I always enjoy the author interviews I do, but I have to admit… I was especially looking forward to this one! This week, Kathleen Gage of Street Smart Marketing tells how to write for visibility, how to make real money from writing, how to write your first book and sell it, plus much more. You can visit Kathleen’s website at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/
WAHM-Articles: Hi Kathleen and welcome to the WAHM-Articles Blog! First of all, can you tell us a bit about your business?
Kathleen Gage: I have owned and operated my company, Turning Point, Inc., for 14 years. There are several divisions in my company. One is as a mentor for speakers, trainers, authors and consultants who want to turn their knowledge and expertise into money-making products and services. I do this by teaching them eProduct development; multi media program development, self-publishing skills, teleseminar development and developing mentoring courses that they can offer their clients.
I also teach my clients how to use the Internet in their overall marketing. I do not teach them how to be the next Internet marketing guru. Rather, how to best position themselves for optimum visibility via the Internet.
I am also a conference keynote speaker. Primarily, clients who hire me to speak at an event are looking for an inspirational speaker with my background.
I also have Maxwell Publishing. I started my publishing company for the purpose of having complete creative control over the books I wanted to take to market. In the time I have had my publishing company I have taken four paperback books to market and dozens of eBased information products. My most recent book, The Law of Achievement, became an Amazon.com bestseller on the day of release. We did this with a very strategic marketing plan.
I bring over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, management, public relations and promotions into what I offer my clients.
W-A: Has writing and submitting articles helped you build your business?
Kathleen: Actually, writing and submitting articles is one of the primary strategies I have used for many years now in creating a lot of visibility on the Internet.
There’s nothing to compare to it in how to showcase my expertise, gain incredible visibility within my target market and create other great opportunities like writing for traditional publications, being found by journalists and media show hosts. Hands down, article writing and distribution is a great marketing tool.
Article writing and submitting is something I also teach my clients as a way to build visibility and credibility within their market.
W-A: How can a business owner gain visibility through his or her writing?
Kathleen: The way it works on the Internet is that by posting your articles to various article and Ezine directories it will be picked up by publishers and editors of various Ezines, trade journals, blogs, etc. Keep in mind you want your articles to be well written. Once you post them they are there for anyone to see. If you have well written articles you open up lots of great opportunity.
I would recommend that people have a systemized approach to what they are doing. Post your articles on your blog, talk to other blog owners who share a similar market to see if they are interested in your articles, post to directories, in forums that accept articles and social networks where potential readers hang out.
In order to optimize your position you need to know what key words are specific to your market and use those in your article. This has to do with SEM and SEO; Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.
You can also post your articles in what are known as Blog Carnivals. Blog Carnivals are becoming very popular. Basically a blog carnival is a type of blog event. It’s dedicated to a particular topic and is published according to a schedule. Some carnivals happen only once, others will be a weekly or monthly event.
There are a lot of variations as to how a carnival is organized, but usually when someone wants to organize one they ask readers to submit articles of a certain theme for inclusion in an upcoming event.
W-A: Can work-at-home-moms, like our authors on WAHM-Articles, actually make money from their writing?
Kathleen: Most definitely. They can make money from eBooks, physical books, and publications that find them and pay them to write for traditional publications.
They can also use free articles to establish name recognition and credibility within their market. I have been doing this for years.
I make money from eBooks and physical books, but I also make LOTS of money from the visibility my articles give me. At the end of my articles I have a resource box that offers something of high value for free that drive visitors back to my website(s). On my various sites people are invited to download reports, free eBooks, sign up for teleseminar and other free offerings. In order to download my information they must leave their name and email address. This puts them into a backend database.
As people receive my information they see I know what I am talking about, I build trust and credibility with them. When I roll out a new product or service I am in more of a position for them to buy. Just last week I introduced a $20 eProduct to my market and within four days made over $1,000 from the product.
The thing that is important for people to realize is that I have been at this for some time. I make great money, but it didn’t happen overnight. I have a very systemized approach to my business. The key is I treat it as a business and not a hobby.
The challenge I see for a lot of people is they don’t treat what they do as a business and then wonder why they don’t make money. I know you work with a lot of authors and people who want to be authors.
W-A: Can an article writer author a book too?
Kathleen: Writing articles is a great way to write a book. I teach people what is called repackaging their information. Think of it this way. You have a certain expertise. That expertise can be packaged a number of different ways. Articles, tips, books, eBooks, teleseminars, live presentations, etc. You are only limited by your imagination.
W-A: Is it important for an online business owner to author a book?
Kathleen: In a word, Yes! I have found that a book lends itself to lots of credibility. Say you have two people who have the exact same expertise. Who do you think will be viewed as more of an expert? The one with the book or the one without the book. In the consumer’s mind, usually the one with the book. That is if the book is well written and people know about the book.
W-A: Once you write a book, obviously the next step is to take it to market. What steps are involved in that?
Kathleen: That is a great question. Many people assume that a book will miraculously market itself. The fact is, the writing and publishing are the easy part. The real work comes with the marketing.
One of the most effective ways to market a book is with live presentations. Unfortunately many authors shy away from speaking. But truth be told, one can sell thousands of dollars worth of books from the platform. One of my co-authors actually sold $23,000 after a 35 minute keynote. That’s a lot of money.
Other ways to market would be through joint venture partnerships where others help you to market your book both online and off.
The thing I do is to work at gaining online visibility, driving people back to my site, inviting people into my database by way of an offer and then I have control of how to market to them.
You can also utilize media release, radio interviews, web radio interviews, teleconferences and social networks.
W-A: Can anyone put their books on Amazon.com? How does a new author set up an Amazon campaign?
Kathleen: It is actually quite easy to get listed on Amazon. There are some companies that try to sell this whole mystique around getting on Amazon to potential clients who just don’t know how simple it is. A newer author thinks this is a really big deal when in reality if you have a little time you can easily do it yourself. You have to join the Amazon Advantage program. There is a lot of information at http://advantage.amazon.com/gp/vendor/public/join/
W-A: Do you have any tips for writing a description of your book for Amazon?
Kathleen: Make the description colorful. Don’t just list the book. Put thought into your description. Use keywords specific to your market and your book. Go to some of the pages of bestselling books and notice how the descriptions are written.
The fact is, the more enticing the copy on the Amazon page the more likely people will be to want to buy your book.
W-A: Before I let you go, what advice would you give to a mom who was serious about making money from home?
Kathleen: As I mentioned earlier, if you treat making money as part of a real business you can make money and lots of it. However, don’t expect to get rich quick and by all means, don’t fall for all the hype you will find online.
Be willing to invest in training programs, but be aware of how much you are investing. Have a plan.
Get a mentor or a coach. Do your research to find out who is “the real deal” and who isn’t.
Realize, this takes work. Let me repeat that. This takes work. It is not going to happen by chance, it will happen by design. Be willing to put effort into your business.
Be clear on who your market is and is not. Be clear on what you have to offer your market. What is it that sets you apart from someone else that is selling a product or service that in the consumer’s mind is exactly the same. Your job is to help them differentiate you from others.
Something that can help with that is to conduct an in-depth market analysis. Many people skip over this step because it is time consuming and not always the most exciting thing to do. And yet, once you begin an analysis you will be amazed at what you find out about the market and about yourself.
Have a focus. It is easy to bounce from thing to thing to thing. Realize before you can make $1,000 you have to make $1. One success builds on another and another.
Don’t try to sell something just to make money. You have to be congruent with what you offer.
Have goals. Write your goals down.
Most of all, be willing to take risks and walk through your fears. Obviously something is driving you to own and operate your business. What is it? If it is solely for the money, chances are you will not be as successful as if it is because you have something that can make a difference in the lives of others. When you come from the space of service and knowing what you have to offer can benefit others, it becomes a very exciting process.
W-A: Thanks so much for your time Kathleen!
Kathleen: Thanks for inviting me to share my thoughts.
You can learn more about Kathleen by visiting http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/ You’ll also find several of Kathleen’s articles published at WAHM-Articles.com.
