marketing
How to Build a Potent Brand (Six Clues)
October 27, 2011
Add new comment
by
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) www.zingyourbrand.com.
It’s just not enough to be brilliant. People must know and remember that you are. Let’s face it, walking around feeling complacent and entitled because you know you’re brilliant is not a viable strategy, right? So if you want to be known, remembered and recognized, it’s critical you build a brand that not only positions you as brilliant – but as irresistible and indispensable, too. How do you do that? You create a potent brand.
Potency defined OK. Let’s start with a definition of potency here just to get us all on the same page. The word ‘potent’ means (i) power; authority, (ii) efficacy; effectiveness; strength; and (iii) the capacity to be, become, or develop one’s potentiality; and (iv) a person or thing exerting power or influence.
In other words, the more potent your brand, the more powerful, authoritative, effective, strong and influential you are. The best part? A potent brand makes it easier for your world to find you, get to know you and then, want to engage with you (work with you, employ you, salute you, etc.) You get the idea.
So how do you start building a potent brand? The world is moving at a staggeringly fast pace. It’s never been more important to get a grip on your brand’s core values, what it stands for and why it’s meaningful.
It starts with asking questions. Take a look at the six clues below plus questions. See how willing you are to give your brand a leg up, as they say. It’s likely to turbo charge your thinking. It’ll then, hopefully, get you moving forward—and building a brand with potency.
1. Be Chief Influential Officer of Your Brand
• Are you poised to become the Go-To-Resource within your area of expertise Y/N?
• How willing are you when it comes to getting out of your comfort zone Y/N?
• Are you ready to stake out your territory in a more authoritative way Y/N?
• Is your Brand Pulse showing strong, pumping and vital signs? (the last time you checked?) Y/N?
• Would you describe your brand as robust and hardy Y/N?
• Is the world around you noticing you’re becoming a center of influence Y/N?
2. Set the Right Tone for Your Brand
• Are you clear about the intention behind your brand Y/N?
• Are you really communicating you are who you say you are Y/N?
• Is your brand’s voice clear, authentic and aligned Y/N?
• Are you regularly minding your brand’s behavior Y/N?
• Is your brand’s attitude welcoming, empathetic and transparent Y/N?
3. Start Seeing your Brand as Your Platform
• How committed are you to showing up in your brand Y/N?
• Would you give yourself a high score when it comes to inspiring your world Y/N?
• Do you actually think about changing the world Y/N?
• Are you at ease speaking confidently from your brand platform Y/N?
4. Pay Close Attention to Your Brand’s Emotional IQ
• Would you say your brand lands a high score when it comes to empathy Y/N?
• Are you aware the world around you has feelings about you and your brand Y/N?
• Do you think you might be keeping your world at arm’s length Y/N?
• Do you focus on actually creating strong emotional connections in your communication Y/N?
5. Focus on Being 120% Authentic
• Are you spending much effort on creating a consistent brand Y/N?
• Do you know exactly what a congruent brand looks like (let alone feels like?) Y/N?
• Would the world around you give you a high score as an authentic brand builder Y/N?
• Do you know that feeling when your brand is out of alignment Y/N? (You always know when the wheels of your car are out of alignment, right?)
6. Face Facts: The Money’s in the Brand
Note: Potent brands are profitable. The definition of business, after all, is about profit, purchases, commerce and volume of trade.
• So are you paying enough attention to what your world really needs the most Y/N?
• Does your brand consistently deliver what your world is craving Y/N?
• Are you willing to let your brand go to work for you Y/N?
OK. How potent is your brand feeling right now? P.S. Don’t ever forget that building your brand is always a work in progress. (That’s the good news Y/N?)
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2864
Tags:
The Big Bad Book Blog's Link Love
October 21, 2011
by Carly Willsie
In true book nerd fashion, we’ve rounded up our favorite publishing-related links of the week for you! Read on to uncover the best in books this week. If you want to know about these links sooner than Friday afternoon, follow us on Twitter—@GreenleafBookGr.
- NPR launched the Back Seat Book Club this week, aimed at kids between the ages of 9 and 14—i.e., the secondhand listeners of NPR. They’re hoping to get tweens engaged by encouraging them to submit any questions or comments for the author of the month, who will subsequently respond on All Things Considered. This month’s pick is Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Not gonna lie, we kind of want to join this.
- Mediabistro’s “Cubes”—a series of video tours of media headquarters—posted a video of Scholastic’s offices, headquartered in Manhattan. The office features a huge retail space, Harry Potter memorabilia, a living room, terrace cafeteria, and Scholastic’s credo printed throughout the office carpets (rumor has it there’s a misused comma in there somewhere—get it together, Scholastic). It’s pretty amazing—check it out.
- Having trouble coming up with enough great content to share with your audience? Have you considered tapping your entire organization’s brainpower? Content Marketing Institute recently posted a guide to engaging an entire organization to power content production.
- Twitter can be a crazy, chaotic place to navigate. Luckily, there are tons of resources to make it easier, including Xobni’s new “Implicit Twitter Feed” feature. They’ll help you locate social media users you should be connecting with based on your established online habits. Now you can find Twitter matches made in heaven!
- HBO is all about adapting books for television lately. Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections is in the works at the network, as is Mary Karr’s infamous memoir Lit. In addition, they’re tackling Karen Russell’s Swamplandia!, the adventurous story of twelve-year-old alligator wrestler Ava Bigtree. Michael Chabon, author of Wonder Boys and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, is also working on a script for HBO with his writer wife Ayelet Waldman; the show has been dubbed “Hobgoblin” and will center on a group of magicians who use their skills to battle Hitler in WWII (a premise similar to Chabon’s award-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay}.
- Mashable shared an infographic about Facebook today, and included random facts about the site’s users and habits. We didn’t realize that Facebook was the most-liked page on Facebook. How meta.
- Halloween is around the corner! As you’re gearing up for the holiday, why not geek it up with some literary jack-o’-lanterns? (Seriously, if anyone can copy that Sleepy Hollow one, let us know). Too cool for pumpkins? Galley Cat rounded up the best literary costumes, and Good Reads listed the most effectively terrifying horror novels.
- Robin Sullivan of Write to Publish ran an author branding series on her blog, discussing the dos and don’ts of establishing a powerful brand. (Her first tip? Find your passion; write your mission statement.) Read it and supplement it with our own branding and platform development series!
- The sixteenth annual Texas Book Festival is this weekend! Lots of big names will be making appearances in our hometown of Austin, including Molly Shannon, Susan Orlean, Jim Lehrer, and Paula Deen herself! Check out the schedule here. PS: There’s a Literary Death Match going down. Need we say more?
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2861
Jamarcus Liddle
from Jamarcus Liddle on Tue, 2012-01-10 20:59Really enjoyed this article post. Awesome.
Diamond Monteiro
from Diamond Monteiro on Tue, 2011-12-27 20:47A round of applause for your blog article.Much thanks again. Cool.
Alissa Delk
from Alissa Delk on Sun, 2011-12-18 03:10Enjoyed every bit of your article.Thanks Again. Will read on...
Yareli Simas
from Yareli Simas on Mon, 2011-12-12 22:44Wow, great article post.Really thank you! Will read on...
German Sanborn
from German Sanborn on Thu, 2011-12-08 19:30Major thanks for the blog post. Will read on...
Tags:
Market with a Shout-out! Widen your Network with Social Media Swapping
August 23, 2011
by Carly Willsie
Twitter accounts with four followers. Stagnant Facebook fan pages. Blogs that languish in the wilderness of cyberspace, never to be viewed by human eyes. We’ve all seen them (in fact, we’ve even owned some of them). Does this sound eerily close to your own situation? Don’t give up yet.
One of the best ways to kick-start your social media strategy is to participate in a content swap. Content swaps can range from exchanging Tweets to hosting reader giveaways to sharing guest posts with another blogger. All these strategies can increase your exposure and help you widen your social media reach.
Intrigued? Here are seven simple steps to running your own content swap:
- Figure out whether content swapping will work for you. Social media exchange would work well for someone trying to build his or her online platform. If you’ve had a Twitter account for a while but feel underwhelmed by the 147 friends you worked tirelessly to acquire, try content swapping. Exchanging social media is probably a good idea for everyone, though. Whether you’re a social media celebrity wanting to offer something new to your followers or a complete blogger noob looking to establish a following, you can benefit from content swapping.
- Decide what it is you want to exchange. Do you want to swap posts? Tweets? Or do you want to offer a free giveaway per Tweet mentioning you? The possibilities are as wide as you are creative. A simple swapping of blog posts is probably the easiest, but if you’re targeting your Twitter account, getting bloggers to mention your free giveaway for followers might be a better strategy.
- Determine whether you will offer any add-ons for readers. Will you give a free guide or download to the readers of the blog you are guest posting on? This would be a good way to get people to listen to you and actually read your guest post—an especially good option if you aren’t established in the market yet. People love free stuff, and if you’re offering a complimentary ebook download with your post, it might make the difference between being ignored and being read.
- Identify a relevant blogger. You want to look for a blogger in the same niche as yourself. Spend some time researching your audience: Who are they? What do they care about? What do they do online? Who do they read? Once you identify a few bloggers in your space, be strategic in who you choose to reach out to. You want someone who’s similar without being in direct competition with you. Also be sure to target someone that’s popular but also accessible (i.e., don’t try to hit up Perez Hilton on your first try).
- Contact the blogger and outline the plan. Make sure to be clear about what, exactly, the mutual benefit is in your swap. Will this blogger’s readers get a freebie? Will he or she gain more followers by being on your blog? After all, a blogger sharing content with you will want to get something out of the deal as well.
- Execute the swap. Write the post, making sure it is specific, actionable and relevant. Include your contact information in the post. You can even note that the post is open for syndication on other blogs, as long as you grant permission. Before the post goes up, try reaching out to other people in your blogging arena, asking them to make a quick one-line mention about the giveaway or guest post. Keep up with any inquiries you receive and be sure to check the post often. Respond to comments as they come in, and interact with the readers or Tweeters.
- Evaluate. Was the swap worth the effort you put into it? Did it result in more “likes,” more followers, and more page views? Even if it didn’t translate into an explosive increase in followers, check your page analytics to see if more people visited your site. If you run a business, exposure for your company will be more important in the long run than an extra Twitter follower.
If you don’t have the time or energy to go through the research and coordination it takes to participate in a social media swap, have no fear. In the last few years, several companies have popped up that specialize in facilitating content swapping.
Pay With a Tweet allows users to “sell their products for the price of a Tweet.” According to the Pay With a Tweet website, French electropop band The Teenagers is swapping its new single for mentions on Twitter. AppStorm has a great guide to setting up a “Pay With a Tweet” button on your website.
Social Media Swap is a free, member-based portal meant to connect users with other people interested in exchanging everything from Tweets to “Stumbles” to Facebook page likes. The site allows you to pay, buy, and swap. Similarly, Smorty, a blog advertising company, coordinates blog post exchanges by connecting active users with each other.
Whether you go DIY with your content swapping or take advantage of one of the companies offering swap services, a strategic swap can give you targeted readers, more page views, and an increased page ranking—all great benefits for a one-time deal. Looks like your involvement in bartering and trading didn’t end when you got rid of your copy of The Oregon Trail after all. Happy swapping!
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2741
Daphne Lavelle
from Daphne Lavelle on Mon, 2012-01-30 18:52Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Want more.
Joyce Steward
from Joyce Steward on Mon, 2012-01-30 09:43Thanks-a-mundo for the blog article.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Brielle Meekins
from Brielle Meekins on Sat, 2012-01-21 20:01Great, thanks for sharing this article. Want more.
Kassidy Brush
from Kassidy Brush on Sat, 2012-01-14 18:48Great, thanks for sharing this blog article. Really Great.
Tags:
Getting a Jump on Sales with Preorders
July 11, 2011
by Kristen Sears
Many authors begin the hard work of generating sales for their book long before the actual release date. There are many different options for collecting these preorders, as well as many ways to make the most of them, helping you meet your goals and priorities for the project.
One method of collecting preorders is to set up a preorder button on the book's website. During the preorder process, customers will be prompted to fill in their basic information and make a payment through the website for the book (or books) they order. Matching Amazon pricing or offering signed copies can be an added hook to get people interested.
It is also common to create a dedicated landing page for preorders, which you can utilize in your marketing initiatives, that drives consumers to a central location to make their purchase. This is a popular option when you are incentivizing customers by giving them access to extra content at no charge with an order. The landing page can host this content, and once the order is placed, the customer can be given a code to access the free content.
But collecting preorders can also be as simple as keeping a spreadsheet with all the information that you manually collect from customers as they place orders directly through you leading up to the pub date.
A different route is to simply send people directly to a retailer, such as Amazon, to place their order during a specified period of time, usually immediately following the release of the book. In this case, it's important for your publisher to know how many orders you expect to be placed at least three weeks in advance so they can ensure that adequate stock is in place in the supply chain to meet the rush of demand. (Also see our recent newsletter tip, In The Loop.)
Regardless of how you collect the orders, the idea is to have a complete record of all customers and their orders at the end of the preorder campaign.
Once all of the preorders are collected, you have to decide what your priority is for these sales. Have you generated all of these preorders so you can generate maximum revenue from your book right away? Or is your goal to have all of these sales count towards your retail track record? (Shameless plug: With Greenleaf, you have the flexibility to meet either goal, and we can help execute the orders or connect you with experts in the field that specialize in placing those presales in a strategic and planned way for maximum impact.)
If the primary goal is to maximize revenue with preorders, you’ll want to sell the books directly. Revenue generated through direct sales is not shared with a distributor or retailer, allowing for larger margins. Remember to bill the appropriate shipping charges directly to your customers if you want them to cover the cost.
If the goal is to drive retail sales as high as they can go, run preorder sales through a retail channel that reports to BookScan (the book industry’s go-to tool for measuring retail sell-through). This will make these sales a part of the book’s auditable track record. For bulk preorders, we work with a company called 800 CEO Read and they make this process very simple. Corporate customers (or your own company) can buy the books from 800 CEO Read, which reports sales to BookScan.
If you plan on generating thousands of preorders and want to use them to make a run at a bestseller list, we recommend working with an expert who specializes in handling this type of campaign. A campaign like this requires careful coordination and planning and the ability to process thousands of individual orders in a short time span.
What are your goals leading up to pub date? What’s worked to help you generate preorders? Share and discuss!
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2644
Sharon Reiner
from Sharon Reiner on Fri, 2011-12-16 17:10Thanks a lot for the blog.Thanks Again. Great.
Kitchen Remodeling St. Louis
from Kitchen Remodeling St Louis on Sun, 2011-12-11 01:11Excellent thread, I saw this really good thread today and I wanted to link to it. Thanks again for taking the time to post.
Tags:
Rollin' in the Digital Dough: Make the Most of Your Ebook
July 5, 2011
by Carly Willsie
Now that you’ve successfully converted your manuscript into an ebook, it’s time to start selling your hard work. Making money from your ebook all starts with a good blog. Ideally, you’ll have been blogging like a madman for the past year or longer, gradually gathering a strong base of readers who share your interests and interact with you on a daily basis. Sound about right? (If not, check out these links on ProBlogger and ViperChill on developing a popular blog.)
Once you have a group of people following your free content, you have a built-in audience for your words with a price tag.
Pre-pub hype
Begin by doing one of the things you do best as a blogger: talk about yourself. Create hype on your blog by posting about your ebook in advance of its publication. Ask your readers to contribute ideas and feedback; if your audience feels like they had a say in what went into your book, they’ll be more likely to pay for it when it comes out. Continue mentioning it before its publication to create a sense of anticipation. Your excitement will be contagious and your readers will feel like they’re a part of the process.
Landing page
While readying your ebook for its launch, pay special attention to the creation of your landing page. Give your ebook its own exclusive URL; this adds credibility and authority to your ebook. Write great copy for the page once you have it set up. A catchy slogan at the top will be effective, as will a well-written description and “About the Author” page. Try to avoid sounding too pushy or salesman-like in these areas.
The design of your landing page should complement your ebook; be sure that you have a great cover and promotional images. Just because your book may not make it into the physical world doesn’t mean you should skimp on design.
Any extras you can fit onto the page will make the site more dynamic. Sarah Mae, author of How to Market and Sell Your eBook, recommends a video of you talking about your ebook—but try to keep it under two minutes!
Don’t forget to include some testimonials from well-known bloggers and experts, and be sure that the all-important “Buy” link is easy to find.
Online interaction
Now is the time to harness your online community. The key to selling a lot of ebooks is getting high-traffic sites to link to your blog. Start by identifying your target audience; after all, you don’t want to bother commenting on a juggling blog if your book is about real estate. Write down who you imagine your audience to be and research those communities online.
Once you find the relevant online forums and blogs that will help you develop your platform, participate in them. Offer suggestions, advice, and comments; remember to make your username the same as your blog name so that people know how to identify you. Keep in mind, though, that no one likes a spammer. Readers should trust you and know you as someone in their loop. Start mentioning other bloggers’ sites on your blog and they will eventually mention yours as well.
Volunteer to be a guest on a podcast. Write articles for free. Start contributing to sites like AllExperts and eHow. If readers know you as an expert, they will not only want to read your blog; they will want to buy your book.
Keep it cheap
All of us consumers know what it’s like to bypass an ebook simply because of its $11.99 price tag, even when you’re dying to read it. People just aren’t willing to pay a lot for digital content. Use this to your advantage.
Start by giving away sample chapters, both before your publication date on your blog and post-publication on your landing page. This will not only prove to readers that what you have to say is worth paying for; it will also create a buzz around your launch. You should consider coordinating a giveaway with your publication date. To celebrate, give away gift certificates, prizes, and your book. For example, if you are an attorney, you could give away a free hour-long legal advice session in addition to your ebook.
Check out Carolyn McCray’s “Anatomy of a Successful Ebook Giveaway” article, in which she breaks down the measurable impact of giving away your book. For instance: If you are planning on giving away a hundred free ebooks on six different blogs, you can expect in return ten backlist sales; seventy-five email addresses you can add to your newsletter; five reviews of your book; and three long-term contacts. Not too shabby, right?
McCray also advises taking some time to develop your “you’ve won” email. Include a coupon for a major discount on another one of your titles to get readers buying. Also ask them to sign up for your newsletter, offering the chance to win a gift card to the first hundred to do so.
Pricing your ebook strategically will ultimately bring in more money than demanding a hefty price will. Keep your asking price under $9.99; $5 is even better.
Stay involved
Finally, don’t relegate ebook marketing to the bottom of your to-do list after the initial few months. Make sure you remain engaged in relevant online communities and be sure to keep up with your posting. Readers should be able to depend on you to be a regular poster, regardless of whether you’re prepping to release your book or not. Maintaining a regular readership will help to continuously sell your ebook and will also open up the opportunity for future publications—two things we’re comfortable assuming you want.
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2642
Kiara Loehr
from Kiara Loehr on Fri, 2011-12-09 03:48Im grateful for the blog article.Much thanks again. Great.
Lola Gayle
from Lola Gayle on Thu, 2011-12-08 15:31Really enjoyed this blog article.Thanks Again. Fantastic.
Tags:
Book Marketing Strategies Found in a Casino
May 16, 2011
by Corrin Foster
Today’s post is by Brian Feinblum, chief marketing officer at Planned Television Arts, who has been promoting and marketing authors since 1989. Brian blogs at Book Marketing Buzz Blog.
On a recent trip to the Mohegan Sun casino, it occurred to me that many similarities exist in one’s approach to gambling and book publicity. I’ve working in this field for over two decades, and I’m constantly drawing mental parallels between promoting books and the other areas of my life. But this gambling connection proved particularly fruitful, so I put together a few truths that are just as applicable to your campaign as they are in the casino.
1. Don’t bet what you can’t afford to lose. Lesson: Invest your time and resources to support your book, but don’t mortgage your house or quit your day job to do so.
2. Never put all of your chips on one bet. Lesson: Don’t pin your hopes and dreams on one particular media outlet. Go after big, medium, and small wins. They all add up.
3. Diversify your efforts and play more than one type of game. Lesson: Don’t focus all of your efforts solely on blogging or TV interviews. Instead, approach a number of media, both local and national—radio, print, radio, and online.
4. Be aware that the odds are not stacked in your favor. Despite that, the only way to win it is to be in it. Lesson: You need to catch a lucky break, and it can only happen when you get off the sidelines and play the game.
5. Look before you leap. Watch the betting strategies of others before you play. Lesson: Observe the campaigns that result in the big successes, learn, and then live it.
6. Don’t bet on something you don’t understand or feel comfortable with. Lesson: Only market and promote in a way you feel secure in; otherwise, hire a professional or avoid it.
7. Enjoy the win. Celebrate! Lesson: When you do experience success in your PR and marketing efforts, celebrate it and value the moment.
8. Play the hot hand. Lesson: It may be luck or skill or being in the right place at the right time, but whatever it is, keep doing what works until it doesn’t.
9. Take a risk—the reward can be huge. Some bet on the long shot knowing that if they win, they’ll get a huge payoff. Lesson: Take a chance on the long shots publicity opportunities—the big-name holy grails of book promotion—and enjoy the reward if it comes through.
10. Know when to walk away. In gambling, the more time spent betting, the more likely you’ll lose. In marketing and PR, the opposite is true—you need to keep at it to have a chance at success. Lesson: In either scenario, assess where you’re at regularly and know when it’s time to call it quits.
In case you were wondering: I won fifty bucks at the Mohegan Sun’s roulette wheel—after being down $250. I got to walk away feeling like a winner.
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2546
Tags:
Top 5 Marketing Mistakes Authors Make
March 2, 2011
by Shennandoah Diaz
Writers are an enthusiastic and passionate bunch, but when it comes to marketing, we see more confused faces, blank stares, and resistance than in any other industry. It's easy to be idealistic about writing a book, but when it comes down to it, publishing is a business, and authors who want to sell books need to be on top of marketing. To offer some guidance on the topic, here are the top five mistakes we see authors make in their marketing efforts.
#1 Not Doing Any Marketing at All
The worst thing you can do as an author is nothing. Publishers and bookstores alike are concerned about bottom lines and profit margins. They won’t risk their money on a title with no marketing support. Even if you do manage to get it into bookstores, if you don’t drive people in to buy your book, you may be stuck with hundreds of returns as the books that never sell make their way back to the warehouse (leaving you looking like a dud not worth publishing again). In many cases, you have roughly three months from the date of publication to prove the strength of your title. If it doesn’t move, you can say goodbye bookstore and hello backlist.
#2 Waiting Until They’re Published
Everyone wants a bestseller. Did you know that bestseller status is based on velocity of sales and not on the total amount of sales? That velocity is built largely on preorders from retail stores? Retail stores start making their purchase decisions as many as six months before the date of publication, which means you have to prove you have the followers before you even have a book. You need to start building your author platform now. It takes three months to get traction, six months to see results, and a good year to build up a decent platform. Don’t wait.
#3 Expecting the Publisher to Do It All for Them
Again, publishing is a business. If you go out and start a business, you don't expect the bank who fronts the loan to do marketing for you. Publishers take on titles based on the assumption that you will actively sell your book, and they are expecting you to deliver. Even though this can be frustrating, it’s your career hanging in the balance if the book doesn't sell.
#4 Automating Everything
Too many people—not just authors—think that marketing is automated content. It’s not. I’m all for re-purposing content and streamlining processes, but a constant stream of one-way ads and promotional posts is a cop-out. Today’s market demands engagement. They want direct access to the real you in real time. Don’t set your marketing on cruise control.
#5 Not Making It Professional
Last but not least, too many authors plop a DIY website with no content and a few weak profiles on the Internet and attend one writer’s conference and call that being a professional author. You have to dress for success, and your marketing materials have to be up to snuff. You need to invest in professional websites, vibrant materials, and a professional appearance so you always make a great first impression. Any author with the intention of getting into Barnes & Noble should expect to spend at least $5,000 to $10,000 on marketing.
If you are an aspiring author, I implore you to take heed and put some thought and money into your marketing. To succeed in retail, you need great marketing in addition to a great book. Don’t leave it up to chance!
Shennandoah Diaz is president of Brass Knuckles Media, an uncensored PR & Marketing firm catering to creatives and the avant garde. Passionate about education, Diaz empowers creatives by sharing articles and teaching workshops on marketing, social media, and publishing. Learn more at www.brassknucklesmedia.com or at www.shennandoahdiaz.com.
Tags:
How to Manage Author Platform-Building Opportunities
July 1, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
As an author, you’re constantly chasing down opportunities to share your book, speak to a crowd, serve as a resource, and perform other platform-building activities. People will often say no to your first request—but don’t let that discourage you or stop you from pursuing a lead after the first contact!
It takes at least six points of contact for a message to sink in—six—yet more than 75% of the time people stop pursuing leads after the first point of contact (Good Day 2009). Sometimes authors stop pursuing because they receive a no on the first try, other times it's because the number of leads to manage is overwhelming. Cultivating relationships is crucial to your career, but it doesn’t need to take up all of your time.
The first thing you need to do is gather contact information. Every time you meet a lead or come across someone in a search, collect his or her contact information or business card right away. Enter them into a simple database such as Microsoft Outlook, Plan Plus, or Salesforce. Spreadsheets and rolodexes can be hard to manage effectively, but databases like these allow you to classify your contacts, set up reminders, add notes, and keep track of all interactions.
Next, you want to categorize your leads. Not all leads are created equal, and each group requires a different type of interaction. Here is a simple way to classify your leads:
- Hot or “A” Leads: These are people interested in having you speak or scheduling you for some other event. These contacts are ready to go and need to receive frequent, personal contact in order for the relationship to develop into an event or opportunity. These contacts go to the top of your list.
- Warm or “B” Leads: These are people who showed interest, but who have not yet decided whether they want to work with you. You will need to provide them with more information and work to cultivate the relationship.
- Cold or “C” Leads: Cold leads are people with whom you have no rapport, such as those you find on the Internet or find out about through third-party sources. These contacts are usually managed through what is called “drip line marketing.” Drip line marketing consists of things like newsletters or emails you send out to a distribution list on an infrequent basis. You may need to send an introductory email and then a reminder a few months later or add them to an informational newsletter until they opt out or say they are not interested.
Sorting your leads into these categories will help you better identify and manage opportunities as they come. Don’t forget to provide value first, and remember that your leads are people. Treat them with respect, consideration, and always show your appreciation for their time.
Tags:
How to Build a Tribe of Followers
by Shennandoah Diaz
You may have heard your book publicist or another marketing guru talk about the importance of building a “tribe.” This doesn’t mean traveling to a secluded island and recruiting a selection of indigenous craftsman to start a new culture. A tribe is a devoted group of followers, people who believe in your idea, values, and message and who participate in a community with other followers and evangelize your efforts as an author.
Why do you want a tribe? Because they are your consumers, advertisers, research and development team, and marketers all rolled into one. They help you grow your brand, hone your message, and create an ongoing relationship of service and value—not to mention that it is direct purchases from this group and their referrals that drive the majority of your sales, both of your book and of any other services you offer.
So, now you know what a tribe is and why you need one. But how do you get one? Start by doing the following:
- Provide value: People don’t follow self-serving rhetoric or empty ideas. They follow trusted advisors, information sources, and value-based ideas they can believe in. Build on the ideas in your book and your message as an author, and grow your value by continually providing your readers with tools and information they need.
- Provide community: Tribes thrive on community. So, establish forums, blogs, and other ways in which followers can interact with you and each other. Start conversations based on topics in your book, and even gather new ideas for follow-up books and seminars.
- Provide content: People are always looking for what’s in it for them. Provide free information, resources, and tips to help them improve their lives, and people will follow you. This content could be a repackaging of material from your book, but it should also at times go beyond what you’ve already written. With every post, interaction, and article, give your readers something they can really sink their teeth into.
- Tell people about it: It doesn’t do any good to lay the groundwork for your tribe and then never promote it. Get involved in social media, networking groups related to your industry, nonprofits, and communities both online and off. Mention your efforts, share free resources, and entice people to connect with you and your tribe.
Building a tribe takes time, so be patient. Above all, building a tribe means sticking to a clear and consistent message and continually providing value, without asking for anything in return. It will pay off in the end, not only in terms of followers, but also in terms of book sales.
Here are also some additional resources to help you with your tribe-building efforts:
Trust Agents by Chris Brogan
Tribes by Seth Godin
Tags:
Give A Great Interview
June 1, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
You’ve probably seen them: those interviews where there is no energy and the guest is as placid as the polar ice cap. Or worse: the guest is talkative—too talkative—and runs over the host with wanton disregard. Guests like these are rarely invited back. The key to becoming a media darling and keeping the publicity coming is to be a great interviewee. Here are a few tips to help you do just that:
- Keep it short and sweet: Whether your appearance is in print, radio, television, or otherwise, the publication or broadcast program will have a limited amount of space and airtime allotted for each item. Be respectful and keep your answers brief.
- Develop your talking points: Though questions may vary from interview to interview, there will be some basic questions asked over and over again (e.g., what is your book about, why did you start writing, what advice do you have for writers, etc.). So, develop a few key talking points that you can easily integrate into every interview. Also, customize a few for each venue. This means doing your research before you show up to the interview.
- Mention your book often!: The point of publicity is to get your name and the name of your book out there. Mention your book, website, and contact information often. Here is a short video demonstrating how to easily work that information in to the conversation.
- Dress and act professionally: The majority of a person's impression of you is formulated before you even open your mouth. To make the best first impression, dress like you care about the interview. If it’s an online or phone interview, make sure your website and social media are professional and clean; be on time and courteous; and don’t tie up the long-distance line any longer than necessary.
- Tempo: Speak quickly enough to finish your talking point, but don't speak so fast that no one can understand you. Take deep breaths, wait for the host to complete his or her question before answering, and actively listen to yourself so you can catch any acceleration in pace.
- Be gracious: Especially if you are a first-time author, don't continually correct the host or editor, don't constantly nag, and by all means say thank you!
Being polite, brief, and professional will take you far with the media. And remember to prepare beforehand so you can work in all of your talking points and sell more books!
Tags:
