Free eReport – Overcome Your Fear of Author Marketing!

By Jon Bard

A few weeks back we talked about author marketing. Many of you have made great strides since then, but I know that marketing is still an intimidating proposition for most writers.

 
 

So, I’ve got a freebie for you…

 
 

It’s my new free report:

 
 

 
 
 

It’s called The 10 Minute Turnaround: Overcome Your Fear of Marketing and Start Connecting with Readers Now!

 
 

It’s 100% free and I think you’ll really like it. Hopefully, it’s what gets you over the final hurdle and helps put you into action.

 
 

To download your free copy right now, go to http://ift.tt/1UJ2dvc

 
 

Enjoy!  (And tell anyone you know who might benefit from it.  This report is free for everyone.)

 
 
 

This is a post from writeforkids.org. Read the original post: Free eReport – Overcome Your Fear of Author Marketing!

Terrified by Marketing? Then Don’t. Do This Instead…

By Jon Bard

I get it.  You’re a writer, not a marketer.  You’re not excited by the notion of “hawking your wares” or “pushing your book”.  You think that, every time you ask someone for money, a little piece of your soul dissolves.

 

In today’s publishing environment, those who get the shakes at the thought of self-promotion have been given two choices when it comes to their fear of book marketing:

 

1. Get Over It

2. Become extinct.

 

May I offer a third choice?

 

 

Forget about book marketing, forget about promotion, forget about selling.

 

 

Instead, focus on advocating.

 

 

Here’s what I mean:

 

You’ve written (or you’re planning to write) a book, app or eBook that will bring something meaningful to the life of readers. Perhaps you have a message to share, important information to teach, an inspirational tale to tell or you just want to give your new friends a few giggles to brighten a day.
That’s a pretty important contribution, and it deserves to flourish.

 

So let me ask you this: How, exactly, will that reader ever be impacted by your work if no one tells her about it? How will her life be changed by your words if you keep everything to yourself?

 

It’s up to you to reach her. In fact, you’re doing her a great disservice by not reaching her!

 

How do you reach her? By marketing. No, scratch that — by advocating for your work.

 

By bringing people together with a goal not only to sell your book, but to improve their life experience. By going to where your prospective readers are hanging out (or, perhaps where their parents are hanging out) and becoming part of their world. (And then having them become part of your world.) By moving forward with a certainty that you have something important to share and you’re bound and determined to share it.

 

Let me be clear:  if you have created something that will enhance another person’s life, you owe it to them to tell them about it!

 

If you’re truly a writer, the opportunity to advocate for yourself and your work should thrill you.  Heck – it’s right in your wheelhouse.  You’re a communicator, and this is about communication.  You’re a wordsmith, and this is about putting words together on a  blog, on Facebook and on Twitter.  You love young people, and this is a further opportunity to connect with them and learn from them.

 

What’s so scary about that?  In fact, if you’re like most writers, you’ll find that advocating for your work is rewarding, fun and full of surprises.

 

So, there it is — if you’re not cut out to be a marketer, then don’t become one.  Instead, become an advocate.

 

And then go change the world!

 

 

Tomorrow, I’ll be back with an exclusive video sneak peek from my new course Easy Author Marketing.  I think it will really open your eyes — so stay tuned!

 

 

 

This is a post from writeforkids.org. Read the original post: Terrified by Marketing? Then Don’t. Do This Instead…

The M Word Revisited – Marketing’s Most Important (and Overlooked) Element

By Jon Bard

Photo by Sam Howzit. Creative commons licence

 

 

Well, well, well.  Looks like my hypothesis was correct:  writers really are freaked out about marketing.

 

And that’s fine.  In fact, that’s great.  Because it tells me that you understand how important it is, and that you’re desperate for some clarity.  And that’s an excellent place to be!

 

 

Today, I want to introduce you to the most important aspect of successful marketing.  And it’s something almost no writers pay attention to.  (Perhaps that’s why most writers fail at marketing).

 

Here it is:

 

 

Your success in any marketing endeavor is directly related to the amount of value you give your customers.

 

 

Now, by “value”, I don’t mean money.  I mean things like:

 

* memorable experiences

* positive feelings

* connection

* usefulness

* reinforcement, and so on.

 

Think about the artists, musicians, authors and businesses you really enjoy.  Does the value they provide you begin and end with the price you pay for their goods and services?  Or is there something deeper, something bigger that your relationship with them provides you?

 

 

Here’s a classic example:  Jimmy Buffet hasn’t had a hit record in more than 30 years.   And yet, his concerts sell out large venues.  He’s built an empire of restaurants, music venues and merchandise (including his own tequila brand) under the Margaritaville umbrella and he’s an icon to millions of fans.

 

How’d he do it?   By giving massive value.  And by building a Tribe to keep the connection growing.

 

When his Tribe (Parrotheads) gather, folks who may have had a rough week in the office get to put on Hawaiian shirts and silly hats and feel like they’re on a beach in the Caribbean.  The feel connection with each other (for which they are eternally grateful to the man who set the Tribe up) and they feel connection to the artist.

 

Between shows, the value continues.  Videos, Tweets, blog posts, books, emails — all reinforcing the common bond that draws his fans together.

 

 

Now consider how most authors market their books:

 

They start by releasing their book and then just flail around trying to get some attention. If you ask them “What value are you giving prospective readers?”, they might say “The value is in how good my book is!”

 

Well, that’s nice.  But no one has read your book yet.  And so, you’ve given absolutely zero value.  No wonder you aren’t selling books!

 

 

Now, let’s look at a different scenario:

 

The same author develops a Tribe and showers them with value.  Fun tips, great quotes, freebies, a platform for Tribe members to share their feelings and experiences, a place for likeminded folks to meet each other, and so on.

 

Then the author releases her book.

 

And what happens?

 

Her Tribe repays the value she’s provided them many times over.  They are rooting for her.  They are excited for her.  They buy her book and go on a  quest so that others will buy the book (and join the Tribe).

 

 

I’m going to be blunt here, so forgive me if this rubs you the wrong way, but….

 

No one cares about you and your book.  At least they don’t right now.

 

You need to make them care.  And you cannot do that if you spend all day posting your book’s Amazon link all over Twitter and Facebook and expecting people to buy it.  And you can’t do that by setting up a blog and then posting one article a year to it.

 

The way to make them care is to give them value before you even talk about your book.  If you can get someone to say “Boy, I’m really glad this person is in my life”, you have officially achieved a status 99% of writers never reach.

 

 

Look, if all I did was spam you with “SUBSCRIBE TO CBI!” messages all day, you wouldn’t be reading this right now.  You’re here because I give you value.  You’re here because (I hope) I add something to your writing life and you appreciate that.  And when I do have a product I think you might like to know about, you receive the message with an open mind, knowing that you can trust me to always give you value — whether it’s something you pay for or not.

 

 

 

So right now, you need to ask yourself this very important question about your current marketing efforts:

 

Are you giving prospective readers any value, or are you just pushing

your book in their direction in hopes they’ll buy it?

 

If you’re doing the latter (and almost every writer is), you need to stay tuned for what’s coming next week.

 

 

I’ll be back on Monday with more thoughts about marketing.  In the meantime, use the comments section to share your takeaways.

 

 

PS: Those of you who write for young children may be asking “how do I grow a Tribe of 6 year olds?”  The answer:  you don’t.  You grow a Tribe of parents, teachers and librarians — the folks who are the purchasing decision makers when it comes to books for children and pre-teens.

 

 

PPS:  A fair amount of the feedback on yesterday’s post was from authors asking if this or that technique works, and what they should be doing.  I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m going to ask you to relax a bit.   Here’s why:  right now, I’m putting the finishing touches on a new course that will explain the simplest author marketing technique imaginable.  And since it’s the same Tribe-building technique that Laura and I have used to grow Children’s Book Insider into a  successful business (we just celebrated our 25th anniversary doing this!) I know it works. It’s not theory, just fact.

 

So stay tuned.  Clarity is coming, and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg, I promise.

 

 

 

This is a post from writeforkids.org. Read the original post: The M Word Revisited – Marketing’s Most Important (and Overlooked) Element

We Need to Talk About the M Word

By Jon Bard

Let’s talk about something most of you would rather not talk about.

 

It’s the “M word”……  Marketing.

 

(cue the sound of wailing, moaning and gnashing of teeth!)

 

Now, deep down you know that, to succeed as a writer in today’s environment, you have to market yourself and your work.  And you’re probably not too thrilled about that.

 

Look, I get it.  You want to write, not promote.  If you’re like a lot of writers, you view marketing as being pushy…inauthentic…kind of “icky”.

 

And when you add to it all the stuff that’s been thrown at you about social media and blogging and author platforms and all kinds of other things, I expect you end up looking something like this:

 

 

 

So, I’d like to help you out a bit, and see if I can change your mind about marketing.

 

Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some thoughts about marketing that will help you see things in a  new light.  One that will hopefully get you inspired to go out and spread the word about you and your work.

 

Before I launch into my first set of thoughts, a bit of background about me that you may not know:

 

Before partnering with Laura on Children’s Book Insider, I was the creative supervisor at a major NY public relations firm.  I then co-founded my own PR agency (we helped promote clients like Pictionary, Ertl and Little Golden Books).  For the past 25 years, I’ve been consulting with and mentoring entrepreneurs on marketing and promotion.

 

But I have one big secret weapon:  you guys.  Because I spend my life helping writers, I understand your unique issues with marketing, and why it can be so difficult for you.  In other words, I get you. And I think I can help bridge the gap between where you are and where you need to be.

 

 

OK then, let’s begin….

 

 

THOUGHT 1:  AUTHOR MARKETING IS NOT ABOUT PUSHING THINGS AT PEOPLE.  IT’S ABOUT DRAWING PEOPLE TO YOU.

 

This is a major hangup for lots of folks.  They say “I don’t want to be pushy” or “I don’t want to hawk my wares”.  Well, that’s good. Because that’s not what you should be doing.

 

The point of author marketing shouldn’t be to sell a particular book.  It should be to develop a fan base.  A community.  A Tribe.

 

You can only do that by giving folks the opportunity to get closer to you — not force yourself upon them.

 

And how do you draw people to you?  By giving them things they enjoy.  By giving them points of connection.   By demonstrating shared values.

 

To put it another way, it’s about honoring them as human beings and inviting them to be part of something bigger, and wonderful.

 

That’s connecting.  And yes, it is marketing.

 

 

 

THOUGHT 2: THE TIME TO START MARKETING YOURSELF IS BEFORE YOU’RE PUBLISHED.

 

This is one of the greatest secrets I can share.  Most writers think “I don’t have to worry about marketing — I don’t even have anything published yet!”.  What a huge mistake they’re making.

 

Here’s why:  When the day comes that you first book, app or eBook is released, what would you rather the situation be:

 

a.  You have no fanbase, no way to reach potential readers (or their parents, if you write for young children) and no one to help spread the word about your wonderful new release.

 

or

 

b. You announce the release to your devoted Tribe, who eagerly buy copies and then start spreading the word.

 

Pretty obvious, isn’t it?  Start building your Tribe now.  You’ll thank me later.  

 

 

 

THOUGHT 3:  MARKETING SHOULD BE SIMPLE, AND IT SHOULDN’T TAKE MUCH OF YOUR TIME AT ALL.   AND IT SHOULD COST VERY LITTLE.

 

There’s so much nonsense surrounding marketing.  Flashy new techniques, the “hot social network of the week”, massive websites with all the bells and whistles that need to be built….

 

Balderdash.

 

You don’t have time for all that, and you don’t need to worry about it.   If author marketing is really just about building a Tribe, than that’s what you should focus on.  And it’s not brain surgery.

 

I’ll have more to say about what works in upcoming posts.  But, for now, I just invite you to relax and trust me when I tell you that marketing isn’t that hard at all.  In fact, if you do it right, it’s fun, rewarding and very, very human.

 

Keep an eye out for more thoughts on this vital subject tomorrow.  And, oh yeah, thanks for being part of our Tribe!  

 

PS: Please don’t fret about the hows and whys of this kind of simple author marketing, I’ve got all of that covered.  I’ll have more that I can share with you next week about that…..

 

This is a post from writeforkids.org. Read the original post: We Need to Talk About the M Word