When I first met John Stoker, he expressed some disappointment about the marketing of his May 2013 release, Overcoming Fake Talk.
If I had ten bucks for every time someone expressed disappointment about money spent on publicity and marketing, I could take the trip to Hawaii I’ve always dreamed of. (Well, not quite.)
The trouble with hiring a marketing and publicity companies is a lack of clear guarantees. Beyond that, companies offer a large range of services at a huge range of price points.
People may not know what they are paying for and they also may not know what results to reasonably expect.
And underscoring the question of what to invest and with whom is the certainty that without marketing and publicity, authors will not get the results and reach they hope for.
But what works? What activities and initiatives move the needle on sales? What is the highest impact opportunity for investment in marketing and publicity?
Does social media work? Does PR? Television? Radio? Advertising?
How is marketing and publicity money best invested?
Marketing books is not easy. Marketing business books is exceedingly challenging, as thousands are published each year to a shrinking audience of readers.
When people come to my team and me for support in bringing their books into the world, what I most often hear is that people want to share their books with as many people as possible. Most often, this desire is not about making money from their books; it is truly about making as big a difference as possible with their message.
As a wise friend once said, what I really sell is hope. People who invest with my company believe and hope that the work we initiate on their behalf will have powerful results in extending the impact of their messages.
This week, I learned, happily, that it is never too late to invest energy, time, and money in marketing a book.
For several months, my team has been laying the groundwork for a renewed effort on behalf of John Stoker and Overcoming Fake Talk.
John wasn’t sure what to expect and we weren’t sure either. What response would we have to our marketing efforts of a book 17 months after its initial release?
What we’ve seen so far is tremendous response to media pitches and our PR Web news release, several new reviews on Amazon, and a big spike in Amazon rank on both Kindle and print versions of the book. This afternoon, we have over 100 people registered for a free webinar (it’s not too late to sign up!). We are seeing people share about the book on social channels.
We created new opportunities and energy around a book months after it’s new release.
The lesson: it’s never to late to do something!
I am the founder/CEO of the Weaving Influence team, the author of Reach: Creating the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause, and the host of the Book Marketing Action Podcast. I’m a wife and mom of three kids, and I enjoy running, reading, writing, coffee, and dark chocolate.