In my work as a marketing coach for new writers, I’ve learned something interesting…
Something that is making it hard for writers and authors to get their work sold…
Something so simple that I’m going to fix it in this one blog post…
Most writers know as much about author marketing as my cat does.
Yes. He’s cute. But he can’t market a book, even if he could write one…
It’s not your fault. The idea of marketers as sleazy salespeople still prevails.
You’re a writer! Not one of those slimy salesmen!
Well, I hate to break it to you, but…
NO ONE is Waiting to Buy Your Book
You need to know that there is no one out there waiting to buy your book.
Except maybe your mum and your granny.
(I jest, but I sold the first ten copies of my first book to my mum!)
But there are so many writers that don’t even bother to learn author marketing…
(Or effective author marketing, to be precise…)
Why?
Because most of us believe that the secret to becoming a success is getting the right agent, getting published by the right publishing house, and desperately hoping that we can strike it rich.
It’s not your fault. Not really.
It’s more the stories we’ve heard about the writers who have done this.
Stephen King did it. JK Rowling did it (after many, many rejections).
We never hear about the author marketing teams that their publishers assembled to sell their books for them.
What you have to realise is that these success stories happen so rarely in an industry filled with thousands of writers…
Now, more than ever before, all writers need to know author marketing to become a bestseller.
Which brings us to the first step, understanding the sales funnel…
The Pillar of Author Marketing Success
Every business out there has a sales funnel.
Well, every successful business, at any rate.
It’s one of the essential pillars of marketing – you need one to start marketing to people, no matter your product.
A great writer with a crappy sales funnel will be outsold by an average writer with an incredible sales funnel.
Just think of all the commercially successful authors out there that produce sub-standard work, but still make millions every year…
A sales funnel is exactly what it says it is. A way to funnel prospects to an end goal, which in this case will be to buy one of your books.
You see, a lot of authors screw this up. Because they pounce on customers way too fast.
They push their ads in front of their ideal customers, asking them to buy, buy, buy.
Look a new book by me! BUY FROM AMAZON NOW!
This is like if you took someone out on a first date and tried to kiss them even before the drinks arrived.
Yeah, it won’t work out so well for you…
You need to build trust first before you get them to buy from you. You have to wine and dine them, give them a reason to want to buy your stuff.
A sales funnel is taking your customer gently by the hand and leading them through different states of awareness until they arrive at the final product – your book. Ideally by the time they get there, they trust you.
Once they trust you, they’ll buy from you.
Once a customer has said “yes” to a bunch of things, it’s a lot easier for them to keep saying “yes”.
What is a Sales Funnel?
You see that pile of money at the bottom? That’s where you want to be. And you achieve that by funnelling your customers down to “Action”.
But let’s start with the top.
Attention:
This is where every one of your potential customers starts. As a cold lead who has never even heard your name.
It’s also the first step to getting customers. The top of the sales funnel is where you start generating awareness of you and your brand.
You’re targeting your ideal readers and telling them exactly who you are, what books you write, and why they should listen to you.
There are lots of ways to do this, but the one I recommend for authors is Content Marketing, which involves using high quality content like blog posts to gather a following that will pay attention to you.
If you use content marketing successfully, you can firmly establish yourself as an expert in your niche. And people listen to experts.
Interest:
You’ve got their attention. They vaguely know about you now.
But they’re not ready to buy. Yet.
That’s where Interest comes in.
You need to entice your prospects, get their senses tingling, get them to want to read more of your awesome work.
You’re still drawing them in. Still baiting them closer to your final offer.
So, you’re not selling to them just yet.
This is where you’re giving them quality content and adding value to their lives for free.
You do this with more content marketing, email drip campaigns if they’ve signed up to your mailing list, etc.
Desire:
This is where you’ve taken your prospect from an ice-cold lead that’s never heard of you to a red-hot customer that’s willing to buy what you’re selling.
By this point, the customer is ready and willing to buy.
They know what you’re selling, the know who you are, and they know that you’re the expert in your field.
You will be making them an offer here.
And if you’ve structured your funnel correctly, they’ll jump at the chance to get your work.
Action:
Congratulations! At this point in the sales funnel, you have a new customer!
They’ve just taken action and bought your book.
They know who you are, they’ve read your work, and hopefully, you’ve impressed them with your amazing Author Content Marketing and astonishing book.
But your job isn’t done. Send a follow up email after the purchase to let them know how grateful you are that they bought your book.
Maybe ask for a review?
The best part is that every time you release a new book, this customer should start at the Desire section of the funnel.
All you need to do is drop them an email and you’ve made another sale.
Author marketing really can be that easy!
But if you ever have trouble with it…
(Like so many writers I’ve met do!)
Or maybe author marketing just isn’t your strong suit…
I’ll give you a free author marketing evaluation.
Because us writers need to stick together in this cruel world of ours…
And I need to use these years of marketing experience somewhere, don’t I?
