The Death of Paper...and Ultimately Your Expertise.

The below was originally posted from my blog entry first and now here. Would welcome your insight.

Paper, which makes up a book, is having a slow and painful death. Paper is no longer the “in” thing. Paper is being marginalized by the World Wide Wow. The Wow has an army of generals ready to go to war with you- the non-fiction book author. Unfortunately, you do not know it yet.

In your battle to become the “expert of choice” in your field, you’ll find that blogs, podcasting, social software and online communities are the new generals you want to go to war with now. They are the ones who will help you win the new battle of the digital age.

But paper? Nah. Paper is dying by the wayside. Its army is shrinking.

Year in and year out, fewer and fewer Americans are no longer spending money on books for their source of information. It’s a hopeless battle that you can’t win. You’ve got expertise and they are in search of it. However, they can’t find it because you put your expertise in the wrong place.

Want to publish a non-fiction book as a source of your expertise so you can land more speaking gigs, get more exposure, and increase bookings? Sure- go on ahead and do it. But it’s going to be slow. There are faster ways to accomplishing the same goal. The “in” thing today and well into the future is to digitize your expertise.

Welcome to the new goldrush. More and more people are flocking to the Wow and mining the heck out of it so they can make their riches. They are establishing not only a first mover’s advantage but ultimately a competitive advantage.

So two questions remain;

1. “Will you be at this new goldrush just in time to take your fair share?”
2. “Once you are there, do you have the proper tools that will help you take your fair share?”

I’ll see you at the funeral.