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Author Assistants, Book Coaches, Book Shepherds and
Virtual/Personal Assistants Who Have Author-Clients
INCREASE YOUR VALUE TO
AUTHOR-CLIENTS - AND LAND MORE CLIENTS - by Becoming an Expert on How Corporations and Non-Profits Buy Books by the 1000s at a Time for Use in Their Marketing and HR Incentive Programs
 I'll personally coach you step-by-step how the books-as-incentives market works, the many advantages of marketing to it, how it's done and how it can even help your clients market their other products and services - related to their book's topic - to the Fortune 500, other businesses and major non-profits.
Enrollment in this program is restricted to a few due to the unlimited personal coaching by yours truly that is included. Enroll early, reserve your position, plus save hundreds of dollars by acting now.
To: All coaches and assistants who have author-clients (or would like to)
From: Terry Roberts, CEO - Incentive Books
Re: How you can become a hero to your clients and generate more income in the process
The Author's Challenge
You've probably discovered all too well, the challenges that authors face in selling their books:
 Unless your author-client is the likes of Tom Clancy, a publishing house isn’t going to market their book. Book publishers are in the risk-reduction (read "sure thing"), production & distribution business, not the marketing business
Some 35 - 40% of bookstore books are not sold and are returned to their publishers (some damaged)!
Ninety-three per cent of traditionally published books sold through bookstores sell less than 1000 copies! -Source: Bookscan data for reporting bookstores; Nielsen Research (2005)
Self-published POD books sell an average of 200 copies -Source: Susan Driscoll, CEO, iUniverse
Yet...the more books your author-client sells, the more s/he…
Helps others
Builds a reputation
Opens up other opportunities
Makes money
How Am I Going to Help You Help Your Author-Clients?
I'll teach you step-by-step how you can be a hero to your clients and generate more income by helping them understand:
How the books-as-incentives market works
The many advantages of marketing to it
How it's done
How it can even help your clients market - to corporations and non-profits - their other products and services related to their book's topic
Who Am I to Coach You?
I'm the Founder and CEO of Multiple Streams Marketing, Inc.and the creator of IncentiveBooks.com (IB). IB serves as the "outsourced incentive sales department" for book publishing houses and self-publishers. We collaborate with a team of leading service providers and marketing partners to provide an end-to-end solution to marketing books to the world of business incentives.
My expertise is in incentive programs, ebusiness strategy, marketing and direct marketing. I've spent 30+ years in the advertising and marketing business, planning and implementing programs for over 250 companies as large as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Arm & Hammer, Paramount, Nasdaq, Ocean Spray plus trade and professional associations and many smaller entrepreneurial businesses. In short, that means I learned the incentives business from the most important perspective there is - the client's perspective: I learned intimately:
What drives them
How they think
How they plan
How they budget
How they talk
What worries them
What irritates them
What they want to hear
What turns them off
I have conceived and supervised the execution of 100's of direct marketing programs and put together dozens of incentive deals for my clients. Those clients have enjoyed many million dollars worth of profits from the programs I created for them. Some of those programs have entailed:
Promoting a book to human resource managers to be bundled with the author's in-house training program regarding more effective inter-personal communications
Promoting a book about sales training to sales executives of large, international sales organizations to provide to their sales forces
Offering books to customers as a thank you for subscribing to a Web site or taking a survey
Giving books as gifts to employees to thank them for their past achievement and to inspire them to achieve future goals
Bundling recipe books with packages of whole bean coffee to generate holiday sales in supermarkets
Offering excerpts of a book as an e-mail series to build a prospect list
Offering free magazine subscriptions as an extra incentive to become a paid member or a Web service
Creating countless programs involving what are called ad specialties – clocks, pens, mouse pads, coffee mugs, etc. with a company’s logo on them.
Then, during the two years I spent providing marketing advice to a digital-publishing client as an independent consultant, I had the opportunity to observe authors and publishers struggling with the absurdities of the traditional book distribution and marketing process - especially the bookstore channel.
Knowing there was a better way to market books in significant quantities, it became my passion to turn authors onto the possibilities of the books-as-incentives marketplace. It became my personal mission is to help IncentiveBook.com clients sell 1,000,000+ books into the incentives market by the end of 2011.
So, Back to What's an Author to Do
I recommend two major shifts in perspective:
#1: Think outside of bookstores. It amazes most people ot learn that 55% of all books – more than half - are sold outside of bookstores -Source: Assn. of American Publishers report (Feb 2005)
In the publishing world, non-bookstore sales are referred to as “special sales," and includes: book clubs, catalogs, libraries, gift stores (Hallmark chain), specialty stores (bicycle shops), and incentives (corporate and non-profit organizations)
#2: Think selling 1000s of books at a time; why sell one book at a time when you can sell books in large quantities to a single buyer?
What Is the Incentives Business Anyway?
Incentives are cash (including gift cards), travel or merchandise used to thank people or to motivate people to take a specific action or aspire to a given goal.
Most orders for merechandise incentives start at 5,000 books and go up from there
-Source: The MotivationShow.com
The target audiences for incentives can be prospects, customers, business partners, employees, contributors, sales people, distributors, dealers...any audience that a business wishes to motivate.
Below is an example of an actual incentive program. Holland America wanted to movitve people interested in cruising to Alaska to book with their cruise line by a certain date. They offered a beautiful coffee table book on Alaska's Denali (Mt. McKinley) as an incentive.
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This is the kind of deal that most people are referring to when they talk about incentives. But there is a whole additional world of opportunity for books-as-incentives that few are aware of. In my coaching program, I'll teach you how to help your clients tap into it.
What are the Benefits of the Incentives Market to the Author?
There are many:
It is one of the best things an author can do to promote his/her self, business, other products and services
Books are non-returnable - all sales are final (unlike with bookstores)
People who receive your book include prospects for buying not only more books, but for the author's other, related products and services
The author can legitimately call him or her self a best-selling author and leverage it into other opportunities, depending on his/her interests: A distribution deal? A book club deal? A contract with a publisher? A commission from a business to write another book for their use?
The profit realized can finance the author's next great thing
It's relatively fast pay (compared to book store channels)
The larger quantities of books orders = offset printing = low cost per book = an attractive profit margin despite discounted bulk pricing to buyers
There is little or no competition because few publishers and authors understand the market and how to sell to it
It is totally compatible with any other marketing or distribution the author or publisher is doing
What's the Profit Potential for a Book-as-Incentive Deal
Here's what a hypothetical book-as-incentive sale might look like (in this case, to a self-published author) for a quantity of 5,000 books. Keep in mind that every deal is negotiated, so these figures would vary depending on a number of factors:
| Cover price |
$20.00 |
| Negotiated quantity discount |
60% |
| Negotiated price per book |
$8.00 |
| Printing cost per book* |
$3.00 |
| Profit per book |
$5.00 |
| Profit on the deal ($5.00/book x 5,000 books) |
$25,000 |
*Depends on hard/soft cover, color, graphics, no. of pages, quality of paper and more;
but this figure wouldn't be uncommon.
Why is the Books-as-Incentives Market
Such a Secret to Authors
There are several reasons:
There is no visible marketplace that creates awareness or shows illustrates how it's done
Most authors have never exposed to the implementation side of incentives in their careers
Most small-medium publishers don’t talk about it; typically they either don’t understand it or don’t intend to actively pursue it for their authors
Most book coaches and writers about publishing/marketing don’t talk about it, either because they don't understand it or don't have the resources to pursue it
How Big is the Incentives Market?
The incentives industry totalled $46 billion in sales in 2007, and has been growing at around 6% per year over recent years. -Source: Incentive Marketing Association
The travel portion of the industry has been hit hard by 911 and the '08 -'09 recession. But the merchandise portion has held up relatively well, and is coming back readily as of this writing...as it historically has from all recessions. Incentives, done well, are a net revenue producers - that their very purpose for being!
The “promotional products” (or "ad specialty") industry, comprised on mugs, pens, calendars, drinkware, etc., and which is included in the broader definition of incentives, represented an additional $18.8 billion in 2007.
-Source: Promotional Products Association International
Approximately 17% of organizations that use merchandise use books (-Source: Potentials in Marketing Magazine, 2005). Although there is not formal reporting channel for books-as-incentives, the best estimate, based on total merchandise sales and the percentage of organizations that use books, is that it amounts to $1 billion worth of books annually.
How Can Books-as-Incentives Be Such a Big Market if it's a Secret to Most Authors and Most Publishers Don't Get It?
It's because of the "big boys."
The Stratification of Books-as-Incentives by Size of Publisher
6 Largest Publishing Conglomerates
(Random House, Penguin Putnam, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings, Time Warner, Simon & Schuster) |
Dedicated, in-house "special sales" teams
Do the majority of incentive deals |
| 400 Mid-Sized Publishers |
No dedicated incentive sales - reactive only
Do some incentive sales |
90,000 or So Small/Self Publishers
(+8,000 or so new ones each year) |
Largely clueless about incentives
Very few deals done |
I'm going to teach you how to change this equation by showing your author-clients how to tap into the incentives market like the big boys.
Your Opportunity
With my help, you can be the one who helps your author-clients understand that...
Self-published authors and small-to-medium publishers are sitting on a gold mine. They are the niche book specialists, and niche books make better incentives than best-sellers. A best-seller means a lot of people already own the book. If they already own it, offering them the book as an incentive falls on deaf ears!
Rather, incentive buyers love to play “look at the little gem we discovered for you” with niche books
For most buyers, a self-published or unknown author isn’t an obstacle; relevant content is king!
Niche books are BIG business: Amazon makes more money from niche books than from it’s top 100,000 books, the number of titles found in a typical Barnes & Noble bookstore! (-Source: Chris Anderson, Author, The Long Tail;); let me put that a different way: Amazon makes more money on the books you CAN"T EVEN FIND in the typical bookstore than it does on the top 100,000 best sellers that you're likely to FIND in a major bookstore
Here's What You'll Learn from My
"Books-as-Incentives Program for Coaches"
So You Can Become a Hero to Your Author-Clients
You will know all about:
What kinds of organizations buy books in large quantities for use in incentive program
What organizations like about books-as-incentives
What organizations are looking for in books to be used as incentives
Whether any given book is good incentive prospect
How to target the most likely organizations for a given book
Step-by-step instructions and tools for marketing a book to the incentives market
How to make the best choice among the three ways that your author-clients can tap into the books-as-incentives world
- Do the marketing themselves
- Have you (if you wish) or an assistant to yourself or your client
do the marketing
- Have IncentiveBooks.com do the marketing
The kinds of book customization incentive buyers are likely to ask for
How to negotiate the deal like a pro
How to coach your clients on selling more of their products and services that are related to their book's topic, products like CD and DVD programs, services such as speaking, coaching, training, consulting, facilitating, etc.
In addition, you will personally possess all the tools for your clients to implement their own incentive marketing program if they so choose.
Best of all, you will most likely recover the entire cost of the program through pass-through charges and/or additional fees with the very first client for whom you provide your newfound knowledge and expertise.
Here's What's Included in My
"Books-as-Incentives Program for Author Assistants"
You get: The "Over-the-Top Book Sales Program - How Authors Can Sell Books by the 1000s at a Time to Organizations for Use in incentive Programs": Value - $397
A complete do-it-yourself book marketing guide and toolkit for the books-as-incentives market. Use it yourself or share it with your clients. Comes on CD. Includes all of the following:
A 130-page Program Guide with Quick-Start Instructions. The entire contents are in a question and answer format so you can quickly and easily zero-in on just the answers you need to keep moving.
A short familiarization video that takes you on a tour of the program and how to get the most out of it quickly and easily: an overview of the books-as-incentives marketplace, why companies like books for incentives, how the business works and the benefits to you of tapping into this billion-dollar marketplace (this video and those below are mailed to you on CD due to being impractical to download)
Three 5 - 9 minute program-section familiarization videos:
Video One: Targeting Session
How to identify multiple, ultimate target audiences for your book using the Prospect Targeting Matrix provided
How to identify the organizations who have an trusted relationship with the book's ultimate audiences
Online, free sources for compiling your contact list
Video Two: Prospecting Session
How to select your letter template(s) (provided)
How to customize your letters
How to compile your prospect list
How to merge your letters and prospect list
What goes in your prospecting package
Using the optional follow-up call service
Video Three: Doing the Deal Session
How to do follow-up calls: when, how many, how far apart, what to say
How to complete the terms and conditions of the purchase agreement
Leveraging your other products and services
Using the Authors Answer publishing attorney resource
Ready to Use MarketingTemplates & Tools
A Book Targeting Matrix that facilitates the identification of your ultimate target audiences and the types of organizations that serve them
Some thirty-two prospecting letter templates with mail merge contact fields already in place to make it a snap to create personalized letters for each prospect (the language of the various letters are customized to fit companies, associations, and charities
A contact list template for merging into your letters
An addendum to prospecting letters with 44+ idea starters for prospects on ways they can use your book as an incentive
A Book Data Sheet addendum to prospect letters that conveys to your prospects the vital stats about your book at a
glance
A template and instructions for producing mailing labels
Follow-up phone call outline for talking with prospects
Bulk Book Purchase Agreement template
Five additional 5 - 9 minute videos showing how to use the above templates and tools:
Use the Book Targeting Matrix
Compile your prospect list using the template provided
Customize your prospecting letter templates
Merge your mailing list and prospecting letter
Create mailing labels using your compiled, prospect mailing list
Technical Requirements for the Over-the-Top Book Sales Program on CD The program requires a PC running Microsoft® Word® (for the document templates) and Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet (for your mail list). Both are included with the Microsoft® Office® software suite. You also need Windows Media Player (came with your operating system) or any media player that plays .avi type videos and a working audio system to experience the audio and audio/video presentations.
You Also Get: Three Recordings of One-Hour educational Webinars (slides and audio tracks) presented by me, Terry Roberts (recorded live): Value - $197
Session One: One: Introduction to the World of Books-as-Incentives
Session Two: Targeting Your Book to the Most Likely Incentive Buyers
Session Three: Steps in Marketing Your Book(s) to Incentive Buyers
These Webinars are an excellent way to understand the incentives market and the keys to marketing to it. Great for you, fantastic for sharing with your clients. You will download these from the links we provide when you register for the program.
You Also Get: The Use of our Proprietary Automated Online Marketing System Featuring the First-Ever Plastic Postcard with Break-Away Wallet Card Approved by the U.S. Postal Service: Value - a minimum of $400
Through our exclusive arrangement with Popacard, you will have access to our online-automated postcard marketing system that you can use to easily and quickly promote your clients' books to the corporate incentives market. The postcards are printed full-color on plastic material like that used for credit cards. The one-of-a-kind format features a break-away wallet card on which you feature special offers that will motivate the recipient to remove the card to act on the offer (like contacting you or your client about your bulk book offer). Because of the uniqueness and high perceived value of Popacards, marketers who use them are experiencing impressive success rates.
Our proprietary system provides you with multiple pre-designed cards that you easily customize with your client's book image, book description and the contact information you wish to use. Your clients will love the colorful, high-quality of these cards featuring the key benefits that matter to prospective buyers. You and your clients can even keep a quantity of cards on hand to personally hand out at events or through your day-to-day networking..
To do a Popacard mailing, all you do is log-into your account, select the appropriate card, upload your mailing list by Excel spreadsheet and click a button. Your cards will be digitally printed, including each prospect's address, then mailed by Popacard. And the copy on each card will even be personalized with the addressee's name!
If you were to have Popacard design cards for you, the design fee for each would be $288. With our system, you get multiple ready-to-go designs at no additional cost.
Moreover, through volume buying and grouping of multiple client cards to qualify for low U.S.P.S. bulk rates, we pass to you a lower cost for cards and postage than you would qualify for directly!
You Also Get: FREE Unlimited email and Phone Access to Me, Terry Roberts, for One Year: Value - If you were to hire me on retainer for a year, I would charge you a minimum of $4000
Ask me what I think of your clients' or potential clients' books regarding their appeal to the incentives market
Grill me about target incentive markets for your book or your clients' books
Ask me questions about strategies for marketing your book or your clients' books to the incentives market
Pick my brain for book customizing ideas
Get help on negotiating points when you or your clients are putting together quantity-book deals
Plus Bonus One: Exposure on IncentiveBooks.com to Potential Author-Clients for Your Practice: Value - Unlimited (It Pays You!)
You will be featured in on our "Incentive-Savvy Author-Coaches" page under the author tab on IncentiveBooks.com. We will promote your value to potential author-clients who visit our site as an IB-trained books-as-incentives marketing specialist. The listing is complete with your photo and bio, professional affiliations, description of services, contact information and links to all of your Web presences (primary Web site, specialized sales sites, social networking sites, etc.).
When authors visit IB and become excited about the potential of the incentives market for their book, they will also be exposed to your coaching services related to same...including your IB-trained credentials. A great way to find new, motivated clients hungry for help!
Plus Bonus Two: Membership in IncentiveBooks.com Super-Affiliate Program: Value - Unlimited (It Pays You!)
Earn a 30% commission when you refer your clients or anyone else who signs-up for the IncentiveBooks.com sales represenation program. Currently, this commission is $60 on a Basic Listing plus $30 on a Premium Listing.
Plus Bonus Three: A One-Hour Interview with leading book publishing/marketing coach Patrick Snow - "How to Use a Book to Promote Yourself and Your Business": Value - $97
Patrick Snow is a best-selling, self-published author who has personally sold 150,000 copies of his book "Creating Your Own Destiny." He discovered early on that being a book author was the number on key to building a reputation and opening all manner of business opportunities: partnerships, speaking engagements, coaching opportunities, and much more. This interview reveals exactly how he did it and how you and your clients can apply what he learned over 22 years about leveraging a book to maximum advantage.
You will download the interview from the link we provide when you register for the program.
Summary of Program Value
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The Over-the-Top Book Sales Program on CD
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$397
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Three One-Hour Live Webinar Recordings presented by Terry R.
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$197
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Use of the IncentiveBooks.com Popacard Postcard Marketing System
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$400
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FREE, Unlimited Phone and email Access to Terry R. for One Year
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$4000
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Bonus One: Exposure as a Trained Incentive Book Specialist on IncentiveBooks.com
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Unlimited Coaching Fees
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Bonus Two: Membership in the IncentiveBooks.com Super-Affiliate Program (minimum commissions if you referred just five people)
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$295
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Bonus Three: A 70-Minute Recorded Audio Interview with leading publishing coach Patrick Snow
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$97
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Total Minimum Value
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$5386
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But your package price is just two payments of $347.00 UNLESS...
you are a go-getter and can demonstrate it by being one of the first six people to sign up during the current enrollment period. If so, we will pay $100.00 of your first payment so it's only $247.00 to you (see how below).
In either case, it's a savings of over $4600
on the collective value of all the program's features!
Here's how to find out if you're one of the go-getter six to earn the $100.00 discount: Click the "Purchase Author-Coach Program" button below and enter FIRST6 (not case sensitive) in the "Coupon Code" box of the shopping cart. Then click "Apply" next to the box.. If the amount displayed changes to from $347 to $247.00, you'll know you've qualified. Click the "Check-Out" button to proceed.
Remember, you will most likely recover the entire cost of the program through pass-through charges and/or additional fees with the very first client for whom you provide your newfound knowledge and expertise.
Limited Enrollments Means First Paid, First Served
Currently Enrolling - Sign Up Now to Reserve Your Slot!
No Strings Guarantee
If, at any time within 30 days of your purchase, you conclude that the program is not a great value, just write us a note warranting that you have deleted or destroyed all copies of all content - digital or otherwise - that was provided with the program, and we'll give you a full refund.
Click to order:
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