Your book should serve as an entry point into your entire product mix where the real money from your book is made on the products and services people purchase from you that are a follow up to your book.
bret ridgway
That means your book is what many would consider a lead generation product. It’s designed to introduce people to you, to get them into your “funnel” which you hope will lead to the sale of those other products and services.
Some would say your book should be used as a business card and you shouldn’t hesitate to get your book into the hands of as many people as possible.
But there is a problem you need to overcome with your book if you want to turn it into a high performing lead generation device for you. That problem is that when someone buys your book, you have no idea who they are.
That’s why you, as the author, need to build into your book what are called “name capture mechanisms.” What are name capture mechanisms? In most cases they are invitations from you to the reader to come to a website for additional bonus content.
When your reader comes to that website they’ll usually have to opt in by providing you their name and email address in exchange for that bonus content. Your bonus content could be many different things including:
- Audio content such as an interview of you
- Special PDF reports that expand upon some topic in your book
- Video content
- Checklists or other tools related to your topic
- Newsletter
Ideally, your bonus content should be directly related to the core content of your book.
We’re frequently asked how many times within a book should you try to drive the reader to your website in an effort to capture their name and email address.
It, to a large extent, depends on the length of your chapters. If you have shorter chapters then every 3-4 chapters is probably sufficient. If you have long chapters you may even be able to do one per chapter. Any more than that and we think it can start to become a bit annoying.
It’s so important to make sure that anywhere online you are driving people to from your book is fully functional. You don’t know how many books we’ve seen offering bonus content that failed miserably on this front. You type in the URL they’re directing you to and the page isn’t even there…it becomes a missed opportunity.
How much information should you attempt to capture from an online visitor who came from your book? No more than you intend to use in your on-going marketing. The less information you request the more people are likely to complete the request and opt in to your list.
You absolutely must have their email address. In most cases, their first and last names are also requested. Some will request only the first name. It’s your call.
We can’t stress enough how your book should be among your better list building tools. And the only way it can help you to increase your platform and the size of your list of followers is by using your book to drive them online where you can capture their name and email address.
Give careful thought as you are writing your book as to what other information would your readers be interested in that would inspire them to visit your website and give you their name and email address.
Your ability to convert the casual reader into a real fan by getting them to provide you their information is critical for building your platform and impacting even more people with your message. “Name capture mechanisms” or “Bounce back offers” are your keys to greater impact.
