First Word

I was asked to teach a writing class via a note sent to me from one of my newsletter readers. After teaching the class and being complimented on my speaking abilities, I was given three leads on three book projects. Now some often suggest that a weekly newsletter unless it produces direct sales has no value. My three prospects later suggest the opposite. One of my biggest challenges with business owners and authors is getting them to understand it's long-term opportunities you hope to attract from marketing activities. I've done the newsletter for eight years now. I write it weekly. Have I ever had someone say, "Hey! I read your newsletter let's do business." No. It doesn't work like a cash register - ka-ching sales! Marketing and keeping your brand in front of prospective business is about long-term exposure and visibility. It's about creating brand familiarity and recognition. It's also about building long-term relationships with prospects. My ne...

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 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 ...

Do you know what I consider my two most valuable marketing tools? My blog and newsletter. Here is why ... Blog : a blog refreshes and keeps your website at the top of the search engines without having to do search engine optimization. You constantly add keywords to your "labels" and keep your company name and presence on the Internet refreshed. Now couple this with education-based marketing, which enables you to keep your prospective clients or customers informed but not pitched to. You don't want to pitch, but rather provide information about why your services are valuable to your client by educating them about how things works vs. selling them something. Blogs enable education-based marketing and keep your name on the top of the search engines. Newsletter : I've been doing my newsletter weekly for the last six years. Every Sunday my readers can count on seeing First Word  (you can sign up at www.3LPublishing.com) arrive in their in-boxes. This tool acts as an on...

OK, I might be in shock and awe or just awe and shock -- either one works. In the last few weeks, I think the recession officially ended here in the 3L country. I have literally been picking up new projects daily. All of the marketing and PR momentum appears to be paying off. I even picked up prospective work on a Sunday afternoon if you can believe that one. At the rate we're going, we just made gross sales reflective of someone's middle-class income ... in one month. If this is any hint of what's to come, I must say it's utterly shocking and very, very cool. If I can impart any wisdom to you 3L watchers wondering what's the super-secret sauce, here it is: You must market and do public relations for your own company. All of the advice I give in my first book Smash: A Smart Girl's Guide to Practical Marketing and PR , should be followed to the letter. I don't live in a "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do" world. I am all about the "say" and "d...