Authors: Embrace A Positive Book Marketing Mindfulness

The best way to market something is to do it often, which means the more you think about, discuss, and take part in marketing, the better you will be at it. You cannot just turn it on and off – marketing is something you are always doing. When you meet people socially, such opportunities can lead to networking your way to book sales. The sooner you learn what people do for a living, who they know, and what ideas they have, the sooner you can determine how they can help you. 

Continually explore what others are doing – even if it is to market another book, service or product. Take an idea from one industry and apply it to your own.  Conversely, recognize that some things that work elsewhere would not be cost-effective for you to implement. 

The more products, books, or services you have to sell, the better. And the higher the profit-margin, the more eligible you will be to experiment or try various marketing methods. If you only make $5 per book and this is all that you have to sell, it would be hard to justify spending $3,000 per month on advertising – but if you can win a certain number of customers who may each end up spending hundreds of dollars with you, it may pay for you to spend money on something that could yield enough customers to justify the expense. 

Marketing mindfulness is a state of being. You are always thinking of things from the perspective of sales. You see ad slogans in your dreams, you envision your next five blog posts while driving home from work, you read trade publications or search the Internet while waiting online for a restaurant table, and you enter the topic of your book into conversations with others in hopes they will react with a favorable idea. 

You almost have to obsess over your book in order to make it successful but avoid becoming so obsessed that you conjure up dreams of grandeur. Don’t fantasize about being a best-selling author but do spend time visualizing concrete steps to take to actually generate sales. 

Success is a frame of mind. If you are always open to opportunities to grow you will either find them or create them. So, what does opportunity look like? It means being ready to convert a chance meeting into a long-term relationship and taking an idea and putting it into action, and to commoditizing a resource, an idea, an experience, or a relationship. 

Once you know what it is that you really want to accomplish, set a realistic plan, timeline, and resource needs list.  Then execute and go for it. You may just succeed -- or at least enjoy the attempt to do so.

The Marketing Mindset That You Must Adopt

• Seize upon an opportunity – or create one.
• See things from many perspectives and always look for a marketing angle to work.
• Engage in empathetic listening.
• Turn words and ideas into action.
• Commoditize a relationship but always do something for another.
• Anticipate, initiate, follow through.
• Seek honest feedback and then do something with it.
• Always look for growth and a chance to expand.
• Constantly generate new ideas without a limiting filter.
• Remain positive and upbeat.
• Invest time and money in the short-term in order to produce a long-term pay-off.
• Survey current events news, marketing conditions, and industry trends.
• You must see opportunity in everyone, everything, and every event.
• Never stop thinking of ways to market.
• Success is a numbers game – try enough things enough times and you will break through.
• You never stop at a win or a moment of success. You need a continuous series of victories to help counter dry spells.
• Look for ways to get others involved – people you can hire, trade with, partner with, get referrals from.
• Set benchmarks for success and raise them with every win.
• Think big – imagine what can be.
• Think ‘first’ – be a pioneer by leading.
• Think new or unique – doing the same as others will not yield spectacular results.
• Balance your time, energy, and resources needed to execute ideas against their potential gain in sales and publicity.
• Look to turn everything you do or touch, person you meet, or situation you are into a profitable opportunity.
• Ask for favors, deals, and help from anyone and everyone.
• Think long-term, not just short-term.
• Develop relationships, not just sales.
• Know “NO” can be a delayed “YES” if you change your offer and your approach and try another day.
• Believe in the significance of what you do.
• Do not be shy about pursuing what you want.
• Constantly test ideas, approaches or markets and tinkering with the formula for success, No singular way works for everyone, nor will it work all the time or for a sustained period. Keep changing in a changing world.
• Be perceived as an expert who has something of value to share.
• Learn from everyone and everything – never dismiss a chance to improve your knowledge.
• Be assertive, even aggressive.
• Hustle, but do not con: Be quick to react, take initiation, and seize moments to sell but do not lie, bullshit, or seek to confuse someone on the facts.
• Learn from mistakes but do not throw out the baby for the bathwater.
• Copy what works for others but try to improve upon or personalize it.
• Know few things sell themselves and even world-class brands need to remind others of what they offer.

Now, go market!

Need PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 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 3.9 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, BookCAMP, 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.