Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

Get great writing swag at http://www.cafepress.com/redbikepublishing A familiar saying, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” describes that a need comes before a product. Someone recognized the lack of a product and without successfully finding satisfaction, they met the need with their own invention. Many become wealthy and famous providing what they themselves found the world to lack.  In my case, it was the help I provided other professionals with practice tests and boosting their confidence to take a security certification. Before I took my certification exam, I looked around for leadership. There was none and I found it was up to me to study for and pass the examination. So, I began to develop my own study program.  The ideas I developed were not conventional in the specialized security market. However, I had learned from college, previous military and life experience, how to set goals and establish a way to reach those goals. With a lack of publication, I wen...

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 mu...

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...