Do You Have An Expert Mindset?
A main topic in my speeches has been being an expert and having knowledge of your business. I always preach the benefits of expertise – how clients and customers will seek you out as a source of information. The goal is to have knowledge of your products, industry, etc., and to also be perceived as “the Source” of information about anything relating to what you do and sell.
The fact is, especially in the context of consultative selling, proper marketing helps a sales professional to conserve his or her most precious asset. That precious asset is time. Time management should be taught in every sales training program simply because a professional salesperson can avoid so much wasted time dealing with prospects that are not a good match. Be honest here, you know how it is, when sales are down we sales professionals always attempt to force the square peg into the round hole. In other words, instead of working with clients that are a good fit for us we chase after prospects that are major time wasters who are never going to buy.
Ask for writing samples. You should always ask for samples. Look for correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. Samples are especially important if the writer has no experience writing in your niche. While many writers are comfortable writing in different subject areas and in different media, others like to specialize. Don’t be put off by a writer who has never written in your niche before. Just look at the samples and determine whether the writer can write well rather than whether s/he understands your business or product. A good writer will take the time to research your business and niche in order to give you the quality content you deserve.
Your first step to becoming a freelancer writer is to get set up as a writer. This does not take a lot of time, but will require a bit of thought and self reflection. First, you will need to decide what kind of writing you’d like to do. The options are nearly endless, so you really can go for almost any type of writing you want – you just need to know what that is. Next, you will need to plan out how much you’d like to be making in the next 3 – 6 months from writing. Would you like $300-$600 part time, or $4,000-$5,000 full time? Make these decisions before writing anything and you will be miles ahead of the average freelance content writer.
SEARCH ENGINES decide who is important and they decide who ends up being seen by the book buying public. Think of a search engine as a yellow page directory. You will only be listed in THIS one-of-a-kind gigantic online yellow page directory if you understand and follow the SEO rules given you by the engines. If you don’t know and understand the rules, you will be at the end of the listings. And, if you are at the end of the listings, no one is going to find you, as they will likely look at just the first three pages.
Your Course: Compile your new book around a course you have taught for years. You already love the subject matter. Take your existing lessons and even lesson plans and form them into a book. If you are a stronger speaker than writer, consider taping your lesson presentations and getting them transcribed. Then hire a ghostwriter to take the transcriptions and develop into a book. I encourage you to not just take the transcript and copy into book form. But charge the writer or yourself to write it into a book using conversational language.
No matter who you are or what kind of life you’ve had to this point, you can become the expert. And the expert is always in demand. Start now, don’t quit, keep practicing. A great concert pianist is at the keyboard every day, often for many, many hours. The dedicated mathematician does equations every day. The professional athlete trains every day. The expert presenter researches and prepares confidently for the next presentation, the next audience.
Create a journal to keep track of your progress. Write questions and answer them from your readings. You’ll look back on this effort later to chart your evolution.
You DO stand at the far end of the jury box (furthest end from the witness box)when you conduct a defense direct examination of an help write essay for me witness. This accomplishes two things.
The book overview is the most important part of the proposal. This is the first part of the proposal that the publisher will read. It is composed of an introduction, book hook, and book description. Each section should be brief and to the point. However, it should also grab the publisher’s attention right away. It should make them want to read more. This is what will lead them to the next section of the proposal.
Book marketing is two-fold. Putting the book into the hands of readers and helping the reading public to know who you are as an author and writer. Literary reviews and press releases can be great tools for the Indie-published author to get free promotional material into the hands of readers. Brainstorm with other writers, bloggers and friends on how these tools can best be used to promote you as a professional writer.