Lisa Pfister Product Launch Consultant

Why do people with mediocre content make 10Xs more than recognized experts in 25% of the time?

Come on now that doesn’t seem fair – but fair or not, it happens ALL the time.

The biggest and best authors – the name brand, top-notch, recognized experts are making a fraction of what the upstarts are making.

Most highly coveted business authors make a comfortable living. They have risen to a certain place in their careers where they are courted by publishers and welcomed by large audiences around the world. They have achieved a certain level of success.

But if I were them I’d be really frustrated knowing that they spend years of their lives buried in their home offices cranking out book after book only to hop on plane after plane, going to city after anonymous city promoting their latest creation and selling their speaking services – while the guy without a fraction of their skills is working 3 months a year never having to leave the comfort his own home.

So why the gap? How can mediocre content providers charge way more for their content, and spend a fraction of their time marketing it with far superior results?

Established authors are playing by the old rules. They understand the traditional ways to make money. They write and speak.  They promote in traditional media, do countless radio, print, online and TV interviews.

There are two problems with the old way of doing business. Firstly, this way of making money takes a tremendous amount of time and energy. It wears on you. Secondly, it is nowhere nearly as lucrative as the methods being used by the upstarts.

To make the money you truly deserve you’ve got to change the way you do business. Conventional wisdom just doesn’t cut it. I just saw a PR firm that promotes authors advertise virtual book tours like  it’s a new idea – man, if this is something that people are buying it’s no wonder this industry is in such bad shape!

What’s really needed is a total paradigm shift. This industry – like every other industry for that matter – needs to see what is working like gangbusters and emulate that success, not just do things like promote online and call it revolutionary (that almost makes me laugh, except it’s so sad).

Take a look in the internet marketing world, see what’s catching on and spreading like wildfire to the real estate world and the personal development field. What is it? What are the grizzled veterans in these fields starting to embrace?

It’s a proven way of demonstrating the value you have to offer to your prospects and customers, building anticipation for the release of your product, getting an army of affiliates and joint venture partners to promote you, proving upfront to the people who need your knowledge that you’re the source to go to – all in a way that doesn’t make you hop from city to city on an endless gerbil wheel of interviews and book signings.

How do you do this? Learn how to launch your product. That’s what I did. I found the most effective marketing techniques being used today and adapted them to my industry. I studied under people who are marketing geniuses like Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham, Frank Kern, Dr. Glenn Livingston & Jeff Walker.  It took a lot of work, and made a number of mistakes along the way but I get it now, so it’s been worth every minute of it. The results speak for themselves.

Why am I telling you all of this? It’s not because I get paid to promote any of these guys, it’s just that there’s a golden opportunity for people to use their methods in fields where they don’t have any presence. But of course time is ticking on and you need to start learning what to do to make the most of this opportunity while it’s not commonplace in your industry.

Why am I focusing on authors? Two reasons. Firstly, as an owner of a business book summary service for the past 11 years I’ve had a lot of opportunity to work with authors, understand their value and see that they’re not making the most of their tremendous assets. That drives me nuts! Secondly, high-end authors have information that, once packaged and repositioned properly, would make for a KILLER launch.

I know that this is true for high-end authors, the real experts in their category – but how about you? Do you have special knowledge that could take your industry by storm if you broke off the shackles of conventional marketing and embraced marketing strategies that have worked like gangbusters in other verticals?

Really think about his before you dismiss this idea and move on to the “next important thing” in your day.

You’ve spent your entire business life adding value, learning, teaching and credentializing yourself. Isn’t it time you cashed in?

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