First Word

Creating a best-selling book is contingent upon three things: Great promotion + great story + market interest at the time + plain old luck Every author that comes for a consult with my company 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com) generally hopes for a successful book. No one comes to me and says they want to fail. When I counsel people I always tell them that their mindset determines failure. If the one outcome is a national best seller and the dream of joining that 1% of elite authors who dominant the market then that's loftier than I can promise. Of course, as an author who doesn't aspire to be in that 1% dream slice of the pie? For the sake of not setting up false expectations, I always tell them that if the idea is for the very fact that they authored a book to create new opportunities then with all assurance I feel confident the book will absolutely reach that goal. In the meantime, authors can either hire a publicist to help them promote their books (and you can c...

1. Stay focused on your objectives. 2. Study the current marketplace, identify the trends, figure out what people are buying and the consumer tastes. 3. If bills are piling and checks not coming, do not get caught up in the bills. It's a negative distraction and will not solve your financial crisis. 4. Look for as many new opportunities as you can to build business. 5. Consider reaching out and doing more networking. 6. Do more public speaking. Speaking gigs attract business because you are the center of attention. 7. Use speaking to do back-of-the-room sales and promotions.

When business starts to wane, jump in and use the adage "outflow gets inflow". Many motivational books suggest you focus on gaining business vs. losing business. Whenever I face the slippery slope of decreased sales, I do the following: 1. Promote to my existing mailing lists some kind of special deal. Run a special seasonal deal or sale of some kind and promote it to your lists. This often has the results of spurring people to remember to think about your business and gives you exposure. 2. Follow-up on existing opportunities . I want to comment on this action in particular. Business people tend to leave opportunities on the table due to lack of follow-up or any kind of follow-up program. My rule is simple: follow-up with a handful of people per day. Set a goal such as following up with 5 people per day. I know it can be uncomfortable if you've been persisting with the same 5 people. but what do you really have to lose? What do you have to gain? I like to follow-up ...

The Daily Cup: Issue 5   Q: Can you market without using social media? A: No, social media is the trend in marketing and communication. Not Tweeting or using Instagram or Facebook puts you behind the curve. When doing marketing and outreach, you need a fan page or Twitter account. You need to look at demographics and reach. The younger millennials are taking over Twitter while Generation X and the Baby Boomers are generally more involved with Facebook. Many people don't even get their news from mainstream media anymore. They depend on the announcements and news feeds to deliver more specific and personalized updates. Many media contacts expect to be contacted via Facebook. I've even had people direct me to their Facebook accounts to make submissions of press releases. The real way to look at it -- think of social media as a PART of your marketing mix and not the whole. It's merely one spoke in the wheel, but it has to be a spoke for the whole thin...

The biggest failure I see entrepreneurs do is fail to promote effectively at key moments. If you have a newsletter, blog or website you should have links and information about it on every promo piece. You can't drive traffic to your website simply by having one. You have to advertise and promote it. Blog -- same thing. You have to promote your blog to increase readership. Keywords and social media are not enough. Your blog is designed to market your business and increase visibility and therefore exposure to your brand. You have to spread the word about it at every opportunity. Also, if you're doing speaking engagements, make sure you're either bringing a sign-up sheet to capture audience contact information for a newsletter or to promote an upcoming product or service. Make sure you ask permission (naturally). Again give the audience a business card or postcard to promote your other marketing material. You often have to continually touch your audience until they remember,...

I recently hit a lag in projects and work. I believe that when faced with business decline you don't spend any time focused on the "deficit" but on the "reboot". Business works that way -- it ebbs and flows. You have flush times and then you have dry times. The overall goal is to get it evened out, but it never seems to work quite that smoothly. When I worked in corporate one of the ideas I was taught is "outflow gets inflow" -- and I have found that to be true. If you're not marketing (outflow) and reaching out toward new projects you're not going to attract what you need to grow your business. Tip 1: change your business strategies . Reinvent or think outside of the proverbial box and be open to stretch into new areas. We tend to fall into routines or ways we attract business. That channel is likely to dry up over time, and that is natural. If a channel dries up then you have to look to new revenue streams and that may require some crea...

I'll never forger this: I was at a networking function and this woman was discussing her blog. She said she had 5,000 page views a month (heck I struggle to get 2,000). She was an average business person. Here is what surprised me: her blog was about knitting . Realizing that I my blog was well under her page views, I suddenly had blog-envy. How does a blog about knitting get 5,000 page views per month? I randomly ask myself that question all of the time. Actually the question I really ask is: how do I increase my blog readership? Hmm ... My blog is about publishing, business and marketing (and I occasionally sprinkle in humor) -- check. I write about broad interest and general topics, too -- check. I include pictures when I have them to post -- check. I think over my "labels" very carefully -- check. I "think" my writing is good LOL (insecure writer syndrome) -- check. So, what's the deal? How can I increase my blog readership? Why does knitting get...

I think most things in life require persistence. When it comes to marketing (and whatever your marketing choice) for your book or business, you have to do one key and important thing: be persistent . We're going to call this the "persistence factor" or PF. The PF influences your success quotient. PF is directly related to the degree of success. There! Your math quotient for marketing. For those of you who hate math, let's just speak in plain English. You cannot do these things and succeed with your marketing programs: Irregular newsletter : if you're going to write a newsletter, be prepared to WRITE it. I like to do mine weekly. I encourage others to do it weekly not bi-weekly not monthly. Keep your brand in front of your target audience -- that's the point. But if you commit, commit! Don't do it one week and drop it the next week. Persistence builds an expectation -- that newsletter will be in in-boxes regardless. People come to expect your newsletter...

I recently found myself in a situation where an individual went off on me about her "perceived" role of what I should or should not be doing at an event. It was very interesting. First, I am the CEO of 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com), and this was a professional event. What this person got her knickers twisted over was interesting and inappropriate, but none the less she went off anyway. One of her major complaints involved why I was not processing payments and lifting books in boxes. I got to thinking about this complaint and realized there was a greater misunderstand and even a cultural issue about expectations about women. I will start with this basic question to address the complaint: Have you ever seen a CEO at an event lifting boxes and processing orders? The CEO is the company figure head. I was there to meet and greet and represent the product. I hire people to lift boxes (because frankly I have a disability and cannot do it anyway), but the expectation that th...

I am working on a few media campaigns, and I thought I would share a few tips for either those who want to try and do some promotion for their product or service or for those who hire a PR rep and want to know what to look for in terms of expertise. The cliche low-hanging fruit tip #1 . I always laughed in corporate when fellow executives would refer to the ever-popular sales term "low-hanging fruit." A few of them thought that knowledge of that phrase made them kind'a special ;). All right I won't digress and rant about the useless. When launching a product, or in our case a book, you have what I would rather call the no-brainer opportunities . No-brainers revolve around regional media that is easier to court. But here is the tip, how do you take advantage of ALL regional opportunities? Always look for the regional hook. In launching the latest book 30 Magical and Memorable Family Vacations, we went after Auburn media, which is where the author lives, and Folsom me...

I always make these mental notes about social media to share with you all -- my knowledge-seeking readers. Every so often, I see "social media faux pas" and think I should comment here vs. start a flame war. Actually, flame wars are something that I'm also going to provide some advice on, too. So, here we go your sage wisdom from the "so-called" sage (some days maybe LOL). (PS, my favorite social media is Facebook .) Aforementioned flame wars have no place on your business or professional page . I avoid political discussions or debates for that very reason. Nothing sets the stage better for a flame war than a political debate with some "sort'a friend" you barely know. Now the exception here is, of course, if you have a politically motivated topic, product or service. An engaging debate is always welcome to promote your overall message. A "flame war" that often involves a lot of inflammatory discussion, though, should not be welcome. You...

Getting ready for a 45-day day book tour is no small matter. Being away from my office and on the road for that long requires total organization and preparation. Since I've never done 45 days on the road, I had to think it all through. I want to make sure everything is "business as usual." I don't want my clients and authors to be distressed over any apparent perception of "absence." So, for you seasoned business travelers, you may not feel inspired by what I am going to share about organization for a road show. For the rest of you the information may come in handy. Here are some fabulous tips on how to organize a very long promotional book tour! Tip #1: Think ahead and remember the details -- really consider all things required to be functional on the road. Since a laptop is an obvious must, don't forget all the necessary equipment such as battery recharger. You don't want to get stuck in Winnemuca, Nevada and realize you forgot your charger. F...

My future view :). It's Friday again, and I bet you all think I'm going to say something profound -- something to move you into action and do something amazing. Do I sound grandiose? Yep! It's Friday. It's grand and fun Friday. Every day I wake up to the bird's singing their sweet spring songs. I think I am lucky. I don't have to drive into an office. If I'm super tired, I sleep in and work late. I've carved out a life of freedom. Have you? Do you serve the "man" as my fiancé Kirk Donnelly refers to it. Do you want to quit being a servant and own your own business and enjoy the rewards that go with it. Why aren't you getting started? Do you want to get started? Then let me help you by mapping out what to do: Step 1 : Identify the life you would prefer to be living. Step 2 : Identify your passion by asking yourself, "If I had a million dollars, what would I do for a living? Step 3 : Form an "exit strategy," and by an e...

I had the strangest dream last night. I was going through what seemed like the See's Candy factory. Some of the candy was ready and made, and I was eating it. And then another room had candy middles uncoated in chocolate, and I could help apply the chocolate. And then someone handed me this slice of cake, and I neatly put it in a plastic bag and took it with me. Okay, and there you have it -- my weird dream. I'm sure if I look up cake and candy in the dream dictionary, it's probably all good. Do you ever write down your dreams? I don't write them down, but the dreams are often memorable. What I find interesting is that when I look up the symbols in the dream dictionary, these items typically turn out to represent where I am at in my life. Isn't it amazing how our brains work? I've also been told that highly creative people dream in color. I dream in color. Guess I'm highly creative LOL. Now many of you are scratching your head and asking, "What is t...

I am amazed at how many people confuse my weekly newsletter First Word with my First Word blog. So, I thought I should give you a clear-cut definition of the two marketing pieces. First, though, I should tell you that THIS is my blog. This Web page is my blog. My newsletter you can sign up for by going to www.3LPublishing.com and signing up by clicking on the newsletter button on the homepage. So what is the difference between the two? Blog -- a blog is a Web-based kind of "diary" if you will where you talk about things related to your business or life. It is always best to choose a topic or theme so your readers come to understand and know what to expect when they read it. I try to take a humorous or irreverent approach to both my blog and newsletter, and I discuss subjects, from publishing to writing, and from public relations to marketing, and from personal to self-help subjects. Once every now and then, you will find something completely random and unrelated just to ...