Marketing, the despised part of self-publishing for most authors. I’m a self-confessed dummy when it comes to marketing. I want to learn and I was so blessed to stumble across this brilliant group of experts. This past week I had the pleasure of attending the online Book Marketing Experts Summit, hosted by best-selling author and self-publishing coach, Geoff Affleck. A big thank you to Geoff for putting all these experts together.
There was so much information. I have a notebook full of notes and new resources to help me in my journey. This is rather a long post but if you’ll take the time to read on, I list the experts for you to connect with.
What I learned: Marketing is a journey that can not be done alone. It’s a blend of learning from the experts, using the right tools, making contacts and building a following. Each part important, a continuing chain of unbroken links.
Chris Van Buren, digital marketing expert and best-selling author, covered how to prioritize your book marketing and Kathryn Kemp Guylay covered ways to make marketing fun. Now don’t shake your head, she really convinced me it could be fun.
Keywords are important, vital, if you want to get noticed. They must be researched and used to the max. Dave Chesson is an expert on this subject. He is the founder of Kindleprenuer and shared valuable insight. He also has some brilliant software that will help choose the right keywords for your book and book ads. Penny Sansevieri also showed how using the right keywords increases your visibility.
Adam Houge, best-selling author and marketing expert shares his journey in learning, using his Fan Base Formula to grow your email list.
Alinka Ruthkowska, a marketing expert and author of How I sold 80,000 Books. She revealed many tricks in using everyone you come in contact with to spread your base. I encourage you to grab her book, it’s free on Amazon. In the book she provides many, many resources. Every author needs this book!
Derek Doepker shared how to get your book sales on auto pilot. Unless you’ve had your head in the sand you have heard of Derek. He is a successful author and marketing coach with many programs available to help you on your journey.
Debbie Drum covered book reviews. That got your attention didn’t it. It’s what all authors want. The struggle is getting the reader to leave one. She offered valuable advice to get more reviews.
John Tighe covered fan base platform building. Again, many valuable tips on how to get fans to subscribe to your email list.
Kelsye Nelson covered how to get your first 100 fans and nurture them. Tips on giving away something free to get them to sign up and follow you and tips on keeping them interested.
Last but not least, Jesse Krieger, a marketing expert and successful entrepreneur. He revealed how to grow your audience doing online summits. Interesting concept I had never thought of.
I know I won’t be able to implement all I have learned overnight, but they have given me valuable tools to start the process. I encourage you to go online, Google them, check out their courses and resources. Many of them offer free checklists, books and other tools on their websites.
Thank you to Geoff for putting this together and all the presenters who gave their valuable time to enlighten and encourage.
I’m excited to start implementing these tips and tricks and I promise to share the results.
Positive thought for the day: Make a commitment to be the best you can be and help others become their best selves.
