As a matter of fact, I don't perform ANY SEO on NONE of my blogs nowadays because that's a very easy way to get your site penalized by trying to manipulate the search engine.

    Just check out all of the SEO threads of the people complaining about Penguin 2.1 and Hummingbird.

    If you focus on delivering high quality content, the traffic WILL eventually come.
    You don't have to do SEO but just posting content does not bring traffic...where is it coming from?

    You have to promote it somehow. It won't magically appear.
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  • Profile picture of the author veekay31
    What kind of sales page works well for these desperate and embarrassing health reports?
    Surely the "My Story" type sales page works really well if you've actually suffered and found a solution. What are the other types of sales pages that do well?
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  • Profile picture of the author Woodsusa
    Sometimes, it's the simplest, most honest approach that works better than anything else! As long as you are offering something that really solves a problem, people are going to buy it, and some definitely prefer reports to wading through ebooks.
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  • Profile picture of the author wesawu
    Thanks for the great post and a boost of confidence. I actually started working on this very thing about a month ago in an evergreen market with emphasis on 4 or 5 "problems" or niches within that market. I'm still working on the first niche but I agree with you, blog posts must be of very highly quality since they give an insight into what the paid report will be like. I don't expect immediate sales but this is a long term project and have no doubt this will work.
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  • Profile picture of the author NeillMac
    I like what is being said here and I'm sorely tempted to try it out.

    I have lost 21 lbs following a popular diet which was recommended to me by my doctor. I've still got at least another 21 lbs to go however, I started a blog as a bit of fun at 52dietblog.co.uk It's just a diary of my progress but I am so busy with other projects that I haven't had time to add content and optimize it. Consequently, visitors have been almost non existent.

    I can emphathise with those who are saying that the build-a-blog-and-they-will-come approach hasn't worked for them. It hasn't worked for me either - but then again, I blame myself - for one reason or another I haven't been making it work.

    So, perhaps it's about time I made it work..................

    Neill
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    It's a myth that simply adding quality content to your blog means people will visit.

    I don't know where that idea even came from. I suspect people misunderstood Google's "create quality content" and it will rise to the top instead of trying to spam the search engines.

    They didn't literally mean just create it and do nothing. They meant create it and get itn in front of your target audience and if it's genuinely good it will naturally receive links, shares and coverage and rank well.

    Not rocket science really.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by RockingLastsForever View Post

      It's a myth that simply adding quality content to your blog means people will visit.

      I don't know where that idea even came from. I suspect people misunderstood Google's "create quality content" and it will rise to the top instead of trying to spam the search engines.

      They didn't literally mean just create it and do nothing. They meant create it and get itn in front of your target audience and if it's genuinely good it will naturally receive links, shares and coverage and rank well.

      Not rocket science really.
      Here's another possibility.

      Many (most?) bloggers end up on Wordpress, and WP has a built-in pinging function, which they rely on for that "get it in front of your target audience" action.

      There was a day when that was enough. It may still be in more sparsely populated areas of the blogosphere. In the more heavily populated areas, you have to be more proactive about getting your voice heard.

      Having seen a lot of crappy and even mediocre "me, too, I like money" blogs over the last few years, it may really be true that in some cases silence is golden...
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