When a small business falls into financial trouble nowadays, what does it do? Loral Langemeier, author of the national bestseller The Millionaire Maker, says we think small and retract. Additionally, because the credit markets have been so adept at increasing our reliance on them, we look to who we can borrow from to get out of the hole. Do you see the flaw? We don’t say, “How can I create more cash to change things?” We ask instead, “where can I borrow from to turn things around?”

We need to shift our money consciousness to start thinking creation rather than just borrowing or trading. We are trading time for money, trading interest fees for money, or trading our first born for money. Though there are times when leveraging ourselves with debt capital makes strategic sense, small businesses should also be thinking of creating cash in multiple ways.

 Changing the money mindset

In order to shift our small business mindset from indebtedness to cash creation, it requires a shift in perspective. Many success teachers tell us that if we cannot see our business thriving instead of just surviving, it probably won’t. If we cannot see ourselves being successful and working with great clients/customers who see our value and are willing to pay for it, we won’t. So the first step in creating Money Solutions for your business starts with you. You have to believe that you have something of value to offer and that you have every likelihood of being successful offering it, or there is no point in continuing to struggle!

In my entrepreneurship classes, I have my students visualize their ideal business and its success. They literally close their eyes and see the clients, the employees, the money flowing in, the products shipping out, and the positive impact that they are having on the community and their customers. I want them to feel what it would feel like to be successful doing what they are passionate about doing. If they can’t see it or feel it now, how will they recognize it when it happens? How will they continue to strive for it when the going gets tough? If they can’t see success now, what is the chance that they will ever make it a reality?

 The right path                                   

For those of us in the line of business that makes a difference in the lives of our clients and for whom working is a pleasure, getting in alignment with our true intentions of providing service is a necessary first step. Whether you are a plumber or an accountant or a consultant or a professional speaker, your customer’s needs must be met by the service you provide, or you are wasting your time and your customer’s money. And yours too.

Knowing that we are doing what we set out to do, and recognizing that we must “be in business to make money” in order to continue providing that great product or service for our clients, we should then open our minds to a variety of streams of income, not just those tied to the sales of our primary products or services.

First, review your results

Sometimes we continue to operate under the status quo just because it is the way we have always done it. In this economy, that is simply not good enough. In Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles, he shares an equation that states that E + R = O. Simply put, events and our responses to those events, create our results or our outcomes. So, from a business/money perspective, if business is slow and we spend $1,000 on an ad in a news periodical, that only generates $200 worth of business, our outcome is a loss of $800. Yet, because we don’t often measure the results of our business decisions and we figure running ads is what businesses do when they want clients, we run that add four more times, yielding similar results, and lose more than $4,000. We keep responding the same way and get the same or worse results.

If, instead, we recognized that the E (slow sales) was still there, and our original approach (the news print ad) caused us to lose more money, we can change our response for a different outcome. So we change our R (our approach) by choosing to sponsor an event that directly impacts our target customer, and our outcome (O) changes. We pay $5,000 to sponsor an event that leads to $20,000 in additional sales, and our outcome is much improved simply by thinking out of the box and responding to the results. If we look at where we have spent our money and evaluate the return on that investment, we can choose a different path that will lead to different results. If we don’t change our response (R), we have no right to complain about how much money we wasted (or how bad the economy is, etc.).

Know what you want

If you have specific business/financial goals that you want to achieve and you write those goals down and revisit them each day, you are much more likely to achieve those goals. Brian Tracy talks about this very specifically in the book Eat that Frog. Jack Canfield takes that a step further, and offers several success principles for achieving your goals, like applying the “Rule of 5s.” The Rule of 5s means to take five steps or actions towards your goals each day. To do so, you have to know what you want, and have it written down so you can refer to it each day to have a target to shoot for. This includes money for your business.

Knowing what you want is also essential for receiving it. One example I have often given my entrepreneurship students: I can’t write a check to you for “somewhere between $20,000 and $50,000.” I have to know a specific number to write on a check before I can give it to you, so you need to know what that number is so you can tell me!

So after you have analyzed your business results and have established goals for the upcoming fiscal year, be clear on what it is you need to make those goals happen.

Visualize its attainment

As mentioned earlier, if you cannot see yourself achieving a goal, financial or otherwise, you are not as likely to bring it to fruition. So, once you have set a business financial target, you should see yourself successfully achieving it each day until it comes to pass. You’ll be amazed at the actionable ideas that come to mind as you do so.

If you think that visualizing is silly, ask the top Olympic athletes if they see themselves crossing the finish line before they run their races. Ask pro golfers if they see themselves hitting that long putt and winning the match before they play. As Secrets of the Millionaire Mind author T. Harv Eker might say, if you feel stupid doing this, ask yourself: would I rather feel normal/smart and be poor, or would I rather feel stupid and be rich? You decide.

Alternative sources of money

Once you know where you have been, you know what you want, and you can see yourself achieving it, open your mind to the opportunities that are all around you. There are a variety of ways to create cash in your business. Below are just a few thoughts to get you started (find more details in the upcoming Money Solutions book).

Your pockets—This may sound obvious, but many of us forget to look in our own pockets when looking for new cash resources. Places to look include the cookie jar, the mattress, the savings accounts, the online trading accounts, the long-term investment accounts, Paypal/online business transaction accounts, and the like. Equity that you have in other investments or properties might also create leverage for you. You might even sell equity in your business entity to angel investors or venture capitalists, if appropriate.

Creating new money from underutilized assets or activities could be another opportunity for you. You might also look at the assets you own that no longer serve you, that can be sold to generate new cash. Craigslist and eBay have made it much easier to turn tangible items into cash. Be aware that you may also need some of your own money to leverage the credit markets for greater cash (discussed next).

Credit markets—Credit may be a bad word these days, but there are still opportunities in the credit markets that can be tapped, if the situation is right for you and your business. The Loan Solution addresses many of the issues that small business owners need to evaluate when looking at using credit as an option. Here, I’ll just highlight a few things to consider. Note that several large banks have gone on record saying they will make more loans available for small businesses in an effort to boost the economy. The number of hoops you will have to jump through to get the money will still likely be significant.

            Traditional: These sources may include business credit cards, small business loans, US Small Business Administration guaranteed loans, factoring, asset-based lending, real estate loans, equipment leases, lines of credit, and more. Note that you should be very clear about your intentions for the use of funds when leveraging your money with debt. You should also have a very clear repayment plan set up so that you stay on top of the accounts created in this manner. Use a spreadsheet tool to assist you (contact the author for options) as discussed in Step Six of The Loan Solution. This is an important business decision and shouldn’t be entered into lightly.

            Non-traditional: These sources include the growing prevalence of peer-to-peer lending networks and crowdfunding that is made possible through the Internet. As with any source of money, you should be careful who you choose, but consider evaluating sites like Prosper.com, Lending Club, Virgin Money, Kiva.com, and others. Note that not everyone gets funded, and some sites are very particular about what they fund, but when a project works, it can be at reasonable terms that you might not get elsewhere.

            Crowdfunding sites pool resources to potentially fund projects posted to an online database of opportunities. One example for creative projects is Kickstarter.com. Unlike the online lenders, “investors” or those who donate don’t get a direct monetary return on investment, but rather a reward like product samples. It allows the community to get involved in other people’s success.

            Business plan competitions and small business advocate sites—These include local business plan competitions at business incubators or small business centers, as well as online groups like IdeaCafe. Many of these offer cash awards for specific submission requirements and are not likely to finance an entire business project, but they can add value and validity to your business.

            Personal Leverage Circles— Share the wealth within your own Personal Leverage Circle. Brockett’s upcoming book Money Solutions addresses this concept for a collaborative approach to making projects happen. This approach can add significant value to family legacy as well.

            Your industry: Suppliers, sponsors, and procurement—Often times, you can negotiate terms with suppliers to secure inventory, effectively financing the purchase of materials. See what you can do to stretch out your cash outflows to be longer than your cash inflows.

You can also consider increasing revenue for programs and events through corporate sponsorships. My company helps its clients to generate revenue this way. It is seen as a triple win for everyone involved: the corporate sponsor gets a direct connection and relationship with its primary target, the sponsored event/organization gains the resources necessary to tap that market and share its message, and the targets gain access to both the sponsor and the information/event. It is a great way to do business.

Procurement is another revenue stream for businesses to consider. If your business provides a product or service that municipalities, federal governments, the military, and corporations can use, you can submit proposals to sell to them. Many of these entities have procurement offices that solicit proposals from service/product providers for supplies that they need to buy on a regular basis. My clients have won many projects with our help in this area, and though it means more work, you can also make more money without having to sell individually to end users.

            Partnerships, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and affiliate marketing—Collaborating with others can make a positive difference to your cash balance. These are relationship-based revenue streams. If you regularly use and recommend a product or service to your clients, perhaps you can establish a relationship with that service provider whereby you make a percentage of revenue with each sale for them. You can either market their products/services on your online media sites, or simply use word-of-mouth to create supplemental income by helping others.

Stay open for something new

We have entered both challenging and exciting times. It is from the depth of recessions that millionaires are born. Necessity is the mother of invention. When challenged with obstacles, view them as opportunities to create new ways of doing things, new ways of making money, and new ways of creating meaningful business relationships. Open your mind to new thought processes and possibilities. Learn to collaborate with others in your industry for the good of all concerned, instead of operating purely on the competitive plane. It is my belief that doing so will offer up to you new opportunities for Money Solutions that you would never have thought of on your own.

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About Author Tanya Brockett:

Tanya Brockett is the author of The Loan Solution who served as an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Book Publishing at the University of Virginia, and is a 15-year advocate of and consultant to entrepreneurs. She previously served as director of operations for a non-profit microlender and as an SBDC Center Director, and has helped her clients to acquire millions in capital throughout her career. Tanya is also the owner of Hallagen Ink where they help clients to prosper on purpose through corporate sponsorships, entrepreneurship, and publishing. Tanya is also speaker and presenter of workshops and lectures. Ask Tanya about her upcoming books, Money Solutions for Small Businesses and The Enlightened (New) Writer: Tips & Tools for Creating a Joyous Publishing Experience. Learn with Tanya at the recorded Verizon Small Business webinar at http://www.brighttalk.com/r/PFv. Tanya can be reached at Tanya@ProsperOnPurpose.net and via www.HallagenInk.com and www.TanyaBrockett.com. Find all of her products in one place at www.facebook.com/TanyasBooks.

Oftentimes we choose to avoid the evaluation of our spending because we are afraid of what we will find. If we examine our spending habits, we may see that we spend way too much on, say, office supplies than we need to. We overspend on every new gadget that comes along without looking at the return on that investment. We spend mindlessly on marketing…just because. We couldn’t quantify the results of the advertising campaign if we wanted to. And, in reality, we didn’t even have a campaign, it was just a series of spending actions that led to…well…we don’t know because we didn’t measure our results.

Year-end is a time to recognize that we cannot accurately set financial goals for our new year if we don’t look at the spending of the previous year. At least, if we do, we won’t know if it is better or worse, realistic or not. Small business owners, heck all individuals, need to take a look at their performance over the past year to set a new strategy for the year to come.

Now is the time to get a jump on entering the months’ worth of transactions that you have avoided entering into your accounting system. Now is the time to record all the deposits, and document all the spending. Don’t wait until the year ends to do this. Your accountant is going to have enough rush work to do without adding yours to it. Give them a break, and give yourself a heads up, by ensuring that all of your transactions are entered into your system and accounted for.

Download yours today!

After you have done so, go ahead and pull up your preliminary income statement and balance sheets: your financial statements. These will help you to analyze your business activity from a financial perspective. Yes, you should have been looking at these monthly; but that is water under the bridge now. Pull up your statements now and evaluate what you see, so you aren’t surprised by what your accountant finds after the year has ended.

If you find that you are in a better cash position than anticipated, you might ask your accountant about whether to buy the equipment that you are needing, in order to take advantage of new tax credits this year. It may mean you have to take possession of and put the equipment into service before December 31 to take the tax credit for the whole year. Find out now so you can take advantage of it.

If you find that you are in a cash-strapped position, what led to this? Can you identify areas of overspending or loss of inventory or poor pricing strategies that negatively impacted your cash? Have you made investments into marketing in a slow market? If not, why not? A down market is the time to be seen amongst the usual advertising clutter. It is also when customers may see you, consistently, rising above your competition.

After you have evaluated your financial position and discussed it with your accountant or business consultant, use your new knowledge to chart your course for the upcoming year. What will you do differently to improve your cash position? What will you keep the same because it is working well for you? What new income streams can you produce to boost sales? What fresh perspective can you take on your existing business and service areas that will breathe new life into your financials and the excitement you enjoy in “doing” your business? There is nothing like bouncing ideas off of others to help you stimulate your thinking. So plan to get together with others to share ideas, share best practices, and explore industry trends. It is likely to make a positive difference in your business, regardless of your current position.

Armed with all of the new insights and ideas, quantify your revised approach by developing a cash budget. This is not the same as creating financial statement projections (pro formas). Creating a cash budget helps you to literally see each dollar (or penny) going in and out of your business each month. On page 40 of The Loan Solution by Tanya Brockett, you will find a twelve-month cash budget spreadsheet that helps you to clearly identify each cash expenditure that your business will make (find the spreadsheet at http://tinyurl.com/CashBudget). In many ways, this is better than an income statement projection, because you can follow the movement of money, not just expenses (which may or may not require actual cash to claim).

The book recommends a very practical approach to budgeting that you should consider: put the actual dollar item where it will actually fall in your year, rather than just taking an annual total and dividing it by twelve for a monthly amount. For example, if you know you only pay your business insurance bill quarterly, put the quarterly amount into the four months that you will actually pay the bill. It sounds simple, but many business owners do not know what their monthly cash outlay is likely to be, so they cannot respond quickly when sales dip or when a great supplier discount can be realized.

If numbers are just not your thing, offset your weakness with someone else’s strength. Seek out someone who can assist you with the collection, reporting, and analysis of your financial position. You, your business, your customers, and your employees will all benefit greatly by your willingness to evaluate and plan. No matter what you find in your analysis, having your eyes wide open will allow you to have a better year in 2012.

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About Author Tanya Brockett:

Tanya Brockett is the author of The Loan Solution who served as an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Book Publishing at the University of Virginia, and is a 15-year advocate of and consultant to entrepreneurs. She previously served as director of operations for a non-profit microlender and as an SBDC Center Director, and has helped her clients to acquire millions in capital throughout her career. Tanya is also the owner of Hallagen Ink where they help clients to prosper on purpose through corporate sponsorships, entrepreneurship, and publishing. Tanya is also speaker and presenter of workshops and lectures. Ask Tanya about her upcoming books, Money Solutions for Small Businesses and The Enlightened (New) Writer: Tips & Tools for Creating a Joyous Publishing Experience. Learn with Tanya at the Verizon Small Business webinar on November 16, 2011 at 2 PM EST at http://www.brighttalk.com/r/PFv. Tanya can be reached at Tanya@ProsperOnPurpose.net and via www.HallagenInk.com and www.TanyaBrockett.com.

I remember working for a large firm back then, and having the partner in charge of my office place a Mac on my desk. “Learn what this thing can do and share it with us at the staff meeting tomorrow.” I remember thinking how cool it was that I could carry that little Mac home. It had an awesome shape and it was a nifty all-in-one machine. Its screen was so big compared to the Compaq (all, what, eight inches?). Wow, the memory, a full 128K! (Imagine, this blog file is probably all that could fit on a floppy disk back then!)

Back then, Steve gave me the first inkling of what would become a large part of my future. I did not know what entrepreneurship was, nor did I have any desire to work 24/7 trying to run my own business. What I didn’t know then, and what Steve would himself later discover, is that passion is what makes all that possible and desirable. If you are passionate about what you are doing, if you are following your dream, you will work as long and hard as it takes to make it successful. (And following your dream is what makes life worth living.) Look at what Steve did for Apple.

Steve showed me that you don’t have to begin a business as a big business. You can start that business right in your own home (or that of others) and grow it into your vision. It starts with a thought and is embellished with vision. Steve had that in spades.

Many years later, I came to be known as a small business advocate—“The Business Instigator.” I helped thousands of would be business owners to launch their ventures. I helped hundreds, maybe thousands, more to secure the financing they needed to set their dreams afloat. Many had dreams of creating the next big thing (NeXt didn’t work out so well for Steve). Many had dreams of creating a venture that they could pass on to their children. Many just wanted to do what they loved for as long as they could. Again, there is Steve. He did what he loved for as long as he could. I still admire him, after all these years of using the Mac and teaching others how to use it. I admire him for continually giving me the resources I needed to use his inspired creations. I admire his vision, his tenacity, and his out-of-the box mentality. He was a true entrepreneur.

Buy the Kindle e-book on Amazon

So, just last month I wrote an e-book about an iPad, and now I am musing over the beloved creator of the company that provided that to me. I had no idea his loss would have such a profound impact. Now, the vintage Macintosh Plus computer that I have under my desk that I was planning to sell on Craigslist is likely to stay here with me. (It was the second Mac ever made and had a full 1MB of storage!) It is a relic/memory of the great things that Steve Jobs started so long ago. And I was there and a part of the journey the whole time.  Thanks, Steve. It was a great ride.

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Tanya is the author of the e-book, The iPad, the Manifestation, and the Law of Attraction, now available on Amazon Kindle (see http://tinyurl.com/iPadandLOA). Tanya is also the owner/editor at Hallagen Ink (www.HallagenInk.com), an editorial services firm providing copyediting, proofreading, and publishing consulting services to award-winning authors and successful entrepreneurs. It is also the distributor of The Loan Solution, a book for small businesses seeking to use debt capital to leverage their resources (LoanSolutionBook.com). To order a PDF version of Tanya’s latest iPad e-book, send an e-mail query to Tanya@HallagenInk.com. 

September 27, 2011

Tanya Brockett is the owner of Hallagen Ink, a Crozet-based editorial services firm that helps authors and entrepreneurs to prosper on purpose. For six years her company has provided writing, copyediting, and consulting services, but this time, Tanya is just reading for inspiration.

Tanya is one of the judges for the 2011 Challenge into Change essay contest sponsored by the Charlottesville-based Women’s Initiative. This contest inspires others to write a short, 500-word essay about a woman who has transformed a challenging life circumstance into new change. Anyone can submit an essay about a woman they know, or about their own experience. Essays can be submitted to LizDorn@mac.com or call 434-872-0047 for details.

“Five hundred words is about two double-spaced pages of text,” explains Brockett, who sometimes reads hundreds of pages of the same manuscript several times. “It will probably be harder to keep under two pages for a story than it will be to come up with the words.” Brockett is also an author; she knows what it takes to get those words down on paper. Her second book—and first e-book—is due out on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook this month.

Enter the Challenge into Change essay contest now to have a chance at cash prizes and community-donated items. Winners will also have an opportunity to air their essay on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, and The Author’s Corner show hosted by Renee Bobb and aired on Channel 13. Submissions are due by Friday, September 30, 2011, and winners will be announced at a celebration event on October 16.

“What better way to honor women for their strength and resiliency,” says Elizabeth Dorn, the Women’s Initiative’s Development Director. “We hope to receive inspiring essays from throughout the region.”

“Hurry and get those essays in,” says Brockett. “We promise that we won’t take off points for missed edits.”

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Buy the book soon on Kindle & Nook

Hallagen Ink (www.HallagenInk.com) is an editorial services firm providing copyediting, proofreading, and publishing consulting services to award-winning authors and successful entrepreneurs. It is also the distributor of The Loan Solution, a book for small businesses seeking to use debt capital to leverage their resources (LoanSolutionBook.com), and the new e-book, The iPad, the Manifestation, and the Law of Attraction, coming to Kindle and the Nook in September 2011. Visit www.iPadLawofAttraction for information soon.

Wow. What intensity. What love. What giving-ness. How often do we, as humans, give to others and give to others, again and again, without expecting something in return—even if that is a simple “thank you”? How much does God give us day after day that we take for granted and don’t express our gratitude for? How often do we respond with pure gratitude? How many unkind acts do we commit under that beautiful, illuminating light, and yet He still gives it to us again, day after day, worthy or not, here it comes? God is so great. So great, and there is so much to learn from His simple act of giving. His great acts of giving. Regardless of what we say, regardless of what we do, no matter how we act, no matter what—God gives.

He gives us beauty every day. Every day we should wake up and give thanks. Every moment as we go through our day, regardless of what happens, regardless of what we create in our own lives, we should give thanks. He has given us a clean slate, every day. He has given to us as if we have been “worthy” at every moment. And we are. Every day.

Wow. I am so grateful today. So grateful for that beautiful sun that gives us life each day. Grateful for the sun that nurtures us and feeds us and warms us, every day, without asking for anything in return. That is giving. That is love. That is.

Photo by digitalart

How many times have you looked at someone’s goals or dreams and decided that it was a lost cause that was not worth supporting? No really, think about it. A friend shares a dream with you that they are really working hard to make happen. They ask for your support in some way or another: tell someone else who might be able to help, contribute financially to a goal, make a connection that ends up being vital to the goal’s achievement, or whatever. Instead of being inspired by that friend for their guts or courage or outright boldness, you judge that their goal is too lofty and you don’t support them at all. You think that your contribution won’t matter because they have other friends too. You think you won’t get a return on your investment of time, money, or connections, so you don’t bother. But what if….

What if we all judged causes to be lost at the outset and therefore unworthy of our contribution of talent, time, or treasure? What if? I am reminded of Joel Osteen’s story about his mother, Dodie Osteen. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer about thirty years ago. She was sent home from the hospital to die because Man could not save her, and because Man could not doing anything with his limited knowledge, she was a lost cause. Hmph. Absolutely not true. Dodie Osteen continues to live today, thirty years after a two-week death deadline, not because Man could save her, but because she had champions to support her in her decision to fight. She had supernatural backing and the support of a few who believed that she could make it through. Those who chose not to write her off as a lost cause, but stuck it out with her, in whatever way that meant, to see her to her goal of being healed. Now she helps thousands, if not millions, of others to fight for their own healing. Her lost cause has led to the healing and strength of many.

I remember Jack Canfield telling a story of a young girl of four or five who was seen by her mother standing on a chair, bending over to receive her imaginary gold medal. What if that mother squashed that girl’s dreams by saying, “yeah, right, that’ll happen”? Would that girl have gone on to practice and practice until she became Olympic material? Would she have gone on to win that gold medal? We can’t know for sure, but one thing I feel confident in saying is that the support her mother/family showed to helping her fulfill her dreams would not have been wasted whether she won that gold medal or not (which she did).

How many people do you know with cancer? Many of us have been touched by it in some way or another. I was recently touched by a story from a stage-four cancer survivor, Joy Huber. Joy could have gone home and figured she was a lost cause. She could have decided that no one would support her in her quest to survive. She could have given up the fight. But instead, Joy persevered through the physical rigors of cancer treatment with the support of a few who were not so quick to write her off as a lost cause. Now, she is in remission and she is helping others to survive too. She has written a book that will be published in a few months called, Cancer with Joy (I will post a link to the book when it is available for pre-order). What if she hadn’t been supported in her quest? How many others would miss her positive message as a result?

I am not truly familiar with the concept of the butterfly effect, so I can’t speak about it with any authority. But what I do know, is that when we support someone or something, even when it looks like our little contribution could never bear fruit as intended, we cannot know the impact that support will have on untold others. That one contribution or show of support by you could lead to enumerable positive circumstances later. Not to mention the confidence or positive impact that support would have on the one with the dream.

Think on these things the next time a colleague comes to you and says they want to run for political office in your town (and you think they are too … whatever, to win). Think about this when a friend has a goal so lofty that they cannot even imagine how it will come to pass; they just know that when it does, it will change the lives of many. Think about this when a cute kid comes to you and says they want to be a firefighter so they can save lives or an actress or a veterinarian or whatever. Don’t squash their dreams. Don’t assume that because of your perception of their situation or environment or short time frame or the state of the economy that it cannot happen. Don’t pre-judge. Be a champion of lost causes and watch what your support can do.

Tanya Brockett
To see a BIG goal, visit: www.ProsperOnPurpose.net/ManifestMaui
www.LoanSolutionBook.com

Multiply book sales with eBooks. (Image by Maggie Smith.)

Part 3 in a 5-Part Series:

Creating Multiple Income Streams with e-Books

Now that you have taken your print book and recorded it to audio format, you can also convert it to e-book format and sell it through e-book retailers. Why? Because, like it or not, e-book sales are climbing through the roof.

In early March 2011, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, Inc., announced a new product rollout. In his keynote, he provided some startling statistics. He told us that there were over 100 million iBooks downloaded from their iBookstore in the past year. Over 2,500 publishers distribute their books through iBooks (and undoubtedly other e-book retailers like Amazon Kindle and BN.com). He also noted that Random House (one of the big traditional publishing houses in New York) had recently added over 15,000 of their titles to iBooks. This is a growing trend. Is your publisher distributing your book this way?

According to Alex Daley, Senior Editor of Casey’s Extraordinary Technology, “an estimated 3 to 5 million new eReaders [were] activated” in the 2010 holiday season (“The Economics of e-books for Authors,” CaseyResearch.com). This will no doubt translate to even higher numbers of e-books flying off the virtual shelves in the months ahead. If that is true, don’t you want your books to be among them?

If you have books that have already been backlisted by your publisher, or have been out of print for some time, you can convert them to e-books and sell them through an online retailer to revitalize sales. It is a great way to stimulate new demand for otherwise non-moving inventory.

The downside to e-book sales is that they tend to sell at a lower price point than print books. The upside is that you tend to earn 50% royalties on e-book sales with most publishers. Combine that royalty with the increased volume of e-book sales, and you should prepare your bank account for an increase! Plus, if you self-publish your e-book, all the profits, even at that lower price point, go to you.

A book in the hand…

The Loan Solution e-Book by Tanya Brockett

Many of us who weren’t born on the Internet still like the feel of a print book in our hands. It’s comforting to cozy up to a book on a cold, rainy day. Nowadays, you can still do that, and can still flip the pages with your finger, but it doesn’t make the same noise when it is on an e-reader. As an “authorpreneur,” you have to remember that even if youdo not like reading books digitally, many of your readers do. And you want to reach your readers, so you need to offer your book in as many available formats as possible.

Don’t limit your income because you do not like or use the Internet. Have your publisher provide your book in e-book format for upload to your author website, or create a link to their site from your blog or author website. Somehow, have your book accessible to your buying public through e-book sales, and you will open another income stream for yourself.

We will send along another revenue stream for authors in a future blog post. Until then, be prose perfect and prosperous!

For more ideas on how you can get your books into your reader’s hands, feel free to contact Hallagen Ink, an editorial services firm. Ask them about their new Authorpreneur Coaching Program. They can help you to generate ideas that fit your lifestyle or the one you want to have as a wealthy author.

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Use the form below to tell us what you do to make money with your e-book. Also, let us know if we can help you to prosper on purpose in a bigger way.

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Where is our trust? Our money says we trust in God, but do we? How many of us wonder where the next dollar is going to come from? How many fear that another dollar won’t appear the next day or the next time they need it? How many of us feel our income is limited by our employer’s/client’s capacity to pay?

Do we really trust? Have we ever decided not to buy something at one store one day for fear that we won’t have enough left to buy something else at another store later? That’s scarcity.

Have you ever decided you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too? That’s a scarcity mentality, not a trusting one. Why does God give us cake if we can’t eat it? He doesn’t. We’re just afraid to eat it. If we eat this piece, then the cake will be gone and we won’t be able to eat anymore. So we don’t even enjoy one piece for fear we’ll never have another. In the meantime, the cake goes stale. Are we being more wasteful and ungrateful then? If we reject that which we are given and do not receive it with joy, are we keeping ourselves from getting more?

I am now inclined to say yes. Receiving gifts with gratitude puts us in the flow of our good. But if we receive it, and then say “boy, I better enjoy this while it lasts cause that’ll never happen again,” we take ourselves out of the flow.

Scarcity mentality cannot lead to abundance or to life more abundantly. It takes trust. Trust like the Robin who clearly expects to find the worm the next day, and the next, and acts on that expectation, not on scarcity or lack.

Have you ever seen a Robin just go sit in the grass and not look around expectedly for bugs and worms? No. They go out there expecting their good to be provided and they act in order to bring it to manifestation. They don’t lie around in the grass waiting for the worm to crawl into their beaks! They listen, look, and pluck their worms when prompted. And they usually come up with something juicy in a very short span of time.

They believe and trust it will be provided. They go out expectedly and anticipate the receipt of their good. And they act when prompted and when they see the right opportunity. No procrastination, just trusting action. The Robins enjoy the worms while they have them and don’t worry about what happens when they are all gone, because more or something better will emerge.

Hmmm. Worms anyone?

Creating Multiple Income Streams with Sound

Photo by Pavla Machackova

In Part 1, you received a few tips on how the classic print book can still create revenue in this rapidly changing publishing environment.

In this segment, we will take a look at another way that authors can create income.

Stick it in your ear

Another way that authors can make money on their books is to create an audio version of it. Many authors fear that they cannot make this happen. I felt the same way when I first considered making my first book an audio book. What I have since learned and experienced eliminated that fear.

More than one way to get it done

I had the good fortune of being aligned with a fantastic recording studio. This studio, Studio C in Staunton, VA, had years of experience, had recorded audio books for members of the Statler Brothers, and I knew their passion for sound and the level of professionalism they provided.

Still, I had never recorded an audio book before, so I really wasn’t sure how it worked and how prepared I needed to be. Studio C owner and recording professional, Carlton Melton, quickly put me at ease.

We went into the studio and I read my book: “The Loan Solution: Nine Steps to Community Express.” I could start and stop as I needed. It flowed much easier than I expected. You may find that you can read your own book with more enthusiasm than others might.

The Loan Solution by Tanya Brockett

After we finished (much sooner than I thought), Carlton went to work smoothing it out, cleaning up my false starts, and adding music to the final CD. It was a wonderful experience.

DIY audios

You can also record your own audio book if you don’t feel the need for professional sound quality and don’t want music blended in or if you are comfortable using audio software. Using a digital recorder or a computer program, you can read your own book into the recording software and produce it yourself.

You will need to be in a quiet environment without phones ringing, dogs barking, or kids shouting. Nothing screams amateur like odd background noise. You may need to learn how to do a bit of sound editing in your computer software program to clean up any slips before creating the final.

Do whatever you feel comfortable with, but I certainly recommend Studio C. They can record authors from anywhere in the world, so you don’t have to travel to Virginia if it is not convenient to do so. A good landline phone connection could do the trick.

Make it available

Once you have your audio book recording, it won’t make money for you until you make it available to your reading public. You can burn it onto CDs or make it available as an MP3 download from your website or both. Note that if you have planned ahead, you can have each chapter of the book on a separate track so it can be downloaded separately or so that you can provide audio samples before purchase.

Just be sure to make it available to your readers, because many of us like to be able to “read” a book while driving to work or while plugged in to our iPads. Either way, it provides another avenue for generating income with your book.

We will send along another revenue stream for authors in a future blog post. Until then, be prose perfect and prosperous!

For more ideas on how you can get your books into your reader’s hands, feel free to contact Hallagen Ink, an editorial services firm. Ask them about their new Authorpreneur Coaching Program. They can help you to generate ideas that fit your lifestyle or the one you want to have as a wealthy author.

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Use the form below to tell us what you do to make money with your audio book. Also, let us know if we can help you to prosper on purpose in a bigger way.

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Multiple Income Streams—The Usual Way

Is a wealthy author an oxymoron? I don't think so!

Wealth experts tell us that all wealthy individuals have multiple streams of income. Wealthy authors are no exception. But how does an author make any money when publishers pay low royalties and bookstore returns nibble away at them? Diversify.

Authors today have so many wonderful options available. Gone are the days when you have to go to a traditional publisher that takes eighteen months to get your book on the market only to control your revenues. Now authors can generate more money than ever through a variety of avenues.

The Old Reliable

Despite all of the buzz in the market about the certain demise of printed books, they still exist and still provide a viable income stream for authors. The amount of revenue generated by print books depends largely on the publishing avenue you choose and the distribution channels you employ.

Let’s assume you recognize the latest statistics that only 50% of books are sold in bookstores. Does that mean you can’t sell the other 50% of your hard copy or paperback? No! You can just sell them through diverse channels. Instead of putting all your faith in bookstore chains, you can take control and sell your printed books yourself.

Do you speak to audiences about your book subject? Great, then sell your book to the organizer of the event for distribution or to the audience directly.

Do you have an author website that tells your readers about the book? Then why not create a “buy now” button so your web visitors can buy your book directly from you?

You can also contact industry associations in which you are a member and ask them to buy your book in bulk for their membership.

If you teach classes at a local college or university on your book topic, you can have the school include the book in the registration fee for the class.

If you have a car with a trunk, you can sell your book anywhere at any time! (Wink.)

For more ideas on how you can get your books into your reader’s hands, feel free to contact Hallagen Ink, an editorial services firm. Ask them about their new Authorpreneur Coaching Program. They can help you to generate ideas that fit your lifestyle or the one you want to have as a wealthy author.

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Use the form below to tell us what you do to make money with your printed book. Also, let us know if we can help you to prosper on purpose in a bigger way.

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