Monday Morning Marketing Tip - August 29, 2011

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip

is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations

spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:

Too many authors unfairly expect people to read their books, fall in love with them, and immediately go buy 10 copies to give away to friends. But, that's an unrealistic expectation. People aren't going to flock to bookstores and spend $100 to market your book for you. Yet, this is what many authors seem to anticipate. They subconsciously shift the burden of marketing to their readers (or their publisher) and expect other people to make word of mouth happen for them. However, word of mouth doesn't work that way. Instead, readers will tell their friends about your book if you make it easy for them to do so. You have to remove the barriers of apathy, cost, and skepticism that people carry in their mind. Otherwise, they'll never take action. It is the author's responsibility to provide tools that enable people to spread word of mouth. You do this by creating free resources that are easy for people to pass along to someone else.

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© Rob Eagar 2011. All rights reserved.

Switzerland Vacation Pictures

How does a marketing consultant maintain his creativity and sanity to keep providing value to clients? He takes a break and goes on vacation in the Swiss Alps!

My wife and I recently spent two weeks in the Lauterbrunnen Valley hiking and biking among the tiny towns of Murren and Wengen. This area of Switzerland is literally one of the most picturesque regions I've seen in the entire world. Beware of looking at the following images...you may find yourself suddenly skipping down and boarding a plane to Europe.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - August 22, 2011

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip

is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations

spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:

Sometimes, I get caught up in the effect that Amazon reviews can have on a particular book. For example, if someone recommends a title to me, my habit is to go find that book on Amazon.com and read through most of the reviews. Based on those comments, I'll generally form an opinion as to whether or not I want to purchase the book.

The power of the collective voice on Amazon has become one of the biggest factors over people's buying decisions. And, Amazon's system is more robust and influential than any other retailer. So, as an author, you cannot afford to ignore the persuasive force that's in play. That's why I recommend regularly monitoring your Amazon book reviews and staying on top of the public's feedback. If you disregard what people say, you could needlessly lose a lot of book sales.

Having said that, it's okay to encourage your community of fans to support you by posting positive reviews on Amazon (as well as other sites, such as B&N.com, GoodReads, LibraryThing, FaceBook, Twitter, etc.) If you find that your book is struggling to get reviews, here are some active steps you can take to address the issue.

• Send out a newsletter or an email blast to your fans asking them to submit a review. It's okay to ask for help. Some of my clients who are New York Times bestsellers do this regularly.
• When someone sends you a letter or an email thanking you for your book, respond quickly and ask that person to return the favor by posting a favorable review.
• Ask people who have already given you a formal endorsement to post their glowing comments on Amazon.

Use Amazon to your benefit by trying to garner as many reviews as possible. You can achieve this goal primarily by writing a great book. High quality work will ultimately stimulate great feedback. That's why the level of your writing still matters to your book's success. If you churn out a boring, uninspired manuscript that lacks solid research and editing, you may pay a price in the court of public opinion.

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click here.

© Rob Eagar 2011. All rights reserved.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - August 15, 2011

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip

is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations

spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:

SEO is an abbreviation for a term used by website programmers and hosting companies that stands for "Search Engine Optimization." This concept refers to employing various methods to make your website appear on the first page of displayed answers when someone conducts an Internet search on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. There are both paid and free techniques that can be used to help the search engines find you and rank you higher than other sites. The problem is that there are all manner of technology sharks who will lure you into paying extra money to use their SEO "secrets."

These techniques usually focus on trying to drive random people to your site when they conduct an Internet search. But, that's not your goal as an author. Instead, you want to be the primary option when someone searches on your specific book topic or expertise. The good news is that you can enhance your search engine results for free through properly choosing your website metatags, keywords, blog posts, and providing lots of online articles on your subject. Tell your webmaster to make sure that your site contains keywords that focus on your name, book titles, and article titles.

As an author, you want targeted, repeat traffic to visit your website - not random, disinterested traffic. You're trying to build a community, not a flea market of casual observers. So, don't let people up-sell you on paid SEO services. Most of those tactics are a waste of money. You will grow legitimate website traffic as you build your reader community and strengthen word-of-mouth among your fans.

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© Rob Eagar 2011. All rights reserved.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - August 8, 2011

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip

is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations

spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:

After coaching over 400 authors, I've observed a tendency among some writers to believe that marketing their books is a strange, foreign behavior that must be forced into their life. The notion of promoting your work feels phony or unnecessary. Included in this mentality is the false assumption that marketing is a manipulative scheme developed by corporate America. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. The concept of marketing is actually a foundational part of transferring ideas from one person to another. I'll even argue that God takes credit for the invention of marketing.

For example, consider biblical passages that say, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" or "Jesus said, 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.'" Notice how God never expected anyone to blindly accept His message. Rather, He encourages people to taste His goodness first and then make a decision. Tasting is the same idea as an author offering sample chapters and free resources to skeptical readers. In addition, God knew that people would struggle to believe Him without dwelling in a physical form. So, you could say that God sent Jesus on a high-profile "book tour" to act as His representative. Heck, God even became an author by compiling everything about Himself into a book (as you would guess, He's also the biggest bestseller in history.)

So, if you're an author who struggles with promoting your work, realize that God faced the same situation. And, He didn't choose to sit in Heaven and hope people would someday read His words. He marketed His message in many ways, and proactively spent time face-to-face with people. Therefore, if the concept of marketing is good enough for God, why not consider giving it a try? Let the world taste and see that your book is good.

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click here.

© Rob Eagar 2011. All rights reserved.

Monday Morning Marketing Tip - August 1, 2011

Rob Eagar's Monday Morning Marketing Tip

is written to help authors, publishers, and organizations

spread their message like wildfire.

This week's focus:

If you want to get more media interviews, put yourself in the position of a radio or TV producer. Would you rather be approached by an author who is just trying to get airtime to promote a book? Or, would you prefer to be approached by an author who is an expert on a relevant topic to the audience? From the producer's perspective, one approach feels selfish, while the other seems helpful.

Producers would much rather work with authors who are trying to help them achieve their goals. They have no desire to turn their programs into annoying infomercials that plug an author's book. Audience ratings will drop if a show is too promotional. Nobody likes to be constantly sold.

Due to this fact, producers are constantly monitoring what topics might be of interest to their audience. If they can acquire guests who are experts on those relevant topics, offer interesting discussion, and are fun to watch, then the audience will tune-in on a repeated basis. Producers dream of their show being seen as the "go-to" source of information or the top entertainment choice with the public. If they can achieve that position, then their audience ratings will stay high.

Therefore, if you want to get more media exposure, don't push your book. Instead, stress an interesting topic that would be important to the audience. By doing so, you give yourself a much greater chance of grabbing a producer's attention.

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click here.

© Rob Eagar 2011. All rights reserved.