In a post today ( in BBC News ), discusses the government of India’s strong interest in returning to the expansion levels of yesteryear. With a former growth rate of around nine percent annually, India’s latest growth rate has been around 6.5%+ recently. Actually, 6.5% looks great compared to many countries around the world for [...]
How to write a book article series to this point has been about bringing a book to life – quality writing, quality visuals on the back cover and front cover, and professional editing. Now comes the big day: An author holding their own book for the first time.
The first time I ripped open the box with my first book inside and held the finished book in my hands, I was elated. At the same time, I thought “now I have to get to work and sell volumes of books. This was such a nervous moment that I decided to catch my breath and go for a long lunch.
After lunch, reality sinks in…how to promote and ‘move’ boxes and boxes of books. All authors will understand. Enter targeted promotion, well-planned marketing and lots of work. Writing a book is the easiest part of the birth of a successful book, moving your books off the shelves and out of boxes takes more planning, tenacity and time.
Recognizing that there are many authors who have approached promotion and marketing of their books in many unique ways, I want to provide proven techniques here that should spur your creative juices to customize what I say in the next few articles for your own personality and set of conditions. Whether self-published or an author associated with a publisher, you will have to do much of the promotion yourself. Here are several promotional “legs” to establish before customizing your marketing program:
a) Website – When an author wishes to be interviewed by the media, speak before a group or otherwise “be out there,” people will judge a website by its cover. Approach creating an author website with the same care and professionalism used to create the book. Think of visuals (book covers) and content (inside pages).
b) Blog – A website sets the foundation for an online presence. A blog tells the world an author is “building” on the foundation of the website and interested in interaction with readers through comments on a blog.
c) Social Media – I like LinkedIn and Facebook, one is for professional interaction and the other is for more relaxed, fun topics. I recognize there are many social media networks worldwide and an author can consider social websites in other countries (if your book is relevant to these international markets). For example, Orkut is the big social media gorilla, owned by Google and especially popular in Brazil and India.
Set up a professional profile and join relevant “groups” on LinkedIn. Search for relevant demographics on Facebook for your book (e.g., a cookbook author searching for “cooking” aficionados). For individuals who seem to be a match with my book material on these two social media sites, I direct message a short and professional note introducing myself, asking if there is a mutual interest in a social media connection. So far, these messages have been well-received (probably because most people just send an “invitation” without personal note attached).
d) Press Releases – Set up a schedule to distribute newsworthy press releases. I hear authors say all the time, “Yes, sure. I don’t know what to say in a press release beyond the first one announcing my new book.”
Tie material in your book to current events. For example, if your book is on “bringing up a smart child,” all news stories about education for children in the age group you cover in your book is a tie-in for writing about your findings and mentioning your book…along with contact information.
PRWeb.com has great resources for crafting quality press releases. Search “free press releases” and “press release distribution services” for getting the word out. There IS a learning curve to writing a professional press release. Stick with the ramp up learning process for crafting a relevant and meaningful (to the media and their public) press release because the effort will soon become easy and quick.
These four promotional marketing “legs” will create a foundation for an author to begin selling their book. In part six of how to write a book, I will start with time-proven techniques authors have used to add to the foundation above, have fun interacting with people and start selling books. Stay tuned…
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com
Nearly five million small businesses tap into social media but many are unaware of how to make the best use of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media channels. Here are seven tips as part of a niche marketing program for excellent customer service:
1. Good Customer Service Requires Being a Good Listener. Once you sift through the social media noise and find the kinds of people with whom you wish to engage, take the time to hear what’s being said before jumping in.
2. Social Media is a Customer Service Conversation Rather than a Marketing Vehicle. Social media is like a giant room with millions of people in it, talking about thousands of subjects. Locate the part of the conversation that matters to you and find a way to participate.
3. Consider Your Customer Service Objectives. Whether you want to improve awareness of your brand, listen for customer comments about your business, or track what your competitors are up to, it’s important to establish your objectives and focus on them.
4. Join the Conversation Illustrating Excellent Customer Service. Whether you choose to take part or not, the conversation goes on. By participating, you get to tell your part of the story
5. Customer Service Informs Rather than “Me-Forms.” When you encounter a post, or series of posts, that you can add value to, do it…contribute to the conversation.
6. Understand your Target Audiences for the Best Customer Service. Knowing the needs and engagement style of the people you want to connect with will give you a much better chance of having a positive experience with the conversations you join.
7. Practice Makes Perfect in Customer Service. Refining your social media efforts by testing different ways to improve your engagement with agents and small business owners is a smart approach. Social media is definitely not a one-size-fits-all environment. Find what works best for you.
Here’s to building your business revolving around excellent customer service.
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com
What should you keep in mind when you are using social media to aid in your customer service? Here are five ideas that I’m trying hard to adopt:
1. Set goals for how you will measure customer service in the social sphere and seek continual improvement of those metrics.
2. Don’t use an avatar…use a recent photo of yourself (or company photo) in a circumstance that is appropriate for the medium (e.g., business casual clothing for Facebook). Let real people from your company communicate for personalized customer service.
3. Keep in mind the global footprint of social media and consider cultural nuances in online customer service etiquette.
4. Make sure you understand the privacy settings of every social site in which you participate to maximize personalized customer service.
5. Unless you have many people on your customer service team, start with one feedback loop (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and do well on one site before spreading out to other social media platforms.
Take a breath and relax when building the social media fabric for customer service in your company and you will have a better chance for success…
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com
If your social media campaign is not sending viewers to your website, generating sales or introducing new customers to your brand, then it is time to consider getting on track. Some companies are using social media, as illustrated here, in unique ways that promote their business and brand.
Clearly Define Your Marketing Objective
If your goal is to introduce new customers to your business and brand, consider tasks that require a prospect to share their brand experiences with their network. For example, encourage Twitter recipients to re-tweet your messages.
Keep it Simple
There are three important things that need to happen for a participant to be able to complete a task successfully: understand the task, follow directions and easily submit results. Ideally, you should be able to complete the task in less than 30 seconds and include a “call-to-action” at the end.
Know Your Audience
Your social media message and interactions should match the psychographics of your target market(s).
Align the Task with the Platform
If your goal were to share a lot of content, Facebook would be your best choice because of the sharing options it offers. If your goal is to build brand awareness with little content and you have the ability to interact with customers, Twitter is your best choice.
Make Your Incentive Relevant to Your Brand
The first question social media participants ask themselves before deciding to participate in your business is “what’s in it for me?” The most effective business campaigns include creative incentives that drive participants to not only engage with your business, but to share your marketing program with their network.
Engagement is the Key
Participant engagement is key to your business social media success. Be sure that you are designing tasks around your audience’s interests and strengths in order to maximize interactions.
Test your ideas and see where social media interaction with your target market leads you. With some research, you will be “re-tweeted” (Twitter) and “shared” (Facebook) on a regular basis.
Mike McCann
Mike-at-GlobalBusinessCafe.com