The truth is, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

A book lends credence to your authority and expertise. It says "Hey! I knew enough about this subject to write a book on it!" AND it also is a physical product you can use as a lead magnet or a tripwire.

Now, if you're not a marketing expert, you may feel like I just spoke French! So let me define lead magnet and tripwire for you. What are these things?

Internationally-Acclaimed Author Sarah Nicole Nadler Talks About Using A Book To Grow Your Service-Based Business

For those who are new to the blog, Sarah Nadler is a Life Coach & inspirational speaker with twelve years of experience helping clients reach relationship, career and Big Hairy Audacious life goals. Her work has been featured on Fox News, ABC, NY Weekly and The Sierra Leone Times, and her book Walking Past Expectations was rated #6 on Lifney's list of Best Books to Read On The Beach This Summer 2019.

A lead is a person who has expressed interest in your products or services, for whom you have contact information. It is the first step in the direction of making a sale! To sell anything, you first must have leads.

What does a magnet do? It draws things toward you!

So we have a Lead Magnet - an incentive a business uses to attract customers, generate interest, and exchange for their contact information.

Let me give you some examples:

Cinnabon: my favorite dessert of ALL time. Have you ever been to a mall, and seen that person who stands out in front of the Cinnabon store, trying to tempt you to try a bite?

That bite-sized piece of fattening delicious gooey goodness is a lead magnet!

It is meant to turn you from a potential customer into one who has expressed a drooling interest.

Let's take one more example - an online store.

Maybe you've seen your favorite makeup store do this - offer you a free sample if you subscribe to their email list.

This is where lead magnets become a powerful tool in digital marketing.

By using your book as a lead magnet for your business, giving it away for free becomes the most profitable thing you've ever done! Because it gives you the contact information of a prospect who has just proven, by downloading your book, that they DO have the problem your service is designed to solve.

So that's one way a book can be a great strategy for growing your business.

The other thing you can do with a book is use it as a tripwire.

A tripwire in the marketing world is a very cheap, but not free, offer you make to potential clients. I've seen coaches who offer one month of their group coaching program for a $1!

Why?

Because statistically, a buyer is more likely to buy again than a subscriber.

If you can turn a subscriber into a buyer for only $1, just the very fact that they have dipped into their wallet once, means that mentally they're more prepared to buy again from you. This is a proven fact!

So that's the second way you can use a book to grow your business.

Now, we've covered two ways you can use a book - but there is one other major strategy for published authors. This one is my personal favorite. You can use your book as a reason to attract media attention to your business.

Newpapers, tv shows, bloggers, podcasters, radio stations, etc., - are far far more likely to interview or feature you if you have "published author" at the end of your name.

Since publishing my fifth book, I've been featured in Fox News, ABC, NY Weekly. These big-name media companies only know me because I publish books and use them to gain speaking engagements.

If you're a complete introvert, this is not the strategy for you. I know, because I used to be very introverted, and until I overcame that - I would have rather died than stand up in front of a crowd!

But if public speaking is your jam, using PR and your book to attract media attention will be a game-changer.

Want to see the scripts, tips and strategy I use along with my book to land me on national news? Grab a copy of my book "How to Write A Press Release".

So those are the three best strategies that I've used to grow my business with my books.

But...

Before you can use them, you have to HAVE a published book.

Did you know that only 1% of people who want to write a book, ever do? It's true!

So obviously its not as easy as most beginners think, but it can be done. If you'd like some help to write yours, check out my Bookpreneur coaching program.