Publish & Prosper

In this episode, Matt and Lauren tackle the question on every author and creator’s mind – can you actually make money from books? We share our favorite tactics for maximizing your book’s earning potential, including doing your market research, selling direct, making effective use of all your content, and more. Plus, we share some Lulu authors & creators who are doing it right! Dive Deeper💡 Learn more about Katie Cross💡 Learn more about Scarred for Life💡 Learn more about Daren Smith💡 Learn more about Limelight Publishing 💡 Learn more about Creative Explained💡 Read These Blog Posts14 Actionable Conversion Marketing Tactics To Sell More BooksMaximizing Your Book's Potential With Market Research💡 Watch These VideosCan You Make Money Self-Publishing? How to Make Money Selling Books Sound Bites From This Episode🎙️ [11:04] “If you start your marketing efforts for your book the day that the book goes on sale, you're already too late.”🎙️ [23:27] “The ecommerce landscape is shifting. It's evolving quickly, but it's also shifting to where we're not just talking about website driven sales anymore. We're talking about the integration of ecommerce into social media channels…So as a book creator and seller, you need to be aware of those things and understand, again, what channels are your potential buyers hanging out, you know, your potential readers and new fans, where are they hanging out and you really should get yourself familiarized with the way that you can sell on those channels.”🎙️ [30:00] “Monetizing your content with a book is great, but also using it as a way to establish yourself as a thought leader or an expert in your industry, using it to foster new connections, network, collaborate with your peers, open up new opportunities for something like a speaking engagement, guest podcast appearances. These are all ways that you're going to hopefully generate revenue and generate more business for yourself, and the book has helped you to do that.”💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more. 💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Lauren & Matt tackle some common myths, misconceptions, and hesitations creators often share about selling direct!We debunk concerns like, “I don’t know how to build my own website,” “I don’t have what it takes to run a business,” and “I rely on third-party platforms for discoverability.” Plus, we share why selling direct is the future of book publishing, and why we think it’s worth investing the time now to help your business flourish long-term. Dive Deeper💡 Learn how Lulu Direct can help your business grow.💡 Read These Blog PostsHow To Convince Readers To Buy Books Directly From YouCustomer Service And Your Ecommerce Business The 1,000 True Fan Theory: Sustainable Income For Creators The Independent Author's Guide to Thriving Without Amazon💡 Watch These VideosHow To Sell Books Through Your Own Website Customer Service Tips for Your Ecommerce BusinessMarket Smarter, Not Harder with Direct Sales I Webinar  Sound Bites From This Episode🎙️ [8:14] “At the end of the day, that's what you are. You're a small business owner. And so finding ways to push through and treat this as a business, it's something you have to do. If this is what you're going to do long-term, if you're in this for the long haul and you're trying to build a sustainable business from your writing or content creation efforts, you have to do this.”🎙️ [34:04] “The work that you put in now to do things like access your customer data by selling direct and being able to remarket to them because you have all that information, that will help you later. That work that you're doing now is going to help you continue to grow your business in hopefully years to come.”💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more. 💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Matt and Lauren discuss how publishing a book can help you establish yourself as an expert or thought leader in your industry.Your book can serve as a business card or lead magnet, as the foundation for a community of fans, and as a networking key to unlock doors to speaking engagements, guest appearances, collaborations, and more. Plus, a book will generate passive revenue for your business, supplement your existing products, courses, or services, and help you connect directly with your audience.Dive Deeper:💡Learn more about growing your brand or business with a book when you Publish for Growth.💡Download our Publishing for Growth ebook.💡Find out what creators like you are doing to grow their content business in our Creator Insights report. 💡Read These Blog PostsHarness The Power Of PublishingCreators' Guide To Monetizing Your Content💡Watch These VideosHow to Use a Book for Lead Generation How Content Creators Can Use Books Sound Bites From This Episode:🎙️ [1:38] “When we talk to people about using a book to grow your business…it always starts with positioning yourself as somebody that others would want to look to as the expert.” 🎙️[9:38] “[Publishing a book] gives you a reason to talk to people, which I think is for those of us that are more introverted, or even just for those of us that aren't great at…just walking up to somebody cold turkey and going like, ‘Hi, let me tell you all about me, myself, and I and my business,’ this is your reason.”🎙️[30:25] “If you want to put your stuff on Amazon or Target.com or, you know, any other third-party retail platform or aggregator or distributor, do so, but do that in the sense that you're going to rely on them for discoverability…Don't ever direct the fans and followers and customers that you've already built up to some other third party when you could actually potentially sell that content directly to them, keep that customer data, keep those profit margins higher.”💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more. 💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

In this episode, Lauren & Matt explore traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing, and make a case for why self-publishing is the best path for today’s creators. Whether you're looking to grow your brand, make money, share your story, or establish yourself as an expert, there’s a publishing path for you. Discover the benefits of self-publishing, including complete creative control, faster time to market, and the opportunity to build a loyal fanbase. Plus, we take a look at how self-publishing could be your ticket to maximizing profits and achieving your brand goals.Dive Deeper💡Download your free copy of our Publishing for Growth ebook💡Find out what creators like you are doing to grow their content business in our Creator Insights report. 💡Check out Jane Friedman’s Key Book Publishing Paths 💡Read These Blog PostsWhy Every Entrepreneur Should PublishThe Publishing Journey: Traditional Publishing vs. Self-PublishingSound Bites From This Episode🎙️ [15:06] “These days one of our biggest goals as creators is to grow an audience, and more importantly, you know, to turn that audience into what we would consider fans, or super fans, right? People who are going to give you money for your content at some point or some stage in that journey.”🎙️ [18:20] “If that's something that's important to you, if growing your brand and owning your content is important to you, self-publishing is absolutely the correct path for you because you want to own the rights to your own content.”🎙️ [21:52] “When you take on the responsibility of owning your content and selling it directly to your fans in your community through using self-publishing and direct sales tactics, you're the one collecting [customer] data. You know exactly how many people have bought your book or books, you have their names, their email addresses, and any other piece of information that comes through on that transaction on your platform, and you can use that data to remarket...When it comes to building a community and a brand and building up a dedicated audience of loyal fans, it starts with owning that data, and you can't do that if you're traditionally published.”💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more. 💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com💀 Sign up for our mailing list.

Meet Matt Briel and Lauren Vassallo, hosts of Publish & Prosper, a new podcast where publishing, ecommerce, and marketing collide! Join us for a quick introductory episode where we talk about who we are, our experience in the self-publishing industry, and what you can expect from future Publish & Prosper episodes.  💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog, our YouTube channel, and more. 💀 Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!💀 Email us at podcast@lulu.com💀 Sign up for our mailing list.