Think Outside the Book

After attending ICRS (Christian book convention) in Atlanta this month, I noticed an unhealthy pattern. Too many authors seemed to focus solely on writing books, which for most is a time-consuming, low-paying process. Unless you’re a celebrity, there is little money to made in writing books. Worse, fewer and fewer Americans read books, so the market shrinks each year. Therefore, the key to long-term success for an author is learning to think outside the book.

In other words, consider ways that you can use your written message to help people who don’t like to read. Try turning your book into audio or video products, speaking seminars, movie rights, study tools for groups, etc.

For example, my books for Christian singles have sold over 30,000 copies…decent numbers, but not enough to live off of for 5 years. So, I took my message, got serious about marketing, and created speaking engagements, audio products, and a video curriculum for small groups. So far, I’ve made over $400,000 from one message! That’s because I learned to see the book as a means to an end, instead of the end itself.

Are you with me? Authors who just try to write a lot of books usually windup pumping out a bunch of mediocre literature, pray earnestly for strong sales, and barely make it financially. And, they wonder why being a writer seems so hard. Instead, learn how to write the best book you can, but make it generate multiple streams for revenue for you.

You don’t have to become a traveling speaker or a slave to the media. If you prefer to stay at home, you could turn your message into an audio book, group curriculum, a movie or theatrical production, teleseminars, individual coaching, downloadable files for an IPod, short articles for targeted audiences, etc. The options are endless.

Here's the bottom line: You are the only limit to your message. If you’re a good writer who is struggling to pay your bills, then stop obsessing about writing your next book. Instead, push the next book deadline back a while, and focus on making your current book work for you now.

- Do you have an example of "thinking outside the book"? Click on the comments link below and share it.

Easy E-Commerce and Fulfillment from Home

As a follow-up to my previous post, Don’t Bow Down to Amazon.com, maybe you're wondering, “What’s the alternative? Isn’t Amazon the best way to sell my books from my website?” No way, and if you haven't, first read my previous post for the 3 big reasons why.

Instead, I encourage you to consider selling books from your website and doing the fulfillment yourself. Now, I know you’re immediately thinking, “But that’s time-consuming and expensive! I'll have to pay big bucks for a fancy website store and waste all my writing time shipping book orders.” Not anymore.

Today, you can use PayPal to handle e-commerce and all credit card sales directly from your website. Plus, you can setup a free online account with the U.S. Postal Service to buy postage, print professional mailing labels, order free shipping supplies, and ship packages – without ever leaving your house. Once you setup your system, most book orders can be completed in less than five minutes. It’s one of the best deals in the history of bookwriting!

With PayPal and the USPS.com, you don’t have to setup a separate merchant account or stand in long lines at the Post Office. Plus, you get credit card fraud protection and a virtual terminal from PayPal and free delivery confirmation from the USPS. And, all transactions are completed online.

Stop sending your website visitors to buy your books at Amazon.com. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on important profits, customer contact information, and marketing effectiveness. You don’t need Amazon to make it as an author – you can do it yourself.

Note: If you’re a fiction author, you’re probably reading this and crying out, “But my publisher will be mad, because if I sell books from my website or at events, then it won’t count towards my sales numbers!” Relax…if you’re helping to sell more books and grow your platform, your publisher won't care about selling books from your website. They’ll be happy, because they know that you’re growing your platform, which means higher sales potential for your next book.

Some of you need to stop worrying about your publisher’s concerns and start worrying about making your writing career last longer. Remember, to publishers, it doesn’t matter where the book sales come from, as long as there are sales. And, a happy growing author makes a happy growing publisher. Without successful authors, publishers can’t exist.

Are Search Engines Finding Your Website?

Do you ever wonder if potential customers will find your website during a Google search or on other search engines? The key method to showing up during a "search" is adding Meta-tag keywords to the coding of your website. When people type-in these keywords during their search, it increases the likelihood that you'll be found. Adding keywords to your website is an important job for your webmaster.

Here's a great way to make sure your webmaster did the job correctly. Click on the link below, type-in your website into the top field box, and hit "enter":

http://www.ranks.nl/tools/spider.html

Under the "Header Data" box that appears, you should be able to scroll-down and see a list called "X-Meta-Keywords." If you don't have a list, you need to contact your webmaster immediately and ask for the appropriate keywords to be added to your website's coding. Good keywords include your name (don't forget mis-spellings), your book's titles, and any words that match the subject matter you address. For example, some of my keywords include: marketing, writing, speaking, authors, speakers, etc. Think of words that someone would use to search and find you.

You can also use this web feature to modify keywords over time to find combinations that help draw more traffic. Don't obsess over your keywords, but make sure you have the basics covered. Thanks to Penny Sansevieri at ameblog for this quick tip!

Don't Bow Down to Amazon.com

When readers visit your website to buy a book, do you send them to Amazon? If so, you could be making a huge mistake. Why? Sending customers to Amazon is the marketing equivalent of idolatry and ineffectiveness. Now, before you whine about convenience or the importance of a high sales ranking, let me give you the big picture:

1. Amazon steals your contacts
Amazon loves it when you send book-buying customers to them, because they get the most important piece of business data possible – contact information! That’s right. Amazon is more concerned about getting your customer’s email and mailing address than selling your book. Why does it matter? Because, the best way to grow a business (and your writing career) is to develop a database of highly-interested customers.

People who visit your website to buy books are like marketing gold. Customers who buy one book are likely to buy another book or know someone who will. Therefore, you want to stay in touch with these people through your newsletters and promotional activities. Odds are in your favor that they’ll buy again. However, if you send customers to Amazon, then you lose the chance to build a relationship with these important people. Meanwhile, Amazon laughs all the way to the bank. How do you think they grew so fast?

If you’re still not convinced, consider this. Publishers love authors who build a personal database with thousands of targeted contacts, because it means easier marketing for your next book. Show your publisher a large, legitimate database, and they’re more likely to show you large advances and bigger marketing budgets. Are you with me?

2. Amazon steals your profits
If you send a customer from your website to buy your $12 book at Amazon, you’ll be lucky if you make $1.50 in profit – regardless of whether you use Amazon’s Advantage or Affiliate programs. However, if you sell a $12 book from your own website, you can usually make at least $6.00 in profit. That’s a big difference!

Look at this way…for every 100 books you sell yourself, you make $600 in profit (not just revenue). That’s enough money to buy a new computer, new clothes, or go on a relaxing weekend vacation.

Now, don’t give me that nonsense about, “I don’t care about money…I just write as a ministry unto the Lord.” If you really write as a ministry, then you should be the best possible steward of your God-given talents. So, ask yourself, “Would God prefer me to mindlessly give away money to a secular corporate giant (Amazon), or use that money to help feed my family or feed orphans in Africa?

3. Amazon steals your marketing effectiveness
Let’s assume your new book is about to launch. You’re doing a big marketing campaign with email newsletters, blog tours, and media interviews. Let’s also assume that your marketing is awesome. People read your e-newsletters, surf the blogs, and watch you on TV. Enamored by you, they come running to your website. But, when they're ready to buy your book, you redirect them to Amazon.

A month later, you start wondering if your marketing campaign was effective. Guess what? You’ll never know, because Amazon is holding all of your data. Sure, you can check your website hits and your faulty Amazon ranking, but all that really matters is the actual sales data. Yet, you don’t have that important information, because you gave it away to Amazon. They know who bought your book, but you don’t - isn't that weird?

So, what’s the marketing moral of the story? Stop sending customers to Amazon, and start selling books from your website. How do you do that, you ask? Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post.

Marketing Mistakes Authors and Speakers Make

What?! You haven't been to my website yet http://www.startawildfire.com/ and read my free article, "Marketing Mistakes Authors and Speakers Make." Click here to access this required reading.

Are you avoiding these mistakes? What other mistakes have you experienced or seen authors and speakers make?

Feel free to post your comments.

Don't Charge Less to Speak Locally

Lately, I’ve seen some speakers who advertise a lower speaking fee for engagements in their local area. Yet, they charge their normal speaking rate for out-of-town events, plus all travel expenses (usually for two people).

Frankly, this doesn’t make sense. Because if you’re staying local, then the host organization doesn’t have to pay extra expenses associated with your travel. So, you’ve already saved them a lot of money. Why give away the farm by lowering your speaking fee? Instead, charge the same amount to speak, regardless of whether you’re leaving town or staying local. It also prevents crticism from organizations who talk to each other and find out that you charge varying rates for the same service.

Get Better Before You Get Bigger

"Get better before you get bigger" - I recently heard this axiom from Lysa TerKeurst, President of Proverbs 31 Ministries. Lysa is an accomplished A-level speaker and oversees their annual SheSpeaks Conference, which I highly recommend for women in ministry. She told me how they encourage women to focus on improving their message and delivery, before they worry about how big their audiences are.

This is good advice to consider. What are you doing to improve your skills as a speaker and writer? Are you sitting around pouting about small engagements or low book sales? Or, are you honing your craft by reading instructional books, meeting with critique groups, or attending a speakers or writers workshop?

There are two aspects to getting a bigger platform: effective marketing (that’s where I come in) and creating a better message. Believe me, it’s hard to get good word-of-mouth if you're a lousy communicator. In contrast, the better your message gets, the easier it is for others to tell their friends about you. Check out the list below for resources to help you get better.

Writer’s Conferences and Critique Groups:
www.ChristianWritersInfo.net/Conferences.htm
www.ChristianWritersInfo.net/Critique.htm

Speaking Conferences and Workshops:
www.Classervices.com
www.SheSpeaksConference.com
www.DynamicCommunicators.com
www.ToastMasters.org

Now, get out there and get better!

Meet Me at ICRS

For those who are attending the ICRS Convention in Atlanta on July 8 - 12th, here's my schedule as of now:

AWSA Golden Scroll Banquet - Sunday, July 8th, 1 - 3pm
For more information, visit: www.ScrollAwards.com

Harvest House Author Dinner - Sunday evening (private function)

CLASS Marketing Workshop - Tuesday, July 10th, 2 - 3:30pm, Room B406
Open to CLASS grads. I'll be giving tips and insight to help you generate more speaking engagements.

I'm available for individual appointments before and after these events. If you'd like to get together, contact me at 1-800-267-2045 or email: Rob@StartaWildFire.com