Women's Network February 2019 | Page 28

G I VE YOUR BUSINESS BOO K A WAY T he gravity pull of the mighty selling machine called Amazon easily seduces new authors into believing their most important measure of success is the rank of Amazon Best Seller. When publishing a book to grow your business, Amazon is not your key to success. It may become one of your sales tools, but your best sustainable strategies lie elsewhere – and one of those is to gift your book generously. Writing and publishing your business book is a thrilling achievement. So, ‘what comes next?’, asks Bev Ryan. 28 Women’s Network Magazine After all, which would you prefer: working hard to achieve a vanity number of sales to nameless and faceless people online, or high visibility and good energy as your book circulates amongst people who may become ongoing and valuable connections? As you prepare your book for publishing, spend some time building a list of people with strong circles of influence, who are key figures amongst your target readership. They may be network leaders (like Janelle of WNA), social media influencers, business leaders, authors, media figures, educators, coaches, consultants and more. When you receive your first batch of books from the printer, be ready to post attractively wrapped copies, with hand-written notes, to these people of influence