What Buying Clue Is Your Target Looking For?

Many readers buy
based on key words.

Amazon knows this.
They have a key word section
on their product loading page.

Harlequin has known this
for decades.
That’s why they have titles
like
‘Billionaire’s Secret Baby’
and
‘The Cowboy’s Marriage Of Convenience.’

Yet, every second day,
a writer complains to me
about low sales
and I look at
her blurb/book description
and see there are NO key words.

The blurb is well written.
I can tell she has invested
quite a bit of time
into crafting it.
But it doesn’t have
what the reader wants.

I see this happening
in every industry.

The orange juice package
that isn’t predominately orange,
the color orange juice buyers look for.
The library with no books visible
from the outside.
The club with no line up
outside the building.

Know what your target
is looking for.
Give that to her.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Pregnant Giraffes And Hope

The recent big viral hit on Facebook
is the live camera
on the pregnant giraffe
at the New York Zoo.
Viewers are waiting
for her to give birth.

This might seem trivial, silly,
a viral fluke.

It isn’t trivial
and it isn’t a viral fluke.

This pregnant giraffe
is giving people
what they desperately need
right now
–hope.

It is a source of light
in a dark, stressful time,
a hope for rebirth
for many of us.

Could your product,
your marketing
do the same thing?

Could you give
people hope?

Published
Categorized as Marketing

The Key Is Consistency

While building the book business,
I’ve tried a gazillion marketing programs.

What works for me?

Consistency.

If I post on Facebook twice a day
for a year,
for example,
it is more effective for sales
than posting
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
twenty times in one day
once a year.

If I send my newsletter
once a month
for a year,
it is more effective for sales
than sending it three times a year.

Promoting consistently
is easier if you enjoy the promotion,
if it is something you find natural,
fun.

Promote consistently
on a few platforms.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

The Carrot Or The Stick

There are two main groups
of people
– people who are motivated
by praise
and people who are motivated
by threats.

A salesman loved one
is motivated by praise.
If he’s told
he’s doing a great job,
he works extra hard.

His manager leads
by threats.
His feedback to his sales team
is they could do better.
They aren’t working hard enough.
They could be doing more.

Which works for some people
but doesn’t work
for my salesman loved one.
He stops working
after every meeting with his manager.

One of the keys to success
is knowing how
the people around us
are motivated.

If the stick doesn’t work,
use the carrot.
Be skilled in both methods.

Give Buy Links To Your Products

I see this all the time
on social media.
A writer talks about her books
and then doesn’t leave
a buy link for those books.

She doesn’t want to seem
‘pushy’
or a ‘promo whore.’
She thinks it is a good thing
not to leave a buy link.

It isn’t a good thing.
It is a pain in the reader’s ass
not to leave a buy link.

The reader has to search
at the bookseller
for the book
and hope she is purchasing
the right one.

Do your prospects a favor
and give them
the buy links.
Make their lives easier.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Weekends Free

It is very easy
as a business builder
to schedule work
for all seven days of the week.

I deliberately leave
Saturday and Sunday free.

When I’m on schedule,
I take these two days off.
When I’m behind on my schedule,
I use these two days
to catch up.

If I had booked tasks
for all seven days,
I would never catch up.
I’d miss deadlines.

Don’t schedule tasks
for your weekends
(whichever days of the week
you assign as your weekend).
Give yourself that buffer.

Time To Market

I had a book release
in February.
I have another book release
in March.
That’s one month apart.

It isn’t long enough
to promote the second book
properly.

If momentum holds,
it will have half
the sales of the first book.

Not because it isn’t as good.
Not because I didn’t spend
as many resources in its production.
Not because it didn’t appeal
to readers.

Because I didn’t have time
to market it.

Don’t make my mistake.
Leave yourself enough time
to promote your product
before releasing
the next one.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

A Reasonable Price

My readers want a reasonable price
but they don’t care about
the cheapest price.
That’s not the reason
they choose my books.

Seth Godin
shares

“Maybe your customer
isn’t trying to save money
Perhaps she wants
to be heard instead.

Or find something better,
or unique.

Or perhaps customer service,
flexibility and speed
are more important.

It might be that the way
you treat your employees,
or the side effects you create
count for more than the price.”

Price is important.
No one wants to feel
she is being taken advantage of.

But it might not be
THE most important thing.

There are other areas
to compete in.

Prototypes And Samples

A bookseller accidentally sent
the preliminary copy
of a buddy’s book
to all of her pre-order buyers.

It was a disaster.

The readers,
thinking it was the final copy,
were extremely angry.
They are vowing
to never buy her books again.

This anger would have been reduced
if she had marked
the preliminary copy with
“If you receive this copy,
it is a mistake.
Please notify the writer immediately.”

This is why companies
often mark samples
as exactly that.
It ensures the recipient knows
it isn’t the full version.

Mark your prototypes
and your samples
so people realize
they aren’t finished products.

Giving Up Doesn’t Mean Stopping

I’ve given up
on plenty of projects.
The projects didn’t work.
They didn’t meet expectations.
They didn’t have the results
I thought they’d have.

But I’ve never stopped.
If one thing doesn’t work,
there are plenty of other things
to try next.
I keep going,
keep trying
until I find something
that DOES work.

Phil Knight,
creator of Nike,
shares

“Sometimes you have to give up.
Sometimes knowing when to give up,
when to try something else,
is genius.

Giving up doesn’t mean stopping.
Don’t ever stop.”

When you give up
on something,
try something else
but don’t ever stop.
Stay in motion.