self-promotion

Should I Self-Publish? – Part Three

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If you’ve followed this series, you’ll notice that: a) I think most writers have a project that would make for a fun and possibly profitable self-published book, and b) Creating a successful self-published book will require a fair amount of design and technical skills, either your own or someone else’s. I...

5 Marketing Lessons from Fly-Fishing

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By Rob Eagar In the last year, I took up fly-fishing as a hobby. There’s something surreal and invigorating about standing in the middle of a river. However, catching rainbow trout is no easy task. They’re smart, skeptical, and elusive. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between the challenge of...

3 Steps to Successful Book Marketing – Part 3

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By Rob Eagar Earlier, I covered parts one and two of this 3-part series called “3 Successful Steps to Marketing.” To summarize, I’ve explained how effective marketing can be boiled down to three fundamental questions. Whether you’re an author, business owner, or non-profit director, you can achieve success by asking yourself the following: Step 1...

3 Steps to Successful Book Marketing – Part 2

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By Rob Eagar Previously, I covered part one of a 3-part series called “Successful Steps to Marketing.” The gist is that effective marketing can be boiled down to three fundamental questions. Whether you’re an author, business owner, or non-profit director, you can achieve success by asking yourself these three questions: Step 1...

3 Steps to Successful Book Marketing

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By Rob Eagar Marketing is a simple process when you boil it down to the fundamentals. Whether you’re a fiction or non-fiction author, you can achieve marketing success following these three simple steps. Ask yourself: What is your value? Who needs your value the most? Where do those who need your...

Stop, Look, and Listen for Better Book Marketing

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By Rob Eagar Young children are often taught to “stop, look, and listen” before they cross the street. Stop to see what’s in front of you. Look both ways to make sure no cars are coming. And, listen for any oncoming traffic. This same principle works in marketing. For example, I...

Leak Exclusive Information to Maximize Social Media

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By Rob Eagar If you want more people to follow you on social media, get into the habit of “leaking” exclusive offers or inside information that can’t be found anywhere else. By doing so, you tap into people’s natural curiosity and entice them to stay connected. For instance, if you’re an...

How to Control a Media Interview

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By Rob Eagar A good way to gauge your interview prowess is by mastering the ability to steer a conversation to only the topics that you want to discuss. Just because a radio or TV host asks you a question does NOT mean that you must answer it. Sure, it’s polite...

Marketing is About Success Not Perfection

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By  Rob Eagar Life is about success, not perfection…and so is marketing. Case in point: A few weeks ago, I sent out my weekly newsletter that wound up having a couple of typos in it. Obviously, I didn’t think twice about the issue. But, several people emailed me right away to...

Money is All that Matters in Marketing

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By Rob Eagar Call me crazy, but I like money. Cash, check, direct deposit, wire transfer…I’ll take it. No, I’m not hyper-materialistic. I just like how money allows me to pay my bills, enjoy vacations, and generously donate to others. Therefore, I like the ability to make enough income to do...

Marketing Lessons from My Father

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By Rob Eagar Marketing and sales are in my blood. That’s because I come from a distinguished line of salesmen. My grandfather was in sales. My father was in sales. In college, I tried to buck the trend by majoring in landscape architecture. But, my inability to recall the Latin names of...

All Marketing is a Felt Need

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By Rob Eagar In my work as a marketing consultant, I’ve met numerous authors who work in academic circles, such as counselors, professors, pastors, and specialty book publishers. A common problem among these scholastic groups is the tendency to believe that their marketing should be exempt from the need to answer...

Promote Your Book with Power-Bites

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By Rob Eagar The more you rely on technology to spread your message, the more you must be brief. We live in a world of smaller screens, smaller attention spans, and smaller conversations where media platforms continuously shrink discussions. For instance, radio and TV interviews these days are typically no longer...

How to Build Online Community

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By Rob Eagar If you want to build a following, especially online, the key is to position yourself as someone who is worth following. The best way to attract a large group is by becoming an object of interest, which means the ability to draw people to you by dent of...

Amazon Reviews and the War of the Words

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By Rob Eagar The power of the collective voice on Amazon works as a major influence over many people’s buying decisions, especially when it comes to books. For example, if someone recommends a book to me, my habit is to go find it on Amazon and read through some of the...

The Skinny on Social Networking

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Guest post by Rob Eagar Marketing books via blogs, Twitter, and Facebook has become an extremely confusing topic for many authors. Some people herald social media as the saviour of marketing. Others complain that their online efforts rarely produce tangible results. As an expert who has coached over 400 authors on...

Success Breeds Success – Especially When You Have Success Stories

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Guest Post by Rob Eagar I’m a big fan of Compassion International (www.compassion.com), a non-profit organization that helps provide food, education, and medical treatment to children who are stuck in poverty around the world. As a supporter of Compassion, I receive their quarterly print newsletter that looks like a first-rate magazine....

What Makes Word-of-Mouth Work? Part 2

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Guest Post by Rob Eagar In my previous blog post, I explained how word-of-mouth spreads faster when authors help people start a conversation around their book. However, creating a conversation is only half of the battle. If the conversation doesn’t take place within a community, then the word-of-mouth will soon die...