Fast-Track Your Brand to Expert: Publish an Ebook

Time is a precious commodity for business owners, often pulled in many directions. For new and growing businesses, did you know that up to 50 percent of that valuable time should be spent on marketing your brand? Maximizing outcomes requires smart, strategic choices in how you allocate that time. Today, I am going to share an efficient and effective way to use a small portion of your time that yields big returns. Best of all, this strategy works 24/7 while you focus on other business activities. Curious about what it is?

Publish ebooks.

Incorporating ebooks into your content marketing efforts can fast-track your brand from invisible to expert in just a few months. In these next few minutes, let me share some key features of ebooks that will inspire you to make this content type an integral part of your marketing plan. Here we go…

Enhance Brand Visibility and Credibility

A wonderous thing happens when you use the written word to showcase your knowledge and experience – instant credibility. It also broadens the visibility of your brand by making it accessible in various outlets like your website, LinkedIn profile, and at speaking venues.

Enhancing brand visibility and credibility is critical for small business owners. Why? You become associated with the information you share, resulting in fostering trust and influence with your audience. Another benefit is it sets you apart from your competition by amplifying the business’s reputation. In turn, the door is opened to command higher prices, secure better partnerships, and capitalize on growth opportunities.

Learn more about how content, like ebooks, can greatly benefit your brand by reading “How Content Marketing Transforms Your Brand.”

Embracing ebooks can elevate your brand, showcase your expertise, and expand your influence.

Impact of Ebooks on Your Brand

Let's examine the impact that publishing ebooks has on your brand.

1. Broad Reach

Since borders do not exist in the digital work, your ebooks can reach a vast audience. Your insights and expertise can reach your target audience across different regions, industries, significantly increasing your brand's visibility. Another advantage is digital books are extremely flexible since they can be accessible in seconds and used in a variety of ways in your content marketing plan to expand the reach of your "voice."

2. Authority and Trust

Authorship brings with it the mantle of being viewed as a thought leader. With this comes a perception of authority and trust. This strategic positioning smooths the path to speaking engagements, media opportunities, and collaborations with other industry leaders. Your position as a leader can be what tips the scale to use your services, purchase your products, or join a cause.

3. Long-Term Value

Ebooks are an effective strategy to keep your brand on everyone's radar screen. A ROI to mention is that ebooks have the advantage of being long-term assets. They continue to provide value over time. Unlike fleeting social media posts, ebooks remain relevant and can be continuously promoted, updated, and promoted some more. This sustained visibility reinforces your brand's presence and keeps your expertise in the minds of your audience – always!

As you can see, making ebooks a part of your content marketing strategy can add significant bandwidth to promoting your brand. Is there a place for print books? Absolutely, and small and medium size businesses need them. But, often business owners do not know the key advantages to adding ebooks to their publishing plans.

Advantages of Ebooks Versus Print Books

When I step into the role of Publishing Strategy Consultant, I recommend that brands publish both ebooks and print books, as each format offers unique benefits to a content marketing plan. Since we are focusing on ebooks here, let me share two key advantages they bring to the publishing table.

1. Cost-Effective Production

Ebooks offer cost-effective publishing options due to reduced production expenses compared to print books, which involve skilled software use like Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, or Illustrator for layout and cover design. (This is why most brands find publishing partners if they choose to independently publish.) As a result, brands can publish numerous ebooks for significantly less investment than print editions.

2. Speed of Publishing

Publishing an ebook is much faster than printing. Once the manuscript is prepared, it can be formatted and published in a matter of days, if needed. It is because of the quicker turnaround that gives brands the flexibility to produce ebooks when a quick response to a market trend is needed. In this way, a fast-track book project can be easily managed in tandem with a set publishing schedule for the year.

These advantages highlight why I recommend integrating both print and ebooks into a brand's content marketing strategy. This approach provides audience variety, diverse content usage options, and budget flexibility.

Strategic Approaches to Showcase Your Ebooks

One of the questions I am often asked is, “How do I have readers find my ebooks?” Without getting too deep into the weeds, let me share three ways you can put your ebooks in the path of prospective clients and readers.

1. Leverage Digital Platforms

The beauty of digital is the variety of spaces you can showcase your ebooks. Here is a list of just three key locations to distribute your ebook:

Third-party platforms: Amazon, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, and Barnes & Noble are examples of distribution platforms. You can choose to have one of these platforms do global distribution for you or manage these choices organically within each platform.

Your Website: A landing page dedicated to your ebooks makes it easy for readers to access your content in one place. Plus, you can create a powerful digital library on your own real estate.

LinkedIn Profile: Your LinkedIn profile includes a section called “Publications.” List all or a selection of ebooks in this spot. Create a direct link to your website’s "Books" landing page at the top of your profile page.

2. Collaboration and Partnerships

Forge partnerships with industry influencers and organizations to extend your ebook's reach. Choose podcasts strategically, offering exclusive discounts to listeners as a sales funnel. Collaborate on blog posts, co-host webinars, and participate in panel discussions to tap into new audiences and strengthen your authority in your niche. These strategic collaborations can significantly enhance your message and establish you as a respected leader within your industry.

3. Develop a Publishing Schedule

Create an ebook publishing schedule aligned with seasonal relevance and current trends. By consistently releasing ebooks that address timely topics, your brand gains visibility in media mentions, appearance requests, and enhances search engine optimization, ensuring continuous brand exposure.

The Wrap-Up

Friends, could you have envisioned fast-tracking your brand to "expert" status would be this straightforward? This publishing strategy can mark an exciting start of your journey to share your brand and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. Make ebook publishing a cornerstone of your content marketing strategy, and watch your brand soar to new heights!

INVITATION: I invite you to join my LinkedIn community – “Follow” me. Visit my profile and hit the Notification Bell in the upper right corner of my profile, too. ?? Don’t miss upcoming articles and posts to help you build a successful brand and business using the power of the written word!