If you’ve been a long-time reader of my blog, then you’ll remember that I’ve told you before that writing an ebook is one of the easiest ways to gain yourself free publicity. And while free publicity is ALWAYS a good thing for speakers trying to grow their business, it’s not the same as paid speaking gigs booked into your diary.
So with that in mind, this post will show you how to leverage your ebook into much more than an uptick in publicity.
So let’s get started.
What’s the Best Way to Leverage Your Ebook into Paid Speaking Opportunities?
When you boil it down, it’s actually really simple. The way that you turn your small ebook into a selling machine is to get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible.
Sales has been, and always will be, a numbers game. The more people you manage to introduce to your work, the higher your sales will be. The good news is that an ebook increases your credibility and demonstrates your industry knowledge, making it an extremely effective “business card” for your speaking services.
All that’s left for you to do is to spread it as far and wide as possible. So what are some of the best strategies for increasing the reach of your ebook?
Offer Your Ebook for Free for a Limited Time Only
One of the most effective ways to get your ebook in front of as many people as possible is by offering it for free for a limited time only. In fact, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing actually recommends this strategy as part of your book launch promotion. But nothing is stopping you from dropping the price temporarily after it’s been on sale to drum up even more interest.
By using this tactic, not only are you creating a win-win scenario for you and your readers, but you’ll also gather reviews, start conversations with interested parties, and even secure promotional search positions on ebook platforms such as Amazon, creating serious momentum.
The limited-time-only offer also creates a sense of much-needed urgency. If your readers can pick your ebook up for free whenever they please, there’s no incentive to take a look now. But a specific time period puts a clock on them and then will pull the trigger there and then more often than not.
Infinitely Scale the Reach of Your Ebook with Guest Blogs and Appearances on Podcasts
When you release an ebook, you will naturally promote it on every platform you control, such as your website and social channels. But your reach will only go so far. You need to spread your wings and move further afield.
Guest blogging is a great way to build notoriety anyway, but being the author of an ebook covering highly relevant subject materials within your industry pours gasoline on the fire when utilizing this marketing technique.
As I mentioned, your ebook gives you the credibility and authority that many website and podcast owners crave. Plus, with each appearance and guest blog post, you will gain even more credibility, and eyeballs on your ebook will increase exponentially as you benefit from a constant cycle of exposure.
Offer Up Insightful Snippets of Your Ebook on Social Media
It’s all very well announcing to the world that you’ve written an ebook and leaving a link to it within your posts, but you need to be much more compelling than that to pique people’s interest.
One of the best ways to increase your ebook’s exposure (and ultimately leverage it into paid speaking opportunities) is to include insightful excerpts from your ebook within your social posts. You could even serialize part of each chapter each week in LinkedIn Pulse articles or Facebook Posts to generate online debate and feedback among your followers.
Even just a few lines of your ebook can leave your followers wanting to learn more and passing comment.
The various algorithms will also pick up those interactions on your best-performing posts. Before you know it, one little free slice of your expert knowledge could have appeared in thousands of individuals’ timelines, landing you a couple of paid speaking slots in the process!
Refer to Yourself As an Author as Well as a Speaker
You’ll be amazed at the number of speakers who forget to mention that they’ve also written a book!
Remember, just because your book is digital, that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy than a paperback. Nearly 100 million people in the US alone own an e-reader, and there are over a billion tablet users globally. The difference between ebooks and so-called “real” books is hardly noticeable when reading on these types of mobile devices, so please don’t belittle yourself!
Given this is the case, don’t be afraid to give yourself the respect you deserve and update all of your bios on all platforms to include “author” as well as “speaker.” If someone reads a guest blog post or listens to you on a podcast, they’re bound to be intrigued and want to take a look at your ebook. But if you never mention that you are an author, they may never take up that option for further reading, leading to missed sales opportunities.
An Ebook Is a Brilliant Sales Tool if Leveraged Properly
Writing an ebook does take a lot of work upfront. But if you manage to leverage it correctly using the techniques I’ve just mentioned, you can reap the rewards in the form of a significant increase in paid speaking opportunities.
But these are just a few ideas that merely scratch the surface. If you would like to discover dozens of strategies for leveraging your ebook, you should check out our free Facebook group – Grow Your Speaking Biz.
It’s an incredible group of talented speakers that share the latest tips and tricks for growing speaking businesses, and ebooks are a hot topic in there right now! So make sure you head over there to learn more about leveraging an ebook into more paid speaking gigs.
We look forward to welcoming you to our speaker community!