We're following on from last week's show today and talking more about the three types of book you can use to generate more business:
Lead generating
Lead converting
Blueprint
Using examples of existing books, we breakdown the different types and their purpose to give you more ideas to generate more business.
Looking at generating vs converting vs blueprint ideas really shows the difference in the purpose and intent of your book and how each is positioned in a slightly different way to move people forward.
Links:
8-Profit Activators book (also checkout BreakthroughDNA.com)
Scorecard: ProfitActivatorScore.com
Ready to get started: Get Started
Questions/Feedback: Send us an email
Extra Credit Listening: MoreCheeseLessWhiskers.com
Transcript: Book More Show 040
Stuart: Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Book More Show. It's Stuart, here, with Betsey Vaughn. Betsey, how are you doing?
Betsey: Hey, I'm great. Thanks, Stuart.
Stuart: I always introduce-
Betsey: How are you?
Stuart: -you with your surname. Maybe I should start introducing me with my surname, as well, just in case people start thinking I'm like Madonna, or Cher, and just go by a first name only?
Betsey: I bet that's what they're thinking. Madonna…
Stuart: I do often get mistaken for one of those two. That was an embarrassing start to the show, but we're going to power on. Today, we're going to follow on from the episode we did last week with Dean. We were talking then about the types of books, and we kind of explored the idea of a 90-Minute Book being perfect for three types of books, really: a lead-generating book, a lead-converting book, and a blueprint-type book. Depending on where you're thinking about using your book in the funnel, depending on the kind of particular use case, one of those models kind of fits quite nicely in the quick, and easy, convenient, and cost-effective way of creating a 90-Minute Book, and having it as a super-valuable asset in that funnel. We're going to elaborate a little bit on those ideas.
Betsey: Very good. Should be interesting.
Stuart: I think so. Just before we started recording, we were kind of running through a couple of the examples of the books that people have already written with us, and kind of categorizing them as those types. This should be a great show to give people specific examples of what we've done in the past. Hopefully, that'll trigger something within your business, as you're listening in, thinking ... You've had the thought already, where you know that a book is a valuable asset, but perhaps you haven't quite contextualized it to where you could use it in your own business. This, hopefully, will give you a few more ideas to dial that in, and see for yourselves where this could fit, and start uncovering those invisible leads. For the leads that are already uncovered, kind of give those people a way of educating themselves, and revealing the kind of self-evidencing that this is the right solution for them.
Betsey: All right. Sounds good. Let's dig in.
Stuart: A bit of context then, I guess. We always use the same language, so there's always the assumption that people know where we're coming from. When we talk about lead-generating books, and Profit Activator #2, which you'll hear us mention quite a lot, that is referring back to the Breakthrough DNA framework, which is the 8 Profit Activators, to accelerate the various areas of your business.
If you're joining us for the first time and you haven't listened to a description of the 8 Profit Activators before, in the show notes, I'll link across to the Breakthrough DNA book, so you can grab a copy of it, and then run through those, just so it's a little bit clearer in your mind. I think, as we talk about a lot of the things we talk about, understanding particularly the before unit, that Profit Activator #1, which is selecting a single target market. Profit Activator #2, which is giving people an easy low-commitment way of raising their hand has been a valuable lead, a valuable prospect, and Profit Activator #3, which is patiently educated, and motivate people towards making a decision when they're ready ... Understanding those three areas is kind of key to understanding where your book fits into it.
If you are joining us for the first time, add, of course, the show, it's at 90-MinuteBooks.com/podcast, and this is Episode 40, and there's a link in there to the Breakthrough DNA book. That's really going to help conceptualize this, and put it into the funnel that you're trying to create.
The lead-generating book that we're talking about is revealing leads that you aren't necessarily already aware of - people that haven't raised their hand, already; they're not on your list; you're not having a conversation with them. Some of the books that we've got ... We talk about lead-generating books, at length, but some of the books we've got in the gallery, even just going through the titles, you'll see that these are going to be introducing new ideas, or you can ... Even if it's not your area of business, you can see, and understand how a customer, who is broadly entrusted in that environment, or that product, or service, would be compelled by the title to raise their hand, because it gives the promise of a fix, promise of a solution. It guides people on the next step down the journey that they're already thinking about taking.
The lead-converting books, as we were saying last week, is a little bit more around people already know this is a good idea. This is the type of book that we would offer to people on the 90-Minute Book list already, or people who listen to the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, which is a sister podcast that we've got. These are people who are aware of the environment, already, but maybe need a little bit more guidance, and structure into why it's a good idea, how it could work for them - all of the doubts, and objections that people might have to why something is a good idea. A lead-converting book is a great way of overcoming those, upfront, and giving people more evidence that they've made the right choice progressing down this path.
The blueprint book is a little bit more of a Profit Activator #3 tool, a little bit more of a how-to book, not necessarily at the top end of the funnel, like introducing a whole new concept to people, but it's ... The model that I always think about, when I think about these books, are the ones where you've got, perhaps, a program of work. Let's say, for example, you have a dentistry. We just ordered some more books for one of our clients, Return on Hygiene. That is a dentistry book. It falls nicely into a Profit Activator #2 camp. To a certain degree, it's a lead-converting book, because it's talking about how to use your hygienists as a profit center, rather than a cost center. Although, to a certain degree, it's introducing a new idea, and it's certainly the case that ... We talk about three different types of books, but there's a big crossover between they don't just sit in one particular pool, and do one particular job. There's definitely a crossover.
Betsey: Right.
Stuart: Return on Hygiene is less around introducing a brand new idea ... Well, there is that, to a certain degree, but it's a little bit more about overcoming objections to why hygienists might be profit center, or could be a profit center within your business. A blueprint book ... If Rachel then went on to do a further book, moving people towards the goal, or the objective, if we're working more specifically with ... Let's just say, for example, she had five modules in a particular ... The framework in which she delivers this training, a blueprint book may be the first step in that process. It might be the first module of the material, all grouped together into one book, in more of a how-to book that educates, and motivates people that they're still in the right place; that this is adding further value. It moves the conversation along further, to a conversion point.
Does it make sense, so far.
Betsey: So far, I'm following you.
Stuart: That's always a good start. Okay, a mouthful of coffee. I must be talking too much, because my voice is starting to crack up already. This concept is something we want to dive into a little bit more, today, and break down that difference between a lead-converting book, and a blueprint book, how they work together in concert ... Not necessarily that you need all of these things, although it would definitely be of benefit, because you've got a lot of assets in your individual funnel, then. It just seems like the difference in the way they sit, and the job of work that they're doing at that particular time.
If we look at the before unit, the Profit Activator #1, #2, and #3, the choosing the single target markets for this particular funnel, the writing something that encourages people to raise their hand, and the having something in Profit Activator #3 that really converts, and also educates and motivates people to convert, then you can see where, depending on the type of people that you're trying to engage ... This is where it's always beneficial to start with the end in mind. Don't think about writing a particular book as a be-all, and end-all, as in one thing that will do all of these jobs, but think about it as doing a particular job of work - writing something that engages people at the very front end.
With the dentistry model, the Return on Hygiene book is, to a certain degree, already assuming that those words make sense. You've already got hygienists in there, which ... Again, trying to use a specific example of an already-existing book, it crosses over all of those three areas.
Betsey: All of them, yeah.
Stuart: The model isn't binary. It's not black and white. It's more of an art than a science. To a certain degree, it already assumes that people are introduced to the idea of hygienists, and already introduced to the idea that they might be a valuable asset within the business. For dentists, that's probably the case, because I can't think of a dental practice that doesn't have hygienists there, as well, but it's not necessarily the case, I guess.
Getting the lead-generating book before that may be Five Ways to Increase Profits in Your Practice, a book that talks about that. As a dentist is trying to solve the problem, the problem being becoming more profitable, then having something at the top end that answers that question - how do you run a more profitable practice - might be more compelling than offering the same person a book, say Return on Hygiene, because they might not have made that step to say that the answer to solve the problem lies within their hygienists.
Fishing from the broadest, deepest possible pool at the top, separating the job of identifying people from the sifting, and sorting - those that are interested in the more niche, the more specific thing that you're looking for - it's, in the model we're talking about, it's possibly more valuable to go at that top level. Lead-generating being Five Ways to Increase the Profitability of Your Dental Practice. One of those five ideas, knowing that your particular program is talking about hygienists ... One of those five ideas should be introducing the concept that there are profits being left on the table within the hygienists area.
The lead-converting book, the second book, the book that's starting to educate, and motivate people, is then talking about Return on Hygiene, so it's taking all of those five areas, and diving deeper into it to overcome the objections to why focusing on the hygienists might be the way to go. Again, not my area of expertise, but-
Betsey: Right.
Stuart: -it might be the case that, historically, that they are always seen as a cost center. Maybe people don't put value on that, as a service, as opposed to things like Invisalign braces, or things that you could maybe charge more high value for. Maybe they're seen as not part of the critical care side of things. It's not like dental paying customers coming in, looking at the hygienists side of things, don't have this kind of urgent desire to fix the problem, because it's causing pain. It's a little bit like the mechanics model, the garage model, of servicing, versus car sales. Car sales are the high-ticket value line item in the budget, but actually sales ... If you can get the turnover going well within servicing, then there's a big ongoing revenue stream to come from that.
Betsey: Yeah.
Stuart: All these things might be why people don't think about this particular solution, so, hygienists, in this example. Overcoming all of those objections, saying, "Well, actually, what you'll find is this ..." bringing all of those things together in Return on Hygiene is that compelling evidence that here's the seed of an idea. Here's the detail of it, and towards the end of the book, then, obviously, we're leading people towards a call to action. We want them to take the next step, and the next step really is joining the ... Bringing us in as consultants, so joining the program, so that we can walk you through, step-by-step, how to execute on this particular strategy that we've got a program to help you fix. So far, so good?
Betsey: I am. I think I've got a lot of notes here in front of me, so I think I'm following along okay here, yeah.
Stuart: Actually, last week's episode, and we've done some work on this in the intervening week ... Last week's episode was really a wake-up call for ourselves, because in the cobbler's shoes type example ... Actually, does that nursery rhyme, or that story translate, or is that just a British thing?
Betsey: Yes. Yes, it's familiar.
Stuart: Okay, good. My head is usually in a U.S. versus UK for a lot of the time, but there's still some things that default back to UK, and they might not necessarily translate. Yes, in this example, or this model that we kind of, because we spend so much time focusing on other people's stuff, we don't take the time to look at our own stuff. Last week, it was a real reminder that, actually, the 90-Minute Book is a great Profit Activator #1-#2-type tool that crosses over between the two. It introduces people to the concept, and it gets people to raise their hand, who are already thinking about a book, but it definitely doesn't address an audience of people who don't necessarily know that a book is a valuable thing to do if they're thinking about lead generation.
We don't necessarily have a book out there that is focused on particular single target market, looking to help them increase their marketing effectiveness, increase the number of leads that they're getting in, in the new business. It presupposes, already, that there is a book in the thought process, so we've got a gap at that end. The name in a book, itself, then starts to do some of the lead-conversion job, because it runs through a lot of the barriers to entry for people, a lot of the preconceptions that people have. It does a pretty good job of educating people to another option.
We also don't really have any blueprint books. We don't necessarily have the ... We do, in other areas, and we do, for customers, when they come on board, because we've got ... As we mentioned last time, we've got Preparing for Your 90-Minute Book, and then Beyond the Book, which both kind of set it out for people, but we don't have those things in the funnel. It's even for others who are doing this, and talking to other people about doing it, day in, day out, it's very easy to miss these steps, because you get caught up in the thing that you're doing.
Betsey: Got it.
Stuart: From the people at the front end you're talking to, a lot of the people, as they come on board, and then, as they go through the process, they're dealing with a lot of the other team members, but then, as they come towards the end of the process, you're dealing with them a lot. I get the chance to speak to people towards the end of the process, as well as we're doing some of the strategy calls for people. That early stage, or even, essentially, once people are finishing their thinking about using the books, do you find people are talking in terms of this lead generation, versus lead-converting book? Is that a narrative that's going on in people's heads?
Betsey: Yeah, it really is, and I think ... As I hear what, sometimes, from the beginning ... Before someone comes on board, one of my questions I always ask is, "Tell me why you want to write this book. What is the goal of writing this book?" I get, "Well, I want to use it for lead generation." I can tell you that I don't know the term 'lead conversion' has ever come up. It's always like they're wanting to grab that, but I don't think people are taking that next step of getting people to raise their hand. From my standpoint of talking to people, I think it's really ... When I'm looking at my notes, and I'm thinking, "I'm not even doing that. I'm not even speaking like that to people on a regular basis." You know? Really, and truly, because it's such a focus on lead generation, so I think that discussing more about the conversion, the raising the hand, I think maybe that needs to be more part of my spiel at this point, when I'm talking to potential clients, or clients, at this point, towards the end of it.
Stuart: Yeah.
Betsey: Yeah, there's always that lead generation, and I think that they're just thinking of that first step of ... I just want to grab those leads, and I just want to ... You know, we don't always ... They don't, and obviously, I'm not either, thinking about the conversion aspect of it.
Stuart: It does cross over into so many different things that we do. We regularly refer to the More Cheese Less Whiskers podcast, too, as examples of people who are working with book sales tools, or sitting into the rest of the 8 Profit Activators, and looking at engaging people, once they're in. I think, often, the thought of creating a book has so much baggage, and energy around it. It takes 80 units of effort for someone to think about it, and think about what they're doing with it. Then there's only so many units of energy left to think about, "Okay, well, how am I using it in that funnel?" Certainly, when people work with those, we can help that by taking, of those 80 units to get it done, we can reduce that overhead to 20, or 30 units, because we're doing the rest of it.
Betsey: Right.
Stuart: Still, then, it's not necessarily ... There isn't necessarily anything that's leaping back round with people, in saying, "Okay, well, with this spare capacity that you've got now, let's take some of that, and think about how it fits into the model." Also, as we start off by saying that this isn't cut and dry. It's not clearly, this can only be a Profit Activator #1 book, or #2 book-
Betsey: Right.
Stuart: This can only be a Profit Activator #2 book; this is only for collecting leads, and this is only for conversion. There's definitely cross-over, and even looking at our example, if you have to categorize the 90-Minute Book, and if you could only categorize it in one of those three pools, then it would probably fall just into the lead-converting book, although, we'd primarily use it for lead generation.
In all this listening, I wouldn't want them to get too ... Just think about this in terms of ... They can be used in different ways, and they can do different jobs, but don't let it be a point of concern of I can't move forward until I've got this absolutely nailed down, because that's definitely not the case, either. It's having something out there ... I think we might've said this last week, having something out there is infinitely better than having nothing out there, even if that something isn't entirely dialed in. It's great seeing the opportunity to look at the different categories, but definitely don't let it stop you getting that first one out there, because even something out there, and then dialing in, over time, is far, far better than having nothing out there, and waiting for everything to be perfectly aligned before moving forward.
Betsey: Right, exactly. I think you're right. Mentioning these three, I would hate for someone to think, "Oh, I don't know where I fall. Maybe I shouldn't do anything." There is a lot of cross-over, pretty much with everybody that we deal with. I can think of examples of people who say, "Oh, I'm not ready yet” or “I don't know who it is I'm actually looking for," but not necessary. We can start anyway.
Stuart: Exactly, and the other thing is that you don't know, either. Until you actually get it out there, in people's hands, in real customer's hands, and start getting some feedback, there's absolutely no way of knowing what the perfect implementation is. This is really something that we try, and drive home with people, saying that, in comparison, you're doing a different type of book, a more traditional book that takes a lot longer, and costs a lot more. Again, the exact same risk is true that you don't know how that's going to land, and doing something more quickly, and efficiently, and getting out there, and testing market allows you to iterate, and develop on it afterwards.
Absolutely the case with what we've done, anyone that's listening to this, with an idea that it's not knowing which category it falls into, it doesn't matter. Move forward with it, because it will do all of those jobs. If you then decide that you need to dial in a little bit more, six months down the track, or it makes sense to write a second book to have a slightly job of work, six months down the track, that's fine. In the meantime, the first one's been out there doing all of the work that, had you waited, it obviously wouldn't have done.
Jumping back to the example, then, we were using dental hygienists as the example. We've got a pure lead-generation book at the top end of the funnel, the broadest end of the funnel, trying to attract dentists, who are looking to improve the profitability of their practice. Something talking about five ways to improve the profitability of your dental practice. One of those five being looking at the hygiene department, hygienist's department. Then, the lead-converting book of taking away the dire, and answering the questions about why addressing hygienists is a good way of going.
A blueprint book, then, is more around the educating, and motivating part of it. By this point, the people who are the most engaged, the hardest, the people who've had all their questions answered to the point that they want to move forward, and try this, will have converted into whatever you're offering at the end of those books. For people who are still in the funnel, people who are still on your mailing list, those who haven't converted immediately, because either the time isn't right for them, or they're still waiting for some further information, something like a blueprint book, a specific how-to, may be a great way of educating, and motivating those people a little more towards executing.
Again, this isn't to say that it's not a converting book. It really is a converting book. A blueprint is like a subset of the converting category. Equally, it's not to say it's not a lead-generating book, because whatever that specific topic is, then people are going to be interested in this, and will ... Those invisible leads will still convert into that title, because it will still be raising the interest of people who are dialed into that area.
If, for example, I mentioned if you've got the product, or the service that you're trying to sell is either a coaching service, or a consulting service, or you've got a online, or an in-person program, the first step of that, the first stage, the first module might be a blueprint-type book, in its own right. We talk about going deep, and answering one question, as robustly as possible, to really give value in all the books that are written. The blueprint book is exactly the same.
For example, if I think about what we can do better on the 90-Minute Books, and things, we talk about titles as being, really, the single-most important thing out of the whole process. We can write a book. We could write a book. We should write a book that talks about creating killer titles, titles that convert, and step-by-step, walk people through all of the pros, and cons, all the benefits of one type of title, versus another type of title; the things you want to consider, as you're picking your title; the ways you can, as we were talking last week, the ways you can dial in that word palette of phrases, and language that people are interested in; the narrative that they've got in their own mind.
All of these things, we can create a blueprint book, looking at that one particular subject - the hygienists can be ... Again, this really isn't my area of expertise, but whatever particular skill, discipline that they do, we can dive deep into it, and almost give away the first module, because you'd need, then, to, on the desire, then it's to lead people into the subsequent modules.
The target for all of these is those people who remain on your list, and on converting, because either they're lacking a piece of information, or the time just isn't right for them. That list is really where the gold lies, over time. The likelihood of someone coming on board, and converting immediately, depending on what it is, to a certain degree, but it's a small group of people who are ready, there, and then. The far larger pool of people are those who convert over time.
Being able to continue to stay in touch with them, send them what we would call a flagship broadcast, have a reason to continue to communicate with them, after that initial opt-in, that's really the long tail of the conversion, and a blueprint book, or over time, several blueprint books are a great way of having a reason to reach out to those people, continue to add value, and just be front of mind, and put in front of them offers, where they can convert, and take that step in being a paying customer.
Betsey: There you go. Sounds good.
Stuart: Categorization of those three categories. Does that make sense? I'm always conscious of the model, because we're in it all the time, the model is in our head, and the separation between the two, particularly how things fit in with the 8 Profit Activators, the Breakthrough DNA model of before, during, and after units.
Betsey: It absolutely makes sense. I think it's very ... I do think it's very important for people to look at the 8 Profit Activators, for sure, just to make a definite connection there, to ... I definitely recommend that, when you said you were going to put the link, I thought, That's really a good idea.
Stuart: It really does help set a framework around the books, where they sit in your funnel, as you create something, and then, most importantly, what you then do with it afterwards. Having the asset created is great. It's getting that job done. You can tick the box, but it's not until you move on, and then use it, and decide which is the best way of using it, either at the top of your funnel, or with an existing list, it's really that usage that is the main thing, because that is what translates to new business through the door. At the end of the day, that's really what we're looking to do for everyone.
Betsey: Exactly.
Stuart: Perfect. Well, I think we're just passing half an hour, so that seems like a good time to wrap.
Betsey: You did an awesome job.
Stuart: My voice just about held out, as well. If anyone listening has any questions about those three types of books, and you want to chat about it a little bit more, then feel free to shoot us a question to support@90MinuteBooks, and we'll either answer questions directly ... We can answer them on future shows, if it's something we should share with other people, or if you want to jump on a call, and just have a quick chat about a book idea that you've got in your head, how it might fit well into a particular funnel, then just shoot us an email to Support@90MinuteBooks, and we'll be able to follow up, and answer any of those.
If you're looking for the show notes, then this can be Episode 40, so, as always, head across to 90MinuteBooks.com/podcast, and this is Episode 40. I'll make sure to link to the Breakthrough DNA book in there that goes into the 8 Profit Activators, a little bit deeper.
We also have a scorecard, a Profit Activator scorecard, which is available at ProfitActivatorScore.com, so for those 8 Profit Activators, that walks you through, step-by-step, on scoring yourself against those 8 Profit Activators, and see how, not robust, but how advanced you are in each of those Profit Activators. It's a good way of revealing strengths, and weaknesses. Not specifically related to this, but it's a good exercise to do. I'll make sure a link's there, as well.
Of course, if you're ready to get started, if one of these things we talked about has resonated with you, then, again, just head over to 90MinuteBooks.com. There's a Get Started link, at the navigation at the top, and then we'll be here, waiting to get the execution of your book done for you in a quick, and effective way, and then we can get that asset out there, and get it into your funnel, and convert it into getting some leads.
Betsey: Very good. Fantastic.
Stuart: Anything that I've missed? I think that's it.
Betsey: Yeah, got it. I think you've got it covered.
Stuart: Perfect. In that case, everyone, we will catch you in two week's time. We've got an interview with one of our existing authors, Yvonne Myette, so that's going to be a great show, and then we'll be back with more questions, and answers, the week after that. Thanks, Betsey.
Betsey: You're welcome. Always a pleasure.
Stuart: Okay. Speak soon, everyone. Bye.