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I wanted to share the story of how things changed for me and how it can hopefully help you as well. It involves three portrait photos of me, brilliant business cards and a professional website that when combined create a fantastically powerful impact.
I used terrible business cards for ten years. I'm sure you've seen them, the ones you print at home and everyone knows it. Cheap, thin cards with no pizazz. Just an ordinary, bland card. About six months ago I found a print company called Moo.com. They specialize in printing business cards that leave an impression.
Not only are the cards bigger and thicker than most anything out there, they feel silky to the touch. As soon as someone receives one from you, they know you are someone of-note, someone different.
Also, during the last two years I've been getting reasonably good at photography and was able to get some great, professional self-portraits to use in business. I uploaded the photos to Moo and put three different photos on the backs of my cards.
Not only did people start to act more engaged as soon as they touched it, but sometimes even before I got back to the office I would see they had already been online, signed up for my blog and sent me a thank-you e-mail about meeting me.
But there's one more piece to this puzzle. I had the same photos on my website as well and one big one on my home page. Something about a nice, large, clear photo of you makes people feel they know you better.
It created the perfect complement of seeing me in person, having my business card as a visual reminder and then seeing me again on my site along with my full bio. This synergy has a powerful impact on people and I believe signifies you've reached a different level in business.
The best thing is, it's under your control whether you achieve it or not. No one to ask, no marketplace to figure out, just your decision to do it and gain the synergy from it.
For the first time in three years, my first book 'Best Website' has earned more money through Kindle sales than printed sales. This is definiately an amazing trend to be aware of moving forward.
For the first time in history, you don’t need to ask anyone to publish your book and make sales around the world. You can convert your Microsoft Word file directly into a Kindle Digital Text file for free and have direct access to the biggest bookstore anywhere, Amazon. (Click Here for instructions on how to convert your file and upload.)
If you sell a $9.99 Kindle book, as the author you keep $6.89. You don’t even need a full book to start, you can upload a short article called a Kindle Single and sell it at $2.99 and keep $2.10. It’s a brilliant way to get your feet wet in the digital publishing world.
Access to the market is no longer the hard part, it's once you get there, have you spent the time to create a hungry pool of fish ready to buy what you've written. That's the part that takes time, effort and energy.
It's about putting in the effort to build a website, write a blog, gain trust and create a true desire in people to buy from you what you've created.
In the case of my latest book 'Web Fluent' I ran a 99Designs design contest to create its front-cover for $199. Then I converted my Microsoft Word file into Kindle format; wrote a short blurb for what the book is about and uploaded it directly to Amazon along with my bank account info for direct deposit of royalty checks.
Then, since I've spent the time to build trust with my email list, I sent an email to my fans and POW! It has already snuck into the top 25 of the Amazon Web Marketing bestseller list.
However, it's not about the "Big Launch" to me, it's about consistently selling books that make a positive impact on peoples lives over the course of years. This is how wealth is built.
I'm humbly grateful my first book is still on both Printed and Kindle bestseller lists weekly, ..even though it came out three years ago.
Also, something very interesting about the Digital Publishing world as noted at the BookExpo Convention last month. While Amazon and it's Kindle currently hold about 65% of the ePublishing market, a surprise second is the Barnes & Nobles Nook which was widely ridiculed but now holds a commanding second place with approximately 25% of the market and iPad lagging with only 10%.
An area for opportunity; especially for new authors, is to go directly to the Nook and work hard there to make an impact. Many times in business the best place to make the most money is dominating a smaller market as apposed to being lost in a bigger one.
Side Note: I have an excellent Digital Publishing partnership available directly with me. You can buy the international rights to my new book, 'Web Fluent: The Faster, Easier Way to Build Your Web Business'.
I'll then build you an exact duplicate of BestWebsite.com showing you as the owner. Then, the new website will be set up to specifically target a different marketplace like the lucrative United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France or anywhere else.
The reason to have separate international websites is that the search engine algorithms are so specific, it needs separate websites targeting them. (Update: I've sold the Australian and Spanish American rights.)
It's a great way for me to reach into international markets and have a presence and a great way for you to jump directly into the online publishing revolution without having to build a website from scratch, write a book or learn the search engine optimization to gain the traffic to sell books. I can show you all of that and I'll help you as long as you need me there.
The site can be ready to launch in two-weeks and will earn between $2,500-$10,000/mo in profit. You'll need $5k to invest and a willingness to run a Web business 5-10 hours a week for the first three months. After that you can for the most part leave it alone, because the work will have been done to create the consistent traffic.
So why not hire someone to help me launch internationally? I love the simplicity I've been able to create with my Web business. I make the money I need through book royalties and consulting. Adding employees isn't something that interests me. I would much prefer work directly with other entrepreneurs on partnerships like this, where the Partner has the final responsibility but in return also has ownership and control of the asset.
Contact me at nelson@bestwebsite.com or 407-963-7331 for more info.
What a magically warm welcome you all gave the 'Web Fluent' book. More than 3,000 of you took advantage of the free download.
Through my Feedblitz tracking and Google Analytics I could see many of you forwarding the launch email, as well as linking to the book download page.
A most gracious "Thank-You".
I apologize if you missed the free download, it's still available as a PDF; which is readable on any computer, iPhone, iPad or Android; as well as a Kindle book for only $9.
If you've already read it and loved it, I would be truly appreciative if you would vote on the Amazon Reviews already posted ..or write one of your own; right here.
