Breakthrough Author Magazine June 2023

Author

Juliet

Publisher’s Corner

June has arrived. Time for some fun and sun. In this month’s issue, Jenny Locklin, the Undercover Speaker, shares her thoughts on adding laughter to your speaking gigs. Laughter is the best way to open the hearts and minds in the room.

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.

With the economy tightening, Kristy Boyd Johnson interviewed Steve Kirch, Founder of Profit Minds, as he shares his thoughts on business growth in difficult times. Steve and his partner help small businesses grow their revenue no matter what the current circumstances.

“How do I sell books?” authors ask us every day. This month, we have suggestions to selling books and keeping more money in your pocket.

Love and gratitude, Love and Gratitude,

Juliet

When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”

~Anthony Robbins

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.

THE POWER OF DISTINCTION BRANDED BOOK DEVELOPMENT

With the advent of the digital press and self-publishing there is no barrier of entry to publish, therefore the number of books published each year have quadrupled. Currently, the average number of books published each year is over 4 million. A quarter of these books are traditionally published. A large percentage of self-published books are non-fiction books written by professionals for lead generation and to bolster their platform. In an oversaturated market of personal growth, leadership, and professional development books, you need to stand out!

When I am first introduced to a client who has a book idea and an idea for a title, the first thing I do is go on Amazon to see if the title is taken. Sometimes I can see a half a dozen books that share the same title as well as taglines and phrases that have lost their luster over time. Here are five qualities of a well-branded book that create distinction.

Authenticity

Develop your book in a fashion that feels fresh and does not rely on overused jargon.

Emotional Engagement

To get someone to stop and pay attention to your book, you need to find the touchpoints in your marketing copy that will elicit an emotional connection.

Social Relevance

Positioning your book and messaging to address a relevant issue that you have a different angle on can give you greater access to media coverage.

AUTHOR BIO

Compelling Storytelling

If you are writing more of a ‘how to’ book, that is purely didactic, the reader will not absorb your wisdom as well as if you weave in captivating storytelling to create rapport with your readers by putting then in the picture.

Novelty

The For Dummies book series was a novel approach to a beginner’s guide to countless subjects. Think outside the box.

When you integrate these qualities in your book development process and build your platform with distinction, you might be the one that others try to emulate.

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.

What Goes on in the Green room

Everything that goes down in the green room before the show is as important as all the moments leading up to it. The green room is the calm, cool, collected place where you wait before you go on set and on air.

Call Time

Call time is the pre-arranged time to meet at the studio in which you’ll be taken to the green room to wait before you go on set. The call time is specific. Being a guest that arrives too early can often run into a lack or limitation of green room space that is booked for other guests who have earlier call times and taping times. Sit in your car if you are early. Naturally, it goes without saying what the unspoken consequences are for being late for a call time.

You want to make sure you’re the easiest person the show will be dealing with all day. That means being ready to go on camera the second you arrive on set and doing your best to be free the rest of the day. And that if you DO have a later commitment that you can’t get out of, keep it to yourself, or at least to your coaches at TVGuestpert! Always remember that anything can happen—and often does—to throw off the day’s shooting schedule.

On the front end, another guest may be running late or needing extra time in hair and makeup. You, on the other EASIER hand, can keep the shoot on schedule by being able to tape your segment early. I’ve also seen plenty of shoots running behind when the other guest is an A-list actor who is giving the producer a hard time because she has to get to a movie premiere. Yes, your time is valuable and in demand. But you don’t want to let your ego get in the way in these cases.

Excerpt from The Ultimate On-Camera Guidebook: Hosts*Experts*Influencers by Jacquie Jordan (@TVGuestpert) & Shannon O’Dowd (@ theshannonodowd)

I’m sorry, but there is no real value in presenting yourself as an in-demand commodity. Producers will simply release you and move on. There’s far greater value in being able to say, “Not a problem. I don’t mind waiting in the green room a bit longer. We can tape my segment after they’re finished.”

Trust me, these are tense moments. The green room is where everyone has to sit in their nerves before being called to set. If you’re ready to go right away, or can be flexible if segments need to be switched (as in the above example) and yours ends up taping an hour later, what do you think that makes you? You’ve become the solution to the producer’s problem!

Even though producers tend to see guests as being interchangeable, making their day easier is something that will help you stand out and ensure that you get asked back. Need I remind you, producers go from show to show to show and take their contact list of valuable assets with them. So let’s make sure you stay on that list!

Mic’d

Once you’re in the studio, assume anything you say can be heard by anyone at any given time. This is especially true after you’ve been mic’d, but it’s even true when you’re talking to someone on the production staff, who could just as easily be wearing a mic capable of recording anybody anytime. I can’t count the number of stories I’ve heard (including some I’ve witnessed) where people on set think they’re sharing an intimate moment with someone else that can easily be broadcast to everyone back in the control room, and sometimes throughout the set.

Donald Trump’s conversation with Billy Bush on the set of Extra was not private in the way that he thought. Everything you say can and will be used against you.

Many of these stories have a certain degree of humor to them, but not all. The most dramatic I’ve heard involved a young expert on his first appearance. He had called his friends on his cell phone and was bragging about how great the

feeling of being on the set was for him. The problem was that he was making up lies about members of the crew and saying crass things about the women in particular. He was asked to leave the set without a taping. Don’t let this happen to you unless you want your segment to be cancelled and to never be asked back.

Expert Tip: If you’ve been mic’d and you have the desire and time to use the restroom before your segment tapes, that’s an appropriate situation to ask whether or not your mic is on and if it can be turned off. Other than that, assume anyone on set can and will hear everything you’re doing and/ or saying.

Jacquie is the founder and CEO of the 15-year-old cuttingedge, media and content development, promotions and booking platform, TVGuestpert that offers full-service promotion, marketing, business strategy and media services for her clients, partners and collaborators, TVGuestpert Publishing - a NY Times Best Selling publishing house, and The Guestpert Academy - an online program offering visibility, media training and TVGuestpert OnCamera Training. She is also a two-time Emmy nominated TV Producer, three-time author and the host of Front & Center with Jacquie Jordan, a broadcast podcast.

Donald Trump’s conversation with Billy Bush on the set of Extra was not private in the way that he thought. Everything you say can and will be used against you.

UNDERCOvER SPEakER

“Don’t compete, create!” This idea was first shared in 1957 by Earl Nightingale, the “Dean of Personal Development,” and today it’s still such a powerful mindset for your business.

Whether you’re an author, speaker, or coach, ask yourself: what are all the other ordinary authors, speakers, and coaches doing? Once you find the common thread, brainstorm ideas on how you can stand out and be innovative. At first, your list of ideas might sound goofy and unrealistic, and maybe even impossible. However, your goal is to just flush out all the ideas and all the ways you can be different from your competition.

Here’s an example: Joel Weldon, my dad and business partner, is a legend in the speaking industry and for the last 7 years he’s focused his attention on helping others use speaking to grow their businesses. He helps authors, coaches, and entrepreneurs make their message impossible to be misunderstood, feel confident and connected to their audience, and most of all, use speaking to grow their businesses.

As a coach, he noticed that most ordinary business coaches offer a specific amount of time for their coaching fee, such as 4 hours, 8 hours,

6 months, or 12 months etc. of coaching time.

He used the “Don’t compete; create! Find out what everyone is doing and don’t do it” mentality, and instead of limited hours, he offers unlimited coaching hours. How can that be? How does he have time to coach people for an unlimited amount of time? He does this for two reasons: one, he noticed that most of his clients didn’t exceed 8 hours of coaching time. The ideas and tips are easy to use, and once they learned the system for being a great speaker, they didn’t need to get on Zoom with him because they learned it and were able to implement it on their own. Plus, this is probably one of the best ways that he stands out from his competition, and his clients are thrilled to find out that they can contact him for help in a year or 5 years from now, regardless of how much time they used at the beginning of their coaching time.

I, too, am a speaker, and for years I used humor to energize and connect with my audience. Companies would hire me to make their meetings more fun, introducing me as “the funniest speaker,” and telling their audience that big laughs were coming their way. This expectation was hard to live up to, and often left the audience feeling disappointed. So, instead of competing with other ordinary speakers and comedians, I channeled my inner Earl Nightingale and Joel Weldon and brainstormed ways to still offer laughter, fun, and connection in a creative and unexpected

way. I came up with “The Undercover Speaker.” Instead of being introduced as a comedian or a funny speaker, I’m now introduced as a fake industry expert or an award-winning specialist, and sometimes as a new hire. I have a fake bio that is very credible and believable to the audience, and I teach them all kinds of crazy, outlandish ideas that they actually fall for.

My most popular “Undercover Speaker” schtick is pretending to be an Animal Energy Healing Expert. I teach the virtual audience how to breathe through their gills and cloaca (which is a turtle’s anus). Eventually, it gets so over-thetop that they realize it’s a setup, and I tell them they’ve been punked. Once the shock factor and laughter have subsided, I then share the real message: laughing, having fun, and not taking ourselves so seriously at work actually makes us more productive and a lot happier!

(https://theundercoverspeaker. wistia.com/medias/rh0kpsdehr)

Now, it’s your turn to stop competing and start creating! Write a list of all the challenges you are having when it comes to working with your clients, and then write a separate list of all the ways you can be different and create a solution to one of those problems, even if it’s a small problem. Don’t filter the ideas; just let them flow out on paper, and maybe brainstorm with an open-minded friend. Warning: once you find a way to create, rather than compete, you will have so much more fun and a whole lot more success!

https://www.creativemessagemedia.com/jennylocklin

Jenny LocklinTHE UNDERCOVER SPEAKER -

Fun & Laughter

Trainings and Events

Is

Opening the COrpOrate ClOset

Kevin W. Jones experienced discrimination in many forms while working in corporate America. One of the most profound forms of discrimination was joking about the LGBTQ+ community. Many people in the office would make bigoted remarks about the LGBTQ+ community without realizing that a gay person was in their presence. This bigotry is like no other because there is no difference in skin color or gender. When the comments are made, the remarks can be humiliating and create a hostile work environment when people in the office are not aware that their colleague is not out of the closet.

Jones also noticed that when advancement was announced, most heterosexual counterparts mentioned their family in the announcement. He also noticed that when a member of the LGBTQ+ community advanced, family was rarely mentioned.

Kevin retired as a Vice President at Ernst and Young and started a second career coaching LGBTQ+ executives. Helping his community work through all the obstacles holding them back from the C-

Suite is his way of giving back and empowering LGBTQ+ workers and their allies to create a more authentic career path.

Opening the Corporate Closet is Kevin Jones’ book based on the challenges he faced navigating, ultimately successfully, corporate America as a Gay man. It highlights the author’s own experiences growing up closeted in the conservative South as a Gen-Xer in the 1970s and ‘80s, how those experiences influenced his early career development inside the corporate closet, and later advancement once he came out. It also investigates the hidden forms of discrimination and biases ingrained in the collective mindset of straight people as well as those inside the LGBTQ+ community.

Blending anecdotes from the author’s life with data from multiple sources to depict the unique complexities of life as a gay person in corporate America, he illustrates the challenges, micro-decisions, and micro-aggressions that they and their closeted peers face every day.

Whether you’re gay or straight, however you identify, after reading this book, you will become more aware of your own judgments and biases, both toward yourself and those around you.

the Gay Glass Ceiling real? Yes, it is! Sometimes LGBTQ+ members of the corporate community feel like, if they come out of the closet, their prospects of advancing cease to exist. Many leave companies because they do not see others in the C- Suite that look like them.

Making Money with Your Book by Speaking

As the price of paper increases, making money with books is getting more difficult. Distributors take a whopping 55 percent of your retail price to list and sell your book on their platforms. Relying on distributors to sell your book will result in two or three dollars in royalties here and there.

These variables leave authors faced with making new decisions on to sell books and be profitable. How do you cut out the middleman and sell books on your own? Here are some ways you can make more money from your book.

Paid and unpaid speaking can generate more sales at a higher profit. Our authors frequently have books drop shipped to speaking events. This eliminates the 55% distribution fee and puts more money into the pocket of the author. Let’s take a look at the difference:

Retail price - distribution fees - cost to print the book = Royalty

Distributor sale: $20.00 (retail price) - $11.00 (55% dist fee) - $5.50 (cost to print book) = $3.50 royalty

Buying your own book: $20.00 (retail price) -$0 (dist fee) - $5.50 (cost to print book) = $14.50

A paid speaking model may allow you to negotiate a fee plus the purchase of a number of books for the audience.

Chase Cunningham, a cybersecurity expert and Women-in-Stem proponent is a perfect example of this. When his novel published with a female protagonist/ cybersecurity hero, he sold copies to several cybersecurity companies where he spoke.

I personally am a fan of non-paid speaking events. This provides an opportunity to sell your book and upsell into a product. This is what many of our authors do as well. The benefit is not only selling the book without distributors fees but adding a one-time offer (OTO) that brings in additional revenue.

Author Merrill Chandler does this well. When he speaks, he sells a low-cost workshop that the book is a part of. I have personally seen Merrill sell a room of over 100 people and have 97 of them sign up

for the book and the workshop. The low-cost workshop is a gateway to providing extraordinary value and upselling into higher- ticket products and services.

Speaking can also include podcasting. Most guest appearances will provide an opportunity to pitch something at the end. Be smart and send your listeners to a landing page with a signed copy of your book and an OTO.

If you send people to a distributor to purchase the book, you not only lose 55% to the distributor but you also do not know who purchased the book. By providing a landing page with and OTO, you now have an interested person in your email list. This strategy is a win-win for cutting out the middleman and building personal relationships with your audience.

As authors become more creative about book selling, they also become savvier in revenue generation and making personal connections.

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.

hOw authOrs Can prOsper in unCertain times

an interview with Dr. steven KirCh

Kristy: Welcome Steven. How did you get started with Profit Minds?

Steven: I spent about 31 years in high-tech, about 10 with IBM and the bulk of the rest with Intel. A few years in, I was offered the opportunity to take the course The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It was transformational for me, and I became a trainer. I also got certified in a number of other courses of that ilk.

As I got ready for retirement, I thought it would be fun to hang out a shingle as a productivity

coach because I’ve been doing it for more than 20 years.

Kristy: What was your biggest discovery through that journey?

Steven: I discovered that small business owners have no clue what their time is worth.

Kristy: That is a big deal.

Steven: Part of it is that they change hats 17 times a day. They might feel they could farm something out, but it will take longer to explain it, and no one would do it as well, so they just do it themselves.

So how do we help businesses grow? Authors and entrepreneurs fall into that category. How do you get your message out there? How do you market yourself? What’s the problem that you’re solving for your readers/potential clients?

There’s a conversation going on in the head of your prospect: there’s a problem they have but don’t want, and a solution they want but don’t have. How does your book connect those two things and solve the problem? What’s the transformation you offer them?

You want to have an interrupt – an interruption of that conversation going on in your reader’s head. It could be the headline on the landing page for your book.

Kristy: Can you give us an example?

Steven: One example of an interrupt would be to ask the question, “Do you own your business or does your business own you?” You want to find the question that’s bothering your reader.

Kristy: How would you get into the head of your reader and get to that one critical question?

Steven: Ask yourself, “What is their pain point? What is it that they’re struggling with? What’s the reason that they would want to read your book?” I like to ask in the form of a question to create the interrupt. Kristy: So how can you help authors flourish in uncertain times?

Steven: I would argue that first, no one knows what the future holds, and second, many incredibly successful businesses started during recessions or economic contractions of the economy. For example: Apple, Ford, HP were all formed in times of economic uncertainty.

If you lean into that uncertainty, and not expend so much energy worrying about the future, you can help people turn things around. Most non-fiction authors are trying to change the mindset of the reader, to make some fundamental “aha” go off. People are struggling, looking for that when times are uncertain. A book like the one you are thinking about writing may be just the solution your readers are looking for right now.

Kristy: Thank you so much, Steven, for that great advice! Reach out to Steven at https://profitminds.net

People are struggling, looking for that when times are uncertain. A book like the one you are thinking about writing may be just the solution your readers are looking for right now.

Book Launch Strategies:

Tips for CreaT ing Buzz and Building

You’ve poured your heart and soul into your book; now it’s time to share it with the world. How do you make your book launch successful? Here are some book launch strategies to create buzz and build excitement around your release.

Start early, hire experts, and launch successfully. Starting early and hiring experts can make your book launch. Begin at least six months in advance. Experts can create a marketing strategy or best-seller campaign, identify influencers, and develop a social media campaign to generate buzz for your book. Working with an expert can ensure a successful launch.

Create a marketing plan

Your marketing plan should outline your goals and tactics to achieve them. The strategy could include book signings, speaking engagements, giveaways, and social media promotion. Have a timeline for each tactic and assign team members or contractors responsibilities. Get help with your marketing plan at www. MediaMagicBootcamp. com

Leverage your network

Your friends and family are your biggest supporters, so don’t be afraid to ask for their help. Ask them to spread the word about your book on social media, review it on Amazon and Goodreads, and attend your book launch events.

Reach out to bloggers and reviewers. Bloggers and reviewers are a great way to get your book to a broader audience. Reach out to book bloggers in your genre and ask if they’d like to review your book. Make sure to provide them with a copy of your book and any other materials they’ll need, such as a press release or author bio.

Use social media

Social media is a powerful tool for book promotion. Use various platforms to share information about your book launch, teasers, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into your writing process. You can also create a book trailer or host a live Q&A session with your fans.

Host a launch party

A launch party is a great way to celebrate your book release and connect with your fans. You can host a physical event at a local bookstore or library or a virtual one using platforms like Zoom or Facebook Live.

Offer giveaways and incentives.

Giveaways and incentives are great for building buzz and rewarding your fans. Offer signed copies of your book, bookmarks, or other merchandise as prizes. You can also offer incentives for fans who preorder your books, such as video training or a bonus chapter.

Partner with a publisher and other authors

Working with a publisher and other authors in your genre can help you reach

a wider audience. You can cross-promote each other’s books, host joint events, or offer joint giveaways. Choose authors whose work complements yours and whose fans will likely enjoy your book.

Boost the launch with a press release.

Writing and syndicating a press release can effectively reach a wider audience for your book launch. Craft a press release highlighting your book’s unique selling points, and distribute it to relevant media outlets and publications. Syndicating your press release online can generate interest and buzz for your book. To learn about press release syndication, go to www. ShannonProcise.com/ superbrand

In conclusion, a successful book launch builds excitement and buzz around your release. By starting early, creating a marketing plan, leveraging your network, and using social media, you can create a launch that generates momentum and propels your book to success.

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.

Some authors are adamant that social media marketing is just not for them. But as a book marketing strategist who has helped hundreds of authors create promotion strategies, I have to tell you that I wholeheartedly believe if you omit social media marketing, you are leaving money on the table.

I’m not saying that all you have to do is post one great picture with a thought-provoking caption and you’ll instantly sell thousands of books. The point of having a robust social media presence is to create brand awareness, build your authority and credibility, and grow an audience of raving fans who will be excited to buy your book once they get to know, like, and trust you.

When you include social media in your overall book marketing plan, it can be a powerful tool for selling books.

No matter if you are selfpublishing or going with a

hoW to sell more Books With social media

traditional publisher, your goal with social media is to build a following of people who are interested in your book and your expertise. There are several ways to do this, including sharing valuable content related to your book’s topic and even running targeted ads once you know that your messaging is resonating with your ideal audience.

As you start growing your following, you can use social media to generate buzz around your book. Try sharing sneak peeks of your book, create exclusive offers, and encourage your followers to pre-order.

Social media is also a great place to share what we marketers call “social proof.” You can share positive reviews and testimonials from readers that will help you build credibility and encourage others to buy your book.

But social media isn’t just for posting. No matter how eyecatching your photos and graphics are, even if they make

your posts stand out and capture your followers’ attention, that attention is not going to mean much if you do not engage with them.

It takes time and effort, but building relationships with your followers is truly how you will grow your audience online. Engaging is actually simple. Start by responding to comments and messages. Then move into the direct messages.

Get to know your audience on a personal level. When you stop thinking of them as follower numbers and start thinking of them as people you can build a relationship with, that’s where the magic happens.

By using these tips, you will be able to use social media to effectively sell your book and reach a wider audience. And if you want even more great tips, join the AUTHORity Marketing Facebook group here: facebook.com/groups/ authoritymarketingforauthors.

Melanie Bio

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, awardwinning 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!

I REFUSE TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA. I HATE IT AND IT’S JUST A WASTE OF TIME.

hoW to look our Best on camera

If you are an author, speaker, or service-based business owner, chances are you will end up in front of the camera, whether you like it or not. You might as well be prepared to put your best foot (or side) forward.

Video is a multilayered medium. It is a brilliant way to convey messaging, and it can evoke powerful emotions.

A master craftsman knows how to play to those emotions and set up a scene accordingly. For the rest of us, we want to be careful and avoid unintentional messaging. An oddly framed shot can make you look arrogant or insecure. The wrong clothing or background can distract from your message or send the ‘wrong’ message.

Here are a few on-cameraperformance tips to keep you sharp and on message.

WARdROBE & MAKE-UP TIPS:

1. Pay attention to your wardrobe: Simple does it! Stay with solid colors – Can’t go wrong there! Colors that work well on camera are in the beige/brown and blue/green families. Gray, purple, and pink are great too.

2. Avoid fabrics with complicated patterns, such as tight or close stripes, herringbones, and plaids. They tend to strobe on camera. That includes neckties with tightly designed patterns and shiny fabrics.

3. Be prepared: Bring more than one outfit. The camera picks up certain colors and patterns better than others depending on available light and your surroundings.

4. Choose a color you know makes you look fabulous.

5. Avoid black, which diminishes your appearance because they absorb too much light.

6. Avoid any logos and references to brands, including sports teams, locations, films, etc.

7. Avoid jewelry that might make noise or reflect the lights.

8. Style your hair so that it is off your face to avoid shadows.

9. Make sure skin is not ‘shiny’, or sweaty looking. Powder is a must on high definition video, and that goes for the guys as well. Translucent HD powder is best. However, use it with caution as it leaves a white residue if not applied very judiciously.

ON-CAMERA PERfORMANCE TIPS:

10. The background should be either neutral or non-distracting, and always content appropriate.

11. Look into the camera, do not (ever) shift your eye line between the lens and a cheat sheet.

12. Have the camera’s lens at eye level. If you’re too high with the lens it can make you look like the “underdog”, and if you’re too low you can come across as arrogant.

13. Speak clearly and speak up. The faster you talk, the longer it will take to get it right. Take your time talking.

14. I have a personal preference for standing while delivering lines. I have better focus and posture, and my top doesn’t bunch from sitting.

15. Frame yourself in such a way that you are ever so slightly off-center, and your body is turned towards the middle of the frame. Make sure you leave enough space at the bottom for captions.

16. Let your personality come through – if you are a hand-talker, talk with your hands. It makes you look natural and more at ease.

17. When you’re done with a take, come hell or high water, keep looking at the lens for a few seconds and don’t forget to smile. We tend to immediately look away when finally done, which ruins a good delivery, because we need a few seconds at the end to create a clean cut for editing.

Do you have any great tips that help you with your video shoots? Please share them with us, we’d love to know: Email Nina at nina@clockwiseproductions.com or DM on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ nina-froriep/

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.

Frame yourselF in such a way that you are ever so slightly oFF-center, and your body is turned towards the middle oF the Frame.

hOw tO Deal with negative seO

Our online world is a fantastic place to promote books, blogs, brands, and so on. But bad things also happen online, as we all know, and the really important one I want to talk to you about is based around SEO.

A Quick Breakdown

SEO, search engine optimization, is how we improve the quality and quantity of traffic to our book pages, websites, blogs, or anywhere else we have an online presence.

Negative SEO is a malicious approach to sabotage that online presence. Google rankings are stolen by using techniques such as bad reviews, scam reports, and

hijacking your reputation, all for the benefit of another website’s search engine ranking. The complexity and sophistication of negative SEO has grown exponentially over time, representing real danger for those who do not take the necessary precautions against it.

We’ve all heard the term “troll” and the people carrying out these attacks typically fall into this

category, using fake profiles and names to remain anonymous. And sometimes you’ve got competition trying to outrank you or hurt your rankings.

Even if there is some past truth to a negative post about you, it’s helpful if you know how to look for it and how to overcome it.

Start with A Search

A quick Google search

of your name, business name, book title or podcast name will show you what is ranking highest on Google because those will be your first search results.

Action: If you see anything negative or notice that your content is not at the top of the search results, Google is letting you know you need to put more content out. Content is ranked by most recently published items showing first. And we already know that nobody is clicking down to page three or four of search results. If you aren’t on page one, people most likely aren’t going to find you.

You can flood the channels where you publish content with extra content, whether it’s blog posts, podcast episodes, YouTube videos - it doesn’t matter - but you need more content. This plan of action also works if you find negative links about your business or brand showing up. The more new content you publish, the more those current ranked items will drop down the page.

Check for Plagiarism

There are free services, like Copyscape, that will check for plagiarism and let you know if someone else is using your content.

Action: You can request plagiarized items be taken down. It might take a little while but it will be worth the time, so your content is yours and protected.

There are two ways you can go about doing this. The first one is to contact the host where your content is sitting and amicably request that they take it down. If this plan of attack doesn’t work, you can present an inquiry to Google to evaluate and remove the page from its search results.

As an author, just like I tell my podcast clients at Podetize, your content is your most valuable feature. Good content is worth its weight in gold and must be protected, just like your image, just like your online rankings. It’s important to take time to ensure your people can find you and when they do, what they see is good quality.

To wrap this up, I would like to remind you that while pushing out more content is a very effective strategy, great SEO cannot be faked or rushed. Meta tags, backlinks, keywords, strong titles and a variety of content types are all things you should already be leaning into for all content and platforms. If you are unsure of where to begin with this, let’s have a simple conversation about where you can begin.

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.

Good content is worth its weight in gold and must be protected, just like your image, just like your online rankings.

BRANDED BOOK DEVELOPMENT

A Three-month Process

Discovering Your Audience

We start with identifying the avatar reader, by determining the psychographic profile and common mindset.? What is the value proposition we are offering them? What are the key terms that will authentically and emotionally engage them? What visual images will align to their aesthetics?

Book Concept and Title

We develop a short and long synopsis to fully define the essence of the book and compel your target audience to read it. We will brainstorm the most captivating title as well as a well-defined subtitle that include major key words for optimization. We will identify the most socially relevant narratives that we could extrapolate from the manuscript to position the author in the media.

Chapter Structure

Book Brand/Media Development Clients

(Partial list)

Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup for the Soul

Patrica Aburdene - Megatrends

Arielle Ford - Soulmate Secret

William Arnst - What the Bleep Do We Know

The Buried Life - MTV

Gay Hendricks Phd. - The Big Leap

Dr. Ervin Laszlo - Club of Budapest

Ayman Sawaf - Executive EQ

Peter Hanson MD - The Joy of Stress

Lance Secretan - former CEO Manpower

We will develop the full book structure with distinctly branded chapter titles that align in a nuanced way to the title. We then will subdivide each chapter into well sequenced subheadings to guide the reader through the chapters. By the end of the second month, you will have the basic architecture of the book complete and ready to populate the chapter subheads with content. The book then will be easier to write in a non-linear fashion that gives you a holistic overview of the book while you are writing it.

Writing Style and Storytelling

We will explore writing styes to fortify your non-fiction book with riveting storytelling, such as somatic writing to elicit a visceral experience with your reader. We will explore the use of metaphors to help make didactic content more digestible.

Video Trailer Scripting and Production

We will script the quintessential message you want to convey. Once we fine tune the captions, then, we search the perfect, stock- video clips that will tell your story. We, then send you a storyboard for the video for your approval. Once approved, we create the video. We provide all the stock video and music.

$5,550 US

Includes production of book video trailer and consult with Marketing expert.