Are You Marketing or Advertising

First, may I say,

Before we get started on today's topic, I'd like to tell a story that I first read about in a Zen book.

Two monks were walking along a road after a rainstorm. On the way they came to a large puddle which they had to cross. Standing in front of the puddle was a young woman who needed to cross also but was afraid to get her beautiful dress ruined.
One of the monks carried her to the other side and put her down. She went on her way.
After walking for quite a while in silence, the other monk could not keep quiet any longer.
” Why did  you carry that girl on your back? We are monks and are not allowed to touch women.”
The monk who carried the woman over the puddle smiled and said: “I  let go of her already and have gone on, but it seems you are still carrying her with you!”

To be successful we all must ever move on, step by step. It's a New Year and time to let the past go. Set down your last year's baggage and march forward, ready to gree the new year.

On that note, let's get to Marketing vs advertising.

Do you know what the difference is?
Marketing is defined as: the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (from The American Marketing Association.)

What is advertising?

Noun The activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services.

Synonyms advertisement - publicity - ad

Advertising is actually a branch of Marketing. So I'll ask you again, are you marketing or advertising? If you're strictly advertising, you won't have the success you would if you practiced marketing. A sign, for instance is advertising.

The biggest mistake I see self-published authors make is that they advertise, not market their product.

How many of you have seen this in groups you belong in:
'My book is now out. You can get it at these places for $X.' but they don't just advertise it once, they continually bombard the group with this ad.

'You can still get my book.' is another one. They've jumped past marketing and hope by announcing (advertising) that everyone will run out and buy their book.

Taking Those First Steps

Let's say you've come up with an idea for a product that you hope might sell. What's your first step?
A drawing? yes, probably. A schematic? absolutely. A list of materials and an estimate of time? no doubt. Cost? very important. Budget? even more important.

But the most important thing of all is one that many hopeful sellers forget:

WIIFM   That's right. The WIIFM. You need to consider this if you're hoping to sell your product. What's a WIIFM and where can you buy one, you ask?

WIIFM: What's in it for me? That's a WIIFM. What's In It For Me. In other words, what do you have that a consumer wants to buy? How will you promote your product so the consumer wants your product?

For every one person who likes your product, that person will tell three others about it.
For every one person who doesn't like your product, that person will tell 10 others, and nowadays it's quite common for unhappy consumers to give a bad review of the product. Fewer happy customers review, so WIIFM is very, very important. For an author, it means being correct in what genre you write and writing a synopsis that appeals to the right audience, and then selling to the right audience.

The 5 P's of Marketing and another P and a U.  

There used to be just 4 P's, but it's common now to add a fifth (and I'm not talking about that bottle you're holding trying to figure this out).

1. Product

2. Price (does the price match the product? yes, your novel is the greatest story ever written at 50 pages, but do you really expect someone to pay $12.99 for an unknown e-book by an unknown author?)

3. Place (for authors we could also add where to sell & genre)

4. Promotion

5. People - you and everyone else involved in the making and selling of your product

I'd add Polling. I've got an idea along this line that I'll share once it's all ready. Ask people, maybe on your FB page or your blog or website. Which cover do you like? Would you buy my book based on my synopsis? But please, please, please don't try to sell your book by this offer: 'I need people to review my book. You can find it here for only this amount.'  Sorry, but all you're saying to me is, 'I believe I'm smarter than you and can trick you into buying my book.'

When I want someone to review my book, I offer it to them free. If you ask me to review your book, I'll do it, but only if your book is free. If I've chosen to buy your book without your request, I'll still review it, but please don't think it's fair to ask someone to buy your book just to review it.

U - (this one is solely mine) Uniqueness What makes your story so different from all the other books out there? Why should someone buy your book over the others? Have you defined the uniqueness in your synopsis or description?

'The Greatest Love Story Ever Told'   blah. I've already read that.

'She Yearned for More'  and what?
'Funniest Book Ever Written'  the excerpt wasn't funny...

I saw a commercial today for a TV show that I've never watched. It was a tease and a good one:

'I'm caught between the man I love and the man that I am dangerously attracted to.'   What! What time is this show on? dangerously attracted to? That was my reaction.

Here's a commercial I am really enjoying, and if I were single I'd use their online service simply because of this ad. However, there are a great many people who think Zoosk ads are horrible. See what you think:

It's unique and funny, just in time for Valentines (perfect timing) and I love it.

The Money Factor

So many writers want to be published badly and hope for high sales of their books. First of all, the average author doesn't make enough from the sale of books to not have to work another job. Sorry, but that's the truth, and most of us publish because we have stories to tell.  But using what money you have wisely is important. Many sites offer to advertise your book, but look carefully. It can get quite expensive. Google, Amazon, and Goodreads have a program that charges per click in a month. In other words, you agree to sell on Google. Google shows your product and each time someone clicks on it (it's a link to where it's sold) your credit card is charged X amount. 

I like this idea, but what if it's $1 per click and 500 people click on it? Have you budgeted for that amount? Goodreads has a similar program but they'll let you set a limit. Your budget says you can spend $20 this month on advertising. Goodreads will let you set a 20 click limit. But be aware, after 20 clicks, if someone clicks on your book, nothing happens.

Start small. Look for blogs that advertise or sites that will list your book for nothing (my daughter-in-law runs ads on her blog with great success). Granted, you won't make huge sales like if you used Google or Amazon or Goodreads, but putting a lot of money into something that you're not sure is going to sell - well, you might as well run an ad that says 'If you buy my book, I'll send you X amount of my money.'

Don't get me wrong. I love the idea of clicks and hopefully someday I can afford it, but right now it's not the right investment. I will say this - sometimes Google will offer $100 off the first month. That's a great deal, if you can afford it.

The Ink-slingers League

To be successful anymore you need to network, network, and then network some more. It takes a lot of time and energy, and many make the mistake of joining groups to sell their products. When that doesn't happen, they drop out. Are you in a lot of groups to network? I sure am.

If you look in the upper left corner you'll see a button for our group, The Ink-slingers League, where we discuss current issues dealing with book publishing and selling, and where we help each other out by reviewing sections of writing or giving suggestions. If you're serious about promoting your book, you're welcome to give us a try. Later this month, we'll close the group and it'll be by invite only. Drop by, take a look at our topics and see if it's something that will work for you. If it is, you're welcome to join us.

Remember to support each other. It's important to all of us succeeding.

And speaking of support, please take a moment to check out the wonderful review Beth Muscat wrote about my novel Always:  http://bethsreviewsandpromotions.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/always-by-d-m-yates/

LHR (love, honor and respect) my friends and PAWS (poets, writers, artisans striving) for Success.