Tag: Sales

 
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The Art of Engagement – A Peer Reviewed Presentation a the GeoConvention May 9, 2018

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Write, Publish and Market a Book with No Out-of-Pocket Money

Do you dream of having a book published, but donít know where to turn? Already have a book, but unsure of how to promote it? Looking for cost effective high-return strategies to market your book? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the following information is for you.

Many writers and aspiring authors are under the mistaken belief if their book is published by a publishing house they can sit back and watch sales miraculously happen. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fact is, competition to have your manuscript noticed and published by a large house is extremely fierce. Additionally, no matter who publishes your book, you absolutely must take an active roll in marketing, promoting and selling your book.

Moreover, profit margins are not extremely good when you go through a publisher. Sure, if you sell tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of books, you make substantial amounts of money. In reality only a small percentage of writers achieve this level of success.

A great model for achieving success is to self-publish and actively promote your book. Self-publishing is one of the best ways to get your manuscript to market quickly is to. Another great benefit of self-publishing is you have complete control of the creative process. You make the decisions on content, editing, cover design, title and you reap the profits.

A primary downside with self publishing are costs involved. Depending on whether or not you hire an editor, designer, layout person and cost of printing, the initial outlay for self-publishing a book can be several thousands of dollars for the first run. Besides there are no guarantees your book will sell. However, you can lessen your risk of costs and increase your level of sales with a simple formula.

Imagine if you could self publish with no out of pocket money. Additionally, imagine gaining lots of free publicity and visibility in your market at the same time. I know this to be true, because I have done it.

The following formula is one that can be used by virtually anyone to raise funds to publish a book. In addition, you can gain great visibility, do the initial run with no out of pocket money and position yourself for volume sales.

Although the formula is rather simple in concept, it is not necessarily easy to do as it takes planning, time, effort, consistency and great follow up to make it work as well as possible.

You can write, publish and market a book with no out of pocket expenses by hosting a seminar with a topic that is linked to the book. In order to keep costs down in the rollout host the seminar in your local market. You can further offset costs by securing sponsors for the seminar. Event sponsors provide funding necessary to the costs of an event. They can either contribute in actual dollars or with in-kind offerings. Sponsors underwrite various aspects of an event.

I did this at the beginning of December with my most recent book, ì101 Ways to Get Your Foot in the Doorî and had an incredible response. Although there was a lot of work involved in the rollout the results were, and continue to be, incredible.

Besides writing content for the book each author had a very specific role. Mine was the marketing and promotions of the book. The first level was to develop a clear marketing strategy for my 3 co-authors and myself.

Prior to beginning the writing of the book, we developed a very detailed project plan. The plan included hosting an event to introduce the book to our local market.

Knowing the costs to an event such as we were planning, I knew it would be beneficial to secure sponsors. I developed a very solid proposal for sponsorship of the seminar. Because of very detailed information and showing the sponsors how they would gain from being involved, I was able to secure two excellent sponsors. One is a primary business newspaper in Utah and the other is an organization who targets start up businesses.

The paper was more than willing to do some advertising for the event in exchange for some great visibility and additional subscribers. The organization offset the costs of the room and audio-visual equipment in exchange for mentions in the advertising and all pre-event promotions. Both sponsors were given the opportunity to do a 5 minute presentation at the seminar and distribute promotional information to everyone in attendance. It was a win/win all the way around.

Had I not had a clear-cut proposal for the potential sponsors chances are I would not have secured their support. Also, I know it is easier to gain support from businesses who know me rather than trying to get sponsorship from an organization who has no idea who I am. The same will be true for most anyone.

With day of event expenses covered, we could now focus on generating revenue for publishing the book. This was done by pre-selling the book. Anyone who purchased the book sight unseen by November 28, 2004 was given a seat into the seminar on December 2nd.

With initial revenues from pre-seminar sales designed to offset book production costs we were able to write, market and publish the book with no out of pocket money. By utilizing the databases of all four authors, press releases, pre-event radio interviews and presentations at Chambers and local organizations, word of mouth promotions, and other low-cost/no-cost forms of promotions, we sold over 350 copies sight unseen. (Cost of the book is $19.95)

We had well over 200 people attend the seminar as some of the pre-event purchases were from folks who were out of the area.

A key to our success was having a functional website were the book was (and is) available. www.101waystogetyourfootinthedoor.com We utilized online credit card purchasing options for buyers. In that 80% of our sales were done with Internet and credit cards, we would have been remiss to not use this as a method to sell.

As we were pre-selling it was important to let people know that the cost of a seat into the seminar was the book. Also, if they didnít make it to the seminar we would mail them the book for $4 more or they could pick it up. The $4 covered mailing costs. If we didnít do this we would have cut way into our profit margin.

We made a strong point of letting people know they were buying the book, not the seat into the seminar. However, the only way into the seminar was to buy the book.

To gain even more value from the event and increase day of event revenues each author sold other products Back of the Room (BOR). One author sold a sales training program. The signups that day realized several thousand in additional revenue for her.

The two other authors sold specialty items and set up appointments for those who were interested in such things in their sales campaigns.

I sold my Street Smarts Marketing and Promotionsô program as an E-book. This helped me to generate several thousand in additional revenue. Knowing audience members were already interested in my material, I put together a special day of event package with three of my e-products bundled together. Everyone received one of my order forms upon registering.

At the end of my session I did a short sales presentation. All folks had to do was fill out the order form. With each sale, all I had to do was process their credit cards and email them the PDF document. No mailing costs or printing costs. Nearly a 100% profit margin.

Many self published authors shy away from doing presentations claiming to be an author and not a speaker. Fact is, if you get in front of a target audience who is interested in your topic and you present your ideas well the amount of books you can sell is incredible.

The book complimented by a well delivered presentation allow you to get in front of meeting planners who may be in a position to utilize your services and your book at a later date. You may also have representatives from companies who want to buy large quantities of your book.

Since the release of the book I have had some companies buy ì101 Ways to Get Youíre your Foot in the Doorî in large quantities. Because Maxwell Publishing is my company and the book was published through Maxwell, I have the flexibility to do special runs. With a minimum purchase a client can add their logo to the front cover of the book and a personalized letter from whomever they choose included in the book. This is a great marketing tool for them with long-term benefits to their employees or customers.

Granted, myself and one of the other authors are professional speakers so presenting at an event such as I outlined is a part of our marketing model. However, two of the authors are not professional speakers per say. Yet, in their everyday business they do present frequently. However, with this event, it was a different type of presentation for them. They will be the first to admit that additional exposure and sales were worth doing this type of presentation.

Regardless of your topic the model we implemented can be used by virtually anyone. For example, if you have a book on nutrition, find a health food store who wants more foot traffic and visibility. They may be a perfect fit as a sponsor. Not only can they help you to offset costs they can help to promote the event. At the seminar you can promote their products with coupons, mentions and information provided. Itís a win/win.

If you have a book on real estate sales thereís bound to be a mortgage company who may be interested in sponsoring you. Perhaps they would be willing to buy a book for every real estate agent who does business with them. Or, they could give a book to each of their mortgage brokers.

If you have a book on childhood development, what about a baby clothing store? Perhaps the store would cross promote and give a book to each customer who buys a minimum amount of product in their store. This adds value from them to their customers and creates a win/win for you and the store.

In todayís world of writing, marketing and publishing a book, the possibilities are only limited by imagination.

Please fill in the The Complete Speaking Business Assessment for free assessment

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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How to Market and Price Your Ebook

You’ve written and compiled an ebook. Now you have to
decide how much to charge for it. Finding the right
price is essential to the success of your product. If
you charge too little, people will think it’s of
little value, and they won’t purchase it, or even it
they do buy your book, you will have to sell thousands
of copies to get to the point where you can begin to
see a profit. If you price it too high when compared
with your competition, you will find yourself steadily
lowering the price, which will cause you all kinds of
new problems in the future. For example, if you sell
your ebook at first for $39.99, and later reduce it to
$24.95, don’t you think the people who bought it for
$39.99 are going to be PISSED?

Choosing the right price for your ebook is one of the
most critical parts of the marketing process. The
first rule of pricing ebooks is to never underprice.
Determine the highest price your audience can afford,
and then if you find your book isn?t selling, you can
always reduce the price. Before you take that step,
make sure you are promoting your book like crazy on
the Internet and on websites. The price should be
aimed at bringing in profits, but you should never
forget that price is one of the factors that people
use in judging the value of your ebook ? before they
buy it. So always start with the highest price, and
then launch a mega-marketing campaign.

Pricing an ebook is particularly difficult because
ebooks are a fairly new commodity. Since they are
digital, the value of an ebook is as confusing as the
understanding of what digital actually is to the
average layperson. This means that we must look at
ebooks in a different light in order to determine
their actual worth in this brave, new cyber world.

Let’s look at the difference between a book in print
and an ebook. A printed book is an object you can hold
in your hand, store on your bookshelf, even hand down
to the next generation. It is priced on factors such
as paper stock, design and production costs, and
marketing.

But the fact that unites ebooks and print books is
that they are composed of ideas. It is the ideas in
these books that have the ability to change, or
possibly transform, people’s lives.

What do you think an idea is worth when evaluated
against the cost of paper and ink?

It is the IDEAS that are valuable! That is how you
determine the cost of your ebook.

What should I charge for my ideas?

There are all different formulas and methods for
determining the correct price for your ebook. Let’s
begin with honing in on your ultimate goals.

Decide if your goal is to get wide distribution and
maximum exposure. This goal is aimed at drawing
customers to your business or service, or to
establishing the credibility of your reputation. If
this is your main goal, you should aim to keep your
price on the low side. Some authors have even priced
their ebooks at a profit loss to draw a high number of
new customers. The key is to find a price that
maximizes your profits and the number of books you
sell.

This is an excellent pricing strategy if you are
looking to acquire long-term customers. Long-term
customers are extremely likely to buy from you again
and again ? as long as the first ebook they buy is of
exceptional quality and beneficial to the customer.

However, if your book contains valuable ? and more
importantly NEW information, references, or techniques
? then you should aim to price it on the high end.

After you figure out your goal, you must figure out
what your audience’s need is for your ebook. For
example, does your book solve a particular problem? If
it does, and solves it in a way that hasn’t been
written about in one hundred other ebooks, you will be
able to achieve high sales at a high price. If your
book solves a problem or answers questions in a new
and unique way, you should price your book as high as
you can go. You will achieve larger profits this way,
but bring in fewer customers. Just make sure the
question or problem that your book solves is one that
is important and relevant to the majority of your
market audience. If your ideas are not common
knowledge, or you are presenting a brand new
technique, you will be able to sell books at a high
price. Just be prepared for your competition to
undercut you on price as soon as they hear about your
book.

Keep in mind that the above pricing strategy is
temporary. Eventually, you will cease to sell books at
this high price. So figure out in advance how long you
plan to offer your ebook at this high price, and when
that time is up, change your pricing strategy.

If you want to see large profits over customer draw,
aim for an audience that is looking for easy solutions
to their problems at a low price. If your book is
aimed at solving one particular problem rather than
general advice, then you can charge more. Start at the
highest price the market will bear to bring in the
largest profits, and plan to discount the book a
number of times throughout the year.

Marketing Strategies

The key that unlocks the sales potential of your ebook
is to find a single sentence that becomes your selling
handle. This sentence states what question or problem
your book answers and the benefits your ebook can
provide. Then be sure to use that sentence in every
piece of sales and promotional material, and every
time anyone asks you about your ebook.

Besides promoting your books assiduously online, there
are several other strategies that can help you sell
more books.

One is to give something away for free with your book,
such as a valuable bonus item. Or bundle several
ebooks under one price, which lowers the price for
each ebook if they were sold separately.

An effective technique for figuring out a price is to
send out a survey to your current customers. If these
customers have already bought an ebook from you, ask
for their opinion in terms of price. Do this by
creating a sales page for the new book, but don’t
include a price on that page. Instead, add a number of
links to survey questions that ask pointed questions
to aid you in assigning a price to your ebook.

Another strategy is to test out prices by creating a
number of duplicate sales pages with different prices
on each page. Make sure your sales copy is exactly the
same on every page, and includes your selling-handle
sentence. Then figure out for each page the conversion
ratio between visitors to your site and sales of your
book. This will tell you what your optimum price is.

Ultimately, if you’ve written a book that solves a
problem or presents a new technique, your book will
bring in both traffic and profits. So be sure to write
that selling-handle sentence that sums up what problem
your book solves and what the benefits of your book
will be to the customers who purchase it. And then
watch your market come to you!

Please fill in the The Complete Speaking Business Assessment for free assessment

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Infoproducts – How to Earn More From Your Infoproduct Business

The best way to grow your infoproduct business is to create a physical product to compliment your digital one. By putting your ebook or software on a CD with a companion manual, and hiring a fulfillment house to process orders, you can sell it for more and create incentives for your affiliates to earn more.

What is the best way to build an infoproduct business or expand an already successful one?

Create a physical product

The hottest selling items on the Internet today are infoproducts. Ebooks, software, how-to courses, ezines, newsletters, self-improvement guides and an endless number of digital products are in demand on every conceivable topic. And with customersí ability to instantly download their purchases, producing and selling a quality infoproduct can be your road to success.

Although the beauty of infoproducts is the ability to instantly download, the best way to increase your profits for the same product is to burn it onto a CD and include a printed companion manual. Selling a kit that might also include an audio CD and some kind of bonus materials has several advantages.

You can charge more for a physical product. Customers are willing to pay more for something they can have in hand and keep on the shelf or at their disposal on their desk. An accompanying manual or any other printed material is great for reading on the train home from work. And who hasnít experienced the anticipation of the package delivery man at your door.

Another great benefit is that your affiliates now can earn larger commissions. Thereís no better way to attract more affiliates and encourage your existing affiliate base.

But what about all the storage, packaging and shipping? Wonít that take a lot of time?

Yes, if you did it yourself. But thatís not necessary. This is where the whole concept comes together.

Since your goal is to build your business, not to take orders, burn CDs, print booklets, and get them to the post office, you can farm out all the work to allow you to concentrate on marketing and producing more and better products. Naturally it will cost money to have a third party do the work, but, again, the time you save can be better used to build your business.

There are many resources available to help you:

Manuals and booklets

Printindustry.com is a website run by a group of professional printers set up to connect a print buyer with printing companies. When you submit your print request, letís say 500 copies of a 40-page booklet, it is emailed to all the member printing companies that specialize in that type of printing. They then respond directly to you with price quotes. This can save you huge amounts of time from shopping different sites for competitive quotes.

CDs and DVDs

Do a search for ìCD replication,î and you will find many sites that will replicate CDs and DVDs for very competitive prices. For example, nationwidecd.com and tripledisc.com, to name just two, can supply a CD in a paper sleeve for under a dollar each.

For a little extra they will supply a jewel case with inserts in black& white or color, card board or vinyl sleeves, and any kind of labels. Nationwidecd also does some printing, so you might find other sites that also do both.

Fulfillment

A fulfillment company warehouses your CDs, DVDs, manuals and booklets, puts them together and ships the orders. These companies handle every step from processing credit card payments to returns.

Fullfilmentadvisor.com is a good site to visit for resources on every aspect of fulfillment.
Here youíll find detailed articles on exactly how fulfillment companies work, how to choose a fulfillment house, problems to expect, costs, and more. There are also hundreds of links to companies that perform every type of fulfillment service.

Your role as a business owner is to provide the best product you can to your customers. Creating a physical package in addition to your digital product, and farming out the order processing and fulfillment, will allow you more time to focus on building your business and increasing your profits.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Add Value to All You Do

While reading some very informative material recently, I found myself inspired by a concept that enables a person to soar to higher heights. The concept of adding value to everything you do, when applied to specific areas of a person’s life, can bring that person to be highly sought after by those receiving the added value. The material I was reading focused on business and what this concept will do for the success of a business. Another way of looking at this concept is in the idea of doing more than is expected, or doing more than that which you are compensated to do. When doing this a person will be “weighed” against others who do not. In comparison, the person who adds value to all he/she does will be sought after to the degree that there will be keen competition for his/her service. As a person becomes more and more recognized for doing more than he/she is compensated to do, he/she will begin receiving more and more compensation for their services.

There is an additional benefit that comes to the person who exercises this concept in his/her business; the development of that person’s strength. In nature, do you suppose the strongest trees are those that are protected from the storms and hidden from the sun? This isn’t the case. The one that stands out in the open and bears all of the winds and rain and is shone upon by the blistering sun is the tree that develops the strength to withstand the most violent weather. This also is the case for the person who goes beyond expectation to deliver added value in everything he/she does. This is the person that becomes strong enough to succeed despite the adversities that one is sure to come up against in his/her business. The fact that most people are delivering as little as they can get by with, serves as a great advantage to you when you deliver added value. One who delivers as little as he/she can, may rest assured he/she will receive the same.

I hope this information will add value to all of your experiences.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to  pros), please join our live seminar

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Three places to find new clients without a lot of work

1. Don’t ignore your own “Acres of diamonds” – ask your existing clients to refer some of their family, friends and associates to you. If they’re happy with your service they will be more than happy to do it and your job will be much easier since they are coming recommended by someone they trust.

2. Former employers and associates in other fields can be a great resource for finding new business. Give them a call, or better yet – <a href=”https://www.wildfiremarketinggroup.com/blog/index.php?title=can_you_increase_business_without_puttin&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1“>have lunch</a> and catch up with them but don’t be shy to ask for referrals!

3. Ask your current prospects who they know that may need your products or services. It may sound odd at first but give it a try and your opinion may quickly change. Especially if you’ve gone out of your way to help them.

Remember that most good people generally enjoy helping others when you make it easy for them. When you ask the people inside your circle of influence to help you by referring new clients, you’re helping yourself, you’re helping them by enabling them to help you, and you’re helping the potential clients by providing a quality product or service that they need.

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