Could a Book About Your Company be Worth $1.7 Billion? Building Value Through PublishingWritten by Ray Robinson
"Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) to purchase Clayton Homes for $12.50 in cash per share. Deal worth $1.7 Billion."From an article in Knoxville News Sentinel -- a University of Tennessee professor sent Warren Buffett self-published autobiography of James Clayton as a gift. Less than 14 days after receiving self-published book, Buffett contacted CEO Kevin Clayton, (James's son). After only three conversations, Buffett was expressing his interest in purchasing Clayton Homes. Another short two weeks later, deal was in place. James Clayton was out of town during some of talks, and not wanting Buffett's name to be floated around company's open-air headquarters, he suggested a code name for him: "Mr. Sunshine." Indeed, he was. --- The Ultimate Calling Card --- Interested in creating a way to communicate your legacy, build value and credibility, stand out from crowd, and increase your company's value in market? How do you get word out about your company? How do you let your clients and investors know that you and your company are truly experts at what you do? Believe me when I say correct answer has nothing to do with traditional sales and marketing techniques. The real answer? Self-publish a book showing off your firm's expertise, distribute it for free your core clients and trade associations, use it as a sales tool in all your prospecting efforts, and sell it anywhere you can--and in process, hopefully, make your company ones to turn to when expert information is needed about a topic in your industry. Your book becomes ultimate calling card for you and your sales staff. A self published book cuts through all clutter that your clients receive from dozens of companies just like yours. Cold calls are are a imeless way of creating sales - but wouldn't they be much more effective if you could have created a lasting impression of your credibility and value in advance? Maybe you'd rather keep sending that "full-color" brochure or cheesy calendar. Your book is far more than just a marketing expense -- but you might find it easier to budget it as part of your existing campaigns. The ultimate cost of producing your book can vary widely, but it will typically be based on number of pages in book, its trim size and format (for example paperback or hardcover) and how much assistance you need in publishing a book. Most often cost for publishing a book breaks down into two categories -- Publishing Services and Printing Services. Publishing Services are services involved in creating files that go to printer -- including design of your interior and cover, any editing or proofreading, actual composition of pages, and more. Costs are almost always regardless of page count and depend heavily on level of editorial assistance needed and degree of "retail" marketing support you want for your book. Most self-publishing companies include some number of books in their packages.
| | MUG AN AUTHOR DOT COMWritten by Eddie Bruce
There must be millions of thieves behind bars wondering where it all went wrong. Following traditional methods of separating vulnerable from their valuables like beating up old ladies, burgling homes, etc., more often than not they fell foul of law. All they really need to do is move with times. Today, with a criminal mind and a modicum of PC savvy ungodly can do crime without doing time in largely unregulated Internet sector simply by forming a company and setting up a website. The Information Highway is swarming with highwaymen disguised as businessmen and racketeers rejoicing in title entrepreneur, relieving unwary and naïve of their hard-earned possessions. Meanwhile law, ever respectful of man in suit, hovers by roadside scratching it's head, unable or unwilling to distinguish between villain and victim. There's a multitude of businesses to choose from. Creativity, or ability to lie glibly, is much more important than acquired skill. Why not try publishing and kill two birds with one stone? If you still have manuscript of that potential best seller, one that's frayed around edges from bouncing from one slush pile to another - hey, you could be your own first customer! Know-how is not an essential requirement. If old people you mugged in their home believed you were from electricity company after glancing at a fake ID, trust me, in virtual world you can convince frustrated writers that you're Second Coming. For Fake ID read Impressive Website and it's a known fact that most people who can string more than two words together believe they "have a book in them." Tell them it's true by offering to give their work chance it deserves and they're hooked! Editing? Isn't that what a PC spell-checker does? You'll need an accountant and a lawyer, preferably Mafia trained; also a hook-up with a printing house that specialises in print-on-demand (that's like a highly sophisticated PC printer), so you don't have big print runs to worry about. "Sell a few - print a few" is your maxim and be sure to get cash up front. A "no returns" policy means no wastage. Big retail outlets, especially those that are Internet-based, will come running. Use their names in your advertising to impress authors while convincing them that their books will adorn shelves of main bricks and mortar bookstores - they'll love that line. Your web pages will be selling a dream, so don't let truth spoil your marketing presentation. Tell those would-be authors that you're a TRADITIONAL publisher, and then offer royalties and a dollar up front to "legitimise" claim. You can say you're nation's Number One if you like - an equally meaningless phrase. Let them have two free copies of their own book for review purposes. Add something about sending out reviews then hit them with clincher - ABSOLUTELY NO PUBLISHING FEE REQUIRED. All website promises can be modified later as you see fit. Now get your hard hat on because you're about to be drowned in a deluge of slush. Sure, there's a danger that you may sign up some writers with real talent (Travis Tea's "Atlantic Nights" - http://critters.critique.org/sting/ -springs to mind ) but don't let thought scare you into reading a complete manuscript. This is a hit and run, mass production operation where quantity rules over quality. Send a standard patronising acceptance. While they're still floating on cloud nine, get their signatures on an airtight seven-year contract and, WHATEVER ELSE YOU DO, make sure they give you get a list of up to 100 of their friends and family members for pre-publication targeting. Because of prohibitive cover price you will impose, those people could be only ones who buy book, besides of course author - your main target - who will have little option but to spend as much as he can afford on bulk-buying his own product for re-sale. These sales don't earn royalties. Soon you will have deprived victims of their prized possessions and all but emptied their wallets, without resorting to violence or attracting attention of police.
|