Promote your business with Lulu
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Books, Lulu, Marketing, Promote Yourself, Promotional Products, Self-Publishing
I first learned about Lulu several years ago and had big plans for writing and selling at least one book, there. Then, life intervened. Now that I’m recovering my health, I’m slowly getting back on track and I’ve started outlining some possible books that I’ll write and sell.
Primarily, I’m doing this in order to establish my expertise in specific areas and I’m in the process of moving my consulting business in those directions.
(Sometimes this can be frustrating, because I want to do it now, but I know the value in planning. So, I’ll outline the books and think about the contents, but I’m working on my new business plans and marketing plans, first. Plan first. Implement second.)
What is Lulu?
Here’s how they describe themselves on their homepage:
Lulu.com brings the world of online book publishing and book printing to you. Looking to self-publish? Lulu’s print on demand (POD) solutions make publishing your own book quick and easy. Create a book in minutes, publish with the click of a mouse, distribute, sell and print books to order. It’s that simple. Trying to make a photo book? Want to make your own calendar? Our easy-to-use online publishing tool allows you to publish and print your own high-quality photo book or calendar in minutes. Want to convert your book into an eBook? We’ve got you covered with our easy to use eBook publishing tools. With Lulu you can self publish and distribute your eBook in EPUB format making it compatible with the Apple iPad, Sony Reader, Stanza and more. Not looking to make a book or print a book? Lulu has a great selection of books, photo books and eBooks for you to buy. With our great prices and large selection, shopping for books at Lulu is an easy choice!
I’ve been doing some researching, and I believe that Lulu is the best, one-stop place to publish physical books, ebooks, and epub books for iPad and Nook (and similar devices).
Not only can you publish your book there, but you can sell them in their store and earn commissions.
I am not interested in fiction books. Now and then, I enjoy reading a good well-written science fiction or epic fantasy novel, but I am interested mainly in business and promoting my business and helping my clients promote their businesses.
I believe that Lulu is going to play a big part in that.
Establish your expertise
It’s a well-known tactic for information marketers to write and sell books about their topics of interest. Sometimes, these books are sold. Sometimes, they’re given to prospects as part of the marketing mix. Sometimes, they’re used as free bonuses when you purchase something else.
Here’s an outstanding example of that, in action: This is an offer for Glazer-Kennedy Insider’s Circle, a place for prosperity without all the bull.
I not only read what Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy write, I study their videos, special offers, wording of their promotions, and the upsells, cross-sells, follow-ups, and delivery methods. They know what they are doing and have lots of experience.
And, if you’ll purchase what they offer and study it, they’ll teach you how to do a much better job of promoting your business, too.
I’m in the process of adapting their methods for my own business and for my clients’ businesses.
No, most of my clients will not write a book, so maybe I’ll include part of their story in a chapter of a book I’ll write.
I believe that books can be used to demonstrate your understanding of a particular topic and also can show your ability to organize and present that information in a way that is valuable to your prospective customers and clients.
For example, Audrey Owen has a manuscript editing business. In addition to her Writer’s Helper website, she has also written an ebook on the subject. When you subscribe to her free Editor’s Notes newsletter, you get a Tip Sheet as a bonus.
Here’s a short video about Audrey and her editing business…
If you’re going to write a book for publication, you really need a good editor to help you whip it into shape before you publish. Lulu has editing services and I’m happy to recommend Audrey.
Promote your business and help a non-profit organization, too
I also think books can be used to market your business and promote a worthwhile cause, at the same time.
For example, I know a professional photographer who specializes in photographic portraits of newborns and babies. She’s very good at what she does.
She’s also one of the photographers who volunteers her time and service for a non-profit organization. The organization has strict rules about using their name in any marketing promotions, and I don’t know those rules. So, to make sure I don’t cause any problems, I won’t mention her name, her business’ name, nor the name of the organization.
However, it is an organization whose mission she supports, and, in addition to volunteering, she want to raise some money to donate.
She asked me a simple question last week. Did I know anywhere she could get custom calendars printed with photos she had taken over the last year, so that she could sell those calendars and raise money to donate to the organization?
I sell promotional products to help my clients, but I did not know a company that would do what she wanted to do, in short runs, at reasonable prices. So, I spent a day or two looking for an answer to this question.
I found two companies. One of them is Lulu.
To tell the truth, while I was so sick, I forgot all about Lulu, even though it was high on my radar a few years ago.
I learned that they have added photo books and customized calendars into the services they offer. It looks like she can create the calendar and then have two options for selling them. She can buy as many as she wants and have them shipped to her, so she can sell them to her clients, or she can sell them in the Lulu marketplace and then donate the commissions she receives. Or, she could do both.
By the way, here’s a link to their calendar page: Great Gift – Create a Calendar for $12.49 at Lulu.com!
I have not talked to her about this, yet. I still have a couple of things to compare, before I give her my recommendation.
One consideration is price.
The other company I’m considering offers what looks to be a similar product and the cost is less. They do not do all the things that Lulu does and they do not have a marketplace in which she could sell her calendars. But, she could save money in the production of the calendars, purchase more of them for the same cost, sell them at the same price, and raise more money to donate to the foundation.
Both companies offer volume discounts on purchases, and they both will sell as few as one calendar. So, to me, it makes sense to create the same calendar at both companies, order a copy, compare them for quality, and then decide which way to go.
Again, I’m ahead of myself here, because I haven’t talked to her about this, and she may decide not to do it. But, I still think it is a good way to raise money for anyone with great photos and people who would like to buy them.
(If you have people in the shots, be sure to get a model release before doing this — even if they are good friends. Do the paperwork.)
As a promotional products dealer, I can get some very nice calendars with a variety of themes in units of hundreds or more for much lower prices. For example, I can supply Norman Rockwell calendars in units of 150 for about $1.20 each. That’s a lot less than the price of a similar calendar from Lulu.
But, that’s an apple-to-oranges comparison. Price is not the only issue, here. In fact, price is not the main issue here, but it is a factor that needs to be considered.
The second consideration is quality and the ability to customize the product.
This photographer wants a custom calendar with the portraits she created, not something Norman Rockwell created.
She’s going to sell a few dozen calendars, not thousands of them. (At least, not at first.)
Her primary goal is to raise money and donate the proceeds to the foundation. In addition to donating her time and services, she wants to donate more money.
So, it’s going to cost more to produce the custom calendars she wants to sell.
In this case, the price of the calendar probably won’t matter to the people that buy it, either. There is no other calendar, anywhere, that will compare with hers, especially for the families of the babies who will be featured in the portraits.
So, what does that have to do with promoting my business by writing a book?
Hold your horses, partner. I’m getting to that.
In her case, her expertise is in creating beautiful portraits. So, a calendar makes a great way for her to show her expertise and raise money for the organization she wants to support.
Since she has demonstrable expertise and talent in her niche — creating photographic portraits of babies — she could probably also demonstrate her expertise by writing some short books about the subject. It would give her a good chance to educate her clients in advance of the sessions, would serve to differentiate her from her competition, and also would help other photographers improve their skills, too.
To me, that sounds like something that is worth doing.
Any time you can educate your prospects and clients and differentiate yourself from your competition, you are increasing the odds of earning more profit.
If she does decide to write and sell those books, I think Lulu is a good choice for publishing them as real, physical books, downloadable ebooks, and epubs that can be sold or given for free for people to read on their phones, iPods, iPads, Kindles, Nooks, etc.
I think it would be good marketing on her part — provided that she writes really good books! That’s the key to this. She has to establish her expertise. She does that, already, by showing her portraits on her website, blog, and Facebook. The books would extend her “exposure” (pardon the pun) by showing her attitude and thought processes, and by helping readers do a better job in their own portrait photography.
And — don’t discount this — it never hurts to be “the guy that wrote the book” on a particular topic.
Expertise Sells.
Did you know that about 80% of people don’t consider price as the most important factor when making their decision to purchase, and from whom?
Establishing expertise is one way you can “rise above the pack” of your competitors and sell your own services at a higher price, and many of your prospects will willingly purchase at the higher price.
But, to do that, you have to demonstrate that there is a difference between you and your competitors. That’s where writing a book can be important.
(Of course, there is a small danger that you’ll educate your competition, too, but that’s probably not much of a problem as long as you continue to develop your skills and stay ahead of them.)
Plan ahead
If you’re going to write a book and you’re going to publish it at Lulu, then be sure to write it so that it will fit one of their formats! It makes sense to establish the format of your book before you write it, rather than having to go back and change it when you find that you’d rather it be a different size.
If you’re going to create an epub, the same thinking applies. Learn about the final product before you start writing.
Already have a book?
If you already have written a book, then you’ll need to modify it to match the format that Lulu requires. You’ll have to do some reworking, most likely.
Promote your business — and yourself
If you really do have expertise in a particular niche or subculture, then spread the word! Let your clients and prospects know about it! Don’t just tell them you know it, show them.
Write a pamphlet or a full book on the subject. Demonstrate what you know and educate your prospects before they become your clients.
One caveat: Make sure the contents, format, and look of the book reflect and enhance your expertise in your niche. If the book comes across as boring, unorganized, or unprofessional, do not publish it! Either rewrite it or scrap the idea.
The same holds true for the appearance of the book. The same information can be presented in some sheets of paper stapled together, as sheets of paper in a customized 3-ring binder, as a wire-wrapped book, or as a paperback or hardback bound book. They can have a simple or a professional cover. They can have a table of contents and an index, or not.
Make sure that the format in which you present the information matches the style and feelings for which you strive in your business.
If you’re going to do it, do it right. Make sure the tone of the presentation is as close to what you’d say if you were talking in person with your best customer or client. Make sure the quality and presentation of the book matches the style of the products and services you deliver to that best client, too.
Make the book an asset, not a liability.
Open a free account at Lulu
It’s free to open an account at Lulu and to learn how their services work. Some of their services are free and others are reasonably priced — and you can choose which ones you need, based on what you want to do with your book, calendar, or whatever you create.
To get started, click the Lulu logo, below…
They have a community of members and lots of services that can help you create and publish your work.
You can experience their sales process by buying a book from their marketplace and/or downloading an ebook.
Lulu receives on average 1,000 new independent book titles every week. Their authors can be found on the world’s largest book marketplaces, such as Lulu, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay, and Google Book Search.
With some work, you can be one of those authors.
My projects
Over three years ago, I was starting to get serious about publishing on Lulu, and I uploaded a free ebook (actually a newsletter from one of my sites) as a test. I never got around to taking it down. If you’re interested, (why would you be?), here’s the Spring 2008 edition of my Act On Your Dream! newsletter.
I planned on writing more — and better — newsletters and books, but life and death got in the way. Now that I’m back on track, I’m looking forward to putting more items, of better quality, in my lonely little store!
By the way, I have completely forgotten everything I learned about self-publishing on Lulu, so when I finish my new business plan and marketing plans, I’ll start relearning how to use Lulu. I may even ask you for advice!
A year from now, I plan to have a few more newsletters and maybe a short book or two.
(My cousin challenged me to write a romance novel and she keeps prodding me to get to work on it. It’s going to be interesting to see if a guy who knows practically nothing about romance can write a novel that won’t make you cringe when you read it. The working title is, “The man with no clue.” That pretty much describes me when it comes to romance novels. I happen to think that writing is writing and it’s not that much different to write a romance as it is to write a persuasive marketing piece, and somehow — I don’t remember the details — I found myself challenged to put up or shut up. Who knows? I may even finish it. It’ll be a very short novel! If I do finish it, I’m then going to see if I can sell it. See, Jacque, I haven’t forgotten! Love ya. Hugs.)
There’s lots to do. It’s going to be a very busy year!
Lulu affiliate program
Lulu’s affiliate program is administered through the Google Ad Network.
What do you think?
If you’re an affiliate marketer, you may be interested in their affiliate program.
If you’re an author or business owner, you may be interested in publishing your work through them.
I’m interested in both.
Act on your dream!
JD
Click Here to Order – Stories of the World’s Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs by Joel Comm
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Amazon, Books, Marketing, Self-Publishing, Sitesell and Site Build It, Success and Failure
Last month, Joel Comm’s newest book, Click Here to Order – Stories of the World’s Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs, was released and currently ranks #2230 in sales out of all books sold by Amazon.com.
This is not a step-by-step how-to book for new Internet marketers. If that’s what you are looking for, you should probably look elsewhere.
Click Here To Order tells the stories of some of the earliest Internet marketing entrepreneurs who succeeded beyond their dreams. You may know some of their names, already.
In fact, if affiliate marketing is part of your business revenue model, you may even promote products that some of the people in this book created.
From the product description:
While the general public is familiar with the larger Internet companies such as Yahoo!, Google, eBay and Amazon, very few are aware that small business is thriving online like never before, especially in the realm of information products. Click Here creates an entertaining and instructive narrative that provides an in-depth look at the unintentionally underground movement known as Infoproduct marketing, and the people who have profited and succeeded in the industry.
This edition of Click Here to Order is a 300-page paperback book. The list price is $17.95 and, as you probably know, is offered at a significant discount by Amazon.com.
Marketing on the Internet can be a very lonely business since we spend lots of hours in front of our keyboards and sometimes lose sight of what we want to accomplish because we get so bogged down in the details of what we’re doing.
Sometimes, it’s good to get away from the details and learn about the pioneers in this business. Who are they? What did they do? How did they do it? Why did they become so successful?
You’ll find some of these answers in Joel’s new book.
If you are interested in the history of the Internet marketing pioneers, and you want to learn more about how some of the best copywriters made their first dollars with online marketing, you’ll probably enjoy this book.
This is just one of the books about Internet marketing that I recommend in my Amazon.com bookstore.
Do you want to learn about Infoproducts and how to create them?
You can download, for free, Monique Harris and Ken Evoy’s excellent ebook, Make Your Knowledge Sell!.
While it won’t do the work for you, you’ll learn how to create an infoproduct of your own.
They provide great information about picking good ideas, writing to persuade, packaging your infoproduct, marketing it, and making sales.
Make Your Knowledge Sell! sold thousands of copies over the last few years, and now you can get it free. What are you waiting for?
Who knows, maybe you’ll be one of the people who’ll be featured in some future book about successful Internet marketers!
Read Click Here to Order for background knowledge of the business and how it has developed. Get inspired to do more by reading about the people who blazed the trails some of us are following.
Study Make Your Knowledge Sell! to learn many of the details and skills you’ll have to master to create your own infoproducts.
You can get started by learning affiliate marketing before you create your own products
Perhaps you’re not yet ready to create and sell your own infoproduct or service.
One of the best ways to get started in online marketing is to become an affiliate for a company with top-selling, high-quality products and services and then earn commissions by recommending them.
That’s my preferred business model, as you can tell from the name of this site.
I highly recommend Ken Evoy’s Affiliate Masters Course, and you can download a free copy here from my site.
Even if you choose to create your own products and sell them, you’ll want to know more about affiliate marketing. After all, you may create a great product and want to have affiliates helping you sell it.
Act on your dream!
JD
Chris Brogan has just released a free ebook on personal branding
Filed under: Blogging, Books, Business Networking, Promote Yourself, Social Networking
I like to read what Chris Brogan has to say about lots of topics including personal branding and social networking. I’ve learned a lot from him and he’s reminded me of things I already know, but haven’t been thinking about lately.
Today, he released a free ebook on personal branding called Personal Branding for the Business Professional and it is available as a free download. You don’t even have to give your email address to get a copy.
I just finished reading the book – it’s only 15 pages – and it has some good tips about building your personal brand and expressing it on your blog, website, and the social networking sites you prefer.
This book is definitely worth your time to download and read, if you are interested in building your reputation and promoting your personal brand.
Act on your dream!
JD
Ken Evoy releases updated 2008 edition of the Affiliate Masters Course
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Books, Marketing, Sitesell and Site Build It
Ken Evoy just released the new, updated, 2008 edition of his highly acclaimed Affiliate Masters Course.
So, what is the Affiliate Masters Course and what is it all about?
From the introduction to the course:
The Affiliate Masters Course is an intensive 10-DAY course on becoming a high-earning affiliate champion.
How? By “building income through content,” the proven, C-T-P-M way!
An affiliate business is one of the easiest ways to get your feet wet in e-business. You send visitors (i.e., potential customers) to a merchant’s Web site that you are representing. If they buy or complete a required action (for example, fill in a form), the merchant pays you a commission. No fuss, no muss!
That, in essence, is the beauty of the affiliate concept. You can be up and building an online business in record time, at minimal risk. Top-notch merchants supply everything (i.e., excellent products, ordering, credit card processing, and delivery). All you need to do is to put yourself in the path between customers and quality merchants… and earn a commission for your efforts.
So what’s the best way to put yourself on that critical pathway?
That’s what the course teaches you, the best way to put yourself in the path between interested customers and quality merchants.
From the introduction to the Affiliate Masters Course:
Upon completion of this course, you will have the power of C-T-P-M working for you, helping you to build a flourishing, profitable and stable online business. With the right process, you get the right results!
Be forewarned about the Affiliate Masters Course, though. The material we cover will be extensive in scope. It will require effort and commitment on your part, as does anything important that yields rewards. Most folks have to train or go to university for years to prepare to earn a substantial income stream. Your mini-university course will accomplish this by the end of this e-book.
I don’t mean to scare you. All of it is manageable. Take your time to digest the information properly before you start to work on the prescribed action steps.
Use the Goals-of-the-DAY and Ongoing Goals as your guideposts, your beacons of light. Understanding the concepts will boost your confidence level in applying them. Even as adults, we never lose our need to know why things work the way they do.
It’s critical that you finish each DAY of this course before you begin the next. The DAYS build on each other. Always keep in mind that you are following a step-bystep process.
Please don’t feel that you have to rush. Work at your own pace, as time allows. This is not a race. Sometimes, you will be able to devote large blocks of time each day to the course. At other times, you may have only 15-30 minutes per day to spend on it. In this situation, it could take you a week or more to complete a “DAY” of the course. And that’s perfectly normal!
It does not matter how long it takes you to complete the course. The key is to set aside a realistic amount of time each day to “do” the course. You’ll find it was time well, no best, spent.
I downloaded a copy of the new edition this morning and I’ve been reading through it with interest.
Here are the 10 days and what you’ll learn:
DAY 1 – Intro To Affiliate Business Basics
DAY 2 – Brainstorm Your Site Concept
DAY 3 – Develop High-Profitability Topics
DAY 4 – Plan Your Monetization Models
DAY 5 – Refine Final Concept And Register Domain Name
DAY 6 – Build A Site That Gets The Click!
DAY 7 – Build Free Traffic
DAY 8 – Build Relationships
DAY 9 – Know Your Visitors
DAY 10 – Monetize!
It’s good to see that the time-tested, proven steps for building your affiliate marketing business are still here (as I knew they would be), but the web has changed since the last version and some of the sites and tools are new.
I don’t remember if I first studied, several years ago, the Affiliate Masters Course or Make Your Site Sell!.
At the time, the Affiliate Masters Course was a free, multi-part, course delivered in email using an autoresponder. Make Your Site Sell! was a huge ebook that cost about $20.
After studying both of them, I rebuilt several of my websites and, over the next few months, I started making affiliate sales and began to earn regular commissions.
Later, when Site Build It! was introduced, I subscribed and studied all the training materials and the step-by-step Action Guide in order to build a profitable site.
Now, I’m applying what I’ve learned over the years to the Squidoo lenses, websites, blogs, forums, and social networking sites that I own and/or manage.
The more I learn, and the more I apply it, the more I earn. You can, too.
The Affiliate Masters Course is one of my very highest recommendations. Download it today and start your journey to becoming an affiliate marketing master.
Act on your dream!
JD
Writing and Self-Publishing section added to bookstore
Filed under: Act On Your Dream!, Affiliate Marketing, Books, Lulu, Marketing, Promote Yourself, Self-Publishing, Writing
Ever since I read Make Your Knowledge Sell! several years ago, I’ve known that I wanted to write a series of reports and ebooks with several goals in mind…
- To share the knowledge I’ve learned over years of researching affiliate marketing and from the daily practice of it
- To enhance my reputation as being someone with integrity who offers good advice about online marketing
- To provide information that will help you avoid the pitfalls I’ve traversed and to make more money with affiliate marketing
- To do more of something I enjoy doing: writing
About a thousand years ago, Nicki Fink and I wrote a textbook we used for teaching our students how to use Macintosh computers and several of the more popular applications that were in use at the time.
Knowing nothing about writing a book, we just did it.
Our first couple of editions were printed on a laser printer and we did all the collation and comb-binding ourselves.
When we finally approached a publisher, we had a pretty good book that was helping our students learn how to use Macs by completing a series of projects.
I submitted the entire book to Addison Wesley and instead of getting a rejection notice, as everyone had advised me to expect, we got an offer from Addison Wesley and Benjamin Cummings.
Addison Wesley wanted to get it into print quickly and Benjamin Cummings wanted a complete rewrite along with reviews by several colleges and academies before publishing it.
We made the mistake of going with Benjamin Cummings and added about another year to the project in addition to having several disagreements with the editor about the direction we wanted to go with the book.
Eventually the book was published and we received a few thousand dollars in advance royalties.
I was happy to have a published book that was helping some people learn how to use their Macs better, but the entire experience was less than satisfactory. I swore that the next book I wrote would be self-published.
Now, in the 21st century, a lot of things have changed. Books and reports can be released as ebooks and offered in downloadable PDF format. Tools and applications for doing this are becoming more popular and affordable.
Additionally, if you take the time to format that PDF ebook correctly, you can have it printed and sold at places like Lulu.com, CafePress.com, and many other print-on-demand publishers.
(I’ve started a Lulu.com storefront where I’ll be promoting reports, ebooks, and books in the coming months, as I have time to research and write them. Currently, there is one free downloadable copy of my Act On Your Dream! newsletter.)
Since writing and self-publishing have moved up higher on my to-do list, I researched these topics on Amazon.com this evening. As a result, I’ve added a new section to my Amazon store for Writing and Self-Publishing Books.
I have an older copy of Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual and I’m looking forward to buying and reading his latest edition.
Most people who dream of being a writer don’t know that writing is only one part of the job. Perhaps more important than writing a good book is promoting and publicizing it. If nobody knows about it, you won’t sell very many copies!
I added a few books about writing non-fiction, but most of the books in the new section are about promoting, publicizing, and networking. After all, if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in affiliate marketing and other topics related to online marketing, so I’m sure you will find books of interest in this new section of my bookstore.
I’m always interested in your comments and recommendations. If you know of an excellent book about writing, self-publishing, or promoting books, I hope you’ll share with us.
Act on your dream!
JD
New marketing books added to my bookstore
As you may know, I’ve been an Amazon.com affiliate since shortly after they introduced the program way back in the 20th century.
One of the main ways I promote books and other products from Amazon these days is through my John Dilbeck’s Amazon Store.
Today, I added about a dozen books to the Blogging and Internet Marketing Books section of the store. You can see this section by clicking on the link under the Browse By Category menu in the right column of the store.
How do I select new books for the store?
I only add specific books to the store if…
- I have read them and would recommend them highly, even if I weren’t paid to do it
- The book has been recommended to me by someone I have come to trust and I plan to purchase it, read it, and put into action what it recommends
- The majority of ratings for the book on Amazon are either 5 or 4 stars.
I spend quite a bit of time looking at new books, but the great majority of them will never make it into my bookstore. As I’ve said elsewhere, “if it’s not good enough for me, it’s not good enough for you.”
I try to put the best books on page one of my bookstore, but there is only enough room for nine books, so some really good books slide to page two and subsequent pages. I added several books to page one, today.
You’ll also find newly-added books on the last page of the main section.
My philosophy on buying business books is this…
If I can earn back at least twice what I paid for the book in additional revenues, then it was well worth the money and time reading it. If I can earn back twice the price I paid, then, with more work, I can earn back several or many times the cost of the book, by putting into practice what I learned from it and by adding it to my bookstore so you can buy it, too.
I looked at about 40 books today and added a little over a dozen new books to the store.
I’m looking forward to reading them as soon as I can make the time.
Come on in and browse
I hope you’ll consider the books I recommend in my bookstore.
Act on you dream!
JD


















