Archive for Robert Schwarztrauber

Write Your Book Backwards, It’s Easier

April 4, 2014 Uncategorized No comments
Begin with the End in Mind...It's Easier!

Begin with the End in Mind…It’s Easier!

by Bob Schwarztrauber

Stephen R Covey, in his best selling book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” lists,  “Begin with the End in Mind” as Habit #2.

I also happen to think that is the easiest, most effective way to write books. Begin with the end in mind.

When the reader has finished your book what would you like them to KNOW, DO, or FEEL?

Also ask yourself, BEFORE you begin writing, “WHO is this book for?”.

In other words, you should develop a profile of the reader who can best be served by your book.

WHO will buy your book? Is your target reader male or female? Are they young, middle aged, or old? What is their income level? What is their education level? What job or hobbies do they have? Do they have kids, cars, pets, debts, illness, fears, or phobias? Do they vote? Who are their enemies and who are their friends? Do they own their own homes or rent? Where do they gather? Online? In a church or association?

The better you can define WHO your audience is before you start writing, the better you can craft your book to serve that buyer, tailor it exactly to their needs. Then, when they see your book advertised for the very first time there is no doubt in their mind. They say, “Oh, this is exactly the book I have been looking for. Finally! Someone understands me!!!”

And this of course will help you sell more books, more easily.

As you begin at the end and create this “perfect reader” profile, you should give special attention to the last point listed above, “WHERE DO THEY GATHER”.

When it comes time to sell your book, you need to know exactly where to go. And you want to be going, targeting your readers where they go.

For example, if your book is titled “FEAR-LESS Public Speaking“, a book about how to become a more confident public speaker, you might determine that your best reader is a business person who might attend Toastmaster meetings, where they gather in groups of 20 or more at a time and receive a monthly magazine that accepts advertising.

Knowing this makes it so much easier to get your book in front of the people most likely to buy it. You could give talks at Toastmaster meetings and offer your book for sale to 20 people at a time who are VERY likely to buy your book. Or you could take out a small ad in their monthly magazine.

That would certainly be a better strategy than putting your ad in the local Penny Saver newspaper where 99% of the people reading that paper would have NO interest in your book whatsoever. Conversely, in the Toastmaster group, probably 80% would at least be interested in your book and I’d bet half of them would buy it on the spot…because it was written with them in mind from the beginning.

Where do YOUR READERS gather?

I’d suggest, if you cannot answer this question, or if they do not gather in some sort of common group, media, or event then you will have a very hard time selling your book one by one as they find you. Might there be some group or organization who’s members your book would help and they would buy 100 or 1000 or 10,000 books at a time?

Knowing your end result at the beginning, WHO your ideal reader is and what you want them to KNOW, DO, or FEEL when they have finished your book helps keep your writing more focused and gives you a huge edge when it comes to marketing your book when it is done.

Think of cruise ship. Does it ever leave port without a destination? How far would they get without a rudder to steer them? You can have all the power in the world behind the ideas in your book, but if they lack direction or a well thought out course to get the reader from A to B, your book will become just another ship lost at sea. A sea of thousands of other books clamoring for their attention.

As in so many things, preparation is key. Do your homework first and then later you’ll be best positioned to reap the rewards for the work you’ve put into writing your very own best seller.

Begin at the end. Seems backwards, but it’s easier.

If you’d like additional help getting started on the proper path for your book, or finally getting your work published, feel free to contact me.

$5000 Fundraising Books

April 1, 2014 Uncategorized No comments
fundraising challenges

Discover A Fun Way to Fundraise

“Success means we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were used in a way that served others.”  ― Marianne Williamson

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by Bob Schwarztrauber

I see people’s faces light up when they learn how many books I’ve published. But they get excited not for me, but because they see that I know something they want to know. That is: how to do it.

Most people at one time or another have dreamed of writing their own book. “I should write a book about it” is one of the more common phrases bantered about after someone has accomplished something extraordinary, or has endured something equally horrific.

But despite all the shelves being full down at Barnes and Noble, most people will never write that book. Mostly because they don’t know how to begin, or the steps to completion. They’ve been conditioned their whole life to the fact that book writing is for the elite, not for them.

But times have so changed. We no longer need permission from a major book publisher. We no longer need our work to be approved by scholarly men in suits and bow ties who sit behind desksat the publishing house stamping pass or fail on our dreams.

Today, for good or bad, anyone can publish their ideas, lessons, thoughts, ramblings, humor, information in a real printed book that others can buy from the biggest bookseller in the world, Amazon.com.

If you can type a Word document, if you can take a photograph, or if you can draw you can have your very own print book custom made, on demand, printed for anyone and everyone who wants to buy it. The marketplace, not some suit, will decide if they want your book or not.

Your “job” is just to get the information out of your head and onto paper. Will you deny the people who might learn, might benefit, might derive some pleasure from your experience, your perspective, your “way” of doing things?

One of the greatest compliments I ever got on a book was from a Canadian gentleman named Bill, who wrote, “YOUR WAY of explaining things Bob, does more for me than all the videos.”

While there were already dozens, if not hundreds of books out there teaching Photoshop, and Youtube has hundreds of video tutorials, I decided to write a book based on my understanding of Photoshop. And MY WAY of explaining things made all the difference to Bill. Likely others too.

I’ll bet YOUR WAY of explaining things could help someone as well.

That’s why we see SO MANY similar books, all doing well. Not everyone learns the same way. The combination of words you use might make all the difference to someone. But your playing small, your fear denies them the opportunity.

If you won’t write the book to improve your own financial situation, why not DO IT FOR THEM?

If you’re not comfortable enough to pour your own thoughts, and beliefs, and feelings into your own book, if you haven’t yet created a big enough “WHY?” to motivate you, consider creating a book for someone else on your first time out.

Once you have an understanding of how easy it can be to create a book, you might just be inspired to finally create yours.

Here is what I’m talking about. Create a FUNDRAISING BOOK to help your favorite charity.

Now more than ever, charities are feeling the pain of this economy. Donations are down. People grow weary of the same old fundraisers that just leave them poorer. Why not create a fundraiser that makes everyone richer?

To do this you simply have the members each submit one or two pages of the book (for example, their favorite recipes or tips, or tricks). Once you have say 100 to 150 recipes you have all the content you need to create a great cookbook. Compile them all together, add a snazzy cover and go out and sell this useful book to raise money for your charity. The profit margins are huge, and you know right off that every one who contributed will be a buyer, right? And their friends and family too. Cookbooks are a perennial best seller. You could create a new version each year and easily raise $5000 for your charity selling something useful (a book) that families can enjoy.

(Just as an aside, the Bible is one of the best selling books of all times and what is it?  A collectionof stories, a compilation, an anthology There’s no reason YOU have to write a whole book yourself, get some help if it makes sense to do so.)

Once you do this, and see how easy it is to create a book, I guarantee you’ll be itchin’ to get your own book done. And keep all the profits for yourself!

If you want details on how you can create a simple $5000 fundraising book for your favorite group, let me know and I’ll be happy to help you.

To paraphrase from the Bible, “Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see…”

You know stuff. Good stuff. Why not share it in a book?

YOUR WAY might just be the way that turns someones life around for the better.

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