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 ranges from 800 words for an article to 80,000 words for a 200-page book. (Remember some smaller books can make use of an A5 paperback format with only 20,000 words).
Keep your Goals in Mind
Another thing to consider is your overall goals. If you are writing for the benefit of raising money for a cause, then that cause should be branded onto the book cover and built into any marketing efforts.
If you want to increase connections in your own community, perhaps write about your (common) situation rather than your business market. Sarah O-Bryan did that very well here:
http://www.abn.org.au/media/mumpreneur-sarah-obryan-publishes-new-book/
But keep your goals firmly in mind, so that you’re not wasting a year of your life merely emphathising with your colleagues… when your real intention was to connect to new prospects.
My intention with my first two small books was mainly self-fulfillment: sharing my learning around personal finance, saving, and to give people a heads-up so they did not fall prey to scams. Like many, I didn’t have a clue how to market the books widely or to build a reader platform. But at least I had a focus away from motherhood and housework, and that’s a good thing!
Creating a Unique Title, Message and Book Blurb… workshop in Redcliffe, Qld, on this Thursday 13 March.
