Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

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...

You can find suppliers on the internet to fit almost every need and Google is a great search resource. This will help you find a vendor who provides resources to a broad customer base. Once you find a capable vendor, you can design the product specifically for your niche base. Remember that you are creating a product to sell and not a publicity gimmick or marketing campaign. For example, I use a vendor to make magnets. Since the magnets are an industry "best practice item", I can address needs of a  built in niche market. I am not providing magnets for a campaign or featuring Red Bike Publishing’s logo for give away items or door prizes. Those ideas are expensive and are marketing efforts for those with big budgets. To find a supplier, search by key word. For example, to find someone to make magnets, I enter, “magnet, signs, two sided magnet”. After selecting search, you will find many of the available providers. Compare t...