marketing & publicity

 Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer, helps authors and indie publishers learn how to sell more books through her how-to guides, blog, newsletter, and private coaching. Get her free Top Book Marketing Tips ebook at www.BookMarketingNewsletter.com, visit her blog at www.TheSavvyBookMarketer.com, follow @BookMarketer on Twitter, and connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SavvyBookMarketer.

As a book author, you've probably seen the term author platform used a lot, but you may be wondering: what is a platform, how do I get one, and when should I begin?

Your author platform determines your reach in the marketplace and it's important to your book promotion success. There are lots of definitions for author platform, but it basically boils down to three things:

• Brand
• Reputation
• Connections

If you're hoping to land a book deal with a traditional commercial publisher, a strong author platform is critical. When publishers evaluate book proposals, they want an idea of how well known you are and how successful you will be at promoting your book once it's published. A platform is just as important for authors who publish independently.

The best time to start building your author platform is before you write your book or book proposal, because it takes time to build your platform. But regardless of where you are in your publishing journey, you can continue to strengthen your author platform. Let's take a look at the elements of a platform.

Branding

Branding helps you stand out in a crowded marketplace and makes you memorable. One of the most important parts of your brand is your author tagline – a concise and catchy description of what you do. Use your tagline after your name in your promotional materials and signature, like a title.  Here are some examples of author taglines:

    * Bill Wilson, The Productivity Pro

    * Susan James, The Risque Romance Writer

    * Walter Jones, Author of the Detective McGee series

    * Beth Morton, Writer of educational children's books

    * Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer

Your author photo is another important branding tool. Be sure to get a professional looking photo and use it everywhere, to build recognition of you. Professional doesn't necessarily mean a studio portrait—think about how the background, pose and clothing in your author photo can be a reflection of your brand and the type of books you write. See this article for more tips on author photos.

Author branding can also include your logo, book covers, the color scheme you use, your distinctive style of writing or speaking, and your academic qualifications. All of these elements together constitute a recognizable brand that makes you makes you memorable and builds credibility as part of your author platform.

Take a look at your own branding and think about what you can do to strengthen it.

Reputation

Your author reputation is a factor of how well known you are, what you are known for, and how credible you are. Consider these questions:

    * Do you have a degree, special training or extensive experience in the topic that you're writing about and/or in the craft of writing?

    * Do you have (or can you obtain) a professional certification in your area of expertise?

    * What awards or other recognition have you received?

    * What kind of media experience do you have?

    * How many people do you reach each month through speaking or interviews?

    * How many people read your blog?

    * How many articles have you written and posted or published in the past month?

    * How well known are you and how much name recognition do you have?

    * What leadership positions do you hold?

    * Why should people listen to you or read your books?

Nonfiction authors can gain a reputation as an expert in their topic through such activities as writing books and articles, speaking and teaching, appearing on talk shows, being quoted in other people's articles, and writing the foreword for other books.

Fiction authors may become known for their writing style and their expertise in writing in a specific genre (such as children's, sci-fi, romance, or mystery) or for their niche within a particular genre (vampire stories, romantic adventure).

Your reputation and author platform can be enhanced by winning awards, receiving excellent book reviews, and getting testimonials and endorsements from celebrities and experts in your field.

What can you do to boost your author reputation and expert status and increase the number of people you reach? How can you highlight your credentials in your marketing materials?

Connections

When selling your book, it's not just what you know, it's who you know!

To sell books in today's marketplace, you need to be connected. Here are some examples of the type of connections that are valuable to authors in promoting their books and themselves:

Contact Database—Clients, prospects, colleagues, friends, and family.

Opt-in Mailing List—People who have given you permission to contact them.

Influencers—Well-known people in your field, book reviewers, celebrities, media, and bloggers. These folks can help spread the word about your book.

Online Networks—Connections on Facebook, Twitter and other online networks, groups and forums.

Blog Readers—People who read your blog or subscribe to the blog's feed.

Professional Associations—Fellow association members and leaders. Serving in a leadership position enhances your visibility within the organization.

Other Groups—Alumni associations, civic and service organizations, hobby clubs, etc.

What can you do to increase your connections and leverage the connections that you have? How can you partner with others to extend your reach?

Best known for her individualistic expertise when it comes to coaxing out the real emotional power in brands to spike the bottom line, Mary van de Wiel [alias: Van] is CEO and Brand Anthropologist of Zing Your Brand & Co., a New York-based creative brand consultancy, laboratory and workspace. Dubbed Master Provocateur by clients and media alike, Van brings a highly-eclectic perspective to branding whether as weekly host of NY Brand Lab Radio, leading the quarterly NY Brand Lab Workshops, speaking, consulting, blogging or producing the Brand Reinvention Summit. For 15 years, Van ran her own global branding shop with offices in New York and Sydney with Fortune 500 clients across four continents. She’s written for Entrepreneur.com, Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog, and has been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, Reuters, VOGUE and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the author of soon-to-be-published Dead Brand Walking. Follow Van on Twitter @maryvandewiel or download her free audio, 7 Creative Secrets to a Wickedly Bolder Brand as well as two free ebooks, How to Score your Business Brand and Raise the Pulse of your Brand.

When’s the last time you had a hunch something wasn’t quite right with your brand (or any other brand, for that matter?) Consumers now—and your audience—crave genuine brands so let’s go look at a couple of clues that are getting brands into trouble.

Start with wearing the hat of Brand Detective.

If you need a dose of inspiration, there’s a crafty duo on FOX. They’re eclectic and highly idiosyncratic. (What’s more, the frisson between them is killing me.) I’m talking about Tim Roth (Dr. Cal Lightman) and Kelli Williams (Dr. Gillian Foster) who star in Lie To Me. In any case, they know a lot about deceit. After all, it’s their business to play detective. Always on the look out for clues, they have a formalized system of tapping into behavior, expression, language, gesture—all complex signals and codes—which leads them, of course, to solving the nasty problem on their hands.

Lightman and Foster work with humans. We get to work with brands. Let’s start sniffing:

Clue 1: Lack of Congruence (Look for mixed messages.)

Never underestimate the power of congruence in any kind of communication. If a brand is not congruent, it’s sending out mixed messages. (It’s a sure sign of a brand you don’t want to trust.)

FYI, the word congruent describes the quality of all parts being in alignment, agreement and in harmony—with each part communicating the same consistent message. By the way, when people are not congruent in their own behavior or personality, their brands are usually not congruent either. There’s a lack of clarity in the person behind the brand, and you can bet their brand’s message is going to be off kilter or murky.
Notice the congruence between the name of a brand and the nature of what’s being offered. If there’s a lack of connection or synergy between the two, you’ll have that gut feeling that something doesn’t measure up, and people will walk away scratching their heads. (A confused mind never buys.)

Apple is a good example of the quintessential congruent brand. Its name, product design, messaging, store design, merchandising, people and entire energy—right down to the color palette—are in total alignment. No confused minds here. Good energy. Pure acceptance. Astonishing congruence.

Clue 2: Lack of attention. (Look for bad behavior.)

Brands will act out if no one behind the scenes is paying attention. Brands misbehave, too. (This is another sign of a brand you don’t want to trust.) At least once a week, amazingly enough, I have a business owner confiding that they’re so preoccupied with working on their business, they’ve totally ignored their brand. Some haven’t touched their site in months. I call that an abandoned brand. You can tell when:

• The lights are out, so to speak. No one’s home. (So what I am sticking around for?)
• Listed offers, events or classes are all out of date. (No sign of being up to date. Good example of Dead Brand Walking.)
• Photos or images online are all standard stock photos. The ones you see on other bland brand sites. (No indication of any individuality or desire to set this brand apart from the pack. Wow.)
• No pics of founders, team, people, dogs—nada. (FYI Avatars don’t have a pulse.)
• Style of writing feels like a robot at work. The kind of entity that doesn’t have any blood pumping through its veins. Plus, you’re being kept at arm’s length. (What’s to trust?)

Want visitors to stick around your site, lean closer to hear your message, get the feeling that you are who you say you are, get that you have blood running through your veins, and that you’re congruent and hugely energized? Be your own Brand Detective—and make sure the complex signs and signals are sending the right message. (The message you want to send.)

Angela DeFinis is an industry expert in professional public speaking. As an author, executive speech coach, and founder of DeFinis Communications, she has spent over twenty years helping business professionals communicate with greater poise, power, and passion. Using her signature Line by Line Coaching™ process, Angela and her talented staff have trained business leaders and other professionals to speak with increased skill and confidence in engaging any audience.

When you’re preparing a presentation, who is the most important person you need to consider? The answer: Your audience.

You’ve likely experienced, at least once in your career, what happens when you forget about your audience. Here’s the scenario: You create the perfect presentation complete with solid transitions, compelling visuals, and stellar numbers. You have great jokes planned and practice every element of your speech. Yet, as you stand in front of your listeners and talk, your message isn’t garnering any interest. You know you’re crashing fast. While you may have prepared incessantly before you went to the front of the room, you forgot about the one critical element to your presentation—your audience.

If you forget your audience, your presentation can backfire. That’s why knowing the details about them is critical for your success.

For example, Andrew Winston is a well-known consultant who is dedicated to helping companies grow and flourish by utilizing green environmental strategies. He speaks across the globe to varied audiences. As such, Winston is a master at crafting his presentation to match the needs of his diverse audience. 

Winston speaks to audiences of adoring fans, sustainability conference attendees, and even lumberjacks and loggers. Do you think he takes the risk of delivering the same speech to each unique audience? Of course not! The brilliance of Winston is his ability to deliver a compelling presentation every time he speaks because he caters to the specific needs of each audience. When he is in front of his fans, he is bold, controversial, and risk taking. However, when he is in front of an audience of skeptics, he eliminates the controversial pieces and engages with the audience on a personal level.

As a presenter, you must get your audience on your side. If the people in front of you want numbers, give them numbers; if they want jokes, give them jokes. However, if you don’t take the time to analyze what would best suit your audience, your presentation will fall flat no matter how much you prepare. 

Therefore, before you begin crafting your speech, know who you are going to be standing in front of. Will you be amongst your cheering, loving fans? Or a caustic, skeptical group of dissenters? Make sure you are prepared to speak to the hearts and minds of the crowd in front of you!

Best known for her individualistic expertise when it comes to coaxing out the real emotional power in brands to spike the bottom line, Mary van de Wiel [alias: Van] is CEO and Brand Anthropologist of Zing Your Brand & Co., a New York-based creative brand consultancy, laboratory and workspace. Dubbed Master Provocateur by clients and media alike, Van brings a highly-eclectic perspective to branding whether as weekly host of NY Brand Lab Radio, leading the quarterly NY Brand Lab Workshops, speaking, consulting, blogging or producing the Brand Reinvention Summit. For 15 years, Van ran her own global branding shop with offices in New York and Sydney, Australia with Fortune 500 clients across four continents. She’s written for Entrepreneur.com, Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog,and been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, Reuters, VOGUE and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the author of soon-to-be-published Dead Brand Walking. Follow Van on Twitter @maryvandewiel or download her free audio, 7 Creative Secrets to a Wickedly Bolder Brand as well as two free ebooks (How to Score your Business Brand and Raise the Pulse of your Brand).

We all know what an oxygen-starved brand looks like, right? You can spot one a mile away. The lights are out, so to speak. Well, if you have a hunch your personal brand might need even a bit of resuscitation today, adopt a maverick mindset. After all, in this economy, brands thrive on a sweet cocktail of eclectic thinking, a provocative point of view and the desire to stake out your territory like no other. To shift your mindset so your brand can revive itself—and flourish—I’m putting three ideas on the table to get you started:

#1: Start wearing the hat of brand maverick OK. What’s a brand maverick? Here’s my pocket version definition: (i) a nonconformist who prefers taking an independent stand; (ii) a master of making a mark on the world; (iii) an innovator with a desire to do things their way; (iv) an individual who challenges the status quo; (v) a risk taker who pushes harder than most.

Take Richard Branson, for example, the quintessential Brand Maverick. Overseeing his Virgin brand of 360+ companies, Branson’s willingness to pay attention to building his high-energy brand is pretty clear. What’s more, he’s having a blast along the way. (Just look at that twinkle in his eye!) Apple’s Steve Jobs is another Brand Maverick – although less flamboyant than Branson. An innovator who is changing the world, Jobs has that behind-the-scenes maverick personality. FYI Brand Mavericks are not required to parachute jump out of planes or live out loud on a regular basis. It just depends on what your particular personality craves.

Ask Yourself: Are you willing to put on the hat of Brand Maverick? It involves a conscious decision to look at your brand through a fresh, new lens. It’s about taking a more provocative approach. Ditch those traditional methods of doing things that don’t work for you anymore. What’s going to take you out of your comfort zone? Do it. Make it a conscious habit for five days. Then watch what happens.

#2: Think of your brand as a dynamic, living organism Consumer psychologist and brand strategist Mark Rodgers talks about brands as dynamic, living organisms, and the importance of creating healthy and highly-functioning brands. You need to create the conditions for growth, and that requires being nurturing, congruent, empathetic and having integrity. Paying close attention to your brand as it grows and evolves is key, and you have to evolve, too—right along with it.

Ask Yourself: When’s the last time you nurtured your brand? Are you paying particular attention to the dialog your brand is having everyday—whether it’s with your raving fans, employer or clients? Are you aware of the hidden messages that your brand is expressing on a daily basis? Brands are a bit like puppies, you know. They need constant attention, affection and pats. They also need a firm hand, too. How are you nurturing and nourishing your brand today?

#3 Have more fun with your brand I can always spot a brand with low energy levels or a dark cloud hanging over it. It’s a clue that tells me that the “guardian” behind the brand is not engaged, motivated or inspired. Let’s face it—not a great strategy. I’d say most people like to work/play with others who are open, energized, have a relaxed sense of humor, and enjoy life and living to the max. You? Let’s look at Pentagram, for example, a global brand that loves having fun. Pentagram is a 2D-3D design firm with offices in London, New York, San Francisco, Austin and Berlin. They’ve created this microsite where you can check out what kind of font your personality is. While you’re on the site, think about the kind of fun you could be having with your brand. (My personality type? Cooper Black Gothic.) Note: There is only four simple personality questions, and make sure you keep the sound on!

Ask Yourself: How much fun are you having with your brand right now? If you’re not, go back to the drawing board and remember what inspired you to create your brand in the first place. Probe deep. Be honest. Because the more fun you’re having, the more others will turn their heads in your direction and follow you. Be the real master of serious play. It’s magnetic and powerful stuff, and just part of the joy of wearing the hat of the Brand Maverick.

Now, will all Brand Mavericks please stand!