Juliet Clark is a six- time author, speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert audiences.
She started out as a mystery novelist and is best known or her books Gypsy, Granny Heist, and Dead by Dawn, and Pitchslapped. At age 46, she received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an avid hiker and golfer.
Crisp autumn air is here and the articles this month are sizzling! As we round the corner to 2024, it is time to look at what you need to learn to make your marketing great.
Fran Asaro, the Senior YouTube expert shares the skinny on YouTube shorts.
Right on cue, Nina Froriep reminds us all about the power of CTAs (Call-to-Action). Every video should have one.
Make your media a goldmine. Shannon Procise shares tips and websites to help you leverage your media presence.
Authors Linda Marsanico, Christine Silverstein, and Sandra Roe, all have new books out. From spiritual journeys to parenting tips, and an environmental children’s book, our authors are diverse and powerful experts.
Lastly, don’t miss the back cover. Author Alchemy, Juliet Clark’s journal for writers and author platform builders is a powerful homage to the upleveling and healing that naturally happens during the writing and publishing journey.
Love and Gratitude, Juliet
The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
~Stephen King
In 2011, I was a speaker at the TED X Malibu conference. The topic of my presentation was called The Personal Media Revolution. I had been tracking how the digital revolution had created a democratization of the media. From YouTube to internet radio and television that eventually transformed into podcasts to the exponential growth of self-publishing, the barriers of entry to producing and distributing media were dissolving. At this point in time a podcaster such as Joe Rogan can gain a larger audience (he has an average of 11 million listeners per episode) than a network television show such as The View (average viewers per episode is under 3 million).
In the publishing world, advent of the digital press has been a major disruption to the traditional book industry.
Print-on-demand publishing transformed the industry by enabling authors and publishers to produce books in smaller quantities. Instead of setting up the printing press to do a run of thousands of books, it was now possible to print as many books
as warranted by the needs of the author or publisher. This has lowered costs, minimized inventory risks, and allowed for an infinite variety of titles to be available. This made it easier for independent authors to enter the market and reach a global audience without the barriers of traditional distribution channels.
Although the average self-published author will mostly likely sell less 500 books, there are examples of selfpublished books that have achieved major success, such as E.L. James, who achieved massive sales with her “Fifty Shades of Grey” series. The key to robust book sales is based on the ability of the author to create a dedicated online community. The retail bookstore market share has been progressively facing competition from online retailers, e-commerce platforms, and digital formats. This has led to a decline in the percentage of books sold exclusively through retail bookstores to under a quarter of book sales. Traditional publishers will not even take on a new author if they do not have a fairly larger community of engaged readers and don’t have the ability to promote their own book.
Jared Rosen is the founder Of DreamSculpt. As an innovator in digital media publishing, he has published over 50 media enhanced e-books for many best-selling authors and filmmakers and has published dozens of books in print. Jared is the author of three books including the groundbreaking book The Flip. As a thought leader he has presented in venues ranging from TED X Malibu, to McKinsey and Company, Sydney, Australia. In 2000, Jared co-created the Children’s Emotional Literacy Project endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan and Norman Lear.
How creating vertical videos can breatHe new life into your youtube cHannel.
Grow your audience with YouTube Shorts. As a long-time content creator who houses the majority of content on YouTube, it was a wonderful gift when they came out with YouTube shorts. Shorts are 1-minute or less vertical videos (size: 1920x1080). Shorts came about to keep up with vertical videos being offered on other platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook Reels, and Stories. It was apparent that people love to scroll and the 60 second maximum length created a quick experience for viewers to get to know you.
Many businesses upload their podcasts and content on YouTube. These videos can be extremely long and even if they are interesting, chances are their viewers will never know that because if they don’t know you yet, they won’t invest the time watching long content. Now, if there were only a way they could get to know you better and fall in love with what you offer, well, then, they would want to see everything you have.
In the past, the way to romance new viewers was through shorter length video 1-3 minutes long. It was working for a while until vertical shorts came about and changed everything for YouTube Creators.
If your videos are anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours long, how many views are they getting? If you are not getting views, that could mean a couple of things:
• Your ideal viewer isn’t finding you due to not having an optimized channel or video.
• They are scrolling fast and haven’t connected with you or your content.
Consider that there is a quicker way to attract your people. YouTube Shorts is the opportunity to drip bite sized content to the world. Typically, shorts will generate more views, subscribers, shares and likes than your longer videos. If you include the right description that steers them towards the content you want them to ultimately view, such as your website, books, opt-ins, or other videos, that’s where you will gain traction and build your audience.
If you are sharing content with the same audience repeatedly, now may be the
time to bring in new raving fans and shorts can be your secret weapon. Just think about BOGO’s (when a store offers a buy-one-get-one-free product) to get you into the store, and once they have you inside, the likelihood is that you will buy more. That’s how shorts work. Get them in and romance them.
Provided you are creating interesting content that educates, entertains, or both, then when someone enjoys your shorts, they are going to stay connected.
Best ways to maximize using shorts:
• Grab your phone, talk for up to 60 seconds, then upload it. (It will not upload as a short if its one second over)
• Clip content from existing videos to repurpose your best moments.
• Grab their attention immediately because they won’t wait for you to warm up. Start by telling them what the video is going to provide them.
Example: You’re stuck, if you stick around, I’ll give you the solution
Upload as many shorts as possible. With the challenges of staying visible on social platforms, some creators do batch creating (creating 10 or more videos in one setting) then upload 1-5 shorts per day. It sounds crazy, but it can be fun.
I personally pack a chair filled with different blouses, a brush and lipstick right next to me. Then I hit record and just have at it.
Consider investing time each week in creating shorts to talk directly to your audience. Many are getting dramatic results. It could be you!
Fran Asaro is a YouTube mentor and strategist for mature creators sharing how to optimize and monetize their YouTube Channels. As the founder of The Senior Tuber Community, Fran helps both the professional and hobbyist leave their gifts and legacy on YouTube.
Contact Fran
Email: Fran@SeniorTuber.com
Schedule a 30-minute Q&A call with Fran
CONSIDER INvESTING TImE EACH WEEK IN CREATING SHORTS TO TALK DIRECTLY TO YOUR AUDIENCE.
Whether it’s podcast episodes, videos, or promotions, writers and authors are typically generating a lot of content. All of these efforts support two goals: more exposure and book sales!
Lately, the game has been changed quite a bit with AI becoming more and more
mainstream. As content creators, we are all going to go through somewhat of a wild west phase with AI, where we aren’t quite sure what to do or how to go about doing it. That’s what I want to break down for you.
First, let’s talk about attribution because you might be so excited to guest on a podcast or a show that you forget all about your
copyrighted content rights. Typically, once we schedule to be a guest, we are implicitly agreeing to be recorded. In that recording will be quotes or content from your book or from articles that belong to you. A lot of the time, even though they absolutely should be, hosts are not asking us to repurpose our content and this is where you must take the lead.
Content that belongs to you should always come back to you. They should be attributing specific quotes directly to you and shouting out your book for any other copyrighted content. If you see that this isn’t happening, reach out and remind the host that they need to correct their posts.
This is obviously not within the ethical practices you should allow so if someone steals your content by presenting it as their own, let them know you see it and it needs to be taken down.
If you’ve asked for attribution and it hasn’t been given, and you’ve requested they take down plagiarized content and that hasn’t happened, your final step is to report the content on whichever platform it is posted.
Plenty of us hosts have recently encountered another growing trend that might be taking place without you even knowing. Some hosts are now allowing AI transcription bots to be a part of webinars and recordings. These bots do exactly what you’d expect - they create a transcription of the entire webinar.
This creates a concern that your copyrighted content will now become part of someone’s presentation or content so it’s important for you to know that you are allowed to protect yourself and your content. Here are a few things you can do:
• Ask the host to boot out AI Bots from group webinars and recordings.
• Ask for no transcriptions to be made by anyone other than the host without your written authorization.
• Verbally remind attendees, once the recording begins, that you would love it if they share and shout-out, but that they need to provide you attribution for it. Give them a hashtag to use #yourbook #yourname when they share.
It’s very difficult to police these types of situations when exposure is your main goal which is why it’s important to be aware going in, and to have an attribution plan. You always have a right to your copyrighted content. Don’t be afraid to ask for a written release, details on how they plan to use your content, and proper credit.
Tracy Hazzard is a seasoned media expert with over 2600 interviews from articles in Authority Magazine, BuzzFeed, and her Inc. Magazine column; and from her multiple top-ranked videocasts and podcasts like The Binge Factor and Feed Your Brand – one of CIO’s Top 26 Entrepreneur Podcasts. Tracy brings diverse views from what works and what doesn’t work in marketing, branding and media from thought leaders and industry icons redefining success around the globe. Tracy’s unique gift to the podcasting, marketing, and branding world is being able to identify that unique binge-able factor – the thing that makes people come back again and again, listen actively, share as raving fans, and buy everything you have to sell.
You always have a right to your copyrighted content. Don’t be afraid to ask for a written release, details on how they plan to use your content, and proper credit.
Whether you’re a seasoned author or fresh on the market, advertising and selling a book is no easy feat. This requires patience, effort and a strategy - and that’s before you even begin! However, there are some proven approaches or methods to help you narrow down your own process so you aren’t slinging spaghetti noodles at the wall, hoping one sticks.
I’ve spent that past decade (and then some) in the world of content creation and marketing. Things are always changing, there’s always some new scheme on the horizon that promises all the answers and there’s always someone trying to tell you it’s easy if you just buy ‘xyz’ for only $97. The truth is, even amidst all the change we’ve experienced in both content and marketing, a few foundational elements have stayed the same and that’s for one simple reason: they work.
Down to the nitty-gritty
If you want to sell books, you need to present your potential readers with four things. This approach, called The Four Us, has been taught for a long time and will help you narrow down your approach to advertising and selling. This strategy was developed by copywriting guru Michael Masterson and it’s a simple way to create, check, and edit your own strategy.
UsefUl: Any type of advertising (or even content for that matter)
that you put out to promote your book needs to be helpful to your reader. How can your book help them? What problem are you solving for them? Be very specific about the actual results or benefits they will get from reading your book.
URgencY: Persuasive sales create a sense of urgency, so your readers don’t save your book for later, only to never return. Build excitement around what they’re going to get if they buy your book right now - not tomorrow. FOMO (fear of missing out) is a very real thing. Use that to your advantage!
UnIQUe: As an author, you’ve probably heard this a million times now, but this is just as important - if not more - than the first two Us. You already know you’ve got competition out there so it’s your job to paint a very clear picture of how your solution is not everyone else’s- it’s actually better - and then break down why it’s better.
Side note: If you just read that and don’t think you have competition, you’ve got to go back to your research phase because I promise you do.
UlTRA-sPecIfIc: Everything you just read must be done in a very specific way, where the readers get a great sense of your tone and there’s plenty of detail. Which means - no copy/paste, generic advertisements or content. Your personality should be obvious
AUTHOR BIO
International Content
Expert Sara Burke is the Founder of HLCC, a content creation firm dedicated to boosting small businesses around the world. Sara has authored three books, and ghostwritten over 100 books, ebooks and workbooks. Sara recently launched The New American Dream, a podcast dedicated to helping business owners understand how our changing business ecosystem can support their success.
in each piece of copy or sales material you put out. This is where a lot of readers lose their magic. Don’t try to fall in line and recreate what you see someone else recreating.
If sales and advertising were easy, everyone would do it and we’d all be bestselling authors overnight. It isn’t easy but it is tangible to implement an effective advertising strategy that will sell books. Spend some time, look at these four Us, take some notes - and then don’t be afraid to get creative. Try an ad or a social media post and see how it goes. It’s also okay to test your strategy and then revise it as needed.
aising happy, healthy children in today’s world can be tough. With the introduction of social media, helicopter parenting, and other distractions, parents are drowning in information to help their children grow up to be resilient. We are seeing more mental health and suicide among adolescents and teens than any other time in history. Dr. Christine Silverstein’s book is a guide to help parents navigate parenting in these trying times.
Since the dark ages, the treatment of those mentally ill has progressed from chaining to a wall those afflicted with mental disturbance who never saw the light of day. In US emergency rooms, our young people on the brink of despair are held hostage for psychiatric care.
We have been bound to the antiquated biomedical model of mental health care. It is fortunate that we, as a society, are experiencing a mental health crisis of enormous proportions currently only in the sense that we are beginning to hear a wake-up call as we witness a total breakdown of our mental healthcare system regarding the mental stability of our youth and other groups of everyday people.
Healthcare professionals and societies are beginning to understand that mental health is integral to overall health and is more than the absence of symptoms of psychological distress. This mastery important to us all includes the acquisition of the capacity to reflect, to relate emotionally on a deep level with others, and to empathize in the face of change or stressful situations.
Resilient young people, who possess these qualities and the ability to wrestle through adversity when they have the skillsets to do so, lead to more successful lives when they know how to make lemonade out of lemons.
peak performance coach, behavioral health RN, and clinical hypnosis expert at The Summit Center for Ideal Performance has assisted clients of all ages for 27 years to reach their best performances in health, athletics, academics, business, and performing arts. She specializes in working with children, teens, and young adults, using Mindful Toughness® skillsets, such as self-hypnosis, mental rehearsal, positive self-talk, and feedback loop analysis. As a researcher, historian, and best-selling author, she has presented her works on Hypno-Coaching and history in the US and globally to promote mental health.
WebP is a modern image format developed by Google that offers numerous benefits to authors and web developers. It presents a compelling solution for optimizing images on websites, encompassing various advantages worth exploring.
First and foremost, WebP employs advanced compression techniques, resulting in significantly smaller file sizes compared to conventional formats like JPEG and PNG. This optimization translates to enhanced website performance, faster loading times, and reduced bandwidth consumption, leading to an improved user experience.
Despite its smaller size, WebP maintains exceptional image quality due to its efficient compression algorithms. Supporting both lossy and lossless compression modes, authors can tailor the trade-off between image size and visual fidelity according to their specific needs.
WebP further enhances design versatility with its support for alpha transparency, enabling the creation of images with transparent backgrounds. This feature is particularly beneficial for integrating logos, icons, and graphics seamlessly into diverse website layouts.
Beyond static imagery, WebP provides support for animated images, offering an engaging and interactive element to web content. By combining multiple frames within a single WebP file, authors can deliver lightweight animations that load efficiently and captivate users.
WebP enjoys compatibility with most modern web browsers, ensuring a consistent user experience across different platforms. Although older versions of Internet Explorer lack native support, WebP gracefully degrades to a fallback format, ensuring accessible content for all users.
From an SEO perspective, the adoption of WebP can yield significant benefits. The format’s ability
to reduce loading times enhances website performance, contributing to improved search engine rankings and heightened visibility. As a result, websites using WebP are likely to attract higher organic traffic.
Incorporating WebP into Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) yields additional advantages. Smaller image sizes lead to reduced bandwidth usage and lower server load, resulting in faster content delivery to users across global regions, thereby enriching the overall user experience.
WebP also aligns well with the principles of responsive web design. Its smaller file sizes and high image quality make it a viable choice for ensuring swift loading times on mobile devices, regardless of varying network conditions.
Another practical benefit is WebP’s capability to facilitate lossless editing. Authors can manipulate and optimize images without compromising on image quality, making it a suitable format for iterative design processes during web development.
For those seeking convenience, some content management systems and website
frameworks offer automatic conversion of images to WebP format. This feature streamlines the process for authors, eliminating the need for extensive technical knowledge.
To monitor the impact of WebP on website performance, authors can utilize performance metrics through various analytics tools. By tracking page load times, image loading speeds, and bandwidth usage, valuable insights can be gleaned, aiding in further optimization efforts.
So, to sum it up, WebP presents a compelling set of advantages for authors and web developers. Its combination of smaller file sizes, improved image quality, transparency support, animation capabilities, browser compatibility, SEO benefits, CDN optimization, and responsiveness make it an excellent choice for optimizing images on websites. By embracing WebP, authors can elevate website performance, enhance user experience, improve search engine rankings, and create more engaging and efficient online experiences for their audiences.
Need to learn more?
Reach out- I’d love to chat!
Iris Bio
Iris Goldfeder is a long-time entrepreneur with more than 25 years of success in the marketing field. Her passion is to help her clients grow their businesses and her motto is- “I meet you where you are.” Iris firmly believes, “If you’re not online, you’re not an option!” Contact info: iris@gasstovecreative.com
Platform building must be planned. Most experts are running a business and must balance their time between building their platform and continuing to generate new business. There are many assets and platforms that need to be learned and coordinated. When we work with our clients, we have additional evaluations that we use to make sure that they understand the path forward. We also provide worksheets that can break down platform building tasks into bite-sized, manageable pieces. Most experts are running a business while building a platform, so small steps daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly must be written down to keep us on track and moving ahead. The one thing that will kill your building vibe is overwhelm. That is the one state-of-mind we want to avoid and why planning is essential. Your first task is to take
a sheet of paper and write down your goals for the next year relating to your book and author platform building.
Now, take four pieces of paper and mark them Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Transfer your goals for the year into the quarter that you will work on building.
Example: Yearly goals: Build a Lead Magnet/ Author Platform Checklist Start a Podcast Build a Quiz Build a YouTube Channel LinkedIn Newsletter Email List
Quarterly Goals Q1- Start an email list; write an ebook for Author Platform Checklist
Q2- Build a drip campaign for Author platform checklist; start a podcast
Q3- YouTube Channel and LinkedIn Newsletter
Q4- Build a Quiz Now that you have your list of goals broken down by quarter, research the tasks you need to accomplish by month.
Take a sheet of paper for each month of Q1 and map out the tasks.
Here is an example of Q1. Monthly Goals for Q1:
January
• Explore mail servers (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Active Campaign) and choose one
• Write an ebook for the Author Platform Checklist
• Find someone who can stylize the ebook and turn into a PDF
february
• Write, or hire someone to write, a drip campaign for the ebook
• Learn how to set up a campaign in the mail server with drip timing
• Write copy for the landing page
march
• Hire a designer to create landing page with opt-in
• Launch ebook and drip campaign
NOTE: If you need to break this down into smaller pieces for organization, add in a weekly task worksheet. Now that you have planned out how you will build your platform, it is important to execute the plan. A marketing plan, just like a budgeting plan is a living document and meant to be worked. The biggest complaint I hear is that a plan was developed and never executed because of budget constraints. If it is helpful, put numbers with these tasks so you know how much you need to set aside to get the work done. In the example given, you would need to spend money for the mail server, designing the ebook, designing the landing page, and writing the drip campaign. If you are struggling to keep yourself on schedule, a vision board or daily meditation practice may help get you grounded and stay focused on working the plan.
Juliet Clark is a six- time author, speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert audiences.
She started out as a mystery novelist and is best known for her books Gypsy, Granny Heist, and Dead by Dawn, and Pitchslapped. At age 46, she received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an avid hiker and golfer.
The biggest complaint I hear is that a plan was developed and never executed because of budget constraints.
Are you ready to make a change in your life? Maybe you have intended to write a book for a while but can’t quite seem to get started. Or perhaps you are a little frustrated by trying to manifest something that feels out of control.
If you’re ready to create some magic, but haven’t already gotten your copy of Author Alchemy by Juliet Dillon Clark, then go and get it right now. Seriously.
Why? Quite simply, Author Alchemy is an interactive experience for authors. Whether you are a newbie author or an old pro, this innovative journal will help you get clear on your process, focus on gratitude and manifestation, and have a lot of fun getting in touch with your inner creative spirit.
Juliet Dillon Clark tells us about her own journey as a first-time author, and the frustrations she encountered. “One day I had a breakthrough and it changed everything. I realized that the lessons and obstacles I was encountering were really gifts. The patterns I was seeing were opportunities to become a better version of myself.”
Now she’s sharing the best tools to help you help yourself within the pages of Author Alchemy
The first tool sounds simple but is in fact one of the most powerful practices at your disposal. That tool is GRATITUDE. Too often we get wrapped up in all the daily dramas, big and small, that occupy our time and attention. By taking a few moments each day to write out the things for which you are grateful can liberate you in the most unexpected ways. “This was harder than I thought it would be,” writes Clark. “I was in such a closed state that it was hard to find those ten things to be grateful for daily. Sometimes it was as simple as “I am alive.””
The next tool is MANIFESTATION. What do you want to manifest today? It could be as simple as eating a vegetable-rich salad to creating a new job that feels more fulfilling. “The clarity I gained from my gratefulness practice translated into a more conscious manifestation,” writes Clark. She goes on to illustrate a clear example of how she gratefully manifested her way out of a soul-killing job and into a highly successful publishing business of her own.
Clark’s clear writing style and practical, easy-to-do tips will get any writer ready to tackle their projects. You will clearly see her heart in this book as she advises, “Make this a daily practice during your writing and publishing journey and hopefully beyond. Stay focused, stay grateful, and keep manifesting your best life.”
Kristy Boyd Johnson is an award-winning children’s author, and has ghostwritten over 30 books for entrepreneurs over the years. She is a soughtafter developmental editor and transformational book coach. She recently launched Starseed Journey Retreats because she can’t imagine anything better than being a beautiful location with beautiful people who want to reconnect with their deepest selves through writing.
Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.”
~Pablo Picasso
The A Train to Sedona takes you along on my search for awareness and connection to God and consciousness. You are with me as I work to develop an intuitive, heart-felt language, as I let go of ideas that don’t serve me, as I move into multidimensional thinking and the channeling of magic. Travel with me, first-hand, as I recount my journey toward compassion, forgiveness, and self-love.
I will guide you as we go. You will not only hear my story. The A Train to Sedona is also a map for you to follow as you move toward your own practice of genuine selflove that reflects outward into the world. Move with me toward robust health by harnessing the power of love to heal. Join me as I embrace stillness, quiet, spiritual energy, and prayer, to balance my mind, body, and spirit. Accompany me as I choose love over fear, transforming negativity into the adventure of the spiritual path.
Embrace this thrilling discovery: you can learn by looking inward for your connection to your highest wisdom. You can remember how powerful you are! Learn to co-create your constructive desires. Harness your energy and create the life you desire. Choose to partner with God. What’s more powerful than that? Essentially, choose to live in love. Love is awesome. Love opens doors.
I am passionate about my long and winding journey, as life has unfolded. My hope is that my passage will inspire and enable yours. In these times, knowing
yourself and having faith can be the spiritual fuel to hold us all together and bring forth a better world.
Dr. Ani Kalayjian, Founder & President of Meaningfulworld, author of Forget Me Not says, “The A Train to Sedona describes the joy, the challenge, and adventure of the spiritual journey through experiences of forgiveness, love, and compassion. This book will nurture your health journey to achieve your highest potentials for transformation as well as tapping into the God/ Goddess within. This is a book about transformation, faith, and magic. Jump on board.”
Click here to get your copy of the A Train to Sedona.
Linda Marsanico, M.Ed., Ph.D., has a Masters in Human Development Counseling, and a Doctorate in Social Psychology. She received a certificate from Postgraduate Center, NYC for her 3-year postdoctoral work with children, adolescents, and families. She is a licensed New York Psychologist and a public speaker.
when her book became available for purchase, her ideal audience could see that she was the real deal and that others loved the book. That made it easier to sell books.
So what can book reviews do for your book? A lot.
validate you as an expert but they also increase your book’s visibility in a crowded marketplace.
Have you ever been walking down the street and seen a crowd of people looking intently at something? Did you keep walking by or stop to see what was going on too? You probably stopped.
A crowd draws a crowd, and the same is true for getting more of your ideal readers to buy your book. In the current publishing landscape, where millions of books are published every year, authentic book review are a powerful tool to get potential readers’ attention.
When my client Kristina was preparing to publish the first book of her children’s series, she and I collaborated on building a robust ambassador program. We crafted a marketing plan that helped her garner 77 genuine reviews even before her book was for sale. So
Build credibility and trust: Nonfiction books often address real-world topics, offering insights, knowledge, and advice to readers seeking information. Genuine book reviews are a testament to the your expertise and the value your work provides. When potential readers see reviews from people like them who have genuinely engaged with the content, they are more likely to trust your book’s credibility and consider it a reliable source.
social proof and visibility: Social proof, meaning other people sharing how great your book is, can play a big role in someone’s decision to make a purchase. When a potential reader sees there are positive reviews from others, they will be more inclined to take the plunge and buy your book. Positive reviews not only
creates emotional connection: Authentic book reviews often touch on the emotional impact the book has had on the reader. Nonfiction books often address personal growth, self-help, or transformative experiences, so reviews that capture the essence of the book can resonate with potential readers who are seeking similar journeys.
Ye olde algorithm benefits: Like it or not, algorithms play a significant role in online marketplaces and search engines. Genuine book reviews can improve your book’s visibility on platforms like Amazon, where algorithms favor books with a higher number of positive reviews. This visibility can yield prominent placement in search results, which can lead to increased exposure and potential sales.
Not sure how to get genuine reviews for your book? Let’s chat. Book a call with me at vipbook. marketing/claritycall.
Melanie Herschorn wants to make your book and brand sparkle online. As a content marketing strategist for coaches, consultants, and speakers worldwide, she’s on a mission to support and empower her clients to create clear messaging and content that shines a light on their individual experience, skillset, and books. With her unique combination of entrepreneurship, award-winning journalism and PR experience, Melanie guides her clients to attract and nurture leads and position themselves as industry experts. She also loves to provide book marketing tips on her show, AUTHORity Marketing LIVE!
Sandra Martinez Roe has been in the children’s clothing industry for over twenty years.
During COVID, Sandra had to move her staff out of her sales offices while the world was shut down.
That didn’t mean that Sandra wasn’t hard at work. She had time on her hands and began to educate herself about the climate crisis. Sandra had been taking her son to trash cleanups in parks, beaches, and other locations since he was three years old. She decided it was time to write a book to inspire children to be aware of their impact in the world fighting climate change. That is where Hello Earth Club was born. Sandra met with a few of her staff members every week on Zoom and her staff began illustrating the book Sandra wrote.
Sandra’s sales career has depended on building relationships with vendors to build trust about what children’s products would sell and which would not. She has worked to distribute to small mom-and-pop stores and giant retailers, such as Nordstrom.
She knows that those personal connections will help her build trust in the ecology community as well to sell books. Her marketing plan will allow Hello Earth Club to be distributed in children’s clothing stores as well as at the cleanup events her and her son attend regularly. This plan builds trust because she is meeting people at the events and building relationships at the same time.
Hello earth club is a story about a group of climate curious friends who set out to connect with the world and change it before the climate does. Join the journey as these kids approach a complicated subject with kindness, inclusivity, and the optimism a change of this magnitude requires. Whether you live on land, the air, or the sea, we are all connected and that is key.
Sandra’s book release is coordinated with two climate-related days in the month of October: the International Day of Climate Action and Sustainability Day, October 24th and 25th. Click here to purchase your copy of Hello Earth Club.
Astrong Call-to-Action (CTA) is one of the most important elements of a marketing video (or social media post, or email).
If you’re struggling to see meaningful results from your marketing efforts, improving your CTAs is a relatively quick and simple way to make a noticeable impact.
Here’s why effective CTAs are so important:
1. They give your audience clarity around what you want them to do next (even if it’s just to like and comment on your post).
2. A compelling CTA encourages your audience to interact with you, your content, and your brand.
3. CTAs are what drive conversions, moving prospects down your sales funnel into eventually becoming customers or clients.
4. They give you a standard around how to measure success. Without clear CTAs, you don’t have clarity about whether or not your content is effective.
5. They give you a direction for your content creation. With a clear CTA in mind, you can tailor the content of your posts to the objective you’re driving towards.
Ok, you’re convinced that CTAs are important, and you’re resolved to include them from now on, but what makes an effective CTA? How do you know whether or not the CTA you’re using is a good one?
The truth is it depends on your content, your relationship with your audience, and what your goals are. That said, here are some golden rules to follow when crafting CTAs:
1. There should be only one call-toAction
Confused people don’t buy (or do anything else, really). Don’t ask your audience to do more than one thing at a time. Pick one CTA per video (or piece of content).
2. calls-to-Action should be as low friction as possible
Low friction means that your CTAs are easy to act on. ‘Like and Comment’ is a super low friction CTA because it requires very low investment on behalf of the reader.
Asking for the reader to book a consultation call with you or buy your book is a much higher-friction CTA. It requires more effort and sacrifice to book a call than it does to click a like button. It requires even more effort to pull out a credit card and spend real money. There’s a time and place for those types of CTAs, but you really need to earn them.
A heart-felt video about a cause you’re super passionate about shouldn’t end with ‘Now take my Quiz!’ Likewise, a light-hearted video that shares a nugget of expertise shouldn’t end with ‘Buy my $5,000 thing’. Tailor the content to the CTA and vice-versa.
A core function of CTAs is to drive conversions and move prospects down our sales process. When crafting a CTA, be intentional about what stage of the sales process your audience is currently at. A prospect who just stumbled on your content might not be interested in downloading the first chapter of your new book, but someone who’s been following your content for a while probably is. Don’t try and create a CTA that will speak to everyone at the same time AND be mindful of what stage a prospect would need to be at in order to say ‘Yes’.
Want to see some examples of wellcrafted CTAs? Connect with me on LinkedIn and follow my content: https:// www.linkedin.com/in/nina-froriep/
Feel free to DM and/or email me with questions as well at nina@clockwiseproductions.com.
Hi! We’re Robin Friend Stift and Nina Froriep of Clock Wise Productions, a New York City based video marketing company.
We teach authors, speakers, business coaches, and consultants to create easy and impactful video content for LinkedIn so they can enlighten, change, and disrupt the status quo of their industry. And we’re super excited that Juliet asked us to be your video marketing experts for 2023.
Over the next 12 months, we plan on giving you a quick overview of all aspects of video marketing to get your creative juices flowing and to get your most burning video marketing questions answered. AND, to that end we would love to hear from you! Send us a DM on LinkedIn or email Nina: nina@clockwiseproductions.com or DM her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ in/nina-froriep/
Nina Froriep helps mission-driven entrepreneurs to grow their business with consistent and easyto-implement video marketing through one-onone coaching or peer-learning. I’m a filmmaker, producer and director with 30 years experience and a small business owner of 23 years. I’ve seen it all from the early days on independent features, to big national TV commercials, corporate megashows and many documentary films.
A core function of CTAs is to drive conversions and move prospects down our sales process.
Authors, it’s time to embark on a journey to amplify your voice, boost your sales, and position your work at the forefront of readers’ minds. Relationships with the media aren’t exclusive to famous authors or multinational corporations. They’re accessible to you, right in your backyard, eager to tell the fascinating story behind your book or expertise. Here’s how you can tap into this goldmine.
Your media list is more than just a contact directory; it’s your gateway to more leads, sales, and cash flow. Think of it as your golden key. It starts in your locality, where the media eagerly seeks local stories and contributors. You’re perfectly positioned if you’re within 50 miles of a city or even your nearest media outlets. You don’t need to be a big fish to attract attention.
With tools like www.BuzzSumo. com and Chat GTP, building relationships with the media becomes a breeze. Start by crafting a tailored prompt to gather information about your local media outlets. Here’s a sample prompt you can use:
“Provide a list of names, websites, and general details on media outlets in [Your County or City], including all TV, Radio, Podcasts, newspapers, and magazines. Include [your niche] media outlets too.”
Utilizing AI, you can receive a customized list of media contacts right at your fingertips.
Websites: Look for “Contact Us,” “About Us,” or “Editorial” sections on the media outlet’s website.
Social Media: Engage with media outlets on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where contact details or direct
messaging options might be available.
Directories: Resources like MondoTimes www.mondotimes. com and the U.S. Newspaper List www.usnpl.com offer comprehensive lists of media outlets by region and valuable contact information.
Events: Connect with media that participate in local events. They often sponsor and MCee local events and fundraisers. We host the Media Magic Sales and Marketing Bootcamp at www.MediaMagicBootcamp. com, where you can access an extensive media list and meet directly with representatives from the media.
The media is waiting to tell your story. It’s time to engage, build relationships, and turn the spotlight onto your book and work. Utilize tools to delve into your local media landscape and watch your business bloom. The gold in your media list is waiting to be discovered. Turn on the fountain to success, and don’t hesitate to begin building it and reach out today.
Shannon Procise has successfully attained over $3.2M in FREE publicity and is notorious for being the owner of the “Million Dollar Rolodex” and teaching others how to do the same. She has trained and coached thousands of individuals in marketing, event production, business development, and personal growth. Shannon is the creator of a magnetic community - the Business Acceleration Network, where she guides businesses to build a successful enterprise while having fun and making lots of money.
Most new authors assume that purchase. Nothing could be further from the truth. Platform building starts early, even before the book writing begins.
The most overlooked piece of the writing/publishing book journey is author platform building. Entrepreneurs get excited about their ideas and start writing with no thoughts about who will buy their book.
An author platform requires that you identify your niche audience, brand, and messaging, and then test on your potential audience. This is a trial-and-error process that requires you to understand the inner workings of building content, social media, email, and media, as well as how they all fit together for a successful book launch.
A platform build is not an overnight, instant gratification proposition, but it is a skill that you can learn. This step-by-step guide will help you do just that.
If you want to actually sell your book, you must build an author platform –an audience ready to buy from you. And the best way to do that is with The Author Success Handbook from author-building expert, Juliet Dillon Clark. This book is packed with practical (and proven) advice that will help you reach the right audience and build a loyal active following. Don’t be one of those authors who only sells books to their friends and family! Get The Author Success Handbook before you write a single word of your new book.
Tracy Hazzard, former Inc. Columnist and founder of Podetize
Juliet Clark is a six- time author, speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert audiences. She started out as a mystery novelist and is best known for her books Gypsy, Granny Heist, and Dead by Dawn, and Pitchslapped. At age 46, she received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an avid hiker and golfer.