Recession-Proof With a Book?

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

If you think writing a book is merely an excellent long term marketing strategy, I have news for you.

Perhaps you were thinking of writing a book recently, and changed your mind, deciding to focus on marketing efforts that you felt would give you more immediate results.

You also might have been thinking that writing a book is too complicated, time consuming, and costs too much.


In a recent conversation with my friend, publishing and marketing guru John Eggen, he explained why now was actually the very best time to create a book.


He made several very valid points:


First, he reminded me that a book can be the ultimate marketing tool for Independent Professionals. It gives you instant credibility, establishes you as an authority, and helps you attract a lot more of your ideal clients a lot faster. 


And this is even more true in recessionary times. It's not a time to retreat and "play it safe" John said, but a time to be even more visible and to differentiate yourself from others in your field. And nothing does that like a book. 


Plus, a book can be written and published in as few as 90 days by using today’s methods.

And John should know. He's has helped nearly 1,000 Independent Professionals to author their own book.


But his last point was the clincher.


"Robert, the thing almost nobody understands is that the moment you make the decision to write your book you can leverage that fact to start attracting more and better clients. All you really need to start is a good working title. And you can begin to generate new business right away before you've written a word."


John reminded me he had worked with many authors who I originally referred to him and have generated from $22,000 to $150,000 in new business from their book, before even completing a first draft. He emphasized that simple news about your forthcoming book is a powerful way to attract clients and to profit now -- as well as later. 


I asked John to give me some solid examples and I'd include them in this eZine. I also asked him to lead a TeleClass to talk about how to grow one's business during this recession with a book. He agreed to both.


No-Cost Tactics - And Why they Work


First of all, John told me that most of these tactics he’s developed were free and that you could use them right away. 


Second, he said they work because 3000 years of history have made a book is the number one undisputed symbol of authority for professionals. Just mentioning that you're writing a a book gives you an immediate jump in credibility, sets you apart from others in your field, and attracts new clients even before the book is written.


Here are four ways to leverage this fact:


1. Turn Every Email You Send into a Client Magnet


The first easy technique to attract new clients is to create an email signature line that announces you are authoring a book.


To do this effectively, create a good working book title and subtitle using a time-tested formula to get the attention of your target market. 
 

Then place the title in the signature line for your emails using these exact words: "Author of the forthcoming book, "_______________________." (that simple!)


Fill in the blank with your working title and subtitle, and put them in italics. Those words are a publishing industry-standard term and they give you instant credibility. 


It takes only a few minutes to create this kind of signature line for your emails. And it works. One of my subscribers, independent professional Jeanna Pool, tried it after writing her book title. She reported, "I got two new clients and $25,000.00 in income, all within 30 days of starting my book. It took just three minutes to use one of John's simple techniques."


2.  Turn All Your Introductions into Business Magnets


Another proven way to attract new business is to simply announce the title and subtitle of your forthcoming book in all the prepared introductions about you.


This includes introductions made by others, or you, in all your public presentations, your marketing materials, on your Web site, in your bio, in your media kit, etc.
 This only takes a few minutes to do. Does it work?


A subscriber of mine, independent professional Katalin Halom, tried it while she was writing the first draft of her book. She reported, "In just the first four months, I booked an extra $48,000 in fees to me. Now I have more inquiries for my coaching programs than I can handle."

3.  Put Your Audio Logo or Elevator Speech on Steroids


You can also add news about your forthcoming book into your audio logo or elevator speech and automatically attract more business.


An audio logo and an elevator speech are statements you create to describe what you do in such a way that a genuine business prospect will ask you for more information.


It's most effective if they're short and precise -- just one or two sentences long. 


It takes only a few seconds more to mention your forthcoming book. Is it worth doing?


Another subscriber of mine, independent professional Michael Cannon, began using this method consistently with new prospects as soon as he started writing his book's first draft with John.


He reported, "I've been getting 30-40% more first meetings with CEO prospects and a 25% increase in those who closed. I've also been getting less negotiation on price, because they perceive me as an authority."


Do the math and you will see it's a geometric increase in his results.


4.  Use Two or More of these Tactics and Multiply Your Results


Another secret behind these insider techniques is that they use the power of a book to leverage your existing marketing methods... the things you are already habitually doing.


In other words, they don't require any new expenditures of your time or money. And using two or more of these simple methods can multiply your results.


One of my subscribers, Laura Cardone, took John up on this idea and reported, "I generated an additional $150,000.00 in new business just by using a few of the no-cost marketing tactics John taught me, and that was before I even finished the first draft of my book."


John emphasized that, "In today's economic climate you need every marketing advantage you can find.


"Within a few days from the moment you commit to creating your book, you can have a good working title and subtitle. You can then use them in these simple, proven ways to attract new clients and extra income immediately." 


OK, John, I get it! I guess I need to declare that I'm writing a book even though I'm not 100% sure what it will contain!


I don't know if you're considering writing a book or not, but if you are, John's proven methods are a great way to get a head-start by demonstrating that you're a credible authority.

Free TeleClass: Recession - Proof with a Book


In an eZine article we can only touch on a few of the ideas John has used successfully with his clients. In fact, a total of 213 of my subscribers and clients have worked with John in his quick-start publishing programs. 


For several years I've worked in partnership with John to offer these publishing programs. They are designed for Independent Professionals who not only want to publish a client-attracting book in as little as 90 days but to recession-proof their practice.


I asked John to offer a TeleClass that would go into more depth about how to use a book to make money immediately and thrive during this economy. We'll discuss some of the ideas covered in today's eZine and a whole lot more.


If you've even considered writing and publishing a book, I highly recommend you attend. Here are the details:


Date: Thursday, May 28


Time: 5:30 pm Pacific. (6:30 mntn, 7:30 cntrl, 8:30 estrn)


For complete details and to make a reservation, please click
on this link:


http://mypublishingopportunity.com/robertm

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: For Independent Professionals, the money you make from a book is not from book sales but from attracting new clients. The good news is that you can increase your credibility immediately and start attracting more of your ideal clients, even before you've started writing that book.

*

Have you written a book? How has it helped your business? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the Comments link below.

Comments

[Alice]

Lady Gaga is probably my biggest guilty pleasure in music. I can't explain why I like her.
And you?

[Wynne]

Could you help me. Love is that splendid triggering of human vitality... the supreme activity which nature affords anyone for going out of himself toward someone else.
I am from Ethiopia and now study English, give please true I wrote the following sentence: "Upright men which become the suspicion are potentially pulled, although they are straight in non-existent vesicles without a found particular forage."

With love ;), Wynne.

[Eric Graudins]

Thanks for the tip about putting "Author of the forthcoming book . . ." in email sigs, and elsewhere.
Didn't think of that one. Fantastic, and so obvious in hindsight.

[Dr. Tom Hanson]

Right on, Robert.

Since my wife and I wrote "Who Will Do What By When? How to Improve Performance, Accountability and Trust with Integrity" we've done well over $100,000 in consulting/coaching from it.

It's gotten us in the door with big companies, like Verizon, and many small ones.

The book is our business card.

Right on also with the title importance. It has to resonate with people.

A good idea is to have the title be a benefit (Think and Grow Rich, How To Win Friends and ...).

Speed is the key -- sit down and crank it out. Our book went through massive revisions.

The core diagram in our book didn't even exist when we started writing it, came in later.

www.HeadsUpPerformance.com

[Lisa Claudia Briggs, LICSW]

Thanks for the helpful push- wrote a book last summer and have not done the best job of marketing it. Just changed a few signatures b/c of today's article and look forward to creating new ways to market "Freedom From Binges" moving forward.
Having the book has made a difference in my business- it targeted the biggest problem my clients request and it gives me a way to provide them with my best and most organized "system" to shift the beliefs and energies challenging women and teens who want .... freedom from binges.

thanks as always for easy-to-implement ideas.

Peace and every blessing-
Lisa Claudia Briggs, LICSW
Intuitive, Psychotherapist, Consultant
Author, "Freedom From Binges"
http://www.IntuitiveBody.com
http://www.FreedomFromBinges.com