Top Five Mistakes I've Made in Marketing My Books

I'm getting ready to publish my fifth Wyatt the Wonder Dog picture book!  It's always exciting to be at the end point of publishing a book but it really is just the beginning of marketing something new.  I've made plenty of mistakes in marketing...some of them very recently.  But I always try to learn something from them, so I want to share some of the biggest mistakes I've make and the insights I've learned. 

#1.  Not Critiquing/Editing my Work - This is huge and yet I know how hard it is to ask for and accept an honest opinion on something that you have put your heart and soul into.  Sometimes it feels almost like asking someone to give you advice on your own child, then getting your feelings hurt when they tell you that you've got a brat on your hands. However, as the writer, we are just too close to the material to adequately review what we've written.  Author, Terry Kay says you need two types of critique partners:  one who is brutally honest and one who loves your work unconditionally. Make sure you find one of each to steer you on the journey.

#2.  Not Clarifying Your Ideal Customer:  Especially when you write a children's book, it's easy to think that you can just promote your book anywhere that there might be parents hanging out.... and isn't that just about everywhere?  The truth is you need to clearly identify who is your audience and then establish a presence in that market. Knowing your ideal customer means you know everything about them.  What are their interests?  What age are they?  What are the problems/stressors that they deal with everyday?  Where do they shop?   Just because a lot of parents take their kids to a festival, does not mean they will be interested in buying a book while they are there.  On the other hand, a Christmas bazaar at the local church where there are lots of women buying Christmas presents, might just be the ideal place. 

# 3.  Not Educating the Potential Customer About the Benefits of the Book:  Most of us just expect our readers to know how great a book is intuitively.  After all we've spent so much time writing and rewriting the story, we could recite it by heart.  Don't expect that everyone else is equally engaged.  Do they know  how it can change kids lives?  Do they know how funny, touching, clever the story line is?  Do they know about the free activity guide, lesson plan and discussion questions in the back and the numerous freebies that you've incorporated into the website?  Expecting potential customers to find you and your book and then beat a path to your door without educating them first about the value is like expecting to find a needle in a haystack...without even looking.

#4  Not Consistently Engaging Your Readers--too many first time writers focus intently on getting their book into print on Amazon and then sit back waiting for the big bucks to roll in.  If that was your approach, I bet you are still waiting... To effectively market your book, you need to think like a marketer all the time.  That doesn't mean you turn into the sleazy salesperson you hate.  It means that you look for opportunities to share your book, establish relationships and nurture your readers, even when you haven't just launched a book.  You can do this in numerous ways;  a blog, an email list or an ezine, but make sure that you are thinking like a marketer 24/7. 

Want to help me with choosing the title to my newest book?  Check out the poll in the sidebar and vote for your favorite!

Join the Wyatt tribe and help me with launching my newest book.  You can sign up here!!  www.wyatthewonderdog.com

Stay tuned for the newest Wyatt book...Coming the first of June!!!

 

 

The One Key to Success: Massive Failure

I was talking with a teacher about a student in her classroom whose behavior was out of control one day to the point that she decided he needed a visit to the principal to reinforce the rules. She had to admit that she was amused however at his comment upon arriving at the principal’s door. It seems that under his breath he muttered, “I bet nothing good ever comes out of a visit here…”

Success is a word that is discussed and thrown around a lot.  In schools, teachers are focused on making sure students are successful.  Businesses set  and achieve goals in order to be successful.  We are all interested in learning how to be successful in our careers, in our family life and in our social life.  We can even learn how to  be successful in our spiritual life. There are books, classes and even coaches who chronicle how to be successful.

Failure on the other hand is something to be avoided, isn't it?  There is lip service given to learning from our mistakes, but do we really accept failure as a necessary part of the path to success?  Do we dash head long into failure or try to skirt around it?  In a recent article from Darren Hardy of Success magazine, he writes that some of the best advice he ever got on how to be successful, was to increase his rate of failure.  He was told he should try to fail fast and often.  Does this sound crazy to you?  Does it make you nervous? It does me!

What are the benefits of failure?

• "I wasn't failing, I was learning how to succeed."  This quote from Ted Turner reframes the experience of failure.  Rather than looking at it as something to avoid, he approaches it as a learning opportunity.  There is much to be gained from failure and not just how to avoid it next time.  Sometimes there is opportunity in failure to begin again using the lessons learned. 
• "The key to success is massive failure... whoever can fail the most, the fastest and the biggest, wins."  Tom Watson of IBM.  How can this be true?  Here is an example:  Today when I stopped for gas, there were several sales people offering to spray some magic wax product on cars as a demonstration of it's amazing ability to clean off all kinds of stuff.  Some of the sales people were standing around looking uncomfortable, but the one that approached me knew what he was doing.  He wasn't pushy just helpful. He identified things on my car that needed cleaning and showed the benefits. He showed off the product. He made a sale.  When you are selling, the more chances you take at failure, (in this case approaching people who may say no), the more chances you have that you will find the people who want to say yes.  How many no's does it take to  get to a yes? An average of seven, I've heard. If you approach failure as a necessary experience to get through to get to yes, it becomes something you want to seek out frequently.
•  "The increase in volume, speed and size of my failure also increased the volume, speed and size of my success."  Darren Hardy, publisher and founding editor of Success magazine.  What if you set a goal for yourself, not of how many times you could succeed but of how many times you could fail?  What if the magic wax salesman set a goal of.... maybe 25 no's in a day, or in a couple of hours?  What if he met his goal?  Don't you imagine that he would have also been the most successful of the sales team that day?  Those other sales people who were standing around waiting for things to happen didn't hear any no's... they also didn't hear any yeses.  He would have taken the most risks but he would have also reaped the most benefits.  He would have heard, "No thanks" the most but I bet he would also have heard "Ok, I'll buy that"  the most too.  In the process, he would also have learned a lot about the best approaches to use and practiced them the most frequently. 

Failure.  A word and experience that most of us avoid.  But contrary to  popular belief, failure isn't the end of the road, just the beginning of a new path.  Failure isn't just useful.  It isn't just a great opportunity to learn.  It is often a necessary part of success.  In many cases, where there is no failure, there is no success.

Want to download a free copy of my children's picture book, coming out soon?  Sign up on the free book tab here:  http://wyatthewonderdog.com/

Join the Called Woman Network and get regular inspirational messages and the Called Woman Manifesto:  http://acalledwoman.com/

Join my Thirty Day Challenge and create goals that work!  http://lynnewatts.com/coaching-for-success/


Like this blog?  Share in facebook and twitter! 

   

Do You Want To Be Significant Or Successful?

I recently read an article on http://www.mywiredstyle.com/ entitled "Are You Successfully Significant?" In the article, Deb Ingino discussed the difference between being successful through achievement and being successful through being significant.  The first one is being successful through accomplishing goals and the second one is being successful through making a difference in other's lives.  The difference as she pointed out, is that the first one is all about me and the other is all about you. Interestingly enough, when we make it all about you, we benefit greatly as well. I believe this is a critical point and one that is easily missed. I seem to see some version of this everywhere. For instance,the ongoing discussion in every social media article I read, is the sudden insight that those of us on twitter and facebook have spent way too much time racking up numbers while too little effort has been put into developing relationships. Isn't this just another way of saying that it's more important to make a difference than to strive to reach a goal which benefits only ourselves? I believe this is a good way to evaluate each goal that we set.  Ask the question, " Will accomplishing this goal make me significant or just successful?" Or as Zig Ziglar always liked to say, "You can accomplish anything you want if you just help enough others get what they want."