What to Do Daily, Weekly and Monthly to Brand Your Book

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

by Power Circle Expert, Pam Perry pamperrypr.com

Most authors will not become millionaires unless they have multiple works or multiple streams of income that can keep their income level consistent. Otherwise, they will not be able to give up their “day jobs.”
But there are ways to build momentum, expand your platform and solidify your brand so you are successful. Most authors tell me, “I don’t have time” or “I don’t know what to next” or “I hit a brick wall – and I can’t seem to get motivated to market anymore.”

You can market yourself everyday just by doing these things.

When I coach clients, these are the things I tell them to do on an ongoing basis:

Brand Your Book and Build Buzz Monthly
• Attend a writers meeting or critique group.
• Ask for reviews or endorsements from those you’ve given “comp” copies too.
• Attend a civic organization and tell the members what you do.
• Read trade publications like Writer’s Digest or The Writer.
• Take a teleclass or attend another type of live internet event.
• Look for contests you can enter or awards you can nominate yourself for.
• Create a YouTube video message or be a guest on a local cable show.
• Hold or plan a teleseminar.
• Update your media list & research for new ones to add.
• Invite a media person you’ve admired to lunch.
• Participate at an event by speaking, presenting or teaching.
• Write articles and submit to article directories.
• Post reviews of other books you’ve read on Amazon.
• Write and post press releases.
• Write and pitch feature stories to the media.
• Create and distribute an online or direct mail newsletter.
• Reach out to bloggers and see if you can do a “blog tour” with them.
• Meet with your advisors, mentors or “master mind” partners.
• Add additional information to your website or blogsite (i.e. a blog article, a link).
• Keep in touch with key bookstores that are selling your books.
• Email mini-courses to those who sign up via an Eblast that you send out.
• Manage back end tasks such as customer support, accounting, sales, etc.
• Look for easier ways to do business. Ask others what systems they use.

Brand Your Book and Build Buzz Weekly
• Give someone you meet one of your books and follow up in 30 days.
• Visit an online forum and participate or get some PR coaching.
• Look for new articles to read on internet marketing and joint ventures (Google).
• Listen to podcasts (look for the topic of interest online in a podcast directory).
• Send an eblast to your email list – giving them a tip or link to blog post you found helpful.
• Mail a handwritten note or postcard to someone you met in person or connect with online.
• Post to your blog & add a new feature to “amp” it up (get cues from other blogs).
• Drop postcards or bookmarks at places where you regularly go – bookstores, libraries, hair salons, cleaners, restaurants, coffee shops.
• Update your website or blogsite by adding current “media hits” and interviews.
• Send an email to someone online you would like to connect with.
• Interact with a “group” on Facebook or LinkedIn.
• Get to know the key authors / leaders in your field. Follow their blogs or Google them to see what they are up to.
• Keep track of your stats on your website, blogs and Ezine opens.
• Do at least one blog talk show or at the very least call-in to one.
• Post a bulletin on your MySpace or Facebook and add some new blogs.

Brand Your Book and Build Buzz Daily
• Write. Write. Write. That’s your main job. Content is king!
• Read some trade pubs or read magazines in your niche.
• Comment on someone else’s blog.
• Make a phone call to a media outlet you’d like to be featured on.
• Read the daily newspapers looking for topics you can comment on.
• Scan columns by the regular columnists and give feedback their blogs.
• Add friends to your Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn accounts.
• Follow someone new on Twitter or Shelfari.
• Add people to your database that you meet or have not been in touch with (with permission).
• Add an automatic signature to all the emails your answer.
• Twitter by sending a link to your blog, or a favorite blog, or a free report they can download.
• Participate in message boards, chat group or yahoo groups that are industry related. This helps to increase exposure and give your information to stay on the cutting-edge.

For a creative writer and author, time is managed with calendars – not with clocks. What you are doing is leaving a virtual “footprint” everywhere you go – online and offline. These elements can be implemented with little or no outside help.

If implemented correctly and consistently, these mini-marketing tactics can help revolutionize your ministry or business in no time. By continually branding yourself with the key message of your platform, people will come to you for information and expertise.

Remember to have a marketing mindset and let people know why they should buy your book (mention the benefits of what the book will do for them.) Keep the main thing “the main thing” – focus on changing lives and making an impact for the Kingdom.

Building solid relationships is critical at every stage of branding. Don’t expect instant results though. Trust is the basis of all relationships. Trust is never freely given – trust is earned. Demonstrate your solid commitment and be willing to stay the course.

Let Pam Perry teach you more about book marketing and branding like a superstar via our upcoming Books.Buzz.Business Webinar Conference. Get your virtual ticket and/or listen to the replays here.

Ministry marketing pioneer, Social media strategist and PR Coach Pam Perry helps African American Christian authors and speakers garner publicity and leverage online strategies. As a 20-year PR veteran, she is also the co-author of “Synergy Energy: How to Use the Power of Partnerships to Market Your Book, Grow Your Business and Brand Your Ministry.” For a free MP3 of “What Every Author Should Know,” go to http://www.PamPerryPR.com.