About 15 years ago, I was doing a publishing seminar in New York City at a continuing education center called the Learning Annex. Before I got started, everyone stood up to introduce themselves. A lady in a front row stood up and told our group about the 3 books that she had published with a major New York publishing company. THEN, she proceeded to tell us about her DAY job.
The SAD fact is that over 95% of all authors make less than $50,000 a year. Sad but true. As much as you may enjoy writing, you also deserve to make a decent living doing it as well.
(If after reading this article you’d like to learn the system I describe here, Ron and I will be doing a one day seminar the day before the Book Expo starts in New York City. I’ll be showing you exactly how to do what I describe here.)
When someone buys your book and they like it, they want more. Picture this. Someone who has just finished reading your amazing book calls you on the phone. They say: “I loved your book and I want to learn more about POLE DANCING. What do you have for me?
You respond: “Well, in another 18 to 24 months, I’ll be coming out with an ADVANCED Pole Dancing book.” Your customer may not say it, but they will probably be thinking: “OK, let me wait by the phone for the next year or two (with baited breath) until your next book comes out.” Not gonna happen! They will now go out and buy every other author’s material on POLE DANCING.
You got them STARTED, but they wanted MORE!
If you write a great book and have NOTHING else to sell, you’re dead! But, don’t worry, you aren’t alone. This is what most authors are doing. I’d like to show you how to change that.
I’d like to show you how to make some REAL money with your book.
The book should be the START, but definitely not the END of your PRODUCT FUNNEL. When you publish your book, you need to have a line of things to sell to those who LOVE your book and want MORE.
The first thing you need to remember is although someone bought your book, reading may not be their PREFERRED method of learning. Some people like to read, but others prefer to listen, a bunch of them would rather watch and still others want to experience.
Your product funnel must have audios, videos and experiential events like seminars or workshops. You’ll also need to make your materials available at a variety of price points ranging from $50 to $1,000.
Your book is where the funnel starts. It’s your lowest priced product. That doesn’t mean it’s not critically important. Without the book, you won’t have a very easy time selling the rest of the items in your product line. Your book establishes YOU as the expert in the field. It will also make it infinitely easier for you to get press and publicity.
Newspapers don’t interview people who have an amazing audio program on a topic, they interview authors. But again, if all you have to sell is your book, you’ll never make the BIG BUCKS.
To get started, pull out a sheet of paper and write $50, $100, $200 and continue all the way to $1000 in $100 increments. Then think about what you could put together that people would be willing to pay those various prices for. Make sure that each modality of learning is included. Audio, video and experiential events like seminars or even bootcamps.
For some of your higher priced offers, it may consist of a combination of different items offered as a package.
Audios are the easiest to do and have a higher perception of value than written material. I suggest you start with them first. The are the quickest and easiest to do. I price audios of up to 2 hours at around $50. When I sell a recording of a one day seminar, it may sell for somewhere between $200 and $300. I’m not giving you specific numbers that you have to use, but the range from $50 to $1000 is a good place to start.
You’ll also want to put together some videos for people who prefer learning by WATCHING. Do videos ONLY if it makes sense for the product you’re putting together. If you’re topic is cooking, an audio program on how to whisk eggs wouldn’t make any sense. On the other hand, you don’t want to use video if all you do is talk into the camera without using any visuals.
For many of the people who are interested in your topic, they want to experience a live event. You should design and start conducting a one or two day seminar. Make sure you record it (in both audio and video form) when you do.
Many of my clients START by doing a seminar. They invite a small, select group of folks to come to their mini-seminar with 6 or 8 people. In most cases, they don’t charge them to attend. After they record the event, they instantly have their first audio and video product to sell.
Since you didn’t charge them for your event, you do try and EXTRACT a great testimonial from each of your attendees. Their praise is best captured on VIDEO if you can get them to do it. If not, written testimonials will suffice.
I strongly recommend that you have a number of different websites set up to sell your material. MOST authors make the mistake of trying to promote multiple products on one site. Remember this line: “A confused mind ALWAYS says NO!”
Although I encourage you to have one “brochure” site that lists all of your products, including your book, you’ll also want to have separate sites (or pages on your site) that concentrate solely on one product. Your chances of making sales will substantially increase!
I hope you’ll follow my advice and realize that as the expert on a topic, you need more than a book. You’ll also find that you’ll make a LOT more money doing things this way.
I do an event 4 times a year in Las Vegas where I train people on my “system”. If this sounds interesting to you, check out: www.FredInfoBootcamp.com. I hope to see you at one of my events in the near future!
Fred Gleeck
www.FredGleeck.com
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