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Never wrong, always write

What's you inspiration? What encourages you to write? Get inspired here. Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel". Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearances" and "DoD Security Clearances and Contracts Guidebook". See Red Bike Publishing for print copies of: Army Leadership The Ranger Handbook The Army Physical Readiness Manual Drill and Ceremonies The ITAR The NISPOM

Commitment | Military Writers Society of America

Commitment | Military Writers Society of America MWSA Review I was hesitant when I picked up Commitment to read and to do this review as I usually don't care for Romances, but boy was I surprised! The author did a great job in putting adventure and a little suspense into this story. Bennett selected a fascinating setting with Indonesia and then enhanced the plot by throwing in some bush pilots that worked there with the Christian missionaries. Since I consider myself a grizzled old military vet rather than a romantic, it didn't matter to me whether John, the male lead, committed himself to Marta or to a future career with the airlines. However, once a bunch of unscrupulous miners were tossed in the mix, and Marta's life was in danger, I had to keep reading! I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good romance, to those who have an interest in the life of Christian ministries abroad, and of course to those who want to know if John chose Marta or the airlines! Revie

2 excellent and proven ways to finance your next speaking engagement

A few weeks ago, I spoke at a security conference as a subject matter expert. While there, I was able to sell books and provide advice and assistance. If you are a niche expert, chances are that’s someone will also contact you to present; especially if you have a book, blog, or other product identifying you as the go to person.  In fact, you might receive a letter with wording similar to the one that I received last April. “Dear __(fill in your name)___, we are contacting you to see if you are available to present at __(name of upcoming event)_____ conference. We thought it would be a good idea to present some information from your book _(your book title)____. Please let us know if you are available and how much you would charge as compensation…” Congratulations, you just made it to the big leagues. The two critical steps are to negotiate the payment and knock the ball out of the park with a grand slam presentation. The last sentence “please let us know…how much y

4 excellent and proven ways to build a platform and be a sought after expert

A few weeks ago, I spoke at a security conference as a subject matter expert. While there, I was able to sell books and provide advice and assistance. This article provides a way for me to share what I did at the conference and hopefully give you ideas on how to do it as well.  and how you can to. Last week a major magazine contacted me asking to provide an article for their publication. Regularly I receive emails request security advice. Why? Because I am recognized as a security expert. How? Recognition of quality preparation (for more information on the how,  view the 5 year plan to become an expert in your niche . One of the excellent benefits of self publishing is the professional credibility that you can enjoy. Whether writing fiction, reference or self help, you’ve got a message. The research you’ve conducted as you’ve developed your message makes you a subject matter expert. Perhaps you’re like me and have always desired to write articles, teach and provide

Four Excellent Ways to Write for Your Niche Audience

Writing a book isn’t easy and shouldn’t be something an author rushes through, no matter what pop publishing culture tells us. What goes on paper is a result of tireless effort. Depending on your motivation and personality, it may seem easier to put together a course or write an article or two for a newsletter, blog or other publication. Here are four proven ways to help you write and publish in a specialized market and establish yourself as a niche expert. 1.   Writing takes time Writing a book length manuscript is difficult; but we make it look easy. Despite advice given in self-publishing books, writing is a commitment. It takes time, devotion and some solitude; much of which a full time professional does not have a lot of to begin with. This endeavor is not a sprint, but an endurance race. The difficulty of formatting a book may not be as tough as setting aside time and committing to writing words on paper. As an author/publisher, you have already identified niches tha

Should Authors Use Paid Advertising or Free Internet Opportunities?

Which works better, paid advertising or free internet opportunities? I still think (and have the numbers to back it up) that informative and attractive blogs provide the best marketing for your book. After all, you are the expert on your book and who else better to talk about your book than you. I recently ran an experiment with LinkedIn and Facebook. If you’ve read Get Rich in a Niche , you might remember that I loathe advertising. Against my better judgment I reluctantly decided to once again pay to advertise my books and publishing company. Using Facebook, I created four ads; three for books and one for Red Bike Publishing. Each ad is a pay per click ad and I set my limit to $10.00 a day. I gave each ad a max of a $100 limit before pausing it. I also limited my ads’ exposure to demographics likely to buy my book. For example, for my security clearance books, I set the ads to be visible for 22-55 years old and/or small business owners and/or professionals with technical backg

2 Fantastic Ways to Make Publishing Part of Your Professional Bonafides

Can your books get you noticed at work? My boss recently called me into his office. "Shut the door," he said. "I need to have a quiet discussion." I quickly shut the door with anticipation. "Congratulations, you've been assigned the supervisor position you applied for. We boarded your resume and out of all the candidates, you were best qualified. The leadership trait you excelled in was writing communication; especially your impressive publications. Your resume and books really set you above the others." No kidding, there I was getting kudos at work for the publishing company I ran at home. Unfortunately, I hear to many comments from authors who claim not to be motivated by money or any other gain other than the pride of publishing. Personally, I find payment as a reward for good writing to be very motivating. I also find the prestige of being recognized by readers and invited to speak on niche topics rejuvenating.  Why else d

How Not to Market Your Books

One reason authors and independent or publish on demand (POD) publishers should not spend money on advertising is distribution channel limitations. Since POD and many non-traditionally published books are documented differently with the Library of Congress, they are excluded from the same channels as traditionally published books, thus creative marketing effort are necessary. Librarians and bookstores receive a book’s information from the Library of Congress and distributors. If your book is not in the CIP process as described in   Get Rich in a Niche , chances are great that it will not be picked up by librarians and traditional books stores. More distribution channel opportunities are becoming available with Lightning Source and Createspace, however, without the CIP, books may be excluded. Some predators and aggressive book marketing agencies try to persuade authors to pay for their connections and inroads with major buyers. In reality, all they do is add your book information

World Class Publishing

I love to watch the Olympics and see how Team USA performs against the rest of the world. While watching the international competition, I not only celebrate with the champions, but I tend to look at how they became successful. The simple answer is that competition is just another step in the journey. The athletes didn’t just wake up and perform spectacular feats; they incorporate winning performance into their daily rituals. They became world class athletes based on conditioning, determination and dedication spun from plans, goals and dreams. If an athlete breaks records or fails to qualify, the success or failure isn’t the onetime performance, but the milestones that led them there. They didn’t just wake up as champions, they prepared. Champions also exist in business. Again, they just don’t wake up as winners; they prepare to win. Their ideas are more contagious than others. They influence major decision makers. They set milestones that mark waypoints to success. Self p

Four Ways to Develop a Niche and Indie Publishing Project

Selfpublishing in a niche industry is a good solution. Many times the niche is just too small for traditional publishers to address. There are few barriers to entry and technology has made it very affordable. Authors can physically write a book and make it available. However, to create a good name and develop a pristine reputation takes more work. Incorporate the following steps successfully launch your self publishing or indie publishing projects. 1.  Have a message Is your message passionate; a burning message that screams, “I can help make your life easier” or “How do you live without me?” Such a message should be yours exclusively and available everywhere and trustworthy. It doesn’t have to reflect the current practices or industry standard to be accepted. In wrote my first book “ ISP Certification-The Industrial Security ProfessionalExam Manual ” after earning my certification. I developed my own study material that gave me the confidence to pass. I wrote the bo

Two Ways to Track Niche Marketing Success

Self-publishing can be very rewarding, but success can be hard to measure. In a niche industry it is important to keep expectations in perspective. There is really no need to market, advertise or brand unless you have a genuine way to discover how many people are buying your product and they are coming from. The following are two great ways to measure your marketing and sales success. 1.  www.google.com/analytics-Create or sign into your Google account. You already have one if you have Gmail or use blogger.com/blogspot.com. If at all possible, try to use the same account for Gmail, blogger, analytics, adwords and all Google applications. I did not do so and now have to log into several different accounts to get all of my data. There’s no way to change it once you do. Analytics provides great traffic data. It reports audience detail, advertising information (if you use advertising), traffic sources, what folks are viewing, how they found your sight, what keywords they searched to

How to Write Niche Company Policy

You might already know how to write policy for your company that reflect your vision or even federal or other regulations. That might very well be an easy task for you. Policies are important, but remember that  the policy itself should not be the catch all solution. Just as your awards and kudos compliment your capabilities, the policy should complement the processes and procedures you have in place. Policy tells what should happen and is in itself easier to write and have approved than the how to do it found in processes and procedures. Even if you do not know how to write policy, you may be able to download samples from the internet or borrow those shared by fellow professional organization contacts. What won’t be so easy to find is policy tailored to your specific needs and how to incorporate them into company business. That will require teamwork with other business unit managers or business partners. Some of the reading audience might understand better than others that m

World Class Marketing Installation 1-Bone Fides

World class marketing can be easily executed by self publishers and authors. It is one thing to be good at writing, know the self publishing industry and capable of getting books to market. It’s quite another to become recognized as a leader in your niche industry, recruit assistance within industry and become recognized for the good work. In the second example, your efforts perpetuate themselves as you earn trust; others become force multipliers and quickly engage and support your vision. One way to ensure such success is to cross product market. One way to do that is through professional branding. Of itself branding is not the answer to instant success, but does complete the picture. For example, there are many authors who are very influential and well respected; their work stands alone. Cross product marketing for them would continue to demonstrate their dedication to their industry, technical competence and leadership. When you achieve a recognizable brand, such that your

LCCN, PCN or CIP? How to Catalog Your Self-Published book

Catalog options mentioned here are available only to United States  (US) publishers with offices and staff in the US who are available to answer  bibliographic questions about their books. The Library of Congress  Control Number (LCCN) Catalog in Publication (CIP) are two  well known catalog systems. The CIP provides free distribution of prepublished and further distribution of completely published books to libraries  and book vendors world-wide. The PCN provides an abbreviated  record but is not further disseminated to libraries on the same scale  as the CIP. Here is a secret. This book is primarily written for nonfiction authors  who want to self-publish a professional book available to specialized  organizations or professionals. It will most likely be available through  Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores and distributors. This is  the widest distribution effort and your best marketing source. You will  most likely use print on demand and rely on word of mouth, social ne

How to Keep Company Secrets | Inc.com

Another business saving advice includes identifying and marking intellectual property or proprietary information. Many organizations just neglect to document. Ask the hard questions about what makes your product so special. That's what you want to protect. Identify what's special, document those findings and create steps to limit exposure. Consider Kentucky Fried Chicken. They are able to sell their product, but very few actually know the secret blend of herbs and spices. How to Keep Company Secrets | Inc.com Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel".Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearance

Help, My Website Has Been Hacked

For those of you who may have noticed, my website has been hacked, pranked or whatever. I don't know what the intent was or why someone would target a small niche company? What's the ROI or bang for the buck? Not sure, nor am I sure anyone will notice. So, just to be sure they get the full exposure, and since I don't know how to remove it, I'll embrace it. Thanks random hacker.... You can see it for yourself at www.redbikepublishing.com/about Crazy, I know.... Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel". Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearances" and "DoD Security Clearances and

Marketing With Facebook Pages

Marketing With Facebook Pages Though I don't make a lot of niche security book sales with Facebook, other have created rave opportunities. Most of my marketing is for niche customers. Really not many of my friends or family are appropriate customers for my niche books. However, I've made most of my novel sales using face book pages. Here's how I did it. Businesses don’t have the same accounts that people do. However, they do have pages. Business pages provide another free opportunity to get your book information out to more people. Consider whether or not you want pages for each individual book or spinoff product or for your company. You have the option to do one or all. I have a page for books and one for Red Bike Publishing. Personal Facebook accounts can reflect any information added to business pages. Additionally, business pages can be fed by information posted on blogs. You can also look for other business pages that reflect your niche. Become fans of other pa