Absolute Numbers

There are some areas
in which
citing specific numbers
is preferred.

Marketing is not one
of those areas.

I saw a writer
promote her book
as having 133 copies sold.

She thought that was a great number,
believed sharing it
would drive other folks
to buy her book.

Knowing only 133 copies
had been sold
made me
LESS likely to buy her book.

If she had,
instead,
marketed it as
‘My best selling book’,
I likely would have bought it.

One of my books
was determined by a big blog site
to be the 5th best book of 2017
in my niche.
I promote is as
‘One of the best [the niche] books of 2017.’
Readers don’t need to know
4 other books were deemed to be better.

Unless the numbers are super impressive
(#1 in the category or
has sold billions),
don’t use them
in your marketing.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Momentum Builds

When I was a new writer,
I was offered
very few opportunities.

Few review sites
would agree to
review my books.
Few bloggers
would agree to
interview me.
No one would share
my release information.

It took quite a bit of work
to get any traction.
I would send out 100 requests
and get 1 ‘yes’.

Many writers quit
at this stage.
It is too hard.
They believe it will
remain that difficult
forever.

But momentum builds.
That first ‘yes’
leads to three ‘yes’ responses
the next time I ask.
Those three ‘yes’ responses
lead to ten.
Soon, bloggers, reviewers, oppotunities
are coming to YOU.

I now receive
one “OMG! I can’t believe I was offered this!”
opportunity a WEEK.

Don’t get discouraged.
Momentum builds.

People WILL Talk

When you have a bit of success,
you WILL hear people
talking about you negatively.

The thing is…
it’s highly likely
these people have ALWAYS
talked negatively
about you…and others.

It is merely
when you have success,
they talk more openly.
They believe you can ‘take it’
or they’re doing the world
a public service
by ‘keeping you humble.’

F*ck them.

There are billions of people
in this world
and many of those people
would be happy for you.
They want to help you.
Concentrate on those people.

Seth Godin
shares

“People have been
talking about you
behind your back
ever since fifth grade.
Now, of course,
you can eavesdrop
whenever you choose.
Don’t.

Turn it off.
Walk away.
Accept the lack of perfect.

Better to make something important
instead.”

The talk has always been there
and will always be there.
Don’t let it stop you
from changing the world.

Entrepreneurs And Risk

Every time I write a book,
I don’t know
if the book will work.
I don’t know
if it will sell.
I don’t know
if I’ll earn back my investment.

Yes, I can increase
the likelihood of all of this happening
but I can’t guarantee it WILL happen.

There’s risk.
And for me,
that’s the essence of being an entrepreneur.
We have control
but we will always also have risk.

Seth Godin
defines an entrepreneur
as doing four things.

“1. They make decisions.

2. They invest in activities
and assets that aren’t a sure thing.

3. They persuade others
to support a mission
with a non-guaranteed outcome.

4. This one is the most amorphous,
the most difficult to pin down
and thus the juiciest:
They embrace
(instead of run from)
the work of doing things
that might not work.”

Again, risk is key.

If you decide
to build businesses,
you WILL take risks.
Accept that
as being part of the journey.

Truth And Emotion

A report was released
recently
that ranked the top 50 Indie writers
by annual earnings.

One writer on the list
got EXTREMELY upset.
She ranted about how it was
an invasion of privacy,
how the report was terribly wrong,
how no one knew how much she earned, etc.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Which tells me
the report is likely accurate.
If it was truly off,
the writer would have simply deemed it
to be ridiculous
and moved on.

Very few people
get super upset about an obvious lie.
If there’s emotion,
there’s likely truth.

Forced Updates And Dependability

I woke up,
eager and excited
to complete a revision
on my current manuscript.

I turned on my laptop.
It updated…
for over an hour.

I’m fine with updates.
I understand they’re necessary.

But dependability
is more important to me.

If I’m never certain,
when I turn on my laptop,
whether or not I can
immediately use it,
the machine is no longer dependable.

If a benefit
(protection against viruses, etc)
destroys another benefit
(reliability),
you might anger
more customers
than you make happy.

Think before adding
that benefit
(and consider adding
a scheduling feature).

Reduce The Number Of Steps

A new writer put out
a call for blog posts.
She asked people to email her.

I emailed her.
She sent me the details.
She didn’t send the sign up information.

I contacted her again.
She sent me her blog site URL,
said I had to scroll down
to find the sign up.

The sign up
didn’t allow guest bloggers
an opportunity
to choose a date.
It also didn’t tell us
where to send the posts.

Which means
there are likely a few more
contacts
before I’m confirmed
as a guest blogger.

No, thank you.
The readers I gain
are unlikely to warrant
the time required.

If your service is super popular,
in demand,
sure, have a gazillion steps
to qualify for it.
The extremely needy people
will walk through them.

Otherwise,
make it easy for people
to participate.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Sorry To Bother You

A newer writer asked me
a question.
I gave her a full, well thought-out answer.

Her response?
“Thank you.
Sorry to bother you.”

F*ck you, newer writer.
Where in my answer
did I imply
you were ‘bothering me’?

Instead of feeling good
about helping someone,
this person,
with her passive-aggressive
woe-is-me reply,
made me feel bad.

Wipe
‘Sorry to bother you’
from your phrase book.
It doesn’t sound humble.
It sounds b*tchy.
And it won’t make you any friends.

Giving Advice When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

If someone asks for advice
and a bigger expert than myself
on the topic
chimes in,
answering that someone’s question,
I shut up.

This isn’t
because I’m humble.
This is
because I want to learn.
I want to hear
what the expert has to say.

Experts are in demand.
They have sh*t to do.
If someone else starts talking
on their subject,
someone who knows much less,
an expert usually leaves
the conversation.
They don’t have time
to listen to garbage.

What makes a person
an expert?
Having proven success
in that topic
by DOING,
not by merely reading about it.

When an expert
starts talking,
allow her to speak.

Allow People To Promote Your Product/Service

I have a weekly feature
on my Facebook profile
where I promote new releases
from other writers.

This past week,
a writer asked me
to delete my mention
of her release.
She wanted to make a big sales push
on one specific day.

I deleted it
and I will NEVER mention
her books again.

I can’t believe
I have to say this
but if people want
to promote your products/services
for you
for free,
allow them.

View them as
bonus sales.

Published
Categorized as Marketing