No Cash Rewards

In his book Word Of Mouth II,
Dave Balter talks about
an experiment described in the scientific paper
Effort Of Payment.

A research subject asked people
to help him move,
offering them different rewards.
People were least likely to help
when offered money.

Why?

Because money made the helpers
evaluate their assistance
as work for hire
rather than helping a friend.

In fact, people will make more of an effort
for no payment
than for a low cash amount.

Make cash rewards significant
or don’t offer them at all.

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Categorized as Marketing

The Updated Website

In the June/July edition of CMA Magazine,
Colin Payson, a designer for Pylon
says
“Five to ten years ago
a company could build a website,
leave it alone, and
expect people to see what is on there.
Now, it’s quick –
you’ve got to move with it,
and you’ve got to add more to it constantly.
You can’t just leave it.
I don’t think there’s such a thing
as a static website anymore.”

I don’t think so either.
The reason I use a blog format
for my writing site
is because I update it daily.

Keep that in mind
when you’re designing your site.

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Categorized as Marketing

Be The Change

With 6,400 romance novels published a year,
review sites are swamped
with requests for reviews.

As a result,
the smaller publishers,
the smaller authors
often get neglected.
Without the publicity,
they stay small.

So when a big review site
placed a call for volunteer reviewers,
I put up my hand.

What do I choose to review?
Only small or e- press.

If you want to make a change,
BE the change.

Your Competitors Have Never Paid Your Bills

A writer friend of mine
tossed her manuscript.

Why?

Because a well established author
recently released a novel
with a very similar plot.

If I tossed my manuscript
every time a similar one was released,
I would have never gotten published.

Tom Peters has a great quote from
Howard Mann’s Your Business Brickyard
“Your competitors have never paid your bills
and they never will.”

In other words,
focus on your customers,
not your competition.

What Business Travelers Want

What is the number one amenity
U.S. business travelers want
from a hotel?

Is it a business center?
Coffee in the morning?
The newspaper?

Nope.
According to the
2006 National Business Travel Monitor Survey,
70% of business travelers
want premium-quality mattresses and bedding.
In other words,
they want a comfortable bed.

Cover the basics first
before looking elsewhere.

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Categorized as Marketing

My Email Response Rate

I ran a contest
using an email list as a base.
I had a 10% response rate
but the interesting part
was how quickly recipients responded.

43% entered Day 1
43% entered Day 2
8% entered Day 3
4% entered Day 4
2% entered Day 5

What does this mean?
If you don’t get a response to your offer
within two days,
you’re not going to
(unless you resend the email).

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Categorized as Marketing

The Duke

I recently received a very detailed
and glowing fan letter
for my first novel,
Breach Of Trust.

The only issue?

The reader referred to the hero,
my modern day venture capitalist,
as a Duke.
That was the only ‘error.’
She related the story perfectly.
Her questions were intelligent and thoughtful.

I could correct her
but why?
If she enjoys the story more
thinking the hero is a Duke,
so be it.

Although the customer may not always be right,
it seldom benefits the seller to point that out.

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Categorized as Marketing

Who Sent This?

I receive promo books all the time
from PR people.
The goal of these PR people
is to get publicity for their clients.
That’s how they’re evaluated.

I know that,
I appreciate that,
and usually mention the book
on at least one of my blogs.

Sometimes I wonder if I should bother.

Why?
Because
I have no idea if the PR person
knows I mentioned the book.
Most are sent
with a generic info page
and no contact name or email.

If you go to the trouble of
sending out a PR package,
please include a business card.

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Categorized as Marketing

Marketing During A Recession

MarketingSherpa reminds us
that the time to market,
if you have the cash,
is during a recession.

Why?

For two main reasons.
The first is that your competition
is likely pulling back on marketing
(a natural response to lean times).
The second is that
it costs less.

No, the official rates
don’t usually change.
What changes is how open
to negotiating
the media venues are.

Ask
‘is this the best you can do?’

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Categorized as Marketing

Last Minute

One of my writing buddies
was in a tight spot.
She needed an author interview
for a newsletter
and she needed it the same day.

She asked me.
I said yes
and turned it around quickly.

The spotlight
is usually a third of a page.
I gave her enough material
for an entire page.

She used it all,
giving me 3 times the publicity.

The lesson?
Last minute publicity
can pay off,
more than expected.

Published
Categorized as Marketing