Many authors and self-employed professionals are unaware of the many ways they can use online assessments as marketing tools to sell more books and build strong personal brands.
Assessments differ from surveys in that they generate information about specific clients, prospects, or readers. Surveys, on the other hand, typically provide composite views of the goals and preferences of all blog or website visitors.
Assessments also differ from surveys in that copies of completed assessments are sent via email to both participants, as well as the authors or entrepreneurs hosting the assessment on their blog or website.
Types of assessments
There are 2 types of categories of assessments:
- Narrative assessments consist of open-ended questions with text boxes for clients, prospects, or readers to enter as much, or as little, information as desired. Narrative assessments are perfect for providing prospects with a structure to describe, in their own words, their goals, challenges, or personal experiences.
- Self-scoring assessments consist of a series of true/false statements, multiple-choice questions, or agreement/disagreement statements that can be ranked on a numeric scale of 1-5 (Not True to Strongly Agree). Self-scoring assessments are ideal for testing a prospect or reader’s understanding of a topic.
Assessments for authors
Assessments can help authors sell more books by using assessments for market research before and after they write and publish their books. Applications include:
- Topics and titles. Authors can research the type of contents prospective readers are looking for and the titles and subtitles that will attract the most interest.
- Competitive intelligence. Assessments can help authors identify the pros and cons of currently available books plus evaluate the popularity of competing blogs and websites.
- Contents. Authors can solicit contributions from prospective readers, like anecdotes, case studies, personal experiences, and stories for possible use in their book.
- Reader feedback. Assessments permit readers to confidentially comment on specific chapters, experiences, or topics, with more privacy than possible when commenting on blog posts.
Using assessments as brand-building tools
Coaches, consultants, and self-employed professionals can build their profits and build their brands by using use assessments for tasks like:
- Pre-qualifying prospects. By requiring prospects to fill out a brief, pre-call intake form, entrepreneurs can avoid wasting time with talking to prospects that would not make good clients. Assessments can help coaches and consultants gauge the prospect’s seriousness and commitment to solving their problems or achieving their goals.
- Market research. Assessments can help coaches and consultants identify other trusted experts in their field and test the popularity of new programs before committing to offer them.
- Pre-qualifying speaking invitations. Assessments can replace “telephone-tag” by asking event planners questions about desired topics, audience size, presentation dates, fees, and terms.
- Exit assessments. Coaches and consultants can use assessments to learn more from attendees at presentations, speeches, or workshops. Assessments sent to clients at the conclusion of coaching or consulting projects generate candid feedback as well as quotes and testimonials.
Assessment preparation and set-up
Online assessments used to require custom HTML programming. Once set up, the assessments couldn’t be edited or modified without spending more money.
Now, using tools like AssessmentGenerator (not an affiliate), you can create assessments using simple word-processing or blogging skills.
After creating your assessment online, all you need to do is copy and paste the code into your blog or website, the same way you embed videos, mind maps, or formatted PDF documents that can be read without downloading.
If desired, assessment providers can host your assessments for you, providing you a link to share on your website or in your emails.
Assessment marketing options
Since assessment results are delivered via email, authors and self-employed professionals can attach PDF’s of one sheets for books, discount certificates, or product/service descriptions with assessments returned to participants.
In addition, when participants submit their assessments, separate Thank You and Confirmation screens appear. These can be used for follow-up offers, invitations to sign-up for email newsletters, daily or weekly tips, or e-mail delivery of new blog posts.
To learn more
The above barely scratches the surface of the many ways authors and brand-building entrepreneurs can use assessments to sell more books or convert prospects into clients. You can learn more by searching online for “assessment software” or visiting AssessmentGenerator where you can find articles, sample assessments, and sign-up for a free test drive. Once you get into the assessment habit, you’ll probably come up with dozens of other ways to use assessments to sell more books and build your brand.
Author:
Roger C. Parker invites you to visit Published & Profitable and submit questions and suggest topics for future Author’s Corner blog posts.
