Are You Following This Bad Advice?

EPISODE FIVE

Jenn and Marcus are fired up and have a hot take on the latest "quick fix" that focuses on collecting more followers instead of authentically connecting with people on social media.

Focusing on social media numbers is not effective book marketing.

• Know who your ideal reader is - how to connect with them and what they are interested in.

• Know how you will use great content to drive them to your website.

• Don’t come on too strong! Keep them engaged with appropriate/natural communication.

Make It Happen Moment

Start setting up your content creation and posting process that helps you maintain consistent and authentic engagement with your readers.

Our new free download is your Quick Start Guide (not a “quick fix”).

Transcript

JENN: Hello, welcome to episode five of the Book Marketing Simplified podcast. I am Jenn Hanson-dePaula 

MARCUS: And I'm Marcus dePaula, and today we want to give you our hot take on "quick fixes." Jenn and I regularly have conversations - a lot of times it ends up just being venting about what we see people posting online as advice. And one of the things that gets us riled up more than anything is when we see advice that can potentially lead you, the author down the wrong path on your book marketing. This past week, there was yet another book giving a "quick fix" for people with their marketing. What is your hot take on that? 

JENN: Well, I don't want to bad mouth anything because there's a lot of really great information out there. But then when I do see something - this title is leading people astray, or this advice is just kind of one sided, it only works for one type of person. So there was a particular book that I saw pop up on a Facebook ad and it promised millions of followers on social media in a month.

MARCUS: That's realistic. That's sarcasm, by the way. 

JENN: Yeah. But I looked at that and I was like. This is nuts. Who is this? And so I went to Amazon and when I am questioning something, I go to look at reviews. And I know a lot of people just go right for the five star reviews. What I go for are the three star reviews.

Five star reviews are all glowy, and there's nothing wrong with this. Then if there's the one star reviews, you know. Some of these people are just trying to pick a fight or you know, they were really irked at something. And so the three star reviews is where you get more constructive criticism. And in this particular book, there was some really, really great and helpful three star reviews because they said, you know, "there was a lot of fluff in this book," or "all of this could have been summed up into 20 pages."

MARCUS: Yikes. 

JENN: Another one was like, "if you don't have thousands of dollars every month to spent on Facebook ads, and if you don't have access to celebrities, this won't work for you." And so this book was promising this quick fix. This is everybody's answer to everything. And even in the description of the book, they were talking about how easy it is, you know?

And that just kind of got my blood boiling. I do not plan on reading this book and honestly, going through the glossary and seeing what he covered, I pretty much know what he's going to say. I've been around this a long time. There were so many different frustrations and feelings with this because a few things. 

When you're talking about finding an audience in the huge world of digital media, it's all about perspective - and here's what I mean by that. If I were to say, I live in Nashville, Tennessee, and we need to go to LA, this is exactly the route that we need to take, and everyone in the world can just follow my directions from going from Nashville, Tennessee to LA, and we'll all get there the same way.

MARCUS: Even if you live in Ohio. 

JENN: Yeah. That's basically the gist of it. There is not one exact way that everyone can connect with their readers. And here's the other thing: it's not just about getting followers. And this is what so many people focus on. They're focusing on this quick fix of, okay, if I have a million followers my life is going to be so much easier. 

MARCUS: Yeah. I'll sell a million books. 

JENN: Yes. And they look at that number as being their success guide, and that is the absolute opposite. The hardest part is actually keeping these followers. It's relatively easy to get people to follow you, but A) are they the right people? And B) it's very easy to click "like" or "follow." It's another thing to actually go and consume your content and to buy your book. 

MARCUS: So one of the things that drives me crazy with these types of people that are offering their advice, there are these people that have a huge audience and they make it seem like they got it in a really short amount of time. But what they're not really showing you is how long it took them to get to that point. And then they frame it in a way like, "okay, if you just do what I did, then you can also get the same results."

JENN: A lot of these people in their advice, they're dealing with celebrities. And it's like, well, of course, you know, they already have a platform. They have a lot going for them already. What about the average person that is not famous, they don't have that.

It's not relying on someone else and their platform. You don't know if their followers are actually going to be interested and if they are your ideal reader. Yeah, and I get people asking me all the time in DMs, "Can you just give me a shout out?" Can you just...?" And it's like, "no, that is not what I'm about." And if you looked at my account...

MARCUS: Yeah you'd know in about two seconds, that you don't do that. 

JENN: No. And I'm not the answer to their problems with that, just giving them a shout out. It goes much deeper than that.

MARCUS: Alright, so what can we do to shift our focus and obsession with increasing that number of followers on our social media account and switch it over to actually keeping their attention longterm and getting them to spend time consuming the content that we put out there. 

JENN: Yeah, and I'll say this till I'm blue in the face: knowing your ideal reader 

I know a lot of people kind of throw their hands up and they're like, well, yeah, you know, but I'm having such a hard time identifying my ideal reader. But I think we're making it too complicated. If you were to think about creating the perfect person for you to talk to about your book, who would be just consumed with it?

It might be you 10 years earlier. It might be your friend, or it might be your mom. It might be someone that you're already connected with. 

MARCUS: Your niece.

JENN: Yes. And using them as a mental picture. "Okay. I am just talking to this one person. Why do they like these kinds of books?" And it might take some talking to them. And I think that's one of the biggest things is if you're sitting there stewing and you can't figure out who is this person, talk to someone about it.

Even if it's a friend who just likes to read, even if it's not within your genre, talking to them. "What makes you love this type of book, or what makes you want to purchase a book?" 

MARCUS: And what makes you want to give up on a book? 

JENN: Yeah, exactly. And so just ask some people and just try to get outside of your mind. That's what the ideal reader is. It's you getting outside of your writer's mind trying to sell a book.

MARCUS: And then putting yourself in your reader's shoes to try to understand what it is that's gonna appeal to them that you can say.

JENN: Exactly and talking about other things other than your book. It's about connecting with them as a human being.

When people know, like, and trust you. And I think one of the biggest things is like you, that's one of the big hurdles to try to get over, you know, getting people to actually like you and to trust what you have to say. So, when you can really step outside of your mind as an author trying to sell a book and try to connect with someone on a human level, that is really your first step because then you get to know them as a human being and you get to figure out, okay, they like... Maybe it sparks an idea in your head about maybe a character that you're writing about.

MARCUS: How they can relate to that character. 

JENN: Yes. Or like if you're writing nonfiction and if someone brings up a problem that they're having, maybe I could write a blog post on that, or maybe I could do a series of social media posts. There are all of these different things. Once you get into the mind of your ideal reader it's just this avalanche of ideas.

MARCUS: It starts to snowball. Yeah.

JENN: Exactly.

MARCUS: So then once you know who your ideal reader is, which we talked at length about that in the previous two episodes, so you can go back and listen to that again if you haven't already. But once we know who our ideal reader is, what is the next step in this process? 

JENN: Well, something that I think a lot of people stop at is they think, "okay, once I have them on social media, then that's it." But the next step is really thinking about how you're going to drive them to your website, and you do that through content. The only reason why people would want to go back to your website over and over again is because you're putting out consistent new content - whether that be through a blog, through videos, through a podcast, whatever content that you're sharing that is going to be driving people.

You need to be thinking about, okay, what content can I share that is going to move people to go from. Social media to my website. 

MARCUS: So it's not just about getting them to engage with the content on social media. And as I think we've said before, the social media is not the destination. That's where you make the connection.

So I have a side hot take that I would like to give because just this past week with a new client, I had a phone call with them and their marketing person and we were talking about their website and their marketing person said, "well, the website doesn't really matter because people don't engage there as much." And I bit my tongue and didn't say anything.

But I'm gonna say it now, and I'm not saying who this person is, but the reason why they were having more interactions on social media is because they weren't giving anybody any reason to go to the website for anything. It was just a static site. There was no blog, there was nothing for them to go to. It's just like a bio page and here's my latest stuff for you to buy. You know? 

JENN: Well, and there's a lot of danger in that. Because look what happened to Myspace. We do not own our connections on Facebook and on Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg does.  So we have to constantly drive people to our website.

And this is something that we will do more episodes on: the importance of a newsletter. And I get a lot of eye rolls from authors here, like, "Oh God, not a newsletter!" Yes, a newsletter. Because that is something that you own. And the thing is, is when we drive people from social media to our website to see the blog content. And if they see, "Oh, they also have this free download, I'll sign up for that." Because what they've been sharing is so good that I want to know more or I want to know when this book is coming out. And so getting them on your list, that is where you really get great connections, you have these people that you have their attention and they are ready to buy. And so that is our final destination where you want them to go is to sign up for your newsletter. 

MARCUS: And there's a marketing jargon term that I'll just throw out because it's kind of a good visual for this approach is "the funnel." So the funnel starts at social media and then they click on the link to your website and on your website you have the content flowing in a way that draws them in and then leads them to take an action in some way to sign up for something, to share something for you with their followers, that sort of thing.

And that leads us to the next point. How do we guide them through this funnel without seeming like a car salesman? 

JENN: Yes. Well, and that's the biggest thing is not coming on too strong. I heard Donald Miller one time say "if you get a like on social media and you immediately try to sell to them, it's like meeting someone on the street for the first time and then asking them to marry you." And that is such the perfect visualization I think for that. You need to keep them engaged in appropriate and natural communication. I think it's very easy for us to go into this instant sales mode because there's a computer screen between us.

When we don't think about your readers as living, breathing human beings with mothers who love them and who have a life, we automatically go into that sales pitch mode. So using your social media as a conversation tool. Showing them what you have to offer, what connections you have with them as a human being, and then gradually showing them, "I have this blog post over here that you might want to read." And you can just naturally lead them. Once you get that communication with your ideal readers, it's not like you'll email me and go, "Oh, is it time for me to start leading...?" You will know. It's going to be this feeling.

MARCUS: All right, so the bad news is: there are no quick fixes when it comes to marketing. Sorry. The good news is: it's not as hard as you think, but it does take time. It's just a matter of getting your process and your mindset set up. And again, it all starts with the ideal reader, like you're going to keep hearing from us. And then you have to get that funnel process set up in your mind leading people somewhere. And then the third part of that is leading them in a way that is not coming on too promotional, too strong, pushy. You want to do it naturally, like a conversation. All that being said, what is the make it happen moment for episode five of the Book Marketing Simplified podcast.

JENN: So the make it happen moment is for you to work on setting up your content creation and posting process that's going to help you maintain that consistent engagement with your readers. It's about thinking things through and not just posting just to post. 

MARCUS: And that process evolves. 

JENN: Very much. 

MARCUS: Everybody starts somewhere, start with something and try it, and if it doesn't work,...

JENN: It's okay. 

MARCUS: Yeah, make an adjustment. And actually we have something that might help you that just became available recently. We have created a Streamlined Book Marketing Guide: Six Easy Steps Every Author Should Take to Finally See Book Marketing Success. And this is basically not a "quick fix," but a quick start that is basically a condensed version of the Foundations course that can kind of get you going for free. So we'll have a link to that in the show notes for this episode, but you could also go to mixtusmedia.com/guide to download that right now. That'll help get you started with your process. 

JENN: I get a lot of questions from people about our Foundations course or this free marketing guide asking, "will this work for me even though I don't have a book coming out yet, or will this work for me if I'm just starting out?" And here's the basic answer that I always give everyone: this is not the technicalities. This is about the connection and the content and the process.

MARCUS: The approach.

JENN: The approach. Technicalities with social media, with bookmarking, it is all going to change. 

MARCUS: It constantly changes. 

JENN: So what we teach here is everything that's concrete. This is going to - no matter what social media outlets come up, whatever changes - this is not going to change. This solidifies how you make your goal, your ideal reader, it's what content you're going to create, where you need to be, and a process. 

MARCUS: Well, that's why we call it foundations. It's not just the beginning. It's also what you build everything else on top of, and no matter what, it's there holding all of your platforms up. 

JENN: No matter where you're at. If you're at the very beginning. If you're 20 books in but you're stuck. Or if you just have no clue what to do. This is something that will work for everyone. 

MARCUS: Yes. All right. So that's your make it happen moment. 

JENN: Yes. Put it to work. And as always, thank you so much for listening. Let us know in the comments if you have questions, if you have thoughts, if you just want to say hi. We always love that. So until next time, we'll see ya later.