Problem:

Now that I’ve finished my first novel, I’m super excited to start my travels on the road to self-publishing. Step by step I’m piecing together all the little details that concern the cover art, the professional editing, the planning of a book launch, etc. Yet all these necessities to make my book as professional as it can be costs MONEY. It would be great to have a hidden stash that I could reach into; but I don’t. So what do I do?

Or let’s say for those of you who have written a book and published it, you find your earnings meagre. Why not give your audience more and earn a little more income?

Solution:

I recently listened to a webinar which I believe I found access through Joan Stewart’s Publicity Hound (here’s the link: http://publicityhound.com) about “Big Ticket Programs.” What are they?

They are one of the following:

1. audio course
2. video course
3. webinar
4. retreat
5. coaching program
6. workshop.

This opened my eyes to see that I could create a big ticket program and make lots of money off of it. Every author should create one whether you write nonfiction or fiction. For nonfiction authors, it’s easier to come up with topics for your big ticket programs since they can branch off what you’ve written your book on. For fiction authors, it’s definitely possible; but requires a little more imagination. Let’s say you’ve written an historical fiction book set during WWII and your character(s) deals with PTSD. You can learn more about it and become an authority on it. PTSD is universally felt by those who have gone to war or experienced traumatic events. It’s relative to today. And that’s what you can use to create your big ticket program.

Big ticket programs can range from $200 to $10,000 each. Depends on what your topic is, how big your audience is, and your experience.

You might be thinking “No one’s going to be paying that much money to hear me talk about what I might know. I’ll feel like a fraud.”

I know that when I first listened to the webinar I was thinking the same thing. But after many moments of thought I came up with two areas of expertise that I could market into big ticket programs. So really think about it. Is there something that your friends come to you and ask you for advice? Or do you know about a lot about a certain topic you’re writing about? If so, I hope you really consider putting some time and effort into creating something that will really benefit others and you.

Benefits:

Money is always a really great benefit; but before I go into that, I want to touch base with the benefit it will bring to your character.

• Doing this for the first time will for many people put them out of their comfort zones. And that’s a really good thing. You’ll learn some discipline, endurance, patience (with yourself), confidence, and learn how to engage with an audience which is really great for writers to learn (since some of us might be more of an introvert than extrovert).
• Now for the money. All right let’s say since this is you first big ticket program, you’ll charge $500. You really only need 100 people to buy it to make a nice profit on it. That will send your way a whopping $50,000! And as you become more experienced, you can increase the price. People will be willing to pay if the information and, maybe, experience is what they seek.
• Tip: You can always create the order form before you even create your program. The order form lists those people who are willing to pay before the program is even complete. You can reward them by knocking off 50% of your intended price. Just make sure you fulfill your end; your reputation will start turning sour if you don’t. Give yourself and your clients a due date of when they can expect to have it completed and ready to tune into.

Have any questions? Feel free to ask. Or if you want to bounce around ideas in the comments below, fire away!