As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of studying success stories since it is one of the few ways we can truly learn what works online versus what people “say” will work.
In fact, the entire Information Entrepreneur Success System is updated frequently with the latest, proven strategies for becoming a high paid information publishing giant online based largely on real case studies.
When it comes to launching an online writing project such as writing an ebook or putting together your own Kindle book or even being more ambitious and creating your own online training program or membership site…there have been numerous success stories that combine the power of social media/blogging and writing a book.
Why Does Blogging To Writing A Book Work?
1. By launching your own blog you begin to put your writing out there (albeit in short 300-1000 word blog posts). Blogging gets you used to writing, is simple to fit into your busy day and exposes you to an audience so that you begin building a following (more on that in a minute)
2. Blogs (by their very nature) allow people to participate and provide near real-time feedback to you so you can see the topics and subjects that really get your market buzzing…when it comes to writing a book, buzz is SO very important.
3. Syndication and subscription – two of the most powerful terms ever in content marketing. Syndication happens automatically with blogs as you “ping” wide directories with your blog title and abstract each time you post which helps get your content exposed widely. When someone reads your blog and likes what they read, they can subscribe through their RSS reader and be notified of your future posts. The power here is of course you have transitioned from your market “pulling” in your content to you know having a channel to “push” content to your most interested followers.
4. Writing structure…what most people fear the most is sitting down and having the pressure of writing 100 pages from scratch. In fact, 99% of those that want to write a book fail writer there. With blogging, writing 300-600 words each day is much less intimidating, so you will stick to your schedule.
Suppose you structure your blog posts around a specific outline that could form the basis of a book?
Hmmm….now we have an interesting model where we can write easily each day, distribute our content widely, see near immediate feedback on what our market consumes AND how they feel about it and we are building a few thousand loyal followers that are desperate to see anything we produce (including the fact that most will pay you for a book in the future)
Believe Us – It Works…Here’s Proof!
Here is a recent case in point, the blogger named Jen behind the popular “People I Want To Punch In The Throat” blog took benefit from each of the factors listed above.
She started with a simple blog, no followers and began to blog about different things and people that irked her…this caught on (over time) and saw her begin to build a following on both her blog and on her Facebook and eventually, Twitter pages she would notify each time she made a blog post.
Participation soon followed, feedback that she should write a book came and the rest is history.
She now has her first book self-published called “Spending the Holidays With People I Want To Punch In The Throat” – how can you resist right?
Obviously Jen has done it right, judging by the HUGE comment participation she has around her blog, she has learned to touch a nerve in her marketplace and that is the fundamental MUST to write and sell your own books.
In fact, what Jen has demonstrated is that blogging and social networking far exceed any value a publishing company can bring to your project…so go ahead, launch your blog, begin to “test” your content and market and soon you too will have the opportunity to launch your own exciting, top selling ebook or book.
