Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

  What I love about my specialized market is that customers are hungry for knowledge. Many seek me out because of the articles I’ve written and the local training I give. My newsletters, blogs, website, and social networking posts all point to the different methods I use for helping others understand our industry. For example, when I teach my classes at night school, I post the topic to my blog. For the sake of clarification, I will refer to online classes as information that you provide for customers to download or subscribe to. I use both methods. These are not generally live, interactive events, but just great downloadable information. Online classes can be presentations with a script read by a narrator or simply something the student will read or lead on their own. I have used website development tools to create my own classes at BennettInstitute.com.     I used my book material to develop classes and create content. I record my classes using Zoom, upload them to vide...

You know how there are so many book publishing options? I help authors publish their final manuscripts by helping them take control of their work. After writing and publishing many, many books, I have come to the conclusion that publishing and managing books on Amazon is currently the best option and for a few very good reasons: It is free to publish your books on Amazon. As a publisher, I've used many print and publishing services, and Amazon is the only one that I'm aware of that will let you upload and publish for free. You can publish an ebook, a paperback, and an audio book. Since it's free, you can update book content and covers any time. It's almost instant.. You want a new cover? Upload it Need to correct an error or update book content? Upload it All you need is an amazon account and you are capable of being a publisher. It's really all there is to it. Your publisher account is tied to your amazon account Your author page is tied to your a...

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...

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...

One of the great benefits of being a niche publisher/author is your customers' recognition of you as the subject matter expert. This leads to more book sales and teaching and speaking opportunities. This year I am teaching a security course at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and several security seminars. The following is how I planned for and got the job of teaching at university and professional organization hosted venues. This is a great way to gain instant credibility, earn an income and teach without having to worry about the administrative responsibilities. When sponsored, the space, advertising, registration, payment and graduation certificate requirements are already taken care of. You can also negotiate a good salary. I teach a 24 hour course over a few weeks and one of my books serves as the textbook. That adds up to a nice paycheck. The process is already institutionalized and all you have to do is show up; sort of. The following is the proposal method I have ...