Content Sharing and Repurposing – Books & eBooks

As great as you or I may think our blog articles are, it’s the rare newcomer who will read through years worth of them.

Like I mentioned with guides and reports, it’s a shame that some great articles get lost in the archives. So how can we continue to breathe new life into that useful content?

How about packaging the best articles into a book or eBook?

Before I lose you with the thought of how much work a book is, let me assure you that while it will take some effort, I’m not suggesting you start a book from scratch. (Although if you’re game, go for it.) If you’ve had a blog for a decent length of time, you’ve already been writing a potential book. You just might not have known it.

For most bloggers, there’s an overall theme. This blog started with a focus on magalogs, but then grew to cover content marketing and direct marketing in general.

So it didn’t take long before I had a number of complimentary articles that could be compiled into a book.

My book, Increase Sales & Build Deeper Connections, is primarily made up of articles from this blog. The articles were logically organized and, where necessary, tweaked a bit when I said something that was dated or specific to the time I originally wrote it.

While I use a professional-level layout program for my book, you could just as easily use Word, Pages, or some other word processing tool.

I’ve got a book. Now what?

At 130-plus pages, I could sell my book either on my site or digitally through Amazon or Apple. But I decided I wanted to use my book to get sign-ups to my monthly newsletter on content marketing and repurposing.

My book is a PDF but is designed like a traditional book. That way, if I ever want to print physical copies to sell or give away, I don’t have to do much beyond creating a back cover and spine.

If you think you might print your book, talk to a professional designer. If you know it will just be a basic PDF and you’re comfortable with your layout abilities, feel free to tackle it on your own.

While I mentioned in the article about guides and reports that covers aren’t required, you do need to come up with a cover for a book.

You can see that my cover isn’t fancy. I like to keep things simple. If this book was going to sit on a bookstore shelf, I’d need to rethink the cover. Again, whether you need a pro is dependent on how confident you are in your layout abilities.

My book is also handy when I’m talking to prospects. It gives me something of real value to offer beyond just trying to sell my services. And let me remind you about value. If there’s no real value in your book, people will feel like you’ve wasted their time even if your book is free.

And here’s another great use for a book… simple joint ventures.

As you’re probably aware, there are thousands of people who offer bonuses if you buy something from them. A colleague of mine was selling a new book and wanted to offer bonuses to entice more people to buy.

She put out the word that she was looking for other downloadable material that she could offer to buyers of her book. I offered my book as a bonus and suddenly I had new people downloading my book that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise reached.

Finally, let me talk about perception. I’m a huge believer in the value of perception… not in a sneaky or dishonest way, but in a way that helps you stand out from competitors.

There are very few direct market designers who do the types of marketing I do, including writing a book. So when prospects come to my site, not only will they see my samples and my blog (as well as other content we’ll talk about in this series), they’ll also see my book.

While anyone can write a book these days, relatively few do. And the initial perception is that if you’ve written a book, you must be, at some level, an expert in your field.

Of course, a book doesn’t always mean you’re an expert. But it does cause people to give you the benefit of the doubt as they’re getting to know you.

In fact, it was my book that led to an offer to speak to a business-building conference in Australia earlier this year. It was an amazing experience and probably would have never happened had the conference leader not stumbled across my book.

So let me ask you… might a book be a tool you could leverage in your marketing efforts in some way? If you’re not sure, give me a call for a quick, free chat to bounce around some ideas. You’re under no obligation to hire me for anything. It’s just a sincere offer to help you get started because I know the power a book can have.

Other articles in this series:

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Your Starting Point

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Twitter

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Facebook

Content Sharing and Repurposing – LinkedIn

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Google Plus

Content Sharing and Repurposing – Guides & Reports