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Greetings!
Ok within this newsletter I hope you will find many
useful tactics that have served me well in launching not
1, but 3 books out into the public at once.
To be honest when my first two books were published
through Publish America, the first being in 2000, I didn't
promote either one. It was terror more than anything
that hindered me.
Although by sheer luck, if you will, both books have
been slowly selling on their own. Amazing, but true, and
without any asistance on my part. Still it is every
author's desire to see their work noted by more than
just friends & family.
Three years later, after much observation, note taking,
trial & error... this author has managed to launch
herself into places she never dreamed of!
So I've decided to share some of what I've learned.
If you know anyone who is in need of this information,
please feel free to forward this newletter or simply
direct them to our website for subscription.
Again, if you feel you have no need for this type of
information, scroll down & click on the unsubscribe
button.
| The Power of Word of Mouth: Independent Credibility |
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It is this "independence" that gives it much, but by no
means all, of its power.
If you ask most people why word of mouth is so
powerful, they will tell you that it's because of its
objective, independent, and "no ax to grind" and "no
vested interest" nature.
Why is that so important?
Because a decision maker is more likely to get
the "whole, undistorted truth" from an independent
third party than from someone who has vested interest
in promoting the "product" point of view.
It is this unique "credibility" that gives word of mouth
much of its power!
Keep in mind that word of mouth can be a powerful
positive force because of its credibility, but it can also
be destructive because of its negativity.
People are 3 -10 times more likely to tell others about a
negative experience than a positive one.
How do you get the word of mouth to people?
Expert to expert
Expert to peer
Peer to peer
Experts are the most important and leveraged sources
of word of mouth. When you have the experts behind
you and can get them talking about your product, they
will often start a stampede toward your product that is
unstoppable.
(At the end of this newsletter is an expalnation to show
that this really works.)
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| Above All, You NEED a "Story" |
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Getting across the right message to the right people in
the correct adoption cycle, from the right sources, and
in the right sequence, can be an impossibly complicated
task.
Left to their own devices, most word of mouth chain
reactions never reach the critical mass they need to
get started. They just fizzle.
There is a device, however, that allows you to take
everything and tie it up into a neat package. That
device is called a "story."
The story has to have certain characteristics. It has
to be:
Short and simple, in order to survive transmission from
one person to another without distortion.
Interesting, exciting, new, different, unique, or
otherwise worth talking about. If you want people
talking about your book, you want to give them
something to talk about.
In story form. This is not absolutely necessary, but
stories transmit better person-to-person than anything
else. People like telling stories, and people like listening
to stories.
However in marketing, ultimately, the story "must be
true." There is no place for fiction in word of mouth
marketing. The truth will out.
Do not only spread ideas through word of mouth, but
also build into the idea reasons for people to convince
others of the value of not only accepting the idea but
also passing it along and convincing others.
This process, in one word, is called "evangelism."
It doesn't apply only to religions. If yu don't turn
people into evangelists and motivate them to
proselytize, your book has almost no hope, unless your
competitors do worse.
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| Six Things YOU Should Be Doing to Benefit from Word of Mouth on the Internet |
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1. Assign someone to mintor every forum, listgroup,
and other Internet discussion medium that could
possibly influence your sales. Some will be restricted to
customers only, so that you can't get in. In that case
try to get one of your customers to at least report you
or send copies of relevant information.
2. Build in various word-of-mouth attributes into your
website. Doing this will not only make your website
more valuable, it will give it extra credibility.
3. Sprinkle testimonials and endorsements all over your
website. However, approach it systemically. Make
sure that the messages fit the stage of the decision
cycle and the adoption category of the target audience
you are trying to convince.
4. If you don't know how to do it already, drop
everything and learn how to setup distribution lists in
your e-mail program.
5. Use your website to get across and demonstrate all
of the extraordinary things that you are doing that will
get people talking. Remeber, people only go out of
their way to talk about the UNusual, EXTRAordinary,
and OUTrageous.
6. Plug into experts and services that recommend
books to their constituencies. Learn about
infomediaries and plug into them.
NON- INternet Marketing:
How about the Palm Pilot?
The Pocket PC?
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| Media Kits - GUERILLA Style |
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LESS IS OFTEN MORE, and that's especially true with
media kits. Traditionally, publicists blanketed the meida
with bulging, elaborate media kits (press kits) in the
hope that a few members of the press might bite.
Well, things have changed drastically.
Today, the media is savvy; they've seen it all. They no
longer want to be showered with reams of promotional
materials, no matter how beautifully they're written,
designed, or packaged.
A media kit needs a terrific, one sheet press release as
its centerpiece; everything else is gravy. Without a
great press release, your paxkage will usually be
ignored.
As the diva in your opera, the press release deserves
prominence. It should be the first item seen when your
package is opened. If you use a two-pocket folder or
envelope, place the press release as the first item in
the left hand pocket.
GUERRILLA TACTICS:
Send ONLY a killer press release and no more than two
or three of the items listed below in the Media Kit
Toolbox.
When a media contact requests more information, send
everything you've got.
When additional information is requested, you can't
overdo it!
TOOLBOX:
Personal Biography
List of suggested questions
List of articles and appearances
Brochurs
Copies of newspaper articles
Your photograph
Your business card
Endorsements and testimonials
An expansive article
Quiz, trivia, anecdotes
Giveaways
Ok my explanation as to "does this really work?"
The answer is yes!
Word of mouth in "story" format has swept me into a
sea never before known... The cheapest form of
advertisement known to man!
It has caused others to spread the word. Not only
about ME, but about my book.
Illustrators have presented themselves with sketches,
asking to design my next cover.
The bookstore alone has order more books than they
are allowed for a "POD."
It caused a company in California to "offer" free
giveaway's for MY booksigning.
That same person told a publicist in Boston about my
book.
That publicist called me four times today! Offering
advice... for free!
This publicist after listening to my "story" contacted an
agent in LA to see if he would take on a new client.
The book itself was published in mid June. It hit all
bookstore 3 weeks later. Within 1 month everything has
escalated into a frenzy.
So much that I have no clue as to whether I'm coming
or going anymore. My goal has been trying to get ready
for this signing, I have 3 1/2 days left to do it.
Please drop us a line and tell us what you think of our
newletter.
Next Issue: 15 things Media Hate/Like
Happy writing!
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| Reality Check..... |
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Most authors publish with the hopes of having a best
seller and are crushed when only a few orders for their
book trickle in.
The cold hard fact is that everyone who says they are
going to buy your book, doesn't.
The author is then left with an unfilled expectation of
book orders.
Writing a book happens within a fixed time frame of
months and years. However, marketing a book is a
never-ending process.
It is true that some books don't
sell because the author fails to capture the attention of
the reader.
However, the vast majority of missed selling
oportunities are the result of a lack of marketing
and publicity effort and direction.
PR: Placements, Events, and Promotions
If you don't have an aggressive PR program in place,
put it in place. Remember that PR is not just about
getting your name in publications. Hold word-of-mouth
generating events and promotions.
Publicity is the art of stirring up interest to promote
your book. It's convincing others to sing your praises,
to blare from the rooftops:
Builds your identity
Increases your visibility
Creates name recognition
Gets your message across
Compels people to buy, invest, and do business with
you!
The Power of Follow-Up:
The most critical element of every publicity campaign
and the next step after word of mouth is the follow-up.
In a word of mouth campaign, consumers learn a lot,
but there is no follow-up to their learning. They have
no way to reinforce their learning, to put their
experiences in context, to correct mistakes, and to
explore.
A follow-up will increase word of mouth, tenfold!
Initially, many people find it hard to follow up. Some
are shy or feel that they're being a nuisance or
groveling. Others simply don't know how to go about
it.
In the beginning following up may feel awkward,
uncomfortable, and unpleasant, but you'll adjust to it.
It won't take long, but it will take some planning and
practice.
Most people don't appraoch it systemically. They
follow up only when they can steal time from other
tasks that they consider more important or as a last
resort to try to breathe new life into efforts that seem
likely to fail.
Follow-up MUST be an integral part of your operation!
It's essential if you hope to succeed. Make it part of
your daily routine, schedule it like an appointment, allot
a set amount of time, and don't worry about making a
pest of yourself.
Media are ALWAYS busy, but understand that follow up
is a part of the business.
Keep a log!
Date/Time Contact Subject Type Outcome
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