I often hear authors express their ongoing frustration at having been the recipient of a successful and prestigious publicity campaign, and yet their books are not flying off the shelves as they hoped. What is the magic ingredient that leads to record breaking sales and worldwide notoriety?
Clearly there are many factors that help create the awareness and demand experts seek. All successful campaigns appear to have the following ingredients as part of the tools that make the difference:
• First, they have a book with solid information that is packaged with a catchy and attractive cover
• Second, they run a traditional print, television and radio campaign
• Third, they utilize the Internet to promote their message
Many authors have done these rather obvious steps and have not achieved the success they hoped. Media campaigns are a crucial element, but let’s stop and review the basics of what makes any product sell. In my experience there are three key ingredients that are required to elevate a media campaign into successful book sales. While many factors go into a true bestseller, these three stand out:
• Create an identity that distinguishes you from all other authors in your genre. This can be done through your credentials, your personality or any other unique method to help get your message across. Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil have both used this strategy very successfully.
• Be personal. People buy from people. Regardless of how wonderful your work might be, people want to get a feeling they are reading about someone they might like to have over for dinner, especially if you are positioning yourself as a national expert. Creating an emotional reaction in people stimulates their desire to buy. Note that many best selling authors use a variety of emotions to connect with their audience - that's why social networking is important!!!
www.twitter.com/pamperry :)
• Send a consistent and ongoing press release campaign to the media, relating your work to a current and/or seasonal event. Soon, media personnel will think of you when certain public events unfold and you will become their expert of choice.
Selling books, products and services is what publicity is all about. Don’t follow the yellow brick road unless it leads to success in sales, rather than simply media appearances. Have a strategy in place when choosing your methods to promote your book. The Internet is and will continue to be a valuable tool in your marketing kit due to the flexibility and longevity it offers.
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TIPS TO REMEMBER
** Offer your content as a teaser, but let the editors know up front you are interested in a long-term expert or ongoing contributor position. Single placements are not worth much unless they lead to a more permanent and therefore more promotable position within a site.
** Offer an entire series on one of your topics. Your work will be promoted longer and with more visibility. This will also help distinguish your expertise with that site.
** Offer links to other websites in your articles. When people click to those sites, you should be listed as a reference. This can be a great trick to get prominent colleagues to promote your work.
www.PamPerryPR.com
Posted By: Pam Perry
Monday, February 23rd 2009 at 11:59PM
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