Promoting your business isn’t easy.
It’s time-consuming, costs money, and just plain stresses you out. If you get lots of new clients because of your efforts, you’re proud and feel like bouncing off the wall.
Most of the times, though, your efforts get poor results, and you’re left feeling more like banging your head against that wall.
If only you had some way to improve your marketing’s effectiveness.
If only you had some way of boosting your results so that they inspire more wall-bouncing and less wall-banging.
Well, here’s something you may not have considered …
You can add publishing an ebook to your content marketing strategy as a powerful way to attract more customers and grow your business.
How?
1. Publishing an eBook Helps Your Potential Customers Trust You
Your potential customers have a problem. You have the solution.
But how do they know you offer the help they need?
You must demonstrate that you have the knowledge, experience, skills, and resources necessary to give them the answer to their prayers … or at least the next best thing.
An e-book can help you achieve that.
By publishing an e-book, you show potential customers that you can solve their problem. Obviously, a short book can’t solve all problems, but your e-book could help them on their way or give them a general plan of action.
By publishing an e-book, you show your potential customers that you can solve their problem. Click To TweetThis shows them you understand their problem, which inspires trust that you could help them out further. They’ll look for the products or services that you can offer them.
For example, if you are a life coach, you could publish an e-book in an area of your expertise — let’s say, decluttering your office. You can then showcase your knowledge on how decluttering increases productivity, explain how your method works, and give cases of clients that have benefited from working with you.
Because most e-books are either offered for free or sold for a price between $2.99 and $9.99, they are low-risk for your potential customers. They won’t have to spend a lot of money to learn a quick solution to a specific problem and to find out if you are the right person to help them.
2. It Attracts Your Target Audience to Your Website
Getting organic traffic from search engines alone is difficult. A lot of competition already exists for the top keywords, and most established companies and blogs have secured the first pages of search results.
And then sometimes those that do find you aren’t even interested in any of your services. They just want some free information and then go on their way.
How can a smaller business bring in more targeted traffic to its website if it can’t even get the right people to find them?Click To TweetOne way is by having a presence in an online marketplace where people are actively looking to buy a solution to their problems.
Publishing an e-book on Amazon, iTunes, and other online bookstores is a great way to have your target customers find you. These are people that are already looking to spend some money on a solution to their problem, and they can find that with your book.
“Ok, but how does that get my website more traffic?” you ask.
Well, if people love your book, and it solved their problem, they’ll likely want to find out if you offer any other solutions to related problems they have.
People that have a real interest in a specific topic will continue to look for and purchase related products and services. So, if you sell products for hiking, for example, you can be sure that fans of the great outdoors are buying lots of these products on a continual basis.
A well-researched book that targets a particular subject in hiking could attract their attention and give you the opportunity to present your company and your other products and services.
That’s why you must have well-placed links throughout your book that link back to your website. (Just a few though – and be careful not to make your book seem like one long advertisement.)
People that otherwise would not have been able to find your website through a simple search engine will now flock to your business page.
3. It Helps You Build Your Tribe (And Your Mailing List)
You may have heard that carving out a tribe of loyal fans is crucial for businesses these days. And if you haven’t, you might check out Seth Godin’s TED talk on the subject.
One of the most useful ways to build your tribe is through a mailing list.
The benefit of a mailing list over social media is that you have more control over your communications with your audience, and your messages don’t get lost among a thousand other voices. It’s like having a one-on-one conversation vs. trying to raise your voice over countless others at an overcrowded market.
You can use your mailing list to build a stronger connection and loyalty by sending them:
- additional tips and advice to help them with the issue they’re interested in,
- key knowledge that helps them make smarter purchasing decisions,
- first news of an upcoming promotion for your products and services, and
- “just-for-you” special discounts or offers.
Besides the obvious benefits of being able to directly promote your products and services to a more targeted group, as well as strengthen the bond with your customers and prospective customers, your mailing list can help you in more ways than you had initially imagined.
A well-cared-for member of your mailing list will:
- share the work you do with people they know (if you’ve made a good impression),
- be the source of ideas for new products and services (if you listen carefully to what they tell you),
- provide testimonials and reviews (if they’re happy with your products or services, and you remember to ask), and
- help you understand their needs so that you stay relevant to them (if you actively reach out to them and connect)
Besides, wouldn’t you enjoy working with the kind of people who are attracted to your ideas, work ethic, and business style?
Okay, so how does an e-book help you build your e-mail list?
Well, remember those well-placed links I just mentioned in the previous point?
That’s the secret door!
One way I like to go about this is to place a link to a special offer at the beginning of the book that sends them to an optimized landing page with an opt-in box and hard-to-resist-offer. (That way, people just previewing the first pages of the book online have access to the link.)
Why would people consider giving you their email addresses?
First of all, if you have managed to gain their trust (as mentioned in the first point), and they like your style as it came through in your book, they’ll want to maintain that connection with you in case you can help them again in the future.
As long as you are providing value, your list will be a source of growth for your business for many years to come.
4. It Generates Passive Income
Let’s not overlook this: Publishing an e-book for sale can add a passive income-generating stream to your business.
Research, write, and publish. Do that once. Reap benefits again and again.
Once you’ve done the legwork and have hit the “publish” button, minimal costs are associated with each additional sale of your book.
Even if you don’t “strike it rich” directly from your book sales, they will still bring in steady monthly income without you having to incur any major additional costs.
And if you build out a book series instead of publishing just one book, each book will help sell the others, increasing their financial impact.
Most people would not object to adding such a product to their business!
5. It Opens the Door for New Opportunities to Market Yourself
Not many people can say they have published a book.
Becoming an author of a book that offers valuable information to people can help others see you as an expert in your field.Click To TweetIt confirms to others that you have something to share in your topic and that you are interested in letting lots of people know about it.
It means you are serious about your business and getting the word out.
This will attract new opportunities for you to talk about what you do and how your business can help others.
You may use it to approach popular bloggers and podcasters and ask for an opportunity to talk about your business and how it can help people.
You can also leverage your e-book to help you get featured in newspapers and trade magazines, land speaking gigs, and even land TV and radio spots.
I have one client who was invited to help design a new curriculum for a university course.
That means you can even use an e-book to help create positive changes for future generations.
Time to Publish That e-Book And Bring In Some More Business!
Hopefully, by now you can see how publishing an e-book is something that can add tremendous value to your business by giving you authority, targeted traffic, valuable leads, connections, and new sources of income and opportunities.
What’s not to love?
I know the whole thing sounds a bit daunting when you’re just starting out, though.
I’ve heard so many people (including some of my clients) fret about not being good writers, not having enough time, and not knowing what to write about or where to start; but, seriously, those obstacles are not at all difficult to overcome once you start learning a bit more about self-publishing.
You and your business deserve to have the best opportunities to shine and to do what you are meant to do. Your business can help more people if more people know about it and have a chance to learn what you’re about.
Go ahead and publish your e-book and let the world know about you.
Then smile as you watch your business grow.
Latest posts by Melissa Contreras (see all)
- 5 Ways Publishing an eBook Can Grow Your Business - November 25, 2015
Thank you for sharing five excellent points Melissa!
You have made it crystal clear, how and why, we definitely need to add,
ebook publishing, to our long term marketing plans.
And you are so right, about the many potential doors, creating an ebook
will do for us.
I’m currently in the process of finishing my latest one.Thank for sharing your
excellent ebook marketing tips!
Mark would love you to read ..Why Savvy Entrepreneurs Should Treat Their Business Like A TV Series Not The Movies!
Thanks Melissa Contreras.
You’ve covered a lot in this Precious Article about Publishing an ebook, that’s Amazing. Expecting more amazing articles from you like this one.
Simple, attractive and informative post. I am agree with the author, by publishing an e-book there are more chances to increase the traffic.
Great advice, Melissa. I especially love the suggestion of putting the link to your offer at the beginning of the book so that even previewers can access it (and join your mailing list, hopefully!).
Hey, another way is to send them to a free webinar that is to an automated or evergreen offer to take action at the end of the book. With Everwebinar by gurus Andy Jenkins and Mike Filsaime it is possible to customize each webinar so that it is interactive whilst running on autopilot meaning you dont have to be there. Check out how this works at http://www.everwebinarbonus.net
I have one question, I published an ebook and I linked it in the footer a post from my blog because it was related to the e-book. What is the best strategy? Do I send them to a landing page then the post, a landing page then a product for promotion or do I simply send them to the post. I have an email catcher that converts 20% but my landing is 60% what do you suggest?
B. Popchev would love you to read ..What is a Landing Page?
Thank you for sharing for the article post on E book benefits. E BOOK are very helpful to grow the business and attract visitors to our website.
Thank you so much for the post! I have been researching different strategies of promoting one’s writing material out into the internet world. I personally did not know anything about e-books and essentially how they worked. Your blog has helped me out immensely in terms of allowing my work to breach into the writing industry!
Jack would love you to read ..Welcome
You have no idea how much this has helped! I am in the process of writing a book and I have been struggling so much with it. This article pointed me in the direction that I have been searching for, for months. I am not even joking. Thank you so much for writing this. I now know what kind of format my book should take, who my audience is, and some possible titles. This was priceless!
Angela, I’m so happy to hear this post had such a positive effect on you! 😀
I wish you much luck with your book. Please let me know if I can help.
About the only thing that remains constant in e-book publishing is that it changes—everything from the services to marketing strategies.
thanks for your nice article
joyonto would love you to read ..Energizer 180W Cup Power Inverter
Somethings do, somethings don’t (fundamentally)…like a lot of things! 🙂
Thanks for your comment.
Hi Melissa. Thanks for such knowledge about publishing an ebook. Now it looks very easy to publish an Ebook. Every time I visit Growmap I find something new and very informative. Your article is very helpful and worth sharing. Keep posting such articles. Love to read it.
Usman Sarwer would love you to read ..Today is a long night..
Thanks for your comment Usman. I’m glad you feel the article was helpful and that it has made the task seem less daunting.
Yes, indeed, Growmap is filled with lots of useful information. Gail makes sure of that!
Thank you for these tips, you are helping us very much. Specially new comers in this field.
Jennifer would love you to read ..Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
Hi Melissa,
Solid, straight-forward advice that even an internet newbie can follow! Can’t wait to see what happens after I share it with my FB friends. I know of at least one person who will probably start writing away!
Warmly,
Quinn
Hi Quinn,
So happy to hear you found it useful and easy to follow. That’s actually exactly what I am going for!
Yes, please! Share away! 😀
Truly ebook publishing is an awesome way to drive visitors to websites and it also helps to generate leads.. thanks for sharing some awesome tips.. hope these also work for me..
Regards
John
John Crook would love you to read ..The Proxy Server is Refusing Connections: How to Set Up a Proxy Server
Thank you for the post. You have explained very well in detail about publishing e-book. Thanks for sharing. Keep posting. Now as the internet is growing faster everything is changing to make our lives easier.
Publishing an eBook allows you showcase your expertise on a particular topic and let you establish yourself a thought leader in your industry.
Yes, you got that right George!
Thanks for leaving your comment.
Melissa, great information! I’ve marked the post for future reference when I do write my first ebook
I’m glad you found it useful Ann!
That’s great that you are thinking about writing a book. Woo-hoo!
Let me know if I can help you in any way.
Hello Melissa,
Great tips.
I particularly like this one. Publishing an ebook on an online marketplace to help your target audience find you. Especially since they’re already there, with their wallet open, looking for a solution to a problem.
Thanks for the heads up.
Helen
Thanks for chiming in Helen. 🙂
That’s right! If you publish your book on the popular online retailers, like Amazon, you are targeting buyers that are eager to buy a solution for a specific problem. If you have positioned your book right and can make a compelling offer (which is what I help people to do), then you have an excellent chance of winning them over!
Thank you for sharing such a good article and keep good work on n keep sharing such great information.
Glad you enjoyed it Jay. Thanks for commenting.
I hope to share lots more!
Melissa, I think the amount of info you’ve given is fantastic! It’s really useful stuff and i especially like the many practical examples you’ve given of ‘how to’ write an e-book, as well as why. Great work, thank you!
Thanks Jenny. 🙂
I’m so happy to hear you found the article useful and easy to understand with the examples provided.
Let me know if I can help!
Publishing an Ebook really helps it gets your name outside,get some real and fast subscribers and some real extra income so it really is great.
Gautam Kumar would love you to read ..How To Root Mi 4i Easily
You got it Gautam! Sounds like you have made ebooks work for you too!
Thanks for leaving your comment.
Thanks for leaving your comment and for sharing your very positive experiences with ebook publishing.
I’m glad to hear your ebooks have helped you to get new leads and more money to take some worry off your shoulders.
Not too bad for something that isn’t too difficult to put into place! Well done. 🙂
Melissa- Thanks for a great post, especially the Seth Godin video which I had not seen (amazingly). It seems like the book and the web site should operate in a virtuous cycle. Your tribe wants more, so you give it to them, which helps you grow your tribe and your opportunity set.I hope you and Mike are right about that. My book is coming out next year!-Rob
Hi Rob, thanks for your comment.
Yes, that’s exactly right. What’s more, once your mailing list grows with people that have bought your book you can then promote your next book to them (offering those loyal readers a discount) and that will make the 2nd launch more successful (a book series is usually a good idea). They can even help you get those crucial book reviews you’ll need.
Virtuous cycle, indeed!
Much luck with your book! Let me know if I can help.
Ok my first comment was deleted after I submitted. Boo Hoo.
Let’s try this again, here’s a shorter version:
Good stuff here, Melissa. The point that most resonates for me is your last.Yes, all of your other points are on…well, point. But, the last one rings the most true for me.
Since I wrote and self published a bestselling book last year all sorts of new doors and opportunities have opened to me.
Podcast interviews, invitations to guest post, and people wanting to do joint ventures. A friend of mine even got a multiple 6-figure book deal after he self-published his own bestselling book. Cool indeed.
A mentor of mine told me this once:
“A book is like a business card on steroids.”
I couldn’t agree more! Great post!
Haha. Thanks for posting your comment again Mike!
Super glad you liked the post.
Yes, if you’ve created good content and positioned it well it can really do wonders for your platform, which in turn helps your business.
I also heard about using a book as a business card by one of the guys I learned from as well a few years ago.
It wasn’t the same sentence but definitely the same idea. It lets people know more about you and even hear your “voice”, which further helps in finding your tribe.
Congratulations on all the success you’ve had so far! Wishing you much more in 2016! We’ll keep in touch!