3 Ingredient Success Recipe: For Author’s Eyes Only

Author Merrill Chandler shares how he has become an Amazon national bestseller using this threefold approach.

Bestselling Author and High-Performance Coach Merrill Chandler has spent his life taking things to the next level. Through various platforms, systems and products, people can get to know him and the work he does - and this is by design. I talk to authors about showing up, being visible and making noise (all-the time!) so I want to share a success story that highlights this as a strategy.

The main foundation for Merrill’s business is his Fundability Bootcamp, where participants learn everything about becoming fundable in the cutthroat world of entrepreneurial bootstrapping. This is where people get to know Merrill and decide whether or not they like him. Which is all part of the recipe.

Know, Like, Trust: A Recipe for Success

To make someone both familiar with you and to like you means injecting your personality authentically into all of your interactions. To take this approach requires an important mindset shift: rather than engage with the expectation of selling, the goal is to identify how you can serve the person without tainting the interaction. Authors especially, often hold back from putting their most authentic foot forward, feeling pressure to do what everyone else is doing instead, which ruins the recipe and probably the meal too.

How do you implement this mindset?

Merrill does this by creating content for people to access so that they build trust with him and his work before they pay more, or anything at all. For example, last summer he read his book for anyone to be able to watch online. Reading a chapter weekly, he gave people the opportunity to understand the quality and value of his work and also get to know him better with his interjected commentary. Any author can do this at any time, to put pieces of their book in front of their audience. You own the content, you’ve already created it, and you can use it to build trust any way you see fit.

Some could see this as giving away his content for free, but in practice, he is endorsing his product, expertise and name. Trust comes when people are given and able to use operational intel. They use it and see it works, and want more. Merrill offers a wide variety of packages, bonus bumps and services, and his bi-weekly workshop is a great way that he engages with people with where they are at to help them implement the work. Again, adding one ingredient at a time to establish a foundation with every single person who comes in contact with his brand.

Let’s Talk About Book Sales

Merrill uses a book shipping funnel that combines these three ingredients, in a very intelligent way. He offers his book for free - the buyer only covers shipping. This already pulls a $3-$4 profit, which isn’t much when you consider everything that goes into writing a book, but it doesn’t stop there.

Next, the buyer is directed to bonus packages with varying price levels and services included. This includes potential access to eBooks and audio versions, both incredibly popular formats for consumption these days.

He also includes dates for upcoming bootcamps, subscription services and branded merchandise. The buyer is met with opportunity after opportunity to engage with Merrill in a?way that feels comfortable to them. He allows people to trust him at their own pace, which yields great results.

Let’s Talk Sustainability

Merrill’s goal has never centered around becoming a big seller when it comes to his books, yet, he consistently has great sales and metadata with a strong platform. He has learned how to further engage with his readers by doing interactive things like toss-ins with his book orders asking the reader to give him a shout out on social media in exchange for a free t-shirt.

“You must get your mission and message on point by allowing your readers to know, like and trust you, and the rest will come after.” -Merrill Chandler

As is true with any entrepreneurial journey, when you go in with a strategy, your potential for success is already greater. Taking cues from the successful authors and business owners who have done what you're trying to do, should be a central focus.

Merrill is successful because he relies on strategies to carry him to each next level, he shows up consistently, and he puts relationship building at the center of everything he does - even a book funnel.?

https://superbrandpublishing.com/using-free-shipping-book-funnels-to-build-trust-with-merrill-chandler/