You want to be the best book marketer possible, right?
But you feel stressed over time, money, and other issues, and this squeezes the
creativity out of you. We’re so used to mechanically serving a schedule and
to-do lists, that we don’t always take the necessary time to explore new ways
of thinking or doing things.
We need to learn how to avoid costly mistakes, avert
indecision, and stay clear of flawed thinking. But how do we handle
uncertainty, ambiguity, or changes in the marketplace? We need creativity
to help us adapt, meet challenges, and proactively pursue opportunities.
Creativity is what helps us imagine better ways of saying and doing
things. It is what keeps us growing and expanding.
Creativity helps you solve a problem, build something from
nothing, and turn a weakness into a strength. You learn as a result, to
adapt to a given situation, to connect unrelated things, and to see things that
aren’t there.
To be creative, it helps to carve some time out to think and
ponder. You need to be in a mind-cleansing but inspiring
environment. Start to ask questions about your situation. Why is
something the way it is? What if you changed just one thing? Why not
be different?
Leave time to brainstorm. Instead of thinking about
obligations, problems, deadlines, and the demands of life, free your mind up to
focus on possibilities, embrace new things. See something from a new
perspective and question everything. Think of the future and imagine what
could be.
In his best-selling book, Disciplined Dreaming, Josh
Linkner, identifies a number of ways to strike sparks of creativity, including:
1.
Gather
a group of people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to brainstorm.
2.
Try
searching for the wrong answer or the polar opposite of what you’d normally
seek out (ask yourself. How can I ensure
I sell few books? Or, how can I make my services not user-friendly?).
3.
Think
of something that can really piss off some group.
4.
Think
of what it’d be like to have a time machine that could take you into the past
and future.
5.
Role
play with others.
6.
Declare
a statement that provokes ideas and seeks to break established patterns.
7.
Let
your mind wander without limitations.
He notes that innovators observe, question, experiment,
network with non-like minded people, and associate things that are seemingly
unrelated. By tolerating ambiguity, avoiding judgment of ideas, seeking
input from others, listening, and not being rigid in your ways are key.
The creativity puzzle has many pieces. The key is that
you allow for a creative process to take place and to let it lead your
marketing. Here are some new ways to look at things:
1.
What
can you trade, exchange, or substitute? Think of a recipe – what if you
switch one ingredient for another? What could you wind up with?
2.
How
about combining elements or ingredients to deliver something totally new?
3.
Can
you adapt to a new environment?
4.
Can
you adopt new ways?
5.
What
can you increase/decrease or magnify/minimize in size?
6.
Can
you find an alternate use for something?
7.
What
would you eliminate, remove, or stop doing?
8.
Can
you rearrange, reorder, reverse, or redesign something?
See things from a hungry perspective. Don’t ever be
complacent. To be creative, you simply have to relax you mind and
allow in fresh, unfiltered thoughts. Buck conventional wisdom.
Think of ideal solutions to challenges and envision the end result of doing
things in a new fashion. To create something new means you just have to
let go of the old ways and standards.
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
How authors get their book marketing mojo – and avoid failure
Authors cannot succeed without the right attitude
So what is needed to be a champion book marketer?
Should You Promote Your Book By Yourself?
The Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
How authors can sell more books
No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
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.
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