On July 19, 2014, I gave a marketing talk to the Oklahoma City Chapter of the ACFW. This is the outline I used….
Marketing: Taking Your Work to the Next Level
By: Staci Stallings
http://www.stacistallings.net
(Click on the Marketing Tab for more Insights, Tips, and Suggestions)
SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
Evaluate our questions in terms of each of these
4 Steps to Move to the “Next Level”
Start where you are
Use what you have
Maximize your current state
Move to the next level
Randy Ingermanson’s Success Formula:
Quality X Production X Discoverability = Success
Quality
- Excellent content
- Great Cover (life-size, Amazon-size)
- Formatting/editing excellence
- Descriptions & Buy page optimized
- 10-20 quality reviews (no sock puppets!)
Production
One book might be a success– hard to sustain long-term sales with one book (if you only have one book in you, do that book; but if you write for a living and especially as an indie, more than one book is definitely an asset)
Indies 3-4 books per year. Suzanne D. Williams 41 novellas at last count
Income streams and books-as-employees – the goal is to create multiple income streams, most of these will be books –print books and ebooks, but they can also be audiobooks and blog content, and affiliate programs. Right now, I have 25 books in 2 venues (50 income streams), 2 audiobooks (3 very soon), I am an affiliate, I do print books for 7 of my titles, I do a few speeches and I have ad slots on 2 of my websites. So I now have about 70 different income streams that I can promote at any one time.
Discoverability — what we will talk about today.
Discoverability – how do people find you?
Question 1: Where can you be found? (SWOT & Start, Use, Maximize, Move)
Make a list: Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible, in-store, etc.
More venues is not necessarily better. My rule of thumb: As many as you can handle consistently that you ENJOY and that are bringing in sales.
To evaluate this:
1) Do I enjoy doing this venue? (Do you hate being on FB? Do you love writing your blog?)
2) Do I understand the venue enough to get people to discover me on it?
3) Do I have a pull – push strategy in place on this venue?
4) Is this venue bringing in sales?
Question 2: Do I understand how to pull people into my marketing network and then push to them, or do I just do one or the other?
Pull – Push Marketing
You must do some pull to bring people IN to your marketing network
You must also push to those in the marketing network or how will they know there is something to buy?
Question 3: Do I create content that READERS find valuable and want to follow?
Do not fall into promoting to authors if readers are your goal!!!!
Don’t swap likes on FB or follows on Twitter with other authors. You’re not trying to sell to them!
Question 4: Do I use the promo chain effectively in the venues that I choose to use to help people discover me?
Promo Chain
Question 5: Do I know how to couple the content I’ve created with promos for my books?
Do I know how to create a multi-chain promo chain—from FB to blog to book?
Do I have a jump to something else I’ve created at the end of EVERY piece of content I create?
Are there any breaks in the chain along the way? How can I fix that?
Question 6: Do I know how to promote the content I’ve created to get people to discover me and then take a “test drive” of my material?
Do I promote my blogs on Twitter and Facebook?
Do I promote my books on Twitter and Facebook – my profile, my pages, reader groups?
Do I have a strategy for letting people know my blog exists?
Question 7: Do I have strategies to follow up with people who like my material?
Newsletters are a great way to do this.
Blogging with RSS feeds
Twitter Hootsuite
Facebook Likes
Question 8: Do I know how to direct sell on Twitter and FB?
Sample Twitter posts (See below)
Sample FB posts (See below)
Question 9: Do I know how to create and ride “Waves of Promotions”?
Not a one-way shot to fame.
Learn to set up and ride waves.
Bonus Question 1: Are my buy pages on Amazon optimized so people can find me there?
Bonus Question 2: Are my blog posts optimized so the search engines can find them (and me!)?
Quality X Production X Discoverability = Success; Set up and OPTIMIZE every way you choose to be available for discovery!
Writing Twitter posts: http://www.stacistallings.net/acfw-virtual-conference-day-1-writing-for-twitter/
Sample Twitter posts:
For each tweet you want to have:
Hook
Info/TITLE
Link
Hashtags
To write hooks:
The Hook
The hook is a super-short attention getter. You can use several things for your hook including snippets from your book description or reviews.
I often grab a review and start chopping like this:
“Deep in the Heart is a book about forgiveness and hope, but it leads the reader through tons of twists and turns. It truly is a gem in the genre! I highly recommend it.”
Hooks:
“A book about forgiveness and hope…”
“Tons of twists and turns…”
“A gem in the genre!”
“I highly recommend it.”
TWEETs
“A book about forgiveness and hope…” DEEP IN THE HEART http://ow.ly/mFEzI #Christianfiction #inspyromance
“Tons of twists and turns…” DEEP IN THE HEART http://ow.ly/mFEzI #Christian #fiction #inspiring
“A gem in the genre!” DEEP IN THE HEART http://ow.ly/mFEzI #BestSeller #Christfic
(For a list of hashtags see:
http://www.stacistallings.net/acfw-virtual-conference-day-2-hashtags/ )
FB Posts (Direct Book Posts for Groups)
>>>>Insert Cover with Camera Icon<<<
*** BARGAIN BOOK ALERT! ***
“…it touched my heart and soul. God hears our prayers. I’m amazed how this author was able to bring such a delicate subject into words… words that I needed right then… there have been only a few books that have been able to bring back to me the hope in Him that I sometimes forget but know…. and this was one of them.”
A #1 Christian Romance on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GGP3HI/
*~*~ COMING UNDONE ~*~*
#Christianbooks #AmazonKindle #Kindlebooks
FB Blog posts
What trouble are your default emotional settings getting you into? How can you reset them? Find out! http://www.stacistallings.net/what-is-your-default/ #Christianity #motivation
Your default settings are running (ruining?) your life. What are they? How do you reset them? http://www.stacistallings.net/what-is-your-default/ #parenting #inspiring
(Links to a blog post with an ad for one of my books embedded in it)
See more Marketing Info from Staci
Recent Comments
March 27, 2020 | By: Janice Phillips
I found your article very true. Your advice to get help and let others know when bullying is happening …
June 4, 2019 | By: Susan Preston
You are so spot on with this post. I have 'lost' a much-loved teenage stepson, now many years ago, but …
August 31, 2018 | By: Donna Shelton
Lovely and informative page. I am so impressed by your Christian light that shines through every post. God …