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Right now, your ideal target consumers are probably at home consuming some form of content. Just look at the evidence — Netflix hit a new milestone in subscribers. Internet providers are struggling to keep up with bandwidth as users burn up the interwebs. Blogs, podcasts, publications and news outlets are all experiencing a surge in content consumption.
Content — and marketing it — is crucial to the growth of any business today. It’s no longer enough to just show up and demand that your consumers pay attention when you post a sales offer. If you’re not nurturing it through content, that offer will fall on deaf ears.
Content marketing is a powerful way to build an audience, nurture potential clients and increase overall revenue through blogs, podcasts, videos and social media posts.
And one of the most powerful forms of content marketing is publishing a book.
Perhaps, in your mind, you’re picturing someone writing a 100,000-word book in a weekend. You’re thinking about a process that takes months, or even longer, to market. What I’m advising is something a little more streamlined — a 15,000- to 30,000-word representation of what your business offers. The beauty behind this content marketing strategy is that you get to leverage one of the most underutilized search engines and audiences: Amazon.
Here are three ways to utilize books to support your business, build inbound leads and modernize a legacy form of content marketing.
Repurpose other content into a book
You’re creating content all the time. You’re publishing social media posts, blogs, newsletters, podcasts and other forms of content. All of that value can be compiled, edited and put together in chapter format to create a book.
Great editors and formatters can transform that repurposed content to make it polished. When you give it new life, your content will reach book readers, eager to read your compiled, lengthy thoughts. And in the process, you’ll publish a book, generate additional revenue and build your inbound leads.
To get started, take stock of all the content you’ve published over the last month. Is there a theme? Find that connection, create a title and lay out the content in a strategic way that educates the consumer about how you help solve problems.
Related: 5 Ways Your Business Will Benefit From You Writing a Book
Create ebooks on various topics within your business
The new version of books are created to be to the point. The reality is this: Your consumer is not in a place where they’re prepared to take on a lot of information. It would overwhelm them. They need bite-sized pieces of information.
It takes many different components to accomplish what you teach and provide in your business, and each of those elements could be a separate ebook. You could have a series of ebooks that educate consumers and, subconsciously, start the buying process.
Each of these books could have links to your website, services page and email list, and offer an extra incentive if readers sign up. With ebooks, those can be live links throughout each book.
A series of books on the topics your business covers is a great way to build your visibility, increasing your reach while providing value to your consumers. It’s an underutilized form of content marketing that produces hefty dividends.
Related: Consider This Before Self-Publishing Your Book
Outsource book creation while reaping the benefits
If the thought of putting together a book sounds exhausting, outsource the work.
There are entire businesses built around creating and publishing books. Use your existing content, or hire a ghostwriter to flesh out what you want to say in a book. Investing in outsourcing can help you bring life to books that build your brand credibility, reach new consumers in multiple ways and build your potential list of buyers. It’s a win-win.
Creating, publishing and leveraging books in your content marketing strategy is not as daunting as it seems. Today’s tools make the process much easier. Look at Amazon, for example. It’s a great resource and revenue stream that entrepreneurs can add to their business.
Take some of that great content you’ve been working hard to publish and turn it into a book that could exponentially increase your content marketing’s reach and effectiveness. You’re one book away from creating a legacy form of content.
Related: How to Write a Book (and Actually Finish It) in 5 Steps