It's a common frustration we all experience, constantly being overlooked when it comes time to be recognized as a leader in your market.
In most cases, there is very little that separates you from top earners in whatever market you operate in, except one small factor - perceived expert status.
PERCEIVED EXPERT STATUS GIVES YOU AN EDGE
In one of my very first careers, I learned the lesson of why some people make it to the top while other, smarter, more qualified people sometimes never get paid close to what they are worth.
Here's a hint - it has nothing to do with how hard you work, how smart you are or how much experience you have.
One of my very first jobs was helping to sell house kits (complete house packages) for a local building supply store. Business was great and I had good experience having grown up with relatives who built houses for a living.
There were two of us employed, my skills with customers were far superior to that of my co-worker, yet there was one thing he had that I didn't - and that one thing meant he received more than double the sales I received.
His secret was a booklet and articles he had written on the basics of house planning and house building. With a small 40- page booklet that he self-published, he was able to gain immense credibility, led to double the sales over his competition, got him interviews and publicity all over the city and gained him a job for life.
ISN'T IT TIME YOU GAVE YOURSELF THE EDGE
Imagine learning this lesson at an early age. Understanding that you have full control over branding yourself as a leader in your market, as someone who demands to be seen as an expert commanding a premium over all others in your market.
Now, if that is not motivation for quickly writing your own book, booklet, ebook or report, I don't know what is.
Whether your plan is to advance in your existing career, launch a brand new career or business or strengthen your existing business, you can't find a better way to get an edge than putting out your own book.
Where do you start?
1. Tap into the underlying challenge your market is struggling with. What do they really want to achieve and what kind of information would help them get there?
2. Collect dozens of questions from your market - questions about the topic you have chosen. You will quickly notice that there are many questions that are basically all linked to understanding one big question - your main topic.
For example, if you target hobby-based woodworking enthusiasts, you might find that one of their biggest challenges is to 1) understand the basics such as tools and techniques to get them started or 2) build a workshop in a small space within their home or 3) To understand everything there is to know about the tools they can use to create incredible end results.
So, you would listen in on your market using discussions forums, local groups, surveys of your market and your own experience to understand the dozens of questions they may have around these topics.
3. Identify your own Solution System. You want to organize your information into your own system for giving your market want they want. You could have the YOU.INC system for designing workshops for small spaces or the XYZ.INC method for accomplishing basic word-working projects in just 10-days. By packaging information into your own system you are making the solution yours further enhancing you're branding and credibility.
4. Keep your first book simple. Focus on one topic - solve one challenge and get it to market in a few weeks - there's no need to write the ultimate information guide to woodworking on the first try, that's just bound to take too long and prevent you from ever finishing. You can always release v2, a second edition or another ebook or report to further advance your information product business later on.
By now you should understand the incredible edge you can gain by quickly packaging information. If you are struggling to get the recognition and profit you know you should be getting, then put the next few weeks to work on writing your own book and giving yourself an edge.
The truth is many successful authors have felt their message insignificant in the LARGE scheme of things. But at some point they had to realize what I'm about to tell you, "With all the great books in the marketplace, there's only one voice that's uniquely yours.
I am convinced there are people waiting for your perspective, your solution, or your message. They're waiting to be inspired, entertained or helped by YOUR book."
The way to make your book stand out in a crowded market is to target a niche market related to your book's topic. Identifying a niche is really hot in the marketing world right now and rightly so.
Simply put, to target a niche market in your book's topic area: Identify a problem/solution and research your competition. Then develop a different approach. With all the books in the world on your topic, it's not enough to know the solution. You must present the solution in a different way than existing books do.
Develop a way of making your book different. You need a different viewpoint, a niche, or a different spin on perhaps the same information. Examine the problem again. Look at the solution your book solves with the goal of coming up with a way to present your knowledge differently than existing books.
Here are three simple ways to do this:
Market Segment. You can develop a niche by focusing on an occupation, sex, or age group, i.e. Lose 14 Pounds in 2 Weeks: A Guide for Women Above 40, Lose Weight Safely Before, During & After Pregnancy.
Broadening Market. Consider appealing to a broader market: Lose 14 Pounds in 14 Days: A Guide for Working Class Men & Women.
Focus. Attack a big problem by emphasizing a particular tool or technique that you have experience with. For example, show how heart attack survivors can lose 14 pounds in 2 weeks by eating only fish, white meats and walking 10 miles a day.
You may have noticed in each one of the above examples of the same market, the contents of the book would probably be the same! The books would contain the same basic ideas, suggestions, tips, etc.
For example, all the books about diets would probably stress the importance of eating right, choosing the right foods in right portions and daily exercise. Yet, each book presents a different viewpoint targeting a different market.
So BE BOLD; have no fear about approaching the same subject as existing books. Focus in on your unique ideas and viewpoint. Remember, according to the writer of Ecclesiastes, "There's nothing new under the sun."
Bernice Fitz Gibbon said so eloquently, "Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up only little more than a century ago." Now go start your successful book journey. Make it different. Make it count. Make it yours.
Both Jeff Smith & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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