1. MARKETING GUIDE
& WORKBOOK
Self-Publishing for Professionals
Position yourself as the ultimate authority in your niche!

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
Self-Publishing your book is easier and more important than ever. As a
seasoned professional, you have unique experience and perspective that, if
shared, can help your clients and prospects, and grow your business. Addi-
tionally, you are now seen as the expert authority in your niche.
Publishing a book distinguishes you from your competition. Rather than
exchanging business cards, you can hand your clients, referrals and prospects
your self-published book. It establishes trust, creates good-will and increases
confidence in you and your business.
More professionals are taking advantage of self-publishing. Self-publishing
is no longer seen as ‘vanity publishing’ but as a necessary step to increasing
your reach, building your list and growing your business.
When you put your experience and perspective in a book, benefits include:
• Positioning yourself as the ultimate authority in your niche
• Becoming the “go-to” expert for information with prospects, refer-
rals, clients, peers, and the media
• Expanding your brand to include author, speaker, consultant, and
coach
• Monetize and profit from many channels of business.
• Being featured as the guest authority on TV, radio, podcasts, web-
nars, magazines and newspapers
• Build and control your list
• Increase traffic and leads
• Being attractive to investors, affiliates, and sponsors
As a professional, writing a book, it’s not just about writing a book but also
about building your business. The key is to leverage your book and your
product to build your list through as many channels as possible, and then
automate your promotions to grow your business and your income.
WHY SELF-PUBLISH YOUR BOOK?
Become the expert in your niche and grow your business

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
Before you can promote your book, you need to be clear on a few things. Unless your clear on
who you are, what your book is about and who you can help, marketing your book will be diffi-
cult and ineffective. Your marketing efforts need to cater to your audience and unless you know
what you can offer them, your message will be convoluted. Answering a few of these questions
can help you gain perspective and keep your brand, messaging, and goals consistent. Take a mo-
ment to reflect on these questions.
1. Why did you write the book?
2. Who is the book for?
3. What the book is about. What can the book do for your audience? Make it about your
customer. What’s in it for them?
YOUR BOOK IS DONE, NOW WHAT?
Getting it out into the world

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
4. How can your book contribute to the growth of your business?
5. What do you want to accomplish, both professionally and personally?
6. Consider your SMART goals for writing your book.
• What is your Specific goal for your book?
• Is it Measurable?
• Is it Attainable?
• Is it Realistic?
• Is it Timely?
7. Does your professional brand support your message? Does it separate you from your
competitors? If so, how?

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
9. Is your visual presence across platforms in line with your brand? What areas need im-
provement or further development?
10. How comfortable are you promoting your book, business, and message?
BRANDING YOUR BOOK
Clarify and build your professional brand
You are your brand. What do you stand for both personally and professionally? What is your
professional style? Do your marketing messages and materials support your book and your busi-
ness? Your brand should be uniquely you, easily recognizable, distinguishable and consistent.
Think of your brand as a family. Everyone family member is different but there are certain com-
monalities that everyone shares. Your branding elements are the same. They can be different but
they should also equally recognizable as representing the same business. Elements of your brand
include:
1. Book Title, Cover Design, Layout - They should be clean design, memorable title and easy
to read interior layout
2. Style Guide - Creating a consistent look and feel to your brand starts with visual elements
being consistent across all marketing platforms. The first step is to decide on the following
and use them for your book and marketing materials:

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
• Fonts / Typography - Pick two or three that resonate with you. Suggested and
popular choices should be a sans serif font (ex. for headlines), a serif font (for body
copy) and a be more stylized display font (for your logo, headlines, or to draw atten-
tion and create a unique look to your brand.
• Graphics / Images – All should include similar theming
• Colors, choose at least 5 colors that can be used with regularity in your marketing
and look good together, separately or in pairs. Ask a printer for the colors Hex code
to stay consistent.
3. Digital & Print Materials - Media/PR Kits, Brochures, Business Cards, Letterhead, etc.
4. Logo, Sub-Logo, Stamp - Consider different variations of your primary logo but with
minor adjustments for application: color, orientation (horizontal vs. vertical), initials or
image/icons.
5. Tag Lines – One sentence that tells your prospects who you are, what you do or what you
stand form.
BasicStyleGuide
Fonts / Typography
Graphic Elements / Icons
Logo / Sub-Logo / S tamp
Colors
HEX CODE
SANS SERIF
SERIF
DISPLAY
HEX CODE HEX CODE HEX CODEHEX CODE

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
AUTHOR/BUSINESS WEBSITE
Make your site a marketing and selling machine!
It is imperative to have an author website or your book featured on your business website so you
can sell your book. It may be on Amazon or with other booksellers but when you sell it on your
site, you control the marketing copy, lead capturing and profits.
This online presence not only adds to your credibility but is essential to the success of your book.
A website you control provides you with the forum to display information about your book your
way.
1. Create sales copy that entices the reader, shows the value that the reader will gain when they
buy your book, portraying you as the expert in your field.
2. Create a lead capturing system that lets you to further reach out to visitors via email cam-
paigns. Engage with your audience by offering incentives such as free chapter downloads,
discounts, consulting opportunities, newsletter subscriptions and/or sneak peaks of new
books or updates in exchange for their information.
3. Purchasing link on your website allows you to keep all the profits from your site. Direct all
links via social media, emails and other marketing efforts to your purchasing page.
If you have more than one book, dedicated a page to each of your books on your website. These
pages should include the cover, a brief description, price, and links directly to purchasing. Pages
to consider on your website:
1. Home Page
• Book Overview
• Book Reviews/Testimonials
• About/Author Bio
• Sign up form with incentive to capture name and email
2. News & Events (links to interviews with author, write-ups, reviews, author appearances, book
signings, book fairs).
3. Blog - engage with your audience on a regular basis with your content or other respected
experts in your field to show you are an active member of the community.
4. Purchasing Link & Other Reseller Links.
5. Social Profiles links.

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Optimize your website with keywords rich content in order to come up in searches. Create a list
of meta-data (titles, descriptions, keywords, alt tags, and such), add these throughout your website
copy to increase your chance of coming up on searches. Once your website is optimized for your
keywords, use these keywords throughout your promotions, blogging and social platforms.
You need to be sure that the search terms you think are important to your audience are part of
your website meta-data and content on your website.
What keywords are most important to you? Start with the name of your book, your business
and your name. Use Google search engine to test the popularity of these words, simply type in
your words into Google and if it auto-populates the search box, you can be sure they are popular
searches.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Capture information
Many professionals have a community or following but fail to capture their contact information.
If this is you, now is the time to start capturing that information (name and emails should be your
focus, phone numbers are ideal too but most people are very protective of their phone numbers. Make sure
you are providing them with information that will benefit them as well as, promote your book.)
Build your email list
It is important to create and grow your email list, have your audience opt-in to your list, and
provide relevant, valuable information. This will assure that they will want to know more about
what you have to offer. This is an important step to providing value to your audience and ulti-
mately grow your business.
Keywords

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
Consistent communication helps keep you and your services in the forefront of your audiences'
mind. Here you have the opportunity to build relationships, educate and further confirm your
status as the expert. As the expert, you are uniquely equipped with the information and skill to
write great e-mails.
Your mailing list is the foundation of all marketing and promotion efforts. To encourage visitors
to sign-up for your e-mail news, entice them with valuable offers: free information, booklets,
and sneak peaks. An automation or auto-responder feature can be set up once they sign up on
your site, sending your e-mail campaign when they sign up.
Providing complimentary information asserts your professionalism, demonstrates your creativity,
builds relationships, and inspires reciprocity. Make sure you have an email sign up on the home
page of your website.
ESTABLISH SOCIAL CHANNELS
Which social channels should you use?
Whether you use social media or not already in your personal or professional environment, there
is no denying that this is a force when it comes to marketing your book. With almost 2 billion
users on social media, this is a great opportunity to gain access to your target market through
interaction with various platforms and social groups and forums. Each social platforms have
their own unique set of characteristics that cater to different demographics. Find out where your
audience spends their online time and you will have greater success than to blanket the Internet
without any real intention. Many professionals worry about which social media platform to use.
The best social platform to use to promote your book and grow your business is the one you will
interact with the most. A social platform will not work if you don't use it.
Twitter and Facebook social sites are popular with many authors because they’re easy to use,
have large audiences, and link easier to and from other sites. LinkedIn, is popular with profes-
sionals. It can help you to reach large groups in a variety of industries. Google owns YouTube
and Google+ so when you post there you have better visibility in Google's search engine. Pin-
terest and Instagram the most popular visual sites.
Visual content gets the best interaction across all platforms. Use images, video and 'Live' fea-
tures to increase exposure.
Social media is just that, social. A hard sell will not work in this environment. Consider treating
social media as you would a cocktail party. Include some personal interactions such as sharing
hobbies and travel interests along with offering information or training in your niche and then
soft sell your books and services. Once you decide on your preferred social platforms, make sure
you include your social links on your website and emails.

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
DATE CATEGORY / TOPICS TITLE / HASHTAGS CREATIVE
Weekly social plan
PLATFORM
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
image
video
live
other
image
video
live
other
image
video
live
other
image
video
live
other
image
video
live
other
image
video
live
other
image
video
live
other
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
blog post
instagram
facebook
newsletter
twitter
other____________
Notes

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
GET EXPOSURE
Show you are the expert
Forums and groups are great places to get attention because they’re targeted and encourage
interaction. You can become a star by sharing what you know, especially if you’re an expert, but
be mindful of the group admin's authority. In groups, you can test ideas for blog entries, articles,
publicity and invite people to connect with you on social media.
LinkedIn has a very large array of professional groups. Facebook, Yahoo and Google also offer
professional communities with an opportunity to connect and interact.
Consider creating your own group or forum in order to keep your finger on the pulse of your
community. You’ll meet peers, editors, reviewers and publishers, all while keeping up with
changes in the industry, new technologies, services, and sales and distribution channels.
Meetup.com has active, popular communities because it’s focused on in person meetings. Meet-
up.com has a lot of writing, reading and social groups for authors and groups in business and
social niches.
Create Press Releases
Press releases must be very well-written, timely, and connected to specific interests or events. It’s
better to focus on quality over quantity when distributing press releases on your own. Instead of
spending money and energy distributing to every media outlet, focus on a targeted list of me-
dia outlets that will have an interest in your topic. This will increase the likelihood of an outlet
running your press release. You can also seek alternative methods of distribution such as a PR
distribution service.
Write and reuse content
Identify parts of your manuscript that might make interesting, stand alone articles or stories. Of-
fer free articles to magazines, newspapers and websites in your area of expertise in exchange for a
linked blurb about you and your book.
Diversify your content. A book can be just the beginning to growing your business. Once your
book is published you can reuse your content in various ways and create variety in what and how
you post to your social sites and website while increasing your exposure to a new audience.
1. Videos are easy to watch and get strong engagement. Videos also give the viewer a more
personal experience as they can see you and hear your voice. Add these video links onto your
website and other social platforms

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Self-Publishing for Professionals
MARKETING GUIDE & WORKSHEETinstantpublisher.com 800-259-2592
2. Podcasts are extremely popular right now with professionals. Listeners can easily digest your
content while driving to work or waiting in line. Contact podcast producers in your niche
and ask to be featured. Encourage them to connect with you on your social platforms and
email.
Creating your own podcast is easier than you think. Using a podcast not only great expo-
sure but is allows you a reason to reach out to influencers in your industry asking them to be
quests on your podcast.
3. Blogging keeps you interacting with your audience and gives you fresh content to redistrib-
ute. Guest blogging gives you additional exposure to a new audience to offer your books,
products and services and add to your email list.
4. Ebooks typically are a shorter, more condensed version of your book or topic within your
book. Easy digital download gives your content to your audience immediately. Consider pep-
pering your ebook with links to your website and social platforms to encourage connection.
5. Webinars/Teleseminars are a great opportunity to engage with your audience live. This is
where you can 'show your stuff'. At the end of the webinar you can be more aggressive with
selling your book and services as you have had the opportunity to develop a relationship with
your audience. They now feel like they 'know,like and trust' you. Follow up with them via
email by outline the major points of your webinar and offering a one time only replay.
6. Speaking is a natural progression to authorship. Now that your are an author, you can ap-
proached clubs, networking groups and universities to speak about your topic. Remember to
create a 'sizzle reel' with your first speaking opportunity and add to it as you become more
experienced.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the things you can do to market your book as a profes-
sional but it's a pretty good start and should keep you pretty busy. We, at Instant Publisher, wish
you great success with your book.
If you are a professional on the verge of self-publishing your book to grow your business, think
of us, we have been printing and publishing books for over 4 decades. We can help guide you
through the process.
Instant Publisher specializes in producing
high quality books quickly and affordably.
800-259-2592