Most authors dream of making lots of money from their writing. Some would be happy with earning enough to be able to write full time. Others fantasize their books will end up in the hands of millions of readers. Most are somewhere in between.
Most will never realize their dream. Why? Because many authors think once the writing is done the money will magically pour in. As a result they do minimal promotions AND they rely on their book as the main source of revenue.
Although there are some authors who have achieved high levels of sales success, 99 percent have not and will not. The shocking truth is this: Your book in and of itself will not sustain your income. Nor will it sell itself.
That’s the bad news. The great news is, with the right vision, you can make an incredible living from your writing, impact lots of people and be viewed as a go-to authority.
Most nonfiction books have incredible potential to be the fuel behind countless other products and services. It’s simply a matter of finding out what your market wants and giving it to them in any number of ways, price points and delivery methods.
The more you look at the big picture and all the possible ways to repurpose the book’s content and monetize that content, the better.
I’ll use my book, Power Up for Profits; The Smart Woman’s Guide to Online Marketing as the model. From the day I decided to write the book, I knew the book would have a much greater impact in the market (and make me a heck of a lot more money) if I managed to distribute the content in a variety of ways.
One of the most powerful strategies any author can use is to think in terms of the end game of what you’re doing. What this means is you must ask, “Where do you ultimately want to drive readers?” In my case, it is to paid events and high end coaching/mentoring and consulting.
Although Power Up for Profit is an outstanding book with highly useful content, if I, as an expert, leave it at that, I’m leaving untold amounts of money on the table. If you, as an expert, simply write and publish your book, you’re leaving untold amounts of money on the table.
The challenge for many experts is this: They fall in love with their books. Sure, you should love what you write, but truth be told, the book is simply one format for your message.
Before I wrote Power Up for Profits, I mapped out all the ways I could get utilize the content. I wanted the content to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible. I also wanted the content to generate as much revenue as possible.
I also knew the book could be a fabulous lead generator. Let’s start with what could be done to get the content in front of my market and potential market. The following list is only a few ways to do so.
- Articles
- Blog posts
- Tweets
- Infographics
- Social media posts
- Videos
- Teleseminars
- Webinars
- Group coaching
- Home study courses
- Mastermind retreats
- Events
The challenge for every author is knowing who your buyers are in order to begin what you hope to be a long term relationship with your readers. Here are two ways to minimize this challenge. One, when promoting the book, let buyers know if they send you their name, contact information and proof of purchase, they receive a gift. This requires you to have an opt-in page.
Second, create “lead bait” in the actual book. What this simply means is you give readers a web address they can visit to access a free gift. Make sure the gift is specific to the content of the book.
With Power Up for Profits, I generated hundreds of thousands of dollars outside of book sales as a direct result of the ways the content was positioned.
For example, when someone bought the book and gave us their name, email and proof of purchase, they received two “juicy” bonus gifts and tickets to my three day Power Up for Profits event. At the event, I had a low priced information package for sale, and I introduced my high end, year-long coaching program.
The bonus gifts were information products I created, not something from another expert. By doing this, I was able to continue to build value for the reader.
As you can see, there are many ways for your books to have a greater reach with your readers than simply with the first level of investment.
Does this take work? Absolutely! Is it worth it? Without question.
The key to a highly profitable book is to plan, implement and stick with it.
About the Author
Kathleen Gage is the “no-nonsense, common sense” online marketing strategist, speaker, author, product creation specialist, and owner of Power Up For Profits. She helps entrepreneurs make money online. Her clients are driven by making a difference through their own unique voice.
As an early adopter of online marketing, Kathleen is known for cutting through the fluff. She speaks and teaches about what she believes are the core elements of a successful life: accountability, integrity, honesty, and living with passion and hope.
Kathleen believes the best way to become well known in your market is to let go of the need to be well known and simply serve and create an incredible experience for all you come in contact with.
Photo courtesy of stockimages | Freedigitalphotos.net. Amazon links contain my affiliate code.
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