Steve Scott is a well-known author, blogger, and podcaster who has published over 50 books in 3 niches. Steve has written books about habits, productivity, and entrepreneurship. Steve has a lot of experience and is really good at building a platform to market his books and products. Steve is the perfect guest for today’s topic because we are going to focus on the platform side and building a platform and leveraging it into a massive portfolio like steve has created.
Steve shares how he originally got into Kindle publishing to build a platform for his blog. He began in February of 2012, but it didn’t take long for Steve to realize that his books were taking off and making money. He then decided to pick what was at the time an untapped niche that he was interested in and put his head down and write. He also used his Internet marketing knowledge to give away free content and build an email list. This was invaluable for building the amazing platform that he now has and his amazing Kindle publishing success.
You can find Steve here:
Authority Pub
Books by Steve Scott
The ASP Show Podcast
Steve Scott facebook
Develop Good Habits
Show Notes
[01:55] Steve got into Kindle publishing in February 2012. His original intent was to drive traffic to his blog. By summer, he realized that these books could generate income.
[02:44] He was creating Internet business books and realized he needed free content to build an email list. He started his habits books in May of 2013.
[03:23] He shifted to the habits books to build a business model on the Amazon platform. He didn’t anticipate how successful his books would be.
[04:15] His success revolved around his habits, so the books were a natural progression.
[04:43] He was fortunate to find what at the time was an untapped market and drill down into the topic. He wrote everything he knew about these topics. In depth micro-topics.
[06:06] How in the beginning, the writing of the books was the first challenge. He knew the basics of email lists and writing on the Kindle platform.
[07:04] Steve had been doing affiliate marketing since 2006. He knew how valuable an email list would be.
[00:07:46] Blogging taught Steve to create micro topics.
[08:57] How giving away free content isn’t bad.
[09:19] Steve created Develop Good Habits to help build a platform for his books and list building. When people read content and then get into Steve’s email funnel and he will promote his book bundle through his list. He is using a content platform, an email list, and Amazon.
[11:42] Steve is testing content upgrades and checklists for his Mastering Evernote book. Create something special for your top selling books.
[13:06] Steve likes to have a blog because it is great for Facebook retargeting ads.
[14:28] Steve has a VA create slideshare presentations from his books.
[16:14] Steve feels that social media isn’t the best use of his time, but driving people back to content or email lists.
[16:46] Steve launches his books for .99 and he does a solid push for 5-7 days. Then he has a regular sales event every 2-3 months. Selling books for .99 hooks people into the idea of buying .99 books.
[18:24] Steady sales over days are better for the Amazon algorithm.
[18:52] Solid email sequence with a lead magnet have a four to five email sequence. Put an email subscriber call to action in the front and back of the book and have a free promotion. Write three to four books and continuously roll them out. Then find a content platform to promote your book.
[20:37] As books age and have .99 sales and price some as a massive event. Continuously improving on the assets you have.
[22:42] Steve also emails and establishing relationships with some people and gives them free books and tries to get them to leave a review. He uses surveys to see who is interested in free books and the promotion. He also uses other campaigns.
[23:48] He also sends a last chance offer scarcity play.
[24:55] He is literal with his subject lines, but he will copy past subject lines that were successful.
[25:57] Steve is looking to create a lead magnet which signs people up for the main list. Then he sends links and offers to other books. Then it is a mix of content and different promotions.
[29:01] At the back of his books he used to have an excerpt to another book. He just has an offer in the back now. He tries to give people as many opportunities as possible to find his books.
[30:45] What Steve did well last year was being very consistent with his writing and word count. Habit Stacking is also a unique concept when Steve created the book.
[32:47] Steve is planning on going back and doing what worked so well for him in the past, and he is testing headlines.
[34:15] Polling people is a great way to find compelling titles and the same for covers. He is trying to find the right hook and get the best feedback about what will work.
[35:29] Having an email list is really the thing that can make a difference in a business.
Links and Resources:
self-publishingschool.com
Spsfreetraining.com
AWeber
Leadpages
PickFu