How You Can Grow Your Business By Writing and Marketing Books


We’ve all seen books authored by high-profile business leaders and other professionals. We know authoring a book creates or enhances the aura of prestige surrounding such people. But do we really understand how writing and marketing books can help build a business or career?

Ron Kaufman knows. He has built a business around customer service training and motivation, including two book series. Ron has generously agreed to share his thoughts and experience with us.

Bobette: Thank you for the interview, Ron.

Ron: My pleasure! Let's get started.

Bobette: By my count you have 14 books in the two series. That is quite an accomplishment! What motivates you to keep writing?

Ron: As a consulting professional I speak, teach, write newsletters and articles, and facilitate educational events. Writing books is a natural "next step" to put the experience I have gained over the years into written form.

Book writing also forces me to consolidate and organize my thinking into a coherent body of knowledge. The rigor required to organize each chapter and articulate each page has improved my own thinking, and my ability to serve my clients.

Bobette: Has writing and publishing resulted in an increase in demand for your professional services? In what ways?

Ron: Writing and publishing absolutely increase your credibility. After all, "author" is the foundation of "authority" -- when you write (and write well) people take you more seriously.

Also, I now insist that each person in my corporate audiences receive their own copy of at least one of my 14 books. This adds value to the participants -- they can "take home" and study my writing after the program. But this also increases the number of very influential "Ron Kaufman business cards" out there in the market -- books!

Bobette: The books also create a marketing synergy that works both ways -- your books gain you consulting business and the consulting business increases book sales?

Ron: Yes. Books and live sessions support each other towards the common objectives of learning, improvement and commitment. Attending a session allows for interaction with the instructor and colleagues while reading the book gives more time to reflect and consider each of the key learning points.

Bobette: The books and live sessions "feed" off each other to accelerate your business growth. Are there other cross-marketing tips you can share with us?

Ron: Gladly. My free e-mail newsletter keeps me "top of mind" for decision makers around the world. And every issue has plenty of links taking readers into the website where they will find lots of added value. All my books include references to other books, and to the website. On stage I refer to my books and even read small sections to highlight key points.

One guaranteed way to get people's attention is to give them something free. So I created two special "free gifts" which are now circling the globe as a viral gift, from person to person to person....and back to me.

Bobette: I noticed that in some cases you will customize a book cover and certain pages for an organization. How is this advantageous to marketing your business?

Ron: When you allow a customer to customize for their specific needs, they value your content even more. And they remember where they got it! One unexpected benefit is when someone leaves an organization and brings some of their books and contents along. If your book travels with them, they can introduce you to the new place of work....one step closer to another new client.

Bobette: Another area nonfiction authors often agonize over is whether to approach a traditional, established publisher or publish through their own company. Personally, I like the freedom and control enjoyed through self-publishing. What are your thoughts?

Ron: Self-publishing gives you the freedom and control. It also gives you a tremendous financial advantage. A book in print costs about $2-3 per copy (after the initial editorial and production costs.) When you GIVE a book to a client, it's worth a LOT more in their eyes -- it's the most credible business card/brochure you can imagine. They NEVER throw it away, and if you sign it for them, it's a treasure. Now imagine selling your book in volume to your client -- 100 people in the room, everyone receives a copy of your book. Of course you sell the book to your corporate client at a handsome discount of 40 or 50% (which they consider a great investment), but the book only cost you a few dollars to print. See the economics? Over years and years (and books do last that long!) the financial benefits for the speaker/author are tremendous.

The publicity benefits are endless, too, because EVERY COPY of your book takes on a life of its own -- passed around, loaned to others, moved from office to office. You never know when someone will see your book, go to your Website and call or write to you for an engagement. But the more you put out there, the more often it will definitely happen.

Bobette: Many people forget that price is part of marketing. Can you share some insight about pricing informational nonfiction books?

Ron: Pricing depends on how you want to position your book. If you do heavy research and publish an annual guide or directory you can charge a lot -- and deserve it. If you publish a booklet of simple tips, you may want to charge very low price -- and encourage companies to buy from you in volume. I like my books to be accessible, so I choose a reasonable price, and then offer substantial discounts for my clients when they buy a copy for everyone in the company -- which they very often do.

Bobette: Are there any other words of wisdom you would like to leave us with?

Ron: Two final points: 1) There is something called "the page experience" that authors must reckon with today. The days of simply words on page are over. Readers want images, graphs, charts, illustrations, photographs, cartoons, interesting layouts, etc. Authors should spend time in the bookstore studying the covers of other books (of course), but also the interior designs. Find several that you like and then study them carefully: how does the design add value to the reader? what elements of design do you find most useful or attractive? how can adding design elements to your book improve the reader's "page experience"?

2) I have a personal phrase, which reads like this: "I love writing, I hate to write." What that means is the joy of writing is in the writing. The agony of writing is in knowing that you need to write, but you haven't gotten started. The hard part is getting to the keyboard. The fun part is in bringing out the words.

Bobette: Thank you so much, Ron, for taking the time today to share your expertise!

Ron: My pleasure! To all aspiring writers, speakers, trainers, coaches and consultants everywhere -- you have my encouragement for your efforts, admiration for your passion and respect for your commitment to serving others. Keep it UP!

There are blogs and then, there are blogs. Some blogs are to entertain. Some are to inform. As an author who is looking to pump up her blog to sell more books, your blog needs to be a lot of both to makes sure you get those books sold.

I cannot stress this more: EVERY AUTHOR NEEDS A BLOG.

If you don't, you are missing out on one of the most VITAL elements in successful book promotion.

If you don't, you will NOT see the sales you expect.

If you don't, hop on over to www.blogger.com, or one of the other free blogging services, and set one up today because I am about to tell you some insider secrets on how you can turn your book blog into a money-making machine.

Are you pumped up yet?

Good!

The first place to start is with a blog that is entirely devoted to pumping up your book. Save those everyday conversations (unless they're related exclusively to your book) for other blogs you might have.

Today starts the first day you're going to pay careful attention to what goes up on your blog and how you can make your blog stand out from all those other blogs out there. What you will be doing is creating a powerful online presence, as well as pulling in that audience. After all, what's a book blog good for if it's not going to be noticed?

Surely, you can't have that happen because pumping up your online book promotion is your main goal in successful book promotion any way you look at it.

With that said, if you really want to draw in buyers, make sure you do have a blog pertaining to the subject of your book. Since most blogs are free, it's wise to have a separate blog for this so that the attention will be directed toward your book and not what you had for breakfast, so to speak.

The point I'm trying to make is that in order to pump up your book promotion, you need to center yourself and figure out how you can turn your blog into a great promotional vehicle to sell your book without coming off as one big ad.

What I would like to do is give you some examples of blogs that are directly, and intentionally, geared toward blogging about their books.

Rachel Newstead's book is called “Orphan Toons: Relics of Animation’s Forgotten Past.” It's not published yet, but what she is doing is creating a platform even before the book sees the light of day. A fine example of pumping up your book promotion. If you go to her blog at http://rachel-and-kevin.blogspot.com, you can see what I mean.

Another great example is Kathy Holmes’ blog at http://www.kathyholmes.net where she promotes one published book and another yet-to-be-published book, but she carries them both off very well without being obtrusive. Her published book is titled “Myths of the Fatherless” and I have to tell you, this woman is one of the best promoters I have seen as far as getting the word out about her book, without it looking like one big ad for her book. Her other book is with an agent looking for a home, but it's called “Real Women Wear Red” and she does an excellent job talking about what the main theme of the book is about. Even though it's fiction, it deals with women of a certain age which she blogs about quite often. Now this is a pumped up blog if I've ever seen one.

While Rachelle uses her blog to create buzz for when her book becomes published and Kathy uses her blog to promote an already-published book, some authors even go outside of the box and create blogs for the characters in their books. Quite a neat idea, if you ask me.

One such writer is Jamieson Wolf. I've read many of his other blogs on a daily basis and I have to admit, this guy is going places. If I can only write as much during one day as he does, I'd be set in books for life. What Jamieson has done is started a blog for one of his characters in his upcoming book, Hope Falls, which you can see for yourself at http://www.hidingfromhope.blogspot.com/.

These authors know what it takes to create a buzz for their books, whether they're published or almost-published. Maybe they'll give you ideas on how you can pump up your own blog--or perhaps to start a new one exclusively devoted to your book--to create a powerful online presence not only for your book, but yourself, too. It's all in how much you want it.

How much should you pay to get your book published? I know this question is confusing because I once led a teleclass where a student asked me four times how much I paid to get my novel published. I said, "Nothing!", but the answer didn't make sense to her. She didn't understand why I didn't have to pay anything when she was being "pursued" by publishers offering packages that would cost her thousands of dollars. Welcome to today's publishing world where the old model is often confused with the digital/self-publishing models and writers don't know how or even if they have to spend their own money. Let me clarify. I hope this will help you make the right decisions for your book.

Traditional Publishers

Whether a traditional publishing house is one of the big ones, like Random House or St. Martin's (which published my novel), or moderate to small like a Hay House, one thing remains the same: you pay nothing. When one of these houses is interested in your book, they pay you an advance to write the book and, if the book sells well, they will continue to pay you royalties. Depending on how large your publisher is and how excited they are about your book you may also get a nice marketing push and your own public relations person working to get your book noticed. There's also a level of prestige and acceptance that comes from selling your book to a publishing house--reviewers take notice and it's easier to get the major booksellers to stock your book. Of course, it's also really difficult to get a traditional publisher interested in your book (you'll proba bly need a literary agent), but if this is what you want for your project, you'll do the things you need to do to get noticed.

Print On Demand Publishers

Many new writers think they are getting the attention of a traditional publisher when they are pursued by a POD publisher. Then they're shocked when they find out how much they have to pay. You have to know that most POD publishers are totally reputable, but on a certain level, you're still self-publishing. POD publishers offer a wide range of fee-based options including cover design, editing and marketing. They operate like a traditional publishing house in that the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is owned by the POD, not the author, and the company pays royalties to the author. Going POD can be pricey, but if you have zero experience in putting a book together they can be your best buy. Some of the popular ones include Lulu, Trafford Publishing, Author House, Outskirts Press and iUniverse.

Digital Printers

The most important thing to know about digital printers is that they just manufacture the book. You maintain control. You keep the copyright, you own the ISBN (which you'll have to purchase yourself) and you figure out how to sell the book. You'll also probably have to hire a designer and an editor to help you put the book in tip-top shape before handing it over to the printers. In this process you can ask the printers to send you a price quote or even get several to bid on your project. This could be your best pricing option. Just remember to ask for references and interview the authors to see how satisfied they were with their final product.

As always, do your homework. You can spend as much or as little as you want. Only you will know how close you come to producing the book that's been in your mind forever.