Writing Habits with AI
Self-Publishing

Oh, the Nightmare of Self-Publishing Author Services

For many authors, first time self-publishing turns into a nightmare beyond all proportions. One type of plague is the Who’s Who yearbook or the International Poetry book who thrive on the vanity of novice writers to see their works in print. End result: expensive and unmarketable. The other type of plague is the Vanity Press or Author Services company (often from a larger publishing house). A wolf in sheep’s clothing, vanity presses never admit they are such but make you pay quite high costs per book. In differentiation, Jennifer Lancaster’s packages (delivered personally) come with full transparency of pricing and service, and are not tied to any number of books ordered. We are not a front for a large conglomerate and we don’t have sales teams. You’ve probably seen Balboa Press when you Googled self-publishing. Before venturing forth, just have…
Read more
Writing Habits with AI
Personal Branding

Caring, Sharing and Giveaways

Caring about clients is one of the principles of a successful salesperson, according to Tom Hopkins (#10 in ‘How to Master the Art of Selling’). How do you show your clients you care? Do you give from the heart… or are you just giving information to create another name on your database? Here are three tips for increasing your customer care and attraction: Stop giving out crappy pens that don’t write printed with your business name, and start giving out nice $4 pens that benefit breast cancer (see Avon) to your business friends. Instead of thinking how you can sell life coaching/meditation trips/furry cat toys, think of how you can make your ideal person’s life better with a specific solution. Then talk about that solution, examples of how it improved things for you or your clients… i.e. come from the…
Read more
Writing Habits with AI
Book Writing

There’s No Money in Books! Publishing for Profit

Just today someone said to me emphatically, “My friend wrote a book but he said there isn’t a lot of money in writing books.”  That’s true… Crikey thinks so.  (Article here) Author of ‘Fat, 40 and Fired!’ Nigel Marsh told me in confidence that traditional publishing doesn’t pay enough of itself. Luckily he has a sense of humour and can consult. But of course, you’re missing the point (as I said but more politely). The reason to write a book for business is COMPLETELY different to just doing it for satisfaction. And that is… drum roll… to educate new people in your way of thinking and draw them in like bees to your business flowers. So, if your business is “flower arranging” and you write a book on cash flow, don’t expect that to work for you. Take it from…
Read more
Writing Habits with AI
Book Writing

How to Write and Sell Books to Enhance your Business

Hey Service Provider, would you like to learn how to write and sell information products (including print books, eBooks, video courses, etc) that bring you in royalty income? Sounds good? Before you choose a format (book, CD, video etc), you will have to think about two things: 1) Your intended audience’s media format access. No point sending a CD to people who only own a graphics tablet; they may be able to play it in their car but not their computer. Do executives still read print books or do they mainly download eBooks nowadays? You will have to do your research and go for the likeliest media that is easy to access. 2) The word length or data space. Preview Robert Bly’s book below. On page 45 there is a handy table with Word Length of Different Information Products. It…
Read more
personal branding ideas

How to Capitalise on a New Brand You? Publish!

Hundreds of people went to the ‘Key Person of Influence’ conferences, and read the book. This marked a huge trend towards ‘becoming a visible expert in your niche’. A seminar and some scribbled notes is just the start… now for the real work of brand | pitch | publicise | publish.  So how do we embrace personal branding by publishing a book? Like me, you’ve probably been servicing clients and learning your trade for many years. Perhaps the reason you started this ‘expert’ journey is you wanted to stand out among competitors who do not have the same depth of knowledge or helpful experience. Yet to continue the journey towards an effective Brand You… and a book as a calling card… takes even more dedication than usual. Some of us excuse our inactivity because we’re busy, while others realise that you cannot buy CREDIBILITY,…
Read more
course creation whiteboarding
Course Content

Developing Course Content from Industry News

How much time do you spend reading up on your industry news or doing training? Whether in the form of books, blogs, or talks, it costs you a lot of time to keep up with new techniques, better technology, reported surveys, and the like. So why not make extra income from all this learning? Capitalising on Your Knowledge with a Course When you develop a course, you draw on formal training and related information but you also put in your own learning from hands-on experience. And this mix is what is really valuable. Is it time to value what you’ve learned — and put a home study course or live webinar program together? A home study course can be in the form of video streaming hosted on a marketplace, or video streaming (private download). The most popular video course marketplace…
Read more
Filters
Reset