Monday Morning Marketing Tip - June 28, 2010

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:
Some people mistakenly believe that conducting a radio or TV interview is a prime opportunity to teach a large group of listeners. They see the microphone and suddenly think class is in session with a captive audience. However, this mindset forgets two problems: 1) You're audience is never really captive - they can always change the channel. 2) The average interview lasts less than 10 minutes, which isn't enough time to teach much material.

Most media programs are formatted for short, 8 - 10 minute segments with commercial breaks. So, you generally have much less time on the air than you think. Therefore, it's crucial to use your brief interview to tease the audience, rather than teach the audience. Teasing the audience doesn't mean giving fluff. Instead, it means giving listeners enough nuggets of value to make them want more.

If you gave an interview today, what nuggets of value could you concisely discuss that you would make the audience desire more of you?

Chew on this:
"How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver." - Proverbs 16:16

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© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.

Almost Half of University Library Books Never Used

Interesting article today from the Publishers Weekly daily news update:

At the recent annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses in Salt Lake City, "publishers experienced shock and awe at a session on demand-driven library acquisitions. Michael Levine-Clark,collections librarian at the University of Denver, reported that 47% of books acquired from 2000 to 2009 were never checked out, a phenomenon echoed by Stephen Bosch, in charge of budgets and procurement at the University of Arizona library, where over the past decade $19 million has been spent on books that were never used. Facing both budget and space pressures (Denver was required to give up 20,000 square feet of shelf space to student use), both libraries have joined a usage-based purchase program with YBP Library Services in which an e-book can now be rented when requested by a library user; and after a certain number of requests demonstrate the book’s likely continued use, the e-book is then acquired at the hardcover list price."

No wonder college tuition is so high! Someone has to pay for all those library books that students never use. Goodbye heavy, expensive textbooks and reference books. This further drives the path towards e-books and e-readers taking over the university market.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - June 21, 2010

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:
I have several author clients who have sold over 100,000 (a few of these have sold over 1,000,000 copies!). I believe they should be proud of their success. Becoming a bestseller is a rare achievement that most writers only dream about. However, the marketing trend among many high-level authors comes across as "it's all about me."

For instance, I recently visited a few big-time author websites (not my clients) whose Home page was actually the Store page for their books! From the beginning, their marketing seems to imply, "I don't care about you. Just hurry up and buy my book." Other examples include bestselling authors who plug their books throughout an entire speech. The audience sits there feeling like they're stuck in an infomercial.

You can't sell books if you don't let readers know that they exist. But, you can't endear readers to your message and grow a larger platform if you don't meet their needs first. The main issue that concerns most people is "How can you help me?" To establish the value that you offer your audience, consider these two questions:

· How do I improve the condition of my audience?
· What tangible results do I know that my readers experience?

The key to effective marketing is showing how you meet people's needs, even if you write fiction. Therefore, your marketing efforts should be reader-focused, rather than self-focused. Examine all of your promotional materials, such as websites, bios, blogs, and brochures. Do they express a selfless desire to help others? Or, do they convey a sense of self-importance?


Chew on this:
"The problem with using points during public speaking is that it doesn't reflect the world we live in. We don't live our lives by points. We live by our emotions. We respond to what we see, taste, and feel. So, there's no compelling reason (for the audience) to remember a list of points."
Andy Stanley, author of
Communicating for a Change

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© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - June 14, 2010

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:
When you market a product or service, don't make the mistake of expecting perfection from every activity. For example, let's say you're an author who sends out your first monthly newsletter. But, after a few weeks, no one invites you to do a speaking engagement, conduct a media interview, or buy a bunch of your books. That's doesn't mean that your newsletter was a failure. There are many variables that affect people's buying behavior, including the fact that most need to hear about you 4 - 7 times before they decide to act.

Marketing isn't about striking it rich with every activity you do. Instead, your goal should be to build a "body of work" over time that generates momentum and draws attention to you. People are sick and tired of authors who constantly plug their books and businesses who hype their products. In contrast, people are hungry for experts who can provide information that helps solve a problem or improve their life.

Your body of work consists of all the various ways to let people know that your message can help them. For example, you can send newsletters, post advice on your blog, speak in public, get articles published, conduct media interviews, keep your website updated, produce spinoff products, create podcasts, etc. When you do several of these activities on a consistent basis, then you will position yourself in a way that draws people to your product or service.


Chew on this:
"Saying 'No' is the key word in defining your identity, your individualism, or, in organizational terms, your brand. If you cannot say No, you do not have a brand, for your brand is defined by what you say No to."
William Ury, author of
The Power of a Positive No


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© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.

June Amazon Comparison of ECPA Publishers

Unfortunate news this month. The information service (www.TitleZ.com) that I use to generate my Amazon comparison of ECPA publishers has changed the way they report their Amazon rankings. At the beginning of June, they started simultaneously including both Kindle and print versions of books when I conducted a specific publisher search.

The problem is that now you can't tell which book is a Kindle version and which is print without doing a very time-consuming manual search. TitleZ has given no explanation for why they suddenly started reporting their Amazon ranking this way.

Because of this problem, I'm unable to generate my monthly research based only on print versions of books. If TitleZ goes back to the former way of reporting, I'll gladly provide my free research again and post the results on this blog.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I appreciate everyone's support of this monthly research that I've provided to the industry for the last 18 months.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - June 7, 2010

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:
There's an old adage among professional speakers that says "The brain can only absorb what the behind can withstand." This means that the longer a speaker talks on stage, usually the less information the audience tends to remember. For example, I've watched a lot of authors give really long speeches where they talked through every single chapter of their book. They droned on and on for over an hour like a never-ending commercial. These authors thought they were showing the audience all the great stuff in their book, which they hope would encourage people to buy a copy.

However, the opposite reaction tends to happen. That's because when a speaker covers too much information, it all tends to run together and cancel itself out in the mind of the listener. Worse, rushing through a ton of content sends a signal that you're more concerned with covering your material than trying to help or entertain the audience. In essence, you generate an emotional cue that says I'm more concerned about me than you. Unless you're a popular celebrity with rabid fans, this self-focused approach will hinder audience retention and reduce book sales.


Chew on this:
"You should never sell your books or services from the platform. If you're good at what you do, people will flock to buy them based on your ability to have helped them during your talk, not because you mercilessly flog them from the platform. This is simply an abuse and an unethical intrusion on the audience's time."
Alan Weiss
Money Talks: How to Make a Million as a Speaker

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directly to your email inbox,

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© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.