Category: Infoproduct

 
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A world of presentations without PowerPoint

Most of the presentations made nowadays are made with the help of PowerPoint. There are also class teachers and lecturers who use PowerPoint to make the teaching and learning process more interesting. However, it is the professional who makes presentations without the use of PowerPoint, while following some of their age-old beliefs for presentations.

Presentations without PowerPoint prove to be quite boring. This is because the presentation will be monotonous, with no music background or visual aids to help in the presentation. PowerPoint presentations usually provide a change for the audience in the presentation, and also give the crowd some visual explanations to the points that are being told in the presentation. So without PowerPoint in the presentation, it is very important that the presenter use some creativity in the presentation. This is because it is only this creativity that will keep the audience interested and motivated in the presentation!

The most important thing that has to be remembered to give a successful presentation without PowerPoint is to exactly know what you are talking about. If you are well versed with the matter you intend to present, you can very well present it without the help of PowerPoint. However, make sure to make your presentation only after learning about the temperament and nature of your audience. Remember that it is of no use talking to the audience as a group of employees. Instead, make it a point to tailor your presentation to meet the intellectual of the audience you are facing.

When beginning the presentation, you have to present it while keeping the end of the presentation in mind. You have to know what the purpose of your presentation is, as without PowerPoint you might lose the interest of the audience! Make sure you see, hear and feel what exactly it is that you want people to respond to in whatever it is that you say. Make a strong start to your presentation. Without PowerPoint, it is very much important that the first words and your appearance set the right tone for the audience to listen to you throughout the presentation. One of the best ways of making a connection with the audience without the help of PowerPoint is to tell a story, or an anecdote that has universal appeal.

One of the main things that has to be done when giving a presentation is to practice on the speech as much as possible. This is the only way of looking polished while speaking. It is indeed a false notion that using PowerPoint slides in a presentation will make a person a dynamic speaker. The process of becoming a dynamic speaker lies in the hand of the speaker. Only practice can make one a successful speaker, and this is one skill that cannot be delegated to anyone else. One of the best techniques to implement for practice is called bits. Here one practices a short piece of material over and over again till perfect. It is not that you practice it for word for word, one just has to talk one’s way through the presentation! In this way, one can easily continue a presentation, even if there is a distraction while onstage.

If PowerPoint is not used in a presentation, it is important that props be used instead. This is because a prop is basically worth a thousand words. With props, people tend to anchor thoughts in their minds to these props. It is no difference if the prop is large, small, funny or serious, as long as it relates to the point that you are trying to make and that the audience sees it! Another way of making sure that the audience loves you despite the fact that you don’t use PowerPoint in your presentation is to bring solutions to the problems they have. With your research of the audience, you would already have an idea to what their problems are; it is only up to you to bring new ideas to them to try.

Remember that when you are not using PowerPoint, you are the visual aid of the presentation. People will then gain more interest in whatever it is that you say, instead of visuals or fancy slides or overheads. So basically, without PowerPoint, it is important that the speaker be more self-confident and well versed in his speech. Without this, it may be quite impossible to imagine giving a presentation without PowerPoint!

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Originally posted 2018-06-03 09:32:00.

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9 Tips for Handling Public Speaking Questions

Do you know how to handle questions from an audience? This article provides nine simple steps that make you look professional, in control and in a manner that reflects on your message.

How you handle questions from an audience can often be the deciding factor as to how your presentation is received. If you’re pitching for business, then it’s absolutely vital to handle questions well.

1. Be prepared for questions – When you write your presentation, think about what you’re likely to be asked and what your answer is going to be. Maybe you won’t want to answer a particular question there and then, so think about what you’ll say to satisfy the questioner.

2. Make it clear at the start – You may decide to take questions as you go or at the end of your presentation. Whatever you decide, make it clear at the start and don’t change your mind. I would suggest questions at the end in a short presentation; if you take questions as you go, then your timing will get knocked out. And always remember, an audience won’t forgive you for taking half an hour when you were only scheduled to speak for fifteen minutes.

3. Never finish with questions – Far better to ask for questions five or ten minutes before the end, deal with the questions and then summarise for a strong finish. Too many presentations finish on questions and the whole thing goes a bit flat – particularly if you don’t get any.

4. Listen – When asked a question, listen and look like your listening. It may be something you’ve heard a million times before. Treat the questioner with respect and don’t trivialise their point.

5. Thank the questioner – It’s only polite, it shows respect and it gives you a bit more time to consider your answer.

6. Repeat the essence of the question – Some people may not have heard the question so your answer may not make any sense to them. It can also be irritating for them not to hear the question. Again, it gives you more time to think of the answer and it makes you look so clever and in control.

7. Answer to everyone – Don’t fall into the trap of only answering the questioner. If they happen to be near the front then you could end up having a conversation with them and exclude everyone else.

8. Keep it simple – Many speakers, when it comes to questions, have become more relaxed and the fact that someone is interested enough to ask them a question, leads them to go on too long with the answer – DON’T.

9. Don’t bluff or bluster – If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so and find out. Suggest to the questioner that you’ll ‘phone them or come and see them with the answer. It can even be a good way to make further contact after the presentation.

As we all know, it’s possible that you may not be asked any questions and you then have that awkward silence. People may be thinking about what you’ve just said and may need more time to ask. They may also be a bit shy and may take a few minutes to speak out. Why not have a question of your own prepared and say something like. “You may be asking yourself………?” If you still fail to get any questions then go straight into your summary and closing statement.

Handling a question and answer session well, demonstrates your professionalism and reflects on your message.

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Originally posted 2018-06-03 07:46:00.

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Information at What Price? Exploring fee-based e-content

In pursuit of a paid model for content, many businesses offer newsletters for a fee or ebooks. These models offer pros and cons. Some organizations send out two newsletters: fee and free. The free version has the basic, watered-down contents found in the fee version to entice readers into wanting more and paying for it. But is it worth the time and energy to do this?

Ebooks are also a way for businesses to make money. But do they sell when it’s been proven that people prefer reading printed copy to electronic text? Read on to hear from several experts in the field about what people are willing to pay for and whether or not offering fee-based content is right for your organization.

<strong>Too much information!</strong>

Considering there are so many free newsletters and information out there, why should readers shell out the dough for these premium newsletters? Reading online is harder on the eyes because of the light emitted from the monitor. People overcome this by printing out the newsletter.

I can’t hazard a guess on how many free newsletters are out there. So why would a person pay for a fee-based newsletter? Jenna Glatzer, editor-in-chief of AbsoluteWrite.com, says, “You have to offer something different and better than what the free newsletters are doing. Personally, I wouldn’t pay for newsletters that are just for entertainment, but I do have paid subscriptions to a handful of newsletters that are specific to my line of work and appropriate for my level (not beginner). A paid newsletter that has all the same sorts of free-reprint articles that all the other sites have won’t work. You must find a corner of the market that no one has claimed yet and be the most reliable source of information on it.”

Joan Stewart, publisher of The Publicity Hound, started her subscription newsletter seven years ago, long before there was as much information on the Internet as there is today. She says, “Content must be king. If you can supply good content that can’t be found elsewhere, and it’s well-written and easy to read, and leads readers in other directions where they can find even more info than they could possibly need, you will keep your customers happy.

“If I had it to do over again, I would have never started my subscription newsletter. It started as an 8-page print newsletter, but the postage and printing costs were killing me,” she says. “About two years ago, I reverted from a print newsletter to a PDF document. It’s in the same format, but it’s now emailed to customers. My free ezine, The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week, is still far more profitable, several hundredfold, than the subscription newsletter.”

<strong>Charging for ebooks</strong>

Considering there are no printing and paper costs to the publisher for ebooks, how can they charge as much as they do for them? Higher prices equal higher perceived value. However, I’ve seen many ebooks cost more than a paperback, and the content isn’t always better quality than print. Yet, they sell.

What justifies the higher cost of ebooks when there are no printing costs involved with them? Christopher Knight, publisher of Ezine-Tips, says, “What justifies the higher cost of ebooks when there are no printing costs involved with them? Christopher Knight, publisher of Ezine-Tips, says, ‘That would be a fallacy in perception logic because the printing cost is not relevant to the market perception of a paperback versus an ebook. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that some people even value an ebook as higher value than a paperback because they can take their data with them on a personal notebook computer, whereas it’s hard to travel with a pile of paperback books.'”

Glatzer points out that whether a piece is written in print or ebook format, it is the same amount of work for the writer. “Of course, ebooks have a smaller market, so the problem is that if the ebook is priced very low, it won’t be worth it for the writer to spend the time writing and promoting the book.”

If it is worth it, however, ebooks provide many benefits to those who download them: The readers aren’t taxed, don’t incur shipping costs and don’t need gas money to go to the bookstore. As soon as people buy your ebook, they instantly download it and have it in their “e-hands.”

Stewart says, “The biggest justification is that the information is immediate. If a customer wants information NOW, they can get it NOW, and they’re often willing to pay the hefty price. My ebook, How to Be a Kick-Butt Publicity Hound, sells for $97. The most I could expect to get for the same book in hardcover is about $25. Another justification for the higher priced ebooks is that live links in the ebooks take visitors directly to Web sites with related content.”

<strong>E-format versus print format</strong>

Research on ebooks indicates people still prefer paper over ebooks. What’s the point of pursuing ebooks and fee-based newsletters? Glatzer shares her experience.

“I’ve written two ebooks and 14 print books, so that shows you where my bread and butter comes from. However, I had my newsletter first. It was thriving, yet I had nothing to sell my readers. I was barely breaking even with advertising costs and often paying hosting fees out of pocket. I’d received so many letters from readers asking for advice about how to do what I had done — make a living writing for magazines — and finally decided to write a book about it. I knew I had a built-in audience among my subscribers. The ebook sold well, but my goal was to take it to print. When a publisher made an offer on it, I took it out of circulation as an e-book and expanded it for the print publisher. That became Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, and the print book has far outsold the ebook.

“The second was a niche book for greeting card writers and artists. It contained market info for just that field, so it was such a specialized book that I didn’t go after conventional publishers for it. Plus, the time factor was crucial: contact info changes so often that I wanted to get the book out ASAP, and I wanted to be able to update it when needed. I briefly had it out as a print-on-demand book, but I took it off the market as soon as it became dated and just continued selling it as an ebook.

“Since then, I’ve stuck to conventional publishing and just a few giveaway ebooks for publicity. But I think the market for ebooks is decent if you have a specialized topic and a built-in audience.”

Based on Glatzer’s experience, when you have a free newsletter, you already have an audience … unless you try to sell a book on home makeovers to your audience that subscribes to your pets newsletter!

<strong>Timely matters</strong>

Ebooks have an advantage over print in that their content is up-to-date and piping hot. If something changes, it’s quick and easy to modify the ebook and put the new version up for sale. The publishing process for printed books can be a lengthy one.

Time can impact content depending on the topic. Some industries such as sports and history have experienced little or no change in over a decade, while others like technology are moving at megahertz speed.

By the time an author of a book related to software writes it, and the publisher prints it, a new version of the software is available, rendering the brand-new book outdated. However, many users don’t upgrade every version, as this stings the cash flow. Often, tips and steps given in books covering earlier versions of software are applicable to the newer version.

Knight suggests selling in both formats (print and ebook); that way all your bases are covered and you reach more channels for the same product.

<strong>eContent = lower quality?</strong>

M.J. Rose, Wired columnist and author of both print and electronic books, has commented that people thought she wasn’t a real author when she published her ebook. For some, ebooks are “bottom-feeders” in the world of publishing. They see such content as lower quality and without prestige.

I have a folder of all the books I’ve collected through reviewer duties and as free downloads. I haven’t read 10 percent of them. However, it could be a different story when you pay for an ebook. Knowing that you bought the book might force you to read it. But then again, I have shelves of printed books that I have yet to read.

Why would I want to buy ebooks and let them rot on my hard drive where I naturally save them after downloading them? Same reason for printed books? I don’t think so, because you can see and touch them. It’s easier to scan printed pages than to scroll electronic books.

<strong>Fee-based newsletters</strong>

Most of the fee-based newsletters I’ve seen have a free newsletter distributed by the same people. Organizations use the free newsletter to entice readers into subscribing to the fee-based newsletter. Like Glatzer says, you’re establishing credibility with your audience through the free newsletter, and when they see another offering from you, they might jump at it. Glatzer publishes Absolute Write, free Absolute Markets and Absolute Markets Premium Edition newsletters. Free Absolute Markets comes out every other week and the premium edition comes out in between those issues.

Glatzer explains the difference between the free and premium editions. The free markets contains a small sampling, about 10 markets covering mainly magazine-related work plus contest listings or an article in alternating issues. The premium edition has many jobs and lists markets for various types of writing including international markets. It also includes interviews with magazine editors and an in-depth look at a high profile magazine on a monthly basis. She also lists calls for writers from editors who know her and those calls won’t be found anywhere else online.

Glatzer decided to offer the fee-based newsletter because there wasn’t anything like the Absolute Markets Premium Edition with its 50 pages of markets. She believed that a $15 fee for a yearly subscription more than pays itself if writers land one assignment from the newsletter’s resources. Furthermore, it saves the writers’ time spent searching for job listings. In determining what to charge, Glatzer and her colleagues researched what publishers charged for similar newsletters in other fields such as casting calls for actors.

In determining how much to charge for her fee-based newsletter, Stewart asked herself, “How much would I be willing to pay?” The Publicity Hound, her eight-paged, bi-monthly, fee-based subscription newsletter costs $9 per issue or $49.95 for a one-year subscription (six issues) and has more single-copy buyers than subscribers.

<strong>Selling ebooks and fee-based newsletters</strong>

If you decide to sell ebooks and newsletters for a fee, Glatzer recommends getting lots of reviews and interviews for ebooks. For newsletters, she says, “I think you need to establish credibility by offering free samples first. Make it easy for people to subscribe by offering multiple payment options.”

Joan Stewart promotes articles in the fee-based newsletter in almost every issue of the free ezine. She also uses auto responder messages for people who buy single copies. About a week after the purchase, they receive a message thanking them for their order and asking if they would like to subscribe. Stewart shares her list of what works and what doesn’t work when selling ebooks and fee-based newsletters:

<b>What works:</b>
<ul>
<li>The product must be content-rich.</li>
<li>It must include lots of links to other resources.</li>
<li>Even if it includes hotlinks to other products, it must cover topics that readers would be interested in.</li>
<li>The product must be top-quality, which means free of typos, and it must be easy to read. (16-point type for ebooks.) </li>
</ul>

<b>What doesn’t work</b>:
<ul>
<li> Information that’s outdated. Special reports and ebooks must be updated at least once a year. I have a special report called “Fly High with Publicity in In-flight Magazines.” It includes contact info for 30 in-flight magazines. It’s a real pain to update this annually, but readers will jump down my throat if I don’t.</li>
<li> Products that are little more than sales pitches for other things the author sells (consulting services, etc.).</li>
<li>Products that don’t promise what they deliver.</li>
<li>Lousy customer service. Buyers expect a human being to reply to their email messages or answer the phone if they have problems downloading the product, or other concerns. I have bought ebooks from some well-known Internet marketers who refuse to return my phone calls when I call them for help. I no longer buy from those people. </li>
</ul>

Steer clear of joining discussion groups solely for spamming the list about your ebook or newsletters. “It irritates the heck out of people,” Glatzer says.

She promotes her fee-based newsletter through advertising in other writing-related ezines and some paid Google ads; she also advertises it in her own free newsletters, and she sponsors writing contests and conferences in exchange for newsletter mentions. Glatzer says, “We do a lot of promotion for the site and all newsletters in general; people subscribe to our free newsletters for a while, so they can determine we’re worth the bucks!”

Fee-based newsletters are out there and won’t go away soon. Authors churn out ebooks every day in spite of data supporting that people heavily prefer print over electronic versions. Ebooks prices continue to equal or surpass printed books.

Knight ends the discussion. “The best will survive and rise to the top as they always naturally do, while those who don’t step up to the plate and innovate like mad will get left in the digital dust.” Amen.

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Originally posted 2018-06-02 07:40:00.

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Ebooks Are Raking It In

Have you always wanted an unlimited income that you didn’t have to leave the comfort of your own home for? Have you ever thought about becoming a writer, and publishing books? Well, many people have become well-known authors, and have made quite a bit of money writing books, but it seems that even more are making a lot more money writing ebooks.

Ebooks can be a very valuable asset. Let me just list a few of the reasons why they have become so popular. First of all, paper books take what seems an eternity to get published, not to mention that it costs quite a bit of money in printing, and postage, and handling, and stuff. Ebooks do not have a publishing cost, plus ebooks are digital. They can be emailed to your client directly, or they can download the ebook from your website, giving them instant gratification, which everyone loves. They are also digitally stored, so you don’t have all kinds of books cluttering up your house.

Ebooks also stay there, on the internet, indefinately, if you will, making money for you, while you sit back, on the beach, contemplating what you will be writing your next ebook about. That’s right, you can just relax while your ebook sits on your website, making you money. Many people are just raking in the dough from ebooks today. But, you will need to use some tools (there are links on my website to access these tools) to make sure that there is enough traffic being directed to your site.

There are all sorts of ways to bring traffic to your site, like writing articles, (like the one written here), using autoresponders, and buying mailing lists. My mentors, whom I have links to on my website, offer many tools and tips for driving traffic to your site. One tip is to build the customers trust, by offering plenty of free stuff. Free PDF files are a hot item to offer for free, because people can pass them around freely, appealing to more of a mass market. And any computer with Adobe Reader, (which can be downloaded for free), can read these types of files.
PDF files are also considered valuable to search engines, thus making it easier for customers to find your site.

There are many other ways to get traffic to your site, and many other methods of making money online, but writing ebooks is one of the easiest, and most profitable ways. For more information, please go to my website, and check out my links. If you register with my site, I will send you some simply amazing reports, with tons of invaluable information, all for FREE! Go there now! Take the step, learn something new. Learn something proven to make money!

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Originally posted 2018-06-02 05:18:00.

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5 Surefire Tips To Better Public Speaking

If you search in Google for the term ‘public speaking tips’ you get roughly 2.6 million responses. That seems like a lot, but when you have to be the one standing in front of the group there isn’t enough information in the world that could get you over that fear.

Believe it or not, most of those fears are self imposed. What do I mean? The people listening to you don’t really care how the information is disseminated, they just want at the information. It’s the speaker that puts themselves through the ringer weeks before the event. Here are some tips that may seem obvious, but once completed, will really put your mind at ease, trust me.

Public Speaking Tip #1

KNOW YOUR TOPIC! I don’t mean know your topic, I mean inside and out, upside down, what ever question someone could throw at you, you know the answer. You really need to be prepared to reach this level. You need to know your speech almost by heart; you need to know the products you will be discussing. Do your homework, you will know you have reached public speaking Nirvana when you get that ‘feeling’, it will come with knowledge. Believe!

Public Speaking Tip #2

Greet as many of the attendees prior to your speech as possible. Familiarity promotes confidence. Besides, think of the benefit you provide the topic you are to speak on when you take the time to meet people before you go on.
This strategy also prevents you from pacing back and forth and worrying yourself to death until you go on. There is no point in cramming now, if you don’t know it, you wont, and it will show.

Public Speaking Tip #3

DON’T think everyone in the audience is naked, this in fact will hurt your chances of a successful public speaking outing.

Public Speaking Tip # 4

When you find yourself with only a mouthful of uhs and ums, stop yourself, repeat the sentence as if to add importance, and replace the uhs and ums with silence to allow your points to hit home.

Public Speaking Tip # 5

Animate your speech. Most people think that good communication is mouth-centric. Nothing could be farther from the truth! To be a powerful communicator, you have to use your entire body. Gestures and body language add energy and enthusiasm to your speech.
These are tips can really help you take your next step in public speaking. Do you realize that people pass up promotions because they will be required to speak publicly?

Do you realize people fear speaking in public more than they fear dying? Maybe because dying is abstract and appears far away while the podium is right in front of them. Either way, you really can come to grips with your fear and maybe you won’t enjoy it, but you’ll be able to get through it easier. I can’t emphasize enough that half of your battle will be just knowing what you are going to say, and anticipating what others are going to ask. It can be easy!

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Originally posted 2018-06-02 00:40:00.

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Infoproducts – How to Earn More From Your Infoproduct Business

The best way to grow your infoproduct business is to create a physical product to compliment your digital one. By putting your ebook or software on a CD with a companion manual, and hiring a fulfillment house to process orders, you can sell it for more and create incentives for your affiliates to earn more.

What is the best way to build an infoproduct business or expand an already successful one?

Create a physical product

The hottest selling items on the Internet today are infoproducts. Ebooks, software, how-to courses, ezines, newsletters, self-improvement guides and an endless number of digital products are in demand on every conceivable topic. And with customersí ability to instantly download their purchases, producing and selling a quality infoproduct can be your road to success.

Although the beauty of infoproducts is the ability to instantly download, the best way to increase your profits for the same product is to burn it onto a CD and include a printed companion manual. Selling a kit that might also include an audio CD and some kind of bonus materials has several advantages.

You can charge more for a physical product. Customers are willing to pay more for something they can have in hand and keep on the shelf or at their disposal on their desk. An accompanying manual or any other printed material is great for reading on the train home from work. And who hasnít experienced the anticipation of the package delivery man at your door.

Another great benefit is that your affiliates now can earn larger commissions. Thereís no better way to attract more affiliates and encourage your existing affiliate base.

But what about all the storage, packaging and shipping? Wonít that take a lot of time?

Yes, if you did it yourself. But thatís not necessary. This is where the whole concept comes together.

Since your goal is to build your business, not to take orders, burn CDs, print booklets, and get them to the post office, you can farm out all the work to allow you to concentrate on marketing and producing more and better products. Naturally it will cost money to have a third party do the work, but, again, the time you save can be better used to build your business.

There are many resources available to help you:

Manuals and booklets

Printindustry.com is a website run by a group of professional printers set up to connect a print buyer with printing companies. When you submit your print request, letís say 500 copies of a 40-page booklet, it is emailed to all the member printing companies that specialize in that type of printing. They then respond directly to you with price quotes. This can save you huge amounts of time from shopping different sites for competitive quotes.

CDs and DVDs

Do a search for ìCD replication,î and you will find many sites that will replicate CDs and DVDs for very competitive prices. For example, nationwidecd.com and tripledisc.com, to name just two, can supply a CD in a paper sleeve for under a dollar each.

For a little extra they will supply a jewel case with inserts in black& white or color, card board or vinyl sleeves, and any kind of labels. Nationwidecd also does some printing, so you might find other sites that also do both.

Fulfillment

A fulfillment company warehouses your CDs, DVDs, manuals and booklets, puts them together and ships the orders. These companies handle every step from processing credit card payments to returns.

Fullfilmentadvisor.com is a good site to visit for resources on every aspect of fulfillment.
Here youíll find detailed articles on exactly how fulfillment companies work, how to choose a fulfillment house, problems to expect, costs, and more. There are also hundreds of links to companies that perform every type of fulfillment service.

Your role as a business owner is to provide the best product you can to your customers. Creating a physical package in addition to your digital product, and farming out the order processing and fulfillment, will allow you more time to focus on building your business and increasing your profits.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

Originally posted 2018-06-01 12:25:00.

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Why We Love Group Coaching Programs

While one-on-one coaching might seem to be the holy grail of business, life, and even health coaching, the truth is, many people actually prefer a group program.

With one-on-one coaching, it’s just you and your coach. The focus is all on your business, what you did (or did not) accomplish in the last week or month, and how you can improve. In other words, it’s a bit of a vacuum.

Group coaching, on the other hand, has a much more social dynamic, and you might just find your clients actually prefer that.

Group coaching offers a sense of community that’s not found when it’s just you and your coach on the phone. With a group program, there’s often a Facebook group or forum where members can support one another, gain insight into other business models, and get advice in real time from people who have been there.

Need a shoulder to cry on about your landing page flop? How about a few cheerleaders as you prepare to step outside your comfort zone for your first keynote address? A group coaching program offers all that, and best of all, with a community of like-minded members, the help and support is actually, well, helpful.

Here’s another win for group coaching programs: the price. While it might be nice to work with that in-demand coach on a VIP day, the fact is that many people won’t be able to shell out that kind of cash.

A group program gives them many of the same benefits at a fraction of the cost.

Lastly, with a group program, you’re very nearly guaranteed a successful outcome—especially if the program has been around for a while. Group coaching programs such as Wael Badawy’s incredibly successful “Entrepreneurship License” has long been proven to change the lives of those who take the course. Naturally, participants must actually do the work, but the fact is, the model is solid, and clients know that going in.

Are you thinking of creating a group coaching program? Keep these points in mind. You might just find out your potential clients have been waiting for you to take this step for a long time.

Please fill in the The Complete Assessment for a free assessment

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Book Marketing Made Easy: If You Write it, They Will Come

Here’s a big fear we all have when it comes to writing a book: What if no one buys it?

While that is always possible, with a little planning and advanced buzz, it’s highly unlikely. The key is to get others excited about your book, and to get them talking and sharing the news with their friends.

Host a Launch Party. Weeks before your official publication date, it’s time to start revving up the launch engine. Offering bonuses for early purchases, incentives for a review, and free chapter downloads are all proven strategies for building the buzz for your upcoming book.

There’s a lot of moving parts in a successful book launch—landing pages, mailing lists, JV partners, social outreach, and more—so if you need help with the plan, The Complete Speaking Business Assessment

.

Make the Interview Rounds. Two to three months prior to your book release, have your virtual assistant begin researching podcasts, blogs and other media outlets for potential interviews. Create a press package to send out, including headshots, book cover art, blurbs and testimonials, and let everyone know that you’re looking for interviews and guest posting opportunities.

Blog About It. You are your own best publicist; so don’t be afraid to toot your own horn on your blog, in your email newsletter, and on social media. Include images of the cover, blurbs from advance readers, and give your audience plenty of time to get excited about the upcoming launch, so when the buy button finally goes up they’re eager to get a copy.

Boosted Posts. Facebook is a terrific way to get new eyes on your book. Paid ads leading to your launch page are ideal, and can generate a lot of traffic for a very low cost.

Free Kindle Days. This technique alone can catapult your book to bestsellerdom in a matter of days. The key is to build up a buzz on your mailing list, share, share, share on social media, and ask your friends and colleagues to do the same.

Book marketing isn’t as easy as simply listing it on Amazon and becoming an instant bestseller. Anyone who tells you that is the exception to the rule. But that doesn’t mean selling your book is impossible either. With some strategic planning and a little effort, you can have a fantastic launch, whether it’s your first book or your fourteenth.

 

 

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Four Publishing Options Worth Exploring

For many people, writing the book is the easy part. Whether you have a body of work ready to repurpose (such as a blog you’ve maintained for several years) or a ghostwriter at the ready, or you just really like to write, getting your book on paper is simple.

Publishing and selling it is another matter all together. You basically have four options when it comes to publishing your book, and each one has its pros and cons.

PDF Ebook. Probably the simplest method to publish a book, all that’s required with an ebook is to click “Save as…” in your Word document and choose “PDF.” Then you can sell the resulting file on your own website, list it on ClickBank or E-Junkie, or upload it to a number of other ebook marketplaces online.

Ebooks don’t quite have the authority that printed books carry, but if you’re on a budget and don’t have the skills to format your book for print, then this can be a viable option to get you off the ground. It’s also a great way to share your book with advance readers to get those all-important testimonials.

Kindle. The darling of the self-publishing world, Amazon’s Kindle marketplace makes it easy for you to publish your book. In fact, with just a few minutes of formatting, and another several minutes spent on their step-by-step uploading system, you can have your book on their virtual shelves in less than an hour.

With its incredible popularity and the ability to offer “free days” during which anyone can download your book at no cost, Kindle is a great way to build a buzz quickly.

Print on Demand. The best choice for self-published authors is a relatively new technology that allows for a single book to be printed on demand. Until just a few years ago, if you chose to self-publish your book you’d likely have to shell out for hundreds if not thousands of copies up front, leaving you with a garage full of books to sell on your own.

Print on demand is different. Buyers order your book from sellers such as Amazon (whose Create Space arm is itself a print on demand enterprise), and the book is printed and shipped the next day. This makes it easy and cost-effective for everyone to become a published author.

Traditional Publisher. The most difficult and time consuming option, getting your book published with a traditional print publisher will also get you the most audience and press. The drawbacks are many, though. To start, it’s extremely difficult to get a traditional publishing house to take on a new author. If you do manage to get the attention of a publisher, your royalties (the amount you earn from your book) will be very small—maybe as little as 8% of the net cost. Finally, the length of time it takes from manuscript submission to final publication can be years.

All that said, a book with a traditional publishing insignia on the spine does carry a bit more weight when it comes to press opportunities than does a self-published book.

Many new authors initially choose the ebook format, and then move to Kindle and print on demand. Given enough buzz and sales, traditional publication becomes easier to attain as well. The important thing is to get your book written, and then publish where you’re most comfortable. The rest will come naturally.

 

 

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Easy-Peasy Book Writing: 3 Ideas You Can Use to Write Your Book Today

You know that a book is a powerful tool for a coach. You know that it not only helps to establish your expertise in your market, but it can also exponentially expand your audience.

Not only that, but it’s the single best way to get the attention of main stream press outlets, influential bloggers and podcasters, and to land paid speaking engagements. There’s virtually no downside to writing a book.

Except the actual writing of it.

If you don’t consider yourself a writer, you may think that the benefits are out of your reach, but even self-avowed non-writers have options.

Repurpose. This easy and popular option makes use of the hundreds or even thousands of pages of content you’ve already created, so there is almost no writing involved. You may need to edit a bit for flow and to update ideas, but otherwise, you probably have a ready-made book sitting right on your blog.

And before you start thinking, “Why would anyone pay for a book that’s just pulled from my blog?” know this: People will pay for information that is organized in a way that makes their life easier, even if that same information is available for free elsewhere. In fact, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net used this technique to publish his wildly popular “31 Days to Build a Better Blog.”

Use Private Label Content. Not enough content to repurpose? No problem. There are companies such as CoachGlue.com that specialize in creating content you are allowed to license and use as your own. It’s called private label rights content, or PLR, and (depending on who you buy from) it’s high quality, well researched content that makes the perfect jumping off point for your next book.

Two things you need to know about PLR: First, because it’s sold to more than one person, it’s important that you edit the content to adapt it to your voice, your unique view of the industry, and to include your personality. Second, you cannot use PLR to publish a book on Kindle, as this is a violation of their terms of service.

Outsource. Want a book that’s all you without having to do the work? Hire a ghostwriter. These professionals will work with you to create a book that is uniquely yours, and in the end you’ll have a well-written book with your name on it, all without typing a word.

Having a published book on your coaching resume can work wonders for your business growth. It will bring you clients, expand your audience reach, and even attract some press. But it can’t do any of that if you don’t write the book in the first place. So take one of these ideas and get your book w

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