September 2015 – client k

Thanking The Host

I’m invited to guest host
at quite a few Facebook parties.

There’s a reason why
I’m in demand
as a guest host.

I always end my guest hosting stint
with a post,
thanking the organizing writers,
asking attendees if they’ve bought their books,
supplying the buy links.

It takes a minute
but it means so much,
even more
because many writers don’t do this.

I was recently asked
to contribute a guest post
on a huge romance blog.

In this guest post,
I referenced (in a positive way)
a blog post
the blogger had written.

This was my thank you
and it was greatly appreciated.
I’ve already been asked back.

Thanking your host
isn’t merely the polite thing to do.
It is the business savvy thing
to do.

Show your gratitude.

It’s How You Say It

Often it is not what you say
but how you say it
that makes a difference
(and this is why email can be difficult
because tone isn’t a factor)

Jeff Mowatt,
shares
in September/October
The Costco Connection

“People who have
thin or high voices,
mumble or add useless words
(e.g., “ya know,” “kinda”)
garner less respect
from customers
than those who are
more articulate.
Conversely,
people who lower their tone
and enunciate are perceived as
more reasonable and intelligent.”

If you’re saying the right things
and the customer
is still getting upset,
check your tone.

Cash Flow And Product Releases

I have two major subgenres
(product lines)
for one of my writing pen names
(brands).

One subgenre is feast or famine
cash flow wise.
Sales are either tiny
or they’re in the millions.
There’s no in between.

The second subgenre is constant
cash flow wise.
Sales are almost guaranteed
but they’re merely okay.
Sales will never be
in the millions.

I use the constant subgenre
to cover expenses
while I’m waiting for
the feast or famine subgenre
to pay off.

A company’s first goal
is to survive until tomorrow.
That might mean
launching interim products
to pay for a riskier product
or taking consulting work
or some other tactic.

Do what you need to do
to survive
but remember why
you went into business
in the first place.

Success Compounds

I landed a contract with a New York publisher.
This was a small success.

These books led to an invitation
to be part of a group project,
with bestselling writers.
This success had about twice
the impact of the previous success.

That group project landed my pen name
on the USA Today Bestseller list.

Having USA Today Bestselling Author
next to my name
has led to a crazy amount of offers,
almost unlimited.
I’m not in the same class
as I was previously.

That’s the thing with success
–it isn’t straight line.
It usually compounds.
The impact of the second success
is larger than the first.

The most challenging part
is getting those first small early successes.

Don’t be discouraged.
Once you get these,
your success should compound.

One Winner

I love watching
the competitive TV shows,
shows searching for
the best singer,
the best makeup artist,
the best apprentice,
etc.

In these shows,
officially, there’s one winner.

In reality,
all of the contestants
make connections
and receive publicity
they can leverage
into their own version of success.
They could all be winners.

That’s our reality too.
In the competition of the colas,
between Pepsi and Coca-Cola,
both companies won.
They both received more sales.

In a recent writing company
I finaled in,
all of the writers received more publicity
and increased books sales.

There isn’t one single winner
in life.
Beating others shouldn’t be
our sole focus.

Being Vulnerable

There’s a little bit of ourselves
in every product
we develop.

That often means
we’ve made ourselves vulnerable.
Criticism of the product
is often viewed
as criticism of ourselves.
It is part of being a creator.

Mary Lai,
founder of
MARYLAI,
shares

“I have a lot of women
who I have bonded with
over my products.
It’s a reflection of who I am,
so I like putting that out there.
It’s personal and feels really special
to provide a product for someone
that they can wear and enjoy,
and come back and buy more
because they love it.
It’s an intimate experience
and I really like it.
It’s also really scary
and makes you feel vulnerable.
But I’ve found that
it’s good to be vulnerable
and put yourself out there.”

Vulnerability is part of creating.
Expect this.

Giving Support Back

When my pen name (brand)
was new,
I could easily support
every writer (company)
that supported me.
They shared my new release information
on Facebook.
I shared their new release information.
It was manageable.

As my pen name grew,
this share for a share relationship
became impossible.
If I shared every release
my writer friends had,
that’s all I’d be doing.

So I’ve built ways for them
to share their new release information.
I host author interviews on my blog
and a weekly post on my Facebook page/profile
where folks can post about their releases
in the comments.

Because my readership base
is now larger,
my writer buddies are thrilled
with these opportunities.
They continue to share my information.
There isn’t a lot of professional jealousy.

My readers are also happy
because they’re exposed
to new-to-them releases.

To have support,
you have to give support.
Build a way to do this.

Making Your Products Unique

Kelsea Slade,
founder of
K.slademade,
shares

“The truth is
there is nothing new
out there,
everything has already been done,
but I think my business is unique
because my perspective is unique.
I don’t live in a large city
with access to all the latest trends,
so I have my own vision
from my small town experiences.
And that makes my products stand out.”

In the writing world,
we call this unique perspective
‘voice.’
There are thousands of writers
in my genre
yet we all have different voices
because we all have
different life experiences,
different perspectives
on the world.

When we open ourselves up
and add that perspective
to our products,
our products become unique.

Consider putting a little bit
of yourself
in your products.

Do It Again

I spilled my guts onto the page
and produced a novel
that, I believe,
is my best work ever.

Sales were solid
but not bestseller.

That’s okay
because it is the first novel
in a long series
and sales should build
with each release.

Why?

Because I plan for
the next story
to be my best story ever also.

And the next after that.

Seth Godin
shares

“Best work followed by
best work
followed by
more best work
is far more useful
and generous
than merely doing
your best work once
and insisting
we understand you.”

Do your best work.
Then do it again.

Jackie Collins And Your Critics

I was verbally attacked
by a woman
last week
who thought my latest story
was setting women’s lib back
a hundred years.
It was trash, garbage, sh*t.

I asked her
if she had read the book.

She hadn’t
but she had ‘heard’ about it.

I offered to send her
a free copy.
She declined that offer.
I suspect she was worried
reading my book
would cause her
to stop her ranting.

Jackie Collins,
a fierce trailblazer in writing,
once stated

“The biggest critics of my books
are people who never read them.”

I suspect that’s true
of your biggest critics also.
They haven’t even tried
your product/service.
They’re scared to
because they might like it,
might have to stop
their ranting.

The best response to a critic
is asking
if they’ve tried your product/service.
I suspect they haven’t.