How to make money with the iPad and all the other tablets coming out

This coming April 3, the iPad will be released in the US. The following month it will start shipping to all parts of the world. Most filipinos look at this as just another expensive gadget, but there’s actually a treasure chest that’s waiting to be unearthed. Other than the usual media playing and browsing, the iPad will revolutionize how people read books. It actually started with the Amazon Kindle, but that product catered more towards existing book nerds and techies. My prediction is that Apple will make online book reading more mainstream and definitely much cooler. The pre-order numbers and even industry analysts are now saying that the iPad will be a success story for Apple. Other than the iPad, there are dozens of new tablets being produced by various companies and they will all launch in the next 6 months. It’s inevitable. There’s a technology revolution just around the corner. The question is if we will ride the wave or not.

How to Cash In
The iPad’s iBook feature opens up a world of opportunities to make money. Most, if not all, of other tablets will also be supporting some form of Ebook reading application. Yes, I know what you’re probably thinking about right now… what about piracy? Yes, piracy is a problem. But that shouldn’t stop us from going for the market that wouldn’t mind paying for content like ebooks. Have you ever owned an iPod Touch or an iPhone that’s linked to an iTunes store with a credit card? The feeling is insane. You can shop for apps anytime and since they’re all affordable, you end up buying. Don’t think local. Filipinos can be pirate mongers but there are a lot of countries out there that are lucrative and good markets for online purchases/downloads.

Writing becomes lucrative
Filipino writers have been lamenting how their job is not lucrative here. Let’s face reality – that won’t change anytime soon. If you really love writing and you want to make the most of your God-given talents, then let’s explore expanding the marketplace from the 7,100+ islands of the Philippines to the entire world. Every writer’s dream is to write a book, but their main problems are:

1. They don’t have the connections to publishers (that won’t take advantage and give them really bad deals).
2. They don’t have the capital to print their own books.
3. They don’t know how to market their books.
4. Majority of Filipinos don’t really read books.

Here’s the good news. Technology and the internet solves these problems. Let’s take a look again:

1. They don’t have the connections to publishers (that won’t take advantage and give them really bad deals).
Solution: You don’t need to approach publishers anymore because you don’t need to physically print books. The measly 10%-15% royalty will also grown a lot because your margins are bigger with ebooks.

2. They don’t have the capital to print their own books.
Solution: Again, not much needed to do ebooks. Your primary investment is content. In terms of cash, you might have to pay an artists to covert the .doc file to an ePub/PDF format. The artist should also spruce the book up with images and address lay-out issues.

3. They don’t know how to market their books.
Solution: Type “Affiliate Marketing/Sales” on Google and do some research. I’ll write more on this in the future. Also please see the Personal Branding segment below.

4. Majority of Filipinos don’t really read books.
Solution: Don’t just sell to Filipinos. Sell to the world

The rise of the Personal Brand
Personal branding used to be so hard. To build your personal brand before you’d have to get people to see you work and hear what you’re all about physically or through the telephone. It was very difficult to communicate who you were back then. But now is a totally different story. Personal Branding is much more relevant and effective given the rise of social media and the internet. Now you can let everyone know what you’re all about, what you’re doing, and what you want to say in just a click. That’s a major paradigm shift and we have to acknowledge that and take advantage of it.

Building a local or global personal brand can lead to phenomenal life-changing results. Build communities around you, figure out what they are willing to pay for, sell it to them, and over-deliver. Delivering more than what’s usual shouldn’t be too hard since your personal brand shouldn’t be far from what you’re good at or what you’re passionate about.

Others will take advantage of this. Period.
I hate to sound like a salesman but let me just emphasize this point. This knowledge or piece of info I’m writing about isn’t just between you and me. In fact I’m pretty sure that a lot of other social media and technology bloggers are saying the same thing. There are even others who have already started writing or making their ebooks and programs in preparation for the tablet invasion.

There will be a group of people who will see this opportunity and act on it. Will you be part of that group? The answer to that question of course is all up to you.