Why Do Optimistic Book Promoters Need Back-Up Plans?

To be optimistic doesn’t mean you don’t see danger or risk or a true picture of the world.  It means that you do see all of that, and in spite of that, you still smile, still feel hopeful; still believe you can succeed in the face of adversity.  But if you are optimistic, you still need a strategy beyond hope, and you need a back-up plan.

A back-up plan for the optimist can be fuel.  One doesn’t have to be negative to have a back-up plan.  Backup plans are neutral.  They are there in case you need them.  Better to have one, than not.  Just because you have a Plan B doesn’t mean you are any quicker to stop acting on Plan A.  In fact, you should always give it your all to implement the best plan and only if it should fail beyond repair should you pursue alternate methods.  

Plan B should comfort the optimist.  It puts less pressure on him.  He now knows he can pursue Plan A as envisioned, with energy, hope, and resources, and he’ll know that he isn’t out of options should things not go as planned.

For book promoters and marketers you must have several backup plans – or phases – to every aspect of your campaign.  Even areas that work and are successful won’t last forever.  At some point, new efforts, ideas, and resources are needed to expand or sustain a PR campaign. 

You need a Plan B when Plan A goes well, too.  For instance, if your strategy was to go after major print media to get coverage and you get some, like USAToday or Wall Street Journal, you now need to pursue a new course.   Will you go after radio or bloggers?  Will you pursue speaking engagements?  Shall you unleash an ad campaign?

Being optimistic is not to survey the facts and draw wildly unrealistic conclusions on what could be, but it means that one doesn’t stop trying in the face of odds that don’t favor them.  It means to try, to pursue, and to persevere and not to crumble at the first or even tenth “no”.

Optimism is not ignorance nor belligerence.  It simply is a state of mind, a way of being that allows you to go for things seemingly beyond your reach.  Optimism can push you to greater heights when everyone else is saying something won’t work.

Optimism is about holding out.  Just when you feel like caving in and throwing in the towel is the exact time when the optimistic voice says to keep trying.  Some of the best breakthroughs come when one hits their lowest point.  Confidence must never waiver.

Optimism starts by giving people or situations the benefit of the doubt.  Just because others failed or seem negative, doesn’t mean the same fate awaits you.  To believe in yourself and know that you have the skills, conviction, timing, and energy to find a way to make something work is an invaluable trait that nourishes the book promoter.

The book marketing landscape is littered with “no.”  The vast majority of all people attempting to generate a buzz for their book get rejected or are met with silence.  But that doesn’t mean they failed.  Success rates of 2% in book publicity are fantastic.  If you email 500 reporters and 2% do a story, that’s 10 articles.  Repeat this with other media and you now have dozens of interviews, reviews, and stories.  If some of them are with larger outlets or targeted places, you will have branded yourself nicely.  Only the optimist can see a 98% failure rate as something amazing.

Choose to be the optimist.  You don’t need anything to back up the feeling that you can win at whatever you do, that you can find a way to make things go your way.  Optimism is like one’s belief in religion – you decide that you believe, and not wait for proof or facts to support such a viewpoint.  Rewards come to those who believe and have faith in themselves and the higher forces around them.  Be the optimist and be successful.  

How do I know this?  I just believe it?

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014