Copyright 2005 Andrew Eaton

Make your cover come alive for your target market!

When creating an e-cover the what’s the first thought that comes to mind? How do I do it? What software do I need? How much will it cost? How quickly will I have it complete?

Most people will start searching for software to automatically create the cover. There are several “cookie-cutter” software packages available to create e-covers for e-books, and software boxes.

Most of these packages come with pre-designed templates. It’s very much a fill in the blank scenario and out pops the cover. Give strong consideration to this one area.

Do you really want a “cookie cutter” designed e-cover? Although the templates you may encounter are very impressive, you will be sharing your layout template with 100's, maybe 1000's of other sites. The reason why they are so cheap is because those "specific templates" are sold and re-sold as much as possible!

Just like the theme of your website, your e-cover should complement and initiate the emotions of your niche market causing them to buy your product or service. Some items for consideration when defining your niche market are:

Lifestyle: conservative, exciting, trendy, economical Social class: lower, middle, upper Opinion: easily led or opinionated Activities and interests: sports, physical fitness, shopping, books Attitudes and beliefs: environmentalist, security conscious. Age: children, teens, young, middle, elderly Gender: male, female Education: high school, college, university Income: low, medium, high Marital status: single, married, divorced Ethnic and/or religious background Family life cycle: newly married, married for 10 – 20 years, with or without children. Always keep the “eye candy” of your niche market in mind when creating e-covers, graphic headers, or even the background.

Look at your competition. How do you set yourself apart? Create the picture of your product or service to completely identify with your niche market.

That’s why I believe the first step in creating good graphic design for e-covers should be the specifics of your niche. Take some time to really determine every unique aspect of your niche market before you begin your graphic design.

You want to appeal to their specific desires, fears, and needs. You’ll want to carefully craft your unique selling points around those unique desires, fears, and needs. Choose the color, the tone, the size, the words, the fonts, and the overall theme to match the profile of your niche market.

You don’t want your e-cover to simply look good. You want it to evoke the buying emotions of your niche prospects.

While it’s very simple and easy to get the software and create a cookie cutter e- cover make sure it will give you the return on your investment you want.

Sometimes the return on your investment may be much higher if you choose to have your e-covers and other graphics for your site professionally designed.

The investment to have your e-cover professionally designed probably is not as expensive as you may believe. Often it’s even cheaper than purchasing the software and spending the time to do it yourself. The professionals spend each and every day concentrating on the uniqueness of niche markets.

They are quick and adept at knowing how to target the emotions of the niche using graphics to evoke the desired response. There’s a big difference in “looks professional” and “being professional.”

Remember, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Take the time to make sure YOUR picture matches your market. And then --- Watch your profits soar!