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How to Manage Author Platform-Building Opportunities
July 1, 2010
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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.
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The Author Power Team
June 22, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
As an author, you are always on the lookout for new ways to improve your marketing strategy and grow your platform. One of the best ways to do this is by developing your power team.
What’s a power team? A familiar term among business networking professionals, a power team is comprised of individuals and/or businesses with whom you share common goals or a common client base.
How can it help you as an author? The members of your power team can help you improve your strategy, connect with more readers, identify more opportunities, hone your message, and expand your reach.
Lets look at key members of an author power team and how they help you build your career:
- Publisher: Your publisher is an industry insider. If you have chosen wisely, your publisher should have a track record of producing successful books in your genre and should be able to provide you with tips and insights to help you not only get on bookshelves, but also get in front of readers. Keep your contacts at the publisher in the loop so they are aware of all of your marketing efforts and publicity. This helps them keep your book stocked when and where it needs to be available. They can also give you feedback on publishing best practices.
- Publicist: A publicist helps you develop your marketing strategy and puts you in front of big media—radio, television, print, and online. A publicist also helps you hone your message and clarify your brand so you can reach readers. They have spent years cultivating relationships with media and industry professionals and have access to contacts you may not be able to reach on your own.
- Other Authors in Your Genre: Wait—they’re your competition, right? Not necessarily. If you have differentiated yourself well, your work will stand out when compared to other authors’ work. Each author has something unique to give to the reader, but authors in the same genre share the same audience and are marketing to the same people. If you have been growing your platform and marketing your book, you should already have a following. Pull your efforts together with another author doing the same and you can double the strength of your platform and gain twice the reach. Adding another author increases your reach that much more.
- Bloggers: Bloggers who write about your topic or genre also share marketing time with your audience. They often have an open dialogue with a following that listens to their advice and trusts their recommendations. Develop relationships with bloggers in your category, offer to write guest posts, give free review copies of your book, share links, or come up with cross-promotional activities.
- Industry Gurus: No matter what topic or genre your book covers, there will be some movers and shakers already hustling and bustling about. Cultivate a relationship with these people. They’re connected and know what your readers are looking for. They can get you into events and speaking engagements that will put you directly in front of your target audience. Plus, their opinion holds weight and can carry you deep into the hearts of your audience.
These are the primary members of your power team, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box while choosing members of your team. Each book and genre has special needs and interests that are served by many people. Aligning yourself with those people will help you engage with your audience and, in turn, sell more books.
Remember, just as with your audience, be willing to provide value before you ask for anything in return. You are looking to cultivate relationships here, not just take what you can get. Here are a few key things to remember when building your power team:
- Be sincerely interested in the other person.
- Find ways to help them meet their goals.
- Be willing and able to promote and/or endorse them.
- Relationships are a series of meaningful interactions. Make time to check in and see how they are doing, without looking for something in return.
Above all, treat them how you would want to be treated. If you are truly interested, considerate, and helpful, they will reciprocate.
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Web-Map to Social Media, Part 5: Second Life
August 8, 2007
by Aaron Hierholzer
Feel like you've got a handle on Internet promotion of your book? Well, check out Second Life. This isn't your dad's MySpace page. Widely touted as fertile ground for marketers of the future, hype over this 3D community has recently reached a fever pitch.
Basically, users download a client that allows them to enter an online world where they can interact in real time with fellow users. The first step is creating an avatar, which, thanks to the detailed appearance-editing options offered by Second Life, can easily turn into a day's work of deciding things like how bulbous your nose should be or if your character looks good with turquoise skin. You can even try to make your avatar look like you, a great opportunity to drop a few pounds with the drag of a slider. Once you've designed yourself and chosen from a pool of whimsical last names, you're ready to start exploring.
There's no stated objective, no bosses at the end of levels. It's certainly not a game (big SL faux pas). It's a platform, a "metaverse" if you will. Second Life denizens (known as Residents) aren't messing around--they're spending Linden Dollars, which correlate to real, actual, spendable money (exchange rate: approximately 250L$ to each US Dollar). Fortune 500 companies, noting the astronomical success of phenomena like MySpace and YouTube, haven't wasted time in buying islands and constructing product-themed paradises.
While it's hard to imagine scores of visitors to places like Wells Fargo's Stagecoach Island, Cisco Systems Island, or other SL corporate playgrounds (reactions to corporate marketing have been mixed at best), Second Life is shaping up to be a networking tool with a lot of potential, particularly for the publishing world. Last April, sandwiched between London Book Fair and BEA, the Second Life Book Fair took place, drawing an impressive 1,400 visitors and featuring 42 exhibitors and nearly 20 events. Residents set up booths for their wares and attended talks by prominent publishing avatars.
If you're not getting how this works at all (don't worry--it's confusing), check out The Infinite Mind's interview with Kurt Vonnegut. Those figures in the audience? They're people in real life ("RL" in Second Life parlance) logged on to see Kurt speak through his avatar. After the interview ended, they probably all stoop up and chatted about the interview before flying away to another island. (You can fly in Second Life.)
Andrew Sullivan and Diana Hunter are two authors who have used Second Life to their benefit. This is a good profile of their efforts. Hunter (SL name: Diana Allandale) told us that she views Second Life as an alternative to other means of Internet visibility (chat lists, author blogs, etc.). For her, time is the main resource--time spent getting to know SL thoroughly and networking in-world. Hunter pays rent for several shops, but it's considerably less than what she'd pay for an eighth of a page in a major magazine, and she gets to promote her twelve RL books. The free excerpts she offers to Second Life users are at a touch and contain purchasing information and links to her Web site. In addition to presenting workshops on writing, she can often be found in her shop, talking to curious passersby.
Should you be so inclined, you can buy land and start building your Second Life base. In-world building tools are provided along with classes on how you use them, and if you want to be really fancy about it, many companies offer full-service SL development.
If you're not ready to take that step, Second Life can still afford great opportunities through pure networking. Visit Book Island on Media World, home to around 40 publishers and writers with a Second Life presence. Hang out around bookstores, and chat with other people. Talk to authors that do SL promotion and find out what worked for them.
Some book-related happenings and spaces on Second Life:
- Random House hosts a book club, which meets at the Rose Garden of the Elysian Isle. It kicked off last May with a discussion of Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife.
- Shakespeare & Co., name after--but not affiliated with--the famous Paris shop, holds weekly topical poetry readings in Mill Pond.
- Coelacanth Books & News Store in Chagmi explores text media in the virtual world with Second Life-themed magazines and books.
- The Second Annual Warren Adler Short Story Contest is seeking short story submissions that capture the essence of New York. The five finalist stories will be featured via "live" readings at Amazon's Theater in Second Life.
-Image ©2007 LINDEN RESEARCH, INC. All Rights Reserved.-
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