If you sell products, provide services, or consult for other businesses, the missing piece in you inbound marketing strategy just might be an eBook. But wait, you say! You’re not an author but a PCB manufacturer, personal chef, business consultant, local search marketing expert, garage door repairman, or software developer. Writing a book was not included in your job description.
Don’t worry. Electronic books don’t have to be very long. Actually two to four thousand words, or about five to ten pages, is often perfect. Some effective eBooks can even be shorter. Your book just has to provide value for your audience by explaining something in more depth than a typical blog post or article.
You’re already the expert in your business, so it’s likely that you’ve got plenty to say that potential customers would like to hear. Why not give your target market a chance to get to know you better? Besides, here at WriterAccess, we have some great eBook authors who can run with your knowledge and ideas to create a product that you’ll be proud to promote and put your name on.
Why Does Your Inbound Marketing Platform Need an eBook?
You might think of your eBook as the Swiss Army Knife of your inbound marketing platform. It’s an all-purpose tool that can help strengthen your entire platform. Consider just a few of the many ways you can use your online book to help promote your brand and attract or retain customers:
- Collect leads: Savvy online marketers put their electronic books behind email forms. They use the books as an incentive for visitors to sign up for a newsletter or fill out a lead form.
- Stack content: The sections of your eBook should provide a number of good ideas for blog posts. Meanwhile, your blog can promote your book, and your book can promote your blog. Once you’ve attracted visitors to your Internet platform, you surely want to keep them engaged.
- Generate social media content on rainy days: One common characteristic of businesses that enjoy social media success is consistency. On those slow news days, you can always promote your book download page and attractive book cover. You can also use it as a resource to help you answer related questions that others post. Use your valuable content as a way to introduce yourself on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
- Establish your authority: The best use of an eBook is to help establish your brand or yourself as an authority in your business. If you can help your audience understand a problem, your brand should be the one they think of when they are ready to solve their problem.
Another good reason to create an electronic book is because the act of creating it can also help you clarify your own attitudes about particular topics. Very often, when business owners and managers see their ideas in print, it makes it a lot easier for them to explain more complex topics to employees and prospects.
How to Publish an eBook
There are multiple ways to create your online book. The simplest way is to simply convert a document into a .PDF file and have a nice cover made. Covers are simply graphic .JPG files, and if you don’t employ an artist, you can find a book cover artist on a freelance site. The content of your eBook is important, but in the visual world of the Internet, so is the cover.
You can even hold a contest to get your cover designed, giving you an additional promotional opportunity. Another creative idea for businesses on a budget is to sponsor the cover design at a local art school or college. College students usually have very active social media accounts, and you’re bound to generate some good press for the good deed of giving talented students a chance to build their portfolio.
Business eBooks: An Investment that Performs for Years
In any case, a business eBook is one of those business investments that can keep performing for years. At the least, the book can help fatten up your list of email subscribers and social media followers. Most of all, your valuable resource should help enhance your brand and maybe even clarify your own business mission. If you want to win at inbound marketing, make sure you’ve got all of the pieces of your platform in place.
Marilyn K is a versatile writer who lives and breathes inbound marketing.
