FIVE STEPS TO ULTIMATE LEAD GENERATION WITH A BOOK

1. Promote Your Book, Not Your Business

Marketing your book instead of your business is important for diff erentiation as well as regulation. If you own a medical, legal, or fi nancial practice, a range of regulations often restricts what you can or cannot say in your advertising. However, there are no regulations when it comes to promoting a book. By using your book to market your business, you have far more freedom and fl exibility. Your book becomes the subliminal sales tool that drives people into your offi ce.

While regulations plague professionals, the problem of com- moditization is one that haunts nearly any business. If you look through any directory, online or off , you’ll fi nd dozens to hundreds of listings for chiropractors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, repair

shops, and so on, in any given city. What could possibly compel a consumer to choose your business over another?

Dan Kennedy was probably fi rst in developing a creative solution to this problem. He essentially shifted the focus of adver- tising from a business to a book. Dan fi rst tried this tactic with his client Dr. Bob Kotler, a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, California.

As Dan says, half of the population in Beverly Hills is comprised of cosmetic surgeons; the other half, patients. If you look through any high-end Beverly Hills magazine, there are at least 40 ads of various sizes promoting cosmetic surgeon practices. Unfortunately, for the surgeons, returns diminish with each addi- tional ad. However, by advertising a book rather than his practice, Dr. Kotler immediately stood out. Consumers benefi ted with a guide to cosmetic surgery, while Dr. Kotler fl ourished with an increased patient load. Th is is something that almost any business can do.

2. Repurpose and Reuse Your Book

For many authors, writing and publishing a book is one of the most signifi cant events in their life. You pour your heart, soul, fi nances, and time into creating something that stands for you and your business. It’s a tremendous accomplishment. Th is is why you shouldn’t stop with just writing the book.

Many authors repurpose content in their book to create a presence among their target market. Th is includes using books as a basis for blogs and podcasts. Th ey reuse content to create articles for trade publications, articles.com, or leading blogs in their industry. Some even use their books as the foundation for a web television or radio show.

To succeed in business, you need to be in front of your audience as much as possible. With an average book, an author can create as many as 2,000 blog posts, 200 articles, and the same number of podcasts. Th is is defi nitely a cost-eff ective way to create the presence you need to pull in new leads.

3. Feature Other Businesses and Infl uencers in Your Book

You may be wondering what I’m talking about just by reading this title. Why would I suggest that you feature other business owners in a book intended to promote you and your company? I do this because this is an advanced strategy, and a powerful one at that.

For one thing, your book should include references to companies and resources that are important to you. If they are helpful to you, they are likely benefi cial to your audience and they will appreciate the useful information.

However, there is also a benefi t to you. When you feature businesses in your book, your counterparts will be happy to promote your book to their e-mail lists, customer lists, or to other people they know. Th ey may want to interview you, the author, on a webinar or teleconference. Th ey might give your book to clients/customers visiting their store or offi ce. Th ey win because they gain prominence by being “featured” in your book. Plus, they can provide their audience with a new source of helpful information. You win with exposure to new prospects for your business, and you essentially allow the “featured” business to do the marketing and promotion of your book for you.

4. Give Your Book Away

Th is step also seems counterintuitive. After working so hard on your book, why would you want to give it away? But, as I mentioned in an earlier chapter, you must ask yourself these

questions: Am I writing a book to sell it in bookstores? Or am I trying to magnify my business and my income?

Another way to look at this is to determine what a customer is worth to you. Let’s say one customer results in average revenue of $1,500 per year. If the average lifetime for a customer is six years, you get about $9,000 for your business. If you gain just 10 new customers from your book, you’ll pocket an additional $90,000 over six years.

Now, consider the scenario of selling your book. With the average royalty amounting to $1.12, you need to sell 80,000 books over six years. Given that the average lifetime sales for business books is around 3,000, accomplishing this is a herculean task.

Th e lesson here is to give, give, give your book away to the people who matter in your target audience. I’m not saying that you should never sell your book, but I am telling you to use it as bait to attract top clients/customers. If these prospects should fi nd you through other marketing eff orts, give them your book to develop an understanding of who you are and the services you off er. Either way, you have a much greater opportunity to obtain a customer who will be far more valuable to your business than just selling books could ever be.

5. Let Your Personality Show

One of the most important things you can do with your book, and any marketing you do with it, is to let your personality show. Your business is about you and the unique aspects you bring to it. Even if you own a large business with dozens or hundreds of employees, your personality and values should be its foundation.

If you doubt this, think about multinational corporations such as Apple or Zappos. Both have hit incredible heights, in

large part, due to the principles of their founders. Consider Dan Kennedy. He calls himself the “professor of harsh reality.” Anyone who has read Dan’s NO B.S. Marketing letter, or heard him speak, knows that he will provide his opinion, whether you agree with it or not. Yet he has hundreds of thousands of fans who sing his praises. And I’ve already mentioned how this has created fi nancial independence for him.

When you inject your personality into your business, you stand out. It is an instant point of diff erentiation. You attract people who want to work with you because they believe in what you stand for. Will you repel some potential customers? Abso- lutely! But those you attract will be a better fi t for you and your business.

By applying these fi ve fundamental principles, you will generate both new and higher quality leads for your business. And to get you rolling, here are nine examples from real authors, just like you, who have creatively used their books to generate new leads for their businesses.