Promotional books

• By Blurb
• 14 Mar 2011

You’re doing all the right things. You’ve got your ads out there. Plenty of people like your Facebook page. You’re tweeting regularly. Good old-fashioned word-of-mouth is working in your favor.

So if you’re looking to do even more to build the buzz about your business, how about making a book?

A book is a terrific, cost-effective way to let the world know what your business has to offer, share your expertise, or show your products and services. Books elevate your work, showcase it in a vehicle that goes beyond a brochure or a website, and give your work lasting appeal in a customized, keepable way. And you won’t believe how easy and affordable it is these days to make a professional-quality book with primo paper, top-notch binding, and excellent image reproduction.

Tell Your Story, Show Off Your Work

There are endless ways to tell your story in a book, whether you say it with photographs or present your brand in words and pictures.

Here are just a few examples of the ways in which entrepreneurs, artists, and small (even big!) business owners have used books to build their businesses:

-Portfolio Books: Presentation is everything and putting a book together that puts your work into the best light is an unbeatable business tool. Take a look at these books made by artists, designers, and photographers (to name just a few!).

-Before and After Books: Show how you made a difference with a redesign or a makeover.

-Testimonial Books: Publish those rave reviews alongside photos of your work.

-How-To Books: No one knows your business better than you do. Share your expertise or show how you succeeded and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Spread the Word Online

In addition to a book you can hold in your hands, a bookmaking platform like Blurb also gives you free online marketing tools. For instance, Blurb BookShow™ lets you can share every page of your book online and show it off to friends and fans on Facebook, your blog, or your website. With a click, your friends can share your book or even go to Blurb’s online bookstore and buy it (you set the price and keep 100% of the markup). BookShow also tracks page views of your book, letting you see how many views you’re getting, and from what geographic area so you can find your fans and target your marketing.

Focused Creativity

Making a book is also a great exercise to help you focus in on what’s working in your business, and which areas might need some rethinking. As you plan your book’s sequence and revisit images of your work, take the opportunity to get a fresh perspective on the impression your business and your brand leaves on current and prospective customers.

Finally, whatever you do, don’t let the perfectionist in you get in the way of making your book. After all, you’ve started a business – you know how to take creative leaps. Take one more. Make a book and see where your entrepreneurial genius takes you. Chances are you’ll get as much out of it as your clients and customers will.

Written on:

14 Mar 2011

Categories:

Marketing