Introduction
First off I must say this – this is
not a book on how to write and create eBooks (even though it sure
seems like it).
This is a book on how to promote and grow your business – whether
you are a small, one-person show or a corporate giant, because both
of them have the same issues to face in this expanding market pie
where individual market shares keep shrinking and shrinking and
shrinking…
There could be a number of reasons
for writing a book like this, but there is one very good reason why
reading it is an absolute must for anyone trying to grow their
business.
Lets look at the facts in an orderly
sequence. Just follow my line of thinking for a while here…
Fact:
Technology has equipped anyone and everyone to produce the same
kinds of sophisticated services, marketing tools and means of
distribution – however small the company and however limited their
means.
Fact:
Again because of the ready availability of technology, little guys
can now look like the big boys (you can’t tell them apart unless you
visit their office!) and the sham can look like experts.
Fact:
The world of business is increasingly competitive, with too many
people trying to sell exactly the same things – be they products or
services.
Fact:
There is a bewildering number of products and services, claiming to
produce the same result, flooding the marketplace.
Fact:
The marketplace is saturated with an embarrassment of choices – and
consumer is king!
Moving on now…
Fact:
The winner in this market race is the business which can
differentiate itself in a positive light from the rest of the
barbarian horde.
Fact:
People have become increasingly desensitized to “advertising hype”
and have learned to take advertising claims with more than a grain
of salt.
Fact:
However, people still tend to believe what they read if they
perceive it to be coming from an ‘expert’ and if it can present good
value.
Fact:
Even in this age of information overload, the world still craves
‘good’ and reliable information.
Fact:
Most individuals need to supplement their income and even though
this seems paradoxical, most businesses need to find new ways to
beef up shrinking revenues in an ever expanding market.
Fact:
Everyone appreciates a helping hand and tends to look kindly upon
anyone who proffers one.
Fact:
People LOVE getting free stuff… Businesses like it even MORE!
Fact:
People like helping other people – makes them feel good all over.
These are the
Facts – question is, what can we do with them?
This is how it works: To keep things
short and sweet, here’s a laundry list of the sequence of events as
I see them unfold…
-
Everyone knows something about
something. Everyone has a special interest to which they’ve
devoted some part of their life and times. This is especially
true if you are in any particular business – after all, you
better know ‘something’ valuable about the business you’re in!
-
Write a book! It doesn’t need to
be a 1000 page masterpiece – not even 100 pages. It could be a
30 page book or even a 5 page ‘special report’.
-
Make sure you put in solid and
valuable information – value, value, value! You can source a lot
of this information from all over the web, include your own
knowledge and insights and put it into your own words).
-
Create an eBook using any number
of inexpensive programs available (or get someone to do it for
you), making sure it is attractively presented and easy to read
and absorb. Keep it simple for a lay audience or make it complex
for a technophile – know what your audience expects and give it
to them.
-
Present information the reader
can use to their direct advantage – e.g. If you’re a carpenter,
the book could be on plans for a do-it-yourself project with say
valuable tips and hints on using a table-saw – but no mention of
your skills and exploits. If you’re the managing director of a
biotechnology company, the book could be a scientific paper on
the results of a recent study on say antibiotic resistance or
stem-cell technologies, and sent off to everyone in the health
field.
-
Make sure the content of the
book contains NO marketing hype and does NOT talk endlessly
about your company, but just presents solid information on your
subject .
-
However, equally ensure that the
name of your company (or yourself) is visible as the author of
this tome and that your contact information is easily accessible
at the back. Since this is digital material, it is easy and
highly advantageous to include a ‘hot’ hyperlink to your website
and your email address.
-
Now give your book away - For
Free!
-
Reader is intrigued by the
attractive eBook (ever notice how you’ve always dumped paper
reports into the trash without a second thought to their value?)
-
Reader reads the book
-
Reader loves the fact that
they’re getting all this good information (for free too!)
-
Reader appreciates the
noticeable lack of ad hype.
-
Reader sees you as the go-to guy
– the ‘expert’
-
Reader sees you as the ‘nice
guy’ – the one who was thoughtful enough to try and help others.
-
Reader remembers you when its
time to make a buying choice.
-
Reader becomes customer! Or
maybe not(?)
-
But Reader does pass it on to
friends and associates – just to be able to help. After all
Reader has nothing to gain by doing so and Associates know that.
-
Friends pass it onwards and so
on and on and on…
-
Pretty soon just about everyone
in the business has one - at least that’s what we hope! But
what the hey! It didn’t cost much to begin with anyway!
-
Now everyone knows about you and
what you do and about how wonderful you are –the best kind of
promotion that is – Free!
So what do I hope to get out of
giving this book away for free? Well, I’m not telling! Maybe
its to show I’m good at what I do – or maybe I’m just a nice guy who
likes to help others…
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