marketing – Page 6 – Self Publishing Advisor

Book Marketing, Growing Pains, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Growing Pains: Part IV

Sometimes growing your business can happen from within your own, already existing customer base. Imagine your business as a tree trunk, the branches your customers and the leaves that come off of each branch a good or service bought from one of your customers. The more leaves on the tree, the better and healthier the tree. So how do we get a nice, full tree?

Young plant

Think about it, you already have someone who is interested in your goods or services, they have already decided you have a product worth purchasing, so the key is to keep providing them those quality products or services. Not only to you have to have a supply to both create and feed the demand, but you have to market that supply properly.

Let’s say we’re talking selling books. You have a loyal fan base already. That’s great. Make that work to your advantage. If you’re writing a series, make sure you keep an email list of those who have already purchased your first or second book in the series and alert them when the newest one is coming out. Maybe offer them a loyalty discount to show your appreciation for their support. Better yet, maybe you have older books that they don’t know about! Be sure to clue them in on past work you’ve done and how/where they can find or purchase that as well. That way, while you’re working on creating new material, you’re still able to move products you already have on hand.

Also, make sure you’re following your fans on social media and vice versa so that they can be in tune with developments in your writing and publishing stages. That way, they know you have a book coming out, you can build anticipation for it, and they’re excited to buy your next book. Be active on their pages, let them know that you are just another person who’s not too busy to keep up with their fans.

Keep in mind that the key to keeping a good customer relationship comes from after-sale support and contact. Ask your readers for feedback. Let them know that their opinions matter to you. After-sale support and contact may determine whether or not that customer will be a returning customer. When a customer feels that their business or opinions are valued by a business, they are more likely to support that business.

If you do offer other services, such as editing, formatting, marketing, etc. make that known to your customers. People who are already fans of your work, who find your books appealing or well-written, will most likely value your advice on how it is you produce a professional, quality book. Start by hosting free (or small-fee) webinars where you offer your advice with the option at the end to hire you personally for your services.

Thinking of your business as a living growing entity will remind you that you need to give it the proper care and attention it deserves so that it can continue to expand and grow stronger over time. Keep watering that tree, letting those leaves bask in the sunlight, and you will have shade and fresh air to breathe in for ages to come. Ignore it, or give it too little attention and you will watch it wither away and be left with a lifeless stump.

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com. And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com

Book Marketing, Growing Pains, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Growing Pains: Part II

Continuing in the vein of growing your business or brand as an author, I want to talk about how you can hone in on what product or service it is you provide. As an author, your product is probably books, right? You might also offer other services though, such as freelance writing, editing, illustrating etc. Make a list of the products or services you supply and pick the most important item from each. It’s important to focus on the most important “thing” you want your business to be known for. Having too many options or services to market and sell will be overwhelming not only for you, but also for your customers.

growing pains marketing

The first step to ensuring you can expose your product or service to the marketplace is to, of course, market them. Marketing is definitely the dead horse we beat on this blog, but it is a crucial piece of being a self-published author. Here are some easy ways to market your book or writing services:

Social media! Use relevant hashtags (if you’re stumped, google relevant hashtags for ideas). Add and follow people and actively comment on their posts to get your name out there and encourage them to look on your page. Be active on forums, blogs, your website, etc.
Local events. Host local readings, poetry slams, etc. to network with other local authors.
Engage with those who already consume your products to ensure a good business/customer relation that will continue on in the future.

The next step is selling your product. Do you have a website where people can easily purchase your books or contact you for your services? Do your social media pages have links to your website? Do you have business cards to hand out at events?

You want there to be a certain ease of purchasing products for your customers. There’s nothing more annoying than a broken “purchase” link, or a giant “out of stock” next to your item. Make sure you have product to sell and make sure you have a means for people to buy it. If you go on tour, think about investing in a “square reader” for your iPhone so that if someone wants to buy your book and they don’t have cash you don’t lose that sale. Often someone will want to buy something on the spot, but if the opportunity passes, they will talk themselves out of it later or forget about it entirely, losing you a sale. Always be prepared to sell. This could be as simple as keeping books in your car or bag so that if you strike up a conversation with someone on the subway you have the opportunity to show them your work, or maybe even sell it.

Ultimately, once you’ve identified what you’re in the “business” of selling, it should be relatively easy to figure out how it is you can grow your business. Once you’ve nailed down who your customer base is and figured out how best to market to them, it’s time to streamline a way to sell your products and services to them.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com

Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Growing Pains, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Growing Pains.

Growing pains, we’ve all felt them. Growth is part of life, and for the next few weeks I want to explore the idea of how growth should also be part of your aim to create a better book marketing plan for yourself.

growing pains growth chart

It’s important to recognize that truly successful business grow over time. Sure, some people can “successfully” string together a bunch of separate marketing stunts and receive some boom and busts as far as sales go, but those businesses that build their brand and their audience or customer base over time will have a better chance at longevity and a consistent consumer base.

For example, a really trendy coffee shop with highly overpriced drinks may attract a few people who love that niche of pricey coffee and want a hip shot of a beautifully crafted milk-foam heart for their Instagram feed. However, the small, “homey” coffee shop with a staff that knows customers by name and creates a space where people feel welcome in the community is ultimately going to be the more successful of the two.

How do you become the more identifiable, welcoming coffee shop where everyone wants to go for the free WiFi, the delicious chai tea lattes, for every business meeting, slam poetry session and acoustic night?

Reach out to your fan base and let them know you appreciate their support.
Offer perks to loyal customers. Much like a “Buy 10 coffees, get one Free” punch card, send a loyal fan a copy of your book signed, on the house. Their more often to talk you up that way and recommend you to their friends based on your merit not only as an author, but as a person.
Coffee shops are the modern day salons, where people gather to talk about ideas, business plans, gossip, etc. You can recreate this as an author by involving yourself in the community you’re in. Do this by spending time at community film festivals, poetry slams or book readings, or do this online by participating in forums and being active on your blog and responding to comments on any and all social media forums. This makes you a relatable person that people want to support.

People ultimately want to identify with a business they support. That’s probably why businesses like Whole Foods plaster poster-sized images of regular Joe employees and local farmers on their walls–it makes people feel all warm and mushy inside and like their money is going to regular, hard-working people. This is more likely than not just a master manipulation of the consumers by corporate conglomerates, but it’s brilliant marketing. That being said, I’ve worked for many local businesses, and the number of clients who come in and say, “I could have ordered this online, but I just love supporting local businesses,” is amazing.

Takeaways? Make yourself known locally. Be personable, interact with other authors, share ideas, go to writing groups. Also make yourself known online. Be active on social media, interact with readers, build your fan base. All these actions are seeds you plant that ultimately grow a more reliable marketing base. Attending one conference or even a year, or making one social media post a month won’t provide growth. Growth is a constant process that you must actively participate in.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com

Alternative Marketing Methods, Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Time For a Spring Reset!

Spring often signifies new beginnings in literature and poetry, a rebirth, if you will. All that which lay dormant in winter now slowwwly stretches its limbs, lets out a big yawn and sigh of relief and comes back out to bask in the sun. The trees are budding, the deer are grazing, we now awake to the calming sounds of birds chirping, the sun stays with us well into the evening, it’s finally warm enough for sandals and everyone seems to be in generally better spirits because of those things aforementioned.

spring stretch

The charm and warmth of spring should not only put a pep in your step in your day to day life, but it should also be a time to pep up your writing and marketing efforts!

Let spring be a new beginning for you. Make a list of things you’d like to begin with a fresh start. Do you need to begin editing, creating a marketing plan, blogging, etc? Now’s the time to do it!
Use some springtime writing prompts to get the creative juices flowing and to help you “reset” after winter. Write about how the sunshine affects your mood and creativity, write about spring as a symbol of birth/life, write about the your sensuous experience wandering around in the natural world in springtime, etc. etc.
Host an outdoor reading event in your community. Pick a nice sunny afternoon to encourage members of your community to get outside and share their love of the spoken and written word. This is a great way to network, to connect with other writers in your area and to have some fun in the sun!
Start being more active on social media! Take pictures of the beauty around you, toss in a quote from a work of yours or of your favorite author’s and share with your audience! Blog, post about new developments in your publishing process, connect with readers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! Now that the butterflies are back, why not be a little social butterfly?
Spruce up your website. Who knows more about you than…well, you? Write up a fresh author bio that includes recent accomplishments, publications, life developments and so forth.
Join some forums, join Goodreads! These are both terrific venues for marketing your book and they help you connect more intimately with your audience.
Host a drawing contest for the cover of your next book! The winner gets a free copy of your book and gets featured on your website and social media pages!
Add a “Store” page to your website. This is a great way to increase sales and to have your readers buy directly from you rather than some third party website.
Do some spring cleaning of your writing space and bookshelves. See our last few blogs for tips on how to “declutter” as a writer!
Take advantage of this nice weather! Try writing outside, even if it’s just brainstorming. A little vitamin D and time in nature can go a longgg way!

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com

Book Marketing, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Nom de Plume (Part III)

Two weeks ago, I began a quick series on the merits of using a nom de plume–otherwise known as a pen name, otherwise known as a pseudonym–under which to self-publish your next book. The series continued last week, with an examination of the drawbacks of using such a cover, and concluded with the question:

So: You’re ready. What next?

And … here we go.

masked unmasked nom de plume pseudonym pen name

If you’ve decided to adopt a pseudonym, there are a few steps you should take to ensure you do it right. (And by right, I mean correctly!)

Choose wisely. Once you’ve selected a pen name, yup, you’re stuck with it. Or rather, you will want to be stuck with it for a whole host of reasons to do with convenience and consistency, so make sure it’s not a name that ages poorly or that you will grow out of in a year or two. Don’t go overboard in making up a name so memorable that it comes off as goofy to others. Use friends and family that you trust as a sounding board for pseudonym ideas–they’ll let you know if they catch a whiff of something goofy immediately, since your reputation is important to them.
Choose something unique. Don’t settle for your first idea; your pen name should be unique, so it’s well worth your time to do a little searching through Google and so forth in order to check that your pseudonym of choice is not already used by another writer (past or present) since you want to avoid confusion. Also: steer clear of imitating famous names. Stephen King will not be happy when he hears you’ve stolen his name, and you’re favorite dead author wants you to know her estate will be calling to sue, even though she’s long gone. Hunt through the U.S. Trademark Office website to make doubly sure you won’t get into any hot water for duplication, conscious or unconscious.
Put a ring on it. Or, you know, your personal domain. Search for available domain names before committing to a pseudonym, and then buy it. Also make sure to file a Fictitious Business Name Statement if you’re likely to receive payments made out to your nom de plume instead of your real name. This is a real thing, and you should do it.
Put your mouth where your money is. I know, I know, this is a total reversal of the usual statement. But once you put money down on a domain name, you want to make good on that expenditure. Put your pseudonym on your book’s cover and on your copyright notice. It is worth putting the notice in both your real and pen names.
Keep your publisher in the loop. I know this sounds obvious, but it’s crucial that you be in touch with your self-publishing company at every step of this process. They’re the ones who will catch a lot of the flack if something goes wrong, but they also can do a lot to make sure your pseudonym is a success. Talk with them! And if total anonymity is your desire, then you’ll want to make that clear to them, possibly even going so far as to set up a corporation, LLC, or other entity in order to sign your contract under a name other than your real one. But that’s expensive, and complicated. If you are content with being anonymous only to the general public and fully frank with your publisher, there’s little need for that step.
Register that copyright. Look, this might sound like an extra detail, but it’s 100% worth the fiddly work. You really ought to register the copyright of your work under your real name, your pseudonym, or both. There are different ways of going about this, but my personal recommendation is to lean towards “both.” That way, all of your bases are covered and you’ll never be caught out in a tricky legal situation where you can’t prove that your works are, well, products you made yourself.

No matter what, the decision about choosing a pen name rests with you, the self-publishing author, and while there are several potential missteps you might make, good intentions go a long way in the world of words. The one crucial thing you’ll need to do in choosing a pseudonym is to choose it sooner rather than later, especially if secrecy is something you want to weave into your relationship with your publisher. But the sooner you settle on a name, the sooner you can get your cover designs settled, and your copyright paperwork filed, and so on and so forth. “The early bird publishes in a timely fashion” would seem to be the moral of our story this week!

Do you have any questions about pseudonyms that we can answer here on SPA? I’d love to tackle them, or to hear you weigh in on your past experiences with pseudonyms, good or bad. We’re here for you, as a listening ear and a resource.

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

So: You’re ready. What next?

Share this: