Category: Blog

If you missed part 1 of this tutorial, you can find it here. It will show you what kinds of journals you can make.

Then move onto part 2 about how to make your journals.

Now let’s talk about how to sell your journals…

When it comes to selling your journals it’s just like selling anything else. Choose your audience, get to know them, create a journal that solves a problem, and then market it to that specific person. Selling easy to create journals for big profit is a lot simpler than you thought because you already likely have a built-in audience.

Ideas: Where to Sell the Journals, You Create

Once you’ve decided how you’ll have your journals created and printed you can take some time to consider where you’ll sell the journals that you create. That’s super easy too. Because you probably already have a good audience for them.

• In Your Facebook Group – If you have a Facebook Group for almost any topic that is a good place to sell your journals. Let’s say you have a Facebook Group that is about email marketing. You could create a journal that helps people to stick to their email marketing goals, have a challenge and offer the journal as a companion offering for the challenge. Hint: You can sell the journal POD or you can sell it in a PDF file and let them print it themselves.

• On Your Website – You can sell any type of product on your website whether it’s digital or physical. You just need to connect the technology if you’re using Print on Demand. Many POD services can do that with plugins and by grabbing the code to put the shopping cart on your site.

• At Live Events – Do you ever go to live events? If they allow you to set up a table you call sell your journals there just like you would any other book. If you host live events, including your journal in the ticket price, is a great way to get people using your journals. Be sure to get them to take selfies with it.

• For Workshops – Do you offer workshops for your clients? If so journals are a perfect companion piece or even an add on sale for the workshop. You can offer everything to add on to the workshop in your check out. You can also offer the journal to the participants of the workshop after they’ve attended to help them keep up the good work.

• To Coaching Clients – If you’re a coach, offering journals designed especially for your clients and their needs is that little extra step that will make a huge difference. Even if you send them to Amazon to buy them rather than directly on your site you’re going to make a lot of sales.

• On Amazon – You can simply list them on Amazon. Using Create Space you can choose to print them on Amazon. Also Burb.com, and Bookbaby.com, and others have an option to sell on Amazon and other sites and even get them printed to sell in bookstores.

• Etsy.com – If you make your journals yourself you can sell them on Etsy.com as well. For this to work you’ll need to get them printed first so you have inventory that you can sell to your customers. On Etsy, you can sell physical and digital products.

The best course of action is to consider selling on every platform that you can. Starting on Amazon is less expensive but using a POD like Ingramcontent.com can give you many other options while also making your journals available on Amazon, other online book retailers, and even enable you to put them on your site.

How to Market Your Journals

Regardless of where you sell your journals, you’ll need to market them. Marketing should cover every aspect of your audience. Market to them where they are using the platforms they like. You can also find new audiences by using advertisements to get their attention.

• Email Marketing – Create emails to send to your list about journaling and how it can help them. Teach them as you’re creating the journal about the importance of journaling and how it helps you. Give them examples that make the idea easier for them to grasp and understand.

• Social Media Marketing – In social groups online, yours and others if it’s not against the rules of the group, let them know about the journal you made. Tell them how it’s different from other journals and make them want it because it’s designed so incredibly well just for them.

• Blogging – On your blog, and as a guest on other blogs with similar audience members, blog about journaling and even the creative process of creating the journal. Blog about how journaling helps you reach goals, make decisions and keep records.

• Events – Whether you have an in-person event or an online event it’s always a good time to let people know about your journal. If you remember that you’re simply offering them something they need because it helps them and the design is good they’re going to want it.

• Online Ads – Facebook Ads are hot right now. They’re not because they work very well. If you get some great pictures of your journal and can explain who the journal is for, and how much it will help them you can run an advertisement on Facebook.

• Magazine Ads – A lot of times we get stuck on trying to market everything online instead of looking at offline possibilities. If you can get published in a magazine your bio box can lead them to your website just as well as a bio box as a guest blogger.

• Book Stores – It can be harder to get your journal into mass market bookstores because of the fact you’re self-published but if you can prove that your journals are selling well, and they’re attractive and different you still have a chance. Try locally owned and operated book stores first.

If you create a pitch for your journal that speaks to your audience you’re going to sell them. People have gone back to buying print books more often than they buy digital books so selling them in physical form is an excellent idea along with a digital form that they can print themselves to give more people an opportunity to buy and use your journal.

Creating and selling journals is simple. Once you create one journal you’re going to become addicted to creating them and want to create more. One way to do that is to think about how you want your customers to use their journal.

If it’s a yearly journal then you could technically create a slightly changed one for the next year. If it’s a 30-day journal for challenges then you could create a slightly changed one every 30 days. This gives you many opportunities to extend your market so that your audience will keep buying from you. You should get started.

What to Do Next:

Make it easy to break into the journal selling market with this package of done-for-you journals. You can edit them as much as you like, brand them and sell them as your own.

You’ll save a ton of time and plenty of money hiring someone to create them for you. This journal starter pack includes 4 attractive-looking journals on the following topics:

• Gratitude Journal
• Dream Journal
• Affirmations Journal
• Goal Setting Journal

Click here to get all these journals at one low price and make journal-selling a snap!

You can even use the 4 journals as templates to create new journals, so you’ve got most of your work done for you. SWEET!

If you missed part 1 of this tutorial, you can find it here. It will show you what kinds of journals you can make.

Now let’s talk about how to make your journals…

Since journals are such hot sellers, it’s important to figure out how to create them so that you can get started making money. Creating your journal is the first step toward making big profits. Don’t worry it’s not hard to do. You can get started using the software you already have or you can use software that is easily accessible online.

Software to Use

You don’t have to go out and buy expensive software to create a beautifully designed journal. You can use what you already have on your computer such Word, Pages (MAC), and MS Publisher. But there are also other options out there.

• Canva.com – This online graphic design software has templates that you can use to create your journal. You can import fonts, images, and use web colors to match your branding to make your journal look like yours.

• Adobe InDesign – This is for people who know something about graphic design. If you are a member of Adobe Creative Cloud you may have access to this software already along with many templates that can help you get started fast on your journal design.

• Make My Note Book – This online program lets you design and create your note book according to their standards but using a custom design you can get exactly what you want. They will print it and you can order wholesale if you order enough quantity.

• Journals Software Tool – This software works with software you already have on your computer to help you create journals fast. In fact, they claim you can create a many page journal in only 3 minutes using their software set up in many different sizes. You also get training included.

• Blurb – This is a great place to create amazing journals and get them listed on bookstore sites like Amazon. You can use their free software called BookWrite or you can use InDesign with their plugin. If you have images you’d like to use instead, you can do that too. Of course, you can also upload your PDF using their platform.

To be clear, if you know how to use any of the software mentioned you can totally design your own book. But, know what format you need it in to upload to the printer you’re going to use. If you’re using any print on demand (POD) solutions check them out thoroughly so you can be sure that the way you’re designing them will translate properly and look great when printed.

Tips for Making Your Journal Attractive

Outside of ensuring that the journal you create is perfect for your audience, you need to make it look attractive. The best way to accomplish that is to remember that less is more. You don’t need much on each page to make your journal. In fact, you can technically have the same exact thing on each page of the journal you create.

• Understand Color – The colors you use are important because they’ll give your audience a certain feeling. Learn about the psychology of color which will help you choose the right colors to help you lead your audience in the direction you want them to go for their journal.

• Understand Layout – Know that the size you’re making your journal is correct for your audience and for the POD platform. That way every line shows up looking correct and prints out perfectly. Read the instructions on your choice of POD before even getting started to avoid issues, especially if someone is making your graphics.

• Use the Right Images – Don’t cheap out on the images you choose to put into your print journal. First, ensure that you pay for the legal right to use the image commercially, then make sure you use the sizes and resolution required for printing which should be listed on the POD company you chose.

• Less is More – Don’t get overly concerned about empty pages. It’s a journal. It needs space to write the information down in. Also, don’t feel as if every single page must have a quote on it or art work on it. The important thing is that the cover, design, and purpose of your journal is clear so that your buyer knows how to use it.

Remember to keep it simple, use what you know, and ensure that your design matches your audience’s needs and wants. You’ll be amazed at how well the right journal can sell to your audience and even bring in new audience members.

Getting Your Journal Printed

This is really the easiest part. After you’ve decided on your design or angle then you’re going to want to get it printed. As mentioned before you should choose your POD company first before creating your journal so that you know how to format it correctly. You’ll also need to know the size each page should be, where and if there is a bleed area, and the sizes of images and how to format them correctly for printing. When you know that information before you design the journal everything will work out a lot better.

When it comes to POD you have a lot of choices today. You can go through Create Space & Amazon, Blurb.com, Cafepress.com, Steubenpress.com, Zazzle.com, and many other options. You can order via a wholesale POD company like Ingramcontent.com, Bookbaby.com or a printer like Vista Print even. Whether you let Amazon print it or you print it, you can still let Amazon sell it. Amazon has an option for any seller of almost anything to sell on Amazon as a Pro seller.

There are many ways you can get your journal printed and start selling. It depends on what type of cover you want, the size of the book, and whether you’re willing to give up some features over ease. For example, printing with Create Space gives you fewer options than if you used a company like Bookbaby.com, or if you just printed it wholesale with a company like Ingramcontent.com which also does POD. But, it makes the entire process smooth since it’s already integrated with Amazon which is the best place to sell these types of journals.

It really is as easy as all this. Simply pick a topic, use the software that works best for you, (ensuring that creates the right type of file for your POD choice) and make it look amazing by choosing images and layouts that go well together and make your audience really want to buy that journal.

What to Do Next:

Make it easy to break into the journal selling market with this package of done-for-you journals. You can edit them as much as you like, brand them and sell them as your own.

You’ll save a ton of time and plenty of money hiring someone to create them for you. This journal starter pack includes 4 attractive-looking journals on the following topics:

• Gratitude Journal
• Dream Journal
• Affirmations Journal
• Goal Setting Journal

Click here to get all these journals at one low price and make journal-selling a snap!

You can even use the 4 journals as templates to create new journals, so you’ve got most of your work done for you. SWEET!

Journals are very useful to anyone who wants to record gratitude, change something about themselves, or learn something new. People in all walks of life and all genders get a lot out of journalizing. They learn to be happy, they lose weight, or they get deep insight into something that was troubling them. You can cash in on this by creating and selling your own journals for big profits.

The only thing you need to get started is a new angle or topic that will be in demand from your audience. Remember that while there may be journals out there already, your design isn’t out there yet. Your design might make all the difference for your audience because it will be designed with them in mind and not the mass market. You want to make something that speaks to your audience and gives them a place to dream.

To come up with topics for your journal to sell to others ask yourself the following questions:

Who is Your Audience?

Understanding who your audience is will help you come up with angles for the topic and design of your journal. Perhaps you work with an audience who loves essential oils, you could use that as the basis of your design. Maybe your audience likes to color. You could use that as the basis too and create a coloring book along with matching that with the issues your audience may need a journal for.

What Problems Does Your Audience Have?

Every audience has a problem, and you have the solution. Therefore, starting with their problems, you can come up with journal designs that reflect these issues and speak to the audience in their language about their problems. For example, if your audience has joined your coaching program to help them learn to speak in public the journal can be about that topic, giving quotes, inspiration, and guidance for them to get their talk together. It doesn’t only have to be about writing down whatever you want. It can lead to something.

Which Problems Can Be Solved Through Journaling?

So many problems can be solved with journaling. For example, writer’s block. A good journal with information about curing writer’s block and writing prompts to write directly in the journal could solve their problem. If they’re writing in their journal they don’t have writer’s block because they’re writing. This is what’s amazing about journals. You can create them for literally any topic and any niche.

What Type of Journals Do You Like?

If you happen to be part of your own niche, then you’re set. Look through other journals. Take notes about what you like and don’t like about them. Collect some ideas that you do like so that you can transform them into your own idea that works for your audience. With the right art work, space for writing, and inspiration you’ll be able to create just the right journal for your audience. If you’re not in your own niche try surveying them about journaling to find out what they like.

The great thing about creating journals to sell is that each journal isn’t really that much work. A journal mostly consists of bank space for your customers to write in. The rest is just design, art, and inspiration in the form of quotes, prompts, and images.

What to Do Next:

Make it easy to break into the journal selling market with this package of done-for-you journals. You can edit them as much as you like, brand them and sell them as your own.

You’ll save a ton of time and plenty of money hiring someone to create them for you. This journal starter pack includes 4 attractive-looking journals on the following topics:

• Gratitude Journal
• Dream Journal
• Affirmations Journal
• Goal Setting Journal

Click here to get all these journals at one low price and make journal-selling a snap!

You can even use the 4 journals as templates to create new journals, so you’ve got most of your work done for you. SWEET!

One the favorite presenters at our annual Best Sellers Summit is Jay Boyer, who lays out an easy-to-follow plan for creating, publishing and marketing children’s books.

Jay has shown hundreds of people how to write, publish, and profit from their books with the largest online retailer in the world – Amazon.com. Mr. Boyer has multiple #1 Bestsellers in both paperback and ebook format, and has helped hundreds of authors do the very same thing for their own self-published books.

In his “How to Write & Publish a #1 Best-Selling Children’s Book (in 7 Days or Less…)” presentation below, Jay shares his secret system for creating a best selling children’s book on Amazon in under 7 days. Jay’s proven formula will enable you to use the power of Amazon to generate long term passive income from ongoing book royalties.

Some of what you’ll learn:

• Why children’s books are the easiest to put together and sell tons of copies.
• 3 keys to make sure you’ve got a great selling book.
• 2 important steps to take after publishing to ensure ongoing sales.
• Ideas for your first or next children’s book with proven research strategies.

You can also grab the summary notes and transcripts of this presentation if you prefer. You’ll find the link right below the video.

Notes and Transcripts (zip)

You wrote and published a children’s book and if you missed Part 1 of the tutorial that shows you how to do that, click here.  Whether you went with traditional publishing or self-published your story, you should feel proud of what you’ve accomplished. But just having a book published isn’t enough to make it sell. You have to market that book.

Without marketing, your book will sit on virtual or physical shelves gathering dust. If you don’t want that to happen, then you have to learn how to promote your book. Here are some tips to get you started:

Start with a Calendar

This might surprise you but the most effective sales tool can be a simple calendar. When you have a promotional calendar in place, you know what to do each month to promote your book. You’re not surprised by holidays or caught off-guard by an upcoming publicity opportunity.

Instead, you can use your calendar to plan weeks or even months in advance. This means you don’t have to scramble to put together a school workshop at the last minute or watch your sales decline during holidays. You already prepared for these possibilities so you can show up ready to tackle anything that’s thrown your way.

Reach Out to Schools & Libraries

Teachers and librarians love getting to promote authors and they love it even more when those authors are local. Look for all of the schools and libraries that are within an hour of your current city or town.

Now, check their websites for a calendar of activities. Note the activities where you could get involved. For example, if your book is about American Indians and you see your library is celebrating National American Indian Heritage Month, then that’s a good fit.

Offer to hold a workshop or answer questions about American Indians sometime in November. But don’t wait until November to reach out. Speakers can be booked months in advance so you want to contact the head librarian before November.

Contact Kids’ Organizations

Once you’ve covered the schools and libraries nearby, look around for kids’ organizations that may be interested in you or your book. If your book is about teamwork and helping each other, you could try reaching out to a local Little League chapter or Girl Scouts Council.

Some groups may not need an author or speaker right now. Make sure to keep track of these organizations and note who you spoke with. Then you can follow up with these groups in a few months to see if their needs have changed.

Talk to Homeschool Groups

One often overlooked market is homeschool groups. If you’re not familiar with the term, homeschoolers are parents or guardians who have opted to teach their children at home.

Homeschoolers often form their own groups to give their children extra educational opportunities and this can be a good way to get the word out about your book. Look online for local homeschool groups then reach out the coordinator. You could offer to do a special presentation on a topic related to your book or you could volunteer to teach a writing class.

Get Interviewed

One simple way to get more sales is to be interviewed regularly. The more you’re interviewed, the more people hear about your book and the more likely they are to buy it for their child or grandchild.

When it comes to interviews, start small. Look for podcasts that feature interviews with children’s book authors or children’s book illustrators. A good place to find new podcasts you haven’t heard of is the iTunes’ Podcast Directory.

Once you find an appealing podcast, visit their website and look for a link that says ‘Apply to Be a Guest’ or ‘Interview Application’. Be sure to provide contact information so the host can follow up with you.

After you reach out to podcasters talking about books, look in the ‘Kids and Family’ category on iTunes podcast. Search for podcasters who cover a topic that your book tackles. For example, if your book is about the relationship between kids and their fathers, then consider reaching out to a podcast like The Dad Edge Podcast.

Make promoting your book a regular part of your schedule. Start by devoting one evening each week to your marketing activities. Pretty soon, you’ll start to earn recognition and your career will grow in exciting new ways.

What to Do Next: Learn from a Kids Book Self-Publishing Pro…for Free

One the favorite presenters at our annual Best Sellers Summit is Jay Boyer, who lays out an easy-to-follow plan for creating, publishing and marketing children’s books.

You can see his “How to Write & Publish a #1 Best-Selling Children’s Book (in 7 Days or Less…)” presentation below. You can also grab the summary notes and transcripts of this presentation if you prefer.

Notes and Transcripts (zip)

You wrote and published a children’s book and if you missed Part 1 of the tutorial that shows you how to do that, click here.  Whether you went with traditional publishing or self-published your story, you should feel proud of what you’ve accomplished. But just having a book published isn’t enough to make it sell. You have to market that book.

Without marketing, your book will sit on virtual or physical shelves gathering dust. If you don’t want that to happen, then you have to learn how to promote your book. Here are some tips to get you started:

Start with a Calendar

This might surprise you but the most effective sales tool can be a simple calendar. When you have a promotional calendar in place, you know what to do each month to promote your book. You’re not surprised by holidays or caught off-guard by an upcoming publicity opportunity.

Instead, you can use your calendar to plan weeks or even months in advance. This means you don’t have to scramble to put together a school workshop at the last minute or watch your sales decline during holidays. You already prepared for these possibilities so you can show up ready to tackle anything that’s thrown your way.

Reach Out to Schools & Libraries

Teachers and librarians love getting to promote authors and they love it even more when those authors are local. Look for all of the schools and libraries that are within an hour of your current city or town.

Now, check their websites for a calendar of activities. Note the activities where you could get involved. For example, if your book is about American Indians and you see your library is celebrating National American Indian Heritage Month, then that’s a good fit.

Offer to hold a workshop or answer questions about American Indians sometime in November. But don’t wait until November to reach out. Speakers can be booked months in advance so you want to contact the head librarian before November.

Contact Kids’ Organizations

Once you’ve covered the schools and libraries nearby, look around for kids’ organizations that may be interested in you or your book. If your book is about teamwork and helping each other, you could try reaching out to a local Little League chapter or Girl Scouts Council.

Some groups may not need an author or speaker right now. Make sure to keep track of these organizations and note who you spoke with. Then you can follow up with these groups in a few months to see if their needs have changed.

Talk to Homeschool Groups

One often overlooked market is homeschool groups. If you’re not familiar with the term, homeschoolers are parents or guardians who have opted to teach their children at home.

Homeschoolers often form their own groups to give their children extra educational opportunities and this can be a good way to get the word out about your book. Look online for local homeschool groups then reach out the coordinator. You could offer to do a special presentation on a topic related to your book or you could volunteer to teach a writing class.

Get Interviewed

One simple way to get more sales is to be interviewed regularly. The more you’re interviewed, the more people hear about your book and the more likely they are to buy it for their child or grandchild.

When it comes to interviews, start small. Look for podcasts that feature interviews with children’s book authors or children’s book illustrators. A good place to find new podcasts you haven’t heard of is the iTunes’ Podcast Directory.

Once you find an appealing podcast, visit their website and look for a link that says ‘Apply to Be a Guest’ or ‘Interview Application’. Be sure to provide contact information so the host can follow up with you.

After you reach out to podcasters talking about books, look in the ‘Kids and Family’ category on iTunes podcast. Search for podcasters who cover a topic that your book tackles. For example, if your book is about the relationship between kids and their fathers, then consider reaching out to a podcast like The Dad Edge Podcast.

Make promoting your book a regular part of your schedule. Start by devoting one evening each week to your marketing activities. Pretty soon, you’ll start to earn recognition and your career will grow in exciting new ways.

What to Do Next: Learn from a Kids Book Self-Publishing Pro…for Free

One the favorite presenters at our annual Best Sellers Summit is Jay Boyer, who lays out an easy-to-follow plan for creating, publishing and marketing children’s books.

You can see his “How to Write & Publish a #1 Best-Selling Children’s Book (in 7 Days or Less…)” presentation below. You can also grab the summary notes and transcripts of this presentation if you prefer.

Notes and Transcripts (zip)

Creating and publishing children’s books can be a rewarding and lucrative career path for any aspiring writer. Children read more often than adults do and since their books are shorter, they can read multiple books in a single afternoon. This demand has created a booming niche that’s grown even more popular thanks to the birth of the self-publishing industry.

How Authors Make Money from Children’s Books

Writing a children’s book alone won’t make you an overnight millionaire. Most authors have to publish a few books before they get some traction. But the good news is you can afford to live off of your book income once you have several titles published.

Whether traditionally published or self-published, authors earn what are called book royalties. This means that you make a few cents or few dollars every time someone buys your book. You can expect to see royalties every 6 months if you’re traditionally published or every 2-3 months if you’ve self-published.

Depending on how you’re published, you may receive between 1-6 paychecks each year. Keep in mind that you’re getting paid for several months’ sales. This means you may see high four-figure or even five-figure checks.

Another advantage of writing for the children’s book market is that you can expect bulk sales. Libraries and schools will often purchase a few hundred copies of your book at a time. That can boost your royalty checks even further.

Some authors make additional money by speaking at schools and libraries. They create workshops and speeches around their book topics. For example, if you published a children’s book about a safari, then a workshop about zoo animals would be ideal.

Need Ideas for Children’s Books?

If you want to regularly publish children’s books, then you need to come up with fresh ideas regularly. Fortunately, there are plenty of ideas all around if you’ll just take the time to stop and notice them.

Consider your childhood. What were the pivotal moments you experienced? These can be experiences that were funny, traumatic, or wonderful. When you come up with an experience, think about how you can build a story or narrative around that memory.

It can also be helpful to spend time with kids. Volunteer to read a story to kids at your local library once a week. Coach a Little League team. Help out at your local YMCA. Listen to the kids around you. If you pay attention, you’ll begin to spot what kids fear, what challenges them, what they want more of, and how they want to be supported.

If you’ve raised children of your own, you can also look for ideas from them. But be sure to protect their privacy. Giving the main character of your book the same name as your son may seem sweet. But if your book is about bed-wetting or another embarrassing problem, then your son may end up teased. It’s fine to take inspiration from your kids but be sure to change the details so that no one would suspect the story was about them.

Give an old topic a fresh spin. Some stories are timeless for a reason—it’s because kids love hearing about them again and again. Think about your favorite fairy tale or legends or even mythical creatures. What would happen if you changed the ages, genders, or details of these characters? What if the story had a different ending?

How to Put Your Book Together

Once you’ve written your book, it’s time to publish it. Some authors want to be traditionally published so they don’t have to handle the business side of writing. If that describes you, then you might want to purchase a copy of the Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market 2018. This book has plenty of helpful advice for children’s authors. Plus, it contains the names of editors and tips on how you can share your work with them.

If you like the idea of publishing your books yourself and enjoy learning new things, then self-publishing through a platform like Kindle Direct Publishing might be right for you. You should also watch the presentation by Jay Boyer on self-publishing books that you’ll see at the bottom of this page.

But it’s not enough just to have your story written. You also need to find a good children’s book editor to contribute the art to your book. Pick someone whose art style you like and whose personality you enjoy because you’ll be working closely together.

After your book is complete, test it out on several devices. You want to make sure it displays correctly. When you’re happy with your layout, you can click the publish button and begin celebrating!

Publishing your children’s book can be a full-time job or just a fun hobby. It’s up to you to decide how much of your time and your attention you want to dedicate to your writing career.

What to Do Next: Learn from a Kids Book Self-Publishing Pro…for Free

One the favorite presenters at our annual Best Sellers Summit is Jay Boyer, who lays out an easy-to-follow plan for creating, publishing and marketing children’s books.

You can see his “How to Write & Publish a #1 Best-Selling Children’s Book (in 7 Days or Less…)” presentation below. You can also grab the summary notes and transcripts of this presentation if you prefer.

Notes and Transcripts (zip)

You crafted an opt-in gift that’s relevant to your visitors and you’re starting to see a slow trickle of sign ups on your author website. You’re excited and ready to get serious about promoting your opt-in offer. But you’re stuck on where to begin? Sound familiar? Here are some ideas to get you started.

The Most Important Page You’ll Ever Publish

A landing page is the single most important element of your marketing. It’s the best way to turn a casual visitor into a subscriber who goes on to buy your book.

The landing page is usually stripped of features like social sharing buttons or advertisements, so visitors can focus on just this offer. The goal of the landing page is to get users to make a decision to join your mailing list or buy your product. After seeing your page, visitors will either choose ‘yes’ and sign up or ‘no’ and navigate away.

For opt-in offers, you want to keep your landing page simple. Just a paragraph or two explaining what your gift is and then a few bullet points that highlight what users can expect from your offer. After that, there’s the sign-up box.

Create Landing Pages Easily with These Software Options

There are many different ways to create a landing page. One good option is Lead Pages. This software builder has drag-n-drop features allowing you to create your landing page in just a few simple steps.

Another option for making landing pages is OptimizePress. This software integrates with WordPress and helps you design landing pages quickly. If you don’t know what to put on your page, just choose a readymade template and start editing it to fit your needs.

Socialize Your Landing Page

Once you’ve published your landing page, it’s time to start sharing it on social media. But don’t focus on yourself or your website. Don’t say, “Hey! Come visit my site and join my mailing list!”

Instead, focus on being helpful and giving value to your followers. You could say, “In the mood for a cozy read? Grab [book title] for free when you sign up.”

Aim to promote your landing page 2-3 times each week on your social platforms. But make sure you’re sharing other content besides your own. For example, retweet news about another author’s release. This builds your professional network and allows you to share information your followers are already interested in.

Study Your Stats

After a few weeks, take a step back and study your website metrics. Look at how you’re getting traffic to your landing page. Is YouTube sending more traffic than Twitter or Instagram? Is Pinterest converting your visitors into subscribers better than Facebook?

If you don’t have a way to track what visitors are doing on your website, then you need a metrics program. Most authors use Google Analytics or JetPack for WordPress. You can get your web designer to install it for you or install it yourself if you watch tutorials on YouTube.

Start a Paid Campaign

Once you see which social media network sends you the most traffic, you might want to consider starting a paid campaign. It’s true you may not have millions or even thousands to spend on paid marketing opportunities. But if you have even $100 each month, that’s enough to get started with social advertising.

Pay attention to what demographic you set when you purchase ads. You want your ads to be displayed to people who are most likely to buy your books. That means if you write romance, you want your ad to target women between the ages of 18-45. But if you write books for children, then you want to target parents with small kids.

Get Some Templates

Don’t create an opt-in gift only to let it languish on your website. Spend time promoting the offer each week, even if all you can devote is a few minutes. If you regularly share your opt-in, you’ll start to get traction and will begin seeing results from your efforts.

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The Package Includes:

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You can use these templates for your own business, help your clients with getting clients or even include the templates in products you provide to your customers. The choice is yours!

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Email marketing is a simple and effective way to sell more books and boost your visibility as an author or writer. That’s why it’s so important that you start building a mailing list as soon as you have a website or blog. You can post a simple sign up box on your sidebar so visitors who are interested in your content can subscribe quickly and easily.

Why You Need an Opt-In

The promise of updates or news from you won’t be enough to make visitors give you their email address. Most visitors want something in exchange for sharing their contact information.

This is why you need to create an opt-in that’s so juicy, your visitors can’t wait to download it. You want them to see your free gift and instantly say, “Yes, I want that!”

Craft Your Offer

Fiction writers often find that offering a short story or the first few chapters of an upcoming novel can be enough to entice visitors to sign up. But don’t throw together some short story you’ve had laying around for years but never did anything with.

Instead, take your time to create a short story in the same genre as you normally write. This will attract readers who are already interested in your genre and more likely to buy your book.

Have your short story professionally edited. Put a beautiful cover on it. These two things will show vistiors the value of your book, making it even more desirable.

Touch on a Pain Point

Non-fiction authors should make their opt-in offer on the same topic as their books while addressing a pain point for your visitors. For example, you write books on business and leadership. So, you create an opt-in about being a leader who boosts employee morale while increasing profits.

If you’re having trouble coming up with an idea for your opt-in, search online for forums or Facebook groups in your niche. Then look for common frustrations and fears. Craft an opt-in around these topics and give it a catchy title.

Make Your Free Gift Irresistible

You have an idea for an opt-in. It might be tempting to play it small by putting together a short report with a beautiful cover. But visitors are becoming overwhelmed by the number of free PDFs and reports available for download.

You want to stand out and make your bonus gift irresistible. One easy way to do this is to turn your report into a series of videos. Simply record them on your iPhone and upload them to YouTube privately. Then send your subscribers a link to your playlist.

If you write fiction, record a reading of your book and upload it to YouTube. Each chapter or section should be a video. After you’re done, put together a playlist so visitors can listen to your whole book at once.

You could also add a workbook to your gift. Divide your report into sections and ask 3-4 questions after each section. Include space to journal so your visitors can reflect on what they’re learning.

Fiction writers can use this technique by creating a reader’s guide. Make it a journal of 10-15 questions about the book, along with space to answer. Be sure to give the reader’s guide a beautiful cover that begs visitors to open it!

Choose Your Delivery Method

After you’ve created your gift, it’s time to deliver it to your visitors. There are dozens of ways to deliver your content. One of the simplest ways is to upload the file to your website and send new subscribers this link in your welcome e-mail.

Some authors prefer to create a special page on their website that’s password-protected. New subscribers receive the password in their welcome e-mail. The advantage of using this method is that it keeps your subscribers coming back to your site.

Get Some Templates

Don’t get hung up on the details when it comes to offering an opt-in bonus to your visitors. Your gift doesn’t have to be perfect for people to subscribe. It just needs to be eye-catching and valuable in order to attract attention.

What to Do Next: Get $10 Off Our Creating Free Effective Free Offer Templates

Our Creating Effective Free Offers Template Package makes it easy for you to create effective opt-in offers designed to grow your customer and client base.

Here’s a quick video overview of the package:

The Package Includes:

Click here to grab the Creating an Effective Opt-in Offer template package.

And, of course, use our special coupon code to get an additional $10 off the already discounted price. Coupon code: 10TEMPLATES

You can use these templates for your own business, help your clients with getting clients or even include the templates in products you provide to your customers. The choice is yours!

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