Category: podcast

What Zibby Owens Can Teach Us About Establishing Your Platform

Zibby Owens has skyrocketed to becoming one of the biggest influencers in the book world in just a few years. How did she do it? What can we learn from her to establish our own platforms as writers and creators? Today, we dig into her story and specific lessons. This episode is a bit of a “reaction” to Zibby’s recent interview on the #amwriting podcast (episode #293), which I highly recommend you listen to.

If you share this episode online or have any reactions, please tag me: @DanBlank.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below, or in the following places:

You can watch the podcast here:

You can listen to the original #amwriting podcast with Zibby here.

You can find all things Zibby Owens at zibbyowens.com.
On Twitter: @zibbyowens
Instagram: @zibbyowens
Facebook

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Does Social Media Sell Books? (Podcast)

There is an article that I have seen a lot of people share recently, where they talk about how Billie Eilish (97 million followers) “only” sold 64,000 copies of her book. The implication many readers walked away with: social media doesn’t sell books. Today, I unpack this conversation. It’s worth noting that social media itself is just a tool, it is not the entirety of one’s platform. I also share some compelling examples who are thriving by focusing on a smaller — but more engaged — audience.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below, or in the following places:

You can watch the podcast here:

Or you can read my essay on this topic here.

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23 Lessons from The Beatles on the Creative Process (Podcast)

I recently watched a 7+ hour documentary on The Beatles, and kept finding little lessons for writers and artists on the creative process and marketing. In this episode are 23 lessons that I think will address a lot of common challenges that people face when not only creating, but considering how to balance marketing into the mix.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below, or in the following places:

You can watch the podcast here:

Or read my 2,600 word essay about these 23 lessons.

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Want to grow your platform? Do less. (Podcast)

I talk to a lot of writers and artists who want to grow their platform, effectively sharing what they create, and reaching their ideal audience in a meaningful way. Yet, they are overwhelmed with all they feel they have to do in order to market their work. But I have found that doing less can be more effective. Let’s explore why.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below, or in the following places:

You can watch the podcast here:

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My 5-part System for Conducting Marketplace Research (Podcast)

Today I want to share my 5-part system for how you can conduct marketplace research, learning how readers share and talk about books online. This framework can be applied to any kind of creative work. This is a critical process for understanding word-of-mouth marketing, which drives book sales. We will use TikTok as an example, though this methodology applies more broadly to channels such as Instagram, podcasts, and so on.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking ‘play’ below, or in the following places:

You can watch the podcast here:

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