Category: Online Marketing

The Value of Iteration, Testing & Data in Creating Profitable Digital Products

Are you looking for a way to guarantee increased audience size, engagement and revenue around your digital products? In this guest post for Emedia Vitals, I share a methodology for doing just that, comprising of these steps:

  1. Create a process of iteration
    When you find something that works, instead of just copying it and subjecting your audience to more of it, why not optimize what you are already doing?
  2. Always be testing
    Use A/B and multivariate testing to constantly improve your products and services. Test everything: headlines, segments of your list, ways of promoting it, images, different layouts and colors, etc.
  3. Use the data quickly
    The trick is to use data in a way that drives decisions. When you look at metrics, you should be able to define a single action you can take based on what the data tells you.

Click here to read the entire article on eMediaVitals.com.

Should Writers Focus on the Craft of Writing or Building Their Audience?

Is it better for a writer to focus only on developing their craft, or also on understanding how to build and engage an audience? This is a debate that has been thriving online this year in the writing community, so I thought I would address the topic today.

The latter issue here: “building and engaging an audience” has been disparaged by using terms such as “branding,” “marketing,” “platform” and similar words. The implication is: Should Bob Dylan have spent his time in 1962 writing songs, or designing ads for his album? Does a writer corrupt their work by focusing on marketing instead of creating an amazing work of art and craft?

So for writers, I’ll also take the easy way out: For me, the answer is clearly to focus on both creating one’s work, and connecting their work to the world. Why? Because doing so provides two things that are incredibly powerful, and somewhat rare:

  • Confidence.
  • Turning intention into reality. That lots of folks TALK about having a writing career, but many of them treat their work as a hobby. That many other things take precedence to the millions of things it takes to become a successful writer.

That an inherent part of building and engaging an audience is sharing. That without sharing one’s work, it runs the risk of dying in a vacuum. Twenty years ago, that vacuum was a manuscript at the bottom of a desk drawer. Today, it is a lonely word processing file on your hard drive. Never shared, never improved based on the outside world, forever trapped in an endless and closed process of revisions. That, even a work that is only shared in writing workshops, and never “published” to readers, is a work that perhaps has no end. There is always another edit that can be made.

For many writers, that keeps their work “pure,” because it is not complete. So they don’t have to wrestle with the hard choices about publishing, marketing, connecting – because as they will tell you: “that is putting the cart before the horse.” But if a piece of writing is never completed, always in revisions, then how can it impact the world, and build your legacy as a writer?

While Bob Dylan did not spend 1962 designing ads for his work, he did spend his time in cafés, performing, speaking to those who had similar beliefs, exploring other musicians, and engaging in the world around him. He was intentional to get his music in front of others, to be where he needed to be, to meet the right people. When I speak about a writer building and engaging an audience, these are the types of activities I refer to. To be present in the community you hope that your work has an effect on. Not to be simplifying one’s work and exploiting it in exchange for money. (that’s just icky)

If A Book is Published in a Forest…
But the real risk is that once a work is ready to be shared, is if the author has no skills or foundation by which to get people to read it. So the work dies.

The act of “publishing” is not the critical part of being a writer, it is the act of being read.

The process by which their stories and ideas spread, and truly impact the world.

I have heard this chant at writing conferences and writing blogs again and again: “Write the best book possible.” “Focus only on your craft, and the world will eventually find your work and reward you.”

Bullsh*t.

I’m at the age where I remember a world before the internet. A world where it wasn’t assumed that everyone would have “followers.” Where people wouldn’t complain at “only” having 48 followers, a world where that would be INCREDIBLE to have 48 followers!

When I was a kid I was an artist. When I was a teenager I began writing poetry and other forms of what was called creative writing. I got into photography. In college, I published a music fanzine, which occupied far more of my resources than college work did. (sorry mom and dad) In my twenties I became (a very poor) musician, and created a series of (unpublished) pop up books. Since then, I have gotten more and more into nonfiction writing.

Through each of these projects, I remember how hard it was to not just create the work, but to connect it with others who may appreciate it. That for many writers, artists, and musicians I knew, their work only got polite attention from friends and family. Is that enough? If you are a writer who has written for four decades, is that enough for you? That when you die, your legacy dies with you because your work never found an audience?

What is This Dreaded Word “Branding,” Anyway?
To me: “branding” is about learning how to communicate one’s purpose, the value of their work, and connecting that to the world. Not to change one’s work because of the world, just connecting to it. That many creatives stumble when asked about their novel, their art, their music. They give long convoluted explanations, half-apologizing along the way.

When you know what you are about, when you know how it taps into what others are passionate about, then you are able to make powerful and meaningful connections.

No, I’m not afraid of the word “branding” because it’s just a word. What you make of it – something restrictive or something empowering – is up to each individual. When I work with writers to develop their “brand” – it is never about putting a fake surface on top of their work. It’s always about cutting to the heart of their purpose, of the power of their work, and how that resonates in others – how it connects to the hopes and dreams of those they intend to connect with. It’s not about creating “fans.” That is a one way relationship. It’s about becoming a part of something. Together making a whole.

Building one’s platform is not about marketing. It’s NOT about creating an engine to constantly pitch others. It’s simply about being present. For me, it’s about real connections. I post my cell phone number all over the web and social media when connecting with others. Why? To show that I am a real person, and I want to connect with like-minded people. That there isn’t a barrier between us called “social media.” That I am not using social media how some people use their cars: as a barrier between themselves and others that allows you to assuage the guilt of cutting others off, speeding in a school zone, and honking.

If you call 973-981-8882, I’ll pick up. But please, I have a 1 year old at home, so call at reasonable hours!

Confidence and the Creative Process
What I believe in is a process of iteration. Where you create the best work you can, and then share it. Then you learn from that process, and create a new work as best you can, and share it. If you are forever trapped in the process of creation without sharing, without publishing and building the skills to do so, you jeopardize your entire legacy.

You don’t build a legacy based on intentions, but rather on actions.

The process of iteration challenges you in ways that are uncomfortable. But if you are open to it, you develop confidence. The confidence of a creator, and the confidence of someone who can clearly communicate the purpose and value of their work with the right people.

The reasons for this are best described on page 30 of Steve Jobs’ biography, as Jobs describes how creating and selling little illegal pieces of hardware called “Blue Boxes” to college students gave him the necessary ingredient to build a company that would change the world:

“If it hadn’t been for the Blue Boxes, there wouldn’t have been an Apple,” Jobs later reflected. “I’m 100% sure of that. Woz and I learned how to work together, and we gained the confidence that we could solve technical problems and actually put something into production.” They had created a device with a little circuit board that could control billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure. “You cannot believe how much confidence that gave us.” Woz came to the same conclusion: “It was probably a bad idea selling them, but it gave us a taste of what we could do with my engineering skills and his vision.”

Why do I advocate that writers, artists and creators put their work out there? To focus on connecting with their audience? Because it validates. Because it teaches. It educates. Because it – sometimes slowly – builds confidence.

It also gives you a fuller view of the complexity and value of your work in the world – not just in your mind. That sales is a part of a book’s lifespan. That reaction is an important part of a work. That this inherently challenges the writer/artist/creator. That it takes your work out of the locked bedroom, and sees if it has wings – a chance to grow beyond ourselves.

Is this true for every creative work? No. Some books, some albums should be created in a pure vacuum. But the critical thing is that they are shared, and the artist goes back to the studio to craft something new. I do not think that Dylan’s early career would have improved by committee, or by responding to polls and research of his audience. He pushed others in ways that were uncomfortable, and forced them to evolve in the process.

In fact, many are huge fans of his early work, but his later work (after he has put in Gladwell’s 10,000 hours) resonated with a much more limited audience. Is this bad because he didn’t create popular work? Is this good because he followed his own artistic vision? Not an easy question to answer. If you go see Dylan live, do you want to hear “The Times They Are A Changin” or do you want to hear his 1988 album ‘Down in the Groove’ in it’s entirety, ignoring all of his work from the 1960s and 70s?

Many say they don’t care about popularity, but are they saying they don’t want to be appreciated either? This answer is different for every writer, artist, and musician. And we can’t assume one person’s answer holds true for others. But what keeps someone continuing to create even when they have found no real success with their previous work?

I was lucky that my early creative work was supported and encouraged by friends, family, and the community I was a part of. Their support gave me the confidence I needed to continue to create. I think that is a major hurdle for most writers, musicians and artists. We covet. We fear. We find excuses. We get trapped in revisions. Trapped in waiting for just one more thing to do before we share it.

Create, Publish, Learn, Evolve, Repeat
I’ve talked in the past about principles of the lean startup movement, and it 100% applies here. Of not just developing your brilliant idea, but developing a feedback loop, and getting comfortable putting your ideas out there – of making creation a social process where the needs of others are built into it. You need to develop a process that helps you work past points of failure. Any story of greatness is often riddled with moments where it easily could have all fallen apart, but they had the skills to move past it to find success. You need that. We all need that!

Should the Beatles have never released an album until Sgt. Pepper? Until they had created a masterpiece? That is how some writers approach their career. All of their eggs are in one basket, instead of building a variety of skills, including learning how to share your work to find readers, not just an agent or publisher.

You have to launch to grow.

The Myth of Quality
Another part of this discussion that is often overlooked is that quality is subjective. That what one person loves, another hates. I have been to writing conferences where an author in the audience proclaims that their book is indeed the best it can be, and is better than anyone else could write it. But the topic was somehow repellent to others; there was nothing offensive about their work, it was just a topic that didn’t resonate, a cover design that didn’t resonate. I saw others actively trying to get away from conversations from this particular author. So here this person had a book they felt was great, but people were running for the hills. Was that due to the quality of the work, or their inability to communicate it’s value?

When you can’t communicate the value of your work, how can others experience its quality?

Likewise, we tend to equate the amount of time we spend honing something with the level of quality we are instilling in it. But quality and time have nothing to do with each other. Great works can be created in a moment, and no amount of editing and revision could have improved them. The hardest decision an artist makes is knowing when to put down the brush, when one more stroke will not bring to life their creative vision, but begin to destroy it.

Build the Bridge Before You Need It
One other way I want to look at this topic – considering whether a writer should focus on how they communicate their message, not just develop their craft – is to consider how they manage their writing career. So let’s consider how non-writers tend to manage their careers. You know: regular people you see day to day. This is how most careers are managed:

Someone works hard to find a job.
They get the job.
They work hard to ensure they don’t get fired.
They do good work.
They get comfortable.
They have no time for anything outside of work.
They build relationships ONLY within their company.
They build skills ONLY applicable to a very specific role within a very specific company.
They never learn to communicate to others outside of the company what they do. They rely on a business card and a title to say it all.

But then…
They get laid off.

And suddenly, they dust off their resume that hasn’t been updated in years.
They stop making fun of how boring LinkedIn is, and try to build their connections there.
They start calling people they haven’t spoken to in years.
They go to meetups in their industry that they have never even considered going to before.
They send out hundreds of resumes.

They panic, they get depressed.
They lose their identity.

But then…
They get a new job, and repeat the entire process above again.

That, oftentimes we eschew things like “branding” and “marketing” because we don’t need them at the moment. We feel pure without them. But… when your perfect work is finally done, finally published, and [if] it languishes on the shelves, suddenly, marketing becomes an interesting topic.

But is it too late by then?

Getting read and finding an audience is not about branding and marketing – it is about communication.

We See What We Want to See
We each have different heroes, and different worldviews. In the end, we will all see exactly what we want to see. I imagine Joe Konrath will tend to see stories in the world that prove self-publishing is the answer. Others see their own story – perhaps that the writer should never ever consider the marketing or business aspects of publishing. And you know what, everyone is right. What is right for you, is wrong for someone else. There is not one answer in publishing. Should you let branding and author platform kill your creative process? Of course not. Leverage them if you want. Ignore them if you want. But make a personal choice, not a black and white view of what is right for others.

So let’s all just hug and get on with writing, reading, and perhaps sharing some good conversation over hot cocoa.
-Dan

Money and Time ARE NOT Your Most Precious Resources. Creative Energy Is.

If you are a writer, trying to build your audience and have an impact on the world, where should you put your resources. Your time and your money? Your emotional energy, and brilliant thought?

Now, the easy answer is always: “create the best piece of writing possible first!” So let’s just get that out of the way so we can move beyond it. In truth, we are all creating work that is in some ways brilliant, in some ways insufficient, and always improving as we each grow wiser on our journey through life.

So where does your money go? This is the question Jane Friedman asked this week in a useful and insightful post:

How Should You Spend Your Book Marketing Budget?

I would like to dig more deeply into a few areas she touched upon.

Money is Not Your Most Precious Resource
There is something unsettling about our culture’s obsession with money. The belief that, without money, we have no options, no freedom to choose what we want. Oftentimes, the opposite is more true. The less money you have, the more you focus and leverage your other resources to create a true impact in the world, instead of spending your time managing funds and confusing payment with action.

If you want to build your author platform; if you want to spread the word about your work; if you want to become deeply engaged in a vibrant community – YOU DON’T NEED MONEY. Sure, money helps, but it is not the key ingredient. It’s actually 87th on the list, far behind essentials such as: coffee, good health, sleep, a sense of humor, and so many other things.

But yes, money helps. Money can be traded for time in many cases.

We all seem to wish we had more time. And yet, even time isn’t your most precious resource. Time is flexible. It’s also the great equalizer. We all have the same amount of time in a day. Someone isn’t more successful than you are because they found a way to conjure up a 25th hour in a given day.

But… somehow… there are individuals who do more with their time than others. Which brings us to your most precious resource: creative energy. You can also call this “motivation,” I suppose.

What I mean is this: I don’t work a full work day. Sure, I work for at least 8 hours a day, oftentimes more. But some of that time is spent moving things around, managing email, organizing, keeping the lights on. But the real work comes in bursts of creative energy.

That I will have 20 minute bursts of ideas and inspiration and work that create entire products, entire revenue streams, entirely new ways to have an impact on the world and build a legacy. That the other 23 hours and 40 minutes in the day were sort of ordinary, but those 20 minutes were somehow elevated.

So I protect my creative energy. I carefully manage my time to ensure the most creative and critical tasks are done in the mornings (when I work best) and free of distractions from family or meetings. I construct my daily to-do list to have pockets of juggling and coordination, and pockets of free space. I make sure I deal with tasks I am most worried about first, so they don’t creep into my creative time.

Invest in Communication
When considering where to spend your resources – focus on connections, not things. On results, not actions. It’s easy to order 1,000 awesome business cards. It’s hard to meet the right people, in the right way, to have those business cards pay off. We get sidetracked by representations of action. That a business card represents someone capturing our info and gives them the power to connect with us. But a representation does not equal action or results.

Focus on making TRUE connections with others, not on “platforms, “websites,” or “documents.”

Some incredibly successful people who built their entire career online have ugly websites that barely work. Simply “choosing” to leverage Twitter does not in and of itself result in any effects. HOW you use it is what matters. And buying books, self-paced courses, and other resources doesn’t mean that what the words in them say will lead to action in your life. You have to read and execute on the material. This is why so many people you know have amazing shelves worth of books, but a very limited worldview. A book that is bought but not read does not really shape your life. Sometimes, it merely shapes the image you would like to have of yourself.

So instead of investing in ‘things,’ invest in something incredibly old-fashioned: communication. How others communicate with you, and how you can communicate with others. To spread ideas, to listen to others. To negotiate. To converse. To build relationships.

Twitter doesn’t communicate. People do it by leveraging Twitter. Websites don’t communicate. People do it by working through a website.

I am a consultant (RUN AND HIDE!!!), and when you hire a consultant, don’t get all excited about the deliverables in terms of documents they provide. That you will get a 90 page this, and a 40 page that, and a 200 page something-or-other. You have to measure the benefits of who you hire based on providing clarity, on harnessing resources, on identifying amazing ideas, and on things that lead to action and results. Intangibles that give you a clear path and steps to get there.

Invest in people – those who brainstorm, push, pull, challenge, and support. Not just investing in “things.” That a website doesn’t inherently do anything. It is a tool in a process of communication. Should you spend $2,500 for a great web design? Maybe. But don’t think that a beautiful website will really bring you to your goals unless you understand who your audience is, and how to engage them. There are lots of pretty, yet lonely, websites out there.

Knowing Where You Are Going Before You Get Spending
Buying clothes doesn’t make you stylish. How you wear them, and how you act in them does. Likewise, spending money doesn’t necessary solve your problems. You have to know WHAT you want to say. WHO you want to say it to. HOW to most effectively do it. And understand how your purpose aligns with the needs and interests of others.

Jane did a wonderful job of covering this, saying that before you spend, consider:

  • Who’s your primary target audience?
  • How much of your audience do you “own”?
  • What are your weak spots?

Many people have no idea where they are going. They want to “get published.” Or “reach mothers” via their blog. The translation here is vague, based more on wanting to be popular and relevant, but not really digging into specific cause and effect. To really define how they are impacting the world and building their legacy.

When you consider how you leverage your own resources, don’t look for the shiny red button. The one that promises the world for a simple price. Instead, consider how you can work with others to make new connections, and move past boundaries. Oftentimes the biggest obstacle standing in your way is not a ‘thing,’ and isn’t even outside of your own head. We are often our own biggest obstacles. Find ways to work with others that help you free up your creative energy. In doing so, you may find that you also gain other precious resources: yes, time and money; but also: immediate impact and the start of a legacy.

And of course, let me know if there is any way I can be of assistance to you. Have a great day.
-Dan

How to Become a Bestselling Author – Lessons From Eric Ries

Today I am going to review the details of the specific tactics that one nonfiction author used to get his book onto The New York Times Best Seller list. He shares what worked, what didn’t, and how expectations did and didn’t meet with reality.

The author is Eric Ries, whose book The Lean Startup came out in September. Everything listed below is directly from an interview he did with Andrew Warner at Mixergy.com, who was kind enough to allow me to outline the items discussed in the interview in this blog post. His original interview with Eric is embedded below, and I highly recommend you watch it.

The Lean Startup reached number two on the New York Times’ “Advice, How To, and Miscellaneous” Best Seller list and I have seen it at various places on the overall Best Seller list. Here are the lessons Eric shares on how he achieved this:

  • Set the Specific Goal of Becoming a Bestseller
    Eric defined his ideal audience, and felt that being on the best seller list would be an ideal way to build his credibility and reach them: managers, investors, policy makers, the people who have a big impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He asked himself, “Why do we have these bestseller lists?” His answer was that most people only read a handful of books per year, and that the bestseller list is a way for people to filter what is best. These are the books people will be talking about. So he worked backwards from that goal, to understand the mechanics of how to become a New York Times Best Seller. Here is what he found:

    • All books are published on a Tuesday, because the NYT calculates best sellers as the books that sell the most from Tuesday-Saturday of each week.
    • People who pre-order books count as a book being sold on the first day (or first week.)

    With this, he set out his path: get as many pre-orders as possible. This is critical for authors, and something I talk about with all of the writers I work with: you have to define your goals and audience up front.

  • The Only Form of Payment Eric Would Accept is Book Orders
    Eric didn’t luck into being a bestseller, he spent an entire year focused ONLY on this goal. This is where his time and resources went. In fact, the only way that anyone could pay Eric for anything for the entire year was through book sales. He describes his speaking and consulting fees as “outrageously expensive,” and he wouldn’t accept payment for them for the entire year. Instead, as I will describe below, book sales were the only currency he cared about. So for many promotional efforts, he would only do them if the organizer could guarantee that a certain number of books were sold (in this case, pre-ordered.)

  • Build a Movement Before Writing a Book
    Eric’s book is the culmination of a movement that has been building in the tech startup, and entrepreneurship worlds: that of “the lean startup.” Basically, its the idea of building products and companies by testing ideas early, and iterating your way to success by constantly talking with your customers. He has become something of a celebrity, and is highly sought after as a speaker and consultant. The lean startup was a movement started with Eric’s ideas, but was very grassroots in how it spread. Eric shared his ideas again and again via articles, blogs, interviews, and speaking events. He gave away everything well before he wrote a book about it. He didn’t covet his ideas, saving them for “the book.” Because he gave it all way, because it was so compelling, that is what allowed him the opportunity to actually get a book deal and become a bestseller.

  • Turn Awareness Into Sales
    His strategy in growing awareness and sales of his book: “Use early adopters to drive the message to the gatekeepers of the mainstream.” He had been blogging for 2 years prior to the book and is a popular speaker. But, Eric points out that engaging people via a blog post is one thing, getting them to pull out their credit card is another – much harder – task. “It took me a long time to learn how to talk about the book in a way that it would get people to buy it without coming off as some jerk self-promoter,” he said.

  • Set Up a Website to Test What Sells Books, and What Doesn’t
    Eric attributes creating a custom website for the book as the biggest thing that worked for him. But this wasn’t just any website, it was where he tested which marketing campaigns and messages sold books, and which didn’t. So he spent an entire year running experiments (A/B testing) designed to get people to pre-order his book. Again and again he ran experiments and campaigns in order to answer the question: “what would influence people to buy the book?”

    He actually sold the book via his website long before Amazon even had it listed on their site, which he said was a lot to manage and would not recommend others do. He didn’t know what the price would be, and then had to deal with customers directly. But it was the only way to really research – start to finish – what gets people to buy the book.

    Many of his tests were about the cover and the subtitle – the two things he thought would be most impactful, and two things that are traditionally hard to analyze to determine the best of each. He describes how he fought with his publisher over “horrendous” covers that were presented to him. He was thrilled to have empirical data to show them, based on what people reacted most favorably to – what ACTUALLY drove book sales. In the end, they tested and tested until he found something that he liked, the publisher liked, and actually sold books.

    What’s more, he shared the data on his experiments, and used this too to sell books. One idea that really sold a lot of books for him was offering people to see this data if you pre-ordered a book. So Eric offered people a chance to go behind the scenes to see the book marketing testing that he was doing on the site. Due to the nature of the book, testing ideas that work, this really resonated with his audience. All the data can still be accessed on his website, including experiments and trends among his book-buying customers.

  • Don’t Rely on the Book Tour to Sell Books
    Eric assumed that if he did an in-person talk, then plugged the book, that people would immediately go online and pre-order it. It turns out, he felt that this is one of the worst ways to sell a book, and rarely works for authors that he has seen in a pre-order scenario. People either got annoyed at the sales pitch, or they chose to not pre-order because they wanted to wait until the book was out to see if others think it is good. What this taught Eric, months ahead of his actual book launch, is to not rely on his book tour to sell books.

  • Events That People Pay for Are More Impactful Than Events That are Free
    Because the book tour idea didn’t work, Eric began asking event organizers to charge $25 for admission to see him speak, and then provide the book for free. (He would include these numbers as pre-sale orders.) At first, he got a lot of push-back from event organizers who don’t believe in charging for events. For Eric though, he knew that this strategy would guarantee pre-orders, turning his personal time into guaranteed book sales.

    He would only go to events that were guaranteed to sell a certain number of books. It seems that 250 books was the number to hit for Eric. If the organizer would charge $25 admission, and guarantee 250 attendees (eg: books sold), then Eric would pay his own way to fly out to the event. He experimented in other ways too, sometimes not charging admission, but getting sponsors to pay for the books. This actually allowed him to attend events, conferences, and meetup groups that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford his regular speaking fees, since it was entirely feasible that a small group could move 250 books.

  • The Biggest Thing he Thought Would Work, But Didn’t: Social Media Integration Tools
    Eric was convinced that building social media integration tools into his website would create book sales in a viral nature. The idea was that you could do campaigns to sell books within your circle of friends, much like someone would organize those they know to raise money for a charity race, donations, or Kickstarter project. Eric set up the site so that you could get your own personal page for the campaign, import your contact list, and reach out to your community to get involved in the lean startup movement. In the end, Eric said it looked brilliant on paper, but got no traction whatsoever.

  • Challenge Your Own Beliefs: Choosing the Subtitle
    For the subtitle, Eric was CONVINCED he had the right tagline for the book: “The Lean Startup: The movement that is changing how new products are built and launched.” It turns out it did worse in testing than anything else they tried. He kept insisting they test again and again, and other subtitles always lead to more book sales. It turns out, Eric’s favorite subtitle didn’t have key words that would resonate with his audience, such as “innovation” or “entrepreneurship,” and that the term “movement” means different things to different people. Also, his subtitle didn’t state a direct benefit to the reader. The subtitle they eventually settled on: “The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses.” So you can see the key words in there, and the direct statement of benefit to the reader.

  • The Value of Bundling
    Eric copied the “landrush” strategy from author Tim Ferriss. The idea is that you create a limited-time promotion right before the book comes out, by finding partners who will offer free promotions in exchange for how many books you buy. For example: access to a free webinar if you buy 10 books, or a free speaking event with Eric if you buy 1,500 books.

    Eric did a lot of bundling experiments over the course of a year, preparing for the “landrush,” assuming that it would push him onto the best seller list. In reality, Eric found he sold more books via the bundling experiments than he did in the actual “landrush” promotion at launch. Driving awareness of the bundles was “way harder” than he thought it would be. He assumed a great offer would spread virally, but instead, most people were confused as to what the offer was. In fact, a logistical problem meant that most of the books bought in his landrush didn’t even end up counting for the first week’s sales numbers.

Something Eric mentions a couple times in the interview is that if he had put all his eggs in one basket – the landrush promotion, the book tour, the social sharing integration tools, or any other strategy he was convinced would work – he would not have made the best seller list, because each didn’t work as he expected. Overall, it illustrates how even good ideas will not guarantee results.

In fact, he found that directly asking his audience to simply buy the book was one of the best tactics that actually sold books.

Are each of these things “rules” that you should follow? Nope. This is just Eric’s experience after spending a year experimenting on his topic, with his book, targeting his audience. I encourage you to try your own experiments.

Clearly, not everyone will have the time and resources to devote that Eric did. But his story does underly that the book business is just that: a business. Yes, it has amazing and wonderful effects on our culture, our legacy, our future. But when having a successful book needs to become the cornerstone of one’s career, there is the very real need to attract attention, and convert that attention into sales.

This sounds like a brutish way to talk about books. But sometimes I feel that there are too many unicorns and butterflies surrounding the idea of a book, which almost belittles how multifaceted and powerful they are. A book is many things, including a business. Also, Eric’s story underscores the amount of work that can be required to go from being a “writer,” to becoming a “bestselling author.”

What I like most about the interview with Eric is that his passion seems undaunted, even though he clearly illustrates that none of this was easy. He spent considerable time and money to earn his achievement. He went through bouts of what have been frustrating experimentation and choices. And the result goes far beyond having his name on some list. It is clear that this passion is what drove a true movement to form in the first place. That his work extends beyond the list, beyond the book, beyond revenue.

His work will clearly have a legacy. And I imagine this to be the highest calling of any writer.

Please check out Eric’s book: The Lean Startup, and other incredible interviews Andrew has with entrepreneurs on Mixergy.com.

Here is the entire interview with Eric:

Wistia

Thanks.

-Dan

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Writers: Connecting to Your Audience Begins at Creation

When is the best time to begin thinking about marketing your book, connecting it to readers? At creation.

Before it is done. Before you have a title. Before the cover is designed. Before you have an agent. Before you have a publisher. Before you know the launch date. Before you have something to “sell.”

Why? Because marketing is not just a selfish process of selling something to people, it is a process of connecting with and understanding those that you share a worldview with. It is a process to understand your audience – what gets their attention – the marketplace they exist in – what gets them to take action – and how the support system around them operates: the agents, publishers, bookstores, book blogs, reviewers, and so many others that create the community around readers.

This is a process of learning.

When you consider marketing while creating, subtle changes can be made at this point that makes your work MORE meaningful to those you are hoping to connect with.
This is not about changing your work to pander to what others want. This is not about dumbing down to get mass audience appeal. I have been an artist, a musician, and a writer: I RESPECT the creative process – the act of listening to your inner voice to create something uniquely you. That you are doing something that moves our culture forward, and not just filling a gap in “the market,” or watering down your work to try to give others what they think they want.

But… if your book needs to find an audience. If you need to take steps to become a full-time author. If your work needs to support your personal life or a professional business. Then…

You may want to consider the process of marketing during creation. In the past I have written that not every creation needs to be shared, and used the example of a series of pop up books that I once spent three years creating. I was exploring ideas and a story in ways I never had before. I realized that the more I thought about ‘the market,’ about becoming a ‘published author,’ the more watered down it became. So I threw that idea out the door, and it became a personal project, with zero goals of sharing it beyond a few close friends. As an artist and writer, that was satisfying. But it should also be noted that those books haven’t seen the light of day in more than a decade. Those who had seen the books during that time still ask me what I am going to do with them, offended that the answer is: “nothing.”

But… I didn’t need those books to be my identity. Or my career. Or the foundation for a business. I just needed to create them for myself. I just needed to explore that story.

So if you are working on a book, and don’t care if 10 or fewer people read it, then – GREAT. I love that. But if you will judge success by the number of people who read your book. By HOW engaged they are. By the connections you make, the lives affected. If you want your ideas to SPREAD. Then consider marketing early in the process of creation. Consider building your author platform. Consider if you know who your ideal audience is and how to reach them. Consider if you know how to talk about your book and how to connect that with interests and desires already in the minds of those readers.

Sometimes this process of marketing at creation happens naturally. You are drawn to the people, places, and ideas that align with what you are creating. Conversations are something you seek out. Relationships are built. Your work is already affecting the world.

But sometimes this doesn’t happen. The idea is coveted – protected – and thus, not shared. The creator hides their process, hides their work, becomes tongue-tied when trying to explain it, gets shy about even mentioning it because it means potential judgment. It takes a lot of confidence to talk about one’s personal creative process openly with friends, family, and coworkers. So, many writers live a double life. Their creation is born in secret.

I think the key is that we get jaded about terms such as “marketing.” That it means a different purpose and identity than “creation.” That great work should speak for itself, and magically find it’s way into people’s lives. That we engage with the business end of things as a painful necessity, hiring mercenaries to shout about our work for short periods, but that our grace comes with the legacy of becoming part of the pantheon of great writers.

Carolyn Parkhurst illustrates this best:

I understand that when we talk about marketing, you may be thinking this is akin to selling out, or focusing your very limited resources on the wrong things. But I have worked with enough writers to know that it is a lot of HARD WORK to find success. That too many writers fail to not just share their work, but they give up on the process of writing altogether.

It’s hard work to succeed, and not just for the little guy, the newbie coming up. It’s hard for those famous and successful writers as well – to find continued success. They worked hard to get where they are, and many of them rarely slow down, always trying to further cement their body of work, engage new readers, and extend their legacy. Their success is earned by inches.

I just watched the 2002 documentary, The Comedian, where Jerry Seinfeld shares his process of creating an entirely new comedy routine after retiring all of his old material. It shows the struggle he goes through to create good jokes, and to constantly test them out in front of audiences. He characterizes his work ethic this way:

“When I was starting out, I used to sit down and write a couple times a week. Then one day I was watching these construction workers go back to work, trudging down the street. It was like a revelation to me. I realized: these guys don’t want to go back to work after lunch. But they’re going, because that’s their job. If they can exhibit that level of dedication for that job, I should be able to do the same. Just trudge your ass in.”

The documentary shows Seinfeld – one of the biggest names in comedy – on stage in small clubs, testing new material from scraps of paper, forgetting his jokes, in anguish over nerves before a gig. It shows him – a very wealthy man with one of the most successful TV shows ever – trying again and again.

This is someone whose creative process is inherently a part of how he shares his work. Is it different for writers of books? Sure. In fact, it’s different for every individual. Only you can decide your creative process, how you will develop your writing career, how you will connect with readers. That is the joy of it, and for some, the endless frustration of it. But if your goal is to reach a wide audience, to engage people again and again, then consider how you share your work as you develop it. Consider connection during creation.

Thanks!
-Dan