The Hidden Value Of eBooks & How To Make One in Minutes!

10 min readMay 30, 2021

Creating valuable content takes time, so now more than ever before you need to know how to convert your content into a lead magnets to grow your list.

What’s the best way to create a lead magnet from your content? eBooks!

I’ll be honest, as I’m writing this article, the concept of creating eBooks from my published content is kind of new to me. I vaguely remember doing something similar many years ago, when PDF’s first became popular, but those were more of a ‘from scratch’ approach.

When I discovered how easy it was to re-purpose my content into eBooks as lead magnets — well, I was hooked!

eBooks are the perfect lead magnet. They’re easy to create, they can be downloaded in seconds and they provide valuable content that will keep people coming back for more. Plus, eBooks make it easier than ever before to convert readers into subscribers. So if you want to build an email list of raving fans who buy from you time and time again — this is how!

How you can use eBooks for marketing your brand?

Marketing your brand is key to success and capturing leads who will then read more about what you offer on your site — it’s a win-win!

There is no better time than now to start publishing an eBook. You can publish them on a wide range of topics and convert them into lead magnets for your email list, or you can use them as freebies to get people interested in what you offer.

Don’t be put off by the idea that it’s hard to create an eBook! I have tried several eBook creators and have settled on a combination of 2 — Canva and Designrr.

I’ll explain more about the pros and cons of both of them as we look at how to create an eBook.

Create lead magnets for your list to grow it

When you make an eBook as a lead magnet, you can use it to grow your list and increase the quality of those leads. They are popular because they are easy to read, attractive and usually provide some type of valuable content.

But eBooks are not just lead magnets, they can be used in a variety of other ways for marketing, that have different applications for solving problems for your readers:

as an educational tool
a product guide or demonstration
as sales copy; using testimonials or a case study

Now you know what to do with your eBooks, let’s talk about finding the best eBook creator for your business or brand.

What is an eBook?

Short for electronic book, an eBook is a type of digital media popularized by the e-reader. Formatted for easy reading on screens, ebooks are a valuable platform for distributing content.

They are portable, readable everywhere and one of the most cost-effective ways to create marketing materials for your business or offer lead magnets to gain new customers.

eBooks are an excellent format for promoting your brand, because they offer the advantages of being both educational and easy to share.

But they have a lot more uses than just marketing and lead magnets. They can also be used for general information, documentation or other content that you want to provide your customers with but not sell them on the spot, such as tutorials and guides.

How to create an eBook

It’s so easy to make an eBook from your already published content, such as blog posts and web pages, but also from Google Docs, Microsoft Word Docs, etc. You can even just type text into an eBook template!

There are many eBook creators available to make the design experience easy — my favourites being Designrr and Canva — and they will have you making eBooks like a pro in no time!

In fact eBook creation software makes the whole process so simple with the inclusion of tools like a drag and drop editor, access to stock photos and a variety of eBook templates and formats. You really don’t need to have a high level of technical skill at all.

What should your eBook content be?

When it comes to content for your eBook, you should always be aware of giving value to your readers, so make your content relevant and useful.

The most popular types of eBook lead magnet content are things like Guides, Life Hacks and Cheat Sheets.

Guides are helpful and solve problems or teach people how to do something they want to know how to do.

Everyone is busy, so life hacks and cheat sheets are a sure way to grab attention. If you create this type of eBook, include a variety of tips and tricks on one specific topic relevant to your audience.

If you are creating a guide or cheat sheet, keep in mind:

make sure it helps solve a problem your audience has
make the solution simple enough that anyone can follow it
use images to help people visualise the problem and solution
keep your message ‘on brand’ rather than just putting out random content

At the other end of the content marketing scale, you have White Papers.

What exactly is a white paper? A white paper is a type of informational report that’s often used to promote or market products and services. They’re also sometimes known as an ‘analyst report’.

So what does this have to do with eBooks? Quite a lot, it turns out! White papers are great lead magnets because they not only explain an issue or methodology but also providing a solution to the reader. They are attractive documents that entice people to provide their email to get access to.

If you are creating a white paper, keep in mind:

make sure to use an appropriate and professional tone of voice
make sure to thoroughly research and professionally present your topic
include references and citations where appropriate
white papers can be lengthy and time consuming to create, so they may not be appropriate for all businesses

Designing your eBook

You don’t need to be a graphic designer to create an eBook with the apps available today. You’ve probably seen a ton of them advertised on Social Media — I see ads in my newsfeed for eBook design every day now that I have shown an interest in it — thanks Facebook!

At the end of the day, finding the right eBook creator tool for your needs might come down to your budget, but whichever one you choose, you’ll need some basic information before you start.

eBook Formats

eBooks are usually in PDF format, which makes them easy to read on any device and the most accessible format to publish and share. You can upload a pdf file to your website, or provide a link to download it when people submit their email address.

If you are looking to publish in other formats for e readers, such as ePub or .mobi, eBook creation software such as Designrr has those options.

You can also get an embed link so you can display a flip book on your own website or blog.

eBook Templates

Most eBook templates come with a well designed done-for-you page layout, so you won’t really have to worry about having design skills. The templates are designed so that your content flows and is easy to navigate with features such as navigation via a table of contents and inline CTA’s (Call To Action).

You simply need to either import your content — via a blog post url or a link to a document — and the eBook creation software will format it to fit the template. Alternatively you can type (or copy & paste!) your content into the eBook template.

eBook Cover Images

Bear in mind that there will be many people using these templates to create eBooks, so always change the cover image to something that matches your content and will connect with your readers. Both Canva and Designrr give you access to a library of royalty free stock photos, or you can upload and use a photo from your own collection.

Choosing Fonts and Colours

Most eBook templates will allow you to change the colours and fonts in the editor, so you can stay true to your brand. You will want to have your brand kit to hand with your font names and colour hex codes, so you can choose the right options in the design tools.

Links to Products and Offers

Have your product and offer links ready to add to the PDF before you publish. these can be incorporated into your Call To Action. Here are a couple of examples of an inline CTA (left) and a main CTA (right) in Designrr.

Create a Free eBook in Canva

My first eBook attempts were in Canva — I have been using the Pro version for years — and it’s is a popular free eBook creator.

But is it very basic.

The templates are high calibre, well designed and eye catching. But you have to do a lot of work to get a finished eBook.

You’ll need to copy and paste the text into the template and make sure it fits and flows well. You’ll also have to manually upload and add your images. This all takes time!

Learn more about creating free eBooks in Canva

Create an eBook in Designrr

A friend introduced me to Designrr and to be honest, I didn’t quite believe it when they told me that it did all the work for you. But that’s honestly the case!

The first eBook I made in Designrr I simply chose a template, added the url of my blog post, and it pulled in all of the text and images and fitted it all to the template perfectly!

All I needed to do was add the cover title and change the footer text to be the url of my blog and I was done!

Learn more about creating eBooks in Designrr

Pros and Cons of these 2 eBook Creators?

You can make eBooks in Canva on the free plan, but it takes a lot of time and some skill with editing. However, Canva is the perfect app for creating social share images for your blog posts, Facebook posts and Instagram posts to promote your eBook!

Designrr starts at $27 for lifetime access (there are upgrades available for more features) and you really can make a basic eBook in minutes!

I find that using both together works best for me, so it’s another win-win!

Should you create an eBook?

eBooks as lead magnets are a great way to grow your email list, but it doesn’t have to be hard to make one of you choose the right eBook creation software for your needs.

There’s usually some valuable information that you can give away to either educate or solve a problem for your target audience, in exchange for an email address and there are plenty of tools out there that can help you create an eBook with ease.

With Designrr you can use your existing blog posts, articles or web pages quickly and easily without needing any design or technical skills to create a professional eBook in minutes; all done with ease.

Simply pick your theme and then pull in the text and images — from your blog or website url, MS Word, Google Docs and more — it takes just minutes to do it!

Get Started Now with Designrr with this Limited One Time Payment Offer of $27 (upgrades available)

Are you a volume content creator and want to create eBooks & blog posts from YouTube, Podcasts, Video and Audio files? Save $700 on the Designrr Premium Plan.

Does Adobe have an eBook creator?

Yes, Adobe has a product called Adobe Spark, which is an all-inclusive design and content creation app that allows you to create a range of different formats including eBooks.

Is writing an eBook profitable?

eBooks are a fantastic way to build your list and generate leads. You can offer a lead magnet in the form of an eBook as an incentive for subscribers who sign up, which will increase your reach and pull potential customers towards you. Some people write eBooks to sell through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and other stores. Whether this is profitable would depend on the number you sell.

How do I make a PDF eBook?

Any good eBook creator will allow you to create a PDF format eBook.

There are plenty of free or cheap PDF creation programs out there, and any eBook creator will include a simple facility to export your eBook as a .pdf file

My trusty sidekick, Jarvis, helped write this article. Learn more about using an AI Copywriting Assistant for content creation.