So You Self-Published Your Book? Here Are 4 Things You MUST Do Next

Laura Petersen
Sep 1, 2018 · 4 min read

1) Laser-focus your services.

It happens to everyone; you start your business with one direction in mind, take on a ton of different clients/projects to make ends meet, and suddenly, your business has no target market, and your elevator pitch is suuuper vague. “I coach…people?” “I write…blogs? And other stuff?”

But if you took the first blog in this series to heart, you most likely wrote your book around a very specific niche. So now it’s time to keep up that momentum and get rid of everything that doesn’t fit with your new niche.

For example, if you’re an accountant who wrote a book on Taxes for Creative Freelancers, you’d scrap any offerings like:

  1. Tax packages for corner-office corporate employees
  2. Expensive consultations designed for wealthy investors*

You want zero cognitive dissonance between your website and your book, so any readers don’t get confused when they go to actually, y’know, buy something from you. Your website needs to make sense with the new niche you’re targeting.

*Obviously, you’ll want to strike a balance between your bread-and-butter clients and your ideal clients. But when you spread yourself too thin, you give up a presence in your ideal niche.

2) Develop a working system for landing clients and completing projects.

You want every new client that comes your way to experience the same awesome product–yes, even if it’s a service. So if you haven’t done it already, set aside an hour, pour yourself a tall glass of something delicious, and grab some sticky notes and a pen.

Ask yourself:

  • How does a client get in touch with you? (Email? Phone? A form on your website?)
  • What happens when a client first reaches out? (Do you email them back immediately with a template email that explains a little more about your business and prices? Do you schedule a Skype call?)
  • At what point do you communicate your work/life boundaries? Your prices?
  • What are your payment policies? (100% upfront? 50% upfront? 33%?)
  • How will you communicate with a client from that point forward? (Email only or primarily phone?)
  • Are there specific ways you can deal with a project going slightly off the rails? Are there ways you can circumvent common issues?
  • How do you wrap up a client interaction? How will you happily send them on their way?
  • Do you want to have a referral program in place?

Write your answers down on sticky notes and arrange the sticky notes until they form a complete beginning-to-end process of a client interaction–until you can see everything from acquisition to happy former customer.

This will help you spot holes and streamline your processes, so you can effortlessly deliver the same quality to every single client.

Important: You might not know all the answers, especially if you’re totally changing tracts. But lay out a basic process, and if something isn’t working, adjust as you test it out.

3) Repackage your old products under your new brand image

As you’re getting rid of elements of your business that don’t work at all with your new client niche, keep an eye out for things that maybe just need a little makeover.

Do you already offer a course, ebook, or service that’s close enough to your new client base, and just needs to be renamed?

For example, I had a section on my site called “Permission to Write a Book.” After I published my book about copywriting for podcasters, I switched it to “Permission to Write a Brand Building Book for Podcasters.” This helped further define my niche.

Or maybe you’re a social media marketer who wants to focus in on eco-friendly brands. As you look through your services, see where you can tweak your offerings to emphasize your eco-friendly positioning–whether it’s in the copy or the design!

4) Make sure your website emphasizes your new Author Expert status

Not only do you want to focus up your actual business offerings, but you also want to your website to place your expertise FRONT AND CENTER, set you apart from the competition, and give your new potential clients a logical place to land.

The easiest way to accomplish ALL of that? Feature your book visually and in your copy!

At minimum, your homepage should feature a picture of you with your book, and a couple blurbs from other reputable experts about how great your book is.

Also, your bio and service/product descriptions are great places to show off your new Author Expert status. You’ve got it, so flaunt it!

Want the full list of ways to really harness the power of your new status as a bestselling author? Click here to read my post on Copy That Pops, 17 Smart Ways To Use Your Book To Grow Your Business!

Laura Petersen

Written by

Tall math & psych teacher turned international speaker, bestselling author, podcast nerd, & publishing strategist. #WriteaBook

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