Taming the recessionary tiger is not as difficult as you think.
Forget the old patterns of spending big bucks to buy advertising
or blast postal mailings to thousands of possible buyers. The
dollars aren't there to spend in a broken economy. Today every
penny has to count, and that happens only when you define your
market exactingly and tailor a message that is meaningful to it.
We are in a world of specialization. People in every niche seek
information both on and off line. You can be the person to whom
they turn to find that information. There is a way to brand
yourself as an expert and to make your business or professional
office the place customers or clients think of first. When
reporters need a quote or perhaps some background material for a
story they're working on, make sure they turn to you, not to one
of your competitors.
Raising Your Reputation
It is almost axiomatic that your reputation rises to new heights
when you write and publish a book. And in today's world, for the
first time it is easy, fast and inexpensive to turn your words
into print.
New printing technology has give birth to a new generation of
publishers. Publishing on Demand (POD) has swept through the
industry, churning out thousands of books and boosting the
reputations of their authors. With this process, books can be
printed in any quantity you need to use as promotional tools.
They can be rapid-reading booklets of 30 or 40 pages or they can
be full blown books of anywhere from 75 to 200 or more pages.
Journalism today has moved strongly into specialization. You can
send the book to members of the press and to broadcast
journalists who write about topics related to your product. They
may review your book or simply write a blurb about it, sending
hundreds of readers to your web site, office or store.
Once recognized as a leader in your field, you may well be asked
to speak at various functions, adding further to your reputation.
All of these possibilities are part of the program of branding
yourself...identifying yourself as an expert.
Getting Assistance
Perhaps you have a talented staff member who can write the book
with you. Or even for you. You certainly have the option of
turning to a professional writer to ghost write the book. It is
done frequently. If you don't require that degree of assistance,
contact a Book Coach to help you over the occasional bumps.
It is highly likely that your business is already represented by
a web site on the Internet. Add a page to the site about yourself
and about your book. What a wonderful opportunity to sell your
book from the site and not have to pay commissions.
You may want to piggy back on the book and write articles for
distribution throughout the Web. Hundreds of thousands of people
will see your piece and hopefully a percentage will respond. You
can distribute these articles at no cost by using online article
distributors.
Once your book has been written, you can take portions of it and
either rewrite them or run them as excerpts. In either case, your
workload is minimal because you are drawing on something you have
already written.
Writing for Trade Journals
You undoubtedly read some of the trade journals published in your
field. Editors of these publications are hungry for informative,
meaningful articles. They care far less about your writing style
or ability than they do about the content you can provide. Their
staffs can polish what you write and turn it into quality pieces,
but they must first rely on you to supply the content.
Every article you write offers a perfect opportunity to attract
business. The article itself must be informative. It can't be a
press release or a selling tool for you or your product. But at
the end, as you have seen so many times when you read, the bio
box about the author becomes a free advertisement for you.
Fill the box with information that invites your reader to visit
your web site or buy your product. Provide enough information to
allow the reader to trust you because of your credentials. Never
forget that trust is a major factor in attracting a potential and
closing a sale.
By following this approach you quickly build confidence in your
expertise and as a result in your product. Print and broadcast
journalists today search the Web for likely stories and for
experts who can be used in those stories. A few references to you
or your business in print or on the air will raise your rate of
sale to unexpected heights.
If you are running a practice or a business, you are a
knowledgeable professional or an informed businessperson. Harness
that unique background and turn it into one of the most
inexpensive, but most effective methods of branding yourself as
an expert and promoting your company as one of the leaders in its
field. It is an ideal way to offset the depression blues.
Charles Jacobs: If you need help writing your book, contact award winning author
and book coach Charles Jacobs at coaching(at)wisewriter.net for
a free consultation. His latest book, "The Writer Within You",
has been named one of the Best Books of the Year by seven
organizations. Axiom awarded it a gold medal in the business
category. It is available at all bookstores or on the Web at http://www.retireandwrite.com/.
