The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

Twice this week, people who want to create ebooks but are afraid that the content will be plagiarized, or that their customers will give the ebooks to their friends, asked me how I prevent that from happening to my own ebooks.

I don’t worry about it. Period.

With one slight exception. When you turn a document into a PDF, the security settings allow you to prohibit people from cutting and pasting the text. I always do this to prevent someone from stealing my content and turning it into an article with their byline. They can retype what I’ve written, of course, but preventing cutting and pasting makes plagiarizing more difficult.

But if people are able to download the ebook and save it to their hard drive, there’s nothing I can do to prevent them from passing it along to their friends. Let’s say somebody passes along my ebook, How to be a Kick-butt Publicity Hound, shown here.

Lots of reasons not to fret

• Throughout the ebook, I include links to sales pages where I sell related products. If somebody who has received it for free clicks on one of those links and buys a product, I win.
• Ditto for links to other people’s products and services that I sell for a commission. If somebody who has not bought the book clicks on a link and buys a product from a vendor who pays me a commission, I win.
• My ebooks include a list of “Recommended Resources” at the end of each book. Many of these resources are products and services I sell for a commission. I only include products and services from vendors I know, and that I can stand behind 100 percent.
• My ebooks also include a list of places where readers can find lots of free content, like my free “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week” ebooks. Every December, I give away a free ebook filled with the best two dozen tips from that year’s ezines. I encourage people to regift the book to their friends. Every item includes links to my own products, or to products and services I sell for a commission. I’ve even written about 12 ways you can use my free ebooks.
• The person who gets an ebook that somebody else bought might not know me. Because my ebooks are content-rich, the reader might think, “This is pretty good stuff. I wonder what else she has at her website?”

When creating your ebook, think of all the ways you can use that book to sell other things. Build in links to your website, links to product pages, links back to your blog, affiliate links, and links to places where a reader can find more free content by opting in with their name and email address.

I always include references to my free ezine, “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” and tell people how to subscribe. If somebody who gets the ebook for free subscribes to my ezine, I now have their email address. Again, I win.

Authors and publishers, particularly those who publish printed books and other materials, have taken me to task for this attitude, but that’s OK. Let them spend time worrying about how to protect their content. I’d rather spend my time creating more helpful content that my readers might pass along to someone who doesn’t know me.

Am I wrong?

If you publish ebooks, how do you deal with this “problem”? Do you think I’m wrong?

By the way, if you’re looking for content for your blog, pay attention to questions that people are asking you. This blog post originated because two people asked me the same question. If you want more ideas on how to find blog content, see “Time-saving Tips for Smart Business Blogging,” a teleseminar I hosted a few weeks ago with blogging expert Patsi Krakoff.

One of the handouts includes 101 ways to find content for your blog. Here’s a list of 9 easy places to find content for your blog, from those handouts.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Information Products
posted On: 2/17/2010: 9:46 am: By Joan
Comments: 4 Comments

Have you claimed your copy of “The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2009″ yet?

It not, grab it here. You’ll find the 26 tips that generated the most response from readers of my ezine last year. 

I give away this ebook each year, and my readers eagerly look forward to it. Many of them regift the book to their own friends and followers. And the big attaction is that anyone can access the ebook. You don’t have to opt in with your name and email address. 

What will you learn in this book? Plenty.

For example, I explain how to create your own day, week or month of the year. You’ll learn about lots of tricks and tools for participating at the social media sites. Read about 10 dead or dying PR tactics. 

And for Publicity Hounds who are looking to connect with journalists, I’ve given you several resources.  The book will help you, regardless of what business or nonprofit you’re in. 

Use the ebook one of these 12 ways:

1. Create a Facebook note, and excerpt the entire tip. Use the photo along with the text, and you’ve got a nice little item that your followers and fans will love. Christine Buffaloe discussed Facebook notes when she was my guest during a teleseminar on “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.” 
        
2. No time for a Note? Write about it and share the link (http://tinyurl.com/bestof2009tips) in a Facebook status update.
       
3. Write about it in a LinkedIn status update.
        
4. Blog about the book, and include your own success story that ties into one of the tips. 
        
5. Offer the ebook as a bonus along with other products and services you’re selling.
       
6. Give it to your clients and customers.
       
7. Mention it at your weekly staff meetings.
       
8. Add it to the Free Articles page at your website.
       
9. Give it away to the winner of a contest you’re sponsoring.  
         
10. Offer the ebook as a freebie to help you capture names and email addresses at your website. 
       
11. Create a video that discusses the ebook and upload it to your website or to YouTube, then share that with your social media friends and followers.
       
12. Include the link  (http://tinyurl.com/bestof2009tips) in a book you’re writing, or in handouts you’re using for a speaking engagement.

What about you? Have you thought of any other clever ways to use the ebook? If so, share them here. I’d love to hear them.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Contests, Facebook, Holidays, Information Products, LinkedIn, Nonprofits, Pitching the Media, Publicity on the Internet, Social media marketing, Twitter, YouTube
posted On: 1/5/2010: 2:12 pm: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

Ted Fuller of Lafayette, Calif., writes:

“Thanks to you and Paulette Ensign, the Tips Booklet Queen, I have completed my first two booklets.

“‘The Best Ideas Yet About Aging Successfully is 16 pages, and ‘Tips for Writing a Great Memoir is 12 pages.  Now comes the grind of contacting book and gift store distributors, retirement home companies, and other organizations serving seniors.

“Any suggestions on how one gets these charming publications publicized so the purchasing departments seek me out with their orders?”

Posted In: Information Products, Publicity for Niche Markets
posted On: 12/1/2009: 12:42 pm: By Joan
Comments: 10 Comments

If you’re not using teleseminars in your business, you’re missing a fabulous opportunity to amass a loyal following of people who want to hear what you have to say.

With a lousy economy that leaves people reluctant to pay for hotels and airfare, teleseminars are an easy, inexpensive alternative to live events.  

They’re also a handy way to create products very quickly. I’ve hosted dozens of teleseminars on a wide variety of publicity-related topics, and then turned them into CDs, MP3s and electronic transcripts. I host two private  teleseminars each month for people in The Publicity Hound Mentor Program.

Join Steve Harrison on Thursday, November 12, for a free telephone seminar with an author who rakes in over $3.4 million a year this way.

One of the fastest ways to sell more books and make more as an author is do telephone seminars based on your expertise.  To learn how, join Steve for a free 90-minute teleseminar with author Alex Mandossian and learn:

• Eight models for using teleseminars to sell books and make big buckeroos.
      
• How Alex sold over 3,023 books in a single teleseminar.
       
• Why you’re lucky to get 25 people at a traditional bookstore signing but Alex routinely gets 1,200+ on teleseminars with his ‘virtual book tour’ strategy.
      
• The case history of how Alex used teleseminars to help a first-time author hit the New York Times Best Seller List.

Register here.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Business Promotion, Information Products
posted On: 11/10/2009: 7:55 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

The most successful authors, consultants, speakers and experts do one thing differently from most others.

They figure out creative ways to spin their expertise into multiple products and services. Many of the most successful authors, for example, never intend to rely on income solely from their book, even if it’s a best-seller.

That’s because they understand that, first, writing a best-seller is a long shot. But more importantly, even if they don’t write a best-seller, the book is better used as a “carrot” to pull in readers who are interested in a topic, and who can then buy more products and services related to the title of the book.

Here’s a short list of what those can include:

• Calendars
• Board games
• T-shirts and other clothing
• Consulting services
• Membership sites
• Subscription newsletters
• Special reports
• CDs and DVDs
• Joint ventures with other non-competing authors who target the same audience

Add it all up, and the revenue from those offerings can surpass  the revenue from a book. And many of those products and services have far less competition than a book has.

On Thursday, Oct. 22., Steve Harrison will host a free 90-minute teleseminar on “How to Thrive as an Author or Expert in Any Economy”  at 2 and 7 p.m. Eastern. You will learn:

• 22 super-lucrative income streams which most authors overlook — but are surprisingly easy to implement (and certainly MUCH easier to produce than writing another book).
     
• Some surprisingly simple ways to quickly and easily make another $5,000.000 to $15,000.00+/month from your book or expertise — even if you haven’t made any money so far as an author/expert.
     
• 3 ways to turn what you write into strong passive income month-after-month.

The call, which will last about 90 minutes, is the third preview call for Steve’s upcoming Quantum Leap Publicity & Marketing Program.  

If the time is inconvenient for you, recruit somebody to listen and take notes because Steve seldom offer the replays.  

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Business Promotion, Information Products
posted On: 10/20/2009: 9:13 am: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments