Customers expect a book to cost $9.95, $19.95, or perhaps as much as $49.95. With production costs, that doesn’t give you a lot of money to promote your books and generate sales. It depends on your income goals, but if it consists of selling your books alone, you’d have to sell hundreds or thousands of books a month to earn any substantial income. Your operation costs and marketing expenses would quickly exceed the revenues.
There is a better way. When you use your self-published books as a sales tool to identify customers and make additional sales, then your self-published books become a money-generating tool that can drive a million-dollar business.
Here Are 3 Examples of How Your Self-Published Books Can Create a Highly Profitable Business:
1. Well-known speaking and presentation skills coach builds a massive list of targeted, hungry prospects and a multi-million dollar business with a self-published book.
Speaking and presentation skills coach, Susan Berkley self-published her book, Speak to Influence: How to Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Voice, (http://www.speaktoinfluence.com) in 1999. The book has sold over 14,000 copies, is now in the second printing of its second edition, and continues to sell every month. Susan still gets quoted from her book, even though it is over seven years old. In fact, the book recently scored blurbs in Glamour and Self magazines without even trying.
More importantly, Susan invites her book buyers to sign up for her free e-zine through her website. In the e-zine, Susan offers subscriptions to her monthly paid newsletter, and promotes her products, teleseminars and consulting/coaching services. The revenue from these additional services and products is many times higher than anything she has received from publishing her book. Best of all, Susan can easily market new products whenever she likes. If she decides she needs more money, she creates another program, sends an e-mail to her list, and makes sales—all from a list created through her self-published book.
2. A mortgage expert increases web traffic and generates millions of dollars of revenue for his mortgage brokerage company from his self-published book.
Brian Sacks’ self-published book, Yes, You Can Get a Mortgage: Even If You’ve Had a Bankruptcy, Foreclosure, or Other Credit Issue, (http://www.marylandloantips.com) has helped thousands achieve the American dream of homeownership. For Brian, this $19.14 book has generated a constant flow of great customers and millions of dollars of revenue for his mortgage brokerage company.
Brian invites book readers to visit his website for more information and a personal evaluation. Quite often, this evaluation leads to mortgage services with fees ranging from $5,000.00 to $15,000.00.
3. The source for accurate celebrity contact information creates monthly, recurring revenue from his self-published book.
Jordan McAuley self-published his book, Contact Any Celebrity, (http://www.IMACelebrityResource.com) and sold it for $55.00. This book that provides contact information for celebrities is useful for authors who want positive quotes from celebrities to put on their book covers, fans seeking autographs, and charities looking for celebrity endorsements.
Even though $55.00 for a book is a great price, Jordan didn’t stop there. He created a membership website with data that wouldn’t fit into the finished book. Jordan includes publicist information, additional phone numbers, and charities the celebrity already supports. It’s a lot of useful information specifically for authors and charities. Jordan charges only $9.95 a month for membership and promotes this option throughout his book. So instead of selling a book and getting paid once, Jordan has created monthly, recurring revenue from individuals who want constant access to more extensive and constantly updated information.
Final Self-Published Thoughts
Too many authors see the self-publishing of a book as their end goal. When that book hits bookstores, they breathe a sigh of relief and pat themselves on the back for a big accomplishment. Yes, you should be proud, but don’t stop there. Self-publishing a book opens the door to hundreds of other business opportunities.
Profitable Businesses For Sale
Myth 1: Not a lot of people use email
Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing methods nowadays simply because virtually almost all people use email. Check on those email fields or blanks required to be filled up on various forms needed in processing different transactions. A person without an email address is tantamount to a person without an online home, which is one big shameful truth for this generation.
Myth 2: Email marketing campaigns can offend a lot of people
The not-so secret way to surmount this dilemma is through permission-based advertising. There's no harm in trying after asking for permission.
Myth 3: It's stupid to send email to all the people
The key to this predicament is to have a very discerning eye on who to email and who to not email. Better look for some metrics on how to know which group of people would give you high ROI or return on investment.
The Real Deal with Building Opt-in List
After clearing the fog regarding email marketing myths, here's how one can benefit from employing the power of email marketing campaigns - building an opt-in list.
However, building an opt-in list is not a piece of cake particularly for the uninitiated. Here is a roundown of tips on how to succeed in this kind of marketing endeavor.
1. Strategic Collection of Data
Know which information from your audiences will help you in lowering expenses and/or make sales flourish. Devise a tactic to make people voluntarily provide you with the information necessary to create higher conversion.
Overload of data is not good. Ask only for opt-in, with their full name and email addresses. Make sure that the profiles that you gather are updated to aid in improving the relevance, timeliness and satisfaction from each deal you make.
2. Good Implementation
Old adage says it all - 'action speaks louder than words'. This easily translates to the difficulty one has to undergo during the execution of his or her email marketing efforts. It's a good thing that various methods, often low-cost, abound to hasten and facilitate the building up of one's opt-in database.
Tracking your email marketing results can pose great hardship, too. Technology and relevant sources should be employed in making this aspect of your marketing a lot manageable. Your high traffic groups of opt-ins with the greatest result should be taken noted of.
The following are the most widely used methods to leverage channels without overspending:
1. Make use of websites.
It is an excellent tool for data collation and providing you with relevant info regarding your email offers. Use forms that solicit your visitor's email address and consent.
2. Make use of print ads, brochures, TV, radio and direct mail.
These are the more popular ways of marketing aiming to lead traffic to one's site. You may want to ask for signups for email services. Make your website more visible through these media. Offering free electronic newsletters and or rewards program can do well in making it easy to win the nod of your audiences, too.
3. Maximize your sales force.
Customer service associates can help a lot in making you benefit more from your email correspondence. Sales people with proper education on how to aid you in this endeavor can very well contribute to higher ROI. Techniques like offering account updates and special programs through email can easily land you those lists of valuable visitors.
4. Don't make your point of sale pointless.
Forms for signup located at cash registers and other high-traffic and highly visible spots can be very excellent venues for your business to collect email addresses. Notification of upcoming sales through their email addresses and names can coax them to supply you with the information you need.
5. Conferences or trade shows can work, too.
Giveaway offers or entries on sweepstakes are great for opt-in to volunteer their contact details.
These tactics should be applied with adequate caution and should focus on earning the trust of your opt-in list instead of simply collating data for your sole own benefit. Always make sure that the forms that you will use and other methods that you will employ will not necessitate too much fuss to subscribe. This is for people to not be annoyed during the process of data supplication.
With that bunch of information, who can ever go wrong with the feat of building an opt-in list?
Both Robert Skrob & Chris Collins 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.
Robert Skrob has sinced written about articles on various topics from Bankruptcy Lawyer, Credit Counseling and Credit Cards. Robert Skrob, President of the Information Marketing Association, can help you turn your self-published books into highly promote-able, highly profitable information marketing products like audio programs, DVD’s, catalogs, online magazines, newsletters, m. Robert Skrob's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.
Chris Collins has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing. . Chris Collins's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.
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