Skip to main content

Don't Forget To Ask- 5 Ways to Draw Attention to an Sell More Books

Perhaps like me, you've published many, many articles, creating awareness of your books and products. You've dedicated time in establishing yourself as an expert and creating an environment mutual trust with your potential customers. However, there is also another piece of publishing; the sales.

Maybe your Facebook pages, newsletters,Twitter and LinkedIn accounts testify of all you are and have to offer. All posts are driven by articles relevant to the industries you write for. If so, then you are doing the right things. However, the part lacking is the call to action. You could haev all points of sale on each website, blog and newsletter page. A point of sale is often a benign or passive picture, event or notification of a product. A call to action creates a decision on the part of the reader.

Here are 3 recently used ways to increase awareness of books and products.

1.  Send free copies of books in support of related professional organizations. For example, Red Bike Publishing sends at least seven titles to seperate conventions and seminars. These result in significant sales spikes. In addition to passive sales opportunities, be sure to ask for recognition as a sponsor in publications, websites and programs.

2. Sponser a seminar. I send free copies every year to the Annual Advanced ITAR Compliance Conference. As a result, I get access for interviews, articles, recognition on mailers, websites, programs, displays of my books and much more. This also results in sales of the ITAR.

3. Write articles for other newsletters and blogs. I've been invited on several blogs to write article on my niche expertise. These include clearancejobs.com and AskTop.net. These are national level  opportunities that sometimes pay per contribution, but always pay in exposure.

Here are 2 ways to use calls to action to increase your sales. See if you can notice the difference between "point of sale" and "call to action".

1.  Use your mailing list. I use icontact.com for my newsletters and to capture mailing addresses. This allows me to program messages and other corresponsendence. I primarily use this service to send out weekly newsletters. However, I just started sending out information and purchase links for each of my books. This  reinforces the advertisements I use in my newsletter, but focuses efforts on helping the reader to make a decision of whether or not to buy.

2.  Call local stores to carry your books. My largest efforts are with online bookstores. However, some of my books have appeal to independent book store visitors. I've began calling to ask them to carry my books. So far, I am drumming up interest and creating a call to action in new areas.

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  and The NISPOM

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Great Reason to Self-Publish Two

Market Your Way-More and more publishing companies rely on the author to market books. Just look at the latest book covers and see which is larger the author's name or the book title? It's the author who sells books. As a niche professional, you have a built in market and your efforts can easily reach them. You know what works, so go to it. Many people are put off by marketing as I was when I first began. When a niche author serving in an industry with peer-customers, the last thing you want to do is bombard them with sales. Your role is the be the expert and provide answers. Cold calling is also not necessarily the answer in niche marketing. If you've developed a blog, newsletter or social media following, then you have your customer database. Your marketing efforts flow as you provide advice and answers to those following your posts, comments and articles. Many authors teach, speak, volunteer or are otherwise active in their professions. It's hard to remain o...

Why authors might choose to work with a publisher instead of publishing themselves

  Why you might prefer to publish with another company instead of do it yourself. There are a lot of blog, newsletter, training and podcast information telling the good news about current publishing opportunities. Most tout the benefits of putting your own book on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It is a great resource, but contrary to the popular discussion, it’s not the only option. It seems most information coming out seems to publisher shame anyone who does not “do it yourself”. It’s as if the expectation is to self publish and anyone who does not, is a publishing pariah. There are so many published articles describing benefits to putting your own content out though KDP, heck, even I do it. Most build entire businesses around the KDP instruction or consulting opportunities.   However, I’m more concerned with the author who just wants to write and publish their books without the hassle of the publishing business. The author who wants an outlet to make their book ava...

There, In The Jungle...an excerpt from Commitment-A Novel

     The sun painted streaks of pale blue and yellow through the morning sky. Birds were awake, singing to anyone appreciative enough to listen. The moon was full and bright as it still sat high in the western sky.      John listened intently. He was used to the sounds of the jungle, something he would actually miss. Gone were the distractions of machines. However, he prayed that they would soon be getting back to the plane that would take them back to their world–civilization.      Suddenly he was aware of something new–silence. The singing had abruptly stopped, but why? Birds go silent as a survival instinct, he thought. He listened more intently, as the ground would be soft, muffling any footsteps.      There! In the brush – a slight movement. He focused his eyes to one side of the dark, heavily vegetated area hoping to catch something in his peripherals. Behind about fifty yards, vines and branches moved...