Consultants'
Forum: Grow Your Consulting Practice with eBooks
by Skip Pratt
A creative marketing tool that deserves serious
attention by consultants is ebooks. What is an ebook? It's
an electronic book in a PDF or Word file. Most ebooks are
"how-to" or "tips" guides. You don't
need a New York publisher's permission or expensive software
to publish an ebook. Many tools are now available that provide
everything you need to publish, distribute and protect this
expression of your intellectual capital.
Catch the eBook Wave!
Consider this: The Association of American
Publishers (AAP) completed an extensive study of the ebook
market last year, and concluded that ebooks represent a
significant opportunity. According to AAP forecasts, by
2005, ebooks are expected to account for almost ten percent
of the total consumer publishing market. That represents
an estimated incremental retail sales opportunity of $1.6
billion.
As you look for new ways to bring value to
your clients, an ebook is a natural alternative. After all,
you DO have the expertise. Why not use that expertise to
take advantage of the ebook phenomena and create a new product
line?
Creating eBooks
As a management consultant, there are many
ways to take advantage of ebooks, for example:
- Write on your area of expertise, including proven
processes, methods or techniques.
- Create a "special report," which might be
from eight to twenty pages of detailed information,
such as a case study.
- Conduct a research study and publish the results.
Give your audience a special view of market attitudes,
best practices or client results.
- Position yourself as an analyst or industry insider,
and write up your views, insights, tips, secrets and
industry projections in an ebook or a series of special
reports.
- Co-author a how-to with your client about the type
of products they feature, or focus on service and support
issues.
- Conduct interviews with key industry leaders. Using
the opinions of these leaders, compile ebooks around
hot topics of the day.
- Write reviews of industry trade shows, magazines,
books, audiotapes, seminars and keynote speeches. Give
your special "take" on what is and is not
important and why, educate, or forecast the future.
The examples above are just a starting point.
Think about your expertise and the needs of your clients,
and find ways to generate win-win scenarios to leverage
the power of ebooks for mutual benefit.
Publishing Formats
A number of formats exist for publishing ebooks,
but you don't have to focus on just one. In fact, after
numerous interviews with industry leaders and considerable
research and evaluation, my advice is that you offer your
material on all three of the major platforms for online
publishing, including:
Microsoft
Reader
- Claims a market of six million potential readers,
including four million Pocket PC ebook-enabled devices and
two million downloads of MS Reader for desktop/laptop computers.
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/default.asp
Palm
Digital Media (PDM) - This subsidiary of Palm, Inc.
says it is the largest seller of ebooks. PDM, whose ebook
reader is bundled with every Palm device, of which there
are reportedly twenty million, offers 4,000 ebook titles
that can be bought only through its web site. PDM estimates
that 100,000 customers buy at least five times a year from
the site. http://www.peanutpress.com/makebook/index.cgi
Adobe PDF - Reports over three
million Acrobat eBook Readers downloaded and over thirty
million Acrobat Readers downloaded.
Acrobat
eBook Reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/ebookreader/main.html
Acrobat
Reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/
To learn more about each of these ebook tools,
visit their web sites via the links included above.
Where and How to Sell eBooks
Now, what should you do with your ebooks and
special reports? This is the fun part. Let your imagination
run wild. Here are some ideas:
- Add them to your web site and sell them.
- Use them as "free" tools to get the door
open for new accounts.
- Offer them as a special bonus for buying one of your
products or services, or for signing up for your newsletter.
- Create bundled combinations of your ebooks and special
reports with different price points.
Sell your special report or ebook for a fraction
of what your actual consulting service would cost, but at
a high enough price to create a meaningful revenue stream.
Let's say, for example, that you charge $225 per hour for
your consulting services. Why not have your ebook on your
web site ready to sell for a one-time price of $225?
When potential clients buy and read it they
will recognize your clear expertise, and seek your advice.
With even a small sales volume, you'll generate paid publicity
for your practice.
Prospective clients will appreciate a "try
before they buy" option to make sure you know your
stuff. At $225 for your downloadable ebook, what easier
way can they find out? I often find that my ebooks do the
work of generating NEW business without any selling.
So, let ebooks add to your credibility. Everyone
knows it takes courage to put your opinions and ideas out
there for the world to see. You are already an expert, and
now you will be an author as well.
Today more than ever, consultants and their
clients are looking for ways to grow revenue and cut costs.
You have the ability to help your clients do that. But,
if you're not already in the water, you're missing the ebook
wave!
Skip Pratt is the founder of Knowledge
Download, an online ebook publishing service. He is
an entrepreneur, consultant, author and former Vice President
of Electronic Commerce for a F500 company. Visit his web
site at http://www.knowledge-download.com, or write to him
at: skip@knowledge-download.com.
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