January 2016 – Page 3

Adele And Why You’re Nervous

You’re nervous
because you care.
If you didn’t care
about the sales call
or the performance
or the product release,
you wouldn’t worry about it.

Carmine Gallo
shares

“Adele has stage fright
because she cares about her fans.
‘With my stage fright,
I just don’t want to let people down,’
Adele admitted in a recent interview
on National Public Radio.”

Being nervous
isn’t a bad thing.
It shows you care.
And you should care
about what you’re doing.

Professionals
learn how to hide their nervousness,
how to push forward.
But the nervousness still exists.

Never use nervousness
as an excuse.

Selling To Cheap Customers

There are some super cheap readers
in Romanceland.
Many pride themselves
on not paying more than 99 cents
for any story.

I never talk about the price
of my stories.
I talk about
how my stories are crafted
to be reread.
They aren’t read them
and forget them stories.

Cheap readers often put my stories
into a different category,
the price per read category.
The stories might be $2.99
but they will be read 3 times
and that, magically, makes them 99 cent reads.

Geoff Williams
shares

“Some people are thrifty
by choice,
while others shop for bargains
by necessity.
But if you brag about
how cheap your product or service is,
you could cheapen your business
in the eyes of the very people
you’re trying to attract.”

Cheap customers often look for value,
not necessarily the lowest price.
Show value
and they might try your product/service.

Why You Should Apologize

I apologize for almost everything.
Why?
Because I believe
in taking responsibility.
The person apologizing
is always viewed
as being responsible.
Maybe not for the error
but for the process.

Seth Godin
shares

“Apologize.
Not because it’s your fault,
but because the incident
cost other people time or money
or upset them,
and you’re sorry
that they have to deal with that.”

An apology isn’t a sign of weakness.
It is a sign of strength.

Putting Yourself In A Bucket

When I wrote for publishers,
the first thing I’d be asked
was which category my story fell into.
The publisher used that category
as an indication of my target market,
a suggestion on how to sell my story.

I’m currently self-publishing my stories.
I don’t have to put my stories
into categories,
yet I do
because readers do.

As Seth Godin
shares

“…the consumer of content
still thinks in terms of buckets.
She’s judging your podcast
in the first eight seconds,
“what does this remind me of?”
She’s searching for famous names,
scanning the bestseller list,
moving sideways within a category.

Yes, of course we need
your post-categorization genius.
We need you to blend and leap
and integrate new styles
to create new forms.

But while you’re busy
not being pigeonholed,
don’t forget that we pigeonhole
for a reason.
And if it’s too difficult to figure out
how to pay attention to you,
we’ll decide to ignore you instead.”

Put yourself in a bucket.
Ensure your product
delights
the people looking
in that bucket.

Sales Before Promo

If readers are friends with a writer
on Facebook,
their reviews will be rejected
by Amazon.

Reviews help sell books.

Some writers have reacted
to this review change
by asking readers to unfriend them.

Which is hurtful to readers
and bullsh*t thinking.

In the romance community,
one of the best selling genres,
readers form friendships
with their favorite writers.
They don’t read 1 book from a writer.
They read 20, 30, 100 books.
It is a lifelong relationship,
one that spans decades.

These readers form a sales base,
an almost guaranteed flow of income
for writers.

These relationships are more important
than a review.
Guaranteed sales are more important
than a promo strategy.

Don’t discard sales
to make your marketing strategy work.

Leading With Weakness

I read quite a few reviews
for a variety of books
from a variety of writers
in a variety of genres.
They are often
a barometer for
how people frame their worlds.

What I’ve seen a lot lately
are reviews like this…

“This wasn’t my favorite book
but I really enjoyed it.”
or
“This didn’t have the conflict
I love
but it was still a great read.”

The reviewer thinks
her/his review is great.
It isn’t.
That first line
frames the reader’s view of the book.

I see this in marketing
too often.
The company will lead with weakness,
thinking that gives their copy
an aura of authenticity.

It doesn’t.

ALWAYS lead with strength.
Start and end marketing copy
with what you want the prospect
to remember.

The Nothing To Lose Advantage

You have a brand new idea,
a brand new brand,
a brand new company.

You look at other companies,
companies with existing customers,
companies with established brands,
companies with track records
and connections,
and you wonder how you’ll compete.
What advantage do you have?

You have a HUGE advantage.
You have nothing to lose.

You can take risks
no established company
would ever take.
You can do things
they wouldn’t dare
because they’re scared
they’ll piss off their existing customers.

The Nothing To Lose Advantage
is powerful.
Use it.

Why Would I Sell For You?

One of my loved ones,
a talented salesperson,
is looking for a new position.

Salespeople are mostly compensated
on commission
so part of his evaluation of offers
is
how easy is it to sell
for that company.

Is the product unique?
Is the product needed?
Does the company
have brand name recognition
that will help him land appointments
with top people?
Does the company
have powerful partnerships?
Does the company
have testimonials
from brand name companies?
Does the company
have existing customers
with relationships
with other companies?
Does the company
have buzz?
Are people talking about it?

If great answers to these questions
would make his sales easier,
they’d also make your sales easier.
Can you work on any
or all of these items?

Being Subtle

In my romance novels,
I can have the hero
almost die for the heroine,
put her above all else,
give her the world.

If he doesn’t say the words
“I love you”,
MANY readers won’t believe
that he actually loves the heroine.

These are highly educated people,
people who read for a living,
and they don’t appreciate being subtle.
They want to hear the words.

Your prospects need
to hear the words also.
If you want them to buy,
tell them ‘Buy XXX now.’
If you want them to click
on a link,
tell them ‘Click on this link for XXX.’

Don’t be subtle.
Tell them what you want them to do.

I Am Responsible

One of my buddies
was listing the reasons
why he’s not successful.
All of these reasons
were due to someone or something else.

After each reason,
I asked,
“So everyone in the world
was affected by this?”
To which, he was forced to say “no”
because, of course,
not everyone in the world was affected.
My reply?
“Then you were somehow responsible
for [whatever reason he gave].”

Sh*t goes wrong.
I understand.
But we are responsible
for being in that place
where it affects us.
We’re responsible for our reactions,
how we deal with it.

We have power.
When we blame others,
we voluntarily
give this power away.
That’s f*cked up.

Figure out what
you could have done differently.
Learn from it.
Take action
and take responsibility.
Keep your power.