They’re Not Your Customers

One of the benefits
of self-publishing
is the ability to change the product.
This is, however,
one of the downsides also.

Because no book (or product)
appeals to everyone
and the temptation
is to tweak the story
every time we receive feedback.

One of my buddies did that.
A customer complained about the hero.
My buddy changed the hero.
The same customer complained again.
My buddy tweaked the hero again.
This happened again and again
until my buddy finally realized
he’d never make the reader happy.

As Seth Godin
shares

the reader was a vampire.

“These are people that feed on negativity,
on shooting down ideas
and most of all,
on extinguishing your desire
to make things better.”

And, as Seth Godin advises,
the best tactic is to ignore these vampires.

They’re not your customers.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Opening Up Marketing Programs

One of my writing buddies
recently held a contest.
She gave away a gift card
to an eBook reseller.
She stated the contest
was only for U.S. readers.

Why?

When I asked her,
she didn’t know.
Other writers limited their contests.
She did the same thing.

Other writers limited their contests
because they were sending
prizes that had to be mailed.
She was emailing her prize.
There was no reason
to exclude her International readers.

Don’t limit the reach
of your marketing
unnecessarily.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Be That First Reference

Yesterday,
we hired the neighbor’s kid
to shovel our walk and driveway.
We agreed to pay him monthly
AND
we offered to be his first reference.
His snow shoveling mini business
will be the first line on his resume.

Yes, we could have hired
a more experienced person,
someone less likely to break windows
with the end of his shovel,
but I remember
how difficult it was
to land that first job.
I remember the feeling
of leaving the experience part
of the resume blank,
of having NO work references.

And I have a weakness
for budding entrepreneurs.
I’m flattered to be
his very first customer.
No matter what happens
in his life,
how successful he becomes,
this won’t ever change.

Consider being
someone’s very first work reference.

Running Jokes

One of my pen names
is known for a certain brand of chocolate.
Whenever I attend an online event
under this pen name,
I casually mention this chocolate.

The first couple of times,
no one really noticed.
Then after a few events,
previous attendees would note
that I’m ‘always’ talking about
this chocolate.
Now readers mention this chocolate
before I do.
Readers post pictures of it
on my Facebook page.
They send me emails about sales
or sightings.

It is a running joke
and running jokes are powerful.
Readers feel like insiders.
They know this secret about me.
It gives them an excuse
to contact me
(and yes, many readers NEED an excuse).
It builds a relationship.

Creating a running joke
is VERY powerful.
What can you be known for?

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Follow Up After The Big Event

I was part of a massive reader party
on Facebook.
There were 48 writers involved
and hundreds of readers.
Each writer held a contest.

The writers then contacted the winner.
One person.

I contacted everyone
who entered my contest.
Yes, it took me an entire day
but wow, did I make connections.
I have hundreds of new readers
following my posts,
friending me,
even joining my street team.

One of the other writers
was grumbling
how the event was a waste of time.
It wasn’t for me
because I followed up
with attendees.

After you hold a big event,
follow up.
Cement that relationship.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Faking The Chicken

Writers do this ALL the time.
We fake the chicken.
We act as though
we have a zillion readers
because readers won’t buy books
they think no one else is reading.
Books don’t become popular
unless they are viewed
as being popular.

Facebook’s Julie Zhuo shares

“One great line
from Gagan Biyani’s talk
last week
has stayed with me:
faking the chicken.
It means doing whatever it takes
to get the chicken in place
so that you can start reaping
the benefit of eggs.

Or, if you’re lacking confidence,
fake it until you make it.
Act as if you have conviction
in what you’re saying
even if the entire neighborhood’s
butterfly population
has taken up residence
in your stomach.

Or, if something seems
out of your capabilities,
surround yourself with people
that have done it before.
Take inspiration from those
who make it look possible,
and maybe even easy.
Trick yourself into thinking
you already have the chicken.”

If you don’t have a chicken,
fake a chicken.

What To Post About

Folks often ask me
what they should write about
on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

The trick is to be focused.
Have a list of
topics you’ll cover
and know how you will cover them.
What will be the tone of these posts?
Will the posts be serious (more educational)
or light (more entertainment)?
Why do your customers approach you?
What events do they associate with you?
When do they use your products?
Is there a city, color, music
that they associate with you?
How can you make these posts feel personal
while still preserving a business feel?

I write romance novels.
My readers are interested in
hope and optimism and happy endings.
They’re interested in romantic love.
They’re interested in weddings,
in first dates,
in men.
They love the daily exchanges
(only the happy ones)
between me and my hubby.
At every wedding I attend,
I take photos of flowers and cakes.
I make posts personal
while maintaining some privacy,
some professionalism.

Jennifer Goforth Gregory
shares

“The Sweetriot approach to social media
is also extremely personal.
On Twitter, the company’s avatar is
a photo of Endline rather than a logo,
and tweets come from Endline herself.
“More often than not our tweets
are me doing something like
walking down the streets of New York
observing something interesting,”
Endline says.

On Facebook,
the company uses
the same overall approach,
with a particular focus on visuals
that take fans behind the scenes
of the company:
photos of chocolate-chip cookies
served at a recent event,
of rioters working at their own businesses,
of Sweetriot chocolates
in front of New York City landmarks,
and of interesting sights
at local NYC street fairs.”

Tie your social media strategy
into your branding
by having a focused list
of topics you’ll post on.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Success Causes Passion

When I started writing seriously,
I began with writing short stories.

I knew if I spent a year
working on a single novel
and then three years after that
trying to sell the novel,
my passion for being published
would die.

Writing short stories
allowed me
to achieve smaller successes sooner.
These successes fed my passion.

Dilbert creator
Scott Adams
shares

“Billionaires like to say
passion is the secret of success.
But what else could they say
without sounding like total jerks?
They can’t say
they are smarter than poor people.
They can’t say
they work harder than poor people.
They can’t say
they simply got lucky
because that would ruin their images.
So they say
passion is the key
because it sounds like
an appropriately modest answer.

In my many business ventures,
I was always excited at the start,
but when things turned bad,
my enthusiasm ebbed.
And when things went great,
I got increasingly excited.
So I think success causes passion
more than
passion causes success.”

Consider achieving smaller successes
to keep your passion alive.

Training Your Customers

One of my publisher’s employees
f*cked up.
She f*cked up big time.
I sympathize with this
as I f*ck quite often
so I emailed her quietly,
pointed out the error,
and waited for her to fix it.

She didn’t fix it.
She didn’t even respond to my email.

So I sent another email,
copying her boss.
The employee replied to me right away.

The next time,
she f*cks up
(and she WILL f*ck up
– we all do),
I won’t send the private email.
I’ll copy her boss immediately
and make a big freakin’ stink.

If you have hostile encounters
with your customers,
it is because you’ve trained them
to deal with you with hostility.

Published
Categorized as Sales

Giving, Not Taking

Seth Godin
shares

“If your email promotion is
a taking,
not a giving,
I think you should rethink it.”

I believe if ANY marketing is
a taking,
not a giving,
you should rethink it.

Does that mean
you should give away product
every time you market?

Hell no!
It drives me up the wall
when I’m asked to give away a book
at a new release party
or some other event.

I sell entertainment.
That’s my product.
If I can’t entertain
while I sell,
I shouldn’t be in business.

If you can’t figure out
how to give your prospects
a taste of what you’re truly selling
(safety, prestige, trust, confidence, etc)
while you’re selling it,
then you shouldn’t be in business either.

If you give
and don’t take,
your prospects won’t even view it
as promotion.

Published
Categorized as Marketing