Become a Published Author in as Little as 60 Days

Last time, we brought you the exciting news about SkillBites’ newest service, SkillBites Express. With this new service, you can go from business owner to published author in as few as 60 days – and today we’re going to tell you how.

After you sign up, you’ll receive a questionnaire and a workbook which you will fill out to give us the details we will need to get started. Next comes a one-on-one phone conversation, during which we will flesh out the information in your questionnaire and workbook, and develop a clear image of what you want to say in your book. We’ll then provide you with a draft outline. You give us your feedback and we’ll incorporate that into a final detailed outline that you can use as a foundation upon which to build your book.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to write the book, we’ve got you covered. Our ghostwriting service can have a first draft to you in as little as four weeks (depending on the overall length of your book.) The book will be written in your “voice” and you will have the opportunity to review and modify the draft until you’re satisfied. Then we will get the book published not only on the SkillBites website, but also on Amazon as a print book and eBook.

You can get more information about the SkillBites Express Service here…and don’t forget that the exclusive discount code is still active until August 16th: use the code AugustBlog at checkout to get $100 off the outline service!

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Enhancing Your Business as a Published Author

A published book has many rewards including increased visibility and enhanced credentials; but it’s difficult to find the time to write when there’s a business to run.  For that reason, SkillBites is very excited to announce our newest service:  SkillBites Express.  With Express, SkillBites can get a book written and published in 60 days or it’s free (limitations apply).

The Express platform contains two components:  first, we will work with you to put together a detailed outline of your book, so you can write it with ease.  Second, if you don’t have the time, interest or ability to write your book, we can take all the stress away, and write the book for you, in your own words.

Imagine the advantages to your business if you had a published book:
You will immediately be positioned as an expert and thought leader in your area of expertise.
You will become a client magnet for your target market and generate more business, as more people learn of your expertise.
You’ll be able to command higher fees.
You’ll attract amazing opportunities, such as speaking engagements, media interviews and strategic alliances

As a special introductory gift, we are currently offering a $100 discount off of our outline service, exclusively to our blog readers!  Simply use the code AugustBlog at checkout.  Don’t delay – the code expires on August 16th!

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Promote Your Book

Having your name on a book is a great tool for raising your visibility to the
marketplace, but only if you get the word out about your book. There are many
ways to do this that are quick and low cost.

Before your book is even completed, you could be posting messages about its
impending release on social media sites, such as FaceBook, Twitter, Google+
and LinkedIn. Write some blog posts about topics in your book, and invite your
readers to let you know if they’d like more information on the topic, which will
provide you with some early sales. Find other blogs that your target market is
likely to read, and find out if you can submit a guest post on those blogs. And of
course, once your book is published, you should publicize that on social media
as well.

Offline publicity should not be ignored.

Contact local reporters in your area to ask if they will do a story on you and your
book Contact radio and TV shows to get interviewed. Being on the air will get you
terrific exposure.

If you have a storefront, set up a window display in your business that features
your book. This can help get people in off the streets and give you more potential
customers. You must do something with your window display that will grab
people’s attention. For example, if you run a travel agency, you can decorate
your book’s window display with a cardboard cut out of the Statue of Liberty, the
Eiffel Tower, or any other important landmark that will make your display more
noticeable.

Make sure you have a plan for capitalizing on the increased exposure. If you get
a lot of new customers, you’ll need to be able to service them properly, or that
great exposure could backfire on you.

For more tips on how to leverage your book to grow your business, be sure to
visit https://resources.skillbites.net/blog/.

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Choosing the best topic for your professional “how to” book: Part II

Part I on choosing the best topic for your book covered identifying your objective, the desired area of expertise you want to share, and identification of your customers’ challenges with respect to that area. This blog will cover keyword searches, competitive analysis and development of your unique approach to solving your customers’ problems.

Google’s keyword search tool is a terrific tool for making sure there is an audience for your proposed topic. It will show you how many people are searching for information on your topic on a monthly basis as well as how competitive the search terms are. Those terms that are highly competitive are less desirable, as there are many others using those terms, so it will be much more difficult for your book to be found. Ideally, you want a lot of people searching (over 10,000/month) and low competition for the search terms.

To do a keyword search, go to http://www.googlekeywordtool.com/, follow the steps, and type in the query box the topic you are thinking of writing about. For instance, if you are writing a book on negotiating a salary increase, type in negotiating salary. You’ll find both salary negotiating and salary negotiation. They both show low competition, but salary negotiation has more searches than salary negotiating, so you would be better off using the term salary negotiation in your book. Not only will the keyword search give you an indication of the size of the audience for your book, it will help you identify the terms people are using in their searches, which will enable you to optimize the title and description of your book so it will be found more readily when it is done.

Another step in the process of choosing the best topic involves researching what is already available about the product or service you want to write about – books, videos, training courses and the like. Check Amazon.com and do searches online. Check the library and your local bookstores. Read blog posts and email newsletters in your industry. Basically, you want to learn what are the hot topics, how others are addressing the issues you want to write about, and how well the competitors’ information products have been selling. Interestingly, if there is nothing else out there on your topic, you may have a harder time getting people to purchase your book than if there are lots of other resources; for if there are other resources, it’s a good indication that there is a lot of interest in that topic.

From your research, try to identify an angle that hasn’t been covered in the material, or a different way to present the information, or perhaps a different viewpoint. Make sure you feel knowledgeable and passionate about writing on this topic. If you aren’t, your reader will pick up on it and you won’t achieve the results you are seeking. Don’t feel you need to be the ultimate expert on the subject. If you’ve been working in the area of the subject matter for a number of years, you undoubtedly have significantly more knowledge than the audience that you are seeking to read your book.

Finally, once you have narrowed the topic to one that you want to write about, go back to your customers to get confirmation that the topic that you have identified is truly one that they have an interest in learning about. Put questions on your Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and other social media sites to obtain feedback. Determine whether you need to tweak your topic, based on the feedback, and move forward accordingly.

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Choosing the best topic for your professional “how to” book: Part I

“What should I write my book on? How do I pick a topic?” These are common questions asked by professionals writing their first book. One approach is to employ a multi-step process to help you winnow down the list of possible topics to identify the best one to achieve your objective.

The first step in this process is to identify your primary objective. For many professionals, the primary objective for their book is to use it to grow their business. What drives your prospective customers to buy from you is trust — trust that you have the right product or service they need, and trust that you can give the right expertise and support, when it comes to that product or service. Having your name on a published book enables you to build that trust. You have the opportunity to educate your target market, enhance your credibility and expand your reach through increasing your visibility. Your book also serves as a great marketing tool, to give to prospective customers as well as former and current customers.

The next step is to identify a product or service you want to sell more of, for which you have significant expertise and interest. If you have multiple products or services, think about what product or service you sell that brings you the most profit, or the most enjoyment, or will take the least amount of effort to grow, or has the largest target market and thus the greatest opportunity for growth, or the weakest competition.

When you have selected the product or service you want to write about, think about the target market for that product or service. Who is your typical customer? What are the demographics for your target audience – their income, educational level, ethnicity, age, etc.? What do they like to do in their spare time? Try to learn as much as possible about them, to really understand them. The more you know your audience, the better able you will be to emotionally connect with them and to write your book to be meaningful for them.

Then think about their particular problems and frustrations that your selected product or service can solve for them. Talk to your current and former customers; talk to lost leads on why they went somewhere else. Ask questions on social media to get people’s input. This will enable you to identify the selling proposition for your book — why people should buy it, which will give you the opportunity to shape the book around this proposition. Books that are written to solve the reader’s problems do much better than those that are principally about the author’s interests. When you are able to solve your reader’s problems, particularly in a short 20 page book, the happy reader will tell everyone about your book, promoting it for you.

Stay tuned for Part II, which will cover keyword searches, competitive analysis and development of your unique approach to solving your customers’ problems.

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