How To Earn Book Marketing Favors – Or Beg, Trade, Pay For Them!

One of the keys to successfully marketing your book is to ask for — and receive — favors.  Big ones.  Small ones.  Any and all will do.

So who do you ask favors from-and what do you ask for?  

You ask anyone who can give you anything – and you ask for what you believe you can get, and a little more.  

People will surprise you and help.  But you have to ask them, and you must be specific in what you want, with a realistic date or deadline attached to it.

Here are the type of things you might ask for:

·         For someone to buy your book.

·         To have a chance to speak before a large group.

·         To be able to post about your book on one’s website or their social media.

·         An introduction to someone they know who can further help you.

·         Advice, guidance, or information.

·         A book review on Amazon.

·         A great testimonial.

·         Access to their list of followers and contacts.

·         Funds to aid in your marketing efforts.

Start by asking those closest to you – friends, family, and good colleagues, or perhaps neighbors, church members, or those you do business with.  Lean on your close relationship to get what you need.

So how do you convince peripheral people in your life to help you as well?  Have them believe in your book or your mission to be successful.  Let them feel a part of something special, something that could take off.

How about strangers or distant connections?  Bargain with them.  Trade something of perceived value to them.  Consider paying them for their access or help.  Offer them a favor to be repaid when you make it big.  Bring in a third party to complete a triangular trade that helps everyone.

The keys to getting what you want include:

·         Mapping out a wish list of desires and needs.

·       
Making a big list of all who can help you – and identify what each one can do for you.

·         Thinking ahead of your ask of what you can offer them in exchange for their level of help.

·         Sounding passionate, visionary, and helpful – people latch on to leaders with convictions.

·         Entertaining or razzle-dazzling those whom you seek favors from.

You must believe you can do this, that you are worth it, that there’s no risk in asking, and that there may not be a more cost-effective way than to beg, ask, and wheel and deal.  We all become who we are with the help of others.  The more people who can help, the better.  

Remember, if you don’t ask, nothing happens. If you do ask, the world opens up to you.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Don’t find fault, find a remedy.”

--Henry Ford

“Life consists of what a man is thinking of all day.”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.

Laughable Quotes

“The only time my wife and I had a simultaneous orgasm was when the judge signed the divorce papers.”
--Woody Allen

“It’s really hard to maintain a one-on-one relationship if the other person is not going to allow me to be with other people.”

--Axl Rose

“When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”

--Jean Harlowe, Hollywood actress

“She has slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie.”

--Bette Davis, on Joan Crawford

“I usually feel pretty good about myself.  I know what I look like. Yyou’d bang me, but you wouldn’t blog about it’s fine.”

--Amy Schumer

“Religion.  It’s given people hope in a world torn apart by religion.”

--Jon Stewart

“Pretty women make us buy beer.  Ugly women make us drink beer.”

--Al Bundy, TV’s Married with Children

“I feel like I’m the best, but you’re not going to get me to say that.”

--Jerry Rice, NFL wide receiver

“My sister’s expecting a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an uncle or an aunt.”

--Chuck Levitt, NBA player

“I want all the kids to copulate me.”

--Andre Dawson, hall of fame baseball player on the need to be a role model

“You can sum up this sport in two words…You never know.”

--Lou Duva, boxing trainer

“They shouldn’t throw at me.  I’m the father of five or six kids.”

--Tito Fuentes, MLB player

“We didn’t lose the game we just ran out of time.”

--Vince Lombardi, football coach

“Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.”

--Yogi Berra, hall of fame MLB catcher

“I knew when my career was over.  In 1965 my baseball card came out with no picture.”

--Bob Ueker, former MLB player

“I’m very appreciative of being inducted.”

--Bill Peterson, former Florida State football coach, on being inducted into the Florida Hall of Fame

“Saltwater taffy.”

--Caldwell Jones, NBA player, on his favorite seafood

“If you wait for inspiration, to write, you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter.”

--Dan Poynter

“Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.”

--Hector Berlioz

“Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”

--Isaac Asimov

“I’ve been imitated so well I’ve heard people copy my mistakes.”

--Jimi Hendrix

“Writer’s block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol.”

--Steve Martin

I enjoyed reading Say What? 670 Quotes That Should Never Have Been Said, by Doreen Chila-Jones.  Most of the quotes reflected something funny, odd, or weird. Take a look:

“It’s freezing and snowing in New York – we need global warming!” 

--Donald Trump, presidential candidate

“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.  They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

--President George W. Bush

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.  But then I repeat myself.”

--Mark Twain

“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”

--Al Capone

“I don’t think anybody should write his autobiography until he’s dead.”

--Samuel Goldwyn

“Every man has his price, or a guy like me couldn’t exist.”

--Howard Hughes

“We don’t break the law.”

--Kenneth Lay, CEO of Enron

“If people get all the sex they can handle, they’re so happy and content they just sit around and smile.  I mean, you never feel aggressive just after you’ve gotten laid, right?  Lots of sex for everybody, that’s a solution to the world’s problems.”

--Ted Turner

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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.

What Kind Of Book Marketer Do You Want To Be?

Consider This:

·         Are you looking to do enough things and experiment, in hopes something will help you break through the clutter?

·         Are you seeking to do a number of things so, cumulatively, you will see a bump in sales, but don’t expect any one area to lead the way?

·         Are you doing it solo all the way, or also hiring others, or only hiring others to take the marketing over?

·         What percentage of your time and money is budgeted for PR, advertising, marketing and sales?

Are You Filling A True Need? Put It In Perspective.

If so, what is that need? What exactly is it that people need that you are offering to satisfy? Is it more than one need? How does that need rank against all of their other needs?

Once You Have Identified The Need, Think About:

·         How to appeal to them emotionally

·         How to appeal to them financially

·         How to appeal to them egotistically

What will resonate with them? Are they looking for answers that you can supply? Is what you offer a quick and easy solution? Is it a costly solution? Is it a timely and comprehensive solution?

When You Pitch Others, Do You:

• Offer something of value
• Surprise them
• Offer a hypothetical situation
• Tease them a little and make them curious
• Joke around
• Create a visual image
• Offer a contrarian viewpoint
• Defy convention and expectation
• Inject controversy
• Make a bold prediction
• Offer an exclusive deal
• Provide a touch of the human element
• Offer a solution
• ID a problem or challenge
• Create a survey/poll
• Say something poetically and insightfully

Your Marketing Mix

You can market in a hundred different ways, and each way, depending on the cost and quality of the effort, can yield worthwhile results. In order to market effectively you need to make some decisions early on and commit to a game plan. You can always review and alter it – and you should do so!

Think About These Things:

·         What can I pay for vs. get for free?

·         Who can I pay to do something vs. me doing it?

·         What is my marketing budget?

·         How much of my time/budget will be dedicated to advertising, getting news media coverage, social networking, hosting events, attending events, etc.?

You won’t know all of the answers until you experiment and get into it. Test things. Ask others what has worked for them and why. In the end, follow your gut instinct, educate yourself, take a chance, have fun, and keep a positive attitude. Even professional marketers make mistakes, have bad days, get rejected, miss an opportunity, misjudge risks, or fail to get a desired result by far.

You need to be grounded in who you are and in what you are looking to accomplish. You will give it your best – and throw some time, money, and resources at it. But do set limits or guidelines. Don’t wander aimlessly, trying one thing after another without gaining traction in at least one or two areas. Marketing is filled with trial and error stories. All you need is to find something that works for you and then to further explore that area.

“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

--Adolf Hitler

“It is enough that the people know there was an election.  The people who cast the votes decide nothing.  The people who count the votes decide everything.”

--Joseph Stalin

“Alternative facts aren’t facts they are falsehoods.”

--Chuck Todd, NBC’s Meet the Press

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https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-authors-can-market-to-libraries.html\

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https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-authors-get-yes-out-of-others.html

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How to write powerful, effective book advertising copy that sells tons of books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/writing-powerful-book-advertising-copy.html

So what is needed to be a champion book marketer?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/so-what-is-needed-to-be-champion-book.html

The Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-book-marketing-strategies-best.html

How authors can sell more books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/how-authors-can-sell-more-books.html  

No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/all-new-2019-book-publicity-marketing.html

Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.