How to know you are ready for your own book, magazine or show?

[blur](Here’s how to know)

1. Do you have a product or service to sell?
2. Is the product and services you are selling generating profits?
3. Are the customers you are selling your profitable products and services to so happy that they are referring you more business or giving you testimonials?

If you don’t have a product or service to sell for a profit here is a list of top 8 ways for Speakers, Influencers, Trainers, Coaches, Consultants and Experts to make money in the marketplace:

1. Coaching and Consulting services by the hour. (Pros: very little startup costs, no technology needed. Cons: exchanging time for money, hard to scale up, and lots of competition)
2. Home Study Course that teaches people your knowledge and wisdom. (Pros: Very easy to scale, doesn’t take up as much time once created. Cons: Could costs thousands and tens of thousands to do it right plus it involves some technology)
3. Tickets to events like Retreats, Masterminds, Conferences, or Summits. (Pros: Fun and interactive based, easiest to create a powerful experience. Cons: Can have upfront costs for location, hard to scale, lots of logistics and lots of competition with other events.)
4. Advertisers and Sponsors that pay to have access to your audiences on and offline. (Pros: Providing the actual service isn’t very time consuming and the money can be big if you have lots of traffic or a big audience. Cons: You have to have proof of lots of traffic and or a big audience)
5. Contests where people pay a fee to enter and win something of value. (Pros: Earn a little money off a lot of people and relatively easy to deliver results. Cons: Some legalities are involved, and you typically need lots of people entering the contest to make money.)
6. Certification that give people all the info and support to make money in an industry you specialize in. (Pros: You’re essentially selling a proven system so it’s easier to scale and doesn’t require a lot of your time if you set it up right. Cons: You need proof that your system, processes, forms, templates and formulas are turn-key and is duplicatable for others.)
7. Membership (or App) programs where people pay a monthly fee to have access to your custom content and information. (Pros: Very easy to scale, doesn’t take up as much time once created. Cons: Could costs thousands and tens of thousands to do it right plus it involves a lot of technology.)
8. Keynote speaking where people pay to experience your presentation. (Pros: The actual time needed to do the fulfillment is relatively low and can be big dollars or a high dollar per hour rate. Cons: You’re competing with Olympic athletes, professional athletes, celebrities and stars of every kind.)

*There are plenty more Pro’s and Con’s but I just chose to hit on a few of them for you.

Regardless, there is no right or wrong when choosing how you want to make your money as a coach, thought leader, influencer or icon in your industry. You could do a little of all of these or a lot of one or two of these in order to make a good living. The only difference being how much time and money you might have to invest in these different areas. Depending on your skill sets various experts can be crucial as well.

Do you have Media that Matters?

Things that help you sell a product or service, but typically don’t make you a lot of money relatively speaking, are having your own Book, Magazine, or Show. These forms of media, when done right, position you as the authority, a celebrity expert and an icon in your industry.

1. Books can open doors for you, create speaking opportunities for you, and even bring you media interviews. All of these things help separate you from others who sell similar products and services.
2. Magazines give you the ability to spotlight others, feature information valuable to your market and position yourself with influence. All of these things help separate you from others who sell similar products and services.
3. Shows through the radio, television or podcasting allow you to spotlight others, feature information valuable to your market and become a servant leader through the spotlighting of other. All of these things help separate you from others who sell similar products and services.

*There is no right or wrong when choosing how you want to showcase your talent as a coach, thought leader, influencer or icon in your industry.

You could do one of these or all of these in order to maximize your brand and exposure. The only difference being how much time and money you might have to invest in these different areas.

You need to be ready to invest money in these areas once you have proof of concept meaning you have a business with products and services you might sell more of because of your book, magazine or show. These 3 platforms are best for helping you grow an existing business rather than be a business in of themselves. These 3 platforms are best for bringing you more leads and sales for other products and services rather than them being the thing you are relying on for the majority of your profits.

Your business is the movie theater. Your books, magazine issues or show episodes are the movies. Movie theaters don’t make their real money by selling movie tickets rather they make it at the concession stand. What are you going to sell at your concession stand? That’s where the first list of 8 comes in…coaching, consulting, courses, advertisers, etc.

Now here’s some exceptions to the rule(s):

1. You are a point in your life where you have personal motives of wanting to create something like a book or show as a part of leaving a legacy, giving back or checking something off your bucket list. (BTW, many times it’s your passion projects that take off and become something valuable.)
2. You have a lot of money to invest in a future business that you don’t want to define just yet and you don’t mind leading with your own book, magazine or show just to build an audience with the understanding that the money will come later once you figure out what you want to sell in your “concession stand”. (BTW, the more money you have to build your business and live to see another day the stronger the foundation can be built from the start.)
3. You have clear inspiration from a higher being i.e. God telling you to write a book. Might sound silly to some but I’m being serious. This happens.

*These 3 exceptions require more money and patience.

If you have a small window of time to turn a profit and a relatively small budget to work with then you can’t afford these 3 exceptions.

Wherever you are at in this process, it’s not too late to redo your book, magazine or show right. It’s not too late to focus on your “concession stand” and laser in on some ways to make more money with your personal media…and I can show you how. Have you seen my 100+ point biz audit? You can also have a call with us to see if you are truly ready to build your business right and ensure bigger, faster profits.

Let’s talk. [email protected][/blur]