How do you get paid more for everything that you know
and do? You become known as THE expert on a given
topic. How do you do that? One very good way is to
write a book. No, not an ebook - an actual print book.
"What's wrong with an ebook?" I hear you asking.
The answer lies in the fact that anything that is
too easy is not considered very valuable. That's why
doctors and lawyers get paid more than taxi drivers
and waitresses. The "barriers to entry" make it more
"expensive" to become a doctor or lawyer, which makes
being a doctor or lawyer a scarcer skill, which allows
them to charge more for that skill.
Anyone can write and publish an ebook. To do that
all you really need to do is:
1) Write your book (or short report) in ® Microsoft Word.
2) Convert it to PDF using a free program such as
PDF995.
3) Announce to the world that you've published an
ebook.
It really is THAT easy, and therein lies the problem.
Thousands of people have published "junk ebooks" that
aren't worth the electrons they're "printed on!" If
you're like me, you probably have dozens of these on
your hard-drive right now. You know... free ebooks that
sounded great, but when you downloaded them, you quickly
discovered that they were worth exactly what you paid
for them. These ebooks often contain out-of-date,
inaccurate, or commonly known information. The very
worst ones are those written by people who have no
idea what they're talking about, so they repeat
inaccurate information that they found elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong. Ebooks are a great tool. I use
them for viral marketing, as a handy training tool,
and even as for-sale products. Since ebooks are cheaper
to produce, you will sell them to people who don't want
to pay the higher price for a print book, or to people
who simply don't want to wait to get them in the mail.
The big difference in writing a print book is that
people perceive someone who has written a "real"
book differently. People assume that writing a book
is hard work, so when they hear that you've published
a print book, they attribute lots of great qualities
to you. They reflect back upon when writing and
publishing a book was a BIG challenge.
My friend, Elsom Eldridge Jr., author of "How To Position
Yourself As The Obvious Expert In 90 Days Or Less Without
Spending A Fortune On Advertising," taught me all
about why writing and printing a book is a very powerful
way to firmly establish yourself as an expert on a
topic. Being considered the expert on a topic does
mean that you can charge more for what you do, say,
and produce.
I recently did a teleseminar-interview with Elsom on
this very topic. You can grab the MP3 recording and/or
the PDF transcript of this interview from my website
at: http://WillieCrawford.com/write-a-real-book.html
It's my free gift to you :-)
If writing a real book allows you to better brand
yourself as THE EXPERT, then why don't more people
do it? I think many people simply think that it's too
expensive. I'll let you in on a secret...
... My first physical book was a cookbook. It's 184
pages, and contains 250 of my own recipes. I simply made
a list of recipes, typed them out, had a cover designed,
found a few graphics/photos, and had it printed. I now
sell this cookbook from my website at
http://Chitterlings.com/cookbook.html for $16.95 per
copy plus shipping and handling. The secret.... it costs
me less than $1 each to print these books.
I simply went on the Internet and found a number of
printers, then I compared prices. Since one of the
least expensive ones I found was a short drive from
where I live, I scheduled an appointment to go over
and discuss my project. In volume, these books were
so cheap that I ordered a mini-warehouse full. You don't
have to visit your printer to set-up your project - I
did just because they were so close.
I chose a cookbook as my first project because I
couldn't think of anything else at the time. A cookbook
is easy to write, and if it's on the right type of
cooking, it should sell well. You can find more information
on how to easily write and produce your own cookbook at:
http://WriteACookbook.com That's where I have the
transcripts and MP3 from a teleseminar I did with two
other cookbook authors on that very topic.
If you don't want to order lots of copies of your print
book, you don't have to. There are companies that do
print-on-demand. They will print as few as one copy at a
time, and then drop-ship your order right to your customers.
A print-on-demand printer that I work with a lot is at:
http://WillieCrawford.com/print-on-demand.html
Ok, so it's not that expensive to write a "real" book,
or to turn your ebook into a print book. However, you
need more reasons to go through all of that “trouble.”
Well...
1) Print books have a longer shelf life. People download
ebooks and may never go back to them again. With a print
book, they're at-least going to have to look at your
book while dusting the bookshelf. Every time that they
look at your book, they will be reminded of you and
your products or services.
2) I think of a book as a glorified business card. My
books all mention my websites inside them and on the
cover. I put things in all of my books to drive people
back to my websites. You should do the same. I sometimes
actually give copies of my books to hot prospects. When
you give someone you meet a copy of your book, they are
likely to be very impressed AND to go check out your
other offerings.
3) Every book that you write can, and should, have
back-end sales built in. You should have a page or
coupons for your other (bigger ticket) products. If you
mail the books yourself, you should also include
package inserts in EVERY package. If you have the books
drop-shipped, you should have the drop-shipper or
print-on-demand publisher, include your flyers in the
package or inserted in the books. Consider having
a tear-out insert printed right into the book!
4) Many offline stores and specialty shops may want to
sell your book. Unless they're Internet-related, they're
not very likely to want to feature your ebook. This
exposes you to a whole new audience that would have
never discovered you if you stuck to ebooks. Many
country stores carry my cookbook.
As you can see, ebooks are "ok" but the real professional
also publishes his books in print form. Hopefully, you
see that it's not very difficult or expensive. Now that you
know, you can separate yourself, in the mind of the consumers,
from the perception many may have of ebooks. You'll brand
yourself as a serious professional and an expert.
|
