FINISHED YOUR BOOK – TIME TO MARKET IT?
I used to have people come to me and say:
“I have finished my book, I wrote it and then
had it edited and published,
now I am ready to Market it.
Can you help me with that?”
Up until recently I would spend heaps of time looking at the book, I would read it, or at least parts of it, and I’d have online meetings with the Author to find out exactly what their purpose for the book was, when they started writing it, and what they thought their purpose of marketing it now, is.
I’d spend a lot of time with the person, and ask a lot of questions. Nearly all of the time, it would turn out, the Author had a limited idea of who the reader of the book would be and no thought at all about what the Author wanted the reader to do, in response to reading the book.
Well, ok, they usually wanted the reader to be so excited by what they were reading, the Author imagined the reader would simply go find the Author’s website or use the email provided on the last page of the book, and get in touch, asking to work with the Author.
That just doesn’t make sense…
Because the book wasn’t put together in a way that specifically described something the Author offered and there would be no direct, specific encouragement to the reader to contact the Author, either to work with them or to find out more. Not a sentence anywhere!
How can you expect the reader to take an action in response to reading such a book? And how do you expect to market such a book?
Sure, we can simply find ways to post, write ads, send emails, go on podcasts, be interviewed, so many different ways to make the book visible and ‘promote’ it BUT in the end, no matter how many people hear, see or even buy and read the book, there would likely be no ROI of such comprehensive Marketing Activities.
Think about it, the Author can probably not ask for more than $25 or $35 dollars per book.
Should such Marketing Activities achieve 100 sales, the ROI would be $3,000 on a $30 book price.
Why would you not achieve more sales?
Well, you might, but you’re unlikely going to sell even a thousand books, if your topic and title of the book were not written with a targeted readership and an outcome beyond book sales, in mind.
It might not appear as such, but even the most well known Authors of fiction books and biographies of well known personalities, are all written with a specific outcome in mind.
Fiction Authors write to a readership that specifically like the topic they write about. And the size of that ‘market’ is researched before the book is written. Or there are other marketing materials created, such as figures, posters, T-shirts etc etc
Autobiographies, particularly by Politicians who are no longer in their role, are designed around getting paid speaking and interview engagements so the past-politician stays top of mind on a topic they possibly are looking to get their next paid role for.
What I’m saying here is, most books by people in business, are written without any thought of a ROI purpose.
Book sales on their own are not a ROI.
The way I teach Writing & Publishing a Marketing Optimized Book in 6-Weeks or less, starts with a clear purpose in mind. That’s what we establish in the very first, one on one, personalized session.
For example, when working with a Women’s Wellness Coach, we established she wanted readers of her book to come into her Online Group Program. She was overwhelmed with one on one clients and many others, who wanted her help too, missed out.
As we discussed the outcome she had in mind with writing her book, we became very clear, using a layered questions approach, one of my signature ways of drilling deep to find out what a client really wants. My questions ‘unlayered’ how we would strategically place calls to check out her online wellness program, throughout the book.
By having a direct: “Click Here” or “go to this page” instruction after each chapter in her book, this Women’s Wellness Coach had 2 new women join her online group coaching program, from the day the book was published.
ROI? Her four week program is priced at $1,500 per person, and with just two sales, she’s already earned what someone just selling a book at $30 each, needs to sell 100 books for!
Being in business is about return on your investment, and of course, having had as many as 4 new prospects a week, with a book in hand knocking at my door, asking for Marketing help, only to find they never set up even a foundation on to which we could build their Marketing, inside the book, made me design my 6-Week Write & Publish a Marketing Optimized Book Program.
If you’re a Coach, Consultant or other Expert who has a lot of experience and gets great client results, and you’re thinking about writing a Book or have been told it’s time you write one, send me a PM. Don’t just write your Book and ‘hope’ to market if after it’s finished, write a Marketing Optimized Book, with your outcome in mind, right from the start!
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