“Peter opened my eyes to a new and better way of looking at my business—to larger and more accessible markets than I’d imagined. He’s an expert at building a business around content: a tricky assignment that I think few people understand. And he became an expert on my industry and even on my own abilities and resources. All the while, his passion for the work was inspiring and his intelligence impressive. Highly recommended.”

“As with many entrepreneurs, I see opportunities around every corner, but that doesn’t mean they’re right for me.  Peter helped me focus and develop a strategic plan that leverages my strengths, resources, content and contacts in such a way as to optimize ROI.  Instead of trying to be all things to all people, Peter had the amazing ability to zone in on my market differentiator.  As a result, I’m enjoying greater business opportunities than I’ve been able to create on my own.  It’s exciting to watch how he can make things happen.”

“Peter was able sift through huge amounts of my content, zero in on the very heart of my message, and synthesize all the strands of my thinking into a solid plan that leads to real profit. His skill and insight has been invaluable to me in charting my professional path. I’m incredibly thankful to him.”

“I came to Peter to develop a strategy and gain the clarity I needed to start a movement to help transform engineering education around the globe.  As an academic, I was skeptical that a business guy would be able to figure this out very easily or at all, but he jumped into deep water without any hesitation, asking exactly  the right questions and providing just the right information.  He then swam laps around the pool by connecting me to some awesome and inobvious resources, and in very short order I have a solid strategy to start swimming in deep water myself.  Now Peter is working with me to improve my strokes and execute the strategy he developed.  It is safe to say that working with him was eye opening, a wonderful learnig experience, and time and money well spent!!”

Left brain or right brain? Innovation versus execution? Process or people? Strategic versus tactical? Many of these concepts are positioned as either/or behaviors or default types of people, teams and organizations. There are ample tools to help determine your dominant type or style. There are also dozens if not hundreds of books on each of these topics. Every one of them attempts to make the case for why their model or view of the world is the better mousetrap. Each one supported by research and case studies supporting their argument.

So, given all the information that is out there it should be pretty easy to determine how one needs to think and act in order to be successful,right? Not really. Is it that the difficulty in choosing correctly is relative to the situation? Partly. I think the issue is that we tend to swing like a pendulum when it comes to analyzing and solving business issues. We go into “strategic planning mode” for a while, than we dive into mastering new tools or technologies for a bit. Once we’ve done that we may launch an employee engagement program because it’s all about the people, right? But than we dive into six sigma or process improvement for a while and those programs yield some impressive results. The soup du jour method of running a business isn’t really one that is viable or sustainable, although it may be fun for some.

In my work I’ve observed that the authors and thought leaders that have the ability to zoom in and zoom out are the ones that are making a difference and growing their respective businesses at a faster pace than those that aren’t. Business is dynamic. Choices that you make are usually not permanent and need to be reevaluated, tweaked and modified over time as circumstances change. The market changes, clients demands and needs change, technology changes, cultures morph and evolve. You need to constantly revisit what you are doing and if it is still the best way to accomplish your objectives. What is challenging for many is that we all (as individuals, as teams and as organizations) have default tendencies. Some are visionary and future focused while others are more oriented towards execution and implementation. We prefer to stay in our comfort zones whatever they may be.

If you’re a zoom in (tactical/execution/operational) type trying zooming out for a bit. If you’re a zoom out (big picture, strategic thinker, future focused) type spend some time drilling down on the tactics and processes. There is never just one right way to achieve a goal or objective and alternative view points, ideas and concepts are needed today more than ever.

“As an Executive Coach I know what it takes to help people reach their goals. I can say, unequivocally, that Peter’s passion, personality and expertise brings the clarity of thought and intensity of focus necessary to determine the best course of action for reaching those goals. Not only has Peter helped me to already, but he will continue to be an important part of my plan for success for the foreseeable future.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Being a successful  author or thought leader is not easy.  It’s incredibly rewarding on many levels yet it’s getting more and more difficult for many to be able to effectively monetize their content.  The quaint old days of getting a nice advance from a publisher and then going out on the speaking circuit a few times a month to make a living are pretty much a distant memory for most.  Running for Vice President or having served as Vice President seems to work pretty well but that’s another story. It’s changed a bit since Mark Twain’s time and it seems that most of the changes have occurred in the last five years or so.

What I find intriguing in my conversations with authors and thought leaders is that many don’t think enough about the landmines that have and will impact their practice or business.  The publishing business (is that term an oxymoron?) is changing and in a state of flux. Boom!  The speaking business is off over 50% and it doesn’t look to be coming back any time soon. Boom!  Corporate training budgets are being cut. Boom!  Consumers have far less discretionary income. Boom!  Get the picture?

Now for every landmine there are an equal or greater number of opportunities.  Self publishing,  social media, digital content, coaching, licensing, assessment tools, consulting engagements, etc.  The reality is that it’s hard enough to stay on top of your game as a thought leader from a content perspective add to that the ability to master social media, community development, branding, marketing and so on and the probability of success is reduced drastically.

My suggestion?  Spend some time and come up with 5 “landmines” that are currently or will in the very near future affect you.  Determine what percentage of your annual revenue is at risk for the next year, two years and three years.  It’s a bit scary to make the assumptions and projections but it is also a motivator.  Now you need to be open to ways to replace (and hopefully wind up with a net increase) to your annual revenue.  Chances are you won’t be able to come up with all of the answers on your own so engage others in the process.  Once you do come up with a few options take the time to consider what it would take to execute any or all of them efficiently.  Again it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to execute many on your own so find trusted resources that can help you in the process.

The landmines are out there.  The opportunities are out there as well.  By coming to grips with the landmines you will actually force yourself to find opportunities.

One of the challenges you face when considering the ways to leverage your content is that there are now more modalities than ever before that people use to consume content.  The days of just reading a book or an article to gain knowledge are over.  You need to be able to understand who your market is and how they prefer to consume content and than you need to make sure you can give them what they want in the format they want it.  In today’s world the answer is rarely ever one format fits all. Beta may have been a better format than the VHS tape (ok I’m dating myself with this analogy) but if you wanted to reach the audience the smart move was to release your work in as many mediums as is logical and possible.  Think of your book as Beta and all of the other options as the VHS of today.

1      Develop Video-based Training 

 
 
Develop a video library containing 6 to 10 themes that are subsets of your work.  For each of these themes you should be able to come up with 5 to 10 (sometimes more) 2-5 minute video vignettes.  They should be able to stand alone (although bundling a few is ok) and they don’t need to be produced in an expensive studio, in most cases you can produce them yourself with the technology that is out in the market and inexpensive.  Some of these vignettes can be given away for marketing purposes but given that they are modular you can package and bundle them to meet the needs of a client. These are often licensed to large companies for special showing on a per trained person basis or on an enterprise basis. Many companies also fund training for their clients – not just their employees.

2     Develop New Tools, Utilities and Applications 

 
 
Developing tools to help drive the learning is another way to leverage your content.  Tools are getting easier and cheaper to develop every day. They do not have to be mechanical or mathematical. They can be literary, colorful or artistic. Games can also be developed for use as learning tools. Make them useful and make them fun and enjoyable.

3   Reformat and Repurpose Your Content 

 
 
You don’t need to create new content as often as you probably are doing it today.  Once you create content it is far easier and more profitable to simply make it available in all the different ways clients will want to buy it.  Create an inventory of your content, note the format it is in (articles, manuscripts, workbooks, Power Points, videos, etc).  Reformat them.  For example take your best 5 articles and create videos from them.  Take your workbooks and create a tool-kit. Write it once and make it available any way and every way your people want it available to them. Price it so that it sells.

4  Develop Your Consulting Business 

 
 
In most cases the book bestows the author with a very personal process or methodology or at a minimum a distinct point of view. This is inherently embedded in the book and the author and the work he is capable of.  Consulting is your ability to offer that perspective for use to help solve a specific problem for a specific client based on circumstances that exist at a specific point in time. Consultant fees should cost more than workshop training since it is not as readily scalable.  Identify the people in your target audience and offer your consulting services as a thought leader so that you may offer your input, perspective and deliver solutions on demand.  Identify people who do what you do and offer them insights into how to solve the problems facing them as they seek to achieve success wherever they may be. Make use of the mobile, Internet, social media technologies so that you can communicate and perform what is needed no matter where you or they are located.

Here are few more ideas to think about when contemplating how to best leverage your content and your book.  Obviously not every option is a viable one for everyone but the more you consider the more you will ultimately be able to use.

1    Create an Assessment Tool  

 
 
What will happen if people read your book?  The promise of many books is that as a result of people reading or consuming it they will be able to think, act, believe, behave, perform etc in a quicker, better, faster, or easier way than they have before. If you can’t answer that question, put the energy and effort into being able to clearly articulate the answer to in a concise manner. Once you know the answer to that question, now you can develop an assessment tool that measures how well they are progressing or moving towards performing at a higher level.  Ideally you would develop a series of assessment tools (i.e.,—a free version, say that evaluates one crucial element for improvement, and then a number of pay versions that that measure individual progress, team progress and organizational progress, professional prowess).  Corporate clients as well as consumers love assessment tools. They are a viable, scalable and incredibly profitable extensions of your content. They are useful products, services, and tools that allow for product diversification and intense socialization of the book content and purposes.

2    Offer Several Types of Coaching 

 
 
There are several ways in which you can monetize your content via coaching.

◦                                 delivering coaching one to one

◦                                 delivery coaching in groups

◦                                 licensing your coaching process to others to deliver

Clearly document the coaching process you develop and utilize.  Make sure it can be readily duplicated and systematized. Include procedures, content, models, metrics, reporting, tracking for accountability, desired outcomes, and other elements to ensure that people achieve real improvement as a result of the coaching they receive.

3    Offer a Variety of Workshops 

 
 
Your content can easily be converted into several workshops.  The key variables are length (2 hours, 2 days, etc), and purpose.  Workshops can be customized to meet the needs of the client and the audience (by function, role, industry, demographically, geographically, etc).  Delivery of the workshops can be done by the author, by others that have been carefully selected and trained in the methodology etc. Workshops can be done in person, by telephone, teleconference, or by video web conference. You can also vary the price a number of ways based on the time, location, and the number of people that attend.

4  Develop Strategic Processes For Leveraging Your Speaking 

 
 
Many authors focus on keynote speaking because it has traditionally paid rather well. However, the market has shifted dramatically and it is more difficult to manage and achieve success in speaking for many reasons.  You can aim at developing a paid speaking income and business. You might need to start off speaking for free.  Some authors and thought leaders continue to speak for free, (at least on occasion) particularly when the target audience is closely aligned to their target market and they can quantify the benefit as a result of all the other opportunties they receive from being there.  No matter where you are at in your career, do not view a speaking gig as a transaction.  This is a very expensive mistake.  A speaking event should be the beginning of a long term relationship with all the people at the event. It should not end when the applause dies down.  

 
 
Whether you are being paid or not, develop a plan that covers the pre-event, event and post-event phases.  You have a unique opportunity to learn a lot about your sponsor, the client, the audience members, and the people they work and communicate with.  Your plan needs to be specifically designed to allow you to develop a deep understanding of their issues, struggles, culture and concerns and therefore be in a great position to offer specific solutions that will have a vital and positive impact on them. Identify their pain! Deliver help for the needy! Give them ways to reach you later! Capture their contact information! Follow up with them later.