Monday Morning Marketing Tip - September 27, 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:
Social media is popular because it's the "poor man's" version of marketing. It's free and anyone can do it. But, that doesn't mean it's always effective. Now, before you techie-types send me a bunch of mad emails, remember that I've got more evidence than you have emotion. I watch hundreds of authors, businesses, and non-profits spend inordinate amounts of time (which equals money) on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn trying to boost their business. For the most part, it's like watching a lot of hamsters spinning on a wheel. Lots of effort with little results.

Here's the problem. Everyone jumped on the social media bandwagon so fast that too many people are vying for our attention. In those situations, the most humorous, salacious, or ridiculous usually win the battle. How do you compete with all of this noise? Don't try to win the battle. Focus solely on attracting and providing value to those who need you the most. No one really cares about what you had for lunch or where you went on vacation. But, they do care if you can help make their life better.

Are you using social media, or is it using you? Focus on how you can help people, and let your value be the spark that starts a wildfire for your message.

Chew on this:
"Social media has become a form of reality television. People with essentially nothing to say have a venue to say whatever they please, making them believe that they have do have something to say. The medium has become the message. And, the message is vacuous and vapid."

- Alan Weiss

Authors with marketing savvy sell more books...

it's time you became one of them.

Rob Eagar announces his new workshop:

How to Sell Books Like WildFire!

November 6, 2010 in Atlanta, GA

Space is limited to the first 10 authors who signup.
Click here for details and registration

To receive Rob's Monday Morning Marketing Tip directly to your email inbox,

click here

© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - September 20, 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:
You must beware of listening to unsolicited feedback. Some authors and business leaders are especially notorious for letting random comments, both good or bad, radically influence their direction. For example, just because someone posts something negative on your Facebook wall, blog, or book's Amazon page doesn't mean they're right. Have they ever written a successful book? Are they an expert in their field? Are they worth listening to, or are they just trying to put forth their personal agenda?

Be careful who you listen to. Only accept advice from someone you trust who has the expertise to back up their credible point of view. Seek critical feedback from those who have gone before you successfully. You wouldn't take legal advice from someone who isn't a lawyer. Why listen to critics who haven't done it well themselves?

Chew on this:
"Never take financial advice from a broke person."

- Anonymous

Authors with marketing savvy sell more books...

it's time you became one of them.

Rob Eagar announces his new workshop:

How to Sell Books Like WildFire!

November 6, 2010 in Atlanta, GA

Space is limited to the first 10 authors who signup.
Click here for details and registration

To receive Rob's Monday Morning Marketing Tip directly to your email inbox,

click here

© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - September 13, 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:
One of the keys to successful marketing is the ability to convince skeptical people that your product or service is worth buying. Your job is to build enough credibility and value in someone else's mind that they believe it's worthwhile for them to part with their money and make a purchase, or part with their time and participate. A great way to generate this belief is by using success stories. Yet, I rarely see authors and business leaders take advantage of this tool.

The point of a good success story is to show how someone benefited from your expertise, whether through a tangible book or an intangible service. If the testimonial is specific and genuine in nature, then it allows the reader to feel a greater sense of trust about you. Trust is one of the most important factors in the buying decision process. For example, here's an example of an ineffective and effective success story for the bestselling book, The Five Love Languages (I chose these randomly from Amazon.com):

Ineffective - "For anyone in any sort of relationship, this book is a must read! I devoured it in two days, and I look forward to reading it again. Love is such an important topic, yet so many of us equate it only to romantic involvements. The Five Love Languages will give you a vast understanding of how all the people in your life will benefit from knowing their particular love language and that of those around them." (This testimonial is too vague and cliché to build trust and value with the reader.)

Effective - "The Five Love Languages is absolutely incredible. Having serious marital problems with my husband, I was desperate for any kind of help. Not expecting too much, one lazy morning I suggested to my husband that we lay in bed and begin reading this book out loud to each other. We read 120 pages that morning! We couldn't put it down! Both of us shed a lot of tears, because the book really hit home. That morning, everything seemed hopeless for us. But, after reading this book, we had new hope that our problems could be resolved. Our attitude toward each other has greatly improved since read Dr. Chapman's book." (This is a powerfully convincing testimonial, because it's specific and relevant to the reader.)

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, whether you run a large business or a small non-profit, success stories are some of the most powerful marketing tools you can use. So ask yourself this week:

1. Is my book or business so good that it improves a person's life? Can I prove it?

2. Am I asking customers for success stories?

3. Am I posting great success stories in all of my marketing materials?

Chew on this:
"Success breeds success."

- Anonymous

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© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.

This is how NOT to give a speech in public!

A hilarious testament to the principle that energy and enthusiasm during a speech can never overcome a lack of value.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - September 6, 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:
Since Labor Day is a national holiday, most people typically celebrate by taking time off to enjoy family, traveling, or rest. However, I find that authors, speakers, and business leaders sometimes have extreme difficulty breaking away from their work to relax. We usually push ourselves to constantly create, connect with our audience, or manage all the duties of moving an organization forward. For instance, some of you reading this email are working right now, rather than resting. National holidays are nice, because they give everyone a reason to slow down. But, I'd argue that 10 federal days off per year is nowhere near enough time to keep the soul recharged.

So, this week's marketing tip is about rest. That's because rest directly relates to marketing, since you can't remain creative if you never give your brain a chance to reset. For instance, when you rest, do you give yourself the freedom and priority to fully break away from your all of writing or business responsibilities? Or, are you the type who constantly checks email on vacation, or spends your time off trying to get ahead in the office or get ahead on your manuscript?

Some of my author clients have told me that resting is the most difficult challenge they face. They work like crazy, and over time they feel like their candle is burning at both ends, which saps them mentally, physically, and spiritually. The problem is that it's usually too late when we recognize the real need for rest. The light bulb goes off in our head when a health concern demands that we slow down, or our family complains that we act driven or too distracted.

This week, take a moment to do two things:

1) Set aside at least two hours before next Monday to really rest, such as go on a relaxing walk, play extra with your children, take a mid-day nap, go out to dinner with your spouse, etc. Whatever you do, give yourself the freedom to fully disconnect from work. If resting is difficult for you, start making this activity a weekly priority.

2) Commit to going on a multi-day vacation sometime in the next 3 - 4 months. Go somewhere that helps you recharge. If money is tight, stay in a local hotel, visit a friend, rent a cabin in the woods, go on an outdoor adventure, etc. The point is to prioritize rest and commit to it on your calendar. When you make rest a priority, you help build balance into your life.

Think about it this way: If taking a Sabbath was good enough for God, why can't it be good enough for us?

Chew on this:
"On the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy."

- Genesis 2:2 - 3

To receive Rob's Monday Morning Marketing Tip directly to your email inbox,

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© Rob Eagar 2010. All rights reserved.