Individual
authors each have a brand, whether they know it or not. In other words, people
will look at and judge you, whether you seek to dictate control of their
impressions or not. Authors must be in control of their brand. What they say,
show, and do — and not — will help determine how others perceive them.
Everyone has a brand. Take a look:
* A woman dresses in a way to call attention to
her very attractive body, because she believes she can use it to have people
gravitate to her. Whether it is to serve her ego, draw in a potential date,
sell a product/service, or get a certain job, she is well aware of how she
looks. She is accentuating her gifts to draw you in to look. She chooses to
define herself by her body.
* A student speaks in a way to show you how
smart he is, His confident voice, level of vocabulary, and hand gestures
radiate the power of his brain. He accentuates his intellect to define how he
is to be seen.
* A football player celebrates jubilantly to
draw applause after using his speed and strength to sack the opposing
quarterback. He then shows off a physical superiority. He is using athletic
prowess as a prism by which you should judge him.
* A lady decorates her house to indicate her wealth.
Everything that she owns and dispkays is intended to make you aware of her
status. She equates physical possessions and monetary wealth with her identity
and essence.
What do they all have in common, aside from
bragging or showing off their assets?
They each have a sense of their brand and are
aware of how to market it. They singularly focus on what they feel is their
best attribute and use that to drown out any perceived shortcomings in other
areas. They allow themselves to be defined by what they do best and seek
to have others buy into their projected images.
Lots of entities and individuals have a brand,
including Amazon, The Republican Party, Los Angeles Dodgers, Exxon, Red Cross,
Pope, Taylor Swift… and authors.
Authors must be like the football player,
wealthy lady, smart student, and beautiful woman. Writers, show us what you’ve
got!
So, how do authors brand themselves
effectively?
1. Be aware that you have a brand — whether you
purposely push one or not. One way or another, you are sized-up, assessed, and
judged. Take ownership of how others see you.
2. Perfect your elevator speech. What you say
about your writing and self can go a long way into how others see you. What you
choose to state — and the specific words used — shape impressions. Know your
origin story, your mission, and your vision.
3. Your expressed energy level. Are you shy and
quiet or bubbling with enthusiasm and drive?
4. Your attitude. How do you want to come off to
others? Optimistic? Pessimistic? Do you smile or laugh? Are you kind or
selfish? Militant or loving?
5. Manufactured Appearance: color and style of
clothes, and accessories: makeup, jewelry, hats, and footwear.
6. Natural Appearance: hair, eyeglasses,
tattoos, teeth, body size and shape, voice, accent, stutter, scent,
cleanliness, and neatness.
7. Health: mental and physical.
8. Status: Single or
Married/Widow/Divorced/Separated; Parent/Grand-Parent; Pet Owner/Specific
Animal.
9. Tragedy: suffer a major loss/death of
another/injury/diagnosis?
10. Personal: hobbies, preferences, tastes
11. Demos: assumptions based on your ethnicity,
gender, sexuality, size, religion, disability, location, age, level of
education, class status.
12. Career Status: work/retired/volunteer/stay
at home parent/out on disability.
13. Views: political, social, and policy.
14. Activism: charitable, political, social,
policy.
15. Associates and Affiliations: who are you
connected to— friends/family/colleague and groups you are a member of or
participate in.
16. Your Website Site: the content quality
and quantity, color, style, name, and use of multi-media.
17. Your Social Media: posting frequency,
quality, and choice of platforms; the words, images, and audio that you
create/share/promote.
18. Your Tagline/Motto/Mantra: Just Do It!
19. Your Business Card: texture, font,
size, typeface, message, info shared.
20. Your Press Kit: what you want the media to
know.
21. Your Ads: message, look and tone, where, and
frequency.
22. Content Created By You: byline articles,
op-eds, letters-to-editors, newsletters, guest blog posts, your own blog or
podcast.
23. Content Created About You: online
sites, news media stories, social media posts, interviews with you, book
reviews.
24. Crime: victim or perpetrator.
25. Habits: addictions or practice of certain
behaviors.
26. Ethics: how you act towards others.
27: Your Writing: quality, quantity, style,
length, format, themes, genre, book cover design, and blurbs.
Everything is part of your brand.
Your brand means everything if you are to
succeed.
What is your author brand?
You already have one chosen for you.
Will you seize ownership of it?
Need
Book Marketing Help?
Brian Feinblum, the founder of this
award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available
to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He
has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in
all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!
Read
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Interview With Author & Business Book
Strategist Cathy Fyock
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Your Are A Writer!
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The Book Marketing Solution Already
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How Can Authors Make Money From
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https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/10/how-can-authors-make-money-from-blogging.html
12 Book Marketing Assets That Don’t
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Hall-of-Fame
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https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/hall-of-fame-speaker-gives-authors.html
About Brian Feinblum
Brian Feinblum should be followed on LinkedIn. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now
resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue
dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent. This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.4 million pageviews. With 4,600+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with
many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen,
Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard,
Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a
panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA,
Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction
Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland)
Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.
His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News
(Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The
Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult:
www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.
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