Many new authors find that once they have their book written and published, they rarely see a return on their investment simply by book sales alone.

While frustrating, it’s certainly not uncommon. In fact, hardcopy book sales have been on the decline since digital publishing was introduced and has grown in popularity. For authors publishing with traditional publishers, it’s getting harder to get noticed, and book advances are getting smaller.

If you are lucky enough to catch the attention of a trade publisher, you might get an average advance of $10,000 to $15,000, or you could get one as low as $1,000. With many nonfiction books only selling an average of 3,000 to 5,000 copies within a book’s lifetime, often you’ll never earn anything beyond that advance.

For self-published nonfiction books, the numbers can get worse as the author is doing all the writing, publishing, and marketing work with no advance at all.

So, why would anyone ever bother writing a book at all?

I can answer that question in one word: Leverage!

Why you need to use your book as part of an overall branding or marketing campaign

Don’t let the above numbers put you off. Writing and publishing a nonfiction book is still a worthwhile endeavor.

Many savvy business people know they aren’t writing a book to sell tons of copies and make it on the New York Time’s Best Sellers List, although that would certainly be an added perk. They are writing a book that gives them leverage — to build their brand, make more business sales, gain more gigs, or lure new clients and build on the clientele they already have.

They are writing a book for a purpose. If they sell copies of their books along the way, even better!

If you are also looking to build your personal or business brand, win new customers, gain exposure, or position you and/or your company as an expert in your field, the following are some key strategies to doing just that.

Top 5 strategies for leveraging your book in a branding or marketing campaign:

Strategy #1:   

Use copies of your book as a giveaway item (known as a premium) within your marketing campaign. Why?

People love free! They’re also impressed by people who have written a book. Using this strategy gets your audience engaged while getting your name and business out within your market.

Giving out a copy of your book is a great way to build trust and thank existing clients for their business or new client referrals, as well as a way to capture potential client information for new leads. You can also provide it as a prize for contests.

Strategy #2:  

If your book is in hardcopy form, turn a chapter or two into a free digital, downloadable sample and upload it to your website. Why?

This can be used as a premium that potential clients can have in exchange for their contact information and permission to be put on your email marketing list. Many people will give you their information just to receive your free offer. And it gives you a list of people you can contact in the future to sell your services or products to.

Plus, if you give them the option to purchase the book in full, you’ll be making money on the backend as well.

Strategy #3:   

Leverage your book by giving it away as a bonus to another customer purchase or as a package of products. Why?

Bonus is just another word for free, and like I said, people love free! When you use it as a bonus to other services or products you’re selling, it increases the perceived value of those services or products. Customers see your offer as a better bargain. Therefore, you make more lucrative sales!

Strategy #4:  

Send copies of your book to the media. Why?

Oftentimes when you send a free copy of your book to TV outlets, radio, and even newspapers, this gains the attention of the people who can get your name out to the masses.

Being highlighted in the media gives you further opportunity to be seen as an expert in your field and leverages your ability to build trust with your audience. You can also gain more speaking engagements (either paid or unpaid) with this publicity and it can give you something to build your other marketing or branding efforts around.

Strategy #5:  

Sell your book on the backend. Why?

If you do presentations at conferences or have other public speaking gigs, leverage your book to further cement your expertise to your audience. It helps you promote yourself and your services to those in attendance while potentially selling copies of your book at the same time.

Regardless of how you use your nonfiction book as leverage within your branding or marketing campaign, publishing your own book is a valuable asset to your overall success.