| Congratulations on writing your first book. That is | | | | year. Tens of thousands of these authors are doing |
| quite an accomplishment. Many people dream of | | | | it for the first time. It is only natural that some of |
| writing a book, but you actually did it. Way to go. | | | | the same mistakes are made over and over. Once |
| At this point you are probably wondering where to | | | | you know what they are you can avoid making them |
| get started, who to contact, how to even take the | | | | and get ahead with your book faster. |
| first step. Don't worry, that is very common. And | | | | The single most common mistake we see is authors |
| now you've found a great resource to help you. | | | | who fail to clearly define their target market. They |
| Step #1 | | | | believe that "everyone" will buy their book. |
| Create a map for yourself. | | | | They waste their valuable resources trying to market |
| If you want to get somewhere you need to know | | | | to an audience that is too broad. Let me give you an |
| where you are and where you want to be. Then you | | | | example from the TV show The Apprentice. |
| figure out how you are going to get there. Yet many | | | | Two teams are in New York trying to sell wedding |
| first time authors jump in with the how to get there | | | | dresses. One team goes to Grand Central Station |
| specifics - getting reviews, making it onto bookstore | | | | where there are tons of people and hands out flyers |
| shelves, creating a website. | | | | to everyone walking by. The other team stays in the |
| Instead, start by figuring out your goals and | | | | office, goes online and buys an email list from a |
| create your own book. What do you want to | | | | popular wedding site (theknot.com) of couples getting |
| happen with your book? Be very specific. Try writing | | | | married who live in the New York area. |
| down at least 10 goals for your book. If that was | | | | The first team trying to sell to "everyone" is reaching |
| easy, write down 25. | | | | tons of people who simply do not care about what |
| Next, figure out what you have to bring to the | | | | they are selling for one very simple reason - they are |
| project. How much money are you able to invest? | | | | not getting married. |
| How much time can you spend doing marketing? Be | | | | Will any amount of marketing on the team's part |
| realistic. You can make your marketing work with | | | | convince them that they need a wedding dress? NO. |
| whatever budget you have and time you can | | | | Does it even matter how great the wedding dresses |
| allocate. | | | | are made? |
| Then you can start finding specific marketing actions | | | | NO. |
| that match your goals and resources. By knowing | | | | The other team however, has found the perfect |
| your goals and resources you can find the exact | | | | target market - people who live in New York who |
| marketing tools to make your goals a reality within | | | | are getting married. |
| your time and money budget. | | | | Do you see the difference? Marketing to people who |
| Step # 2 | | | | ALREADY CARE about your book's subject and |
| Avoid the common mistakes. | | | | forgetting the rest of the people who don't care is |
| Hundreds of thousands of people write books every | | | | the ONLY smart way to do marketing. |