Book marketing and Book Promotion should of great importance to you as an author and know that this is definitely the case where your publisher is concerned. Without a solid book Marketing plan many book authors can experience the ebb and flow of book sales when they first start out. Some never break out of this daunting cycle. They don’t experience the flow of good sales that comes with a consistent marketing plan.
 
In fact, to increase your daily sales you must have a book marketing / promotion plan put into place that shows the publisher you are marketing to your audience on a daily basis.

Here are 10 easy book marketing tips that will be useful for marketing and promoting your books.

1. Create a new book marketing plan or revise your old one to include all aspects of offline and online Marketing. Your book marketing plan will describe your book, what will you do after the book is completed and published. It also describes whom you want to sell your book to or your target audience.

2. Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases.

3. It’s important to create a website specifically for your book that focuses on your book title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse.

4. I’ve seen a lot of people paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing.  One of your best bets is creating Joint Ventures.  Visit www.hartofsussess.com/manifesto to pick up your free copy explaining how to do this.

5. Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines. Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use these on your fliers and back of books.

6. You can create a fan page on Facebook and twitter page specifically for your book; They are great online book marketing tools.

7. Library Press Release – Are you a member of your local library?  Once your book has been published, meet with the branch manager and ask them to issue a press release in the library system’s newsletter.  (You can write this ahead of time for them.

8. Local Newspaper – Contact your local news publications. Including the citywide and local papers.  Explain as a local to your town or city, you have written a book and would like them to do a story on you.

9. Local Radio and T.V. Stations – Contact your local radio station.  Preferably one that will have listeners in your target market and also your local T.V. Stations, like breakfast shows.  Explain as a local to your town or city, you have written a book and would like them to do a feature on you. Community oriented opportunities are usually easier to secure than national ones in the beginning.

10. Perhaps the most important tip is to recognize that your book marketing and book promotion will be mainly done by you and not your publisher.  They will help you with certain aspects of this procedure but you will be best advised to create your own plan with additional back-end products.  We work on this with all my students in the http://www.mitprogram.com/ mentorship program as I know firsthand by working with my students and clients what publishers are looking for, but most importantly what plan is needed to make your book marketing and book promotion successful.

The success of any book launch campaign depends on a good book and marketing plan; it’s been done many times before and you can do it too.

Use your book promotion and book marketing dollars wisely; go after the local and no-cost strategies first. Make sure to test, test, and test some more before you lay out large sums of money.

All the Best,

Stefanie

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I just found this book that I thought was really interesting.  It’s called ‘Predictably Irrational’ by Dan Ariely.  He’s a pretty interesting guy.  He is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight.  He did an experiment with giving away free items that marketers should read about.

Here’s a brief summary of one of his chapters:

The Free Trade Experiment

One of the chapters in Ariely’s book discusses the amazing power of giving away things for free. We all know that getting something for free makes people feel good. But Ariely takes it a step further and explains how attached people get to their zero-cost item, and psychologically, zero is very special.

Ariely wanted to find a way to explore his theory, so on Halloween, the author conducted an interesting experiment on trick-or-treaters.  After all – kids get zero cost (free) items every Halloween.  So he started out with a giving out three Hershey’s Kisses when the children first started to come to his door. But then he offered to make a deal.

He gave them a choice.  Each child could trade one Kiss for a mini Snickers bar or two Kisses for a full  sized chocolate bar. The result: after seeing the size difference in the chocolate, almost all of them traded the two Kisses for a full-sized bar.

As this is an experiment, Ariely changed the terms of the deal halfway through the night.

This time, the kids could now trade one (instead of two) of their three Kisses for the larger bar, OR get a mini-Snickers without having to give up anything in return. In terms of sheer volume of chocolate, the trade for the larger bar was still by far the better deal.

Here’s what’s interesting; when faced with this choice, most of them refused the trade, even though it cost them overall. Ariely later performed this experiment on his MIT students, and the majority there as well made the same mistake.

So what happened?

Ariely speculates that the underlying reason for the chocolate miscalculation was anxiety. He believes that people are naturally risk averse. He says, “there’s no visible possibility of loss when we choose something for free.” Therefore, most people are drawn to it.

I found this interesting because I know through consulting that when you give too much away free, you can ‘train’ people not to buy from you. In essence, they come to EXPECT all your products and services and help for free.  They might even get upset if you suggest a price to them.  Accordingly, when I consult, I walk the line with clients of suggesting what times we give for free, and what we just charge a small fee for and then strategically decide when we should begin to introduce the paid for items.

Having said that, I typically will include a free item to give people an incentive to buy.  Perhaps we can take this experiment to heart and offer our FREE items in a way where people can trade up for other items.  Like – download these 2 e-books and get this one for free.  OR sign up on this form to get a free item a month sent to you.  OR trade that for X.  It would be interesting to see what people choose.

OR even do something like what places like GoupOn does, where they offer deals, but only if the majority of people want it.  So everyone saves, but if only a few people want the 50% off then it doesn’t go on sale.  This company basically has the consumer emailing out to other consumers asking others if they want it in order for everyone to get the 50% off.  I might try this by asking my list which product or program item do THEY want a SALE on – the majority vote wins!  Great way to have people get involved and interacting.

Please let me know what your own FREE item experiences are.

All the best,
Stefanie

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I can hardly believe it’s FINALLY here! I have been sitting on this thing for WAY too long – and the time has come for me to share it with you! (And as a member of my online community, you’re getting exclusive access 10 days BEFORE everyone else does!)

Let me tell you – if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, these are the words you’ve been WAITING to hear (I know because this whole thing was created out of my own longing as an entrepreneur to just get some of the help I needed!)

I am so excited to finally be able to tell you about a new service that is going to let you check off everything on your list for your business – and check it off fast (and cheaply too!).

Now, you know me – I love marketing strategy and techniques and teaching my students the behind-the-scenes secrets of how the super successful become well-known, generate massive leads, and well…make a ton of money doing it.

And of course I put many of these techniques into practice in my own business – but even I can never seem to do ALL the ones I want to in a year – I just don’t have the time or the energy. And it’s not always easy to find the right kind of help – even if you can afford to hire out!

The real truth is (and trust me, most marketers won’t tell you this) – you’ll probably never have all ofthe hours and dollars that you’ll need to learn and implement all the top marketing strategies for your business – it’s just too much!

And when you’re continually balancing your business needs, wearing many hats, and trying to enjoy a life at the same time, you’ve gotta ask yourself…

WHO CAN REALLY…IN REALITY…STUDY FOR 10 – 12 HOURS EVERY SINGLE DAY TO JUST KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TRAFFIC & LIST BUILDING STRATEGIES!

And really…wait for it…here’s the kicker…

WHY THE HECK SHOULD YOU HAVE TOO??????? Continue Reading

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As spring comes into full swing I am mindful that the first business quarter has come to an end and the next is beginning.    It’s a great time to take stock of where you are, and maybe even readjust your strategy or note what is needed to add or change to achieve the goals you have set for the coming months.

The ability to readjust your approach or tactics as you go can mean the difference between successful marketing and sales fizzling.

So the question is:

• Have you taken stock of where you are?
• Have you planned out how to schedule attacking your marketing plan?

Just like using a map or GPS system, by noting these markers you can be steps ahead of the competition just by taking stock of where you are.

Using a sales and marketing calendar is something that I recommend when consulting my clients and it is one of the strategies that I teach in my The Millionaires in Training^TM Program.  A sales and marketing calendar gives you a hands-on ability to ability to allocate time and energy for items critical to your businesses marketing plan.

If you check in with your marketing plans each quarter you will find it a useful way to monitor your progress. I will have an indication if I need to re-adjust something or if I am close to my strategic destination I may be happy to leave things as they are.

I recommend doing this “checking in” as it can allow you to acknowledge not only those things you need to adjust but your successes as well.

Your marketing and sales calendar can give you a keen awareness of which months your promotions are booked, giving you much needed lead in time to take care of the details which can make the difference between a successful outcome or a possible setback.

To build your own sales calendar I recommend taking the following steps:

• List out all your products and programs. Input them into the appropriate date.
• Block out time to spend developing your business.
• Add a sales goal each month.

As one of aspects that I teach in my The Millionaires in Training^TM Program, a sales and marketing calendar can greatly improve your success.  The Millionaires in Training^TM Program is designed to empower you even if marketing seems as clear as a foreign language to you. You will receive clear direction, answers to your unique questions and be placed in an environment where you are supported by an intimate group of like-minded individuals, specialized coaches, and my marketing experts and instructors.

A sales and marketing calendar is just one of the many resources successful businesses and entrepreneurs use to increase sales, bring in new business and maximize their growth potential.

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If you’re like most online entrepreneurs & Internet Marketers, you probably upgrade your computers, your telecommunication systems, your office equipment, and your software and database management systems on a fairly regular basis. (I know I’m always one for new gadgets and technology!)

But are you upgrading your internet marketing strategy just as often?

Because in reality, that is what will have the most impact on your business! If you ever feel left behind and you’re wondering how your competition just seems to know exactly what to do to accelerate his business while you seem to be left in the dark, you might have some catching up to do!

But how do you find the time to keep up with it all? Continue Reading

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Have you ever heard the expression ‘Junk in the Trunk’?

It’s actually a slang term that refers to someone that has a full figured bottom.  You know I’m on the treadmill a couple of times a week to reduce my back end – but in your business, you really need some junk in the trunk!

FACT:  The bigger the back-end of your organization, the bigger your bank account.

If you want to maximize your list, have additional profits centers that bring in money while you sleep and have a system in place that sells to people who already love your stuff, this is stuff you need to know!

FACT: Knowing these common niche marketing myths and understanding those ‘junk in the trunk’ implications is going to make your business easier and much more profitable.

Here’s an example for you: Continue Reading

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