Authority By Nathan Barry

Welcome to my book notes on Authority by the author Nathan Barry.

After publishing this book, the author founded the successful SaaS company ConvertKit.

Nathan calls his book “A Step-by-Step Guide To Self-Publishing”.

I think the concepts presented in this book can be used in many ways, are mostly evergreen, and truly invaluable.

At the core, this book is about audience building.

Let’s dive in.

Facts

• Title: Authority
• Subtitle: A Step-by-Step Guide To Self-Publishing - Become an Expert, Build a Following, and Gain Financial Independence
• Author: Nathan Barry
• Author’s website: nathanbarry.com
• First published: 2014
• Type: non fiction
• Genre: self-publishing / marketing
• Rating: 4/5
• Recommended: Yes

To be known, you must teach.
- Nathan Barry

Table Of Contents Of The Book

1. On Writing
2. Basic Marketing
3. Writing, Lots of Writing
4. Pricing & Packaging
5. Design & Formatting
6. Prepping for Launch
7. The Sales Page
8. E-Commerce
9. The Launch and Beyond
10. Closing Thoughts

Key Concepts & Ideas

Teach everything you know.

Why care about writing?

• It is a great way to teach people.
• Teaching and sharing expands your reach and influence.
• People remember and respect those who have taught them.
• To be known you must teach.

You don’t have to be an expert to teach.

Teaching will establish you as an expert.

… So he started to write his own tutorials and build his own audience.

Within a year Nathan had released two eBooks and made over six figures in profit from them.

If you know a skill (that other people use to make money), you can make a living by teaching that skill.

Nathan Barry On Writer’s Block

So what separates the wannabes from the published authors?

Actually writing. Doing the work.

Consistency is key.

Set a daily goal to write 1,000 words a day and track your progress.

When faced with writer’s block, lower your standards and keep going.
- Sandra Tsing Loh

Building A List And Email Marketing

Email is where it’s at - build an email list.

(…) if you focus on email you never have to start from scratch with a new product.

Nathan Barry On Affiliates And Partnerships

The affiliate brings you the sale (most of the work) and you gain a new fan.

Overall, it’s a pretty good deal.

In order to help keep their affiliates motivated, many authors will even offer a higher commission.

The more you do to help make your affiliate successful, the more they will want to promote your book.

That’s where negotiating the lowest possible commission may not actually be in your best interest.

Most sales will come from a few affiliates. (80/20 principle in action)

Nathan Barry On When To Start

Start before you feel ready.

You may not feel like an expert qualified to write your book.

But if you don’t start, you won’t ever become that expert.

You may not feel like your audience is large enough for you to actually make a living from your book, but without starting, your audience won’t grow.

And finally you may not feel like your work is good enough to charge for it.

That’s fine. Charge anyway.

To be successful you need to get in the habit of starting before you feel ready.

That one habit will change everything.

Nathan Barry On Audience Building

Notes On Nathan Barry’s Talk:

It all comes down to getting attention.

An audience (that you build over time) is a perfect way to get the attention of your target market.

How do you get people to know or care about your products?

Build an audience.

3 Principles Of Building An Audience

1. Teach Everything You Know
2. Tell A Story
3. Build An Email List

Closing Thoughts

My book notes only cover parts of the book.

So if you like what you read, please consider buying the book from the author.