Marketing Self-Defense For Authors

 

 

I was talking to my Starbucks barista the other day and she was telling me about a side hustle she had just launched. I started giving her unsolicited marketing advice. It is what I do. I can’t help myself.

Her entrepreneurial venture is to teach some kind of boxing training regimen that is both a good workout to lose weight and build muscle tone, and also to serve as a self-defense technique. She said she earns a Benjamin for each one-hour session, five or six times what she gets for dishing out coffee and hearing people whine their drink isn’t hot or doesn’t contain the right pinch of goat or almond milk.

As I talked to her, I centered on helping her answer these five questions:

* What is your target market profile of a customer?
* Where can they be found?
* Who  can feed you referrals?
* What is your message and offer?
* How are you unique, different, or better from your competition?

Then I told her to do a SWOT, where she identifies her Strengths and Weaknesses. Then, she is to acknowledge the Threats to, and Opportunities for, her business.

She needs a marketing plan, with deadlines for each step.  Once she identifies what she is to do in order to get what she wants, she can seek out resources, lean on assets, make connections, and industriously forge ahead.

She must set goals and find ways to measure her progress. You can’t just see what tomorrow will bring. Then you are just reacting to what comes your way. Initiate and create your opportunities.

To hear yes, she will need to first hear no. It is a numbers game. The more people you solicit for business, provided your message and method are sound, will yield more sales. Keeping score of the rejections is meaningless. Just enjoy the wins.

This thorough, common-sense, and empowering approach for her can also apply to any author and their book marketing efforts. So, what are you waiting for, a formal invitation? I hereby notify you to get your act together! 

 

Need PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with 3.6 million page views, 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!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. 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 3.8 million pageviews. With 4,900+ 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 director of publicity positions 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 hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, 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. His first published book was The Florida homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.