As a long time fan of college basketball, this years edition of March Madness is a bit disappointing, and very alarming.
But there is a bright side to everything, well not to me because our dehydrated potato warehouse and our manufacturing plants are still running full steam ahead.
But this edition of March Madness has helped me reflect on my ultimate goal, which to make enough money writing so i can quit my day job.
My strategy?
Well first, i buy into the idea that an author has to have multiple titles out and mutiple platforms to make thier available.
So, my first goal is to have 20 published titles by the end of 2022. My second goal, which is similar, is to have my Realm of the Light Series finished by that time (it will be a 5 book series).
But what does this have to do with marketing?
Well, I’ll tell you.
It’s matter of vision. I have a vision for how I want my author platform to look. And all my marketing and promitions fit within that vision.
1st, I want more than just Sykar the Volkrog to be a bestselling title. So i am planning a promotional sales run for The United, which both myself and my publisher are dropping a comsiderable amount of time and money into promotional newsletters, blog tour, social media blitz, newsletter swaps, etc. The sale will run the first week of April.
2nd, well, i want to build my newsletter to the point where it is my most effect marketing tool. To accomplish that I have a few NL magnets on Story Origin, joined a few different group giveaways, and have hired a NL consultant.
After that, my goal is to consitently create quality content that my readers will enjoy, and find inspirational.
What are your goals?
I am late posting this evening because i am neck deep in edits, prepping Shades of Mortality, The Realm of the Light Book 4. My March 31st publisher deadline is looming over me like a . . . Well, like a deadline.
Anyway, i am no good at creating promotional images to use in marketing, but i do have a superpower. I surround myself with people more talented than I, and i am able to barter services with those who are talented in areas i lack.
Here a few promo pics my goid friend, and Photoshop Sorceress, Alicia Scarborough created for me.
Paid marketing. It’s the bane of all authors who are first starting out.
Why? Because you have to pay for it.
Not like free advertising / marketing on social media or via word of mouth (through friends, family & customers.)
Also, if you’re like me then your paid marketing purse is rather small. But that’s okay.
You can still do paid advertising with a small budget. It takes a bit of planning but eventually you can make that purse grow.
I’m like you learning all the ropes and frankly you probably are doing the same thing I did about a year ago.
What’s that? Taking all the profits and not diverting some of it into an advertising fund.
How to plan your paid marketing budget
After reading tons of marketing and advertising books the following rings true in each tome:
Set aside a small portion of your earnings to re-invest into your advertising
As your sales grow so does your marketing budget
The bigger the budget then the more advertising that you can do for your books
Makes sense, right? It totally does…
So, the question is… why the friggin heck does no one do it?
Okay… okay… maybe YOU did it but have you re-evaluated how much you’re putting into the fund?
Did you know that as your profits grow you should also grow the amount that you set aside to advertise? Yes, if you haven’t done it you need to do it.
What’s a good portion to set aside?
Good question.
It depends. Can you spare like 50% of your profits to go back into the marketing fund?
Don’t gawk. Seriously, don’t. It’s not gonna help if you stand there and gawk.
In the beginning you may have to set aside more to amass your advertising powers a lot sooner.
Certainly, when you have the ability to do more ads or run ads in areas that have more eyeballs of potential rabid fans then you’ll get into the black faster.
So, as your profits grow you can choose to reduce the amount or keep it at 50% until the marketing budget gets to your desired target.
Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking they made it big without paid advertisement.
Even if they did they paid it out in blood, sweat, tears and time. Nothing is free. You exchange money or time to get things done.
Now, why should you do paid marketing?
Well, one you have limited time (unless you have a time machine or a Dr. Who tardis… mine broke)
You can select the audience that sees your advertisement
More potential fans will see your ad and will eventually buy your stuff or become more familiar with your name <-more on this in a few moments
Not subjected as much to your ad getting buried in the social media feeds
Are you worried that showing your ad to your customer several times might anger them?
Yep. Same here. Though, did you know that it’s a technique used since 1885?
No? Well, believe it.
Why? Because my friend advertisers STILL use this technique to this very day.
Check out Thomas Smith’s guide called Successful Advertising in 1885
The first time people look at any given ad, they don’t even see it. The second time, they don’t notice it. The third time, they are aware that it is there. The fourth time, they have a fleeting sense that they’ve seen it somewhere before. The fifth time, they actually read the ad. The sixth time they thumb their nose at it. The seventh time, they start to get a little irritated with it. The eighth time, they start to think, “Here’s that confounded ad again.” The ninth time, they start to wonder if they’re missing out on something. The tenth time, they ask their friends and neighbors if they’ve tried it. The eleventh time, they wonder how the company is paying for all these ads. The twelfth time, they start to think that it must be a good product. The thirteenth time, they start to feel the product has value. The fourteenth time, they start to remember wanting a product exactly like this for a long time. The fifteenth time, they start to yearn for it because they can’t afford to buy it. The sixteenth time, they accept the fact that they will buy it sometime in the future. The seventeenth time, they make a note to buy the product. The eighteenth time, they curse their poverty for not allowing them to buy this terrific product. The nineteenth time, they count their money very carefully. The twentieth time prospects see the ad, they buy what is offering.
Guest Post from Sam’s Teen Reads Corner, presented by Thrice Read Books
Guest Post from Sam’s Teen Reads Corner, presented by Thrice Read Books
Mornin!
The monthly theme for March is Marketing Madness. One of my favorite things about being an author, is connecting with other authors. Reviews are important to some marketing strategies, so I asked Sam from Thrice Read Books to join me on my blog.
FIRST, LET’S GET TO KNOW YOU A BIT. TELL US SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF:
I love books so much that as a child, I used to eat them. Like, literally. I would eat little samples of the pages. Did you know that different kinds of paper have different flavors? My parents are quite happy that I’ve outgrown that habit. Plus, ebooks! When was the last time you tried taking a bite out of your Kindle or Nook? That’s what I thought.
WHAT IS THE GENRE AND AUDIENCE FOR YOUR REVIEW VLOG?
My review vlog focuses primarily on Young Adult and Teen fiction. Occasionally, I’ll read and review something middle grade or new adult. I particularly love fantasy, paranormal, and horror fiction.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO REVIEW BOOKS ON A VLOG?
Sam’s Teen Reads Corner started out as a homeschool assignment when I was in junior high, as an alternative to writing book reports for all the books I read. The format has changed over the years, but I still love the variety of books I get asked to review, and I enjoy the interaction of the live stream format.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR WRITING EXPERIENCES:
I’ve drafted three books of my own, though I haven’t gotten around to publishing any of them. (Because editing. And computer crashes. And high school.) I’ve completed one National Novel Writing Month. And I’ve met so many awesome authors as the daughter of bookstore owners. Truly, it’s kind of a bookworm’s dream – living downstairs from our bookstore inventory (I never have to complain that I have nothing to read!). Plus, inventory shopping trips usually result in me getting at least a few books that I get to read before they get listed.
This month’s theme is Marketing Madness, as you already know.
And Personal Assistants are great resources to help authors with marketing and promotions.
I have very limited experiences working with a PA myself, so I asked my friend, Amanda Lindsey, PA, to share with you what PAs do.
PA’s are personal assistants to authors. We are also known as VA’s which are virtual assistants. Each person has different qualities and qualifications to offer an author. Services may depend on training and knowledge. We are self taught or gain knowledge from the PA community.
Pricing also depends on what the PA can offer and what the author may need. Each client is always different as are PA’s. We strive to be the right hand person to the author.
Some of the things that may be offered are support, friendship, reading and reviewing on a variety of levels, form creation, blog contact, group activity and maintenance, arc team support, social media marketing, running author social media and pages, calendar management, takeover posting, takeover and party setup, graphics and teasers, transcription and so much more.
We try to take up things that will give the author more time to focus on what they do best….writing.
Marketing madness is the theme for the month of March.
What kind of marketing madness will we be talking about?
Hmmm. Good question.
My answer to you would be free vs paid strategies which would involve social all the way to paid advertisement.
Knowing that your budget for advertising might be rather slim we can discuss ways of fattening up that purse so that you can get a better advantage in the market.
Sure, there are plenty of free ways to advertise your book but that’s only half the battle.
Now a days you need to use paid advertising to ensure your books don’t get sunk into the unknown.
In my opinion… needing to pay to get your book noticed sucks. However, if you want to get unstuck then you need to heavily consider setting up a paid advertising plan.
OMG! But there are so many platforms… which one is right for me??
Yeah, I hear ya…
Let me let you in on a secret.
You’ll want to focus your advertising dollars where your ideal audience hangs out the most.
So, don’t spend those dollars on all the platforms. Instead choose one and stick to it.
For instance…
If you know your audience spends the majority of their time on Facebook then your dollars are well spent there.
I know, I know… what if your audience splits their time between Instagram and Facebook? Then go with Instagram… or at least that’s what I would do…
We’ll talk more on setting advertising budget next week as well as a glimpse at BookBub, Goodreads and a few other sites to promote your book.
For now, go ahead and make a list of places and sites that your audience may or may not hang out. It’ll help when we do the planning next week.
