By Steven Van Yoder
One morning, you open your inbox and find several
e-mails that will boost your business. There is an
invitation to speak at a local group comprised of your
best prospects. Several emails have arrived from
people who've "heard of you" and inquire
about your services.
There is a message from a potential joint venture
partner who has invited you to be a guest on a
teleconference that will reach 500 people, all of them
prospects. Later that day, a journalist calls. She
wants to write a story about your business, which she
heard about on a radio interview you gave weeks
earlier.
Is this a fantasy? No. This could be a typical
day in your life as a published author.
More and more business people are realizing the power
of writing a book to catapult their businesses to a
higher level. Speakers, consultants, coaches,
therapists and other small business owners are
learning that publishing a book is one of the most
powerful marketing strategies available.
Published authors report that their lives change,
often dramatically, when their books reach the
marketplace. When you become an author, you become
known as the expert. When you are known as an expert
in your field, whatever your field, you will find that
the world will beat a path to your door.
A Book Generates Visibility and Attracts
Clients
Of all the information products you can create, a book
has the greatest potential to open doors. A book can
give you more recognition and professional credibility
than audiotapes, CDs, videos, seminars, workshops and
public speaking.
Since my book Get Slightly Famous was published last
year, I have been amazed at how it has transformed my
business.
Publishing my book was a newsworthy event that
resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in new
business, high-profile media coverage, speaking
engagements, radio interviews, partnership
opportunities, and too many other benefits to mention.
Prospective clients now hear about me from all over
the world. The media regularly call me, and I appear
in newspaper articles and radio interviews.
Get Slightly Famous is not just my most effective
marketing tool. It has become the core of my brand
identity. My book provides a marketing platform for my
business that gives all my marketing efforts a
natural, sharp focus.
Best of all, marketing is not such a struggle
anymore.
As a successful author you will find the stress of
constantly seeking new clients can largely become a
thing of the past. Clients will seek you out, ready to
pay good money for your services, because you are seen
as a leader in your field. You become their first
choice.
It's Not Just a Book -- It's a Business!
Your book is the seed from which you can grow a
multi-faceted "empire'' of related products and
services, including seminars, teleclasses, reports,
consulting packages, audiotapes, and other profitable
information products.
Imagine selling thousands of books to trade
associations as premiums for their members. Or how
about creating a $49-a-month newsletter, a $995
home-study course, a $499 a year membership web site?
Could you use your book as the basis for a year-long
mentorship program for which individuals or groups
that pay thousands of dollars a piece to participate?
The idea is to see your book as a launching
pad for new business opportunities.
Barbara Hemphill used her book Taming The Paper Tiger
to develop a multi-pronged branding strategy. Hemphill
offers organizing skills services designed to reduce
stress and increase productivity. Her business is
based almost entirely on her book.
Barbara has used her book to develop Taming the Paper
Tiger software, gain an endorsement by Pendaflex, and
found the Hemphill Productivity Institute. Her company
now employs more than 70 Paper Tiger authorized
consultants across the U.S. and Canada.
You can write a book!
Me, publish a book, you ask? Yes, you. It is easier
than you might think, and you don't need to be a
seasoned writer to become a published author.
Writing a successful book is not the easiest thing in
the world, but it is entirely possible. The talents
and expertise you bring to your clients can form the
basis of a successful book. If you know your subject
area, and can communicate your ideas in a clear,
compelling, organized manner, becoming a published
author is within your reach.
A strategy that works for many is to break the process
into smaller steps by writing a series of articles.
They then become the basis for a book. Or, you can
work with a talented freelance writer to help you
express your ideas clearly and with conviction.
The most traditional route is to find a publisher who
will handle the production, marketing, promotion and
distribution. This involves up front work (you write a
detailed proposal, a table of contents, sample
chapters and a market overview). Then you shop the
proposal around to potential publishers, either on
your own or with the help of a commissioned agent.
Self-publishing has many advantages over traditional
publishing, the most compelling being greater
financial returns for the author. "When you
self-publish, you keep all the profits," says Dan
Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual.
"Additionally, you get into print quickly, own
the copyright, and take all applicable tax
breaks."
On the downside, self-publishing can be expensive. You
pay up front for all the production and distribution
costs, and if your book does not sell, you will be
stuck with the leftover inventory. However, if your
book is successful, you will not only have the
satisfaction and advantages of being a published
author, you will make more money.
Whatever publishing route you choose, the Internet
provides a global marketplace for your book. Never
before has it been so easy to market a book if you are
willing to invest the time and energy to write one.
Steven Van Yoder is the author of Get Slightly Famous.
He teaches small business owners how to duplicate his
success and become a "slightly" famous
author in your field. Visit http://www.getslightlyfamous.com
to claim your FREE Slightly Famous Marketing Plan
Workbook and learn how to attract more business with
less effort by creating your own information empire.
Here
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