One Word at a Time is all it takes to write a bestseller! Online Workshop Module Nine
Accountability My recommended time frame for Module Nine is ongoing for as long as you need and want to keep marketing and selling your book. Module Ten is all about the next steps. I will send this to you whenever you feel ready for it. When you do, simply reply to Module Nine email with Send me Module Ten. Then I will send Module Ten. TURNING PR & EXPOSURE INTO SALES Some reading to do How did you go with getting yourself out there? Fun, isn t it? You might have come up with a few other words to describe it, but the end result will be more exposure and more sales so that is fun! Module Nine is devoted to selling your book and making money (if that is your goal). So the first quick step I want you to do is go back to the goal you set for yourself in Module Eight: how many books you want to sell in what time frame. Read it, feel it, believe it, get excited by it and then we can get to work! In this module, I will discuss: Reading and listening to experts in selling Meeting with and learning from sales stars in various fields Getting into book shops Selling your ebook on Amazon & many other websites Selling from your website Selling books in bulk Wholesaling into other businesses creating relationships and ongoing speaking engagements & sales Getting more speaking gigs to increase sales Developing a referral program Aligning with a charity & donating a percentage of sales.
Please understand that there are many people out there who can help you with this, so don t just rely on my ideas. Leave no stone unturned. Just like in the previous modules, the secret to success in selling your book is to keep dancing! Keep going, keep trying new ideas, keep calling, keep meeting new people, keep adding value, keep building relationships, keep selling and keep persisting until you get the result you want. In my experience in business and sales, and from what I have seen, read and heard from successful people, the real secret is to not take no as no. This may sound strange, but selling is not as simple as walking into a book shop or picking up the phone and getting someone to buy your book. Sorry to tell you that! Selling is very much a relationship-building activity the more time you spend on the relationship, the more value you add and the stronger it will get. This leads to greater respect for you and your product, and a greater likelihood that people will eventually buy. I have heard that you may need to go back to the same person up to five times before you make a sale. How many people will do this? Not many, because they wrongly assume that a no now, means a no forever and after the first or second attempt they give up. Here is a simple analogy: think about a married couple. When they first met, did the man (or woman) ask the other to marry them? If so, the other person probably would have run away very fast in the opposite direction! Why? Because it is too soon there is no relationship, no trust, no value, no understanding of the other person. It takes time to build this before a proposal is appropriate. Does this make sense? If you can take this attitude into your book selling journey and understand the key to getting what you want is to help others get what they want, then success will be yours. If you give more time, more value and more to your prospective customers than you will get back, they will come back to you time and time again and will refer you to others. With that in mind, let s go Activity time! Let s get this book selling This is where the rubber meets the road and you will make your mark on the world. If you have a traditional publisher or someone else helping you with this, that is great. However, there is no substitute for getting yourself out there and making things happen. So let s get started
Reading and listening to experts in selling There are some incredible resources out there for you to easily access in the form of books, CDs and seminars. Actively source these tools why try and work it all out yourself when you can learn from the successes and failures of others? Keep an eye out for seminars about selling, but in the meantime get your hands on the following amazing books and CDs. Books: How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling Frank Bettger The Go-Giver Bob Burg & John David Mann Questions are the Answers Allan Pease Any other books by Allan and Barbara Pease Any sales books by Todd Duncan Audios: Any audios by Allan Pease Any audios by Todd Duncan, especially The Selling Edge Trading Places and High Trust Selling Meeting and learning from sales stars in various fields It doesn t matter in what industry real estate, cars, retail, door-to-door or any other sales I am sure you know successful people. Call them, buy them a coffee and ask them for some ideas. You will get some great help and inspiration by doing this. There is only one key question you need answered before you invest any time with these people: are they getting great results? Many people will give you great advice, but they aren t getting the results that would inspire you. Don t waste your time with these people, even if they are close friends or family. Find people who are walking the talk. Getting your book into shops You can do this on your own or you can enlist help, but understand that this can be a time-consuming activity and may not lead to fast results. However, the longterm potential may be very worthwhile. If you are working with a publisher, then this is obviously part of their responsibility. You may employ a distributor or sales person to help you with this,
but you will have to pay them. If you have self published/produced and neither of these two options applies, then the ball is in your court. Here is what I would do: 1. Get excited! 2. Contact anyone you know who may have leads or associations with any book shops. 3. Make a list of all the book shops you want to target. 4. With large chains, contact the head office. With independent shops you will have to contact each individually. 5. Make a call, identify the right person to speak to (generally the owner or manager), introduce yourself and your book, and set up a time to drop off a copy. Never send the book in the mail, unless it is going interstate or international, as you will miss out on a crucial relationship-building opportunity. You may think it is easier to just get addresses and send out dozens of books and wait for bookshops to get back to you with a massive order! In my experience it s better to spend more time giving out fewer books to create a strong bond with a few key people who have lots of contacts. Your long-term results will be much better. 6. When in front of the key person take interest in them and their motivations. Ask about them and their business and encourage them talk for as long as they like this will create a strong connection from the start. 7. Add value to them! Talk in terms of what is in it for them, not what you want. If they can see a benefit from having your book then they will order. 8. Show them the media and exposure you have already attracted for the book (from Module 8). 9. Suggest doing a book signing or seminar at the shop to attract people into the store. 10. Leave the book and make sure you follow up in an agreed time frame. If you get a no, look for other angles and other ways to build the relationship and trust. Remember, it may take five times to get a yes. 11. Keep going keep calling, meeting, dropping off books, adding value and looking for opportunities. Selling your e-book on Amazon & other websites I am going to keep this one simple. Unless you have a publisher or other person helping you do this, just go to www.ebookit.com. For under US$150 they will: 1. Prepare your file for conversion including manual editing and formatting to ensure it functions properly and looks great. 2. Assign you an ISBN (optional) 3. Convert your file to many required e-book types to the formats offered by the major online booksellers, and to each retailer's specifications 4. Quality-check your converted e-book
5. Distribute your e-book to the world (optional) your ebook will be sold in the online stores that currently account for over 98% of all ebooks sold. Good deal! Selling from your website I am sure you now have a website and one of the sweetest things you can see when you check your emails is to find you have received book sales from your site! Let s look at several ideas. 1. Traffic! The only way you can sell from your website is if people are visiting it. No traffic to the site equals no sales! I am sure that with all your activity in Module 8, you have created traffic flow, but you need to be working on this every day: Cross-link your site with other complimentary sites. Continually build your database through networking, giveaways and free subscriptions. Keep your website dynamic and valuable so that people will want to return and refer it to others. Investigate viral marketing strategies. I have developed a viral marketing concept for my website to add value, help drive traffic to my site and to sell my book Dance Until It Rains. It is a viral marketing game, with an online registry to help make the world a healthier place www.andrewjobling.com.au/game 2. Offer value-adds and giveaways with purchases. I give away a free e-book with every purchase on my site as an incentive to buy. 3. Develop other products and services to sell form your site. This will give more people reason to visit you site, see and hopefully purchase your book. 4. Social media send your link out on your social media channels and get others to do the same for you. 5. Rewards for referral offer people rewards for referring your book and your site to others who then make a purchase. 6. Keep adding testimonials to the site the more the better! People will pay more attention to what others say about your book than they will to your own sales pitch. Selling books in bulk When Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Cashflow Quadrant and many other best-selling titles, self-published his first book, no-one wanted to buy it or stock it. After a long time and many soul-destroying rejections he finally convinced a friend of his to put 10 of his books into his carwash (of all places). After one
week, two weeks, three weeks and even four there were still 10 books sitting in his friend s carwash. Robert had printed 1000 copies and with 10 in a carwash (not selling) and another 990 in boxes at his home, he was feeling like he had wasted his money and time. But he believed in his book and the powerful message that it contained and so he kept the faith. Five weeks after he had put his books into the carwash he received a call that went something like this Caller Hello, Robert. My name is so-and-so. You have written a good book. RK Thanks Caller How many copies do you have? RK 1000 less 10! Caller I know; I bought the 10 I would also like to buy the other 990. RK I think I can manage that! And the rest, as they say, is history! The man who rang happened to be a very wealthy network marketing business owner who wanted to share the book with business associates in his many teams in the USA and around the world. From that moment in 1997, Rich Dad Poor Dad rocketed its way to the top of the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for a long time. It still sells in abundance today. The moral to the story is that if you can put your book in the right hands then you can potentially sell your book in bulk and for many years to come. I have only been able to do this on a small scale, but it is still a great way to go. Depending on the subject matter of your book it is very worthwhile to try and sell large quantities to the right people. Here are some ideas: Book subject Potential bulk buyers What to suggest to potential buyers Children s Schools, childcare centres, kindergartens, mothers groups, etc. Text books Reference Library stock Educational Health & wellbeing Schools, universities, kindergartens and other educational organisations Gyms, personal trainers, nutritionists, naturopaths, doctors (conventional and holistic), other wellness practitioners Text books Reference Library stock Go into shop Include in package for clients Sell at seminars/talk Sell wholesale to on-sell
Self-help & personal development Financial and business Forward-thinking businesses, groups and associations in any industry or field: financial, network marketing, sport etc. Specific businesses in the industry you are targeting Target HR or L&D and sell into business for each manager and/or employee Sell to sporting teams for each player Sell at seminars/talks Target HR or L&D and sell into business for each manager and/or employee Sell at seminars/talks I am sure this will provoke more ideas for you. Bulk selling is a great way to leverage your time and increase your results. Remember, it will take time, effort, belief and persistence you know the drill!! Wholesaling into other businesses creating relationships and ongoing speaking gigs & sales All of my books are largely related to the wellness industry. A strategy that I have successfully implemented over the last five years is to create relationships with many wellness professionals, add value to them and then sell them books wholesale to on-sell through their own businesses for a profit. This strategy has been one of the best things I have done because once the relationship is created and trust is developed, many other opportunities have and will continue to come. This is what I do on a daily basis: 1. Find contacts through referrals from others or simply though Google and other public directories. 2. Call wellness business owners and set up a time to meet. I explain that I am an author in the same industry and looking for quality businesses and professionals to network with, refer potential clients to, work with and add value to. I simply suggest a catch up to see whether there is a way we can work together I find that I am able to get one appointment with every two contacts I speak with. 3. At the appointment, I always give them a free copy of my book Eat Chocolate, Drink Alcohol and be Lean & Healthy. I spend time finding out about them, their business and what they are looking to do in the future. This helps me to suggest ways in which we can work together. 4. One of my first suggestions, after we have built some rapport, is to organise a wellness seminar for clients and as a marketing strategy to get new people exposed to their business. This is often met with enthusiasm as I explain all the amazing benefits that come out of a seminar, such as:
a. Motivating and adding value to existing clients and all other attendees b. An additional income potential c. Marketing strategy to expose new people to the business d. Selling books and other products and services e. Developing a stronger bond between the business and the clients. 5. If they are not interested in the seminar idea I will offer them a wholesale price to purchase books that they can then use in several ways: a. Sell to clients for a retail profit b. Give to clients as a reward for loyalty or achievement c. Use as a part of a package or promotions d. A resource to help them in their business. 6. I always make a time to come back for a follow-up appointment and discuss the next steps. This strategy works very well for me. No matter what genre your book, this same strategy can be implemented and great results can be achieved. The secret, as always, is to keep calling, keep meeting, keep following up and keep going! Getting more speaking gigs to increase sales This is really an adjunct to idea 10 from the previous module. If you haven t already followed the steps I outlined in Module 8, I would strongly recommend you do. Developing a profile as a speaker will not only dramatically increase your confidence, but it is a fantastic vehicle to sell books. Keep setting yourself up for speaking opportunities. Keep networking, calling, sending out your speaker s kit and eventually you will start speaking. It will probably be for free initially, but as your skill, confidence and profile increase you will be able to start charging a fee for your speaking services. Here are some ways you will sell books from your speaking gigs: Make sure, at each speaking gig you accept, you arrange that it is okay for you to sell books. You will find after you have spoken, people will be motivated to buy your book. I find that, on average, 30 to 40 per cent of audience members will buy a book. This can make it quite a profitable event, even if I am not getting paid for the actual talk. If you are negotiating a fee for a speaking opportunity you can use your books as great leverage by: o Including a certain number of books in your quote at a discounted price. When you look at my speaker kit you will see that I have a standard fee for speaking and also a fee which includes a set number of books. This is a great way to guarantee sales for the event, but is also attractive to the buyer because of the added value.
o Offering your talk for free but negotiating a copy of your book for each member of the audience at the book s RRP. This works well; the buyer is getting something for nothing and you get to sell a bulk number of books at RRP. Again, this can be very profitable for you. Hand out a survey at the end of your presentation to get feedback on your talk, to increase your database and to sell more books and other services. This works incredibly well for me; this is what I do: o At the end of every talk I hand out a survey (like the one on the next page). o Once everyone has completed the survey they go into a draw. I immediately conduct the draw and someone wins a free copy of one of my books. o I am left with valuable information: names and contact details for my database warm and hot leads for me to follow up to sell more books, speaking opportunities and other services I offer (see examples on next page). The survey (see next page) is only a winning idea if you follow up. Make the calls, send the emails, set up the meetings, build more relationships and enjoy what comes to you as a result.
An example of one of my surveys
Develop a referral program The most successful services and products sell and continue to sell for one main reason: referral and word-of-mouth from satisfied customers and associates. How do you take advantage of this powerful marketing and sales strategy? 1. Make sure your product and service is better than most. I know your book will be brilliant, but make sure you are always on your game. Any time you are in doubt, go back to the books How to Win Friends and Influence People and How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling. You would have heard the saying Under promise and over deliver a great philosophy to live by. 2. As you develop relationships with people discuss the opportunities to cross-promote products and services. This is a great way to: a. Expose your book and other products and services to other people b. Add value to your contacts and database by giving them access to other quality products and services. My only caution for you here is to make sure that there is some consistency with what you are promoting and that the person you are working with aligns with your values and beliefs. This can backfire badly if you just try to get just anyone to promote you and your products and vice versa. 3. Offer rewards and incentives to clients and/or associates to promote and refer your books and other products and services. 4. Treat people well, be consistent and think about others and you will naturally start to get a stream of word-of-mouth business. Aligning with a charity & donating a percentage of sales We all love a cause. What is yours? Is there a charity that you have aligned with? Then why not use your book as a way to help that charity? In this way everyone wins. People are more likely to buy something when they know a percentage of the sales will go to a good cause. This increases the sale of your book and also increases the money that you can donate to your charity. Here are some simple steps: 1. Decide which charity you want to support 2. Call that charity and find out what regulations they have for people wanting to donate I have found there is a bit of red tape to get through. If you find yourself getting frustrated, remember the cause and why you are doing it. 3. If you can, put something on the cover of the book stating that you are Proudly supporting 4. Get the word out:
a. on your website b. via social media c. through word of mouth and your circle of influence d. at talks e. anything else you can think of. Giving is such an amazing thing to do. You will feel great as a result and you will engage the Law of Reciprocity which states that what you give comes back to you in abundance Enjoy! Get out there and do it Now is the time to push yourself, get out of your comfort zone if you have to and make this work for you. At the end of the day the success or failure of your book has very little to do with the economic situation, the changing scope of the book industry, or whether all the planets are aligned. The only path to success is through your willingness to keep working, keep promoting, keep selling, keep trying new things and keep positive and expectant about your result. To finish off Module Nine, just write a short paragraph below about why people will love your book and why it will sell many copies Well done on completing Module Nine. simply reply to Module Nine email with Send me Module Ten. I will then send you Module Ten.
Congratulations on finishing Module Nine Enjoy Module Ten