An Investment Banker's Muse

[bd301]

After 4 years of getting smarter each day in college, I somehow lost it all in a single second and ended up in the world of investment banking after graduating. After doing it for over a year I'm sick of it and looking to get out.

My goal is to generate around $1-2K/month with my muse: an e-book on how to get an investment banking job. Unlike the other books out there on this topic, mine will have a narrow, deep focus and will concisely explain 1) the best banking groups to get into depending on your goals, 2) how to get in depending on your background and 3) how to get through interviews. Existing material focuses on 3) and neglects 1) and 2). I will also take full advantage of the e-book format and allow quick navigation to get to the parts you most want to see.

The target markets are: 1) university students at tier-1 and tier-2 schools 2) business school students and 3) young professionals who want to move in from a related field.

I will use Adwords/Clickbank etc. and also target university/business-school mailing lists. Turnover for entry-level banking positions is extremely high and new "classes" are coming in every year (probably around 1,000-2,000 new people in the US each year), which makes this an attractive niche market.

Anyway, I would appreciate any feedback/insights on this. I am not an expert on e-books or online advertising so any thoughts would be great.

[KMO]

I imagine that investment banking is a bit like sales in that people look at the perks and think, "I could certainly cope with THAT lifestyle." They look at the people who succeed at it and think, "I'm certainly as smart/creative/energetic as any of THOSE people," and then take the plunge only to find that single characteristic that distinguishes the tiny minority of folks who "make it" from the vast majority who bail after a short time is that those who stick around can tune out the psychological discomfort that arises from the social interactions required by the job which most people find utterly intolerable.

You might tell the young hopefuls everything they need to know to "make it" in the first part of the book, and then close with a frank discussion of who doesn't make it and why and who would be better served to look elsewhere before wasting a year of their life discovering that they don't have the psychological fortitude to make it work.

My $0.02. YMMV

Stay well.

-KMO

[bd301]

Good suggestion, and what you've said is pretty much the case - it really doesn't take much to do this job, it's all a matter of how much you can put up with before going insane. Or accepting insanity and still doing your job well.

Anyone have suggestions/thoughts on whether an e-book is really a viable format for this or for muses at all? I'm tempted because I love to write but hate dealing with manufacturing, book publishers, suppliers etc. as with physical goods. But I just don't know if anyone actually buys e-books.