It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when people had to source knowledge without the help of Google and Wikipedia. There was a market for almost every kind of niche information, but there were not enough publishers to meet the demand. Bill Cates stumbled upon an opportunity where he could fill that need and he found himself in the publishing industry almost overnight.
Deals in the Publishing Industry
Bill’s publishing companies produced highly-specified cookbooks and humor books, and he encountered many types of deals while distributing them. Licensing was a major part of Bill’s revenue. He licensed content to cookware manufacturers that wanted marketing collateral for their products. He also paid for branding rights and created product-specific content for the masses. Very few authors take advantage of those types of deals, but it is important to acknowledge that you need to get creative with licensing to reap the benefits.
Licensing offers the greatest payout over time and Bill sees it as a foolproof, sustainable way to protect your nut. Licenses work continually for you, they have zero cost of sale, and they require minimal time. When Bill got out of the publishing industry and became a professional speaker, he put his training video content to work. Today, he is still generating income by licensing that content to different organizations across the country.
Intellectual property is valuable and it is an asset that you don’t want to give away for free. Business models that are built around speakers can fall apart if the speaker is unable to travel or perform. The income Bill sees from content licensing ensures he will live comfortably if anything unfortunate were to happen. It enables him to bring his expertise to clients in a way that is more affordable and accessible. That is why Bill recommends being proactive in leveraging your IP assets.
Summary
No matter what industry or discipline you are in, you have expertise that other people don’t have. There are a lot of ways to get your knowledge out to the masses, but Bill recommends using a combination of strategies that include monetizing your IP. Leveraging what you already have in place is a much more reliable process. It will generate recurring revenue and grow your brand with comparatively minimal effort.
Listen to the Fueling Deals podcast episode featuring Bill Cates’ interview about how to Leverage Your Intellectual Property.
Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.
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