Listen to today’s episode as I talk with Michael Bungay Stanier, the author of the books, Coaching Habits and The Advice Trap. His upcoming book, How to Begin, gives readers inspiration to be more ambitious about themselves and the world around them. Find out how you can use your book to leverage more business when you listen to this episode.
Why He Decided to Write Books
Michael grew up in England, and his grandmother wrote books when he was growing up as a child. Being an admirer of his grandmother’s writing skills and a book lover, writing a book was an easy step for Michael to take. Michael made his first print run of his first book in 2006, using an inheritance from a family member before self-publishing became popular.
His third book was picked up by a publisher, so he created a second edition for the publisher to sell. Michael then went back to self-publishing because his former publisher wouldn’t publish his next book.
How His Book Bumped Up His Business
“I knew how the book fit my business ecosystem.” He understood that it wasn’t about the book sales for this book but how he could use his book to sell more business. Michael talks about the ways he has used his book in his business marketing and ways to use QR codes in your book to drive business.
Listen to discover the four elements you need to do to sell more books, how he makes complicated ideas tangible in his books, why you want to commit to championing your book for up to two years, and how to reverse-engineer selling copies of your book.
Show Highlights
- [03:00] Michael talks about the first book he self-published over 15 years ago.
- [09:00] Why he decided the topic of his first book to be around coaching.
- [12:40] Using QR codes for digital marketing your book.
- [14:21] Four key components of a successful book marketing launch.
- [21:04] Top two marketing tactics that sold more books for Michael.
- [26:02] Find out ways to sell your books in batches instead of singles.
- [30:29] Adding a video to your book page on your website for SEO.
- [34:20] The five people whose relationship gave him $10 million in sales