Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

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 th...

There are already a few strikes against paying to advertise your book through an email campaign to libraries and bookstores. The first is that books are distributed through a process that self-published and print on demands are excluded from. 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. Others take advantage of your hopes and dreams by claiming to have connections and inroads with major buyers. In fact, they collect your money, add your book information to a database with several hundred others and email it to their points of contact. The points of contact may not even be a result of a personal relationship, but simply a collection of email addresses. You then are tied to the hope that somehow the recipient of t...

According to Porter's Five Forces Model, you can successfully start your writing, consulting, publishing or other niche business on the internet. You can enter your hobby, interest or business into the market place with opportunities to earn great amounts of money with little risk and cost. Porter’s Five Forces are Buyer Power, Supplier Power, Threat of Substitute Products, Threat of New Entrants and Competitive Rivalry within your industry. These are the elephants in the room. Successfully identify them and your business plan will begin to mature. Buyer power is higher when buyers have more choices. Businesses are forced to add value to their products and services to get loyalty. Many loyalty programs include excellent services that customers demand on-line. Customers want to solve their problems and many times they are more successful on-line than on-phone. Also, we see internet savvy businesses springing up offering more valuable goods and services at lower costs. Supplier powe...

"I graduated with a degree in psychology with a minor in business and now I'd like to become a consultant," our server told us. My colleagues and I had just finished a consultation helping a company protect their intellectual property. Now were unwinding in a popular Penn State establishment. "What would you like to consult?" I asked. She thought for a moment and continued with "I still need to go to grad school, then I'll have the experience I need to consult." "I see, so college is the key?" I asked. "The way I see it, sure." I continued to observer her quietly as she worked through the restaurant. I noticed that she had a certain way with her patrons and that she drew the attention of other employees. More than once someone came to ask her opinion. Though she wasn't a manager, she carried herself as an authority and seemed to really enjoy her job. She had education, looks, confidence and had a contagious personalit...

I would like add one additional important bit of information to the four steps of using keywords . These key word ideas will help you draw more traffic to your website. However, they should be used with a bit of finess with amazon.com. Of course, I am writing about "Tags". Tags are an excellent way to draw amazon.com customers to your amazon.com book pages. Where keywords that you might use with the google link, bring customers to your website and further to your amazon.com book page, Tags will help you bring your book to the eyes of those who search for books exclusively on amazon.com. I added one additional step to my Tags idea. When filling out Tags, look at your competitor's books and if it relates, add their tags to your book's tags. If you bought Get Rich in a Niche-The Insider's Guide to Publishing In Specialized Markets , you would understand where to find tags on your book page. In short, scroll down to the section that says "Tag your book"....

In niche publishing, your goal is not to become a celebrity, but an expert. Build upon the expertise by helping others, and the book sales will follow. I know this because I am possibly one of the worst face to face sales persons ever. I believe in my product, but because of conflicting life roles, I find it difficult to go through the requirements to make direct sales. I worry about seeing my bosses at conventions, seeing peers at lunches, and being ostracized for using company time to sell my product. That gives me only after work hours to sell; that’s family time. In fact, my sales techniques practically talk people out of my buying my book. Why, because I want to help people first and sell books second. This book will assist you with writing, publication, sales and marketing plan that allows you to be yourself and provide a great service. Instead, I’ll explain how to sell books within your niche based upon your reputation, expertise and ability to fill an educational void. When p...

Our newest book Become an Expert Perhaps you have observed a unique need or product that has not been provided. Maybe you notice that there is a lack of information, study programs, or guidance within a particular area. You might even have the answer inside of you that will help people get to where they need to be or reach some sort of professional or personal goal. Success depends on whether or not you meet an important step; to become recognized as an expert. Are you an expert? If so, you’ve successfully asked and answered the following questions: What is lacking in my industry? How can I help? Will others be able to understand the plan? Will others be willing to pay for this knowledge? Is there anything that I can offer for free to help build credibility and become “go to” person? What are some concrete ways that I can get my message out? We’ll show you how to create a huge presence and become the in demand expert. Teach your subject in continuing education courses Write cap...

Get Rich in a Niche Publishing Myths You have to write a book to be an expert Not true, Get Rich in a Niche shows you how to write a book while on your journey to becoming an expert. This book also shows you how to become a recognized expert in your field, all at no cost. You have to publish with a traditional publisher to be recognized as an expert Not true. If you write a good quality book that meets your customers’ needs, no one really cares if you are self-published, niche published or traditionally published. You have to buy expensive software to publish a good quality book Not true. You can publish a high quality and informative book using software that may be already uploaded on your computer. Microsoft Word or other compatible documents make great publications and this book will show you how. You have to spend a lot of money on editing services Not true. You can get good quality editing for absolutely free and the results are just as good as with expensive editing. Think ...

Vacuums Exist Perhaps you have observed a unique need or product that has not been provided as I had those few short years ago.   Maybe like me, you notice that there is a lack of information, study programs, or guidance within a particular area.   You might even have the answer inside of you that will help people get to where they need to be or reach some sort of professional or personal goal.   That all depends on whether or not you meet an important step; to become recognized as an expert so that people will come to you for that answer.   As I had discovered in my profession, there is a system in place; meet the pre-requisites, register, take and pass the certification exam. However, the void was huge in the confidence building for potential candidates and marketing to those candidates. Some professional organizations have tremendous programs to help others become certified, but this certification was new and virtually just getting off the ground.   I had fin...

So how does your independent publishing company compare with the traditional publishers or authors of traditional publishing companies? Are you one of those who compares and try to justify your niche publishing and marketing with more traditional methods? What if I told you that you might be on the wrong track? What if I told you the service you provide is needed, especially in small markets larger companies can't support. Your customers need you; they count on you. When I first started writing, I knew I had a great topic. I provide practice test questions for a small group of security professionals. The certification is available for a core group of 3,000 registered members to possibly 30,000 practicing professionals. I approached a few publishers, but they said the market was too small. It would cost too much to produce a book that they may take a loss on. They also said the book was a great idea. So, I started my own publishing company. I am not paid royalties, but the entir...

The evolution of Red Bike Publishing I felt the need to write this background information to help you better understand my motivation to teach and understand how to start a business.   If you have no idea what you want to do for a   business, my experience might help.   My background had led me to write my first security book and marketing it using the website www.ispcert.com and the publishing company Red Bike Publishing at www.redbikepublishing.com. I wanted to teach other security professionals how to study for the exam and increase their chances of passing.   One vital ingredient to this business’ success is that there are no other study guides and the certification is new. I began selling eBook version of the study guide ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manual on my website and eBay.   I started some advertisement in our professional organization’s newsletter and began to draw interest.   Sales were limited and after making ...