Sunday, December 4, 2011

Using "Tipping Point" Concepts To Market Your Book

Ever wonder how trends get started? As much as we'd like to think that all trends are Madison Avenue creations propagated by the media, many times a movement is sparked by the action of a few. Then word of mouth makes it spread. Author Malcolm Gladwell examines this phenomenon in his 2000 book "The Tipping Point". There's a chapter where he describes how this kind of movement by a few groups powered Rebecca Wells's 1996 novel, "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood", to surprising success. When I read that I sat up and took notice. I realized I could use the same concepts to market my first novel, "All I Need to Get By". You can too! Here's how.

1.) Write Your Book So It's "Sticky"

Don't compromise your artistic integrity, but do ask yourself the hard question: how much will your story appeal to others? When a book is "sticky", it's easy to remember. The story stays with people and they want to talk about it and tell others to read it. "Bridget Jones's Diary" is definitely sticky. So is practically everything that Stephen King ever wrote and all of the Harry Potter books. The topic doesn't have to be upbeat either. Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" was a sensation when it was published despite its grim subject matter. Since I was writing about a family with a powerful father figure I knew a lot of people would connect and see themselves in the characters. What aspect of your book will draw people in?

2.) Be a Salesman

Yes, be a salesman, but not in the way you might think. I'm not talking about being "in your face" like the stereotype of a used car salesman. As Mr. Gladwell points out in his book, it's the little things that can persuade others. For a writer, that "little thing" is confidence and a strong belief in one's work. I recently spoke to a writer having a hard time feeling confident about her work. She's trying to get up the courage to submit a manuscript to agents and publishers but, as I said to her, "How can someone get behind publishing your book if you can't get behind it yourself?"

People are attracted to a person who stands for something, who believes in what they're doing. If you can be that person, people will want to buy your book. They'll know you have something to say. If you're dealing with low confidence, know that working on improving it is just as important as improving your craft as a writer. After all, no one is going to champion your book the way that you can.

3.) Use Small Groups To Spark Your Big "Epidemic"

In the fertile soil of small groups, word of mouth grows. That's what happened with "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood". It became a favorite for book groups, especially mother-daughter book groups. Those groups sparked a word of mouth wave that spread like wildfire. As Mr. Gladwell points out, "small, close-knit groups have the power to magnify the epidemic potential of a message or idea". I explored this concept with some success by contacting book groups across the country and offering to visit them if they read my novel. What groups can you reach out to in order to harness the power of those circles? And how can you fan the flame of your message so it will spread?

One Last Note: Why is all this important? Well, if you've gone through all the trouble to write and publish a book, your efforts won't stand up if you don't tell people the book is out there. And the concepts offered by Mr. Gladwell are so simple and organic that you may find the whole marketing pill easier to swallow. So take it--it's good medicine.


© 2005 Sophfronia Scott

Tips To Successfully Promote Your Book On Talk Radio

For nearly two decades, we’ve been telling you about the value of talk radio as a means for promoting your book to the masses. Because we want you to succeed with talk radio, here are some “inside” tips to help you become the kind of guest every host wants to have on his or her show:

1. Be energetic. Make sure that you bring ENERGY to the table. Radio hosts love it when you show enthusiasm on the air. If you’re excited about your message, the listeners will be excited, too---and more inclined to want to learn more about your book.

2. Avoid distractions. Make sure that there are no dogs barking or kids screaming and clutching onto your leg. Turn off your computer and the television and make sure that you switch off your cell phone. Shut yourself into a room where you can have total privacy with no distractions so you can stay focused!

3. Be honest. Always be open and honest with the host. Listeners relate better to people who are an “open book.” Don’t be afraid to be who you really are and say what you really think. Remember that Howard Stern built an empire by being honest with his listeners!

4. Define your message. Before going on the air, know the key points you want to communicate about your book. Make sure you stay “on message” no matter how far off the host’s questions take you. Always bring the answer back to your own key message.

5. Be mindful of your word inflections. Practice saying your main points out loud before your interview. Remember that it is not only what you say, but how you say it. Inflections help keep the listener’s interest.

6. Speak slowly and clearly and make sure that you E-NUN-CI-ATE. You don’t want your words to mush together. If you speak too quickly, the listeners won’t be able to understand you. Make sure to enunciate so that people will stay interested.

7. Have notes handy, but try not to read from them. Know your material cold. Reading your notes or word-for-word answers sounds stiff and rehearsed and you’ll lose your audience. You want to sound as natural as possible so that your message will be more likely to trigger a buying response.

8. If you stumble, stutter, or slip-up during an interview, forget about it and move on. Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Don’t get flustered. Stay on message and you’ll be fine.

9. Don’t get technical or use words that most listeners wouldn’t know. Remember that you are trying to get a large audience to relate to you. Use layman’s terms, if at all possible, and save the four-syllable words for your next game of Scrabble.

10. Smile when you are on the air. If you are physically smiling while you are talking, the listeners will feel it. If you are frowning, they will feel that also. Although the listeners won’t be able to actually see you on the radio, they will be able to “feel” your interest and enthusiasm.

Remember---your intention for every interview is to enlighten the listening audience about your book and interest them in purchasing it.

If you would like to hear more about talk radio and how it can help you successfully promote your book, call me or my husband Steve at 727-443-7115, ext. 208. Nothing beats a real-life conversation!

Call today – we’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Warmest Regards,

Marsha Friedman, President

The Use of Forums for Viral Marketers

Recently, forum marketing has been touted as a kind of free, organic, viral marketing. But because so many viral marketers go into forums with the intention of marketing products or other services, their actions and attitude unwittingly causes the exact opposite of the desired effect.

Forums aren’t marketplaces but when used that way, the viral marketers’ actions become offensive and will only inspire the wrath of fellow members and marketers, not to mention moderators who can close them from the site with the click of a button.

In order to be effective, this kind of marketing carries a certain degree of commitment, responsibility and respect. The first requirement is to take a personal interest in the main topic of the forums. Not only does that mean be apart of the forum regularly, but it also means developing a good relationship with both other members and the moderators, as well as taking an active interest in helping other people. Of course, it also means abiding by and all rules that exist. By doing that, one can develop a reputation and, since it is human nature to work with a trusted colleague, business will naturally develop from this.

This type of viral marketing has already suffered some abuse and because of this, many forums have recently developed stringent rules designed to protect their members from abusive or overly-aggressive viral marketers. One forum grants .sig files only after a member has created 100 valid posts and another has disallowed ads in sig files altogether.

Viral Marketers must respect that the purpose of a forum is to be a wedsite to exchange ideas on a given topic. It is not there to advertise products or services. By staying on the topic and posting questions and answers, a marketer’s reputation will grow and this creates the potential for sales naturally.

In order to be successful using forums to do viral marketing there are some things that are required.

Do Your Homework: Prior to joining any forum, you must do some research.As a viral marketer becomes a regular member, they will hopefully develop a good reputation and without saying a word about their promotion, those who are interested in their product will approach them.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Different Ways Artists Can Use Lyrics

Often times music lyrics are simply used to create catchy words that people hear. These words are designed to appeal and convince people to buy CDs and attend concerts of a certain artist. There are other reasons, however, that artists choose their lyrics as they do. Lyrics are heard by all of an artist’s audience and can occasionally be beneficial to a cause or an idea. This article will explore the different reasons artists create lyrics in the way that they do.

A common usage of lyrics in this day and age is to critique the current state, or even form, of government in a country. It is quite common for folk of any nationality to be unhappy with their governing powers for one reason or another. In the United States there is much concern over the way President Bush has handled the issues of terrorism, oil, and even immigration in recent days. Rather than coming out publicly with speeches, many artists hide messages of their disgust into their lyrics. Often times people will hear their message more often and more clearly through music than in a boring speech in which people can simply change the channel. A musical group who created these type of lyrics often was Rage Against the Machine, although they have been broken up for quite some time now.

Lyrics can also be used to reminisce about good times or bad times had as a child or teenager. Often times these years are the ones that shape a person and who he or she is going to be when they grow up. So it makes sense that as an adult, many artists feel the need to pay homage to this crucial part of their life. Many of these song’s lyrics focus in on past relationships long forgotten, good times had with best friends, and even sometimes traumatic experiences with abusive or uncaring parents or relatives. Whatever the topic is, being able to sing about their past memories allows artists to release whatever emotion they are feeling.

Of course it would be a mistake to claim all lyrics are meaningful and are made with some ulterior message underneath. Often times artists are simply looking for songs to make them more money and just garble together some nonsense about dancing and making money into a song. While these lyrics certainly do not have any real positive message, most of the time, they are still among the most popular of the youth today. There is no real problem with this, however, as kids shouldn’t be worried about deep meanings at every point of their life. They should be able to feel good about themselves and have fun for no reason when they are young!

Song lyrics are something that almost every genre of music has, and it is important to realize that some songs are made with interior meanings. Without recognizing that a song may mean more than simply the words it displays from the exterior, it is easy to overlook an artist’s true creation and art and to give them less credit than they deserve.

Different Kinds Of Leather

There are a variety of different kinds of leather. Some kinds of leather are differentiated by the way that the leather is prepared. Animal hides can be prepared by vegetable tanning, chrome tanning, boiling, and rawhide treatment. Each different method of tanning results in a different kind of leather.

Leather that is vegetable tanned results in a leather that can be supple and strong. The one major drawback of this kind of leather is that is easily damaged by water. Exposure to water will cause the leather to change colors, shrink, and become stiff. Vegetable tanned leather gets its name due to the fact that the various vegetable materials are used to tan the hides.

Chrome tanning is a kind of leather tanning that uses salts to tan the leather. Chrome tanned leather holds its shape and suppleness better if it is exposed to water. Another benefit to this kind of leather is that it can be tanned in different colors, as opposed to vegetable tanned leather, which is varying shades of brown.

Boiling produces a kind of leather that is not traditionally used for clothes, upholstery, and other needs that require a supple leather. The boiling process produces a hard leather, and is most often used as a binding material for books.

Rawhide is a process where the animal hides are stripped down, becoming thin and rough. They are then soaked in a solution containing lime and then stretched. Rawhide is used for shoe and other types of laces, as well as drum heads.

When you are choosing the kind of leather that you want, you should consider the intended use. Leather is used for such a variety of projects that it is important to recognize what type of leather is best suited for your intended use. The kind of leather that would be used for upholstery is very different than the kind of leather that would be used for clothing or saddles.

Most kinds of leather originate from cow hides. There are, of course, other, more exotic kinds of leather available. Some, such as lamb, are relatively common, while others, such as kangaroo, are relatively rare. Leather can technically come from the hide of any particular animal, but when a kind of leather other than cow hide is used it is usually for one of two reasons.

The first is fashion. When someone wants to use a different kind of leather, such as crocodile or ostrich, it is usually to make a fashion statement. The wide variety of available textures and colors mean that there are leather choices that will suit many tastes.

The second reason that exotic or rare leathers are used is for function. Some kinds of leather have properties that make them appealing for specific uses. Depending on the intended use, you may want a leather that is stronger, softer, more supple, or more pliant. There are many different choices among species used to manufacture leather. Making the best selection will make your end product more effective and longer lasting.

Get A 6 Figure Book Advance

It's the dream of 81% of the population to write a book. No matter how many times people tell you how difficult it is to do, nearly everyone wants to do it. There hangs a certain romance around writers. I think it's a kind of nostalgia or grieving for some forgotten part of ourselves. We long to return to a place where magic and imagination are revered.

Others may just want the quick glory or fast buck they associate with being an author. But whatever you want, getting a 6-figure book advance is possible if you have the skill, drive and know-how. Here are five tips to get you started on achieving the dream of becoming a well-paid, respected author.

1. Know the Industry

Educate yourself on how the publishing industry works. Unlike the old days when publishers were looking to cultivate long-term relationships with authors who would be in their stable, today their top priority is just to sell books.

When I was traveling in Mexico this year I met a woman whose husband has been a best-selling author for twenty years in England. He has had the same agent and publisher for those same twenty years. Every time he came out with a new book his publishers expected it to be "number one" on the English equivalent of the New York Times bestseller list. They worked with him to make it so. In America the bottom line is king. You must be able to substantiate your claim that your book will fly off the shelves, without any help from the publisher.

2. Prove There is a Market for Your Book

In today's world you need to show that your book will sell to one large audience, or many smaller niche audiences. Quantify each audience with statistics that show that they buy books on that subject. It's not enough to say that this audience would be interested in your topic. You must be able to prove beyond a doubt with your well-researched facts that your readers are a *book buying* audience.

3. Develop a Platform

This is the most important aspect of your proposal after you've proven that there is a pressing need for your book and that book buying audiences will scoop it up. A platform is simply YOUR ability to sell books to the audience that you have said will buy-from you.

It's all about the numbers. How many people are on your e-zine list? How many people do you speak to every month? How many people buy your products and services now? Do you have big name corporations or organizations that will buy your books in bulk? Do you have a regular column, or write for publications? Are you frequently seen in the media? If you don't have an impressive platform you don't get a 6-figure advance.

4. Map out a Marketing Plan to Promote Your Book.

Your plan should include everything from speaking engagements, online marketing, licensing, and media placements. It must be realistic and do-able. In other words you can't say that you'll speak to organizations of 1000 people or more if you've never done it.

What do publishers hate most?

When you say that you're right for Oprah. Unless you've already been a guest and taped the show please NEVER say this if you don't want your reputation instantly sullied.

Instead show how you will build on your past publicity. If hosts or producers say that they want you back for another segment because you did such a good job the first time, say it. But if you haven't done much media to date, don't fret.

You can begin today and get a substantial number of profiles, features, and comments in the media in a few months by joining PRLeads,a service which delivers reporters queries (the stories they need experts for) daily to your email box.

5. Get Endorsements

Big names sell products in a big way. Getting known names of celebrities, best-selling authors, actors, athletes, well- known experts in your field, media personalities, any famous name that has glitter gives you the kind of credibility that can't be bought.

One of my clients, who got a number of New York Times best-selling authors to write about him, accomplished three things with his endorsements. Each person who wrote about him told a different story about why he would be a winning author. The first one lauded him as a highly successful professional. The second stated that my client's book filled a gap that her book failed to address. The third demonstrated that the people my client was trying to reach were an avid book buying market hungry for his type of book- as they had bought hers.

These meaningful endorsements effectively helped him get his 6-figure advance. (And he got media coached by me before he met the editors at the big New York Publishing houses who then bid on his book at auction).

Don't just get endorsements saying you're terrific. Make your endorsements do double duty by helping you prove there is a market and that you're the one they want to buy from. This is the type of information that makes you stand out from the other 150,000 authors who are published every year, most of whom never earn back their advance. Don't be one of them. Instead, follow this advice and you'll be well on your way to earning a 6 figure book advance. Good luck!

Expelling The Duplicate Content Myth Associated With PLR Content

If there’s one thing that scares an internet marketer more than anything else, it has to be the fear of having all their sites delisted because of duplicate content. But what if I said you had a better chance of being ‘eaten by a shark’ then you would of being picked up for violating this regulation set out by Google and the other search engines!

Expelling The Myth Once And For All

So when in the past has a site been delisted directly as a result of using PLR content? Very rarely I can tell you! In fact I haven’t met a single marketer who uses PLR content that has been caught violating the duplicate content rule. So what does this mean? It means that whatever you’ve been told about the connection between PLR content and the duplicate content rule is for want of another word completely ‘bogus’.

We all know that when you purchase PLR content, the chances are you’re going to have to share it with a certain number of marketers. This in affect has been a major deterrent from purchasing such content, even though the real truth is, it’s completely safe.

So What Is The Duplicate Content Rule?

The duplicate content rule affects those who copy a site, word for word, as well as mimicking the exact design and layout of the other site in question. Well of course they’re going to delist you if you do this! You may as well download someone else’s site and re-upload it to your own server under a different domain!

Using PLR content however on a completely unique looking site, won’t offend the search engines at all and why should it? Sure you may have some content on your site that is the same somewhere else, but you may also have some other unique content that will benefit the visitors to your site.

Rewriting PLR Content

I bet I know what you’re thinking. Your thinking “why has this guy been telling us this whole time that PLR content is completely safe and now he’s going to talk about rewriting!” Well the truth is there are more advantages to using unique content then there is for using just straight copied PLR content.

Think about it for a minute. Would the search engines be more likely to rank a page with unique content rather then a page that has the same content found elsewhere? Of course! Now you’re thinking “what’s the point in having PLR content then?” Well when we say rewrite that only means rewriting a fraction of the PLR content you have available. 25% would be a good amount to aim for, which should take you barely any time at all. This insures your pages are going to be looked at by the search engines as being unique content, which will more than likely boost their rankings up higher than those articles copied word for word.