Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

Does your specialized market have written guidance or requirements such as state or federal regulations, policy or procedures or any other publication of rules? If so, you might be onto something. So, you've got backing at a certain level requiring an action by your audience. You can piggy back on these necessities to bring a compelling need for your market to "act now". 1. Research the most significant points of the regulations, policies or procedures. Write them in bullet form so you can easily put them to use. Don't try word for word, most regulatory language is just too lengthy to work with. You just want to skeleton to build your body around. For example, a regulation states that sensitive government information is to be stored in an approved save (this is a paraphrase). 2.Search for implied opportunities. Regulations spell out requirements, but there are also some soft guidance or other opportunities as well. In my experience, people seem to work under best ...

If you have published your first book, you now have the experience to publish more. If new books are within the same genre or specialized area; great for you. That just means that your first customers just might be repeat customers. If you can come up with additional books or products relative to the needs of your current audience, then you may have guaranteed future success. Additionally, customers who come to know your business through current marketing efforts will hopefully buy all of your book and product selections. Here are a few ideas for adding books to your publishing library: 1.  Try turning you print book into an eBook as a spin off product or vice-versa. For example, I began selling my ISP Certification-The Industrial Security Professional Exam Manual as an eBook. Since the certification exam offers an online testing option, I planned on customers buying the book and practicing taking the test online. I created the book us...

This is where it gets dicey. I am recommending just the opposite of what all the online marketing gurus are suggesting, but please read completely before you make a decision about your next marketing move. Don't Pay for Expensive Social Networking Ads While popular brands and products can earn money through such advertising campaigns, small niches may not. That's the idea of social networking; a niche marketer should be able to make sales without spending money. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google and others offer services to help you get to the top of the search engine results. Many advertise with Google using Adwords or Pay Per Click. When customers use a keyword search, your website is featured prominently in the search engine results. Additionally, some create an advertisement that displays in the search engine’s results margins. When potential customers click on either the advertisement or the search engine result, the advertiser pays the agreed u...

Effective book marketing involves becoming a rock star in your specialized industry. You may have found your place in a specialized niche. Though the general population may not know you, you should be well known within a specialized industry. The funny thing is the fame could be possible from all the free campaigns you should be involved in and never paying for advertising. Personally, while niche publishing, I’ve seen no results from some of the wasted funds committed to advertising and marketing meant for wide customer bases more traditional products. When is such traditional advertising effective? When there is an appeal to a massive audience. Those in this position can spend millions of dollars for premium advertising space knowing that their product will sell and they will recuperate the expenses. For example, everyone in the civilized world wears clothing, lives in some sort of dwelling, enjoys some form of entertainment and expects a certain quality of life. Watch TV, listen ...

Residence classes This is a real opportunity to build credentials and create a real academic presence. Traditional education opportunities are solid and recognized ways to get your message out. Teaching provides a return on investment but takes hard work and persistence to get started. Also there are two different avenues. You can host these classes yourself, or you can get them sponsored. Host the Residence Class Yourself Just like self publishing you can control the product. You have the freedom to create and do not need to seek approval from anyone to get started. You choose to set up the class time, the material, the advertising, and everything else you need to start a successful course. It also means that you have to bring in the resources yourself. For a residence class, you will need a classroom or similar environment, curriculum, projector, screen, training aids, certificates and supplies. There is a terrific possib...

Book sales happen when the book is a good product, you have a sound strategy, a detailed plan and a point of sale. You may even have developed successful spin-off products. So what else can you do to capitalize on this momentum? Why not another book and more spin off products? The opportunities for success may continue to manifest and you may find yourself ready to quit your day job. Some remarkable experiences may come up that provide new ideas for you to grow as a professional and offer additional messages to your customers and potential new customers. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to maintain newly created momentum from your writing and marketing? 1. Remain open to new ideas, but stay focused on reality. Several people have contacted me about other great opportunities. One offered a great salary to join his organization part time. I was flattered, but it required travel and would take me away from what I love doing. 2. Keep focused on your core competencies, abilities and go...

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 orga...

     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...

Experience, commitment and practice are the best qualities to prepare the professional for the necessity of good old fashion networking. Networking is especially necessary in industries like publishing where customers, colleagues and co-workers value trust and quality. A career in writing and publishing and challenging enough, especially in a specialized area or niche. The work is important, and readers count on the niche publisher to provide needed books and training. The publishing and writing professional requires a high degree of interaction as paths cross in collaboration or through online sales. Online sales require time to develop trusting working relationships and getting to know important connections in a timely manner is important. So, how do we accelerate this networking curve? 1. Foster relationships online and in social networks. Get to know customers, fellow publishers and business unit managers related to your expertise. Develop trusting relationships that allo...

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 stumbled across a great way to communicate with my audience; humor. Laughter makes us feel good and what a better way to teach than inject some opportunities to giggle, laugh or get crazy. There are a few ways to market other than just writing. I've been populating my blogs with video, cartoons and mock advise columns. Take a look at these two blog posts for an example of videos you can shoot. http://www.redbikepublishing.blogspot.com/ if you scroll down, you will see a video called, Don't Be This Consultant. I filmed it to publicize  Get Rich in a Niche . The next video is called Zombie vs Ranger . I put this video together to sell the Ranger Handbook . I filmed both videos myself using my Droid II Verizon Motorola phone. I also created a comic for my security niche. It speaks to some of the frustrations a security manager might experience. It helps create a bond between me and the customer. This bond could lead to more trust. Next is an advise column (hopefully ...

I just read one of my business reports and am finally coming to the realization that Red Bike Publishing is more than just a vehicle to provide my security books. Red Bike Publishing began as a means of providing books to my small niche customers . I began writing books for an audience that was just too small for traditional publishers to engage with.  Their business model could not allow them to print such a small amount of books; it would cost too much. I began writing and publishing my books with great success. Along the way, I found many spin-off opportunities to include publishing other's books. Now it looks like event though I've written and published five of my own titles (using almost 20 ISBNs for differing formats), I've also successfully published six other titles. Three of those titles have contributed to tremendous sales. To date Red Bike Publishing is proud to have provided over 600 books to our customers in calendar year 2011. Guess what, none of our books...

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 ...