How to Build a Powerful
Writer’s Platform in 90 Days
Using Only the Free Social Media
Table of Contents
Introduction ..........................................................................................................5
How to Use this eBook .........................................................................................7
What You Need before You Begin .......................................................................8
Chapter 1: The Writer’s Online Platform .....................................................11
What Is an Online Platform? ..............................................................................12
The Writer’s Brand .............................................................................................13
Setting Goals .......................................................................................................18
Chapter 2: Establishing a Home Base ..........................................................21
Creating Content ................................................................................................22
All the “Other” Pages ..........................................................................................24
Outsourcing Work ..............................................................................................26
Chapter 3: Blogging ...........................................................................................28
Writing Effective Blog Posts ..............................................................................29
Keeping Up with Other Blogs ............................................................................31
Your First Blog Post ...........................................................................................32
Chapter 4: Social Media ...................................................................................33
Twitter ................................................................................................................38
Facebook ............................................................................................................39
Google+ ..............................................................................................................42
LinkedIn .............................................................................................................43
Pinterest .............................................................................................................44
Audio and Video .................................................................................................45
The Importance of Being Consistent .................................................................47
Chapter 5: Polishing Your Product ...............................................................48
How to Find a Good Editor—or Three ...............................................................49
How to Keep Editors Involved ...........................................................................50
Getting the Inside Scoop .....................................................................................51
Chapter 6: Researching Your Market ..........................................................52
The Market for Non-Fiction ..............................................................................53
The Market for Fiction .......................................................................................54
Where Is Your Market? ......................................................................................55
Chapter 7: Choosing Your Product’s Format .............................................57
Self-Publishing a Physical Book ........................................................................57
eBook Publishing ...............................................................................................59
Chapter 8: Branching Out ................................................................................61
Reaching Out on Twitter ....................................................................................61
Guest Posting .....................................................................................................64
Article Marketing ...............................................................................................67
Blog Tours ..........................................................................................................68
Cross Promotions ...............................................................................................69
Chapter 9: Turning Your Fans into Buyers-in-Waiting ...........................72
How to Set Up a Mailing List .............................................................................73
The Email List Sign-up Page ..............................................................................73
Confirm Subscription .........................................................................................74
Your First Marketing Email ...............................................................................75
Chapter 10: Countdown to Launch ...............................................................76
Gather Some Reviews ........................................................................................76
Your Affiliate Program .......................................................................................78
Writing a Sales Page ..........................................................................................80
Prelaunch Buzz Overflow ...................................................................................81
Staying Motivated ..............................................................................................81
The 90-Day Calendar ........................................................................................83
The Maintenance Tasks .....................................................................................85
Part 1: Laying the Foundation ...........................................................................86
Part 2: Getting Help ...........................................................................................94
Part 3: What Your Market Wants ......................................................................98
Part 4: The Rewrite ..........................................................................................103
Part 5: Creating a List—and a Tangible Product .............................................106
Part 6: Maintaining Momentum .......................................................................111
Part 7: The Final Product ..................................................................................114
Part 8: Generating Buzz ...................................................................................118
Part 9: The Launch ...........................................................................................124
.................................................................................................130
A Bird’s-Eye View
The 90-Day Calendar: A Bird’s-Eye View .........................................................131
Contact .................................................................................................................132
Introduction
I know. Many guides out there promise success in 30 days, two weeks, and even 24 hours.
Some guarantee success on autopilot. There’s a googolplex of sales pages swearing that you
can go from having ten dollars to being a millionaire with little effort.
Let’s be even more honest; you’ve wanted to believe some of those promises. But you know
better.
This isn’t one of those empty promises. This is a step-by-step guide on creating an amazing
author platform in 90 days, based on your ability to write, be interesting, and engage others.
Here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll read this book. You’ll think, “Man, this sounds like a big
job.” And you’ll wonder if you really have time to do it.
What you won’t have to wonder is whether it’s going to work. It won’t be effortless. But it will
work.
In this book, we’ll cover:
В» How to build a genuine online platform;
В» How to generate buzz around your book;
В» How to launch a book successfully using only social media;
» How to make sure your book lives up to the hype you’re about to build.
We won’t cover:
В» Strategies unrelated to social media, such as radio and TV interviews, speaking
engagements, book tours, etc.;
В» Advertising-based strategies;
В» Shady social media tactics, e.g. procuring huge numbers of dummy followers through
special websites;
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» Underhanded “Amazon bestseller” tactics, such as buying reviews, creating sock puppet
accounts to purchase your own books, etc.
This work will require commitment and discipline. This will also require a good effort on your
part.
So how do you get committed to this project?
Committing to Success
The work laid out in this book will take up to several hours every day. Some days will have less
work; very few, like the days leading up to your launch, will demand more.
“This is a step-by-step
guide on creating
an amazing author
platform in 90 days. It
won’t be easy.
But it will work.”
What can you cut out of your schedule?
Can you skip that favorite TV show?
Can your spouse take care of the kids
while you work on this project? Can
you wake up earlier for the next three
months? Can you ask your employer for
a sabbatical?
There are ways to п¬Ѓnd the time. I
recommend using the “rule of five
roles”, which states that a normal person can be proficient at five roles at any given time, and
not more. A “role” in this context is a major priority, such as being a wife or a business owner.
Trying to balance more than п¬Ѓve roles leads to burnout, poor quality of output, depression,
and so on.
As an example, here are my п¬Ѓve active roles as I write this text:
1. Father of three kids;
2. Husband;
3. Employee, working a 12-hour day for a major corporation;
4. Author;
5. Fitness enthusiast.
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All my other possible roles, such as “active friend”, “attentive son”, “supportive brother”, etc.
are de-prioritized for the time being.
The question is, do you have that burning desire to develop a platform from which you can
launch your books and related products? Do you want your voice to be heard above the
thousands upon thousands of other writers?
If the answer is yes, then making the time is a matter of simple administrative decision. Make
this one of your п¬Ѓve roles.
Clear your calendar and open this book. In three short months, you’ll have a platform from
which your words will be heard.
How to Use This eBook
First, I recommend you read it through so you understand the work needed to create your
platform.
As you read, please remember: this work will get you where you want to be. If you commit to
it for 90 days, you’ll see amazing results, and you’ll be glad you did it. Get your head in the
game. Hold nothing back.
I’ve created a bird’s-eye view of the 90-Day Calendar to assist your planning (helpfully titled
“A Bird’s-Eye View” and located on page 131).
Second, get yourself a notebook. We’ll move rapidly through many techniques, and it’s a
good idea to keep notes.
Alternatively, you can print this eBook out to highlight thoughts that jump out at you and to
make notes in the margins. Keep track of what strikes you as relevant to your project. There’s
nothing worse than having twelve great ideas while you’re reading the book—only to discover
after you turn the last page that you’ve forgotten them all.
Write your thoughts down. You’ll find some good concepts here, and you’ll have even more
valuable ideas of your own. Those ideas will make your platform distinct from everyone else’s
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and, as you’re about to see, that’s half the battle.
Third, print out the calendar and post it somewhere prominent, where you’ll see it every day
and be motivated by it. Do you start writing п¬Ѓrst thing in the morning? Then stick it by the
bathroom mirror. Do you write after work? Stick it where you’ll see it when you walk in the
door.
Finally, as a general philosophy for using this book, it’s not the gospel.
This book will give you a solid framework with practical strategies. However, it’ll work better
if you allow your own instincts to guide you. If you know a little something about search
engine optimization, or SEO, go beyond my recommendations. If you can get creative with
brand building, go for it.
Trust your instincts and go off book when it feels right.
(P.S. Just remember that the voice in your head saying, “Take today off, have a beer, and
watch a few reruns of Cheers,” isn’t your instincts. It’s procrastination, and it won’t help you
build anything but a beer gut.)
What You Need before You Begin
The п¬Ѓnal draft of the best book you can write
I assume you already have a book, since we’re here to build a platform so you can launch it.
I also assume your book is the strongest it can be. Fantastic books sell themselves through
word of mouth; no amount of clever advertising can make readers support a poorly written
book.
We’re building a platform to spark that word of mouth.
If your book doesn’t live up to the hype you’re about to create, the whole exercise will be an
embarrassing flop. Too many writing careers were dead on arrival because books were rushed
to market.
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Don’t rush. You’ll want to have the best possible product before beginning this journey. If
you don’t, then create one. No worries; this eBook will still be here when you get back, and
everything in it will still work magnificently.
N.B.: In the context of this eBook, a “product” is anything you’re creating your platform for: a
novel, a set of short stories, a serialized Twitter saga, a nonfiction book, etc.
A Website
I looked this over from every angle. I even tried doubling up on tasks, but there was no
avoiding a simple fact: you need a good website before you begin the 90-Day Calendar.
Everything else in this eBook is entirely your domain. But unless you’re a website designer as
well as a writer, you won’t control how fast you can get that website up and running.
By the time a website is up on the web, you’ll go through several rounds of revision, design,
and coding. There’s plenty of room for errors and delays, and you can’t afford that when
you’re building a platform.
Here’s an example. I envisaged my website (www.AustinBriggs.com) in January 2011. The
first four months were spent working with a developer who couldn’t deliver what I wanted.
Only when I contracted my current web designer (www.MenWithPens.ca) did things п¬Ѓnally
fall into place. My website went live in July 2011.
Why did it take so long? I wanted quality. When the cost of market entry is as low as it is
today, professionalism becomes the main differentiating factor. I respect my readers and I
offer them the best experience I can afford.
If you already have a website that makes you proud, you’re good to go. If you don’t have one,
please create or commission it before you begin. At a minimum, it’ll need:
В» A Product page,
В» An About page,
В» A Blog,
В» A Contact page,
В» A Newsletter sign-up form,
В» Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest widgets.
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Other optional, but beneficial, pages you could have are:
В» A Services page for consulting, coaching, or other paid services,
» Product pages for what you’ve already published,
В» A Copyright page,
» A Disclaimer page, if you run affiliate marketing,
В» A Press page.
If you don’t offer services and the book you’re launching is your first, not to worry. You’re
about to create an amazing platform from which to build your future.
As your website grows, and as you master the traffic generation strategies, you’ll add more
pages that’ll help you interact with readers, rank higher with the search engines, and have
more fun and income.
There’s a wealth of free and paid resources online covering the subject of building a strong
website. One of the best places to check is Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger Blog.
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Chapter 1
The Writer’s Online Platform
For a long time, the game for writers has been the race to get published. Writers sought
literary agents, editors, and big-time publishing houses, but few aimed at recognition online.
Many writers who had websites got their fame п¬Ѓrst, and those well-known on social media
were household names long before the creation of Twitter.
While many still achieve great success with traditional publishing, the world is changing fast.
Self-publishing has become a legitimate and lucrative way to build careers. Writers are
connecting directly with their readers without the endorsement of publishers or celebrity
reviewers. Many are reaching their dreams on their own; and as they prove that their writing
appeals to the market, big-time publishing houses also begin to pick up books they would have
turned down a few years ago.
In fact, many of them are picking up books they did turn down a few years ago.
The success stories are fascinating. Lisa Genova wrote a novel about a Harvard professor’s
struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. After being rejected time and again through the traditional
publishing channels, Genova decided to self-publish via Amazon.com.
The book was a hit. Readers bought it. The Boston Globe reviewed it. And Simon & Schuster,
having the unique advantage of seeing the book’s appeal in real time with real people, decided
it was worth the risk of publishing an unknown author—mostly because there was no risk, and
she was no longer unknown.
A writer can also put out such a successful series of online articles that publishing houses
come and commission a book, certain that a loyal online following will snap it up in a
heartbeat. Shit my Dad Says by Justin Halpern is a good example of this: a Twitter feed that
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had reached over 3 million followers, a book (now two), then a television series.
An online platform can help a writer develop a strong following, self-publish, and make a
splash. It’s a way to supercharge your writing career.
For the purpose of this eBook, I assume you’ve chosen to self-publish. If you’re published
traditionally, simply skip the few sections that don’t apply to you; most of this eBook will still
be relevant.
What Is an Online Platform?
An online platform is a following of people who п¬Ѓnd your work through the World Wide Web.
Your fans will п¬Ѓnd you through different avenues, including your website, social media, and
others’ platforms. Together, those channels will connect a mass of people who love the way
you write.
“Having an online
platform is the
difference between
wading through the
millions of people who
also want their voices
heard and standing
apart from the crowd.”
You’ll find them by reaching out
through targeted channels. You’ll keep
their attention by producing strong
writing for your unique audience. You’ll
gain their loyalty by being interesting
and helpful, and, when you ask them
to pay money for the value you offer,
they’ll be happy to do so.
An online platform is a solid place
from which to launch new material and
new ideas. It’s the difference between
wading through the millions of people
who also want their voices heard and standing apart from the mГЄlГ©e.
The foundation of your platform will be your website. Just as all roads lead to Rome, all your
online channels will lead back to this home base. This is where people will come to get to
know you and your work better. This is where you’ll announce new endeavors. This is the
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place from which you’ll ask people to read what you’ve produced, and from which you’ll secure
a market for your work, your insights, and knowledge.
From this base, you can branch out into exciting offline activities that’ll bring you even more
sales, such as radio interviews, TV appearances, talks, and paid membership plans (these are
outside of this eBook’s scope).
Right now, an online platform is the most important tool a writer has.
The Writer’s Brand
Building your platform will require both tactics and strategy.
Tactics are logistical, such as using social media channels, launching an email marketing
campaign, and engaging editors. Such steps can be set out in checklists. Anyone could perform
these exact same tactics and get excellent results.
Your brand strategy, on the other hand, is unique to you. It’ll influence how you perform each
tactic and what you look like and sound like while doing that. If the tactic is to use Twitter a
dozen times a day, then your brand strategy will dictate what you tweet, what words you use,
and whom you interact with.
Your brand strategy defines whether you use different tactics than everyone else (e.g., crosspromoting your Celtic Fantasy book with a Fantasy artist who has a matching portfolio or
creating an Internet radio network for your genre), or the same tactics, but done differently:
for example, instead of text-based blogging, you could blog via short YouTube videos.
I’ll lay out some tactics in this eBook, but your brand is too personal to cover fully within its
scope. Only you can determine the way you want to be perceived as a writer.
Although I can’t tell you what your brand is, I can suggest two principles:
» Keep your brand positive. I’ve seen too many writers spawn negativity on various
forums about their distributors, retailers, reviewers, and even readers. Doing this is a
sure way to destroy your brand.
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В» Many people and organizations online use Google Alerts; your comments will likely
end up right in their inboxes. For instance, as a book distributor considers authors to
recommend for an Amazon.com promotion, he’ll likely skip someone who’d been badmouthing him all over the Internet.
В» Stay professional. Every bit of information you put out under your name is an audition
with potential readers and agents. You’re always on stage, performing in front of a vast
audience. You’ll want to say things that are consistent with your brand. Here are some
examples of what I’d call a lack of professionalism:
» Once I visited an author’s blog before committing to buying his books. There I
found a heap of racist comments that he’d posted.
» Another author grumbled in an interview that he didn’t give a damn about his
readers, whom he considered a bunch of uneducated fools.
В» Yet another author turned awkwardly aggressive in his responses to reviewers
on his book’s Amazon page. Later he came to his senses and deleted his own
comments, but the readers’ shocked reactions to his aggression remained for all
to see.
Your fans will need to understand that no matter what you do online (blogging, engaging
in social media, running a coaching service), you’re still the same person. They need to see
consistency. They need to feel that they know who you are and what you would and wouldn’t
do. They need to trust their understanding of you as a human being.
What Is and Isn’t a Brand
Branding is among the most inconsistently defined terms in marketing, so let’s take a moment
to discuss it.
When a fan describes your work, your brand helps him distinguish you from every other
writer on the market. If your brand is too similar to another, you risk being identified via that
person.
Stephen King is an excellent example of how this happens. When a new writer appears with a
talent for suspenseful writing, he’s compared to Stephen King. This may be flattering at first,
but it reinforces Stephen King’s brand and diminishes the brand of this new writer. When
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people read an article comparing this writer to Stephen King, they’ll remember Stephen King.
They’re familiar with Stephen King: the talented man who puts out a book practically every
time he wakes up in the morning and is deeply suspenseful.
Despite what some advertisers recommend, I never compare my material with that of more
established authors. They write to their audiences; I write to mine. And I aim to build a brand
that stands on its own.
This doesn’t mean our writing has to be utterly unique. No writer is uninfluenced by others.
The brand is about the writer, not the writing. It’s about the way you approach your work, how
you engage with other writers and with your fans.
Naturally, the first thing people will say about you is what kind of writing you do. “He’s a
business writer;” “She writes historical fiction;” “He blogs on minimalist living.”
Your brand is the second thing they’ll mention. “He’s a business writer—but he takes an
aggressive, warrior-like approach. Spare and primal.”
“She writes historical fiction with an emphasis on little-known documents.”
“He blogs on minimalist living—and he’s the funniest Zen master alive.”
You build a brand by bringing your unique qualities into your material, by adding the secret
ingredient of your personality and imagination. You already know what kind of writing you
do. Your brand is about what kind of writer you are.
Creating Your Brand
As we established, a good brand originates from who you are as a person.
Companies and individuals who try to create brands out of whole cloth usually fail, because
the audience feels it when the image isn’t genuine. You may design a website or a logo that’s
all about youth and vitality, yet if you write emails like a stodgy accountant, people won’t
believe your brand.
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But if your brand comes from who you are, why work on it at all? A lack of consistent brand
strategy may lead you to thrash about searching for the latest tool to achieve that elusive
breakthrough, confusing your fans. Also, we’re easily influenced by what others tell us we
should do. For example, even if you’re bold and rough, a designer you’re working with may
convince you that a softer style is very in right now.
Defining your brand saves you from these kinds of pitfalls. Instead of merely asking yourself,
“Do I like this idea?” you should also ask, “Is it consistent with my brand?”
Many would enjoy owning a Picasso,
“More than anything,
branding is about
quirks—what’s unusual,
unique, and personally
defining about you.”
but few have rooms in which a Picasso
would look at home. Platforms fall
apart when you try to п¬Ѓt in elements
that are cool by themselves but don’t
support the real you.
The smart place to begin is to ask
yourself what kind of person you are.
If you don’t feel comfortable answering
this question, you can ask close friends, colleagues, or other writers you’ve worked with in the
past. How would they describe you to a stranger?
This isn’t about strengths and weaknesses. More than anything, branding is about quirks—
what’s unusual, unique, and personally defining about you. Make sure when you ask around
that people know you’re not looking for compliments; you’re looking for the things that
differentiate you from others.
Exercise: Write down your three most defining traits. Then consider how these
traits would look in shapes and colors, how they would sound out loud, and how
they’d show up in your writing business.
For example, if one of your defining traits is “funny”, then what would funny look
like on a website? How would it come across in your writing? Are you funny in
personal emails? Would you be funny during a radio interview?
You’ll want to think about the difference between your writing voice in products
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like books and your writing voice in more casual circumstances like social media,
emails, and blogging.
As you go through the 90-Day Calendar, ask yourself before you perform each task, “How can
I do this in a way that’s consistent with my brand?”
It’ll make you a little more creative, a little more excited about what happens next, and a lot
more effective.
The Ethics of a Brand
Writers face issues of copyright and plagiarism. There’s nothing more devastating than being
accused of stealing someone’s work—unless you’re the writer whose work was stolen.
To earn the trust of readers, your brand must follow the same ethics you follow in all other
aspects of your life. Stealing someone else’s brand isn’t quite the same as stealing the words
from their pages, but it’s close. It’s flat-out lying to your fans.
Develop a brand that’s true to you. If it’s similar to someone else’s brand, that’s okay—just like
it’s okay to have a writing style similar to another author.
What isn’t okay is to imitate what that author does and says.
It’s surprisingly easy to do. You might see someone you admire with an effective biography on
his About page or a powerful strategy to engage new readers. You might like the way he pulled
off a launch or the way he subtitled his latest book. You may consider it a cool idea for your
own web presence.
One idea turns into six, which turns into 20, which turns into your website, your Twitter feed,
and your overall brand becoming nearly identical to that other person’s.
Stay ethical and rely on your own ingenuity. Go right ahead and use good ideas from other
people, but make sure those good ideas are supported by plenty of your own.
Become better than the best so you’re never tempted to copy anyone.
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Setting Goals
Expectations
Before you launch your platform, you’ll want to hammer out precise goals it must accomplish.
If you’re aiming to self-publish a book online, you’ll want to establish a sell-through goal.
Working backward from that target, you’ll be able to set realistic goals for the size of your
email list, number of Twitter followers, unique visitors to your blog, etc.
A good rule of thumb is to assume that about 2-3% of people who view your platform will
be influenced by it. In other words, if you have 1,000 people on your newsletter list, you can
expect that only 20 or 30 of them will purchase your book unless they specifically signed up to
buy the next volume in a series.
There are ways to improve that conversion number, but a buy rate of 10% is considered
superb, so it’s worth betting on the average when you set your platform building goals.
Consider how much time and effort has gone into your project. What’s that time worth? Write
down a number. How many people would have to buy your product for you to recoup that
investment?
Here’s the basic equation:
Income goal (I) = number of people (Y) multiplied by price of product (Z).
“The authors of Chicken
Soup for the Soul had
1.5 million subscribers
as a result of their
active platform-building
efforts.”
If you put $10,000 worth of work
into your product, but you only plan
on charging $0.99 apiece, you’ll need
10,101 people to buy it (before taxes).
Since you’re only banking on 2-3% of
your list (at most) to buy the product,
you’ll need approximately 250,000
people to see your book.
How realistic is that? Can you get
250,000 readers on your list any time
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soon? Probably not. Calibrate your expectations accordingly; either price your product higher,
or lengthen your п¬Ѓnancial recovery timeline via a sustainable sales plan.
(Not that a massive mailing list is unattainable, of course. The authors of Chicken Soup for the
Soul had 1.5 million subscribers as a result of their active platform building efforts).
With a longer-term approach, it’s important to realize the “time value of money”: money is
worth more now than in the future. Two approaches may help here:
В» Set the exact time by which you wish to recover your investment, and use all your
energy to meet that deadline;
В» Minimize your upfront investment (for example, by splitting payments to your
providers into monthly installments).
Pricing
Long-term pricing online is a matter of split testing to see which price point works best with
your type of readership.
Low pricing may move lots of copies, but the book can be perceived as low value. Many
assume low-priced eBooks to be unfortunate self-publishing gaffes.
High pricing may also move lots of copies; but it may not be seen as credible. I’ve bought a few
highly priced eBooks from the Internet Gurus that contained little useful information; these
days I tend to stay away from expensive online products.
I strongly suggest picking an odd number ($0.99, $4.99, $23, $35, etc.); but beyond that, test
and see how it works.
Exercise 1: Play around with numbers and come up with your own goals. Write
them down in your notebook, where you can easily see them as you move
forward. Here’s what you’re striving to achieve:
В» Income goal;
» Number of people you’ll need to buy your product;
В» The time limit by when these goals must be reached.
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Exercise 2: Visualize your success. How does it feel to have a powerful platform
and reach thousands of readers? What does your ideal day of writing and
communicating with fans look like?
You’re a writer. You can create mental pictures of irresistible strength. Use this
skill! Describe your success in words that galvanize your imagination.
Boil it down to several powerful sentences and write them down in your
notebook.
Numbers excite our minds; emotions move our souls. Anytime you feel like you’re flagging,
take out your pages and read them aloud. Ideally, read them daily to keep yourself going.
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Chapter 2
Establishing a Home Base
Your online strategy should be aimed at pulling potential fans into your circle of influence.
Your website is the most effective tool, since this is where you’ll list all your books, entertain
visitors, and impress casual readers with the quality of your writing.
The website’s purpose is to inspire in your readers a powerful desire to buy your books. It’s
not to share ramblings on the hardships of your self-publishing journey or the value of your
pet’s Eukanuba diet.
You’ll want to bring your audience from complete indifference to passionate engagement.
Here are the approximate stages of this journey:
Engagement Stage
Outer Reach
Circle of Interest
Inner Circle
Master Mind Circle
General Characteristics
•
•
Twitter follower, Facebook “Like”, or Google+ circle connection
May have visited your blog/website once
•
•
•
•
Casual reader of your blog/website
Has responded to your call for action, e.g., participated in a contest
Re-tweets your messages or shares them on Facebook, Google+,
YouTube, etc.
May have bought one of your products
•
Regularly comments on your blog/website
•
•
Supports you on relevant communities (GoodReads, LibraryThing, etc.)
Buys most of your products
•
•
•
Actively generates positive word of mouth for your products
Has become your beta reader
Buys all of your products
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Before you encourage lots of potential readers to come to your website, you’ll want to exhibit
excellent material for them to see.
The amount of poorly thought-out websites is staggering. It’s not difficult to gain an edge
by keeping your pages tidy, focused, and readable, and your material relevant to your target
audience. So when people start to swing by, you pull them into your circle of influence.
Creating Content
Even if you already have content on your website that you love, you’ll want to take a few steps
to improve its effectiveness.
Since you’re a writer by trade, you might think it’s a cakewalk to create your own website copy.
You’ve definitely got a leg up on the competition; you understand the power of language. You
know how to put words together in a compelling way, and you probably have a better grasp of
spelling than most of the online population.
These are all good assets to have. What you need to do now is weave in a couple of basic web
copy strategies to make your website as powerful as it can be.
Write short
Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs. Don’t use long words when short ones will do
well. And break your sentences up so they read faster.
Paragraphs should rarely be longer than four lines on the page. People tend to scan when they
read online, and they’ll skip long paragraphs automatically.
It doesn’t hurt to have a couple of one-line paragraphs, either. Readers like those.
Write consistently
Decide if you’ll write about yourself in the first person (“I wrote this book,”) or the third
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person (“John Doe wrote this book.”)
Be consistent with the tone you take (casual, formal, quirky, or joking, for example) and the
level of language you use: switching from academic terms to colloquialisms will confuse your
reader.
Cut the crap
Many new website owners start off the way people did in the 1990s: “Hi! Welcome to my
website!” You’ll want to skip that.
“Hello world” is the default post in WordPress. So it probably shouldn’t surprise us that folks
actually start their blogs with it.
Here’s an example from a live website of a writer. A treasure of learning can be gathered here.
I’ve changed the wording a little to protect the identity:
“Hello world. This is my first post. I
“Many new website
owners start off the way
people did in the 1990s:
�Hi! Welcome to my
website!’
You’ll want to skip that.”
have no particular reason to write it,
but I was told blogging helps reach
readers. I bet many of you have never
spoken with a real writer before!
So, let me share how I write books...
(The author goes into a 2,000-word
narrative on how he writes books.)
So anyway, that’s all I wanted to
ramble about, and if you want, you
can reach me on Twitter. Tell me what
you want to hear about me. Bye.”
People are acquainted with websites, and they don’t need to be told they’re visiting one. What
they need to know is who you are, what you’re offering them, and what you’re working on.
They need to understand how you’ll bring them value or entertainment.
They need to know where you want them to click next (your product page, your blog, etc.) and
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what you want them to do when they get there (buy something, leave a comment, get in touch,
and so forth).
If you stick to the basics, you’ll have a good early blueprint for you site. Then you can start
playing around until you get it just right.
Just do it
Write a lousy п¬Ѓrst draft. Allow yourself to write text that goes on for too long, rambles too
much, and makes too many bad jokes. Get that draft on the page.
Once you’ve written down everything you could possibly want to say, get your editing pen out
and tighten up your writing, guiding your readers just how you want.
Oh, and one final thing. Take a look at the page where you’ve described your brand. Does your
web copy п¬Ѓt that image?
All the “Other” Pages
Your About page comes next.
You’ll want to have those branding
“Mention every writing
and professional
accomplishment that
relates to the image
you’re aiming for,
and keep the rest
to a minimum.”
notes handy once again.
The way you talk about yourself is
directly tied to your brand. If you
want to come off as approachable and
friendly, then speak in a casual way
and mention a few things about your
private life. If you want to be seen as
a cool professional, you might make
your About page read like a formal
biography.
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Either way, mention every writing and professional accomplishment that relates to the image
you’re aiming for and keep the rest to a minimum.
Be sure your contact information is accurate and includes your social tools like Twitter and
Facebook. Create a Services page if you offer coaching, consulting, or other services. If you
already have products, make sure the descriptions for each are compelling and concise.
This does not include the book you’re about to launch. Save that one for later. We have plans
for introducing that book to the public, and they’ll kick in around week three. First, we have to
get people to pay attention to you.
The Press Page
Out of all the possible “non-obligatory but beneficial” pages, I’d like to highlight your Press
page.
Its purpose is to show the press that you’re a professional worth talking to, who’ll make them
look good and won’t waste their time.
This page should usually include:
В» High resolution pictures of you and your book cover;
В» An exciting summary of your book accompanied by the sales information (ISBN, retail
price, page count, publication date, etc.)
В» A set of fully updated press releases. It would be smart to keep these press releases
current by linking them up with latest news, your other publications, speaking
engagements, etc;
В» A list of questions and answers about you and your books that could intrigue both
traditional media and bloggers;
» Most interesting or high profile reviews of your books and products;
В» Media engagements that have already taken place (for example, links to your earlier
newspaper interviews, downloads of your audio interviews, and embedded videos of
you being interviewed on television).
Here are some strong examples of such pages:
» Darren Rowse’s Press page (nonfiction),
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» Karen McCann’s Media kit (auto-biography),
» Robert J. Sawyer’s Press kit (fiction).
When your platform becomes strong enough, a quality Press page will help catapult you to
new heights of reach and influence.
Outsourcing Work
You can successfully build your platform by doing every single task yourself. You can also
create some breathing space by outsourcing elements of it.
Caution: always make sure the result of your outsourced work perfectly п¬Ѓts your brand and
meets your quality standards.
“Always make sure
the result of your
outsourced work
perfectly fits your brand
and meets your quality
standards.”
What can you outsource?
В» Editing and proofreading,
В» Website design and coding,
В» Website maintenance (backups,
plugin updates, etc.),
В» Press release preparation and
distribution,
В» Admin support,
» I don’t recommend outsourcing
the complete process of creating your
articles or blog posts. However, a
freelancer can provide you with an excellent п¬Ѓrst draft, on which you can build your
unique piece of writing.
Never outsource the real interaction with your audience:
В» Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and other social media updates,
В» Comments on forums and other blogs under your avatar,
В» Comments on your own blog,
» It may be obvious, but never “outsource” (i.e., purchase) reader reviews for your books.
Here are several excellent generic outsourcing hubs where you can п¬Ѓnd pretty much any
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professional, from website designers to editors to cover artists:
В» www.п¬Ѓverr.com
В» www.elance.com
В» www.odesk.com
В» www.deviantart.com
Book formatting:
В» www.indiemobi.wordpress.com
В» www.candescentpress.com
В» www.cyberwitchpress.com
В» www.everything-indie.com
В» www.facebook.com/EbookFormatting/info
В» www.jasonga.com/ebook-formatting
В» www.writersblockadminservices.com/ebook-formatting
Cover Design:
В» www.allenmohr.com
В» www.bookcovers.creativindie.com
В» www.gobookcoverdesign.com
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Chapter 3
Blogging
A blog can be magnificently useful for two things: name recognition online and authority.
Name recognition is simple; the more material you have online under your name, the more
likely the search engines are to point people to you.
If you have written a hundred blog posts, then your website will most likely be the п¬Ѓrst thing
Google comes up with when someone searches for your name. And that’s what you want—
since that’s where all your products and information will be.
You achieve professional authority when you can prove you know what you’re talking about.
As a writer, you can achieve such authority in two ways: prove you know how to write,
or prove you know about your topic. Generally, п¬Ѓction writers will excel with the former
approach, while nonfiction writers will excel with the latter.
For example, if you’re about to publish a book on business networking, you’d blog about how
to network, what experiences you’ve had doing it, and insights from others who know about it.
If you want to self-publish a set of short stories, you’d blog about coming up with inspiration,
fun facts about the worlds your stories are set in, and interviews with other short story writers.
Some folks decide to write fiction for their blog. An excellent example is Shaun Allan’s website
where he posts as Sin, his protagonist.
But beware of this strategy if you sometimes experience writer’s block; for your blog to
contribute to your online platform, you’ll need to publish new posts often.
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Be honest. Can you produce that much unique work, ready for others to read? Few writers
could hold up to that kind of scrutiny.
Some budding authors think a blog is good motivation to write daily. However, you’re starting
this blog not to motivate yourself, but as a tool to build your online reputation. When choosing
your blogging strategy, make sure it serves that purpose before anything else.
There’s another fact to consider. Google Analytics demonstrate that most clicks go to the
Product page, the About page, posts packed with practical information, and fun contests.
People seldom read п¬Ѓction in their browser.
You have a lot of room to breathe
“You’re starting this blog
not to motivate yourself,
but as a tool to build
your online reputation.”
in your blogging topics. The only
important rule is not to deviate too far
from your source of authority. If you’re
a romance writer, you don’t want to
start a blog about your cute cats. As a
writer or a romancer, it won’t do your
reputation any good.
We’ll do some specific work on keywords, blog topics, and your editorial schedule as we get
into the 90-Day Calendar later on.
Writing Effective Blog Posts
Millions of articles exist on how to write effective posts, and it would take a whole separate
eBook to distill all the information. We will, however, work on this as we get into the Calendar.
Best Practices
I recommend reading some excellent websites devoted to helping people become effective
bloggers. You’ll have a good foundation in effective techniques, how to come up with great
blog post ideas, and a few other tips and tricks you may not have imagined existed.
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Check these sites out, among others:
В» www.menwithpens.ca
В» www.copyblogger.com/blog/
В» www.problogger.net/blog/
В» www.johnchow.com
В» www.bloggingpro.com
В» www.chrisg.com
Posting Frequency
There are several schools of thought on how frequent blog posts should be.
Some authors swear by occasional posts, timed to your major book launches. Others, like
Joe Konrath, prefer almost daily blog updates to keep the conversation going. Social Media
Examiner suggests omitting dates in your posts, so they never appear obsolete.
If the content shines, any approach may command massive audiences. As an example, Joe’s
posts routinely draw over a hundred comments.
In this eBook, I recommend blog posts every other day for the п¬Ѓrst three months to build a
solid blogging archive. Later on, I suggest moving to a couple of posts a week, or whatever
works for you, so you don’t burn out. When you develop an authoritative blog, you’ll have
people approaching you with their guest posts, which will lighten up your workload.
Length
A blog post doesn’t have to be long. An article of 500-700 words, with a few carefully selected
pictures thrown in, is all you need. That’s also what the online readers usually have patience
for.
Effectiveness
To gauge the effectiveness of your posts, I recommend Google Analytics. It’s a free and
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powerful suite of tools to measure just about anything that happens at your blog: how much
time people spend on your site, their favorite pages, the average number of posts they read per
visit, etc.
Google Analytics can also help understand the main sources of your traffic.
Of course, this is an “in-process” measurement system. At the end of the day, the only number
that matters is how well your book is selling.
Keeping Up with Other Blogs
There are blogs written on every topic in the world (well, almost), and many have followings.
You should know of at least half a dozen blogs where folks enjoy talking about the same topics
you write about.
Don’t discount blogs that aren’t
“Bookmark all the blogs
you like, or put them in
a single RSS feed so you
can check them daily.”
dedicated to your topic. If you’ve
written a book on how to be a stayat-home mom and an entrepreneur
at the same time, go right ahead and
comment on the blog about monster
truck rallies if you can link its audience
with your platform.
Bookmark all the blogs you like, or put them in a single RSS feed so you can check them daily.
Go around and comment, ideally on a regular schedule. Make friends and keep track of them.
Every single person you meet online is a potential fan and a candidate for your inner circle.
Browsing forums is a perfect way to kill time. Resist turning this interaction strategy into a
procrastination strategy. Visit your target site, read, comment, and leave.
Exercise: Note what kinds of articles your favorite blogs put out and start
brainstorming what you could write for their audiences. You’ll use this material
later on, when we explore writing guest posts.
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Your First Blog Post
Begin with confidence. Don’t bother introducing the blog; start with the best post you can
write. Let the blog speak for itself.
You’ll be inclined to begin with the easiest topic you can think of. Resist that impulse with
everything you’ve got and, instead, write the post you’d love to read. Would you want another
author in your п¬Ѓeld, someone you admire, to speak on that topic? If so, great!
If you struggle selecting the best topic, use the keyword research tools (Market Samurai,
Google Keyword tool, etc.) to zero in on subjects with the highest keyword potential. We’ll
discuss this more as part of the 90-Day Calendar.
Here’s the most important thing about your first blog post: it’ll be your worst post.
Even if it’s a great post, it’ll be your worst, because you’ll get better with every post you write.
As you go on blogging, many people will only see your latest post. Some will want to browse
through the archives.
But by that time, the post will no longer look like it did when you п¬Ѓrst wrote it. You can edit
your own online work, or rewrite it entirely. And you should.
This is a good time to mention the second most important thing about your п¬Ѓrst post: no one
will read it unless you ask them to. Ask a few friends to come around and share their sincere
thoughts and feedback. This is a good way to start improving right off the bat.
That said, it’s unlikely anyone will comment on your first post, or your second, or your third.
That’s why we’re not encouraging people to come read your blog early on. People like to see
that a blogger has some history. They don’t want to get attached to a writer who may not be
blogging in another month.
If you’d rather not have immediate feedback so you can get used to blogging, that’s okay too.
Publish it anyway. Get used to the idea of putting things online. We’ll be doing that a lot.
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Chapter 4
Social Media
Facebook and Twitter are two social media channels you simply cannot do without
when building an online platform. Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn could also become
indispensable. New social media channels, bookmarking services, and link exchanges develop
all the time.
All these channels are similar in many ways, and they can all be used to bring prospective
readers into your inner circle. The main difference is in the level of engagement: it’s the
difference between wandering down to the local bar, throwing a dinner party, or attending a
business soirГ©e.
“The main difference
is in the level of
engagement: it’s the
difference between
wandering down to
the local bar, throwing
a dinner party, or
attending a business
soirée.”
First things п¬Ѓrst: how often should you
update your social media channels?
The answer will relate directly to your
brand.
If your brand assumes plenty of
interaction with your fans, you’ll be
spending lots of time on social media
channels, particularly Twitter. The
analogy of the local bar for Twitter is
fairly apt; if you want to be the guy at
the bar that everyone knows and looks
for when they walk in, you have to be
in the bar at all times. That means you
should be on Twitter as often as you can.
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If you have a smart phone, getting a Twitter app can be immensely helpful with that.
If you intend to be more reflective, reclusive, or simply laconic, you’ll still want to be on social
media, but not nearly as often. The key is consistency; you’ll want to show up at roughly the
same time, and you’ll want to put out roughly the same number of posts.
On the high end of the usage scale, you’ll be posting new updates throughout your workday,
and you’ll want to set aside one or two hours strictly for this. You may also want to invest into
some tracking and automation tools. On the lower end of the scale, you’ll tune in a few times a
day, post once, and go away again.
Exercise: Based on your brand, set a goal for the number of social media
interactions for one day. This number can go up, but you shouldn’t allow it to go
down.
For example, the minimum number of tweets you should post in a day, as you build your
online platform, is five to ten. Any less than that, and people may not think you’re committed
enough to start paying attention to what you say.
Social Media Goals
Whatever social medial channel you decide to focus on, your goals would normally be:
» To find potential readers and pull them into your circle of influence;
В» To develop long-lasting relations with helpful people, such as editors, publishers, cover
designers, and fellow writers with whom you can cross-promote.
Based on this, the goal of each social media update is to get your update “shared” or
responded to because of its quality; it’s the most sustainable way to excite followers and build
your credibility and reach.
The purpose of these channels is not to drone, “Buy my book,” every few minutes. Some
writers use them that way and it’s really unfortunate.
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Content
According to the social media scientist Dan Zarrella, people tend to share:
» News (over 60% of all “shares”),
В» Humor,
В» Opinions,
В» How-tos,
В» Alerts and warnings.
On this scale, “fiction” is the least “shared”, with less than 8% of all shares.
In terms of content forms, the most popular are brief sentences, clear pictures, and
infographics. Build them into your posts.
The most boring subject for the social media is you. Resist turning your update stream into a
soap opera about your daily routine. “I hate boiled fish.” “I love eating mud from my garden.”
“I’m off to sleep.” “I just woke up.” Stop!
Social Media Handles
These are critical as you build your brand and must reflect your confidence and
professionalism on which the success of your platform would rest.
If at all possible, your Twitter, Google+,
“It should be possible
for someone to type
your name into Google
and have all your media
channels pop up at the
top of the page.”
YouTube, and Pinterest handles, your
website URL, and your Facebook page
name should all be the same. Ideally, it
should be possible for someone to type
that name into Google and have all your
media channels pop up at the top of the
page.
If you’re a fiction writer, odds are good
you’ll want your social media identifier
to be your name or some variation thereof. If you’re John Smith, the best name you could
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possibly get is @johnsmith.
It’s likely that @johnsmith is taken but, as an author, you probably know that John Smith isn’t
the most unique name and you have varied yours with a middle initial (John A. Smith) or a
nickname like Johnny. @johnnysmith and @johnasmith are fine choices, if they’re consistent
with how you are known as an author.
If you are a writer with a popular product, business, or website, those are also valid social
media names. If you’re not well known as John Smith, but your product Banshee Willis is
popular, @bansheewillis is a good handle.
If none of those names are available, your best strategy is to veer slightly toward the random,
or an inside joke. For example, Neil Gaiman doesn’t go by @neilgaiman, because someone
else snapped up that Twitter name while Neil wasn’t paying attention. He started tweeting
under the name @neilhimself to show he was the real Neil Gaiman and the guy using the
Twitter handle @neilgaiman was full of it.
Later, his daughter Holly got the Twitter name @hollyherself. It was a joke all his fans could
share in. If you have something like that, that’s just fine.
A good rule of thumb is to imagine someone introducing you by this name at a party.
If it can be played off as an inside joke—as in, “This is Neil himself,”—you’re fine. If
it’s a nickname, you’re also fine. If you lead a business, that works too. Jay Conrad
Levinson isn’t known by many, but “Guerrilla Marketing” is, and it’s easy to imagine him
saying, “I’m Jay Levinson, from Guerrilla Marketing.” His Twitter handle could be @
guerrillamarketing.
Don’t use numbers in your handle; very few take @johnsmith456 seriously.
Avoid the words “Twitter”, “Facebook”, etc. in your name or your self-description. @
johnontwitter is awkward in the way that johnsmithsemail@aol.com would be awkward.
I suggest dropping the word “writer” or any variation in your name. @johnny_writes is about
as awkward as a person who actually introduces himself as, “I’m Johnny who writes!”
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Profile Bios
The best social media profiles make readers want to engage with you. Folks usually don’t want
to know if you’re a coffee addict or a chocoholic, nor do they care that you have seven lovely
grandkids.
They want to know why they should follow you. Do you offer entertaining, sarcastic tweets?
Do you create sexy worlds of magic? Do you share fun historical trivia? Showcase that in your
bio.
Resist placing hash tags (e.g., #writer) in your Twitter or Google+ bio. It looks overly
promotional.
A sample bio might run something like this (or shortened for Twitter):
John Smith is an expert in business networking who has consulted for companies like
XYZ Corp., Excellent Inc., and Whoaimpressive. His philosophy is that networking
should be like speed dating, but with fewer chances to get a drink thrown in your
face. His writing has appeared in publications that include Inc. magazine and the San
Francisco Chronicle, and he is working on his п¬Ѓrst book, Networking Shmetworking.
As always, have your social media bio match your brand. For example, do you want to
mention that you’re a “starving, self-published author who needs support”? Go right ahead if
that’s the image you aim for; otherwise skip it.
You’re building a successful platform. Behave as if you already have one.
The Numbers Game
The most successful authors attract readers, not only fellow writers. In the beginning, you’ll
likely be followed by lots of other writers. Over time, you’ll want to find a way to plug into the
audience of readers who enjoy what you write.
A common mistake on social media is to go after a massive number of followers. While the
overall number is important as an element of social proof, the number of truly interested
people on your opt-in email list is much more critical for your sustainable sales.
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The name of the game on social media is engagement; you’ll want to fascinate your audiences
with your brilliant interaction, then show them exactly where to sign up for your insider list.
Twitter
Tweets are statements of 140 characters or less, and again, bar talk is an apt analogy.
The most hated people on Twitter are those who only post links to their own website or
products and those who post banal information. It’s the equivalent of a guy in a bar trying to
sell you a timeshare. You’re not there to buy things; you’re there to have a beer and chat, so
you hate that guy. You hate the dull banal guy too, because he’s ruining your evening.
The people on Twitter everyone likes are funny and interesting. They say things your friends
say. For example:
» They start conversations: “Hey, did anyone else read this article on increasingly
complex submission guidelines?”
» They make jokes: “I wanted to be a starving artist but my wife keeps feeding me. Now
I’m fat.”
» They point you toward things you might like: “You’ve got to see this. It’s the best story
I’ve read all week.”
» They also pay attention and respond to what you say. “I’m sorry you’re sick. Make
yourself some hot tea and watch Whose Line is it Anyway,” or, “How did the launch go
last week? I bought your book and I’m loving it so far.”
Occasionally, these people do promote
“Feel free to selfpromote, but spend
enough time being
sociable.”
themselves, but the percentage of selfpromoting tweets is low, usually less
than 10% of the total.
Think back to enjoying yourself at the
corner bar. If your friend spends an
hour chatting with you about life, fun
things he knows about, and what you’ve
been up to, you don’t mind if he also invites you to his art showcase, do you? In fact, you’re
excited to go, because you like him and you think his showcase will be great.
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Feel free to self-promote, but spend enough time being sociable. You’re there to form
relationships. Those relationships will eventually lead to sales, but you can’t force them there
right off the bat, so don’t try.
A few things to avoid on Twitter are:
В» TrueTwit. Making others type silly words into small windows, before saying your п¬Ѓrst
“hello” isn’t inclusive. If you read people’s timelines before following them back, you’ll
identify those spam-bots yourself.
В» Bombarding your followers with the same message over and over. In capital letters.
Every few seconds.
В» Sending private messages to your new followers pushing your books or your blog on
them. This is simply desperate.
» Setting an auto responder with obnoxious texts. “Thanks for the follow! Click here to
like me on Facebook.” Why would anyone do that?
Exercise: Head over to Amazon, or another bookstore, and п¬Ѓnd the 50 most
successful writers in your genre or п¬Ѓeld. Follow them on Twitter. Watch them
for a few days. How do they interact with their readers? What makes them
interesting?
Consolidate your learning and plan out your own Twitter strategy. Don’t copy the
successful authors in what they do; stay ethical. Draw your own conclusions and
come up with your own approaches to become the best in your п¬Ѓeld.
Write your ideas in your notebook.
Facebook
You may already have a Facebook profile that you use for interacting with friends and family.
We’re not going to touch that, because it isn’t ideal for creating an interactive online platform.
A Facebook Fan Page, however, fits that purpose. It’s built right into the title.
To set it up, go to the Pages part of the Facebook. Alternatively, scroll to the bottom of the
screen, and click on Create a Page.
During the sign-up process, you’ll be asked for some information about your company.
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Your company, for the purposes of the Fan Page, is everything to do with your professional
writing.
For example, you’d put your name in place of the company name. In the “Company Overview”,
you’ll want to give a brief bio and a description of your work, including a teaser for the project
you’ll be launching with this 90-Day Calendar.
Facebook has a nice variety of apps to help businesses promote themselves and interlink with
the rest of their online platforms. A Twitter feed is already built into the page options. (That’s
why we set that up п¬Ѓrst.) You can also add the RSS feed for your blog, YouTube videos, and
other interactive tools.
For more advanced tactics such as giveaways, email subscription campaigns, and other buzzgenerating activities, I recommend subscribing to a paid app service such as North Social or
Involver. You can also learn how to do these for free; this is outside of this eBook’s scope.
If you’re not using a pen name, be forewarned that your personal profile will undergo some
scrutiny. You may wish to change your privacy settings or, if you’ve decided your brand must
include lots of interaction with your fans, ensure your profile doesn’t display any information
you don’t want commonly seen (e.g., your address, the social security numbers of your kids,
flirty suggestions posted on your girlfriend’s page).
Stay professional with any photos and information you choose to post. Remember to check in
with your brand if you’re questioning whether it’s wise to publish a particular photo. Tweak
your security settings until you’re satisfied.
Using Facebook
The Facebook equivalent of a tweet is your status update. You have a little more space to
express yourself (420 characters), and your status updates can be less frequent. Since we’re
building an online platform fast, we’ll be updating twice a day, but that’s the most you ever
need to do.
Your status updates will often link to your latest blog post. We’ll be publishing that update
every morning, at the same hour, ideally just before your readers go to work.
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In the evenings, after your audience has had their dinner, you may want to engage your fans
in conversation. Here are a few ideas of how to ignite the interaction:
В» Ask what they want to see on your page via a poll, then deliver it.
В» Invite them to post what fascinates them right on your page (e.g., their own blog
updates, their best cat pictures, latest Nikon rumors . . . whatever is relevant to your
subject).
В» Run a quiz or a contest related to your topic, with the prize being your book or another
author’s book in your genre.
В» Run a giveaway for those who sign up for your email list.
In all cases, ensure your status update is brief, has a large image, and is focused on the one
thing you want your audience to do: click a link, share a joke, select an answer, etc.
People respond by posting comments,
“You’ll want to post
something that people
can respond to or
empathize with.”
and, since their comments stack up, your
fans can feed on each other’s responses.
Another option for a Facebook status
update is to share a personal anecdote,
as you would with a tweet. You’ll want
to post something that people can
respond to or empathize with. Don’t
overly talk about yourself unless you can be hilarious doing so. You’re there for your audience.
As soon as you can, change your Facebook Page’s URL to the “vanity URL”, which would
be your social media handle. Usually Facebook allows you to do it once you have a certain
amount of followers. There can also be an upper follower cap, so pay attention.
Facebook Ads
This can be a productive strategy to collect a large number of interested followers. For
example, I used this approach to get 1,700 followers for one of my historical fantasy Facebook
pages over two or three months.
If you do have the budget and desire to run an advertising campaign, I recommend you
consider the following before launching your campaign:
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В» Prepare your Facebook landing page. Think what would excite your new visitors enough
to “like” your page and subscribe to your mailing list immediately. I use a combination
of free book giveaways in my genre and contests.
В» Install an email sign-up form so the visitors can opt in to your list. I use various
applications from North Social.
В» Set your monthly advertising budget and control it tightly.
В» Design your interaction plan to stay relevant and interesting to your new followers.
The mechanics of running Facebook ads are outside of this eBook’s scope. You can get a
wealth of resources online. My favorite place to get training and inspiration is Get 10,000
Fans. They’re a little pushy, but when you cut to the chase, they have great advice to give.
Exercise: As you did with Twitter, learn from the best. Study the most successful
writers in your niche, and analyze how they engage their audiences on Facebook.
Based on your observations, create your own Facebook strategy, aiming to
become the best in your п¬Ѓeld.
Write your plan down in your notebook.
Google+
If Twitter is a bar, and Facebook is a dinner party, then Google+ is a town with many closeknit neighborhoods.
At this moment, Google+ is one of the fastest growing social networks that have ever existed.
Consider it if you’d like to reach your audience in ways that aren’t possible on Facebook.
The most relevant feature of Google+ is
“Google+ gives you
an unprecedented
ability to target your
communication.”
its ability to “circle” contacts. You can
“circle” fellow authors, book reviewers,
editors, and readers. Then you can post
tailored messages for each of those
circles. There doesn’t seem to be any
length limit for your status updates, so
you can be as expressive as you wish.
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This gives you an unprecedented ability to target your communication. Based on your brand,
you can either stay sparse by posting links to your blog updates, or go very personal by
running “video hangouts” with your fans.
Because Google is all about search, this channel allows you to п¬Ѓnd, monitor, and join relevant
conversations. Also, your Google+ page would most likely come on top of a search list when
someone looks up your name.
There’s another benefit of Google’s vast search capabilities; when you link your latest blog
post to this community, it gets indexed by the search engine robots faster and it may get to the
top of a search page ahead of all others, if their authors don’t use Google+.
Similar to Facebook, you can use Google+ as a personal profile or set up a page. Google has a
nice guide on setting up and working with pages.
Updating your status twice a day should be sufficient. Use it as a stand-alone tool, and don’t
repost the same content you’ve already shared on your Facebook page.
Use it for its search and collaboration superiority.
Exercise: You guessed it. Learn from the best and develop your own, unique
Google+ strategy.
LinkedIn
Continuing our previous analogy, LinkedIn is like downtown. People here wear business suits
and carry portfolios of their professional achievements. This channel differs in two ways:
1. It allows you to join networks on virtually any interest out there (Fiction Writers Guild,
for example, or the Book Publishing Professionals). If you bring value to your chosen
networks while keeping your self-promotion to the minimum, LinkedIn will become
invaluable in building your credibility as an author.
2. The audience here is professional. Folks come to LinkedIn to advance their careers.
This profoundly affects the mindset of the people using it, as most are keen to build
their own reputations by helping others succeed.
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Here, you can п¬Ѓnd excellent editors and book cover artists, connect with fellow writers in your
genre or field, find contacts for your research, and, if you’re good at what you do, get referred
to publishers or agents.
LinkedIn shares some common tools with many other social networks. You can automatically
share your Twitter feed or the links to your latest blog posts. You can connect with others
to pull them into your circle of influence. You can post status updates related to your latest
projects and achievements.
It also has some unique capabilities, such as Polls and Surveys, the Answers section, and the
ability to get introduced through a common connection.
As with Google+, I recommend carving out a separate niche for this tool in your social media
toolkit. Don’t recycle the same material as you post on your other networks, and certainly
don’t push your books on people.
Use this tool for its ability to connect you with the best professionals in any п¬Ѓeld you need.
Exercise: Yep, study the best and develop your unique LinkedIn strategy.
Search for relevant networks, and select two or three that you can commit to
participating in.
Pinterest
Pinterest is a great tool to engage folks visually. It allows you to create and share wonderful
stories in pictures and videos.
It may not be the most obvious channel for a writer to use; however, a smart strategy here can
create unparalleled engagement.
For example, you can help your followers visualize your story world by “pinning” photos taken
at the location. You can make them want to meet your characters by posting their sketches.
You can go even further and ask your readers to think with you. For example, I usually write
my scenes while having a picture in front of me that either represents the setting or inflames
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my imagination. With Pinterest, I can ask my audience to help me п¬Ѓnd such pictures.
Pinterest can be invaluable for research. For example, you can begin a “pin board” on early
Spanish ships; over time, you’ll see this board grow as folks suggest fascinating new resources
or rare images.
If you wish to go personal, you may
“Pinterest may not
be the most obvious
channel for a writer to
use; however, a smart
strategy here can
create unparalleled
engagement!”
choose to share pictures of your writing
environment: your desk, your trusty
laptop, the special cap you wear for
inspiration, etc.
Here are some tips on using Pinterest:
В» Post your original content, rather
than re-pin what you п¬Ѓnd on the net.
Use tall, dramatic images that would
stand out on the page.
В» Make sure the image link leads back
to your site. Don’t leave that field blank.
В» When posting the cover image of
your book, link to its sales page and mark the price (type a currency symbol followed by
the number in the description п¬Ѓeld). Pinterest will put a price stamp across your image,
and place your book into its Gifts section.
В» Post videos to engage folks even more.
В» Embed the most important text right into the image. This way, when people re-pin your
content and replace your caption with their own, your critical message will stay.
Here’s a great example from a successful explorer and writer Tahir Shah.
Exercise: Study the best and develop your own Pinterest strategy.
Audio and Video
These channels are optional, but they can become valuable assets because many people prefer
interacting via videos or podcasts.
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If your target audience includes young adults, these channels are a must.
Some ideas for creating an audio or video channel include:
1. Start a podcast discussing the same topics as you do on your blog;
2. Interview other writers or experts in your п¬Ѓeld and post the videos;
3. Start a YouTube feed reviewing other writers’ work or discussing hot issues.
4. Spend a month living as one of your characters (e.g., exploring the Amazon) and post
the video documentary series.
An overlap between your audio/
“If your target audience
includes young adults,
these channels
are a must.”
video channels and your blog is п¬Ѓne.
These channels are for those who are
interested in your material, but would
rather listen than read. “Re-purpose”
your material simply by changing
your text-based content into a video
presentation or a podcast.
Many tools exist to help you create video and audio online. The essentials are a good
microphone and recording software (such as Screenflow or Jing Project).
The quality of your audio and video will define how much people enjoy your material. Many
computers come with built-in video cameras and quality microphones, but please experiment
by making sample runs on your computer and checking the results on someone else’s
equipment.
YouTube and Vimeo are the primary channels for posting videos online. These can then be
shared on your blog, via Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.
Audio and video should be updated no less than once a week, although twice or three times a
week would be ideal to build the following faster.
As always, the goal of your updates is to engage. Be entertaining, insightful and humorous, so
that folks want to share what you create.
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The Importance of Being Consistent
As the weeks roll by, you’ll see some tasks repeat themselves. These will almost entirely
consist of social media maintenance—blogging, tweeting, Facebook, Google+ updates and
frequenting online forums.
One reason I’ll be recommending a whole week to get accustomed to your social media
channels is because you’re going to use them daily.
Your social media are at the core of building an online platform. Every task over the next 90
days will stand on the shoulders of your blog and your social media presence.
If you were trying to build a platform in a year, you could get away with blogging once a week,
or leaving Twitter for days at a time without any major fallout. But your goal is to create a
platform as swiftly as possible, which is why you need to commit right now.
You’ll be spending about an hour a day just keeping the whole machine running, starting from
the very п¬Ѓrst of the coming 90 days.
It’ll be fun.
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Chapter 5
Polishing Your Product
You already have a product, and you have the tools to start building a solid content-generating
machine working its magic all over the Internet. You’ll create relationships with lots of new
people and get feedback on what resonates with them in your blog posts.
Odds are that you’ll have some new insights into how to improve your product, too.
Let’s assume you’re launching a nonfiction book. You’ve covered chapters on every topic you
can think of, and you’ve gone in-depth into each. But the more you discuss one particular
topic on your blog, the more people want to know. They’re asking questions you didn’t realize
needed answers, seeking to clarify the things you thought were clear.
And while you’ve successfully answered those questions on the blog, you haven’t answered
them in the book.
At this point, take all the information you’ve learned from interacting with your fans and start
improving your book with that knowledge.
Exercise: Go through all the comments on the key blog posts you (or your
competitors) have written on your topic, and take notes on subjects that need
clarification or expansion. Then compare your list to what you originally wrote in
your book. Are there holes you could п¬Ѓll in?
For п¬Ѓction, go through the reader comments to the prominent books in your
genre. What excites most readers, and what distresses them? Do they prefer more
or less description? How tolerant are they of sex scenes? Do they crave scientific
plausibility or romance, or both? See if some chapters or scenes in your book
need to be re-written.
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Before you launch your product, be sure you’re proud to have your name on it. The content of
your book is the most powerful platform-building tool there is.
How to Find a Good Editor—or Three
Getting a strong editor, or a small group of them, will be critical to your success. They’ll
become the mastermind team who’ll keep you professional, readable, and consistently
interesting.
I’ll call them “editors”, but you may want to think of them as your beta readers, for example.
If you’re working with a professional editor, you’re unlikely to have any trouble establishing
deadlines and receiving marked up drafts on schedule. But if you’re working with friends,
family, or other writers, you’ll want to set some ground rules.
“Getting a strong editor,
or a small group of
them, will be critical to
your success.”
After all, they (presumably) have lives
of their own, and editing your work
isn’t their top priority. You’ll need to
explain that you’re on a short deadline
and that their help is essential to
getting your product to market. The
more you emphasize how dependent
you are on their help, the more likely
they are to take their job seriously.
Negotiate a deadline at least a week before when you need the product finished—in this
Calendar, you’ll want it by Day 46. That gives you an extra week in case of delays and
procrastination, which happen in the writing world.
Let them know you’ll be following up nicely. You can spare everyone’s feelings if you pop up a
couple of days before the deadline and say, “Hey, just wanted to see how the edits are coming
along and whether you had any questions.”
Odds are they haven’t started yet. Your gentle reminder gives them a little kick in the pants
and makes it more likely they’ll pick up your project that day.
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Offer them good value for their work. Pay them, if you can afford it. If not, think about what
they’d really want. If your editor has children, offer to babysit so he can take his wife out to
dinner. If he needs his own work edited, offer to swap services—but only after your 90-Day
Calendar is complete. You won’t have time before then.
If you’d like to go the paid route, here’s a list of good editing sites that I or writers in my
network found reliable:
В» www.ashleycase.com (Ashley has edited this eBook.)
В» www.jenniferpooley.com
В» www.kristenweber.com
В» www.hollowayhouse.me
В» www.editavenue.com
On the more expensive side, you may want to try this service that employs only Ph.D.’s:
В» www.edit911.com
How to Keep Editors Involved
Here’s the secret to keeping an editor engaged: be engaged yourself.
Most editors lose interest because the writers they’re working with expect the editor to
motivate them. That’s not the editor’s job and, frankly, not many editors enjoy being a
motivational coach. They want to get a new draft that incorporates the previously suggested
changes, and to use that draft to make even more suggestions.
An editor loves a good back-and-forth. An editor loves to see progress being made. An editor
likes to know he’s not the only one who’s committed to making this project better.
Show up regularly and take the editor’s advice seriously. Many writers ignore the editor’s
notes when they get tired of working on the project—a terrible idea both for the project’s
success and for your editor’s interest. If you truly disagree with one of your editor’s notes,
simply explain your point of view. That way, the editor knows he wasn’t ignored; he was
simply overruled.
Respond to your editor’s emails promptly and let them know when they can expect your
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revisions. Even if you won’t have time to revise for a few days, respond immediately, thank
them for their time, effort, and help, and tell them when they’ll hear from you.
Then keep your word. After all, your editor wants what all of us want: respect. If he gets that,
he has every reason to stay engaged.
Getting the Inside Scoop
In addition to the notes on your project, you’ll want to ask your editors specific overarching
questions to make sure your product works as a whole.
Here are a few questions I’d suggest, though you should add your own:
» Do you feel I’ve taken a consistent tone throughout?
В» What do you feel was the point of this book? What will the reader walk away with?
В» What section is especially strong? Why?
В» What section is especially weak? Why?
В» What sort of person do you think will be most attracted to this book?
В» Is there anything missing? Anything you wish was expanded or altered?
» Does the text flow logically from one point to the next?
Through these questions, you can discover how outsiders may view your product. If any of the
answers aren’t what you were hoping for, then you can explain what effects you were hoping
to achieve and ask your editor how you can modify your book to achieve them.
Without this step, you might publish your product not fully realizing its faults. Your marketing
efforts may п¬Ѓt wrong, your buyers may expect something different from what you deliver, and,
ultimately, what could have been an amazing launch may flop.
People like to know they’re receiving what they expected. By getting the inside scoop from
your editors, you can ensure that what you think you’re delivering is exactly what your buyers
think they’re receiving.
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Chapter 6
Researching Your Market
Let’s look into who wants what you sell, and how you can get them to pay attention to you.
For fiction and nonfiction writers, the market research strategies will work somewhat
differently, because their target audiences have different mindsets when searching for new
books to read.
Non-п¬Ѓction books normally answer a practical question or provide new insights into a topic
their buyers are already interested in.
For example, over a thousand books
“Nonfiction buyers
look for useful books.
Fiction buyers look for
enjoyable books.”
exist on running a small business. Their
readers are small business owners
or people wanting to become small
business owners. It’s rare that anyone
would select a book on small business
just for fun. People pick it up because
they want to know more about that
topic and they’ve heard a particular
book explains it well.
Fiction readers, on the other hand, look for good books written in a style they enjoy. People
who like murder mysteries search for more murder mysteries. People who enjoy literary
п¬Ѓction browse The New York Times Book Review to п¬Ѓnd new authors they might like. Fiction
buyers seek what’s “good”—in other words, what they like.
To recap: nonfiction buyers look for useful books. Fiction buyers look for enjoyable books.
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(If you are in the nonfiction genre written for people who read nonfiction for pleasure, such as
biographies of famous people, I suggest you follow the advice for п¬Ѓction writers.)
Let’s find out where these two different audiences spend their time.
The Market for Non-Fiction
Since nonfiction readers look for specific information, you have the Internet available for your
market research. One of the best places to go is Clickbank.com, which is where information
product marketers put new products up.
Do a search for the topic on which your product is based. If you’ve written a book on Internet
marketing, search for “Internet marketing” and any other related keywords or phrases you
can think of. Be encouraged if you see a lot of results. That means people need information on
your topic and are willing to spend money on products that will explain it to them.
Exercise: for a deep dive into the market research, you may want to explore the
Google Keyword tool, Market Samurai and, if you need some hand-holding,
SiteBuildIt! I won’t go into these powerful tools here. A simple Internet search
will turn up all you need to master them.
You may also discover new things that may make you want to update or adjust
your product.
For example, your search for “Internet marketing” may bring up hundreds of books written
on that topic, but nothing on a sub-topic you’ve already devoted a part of your book to. That
means you may have found a new niche in a topic where lots of people want information.
Some examples in your book may cover Internet marketing for п¬Ѓtness experts. If you п¬Ѓnd
no books on that subject, but a Google search reveals that there’s a horde of fitness experts
needing Internet marketing help, then you may want to shift the focus of your book to target
those people.
Discovered you’ve got a market for your book? Excellent. Skip to the section titled “Where Is
Your Market?”—unless you’ve also got fiction to publish. Then stick around for the next section.
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The Market for Fiction
We can safely assume there’s always a market for good fiction.
The question is whether there’s a market for your fiction. In other words, is your writing any
good?
To answer this question, you’ll need to put your work in front of people who can objectively
judge it. These include editors, beta readers, and other writers. A п¬Ѓction writer is never done
becoming a better writer—or, said differently, a more marketable writer.
For п¬Ѓction writers, the question of
“The question is whether
there’s a market for your
fiction. In other words, is
your writing any good?”
marketability boils down to whether
there are people who enjoy their
writing.
If anyone has ever asked to read
something you’ve written because they
enjoy it, not because it was assigned
to them or because you asked them to
read it, then you have at least a one-
person market for your writing.
Your job now is to expand that number of people.
Places people hang out when they enjoy reading quality п¬Ѓction are, among others:
В» The New York Times Book Review online
В» www.GoodReads.com
В» www.LibraryThing.com
В» www.Shelfari.com
В» www.BookSlut.com
In particular, GoodReads has many reader groups dedicated to specific genres or topics (e.g.,
Napoleonic Wars, and Book Promotion Forum by Genre). It’s a good idea to join some of
those and learn about the readers and their preferences, without spamming them with your
sales pitch.
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Where Is Your Market?
Non-п¬Ѓction and п¬Ѓction writers are likely to п¬Ѓnd readers in entirely different places, but the
search strategies are similar.
Throw your most important keywords into a search engine and look for forums, websites, and
other interactive locations where people discuss the topic you’ve written your book on.
For automated search, setup a set of Google Alerts that would guide you to the relevant
discussions as they happen in real time.
For example, if you’ve written a nonfiction book on copywriting, you’d look for forums on
marketing, copywriting, and improving writing skills. You’d also look for websites that cater
to copywriters, freelancers, and online marketers. You’d search for reviewers interested in
business and marketing-related books, and you’d browse relevant LinkedIn communities.
If you’ve written a fiction book about a woman protecting her foster child from his abusive
biological father, then look for forums and websites that cater to book reviewers and book
lovers. Here are some examples:
В» www.kindleboards.com
В» www.nookboards.com
В» www.п¬Ѓctionpress.com
В» www.writing.com
В» www.fanstory.com
» And certainly don’t forget the relevant groups at www.GoodReads.com.
These are the people who both read the kind of work you’ve produced and are actively looking
for more of it.
You can also reach out to forums dedicated to the main theme in your book. For example,
because I write historical п¬Ѓction, I frequent www.historum.com and other related online
communities, such as forums devoted to historical computer games. Because my books focus
on the Aztec history, I’ve joined some Yahoo groups dedicated to this subject, too.
Become an active member of these forums and websites. You want these people to know who you
are and be familiar with what you can do. Start this relationship well before you need their help.
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If you strike the right cords, the people will be excited to help you generate a buzz about your
book when you bring it to market; they may even volunteer to help you. For example, at some
forums where I’m a member folks offered to beta-read and edit my stories for free, and to
make video interviews for their audiences.
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Chapter 7
Choosing Your Product’s
Format
The format in which to distribute your product is a critical decision, as it affects all the aspects
of your writing life. Among the variety of choices, three are most common:
В» Publish with a publishing house;
В» Self-publish a physical book;
В» Self-publish an eBook.
The ultimate decision will depend on your goals. Are you publishing:
В» for prestige and national coverage? Go the traditional route.
В» to build credibility with your customers? Self-publish a physical book using the printon-demand technology.
В» for fast, economical access to your readers? Go with an eBook.
I’m assuming you’ve decided to be an independent author, and the rest of this section will be
dedicated to self-publishing.
Self-Publishing a Physical Book
You may want to go this route for the following reasons:
» A Physical book will help build your credibility if you’re running a service business. The
print-on-demand technology will make your book virtually indistinguishable from those
published by the large houses.
» Contests. Many high-profile contests still accept only physical books, although this will,
eventually, change.
В» Giveaways. At this moment, GoodReads only allows paperback giveaways. This trend
is changing; for example, LibraryThing already has an option to give away electronic
copies.
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В» Reviews. Some reviewers still accept only paperbacks.
These days, book production is really easy. Here are just some of the choices:
В» Services like Lulu and others offer detailed instructions, and a variety of options.
» Amazon’s own CreateSpace offers smooth integration with the planet’s largest
bookshop.
В» Some excellent content distributors like BookBaby have branched out into physical
book production.
» If you’re on a more adventurous side, registering with Lightning Source will cut your
production costs and will put you into direct contact with Ingram, the largest book
wholesale distributor in the world.
Print-on-demand isn’t click-and-shoot. You’ll fiddle around with fonts and layouts. Producing
great looking proofs will take time and effort, too. All told, this project can end up costing you
a lot in time, hassle, and money.
Cover design will likely be the most serious quality challenge. While the print-on-demand
houses can give you the same quality of material they give to major publishers, they can’t
make your self-styled cover look any more professional.
If you’re serious about it, invest in a professional exterior and interior design for your book.
The upside is that you’ll deliver a real,
“While the print-ondemand houses can give
you the same quality
of material they give to
major publishers, they
can’t make your selfstyled cover look any
more professional.”
hold-it-in-your-hand book that you can
feel proud about selling to strangers, if
that’s what you want.
And truthfully, when you decide to go
all in and make the effort to produce
a professional book, there’s no reason
anyone would ever need to know that
you self-published it. It won’t sport
the logo of a major publishing house,
but many excellent books have been
printed by smaller houses.
That kind of quality is well worth paying for.
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eBook Publishing
New eBook readers are launched often. Amazon, Apple, B&N, Sony, Kobo, SmashWords, and
other eBook distributors are expanding their catalogues. Millions of people read books on
their smart phones.
This is the way to go if the following objectives excite you:
» Flexibility. If your book ever needs revisions—and let’s face it, many do—this format
allows you to upload the new version with minimum hassle.
» Speed. While you still must ensure perfect text and beautiful internal design, you’ll save
time by skipping the laborious process of preparing your book for print.
В» Low Costs. This approach will save you hundreds of dollars in upfront costs for internal
design, cover design, and production.
A well-written eBook with a good buzz surrounding it is an excellent way to improve your
credibility as a writer, which can in turn lead to publishing house attention down the line (if
that’s what you aim for). This is more or less the route that Leo Babauta, Chris Guillebeau,
and others have taken.
Your book distributor choice is a critical one. If you live in the US, you can publish to most
major retailers by yourself, keeping your complete freedom and all of your royalties.
If you decide to go directly via Amazon, Kobo, and B&N, for example, do consider their special
author programs:
В» B&N offers some serious marketing support in exchange for one-month exclusivity.
В» Kobo would support you without any exclusivity at all.
В» Amazon would demand full exclusivity if you joined their controversial KDP Select
program.
If you don’t live in the US, or if you find the prospect of dealing with many booksellers
daunting, you may want to choose a good eBook distributor.
Their role is to help you format your book for each retailer’s exact specifications, place your
book in their catalogues, consolidate your royalties, and send regular payments to you.
One downside of having a distributor is that your book may get locked into their system
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forever, and you may not be able to regain full control over it unless you relaunch it with a
different ISBN number, losing all of your sales history and sometimes also your reviews.
SmashWords and BookBaby are two excellent distributors you may want to consider, among
others.
Because eBook publishing takes less effort and can put your product into people’s hands fast,
it’s usually going to be your best bet for a fast platform buildup.
You can always add a paperback version later on, giving your readers the choice of both
formats.
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Chapter 8
Branching Out
Once you have a few weeks of platform building under your belt, you’ll want to start
encouraging people to take a look at what you’ve done. Sure, you had your Twitter followers
and your Facebook fans to begin with, but now you’re going to reach out to audiences on other
websites and get their attention trained on you.
When you begin branching out, your greatest concern is not to get overwhelmed. These will
be bigger audiences than you might be used to, and they’ll already have an accustomed way of
interacting with the other writers. You’ll need to keep track of which website you’re on, what
their audience is like, and how often they like to interact.
And you’ll be doing that while juggling
“When you begin
branching out, your
greatest concern is not
to get overwhelmed.”
all of your own online channels.
Not to worry. This chapter will show
you how to make some new friends and
allies, which will give you an enormous
advantage when it comes time to
launch.
Let’s talk about branching out.
Reaching Out on Twitter
Twitter has something of a trial period for newbies. Devoted Twitter folks generally won’t
bother following someone who has one of the following warning flags:
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1. Very few tweets
2. Ten latest tweets are all marketing or spam
3. Low ratio of followers to follows.
Two or more of these warning flags is a definite no-no. Use your common sense and the
principles laid out in this eBook, and you’ll successfully avoid numbers 1 and 2; and we’re
about to eliminate number 3.
The reason Twitter folks avoid following people with few followers is simply because of what
it implies: you haven’t been around long and not many people like you. You can overcome
that prejudice by having interesting, funny tweets (which we’ve already covered) and having
a long, consistent tweeting history (which you’ll have just a few weeks into the Calendar
schedule).
Now it’s time to learn how to reach out to new people.
On Twitter, when you use the @ sign before someone’s handle, they’ll get a notification. Going
back to the bar analogy, it’s like saying a person’s name while he’s within earshot. You can do
it directly, or mention the person in relation to something she’s done, like so:
» “Hey @johnsmith, how have you found homeschooling? I’ve been thinking about it for
my kids.”
» “If you want a hilarious article on bass fishing, check out this gem from @johnsmith.”
John Smith will get notifications for both tweets. The first makes him more likely to respond,
as you asked him a direct question. The second flatters him. Either way, he’ll probably check
your Twitter history and see if you sound like someone he’d want to know.
Which brings me to an important Twitter rule: keep your recent history clean.
When people come to check your Twitter page, they’ll read your latest few tweets to see if
they enjoy what you write. You want those tweets to be a good mix of interaction with others,
interesting or funny things said on your own, and mild promotion of your work.
If all your recent tweets are self-promotion, folks won’t follow you. Who would? They’d have
to listen to you talk about yourself all day in their Twitter feed.
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If your recent tweets are banal or useless chat with other people, they’ll think you’re boring.
There are countless Twitter feeds looking like this:
В» @stjpon LOL!
В» @mmmgood I know, right?
В» @cutelostpanda JK! ; )
You’ll wind up with a couple of silly tweets as you interact with others, and that’s fine.
You can solve that problem one of two ways: put up a handful of new tweets before you sign
off, or delete the tweets that don’t matter to anyone but you. That way, those who look at your
profile while you’re away will see a nice smattering of interesting stuff and none of the boring
bits.
You can send @ messages to anyone, and you should do it often. You can also do a search in
Twitter for people who are, at this very moment, talking about the topics you’re interested in.
@ those people and join the conversation; start pulling them into your circle of influence. If
they like you and like what you have to say, they’ll follow you.
Go easy on automation.
Many automation tools exist: Twitter Adder, Hoot Suite, and others. They offer excellent
features that, if not abused, could make your tweeting life easier.
My recommendation, however, is to watch what you decide to automate. I’ve seen (and unfollowed) many a person spamming my Twitter timeline with prescheduled advertising of
their products, inspirational quotes, and re-tweets of the same blog entries.
I use three automation tools:
1. Twitter Adder to automate my target audience search. By plugging different keyword
combinations into its search engine, I can follow the relevant conversations that spring
up on Twitter.
2. MarketMeSuite for its capability to brand my tweets with a small “Sent by Austin
Briggs” link which connects those tweets back to my website. I consider this a good way
to add an unobtrusive branding message and build some backlinks.
3. Timely to deliver an occasional tweet during hours when I am not available. I use this
tool sparingly.
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I recommend never automating your actual tweets. Let’s not turn this lively community into a
collection of robots shouting advertisement messages at one another.
Guest Posting
This is one of the best things you can do to build your platform, so we’ll spend some time
talking about how to do it the right way.
Guest posts are blog posts you write for another person’s blog. A few weeks into the Calendar,
you’ll have produced a lot of posts for your own blog, so you may not be all that enthusiastic
about writing an extra one here and there for someone else. I’ve got good news; guest posts
can be a huge relief for the new blogger.
When you write for your own blog, you want to stick to the topics you’ve already laid out
for yourself. In guest posting, you want to stretch your topics to fit into someone else’s blog
format.
Let’s say you blog on writing. If one of the blogs you chose to keep track of happens to be
a finance blog, you can write about how to budget on a writer’s shoestring, or how writing
economically and spending economically are related. These will often be posts that you
wouldn’t be able to use on your own blog, but they’ll let you use your knowledge in new and
creative ways.
The second way guest posts can give your tired blogging brain a break is that you can direct
people from your blog to the guest post in lieu of writing a brand new post. Meanwhile, Jack
Moneybags’ readers will be coming over to your website, as well. You’ll greet them with links
to the best articles on your blog, giving those articles another shot at comments and feedback.
Let’s take a look at what goes into a good guest post approach.
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The Pitch
Before you even begin writing your guest post, you’ll want to create your pitch to the blog
owner.
You have something to offer that person: a chance to skip a blog post for one day. That means
less stress for him, and a chance to titillate his readers with new material and information. If
you can write the post well, he won’t even have to edit it, which means almost no work at all.
After a few weeks of blogging, you’ll see the appeal of not having to post for a day. When
you pitch, remember that the blog owner really wants your guest post. All you have to do is
convince her of two things:
1. You know how to write.
2. The post is relevant to her readers.
The pitch may go something like this:
I’m John Smith, and I’ve been reading and enjoying your blog for some time. I
write about the self-publishing world over at www.johnsmith.com, and I came
up with an idea for a guest post that your readers might п¬Ѓnd valuable. After
your post on how freelancers can learn to be their own accountants, I thought a
follow-up on being your own publisher might go over well.
I hope you enjoy the post, and I’ll look forward to hearing from you on whether
you’d be willing to run it. Thanks for all the great information you’ve been
putting out.
Three things have been accomplished here: you’ve successfully shown her that you know her
blog, you know her readers, and you have a post that will appeal to those readers and give
them valuable information from a new perspective.
The pitch also serves a basic purpose on a wordsmithing level: most blog owners will have
warning bells going off if a potential guest poster doesn’t have a basic command of English.
You’re a writer, so go right ahead and show off your chops—and be sure to double-check your
pitch for spelling and grammar errors.
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What Should Go into the Guest Post?
Acquaint yourself with the blog you’ll be guest posting for, and ensure your post both fits in
with this blog and stays true to your own voice. Your goal is to intrigue a new audience with
your way of thinking, so be consistent with your brand.
Choose a topic that bridges the gap between this blog and your own. It never hurts to mention
the project you’re working on. You can do it casually in passing (“As I was writing my book on
software development, I struggled a lot with writer’s block,”) or make it the central focus of
the piece, but it’s worth bringing it up and linking to it.
Triple-check this post for spelling
“You want your guest
posts to be even better
than those on your
own website.”
and grammar errors. It’s almost a
must to have an editor or a friend
with a good eye take a long look at the
post to ensure you didn’t make any
embarrassing typos or mistakes. You’ll
also want someone to check the post for
clarity and—let’s be frank—for quality.
You want your guest posts to be even better than those on your own website. You’re trying to
convince a new audience that you’re worth taking time to get to know. Make this post count.
Finally, don’t forget the bio section. This serves two purposes; it should intrigue your new
readership and give you a little boost in SEO. If you’ve chosen the guest blog wisely with a
sizable readership, the blog will rank higher than yours. A link from that blog to your website
will increase your credibility with search engines.
Your bio section may read:
John Smith writes about the myriad of challenges in self-publishing at www.
johnsmith.com. His new book, How to Make Real Money Self-Publishing, comes
out in January. You can п¬Ѓnd him on Twitter @johnsmith.
Your name, the title of your book, the name of your website, and your Twitter handle should all
be links back to your bio page, the sales page for your book, the main page of your blog, and your
Twitter page, respectively. Those links are worth their weight in new fans of your work.
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Keeping Up with Comments
When you guest post, you must spend as much time with the commenters as you can. This
is true for your own blog as well, of course, but since you’re not accustomed to frequently
checking in with someone else’s readership, it’s worth posting a reminder to yourself on the
day your guest post is due.
Be even more cordial than you normally would on your own blog. Remember that you’re
a guest in someone else’s home, metaphorically speaking. Even if you’d usually shut down
someone who talks nasty, ask your host if he has a particular way to deal with problem
commenters, or simply resist the urge to engage with people who behave badly.
Be sure to answer questions. When appropriate, you can link them back to posts you’ve
written in the past that may provide new insight or ideas, but only do this when it’s obviously
relevant, and not more than once or twice in the same comment thread.
Above all, remember that these are potentially new fans of your work. Treat them with respect
and be on your best behavior.
Article Marketing
This is one of the often-ignored ways to build your platform. However, if done right, this tool
will increase your readership and will drive previously untapped traffic to your website.
The approach is simple; you write brief, insightful articles and submit them to several online
directories. Various web-masters п¬Ѓnd your material, and repost it on their blogs for free.
The catch here is in the little bio section that you place at the bottom of your article; you can
use the same bio you’ve created for your social media and guest posts. It must intrigue readers
to click on the link you’ll provide and will bring them back to your website or blog.
Here are some popular directories:
В» www.Buzzle.com (accepts п¬Ѓction)
В» www.HubPages.com (accepts п¬Ѓction)
В» www.EzineArticles.com
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В» www.GoArticles.com
» Completely on its own stands www.BrooWaha.com, a lively “Citizen Journalism”
community. (Accepts п¬Ѓction)
When writing these articles, include just enough content to answer the immediate questions a
reader may have. Your text must entice that reader to want to learn more by visiting your site.
Another way to reach new audiences is Yahoo Answers and www.EHow.com. Search for the
questions that you can answer with a highly relevant link back to your website unobtrusively
inserted into your text.
If you wish, you can use these services in reverse, as it were. If you need a break from regular
blogging, why don’t you search the directories for high quality authors and ask them to guest
blog for you? They may even do it for free.
Blog Tours
You may want to organize your guest posting into a Blog Tour: a sequence of posts, book
reviews, interviews, excerpts and giveaways planned across a wide selection of blogs as one
coordinated program. Such tours can
“The purpose of a Blog
Tour isn’t only to build
your online presence,
but also to generate a
spike in book sales.”
last a week or a month, or any time
you’re able to invest into this intense
activity.
Usually, the purpose of a Blog Tour isn’t
only to build your online presence, but
also to generate a spike in book sales,
so these are best executed immediately
after your book is published.
You can organize a tour yourself, if you’re willing to screen and manage dozens of host
candidates. You can also hire one of many companies who can take care of all the logistics for
you.
When screening the potential hosts for your tour, pay attention to how well their theme
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matches with your book’s main subject, how many followers they have, how active their
comment sections are, etc.
Instead of writing a series of posts for those blogs, consider asking them to write their own
reviews of your book. This would both cut your workload and give a boost to your credibility
as an author, since readers would trust the host’s impartial opinion and would be more likely
to purchase your product.
It could be prudent to incentivize your hosts with affiliate selling links, for example, or free
copies of your product, or other giveaways their own platform can benefit from—as long as
your incentive doesn’t make them feel obliged to give your book a more positive review than
they’d otherwise have done.
Here are some websites that can help you coordinate your Blog Tour:
В» www.authorblogtours.com
В» www.novelpublicity.com
В» www.tlcbooktours.com
This tactic requires significant advance planning and superb organization skills. I suggest
doing it soon after your 90-Day Calendar is п¬Ѓnished, as a powerful follow-up to the online
splash you’re about to create.
Cross Promotions
A fantastic way to capitalize on other author’s platforms is to cross-promote with them. I can
suggest several simple, yet powerful tactics.
Blog and Social Media
A good way to increase your mutual reach, and bring additional value to your audiences, is to
promote other authors writing in your genre or on a similar subject from your platform.
Sharing their most interesting blog entries, tweets, and videos with your readers, interviewing
each other on your blogs, and writing guest posts for one another can go a long way in creating
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an engaged community of readers increasingly interested in your niche.
For example, there are few authors writing about the Aztec history. It’s not surprising, then,
that I take every opportunity to promote the work of my fellow author Zoe Saadia, whose
books I enjoy and whose blog I follow. There, I’ve done it again.
Author Associations
These can be immensely helpful in reaching wide audiences. Instead of п¬Ѓghting it out on their
own, several authors may decide to form a guild to share the burdens of promotion, blogging,
searching for media contacts, and interacting with fans.
If you can’t find existing associations relevant to your writing, create one. Set up a group on
Facebook or GoodReads. Invite authors you admire, and succeed together with them.
Book Bonuses
Some authors report solid success exchanging opening chapters or other writing samples,
such as short stories, at the back of each other’s books. This allows them to reach highly
targeted and interested audiences.
A word of caution here. It’s prudent to transparently describe such a bonus at the book’s front
cover, or inside its store listing, for example: “Bonus Content—Includes a free short story,
Zombie Bunnies by the acclaimed author John Smith.”
Readers normally watch the progress indicator inside the book, and they may get annoyed if
your text п¬Ѓnishes before they expect it. Give them an advance notice of what to anticipate.
Review Exchange...Not!
This is a common, and frequently genuine mistake of beginning authors. In their drive to get
more reviews for their п¬Ѓrst book, they may ask to exchange reviews with other authors.
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If you’ve ever been tempted to do it, resist with all your strength.
Here’s the problem. When two authors agree to swap reviews, there’s frequently an unspoken
expectation that both will come out positive.
All is fine if you both fall in love with one another’s books. But what if you don’t? Would you
lie to the readers by leaving a fake, glowing review? Would you hurt your relations with that
author by sharing your honest, negative assessment?
Cross promotion? Heck no.
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Chapter 9
Turning Your Fans into
Buyers-in-Waiting
If you follow the 90-Day Calendar closely, you should quickly develop a stable online
following. You’ll have guest posts coming out on prominent blogs, solid archives in your
blogging history, enlightened discussions on LinkedIn, and interactive fans and followers on
Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.
But how to turn those followers into buyers?
I’ll cover how to set up your mailing list, which will become one of your main selling channels.
Building this list should be your priority, because people who sign up already know and like
you and have showed interest in buying something you’ve produced.
Selling stuff on your blog is tricky, and blogs that try to begin selling a product often get huge
backlash. People get used to visiting your blog and getting information for free—and if one day
they see that you’re aggressively selling stuff, they may disengage.
Your mailing list is there to say, “Hi. The blog is still free. You can keep enjoying that and I
won’t stop you. But I’m also going to come out with a valuable paid product soon, and if you
want, I can let you know when that happens. You can be among the first to find out.”
Those who sign up for such offers want you to sell them something, which is good, because
that’s exactly what you’re going to do.
You’ll use this chapter to make sure everyone knows that they can be the first to own your
books if they just sign up for your insider list.
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How to Set Up a Mailing List
When you created your website, you hopefully didn’t forget to design a place for people to sign
up for news and exclusive offers. We’ll take advantage of that now.
To manage your mailing list, you’ll need to set up an auto-responder. One of the best is called
AWeber. It costs about $20 a month, is easy to use, and is recognized by almost every email
server out there, which means your automatic emails don’t get sent to the spam filters.
Cheaper auto-responding companies exist, but they may lack the credibility of AWeber. An
email from one of those companies might end up in a spam п¬Ѓlter, and your list would never
know you sent it.
The Email List Sign-up Page
One of the most important parts of your website is the email sign-up page. Work with your
designer to make it easy to п¬Ѓnd. (Generally, the upper right-hand corner is a good place for it,
but your designer will know where your
audience’s eyes are naturally drawn.)
“Few people, unless
they’re already fans of
yours, will want to opt in
for an email list right
off the bat.”
Few people, unless they’re already fans
of yours, will want to opt in for an email
list off the bat. They’ll sign up for one of
two reasons: 1) they’ll get an immediate
benefit for doing so, or 2) they believe
they’re going to get a tangible benefit
in the future. Offering them both
incentives is best.
An immediate benefit is a free giveaway. For writers, a short piece of content is often a good
choice. If you’re a fiction writer, you can offer the first few chapters of your book, the first book
in a series, a short story, or a collection of flash fiction you’ve written.
If you’re a nonfiction writer, it’s a good idea to create a stand-alone piece such as a short
eBook of 10-20 pages, or a short guide on a topic related to your main project. For example, if
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your book is an online marketing manual, you might give away a short eBook that includes 10
excellent tips for using Google+ effectively.
You can experiment with ways to get people to pay attention to your free giveaway. Some п¬Ѓnd
it effective to incorporate a pop-up into their website so that visitors are given the chance to
sign up right away. However, your readers may п¬Ѓnd it annoying, and it may not п¬Ѓt your brand.
Other good places are in the copy of your home page, at the tail end of each of your blog posts,
and occasionally in social media, which we’ll get to in a minute.
You can encourage people to sign up by playing up the future cost savings. We’ll set up a
prelaunch of your product before the actual launch, during which it’s traditional (and highly
beneficial to you) to offer a discount to the people on your email list. This is the “secret” or
“insider” launch, and only the people on your list get to be a part of it. That makes for an
excellent reason to sign up for your newsletter, since they’ll have access to your product before
anyone else and pay less for it.
Good things to include on your newsletter sign-up are:
В» A promise not to spam your readers, which you should keep. Many will refuse to sign up
because they don’t want one more email to delete every morning.
В» A security promise. Your readers must feel assured by your promise not to do anything
untoward with their information.
Confirm Subscription
When people sign up for your list, you’ll get a notification that someone new just hopped on
board. When you go to the AWeber website, you’ll find a list of all those who have signed up.
You may find that some people have a little “unverified” mark next to their name.
This means that such person tried to sign up for your email list. They entered their name and
information and clicked “Submit”, but when AWeber sent them a confirmation email, they
didn’t open it up. This usually happens because they’re new to subscriptions and didn’t realize
that there was an extra step.
To avoid this problem, prepare a special page in AWeber. When you set up your autoWriter’s Platform
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responder, you’ll see a box that says “Confirmation Success Page (optional)”. You’ll want
to direct your visitors to a new web page that reminds them to be on the lookout for that
confirmation email.
Creating that page is simple. If you’re using WordPress for your blog, you’ll simply create a
new “page” and type your reminder text in the box. Hit the publish button and copy the URL
straight into the Confirmation Success Page box in AWeber.
Have your web guys take a look at what you’ve created and maybe give it a polish, just in case.
Your First Marketing Email
The п¬Ѓrst email you send is going to contain a welcome message and a link to the giveaway
you’ve promised your readers. It should also include a thank you for signing up to the list and
a reminder of what they get for doing so.
A sample п¬Ѓrst email might read:
Thanks for signing up to the insider list! You’ll be the first to hear when I launch
the new book, and you’ll get a hefty discount for it, too. Click the link below to
download your free eBook on How to Self-Publish Online, and keep your eyes
open for new updates. Pretty much every email I send out is going to contain
something special for you.
By sending a welcome email, you’re reminding them that it was a great idea to sign up and
you’re setting the stage for your readers to respond with enthusiasm when they receive emails
from you, instead of feeling like it’s more spam to delete.
Folks like to open emails with discounts for products they want. Since they signed up to hear
about your books, you already know they want what you’re selling. They should be happy to
hear they get it before anyone else, and at a cut rate.
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Chapter 10
Countdown to Launch
As you finalize your book, you’ll start building up the buzz you need to have your launch go
well.
Every single channel we’ve discussed will be critical to generate that buzz. You’ll make sure
your guest posts include essential information about your upcoming launch. You’ll start
talking about it on Twitter and Facebook without selling it.
You’ll answer any questions people have—as long as it’s not about the price. You want all the
talk to focus on your book’s strengths, rather than the slightly-less-than-fun fact that it’ll cost
money.
You’ll be trying to get people talking about your book every which way except the detailed
content of the book itself, since they won’t know it yet.
But they’ll start to suspect that it’s fantastic.
Gather Some Reviews
Remember all those online relationships you’ll be cultivating? The friends you’ll make online,
the other writers you’ll be schmoozing with, the blog owners to whom you’ll deliver excellent
guest posts? How about the forums where you’ll be actively engaging in conversations with
people who know your genre and enjoy it?
You’re about to put those relationships to work by garnering some quality reviews for your
product.
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Choose your reviewers wisely. You’ll want to select at least ten people, though you’ll probably
only use three or п¬Ѓve of their reviews. Pick them based on:
» Their credibility and expertise in your field. For nonfiction, you want a recognized
expert on the topic you’ve written on. For fiction, you want someone whose opinion is
respected, hopefully both on and offline. A book reviewer or another published author
is ideal.
» Their time availability. Some of your topmost picks won’t have the time to read your
book, so ask them upfront if they’d be available. You don’t want to get stuck with a
bunch of polite, “Sure, I’d love to,”
“Choose your reviewers
wisely. You’ll want to
select at least ten people,
though you’ll probably
only use three or five
of their reviews.”
responses and find out later they can’t
make the time. Tell them not to spare
you and be realistic. Generally, if you
ask them point-blank, they’ll be frank
about what they can do.
» Their eloquence. Let’s face it, some of
your most enthusiastic fans can’t write
for beans. They may love your work,
but if the best way they can express
their admiration is “It’s so cool,” it
won’t help your sales page. Pick people
who know how to write and who can give well-articulated reasons why they think your
work is worth buying.
After you’ve gotten your reviews, you may want to trim them down or, on occasion, fix a typo,
misspelling, or misstatement. In those cases, simply make the edit and send the text back
to the reviewer. Ask them if they’d be comfortable with you making this minor change for
purposes of conciseness or accuracy. Be sure to thank them profusely for writing the review
in the first place; very few like to be corrected, especially when they’ve so recently done such a
big favor for you.
If a review needs too many corrections, scrap it and use another. That’s why you’re getting
ten: to bypass some.
Another tactic to get powerful reviews is to use Amazon’s top reviewer list. Browse the list
to п¬Ѓnd reviewers who read your genre and whose reviews you like. Study their reading
preferences to make sure they’d be interested in reading your book.
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Some of them have their emails or website address published publicly. Contact them, explain
why you think they might be interested in your book, and ask for a review. Leave them with a
choice to opt out; don’t put any undue pressure.
Offer them your book for free regardless of their decision. At the very least, you’ll leave a good
impression!
Your Affiliate Program
No matter what you’re publishing or how you choose to publish it, you’ll want affiliates to
help you sell it. By the time you start seeking affiliates, your platform will be bigger than you
could have hoped for when you just started, but it’ll still pale in comparison to platforms other
writers and experts have spent years building.
You can piggyback on their success. Essentially, you’ll ask others to sell your book for you. In
exchange, they get a percentage of the sale.
How big a percentage? If you want good affiliates who work hard to sell your product, the best
offer you can make is a 50/50 split. You’ll only get half the sale, but you’ll be making a whole
slew of sales you wouldn’t have otherwise.
On your own, you might be able to sell a hundred copies of your book at the full price of $19.
You’ve made $1,900. That’s great.
A strong affiliate might be able to sell a thousand copies of your book. After he takes his 50%
commission, you’ll be left with $9.50 a book, or $9,500.
Good affiliates can work out well for you if you share generously.
One excellent affiliate program is e-junkie, which features very low fees and an easy set up
process.
In the fiction world, good affiliates are those websites that pool together and actively
promote books in your genre, for your target audience, or at your price point. They get their
commission through Amazon, SmashWords, or B&N, or by charging you an upfront fee.
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Some examples are:
» www.pixelofink.com
В» www.99-cent-network.com
В» www.kindlenationdaily.com
Individual book reviewers may also be Amazon affiliates, although their percentage is low.
SmashWords has a special program, where it helps connect book authors with potential
affiliates.
How to Recruit Affiliates
Most people start an affiliate program by creating a page on their website specifically for those
interested. People who like your products, and think their own audiences would be interested
in buying them, can sign up via that page.
If you’re a newbie in the online world however, you’ll have better luck getting enthusiastic
affiliates by targeting specific people who can do a lot for you.
Go back to the list of people you know online. Choose those who may have an interest in your
book and have large audiences. You’ll write a targeted pitch letter explaining what you’re
offering their readers, why they would enjoy it, and your affiliate terms in a simple and direct
way.
Be humble. Remember that this is a person who has welcomed you into his community, and
he may have a higher standing online than you do. Trying to pitch him the “Have I got a deal
for you!” game won’t work, and could be a little insulting.
Anyone with an online platform will recognize the monetary benefits. You’ll convince him that
he won’t undermine his own reputation by selling your product.
As you’re pitching to your list of potential affiliates, don’t forget to include a copy of your
product. He’ll want to endorse your product wholeheartedly, and he can’t do that if he hasn’t
seen it.
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Writing a Sales Page
While all this buzz goes on, you’ll want to pitch to your insider list. Naturally, you’ll aim to
send them to an exciting sales page that talks up all the virtues of your book and incorporates
those fantastic reviews you’ve gotten from your supporters.
So what goes into a good sales page?
For fiction, the benefit is always that your reader will enjoy the book. One of the best ways to
prove this point is with a compelling synopsis and the strongest reviews you can muster.
Fiction is the one area where other people’s opinions matter more than the concrete benefits,
because it’s created for enjoyment, and the way we discover something new is by hearing what
other people have already liked.
If you’ve written fiction, your sales page should be short, sweet, and full of other people’s
accolades.
For nonfiction, it’s all about the
“For fiction, the benefit
is always that your
reader will enjoy the
book.”
benefits. When someone finishes your
book, what exactly will he be capable of
doing that he wasn’t able to do before?
Benefits often get confused with the
features of a book, which are simply
what the book has to offer. If you’ve
written a book about how to become a
better runner, then stating, “It has a day-by-day training guide,” is a feature.
The benefit is that by the time you finish the training guide, you’ll be capable of running a 5K.
Good strategies for a powerful sales page are:
» Sound like yourself. No one likes sales-speak and you’ll have worked hard to develop a
consistent brand that’s recognizable all over the web. This is the last place you want to
lose that voice.
» Talk to your readers. Don’t treat your reader as a complete stranger. Write for the
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people who have come to your blog most often, and explain why you really think this
product will be invaluable to them.
В» Create mental pictures. One common sales page technique is to ask a question such
as, “What would it be like if you could generate twice as many sales this quarter?”
Questions force our brains to create an image of the answer and, more often than
not, an attractive answer. Paint a picture for your audience and they’ll be able to see
themselves getting all the benefits out of your product.
В» Use your reviews. Pick your three best reviews and scatter them throughout.
» Offer a discounted rate for your insider list. You’re going to change it to the full rate for
the rest of your buyers, but right now, the only people who will see that page are your
insiders, and you’ve promised them a discount.
Pre-Launch Buzz Overflow
You have to know how to direct all the excitement your insider list is going to generate into
the right channels.
When those people receive their products, you’ll want them to respond enthusiastically in
as many social media channels as possible. To encourage them to do that, create an autoresponder that will be sent off six hours after they’ve received the product. (If you chose a
physical book, try to time it for one or two days after the arrival.)
The email should simply say thanks for buying the product and express the hope that they’re
enjoying it. Tell them you’d love to know what they think on Twitter or on Facebook, and
provide them with links to those channels. Odds are they’ve already begun reading the book,
and your email could be just the nudge they need to get out there and start talking about it.
You’ll also need some people out there who can super-charge the buzz. These are your
affiliates that we’ve covered earlier.
Staying Motivated
If you’ve taken my advice and read the whole book through before starting with your 90-Day
Calendar, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed right now.
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That’s natural. It’s a lot of work, and plenty to think about.
Everyone has heard the old adage about the man who ate an elephant: when asked how he
had eaten an entire elephant, the man replied, “One bite at a time”.
Contemplating the entire elephant might be too much. A few projects may have overwhelmed
you in the past, even though folks may have advised you to take them step-by-step.
Why? Because you were the one who
“We discussed the vision.
You have the desire. And
in your hands, you hold
the blueprint of a plan.”
had to п¬Ѓgure out the steps. You were
the one who had to decide what part of
the elephant to start with, how much to
eat in a sitting, and what time of day is
ideal for digesting it.
I’ve taken that part out of your hands.
You have a 90-Day Calendar with a
handful of tasks for every day.
Three things are needed for successful action: a clear vision, a burning desire, and a clear
plan. We discussed the vision. You have the desire. And in your hands, you hold the blueprint
of a plan.
You just have to show up.
Trust the process. By the time you’re into week three, you’ll be enjoying the ride. You’ll stand
on your own feet and come up with a whole new step that I haven’t included here. You’ll see
the momentum growing from all the work you’ll have put in, and you’ll be psyched to build it
even more.
You’ll never be lost. You’ll never be uncertain about what to do next.
You’re going to show up and give it everything you’ve got. And that’s going to be everything
you need.
Throw your hat into the ring. Decide to have your words heard. And begin.
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The 90-Day Calendar
With most caveats covered, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty tactics.
The 90-Day Calendar is a tool. This tool works best if you stick to the schedule. You’ll be
tempted to take just one day off and get back on the wagon the next day. But as anyone who’s
ever been on a diet can tell you, that п¬Ѓrst day stretches into two, then a week, and soon you
п¬Ѓnd yourself deciding if you should just pick another time to start this whole project.
Here’s the problem with that; your web presence will be out there. If you start on this project
to build a spectacular writer’s platform and stop midway, you’ll have a bunch of information
about yourself out in the open. You might have a blog up or a Twitter feed going, and every
day that ticks by without something up there will go against your reputation. People will come
by, check you out, and decide that you aren’t going to be there soon.
They won’t be back. Trust me on this. I’ve made this mistake once—and I’m not making the
same mistake again. Regaining the lost ground is much harder than gaining it the п¬Ѓrst time
around.
So decide right now. Once you start, you’re going to finish. To not finish is to fail; and you’re
not a failure. This is a go-big-or-go-home moment, and you are more than equal to it.
You’re a writer. The hard part is already done. Now all you’re doing is committing to spend 90
days ensuring as many people as possible know that you’re a writer—a damn good one—and
that people have a lot to gain by paying attention to what you have to say.
You can give 90 days to that endeavor. There’s no question about it.
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Using the 90-Day Calendar
The Calendar is split into 10-day segments. Each of these segments will have particular
challenges and high points, and I’ve done my best before each segment to illuminate some of
the problems you might encounter so you can avoid them.
I’ll direct you back to the appropriate sections in the book for information and ideas on how to
perform each task. (E.g., the first task in the calendar is to “write or rewrite your current web
copy”, with a direction to look to Chapter 2’s section on “Creating Content”.)
Another reason to split the 90 days into segments is to break it down. You might offer yourself
rewards for completing each segment, or dole out punishments if you fail, in case you prefer
the stick to the carrot. Or you might quietly rejoice in your accomplishment. Either way, the
smaller segments give you a place to rest your feet and reflect on how much you’ve done.
You’ll find that many days you’ll be
“It’ll be tempting to skip
just one day, but don’t do
it. Before you know it,
you’ll have fallen out of
the race.”
performing the same tasks over and
over, such as getting on Twitter or
writing blog posts. That’s because, to be
effective, most social media work needs
to be repeated. It’ll be tempting to skip
just one day, but don’t do it. Before you
know it, you’ll have fallen out of the
race.
Just show up every day, and do the tasks laid out.
To make it easier to follow along, I’ve created a section called “Maintenance Tasks”. These are
the tasks that repeat over and over. There’s a cheat sheet list of Maintenance Tasks below—
whenever you see Maintenance Tasks (or “MTs”), you need to perform every item on that list.
Some days, all you’ll have to do will be the Maintenance Tasks. Other days, well. . . . Why don’t
you read on and п¬Ѓnd out?
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The Maintenance Tasks (MTs)
В» Read your п¬Ѓnancial and emotional goals, ideally aloud.
В» Polish or publish the blog post, then update Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Aim to
publish a new blog post every other day.
В» Hit your social media posts target for the day.
В» Search for relevant discussions on Twitter and @ п¬Ѓve new people to join or start the
conversation.
» Respond promptly to any platform-related correspondence (blog owners you’ve written
to, fans of your own blog, etc.)
В» Go to your six favorite forums and post at least one comment on each.
В» Go to your twelve favorite blogs and make one comment on every new post.
В» Study Google Analytics for your blog and plan adjustments based on the trends you see.
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Part 1: Laying the Foundation
In this section, you’ll put the groundwork in place so you can start building a platform on top
of it.
You’ll see to it that your website copy is perfect, that your brand is set up, and that you’ve
signed up for all the tools you need. At the end of Part 1, you’ll be able to lean on your platform
without worrying that there are any gaps or weak points.
Day 1
Take this day to brainstorm ideas for your brand. Refer back to “The Writer’s Brand” section
for inspiration.
Write down all the adjectives you can think of that apply to you and narrow those down to
three that describe you. Then see if you can come up with a description of yourself as a writer
in one concise sentence—that famous “elevator pitch”. Keep working until it’s as brief as you
can make it.
This first day requires lots of creativity and thought. Don’t skimp. Everything else you’re about
to do depends on the brand you create today.
Write down your brand statement—both the adjectives and the sentence—on a piece of paper
and keep it where you’ll see it as you work on your platform. Remember that everything you
create from now on should build off that.
В» Brainstorm brand ideas.
В» Zero in on three adjectives describing your brand.
В» Write one short sentence describing your brand.
Day 2
Today we’ll write (or rewrite, if you already have one) your web copy. This job has three
stages:
1. Identify the target audience for your blog. Normally, these would be your readers, as
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opposed to fellow writers.
Be as specific as you can; you may even want to draw your ideal reader on a piece
of paper. Here’s an example: for my fiction-related blog, the target audience is men
and women between 18 and 55 years of age, educated and worldly, well-travelled and
imaginative, who speak English and possibly another language, and have interest in
human history.
2. Create a keyword cloud that appeals to your target audience and п¬Ѓts with your brand.
These keywords must represent the focus areas for your future blog topics and will be
the basis for your SEO efforts.
For example, my blog is focused on two main keywords: Aztecs and conquistadors.
To guide the search traffic to my blog, I’ve created a keyword cloud focused on Aztecs
(Aztec Calendar, Aztec Gods, Cannibalism, etc.) and on conquistadors (HernГЎn CortГ©s,
Vera Cruz Landing, Fall of TenochtitlГЎn, etc.)
On Day 4, you’ll use this keyword cloud to brainstorm your blog topics.
3. Write your web copy.
Systematically go through every page on your website, not neglecting the little side
boxes or the page titles, and either write or improve your web copy.
When appropriate, use your keywords, being careful not to overdo it. Using one or two
relevant keywords for every 100 words of your copy is a good rule of thumb.
Refer to “Creating Content” for tips on how to keep your copy clean and readable.
When you’ve finished creating your copy, don’t publish it right away. Instead, send it out to a
few people who know you well and ask for their feedback. Send along the brand statement and
the audience description you’ve created, and ask them whether:
» your brand is an accurate reflection of who you are as a writer.
» your website copy reflects that brand and appeals to your target audience.
While you’re at it, ask them to keep an eye out for typos and grammar or spelling errors.
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Day 3
Choose a username that works with your brand, your website, and your given name. You’ll be
employing this username for all your social media channels, so make sure you can live with it.
Refer to the “Social Media” section for advice. You may want to come up with several options
in case you п¬Ѓnd out your desired choice is taken.
After that, sign up for your social media channels. Head over to Facebook, Twitter, Google
Plus, Pinterest and LinkedIn—all of them have obvious “sign up” buttons—and fill out the
standard profiles. All these networks will have a section for you to describe yourself. Guess
what that branding sentence we created on Day 1 is great for?
For both Twitter and Facebook, you can get a jump-start if you allow the websites to use a
tool that searches your email contacts. If you have 20 friends from work who used their work
email addresses to sign up for a Facebook account, you’ll have 20 new friends on Facebook
right away with minimal hassle.
One flag with this tactic is that these people will receive a standard message showing you have
zero followers. You may want to drop your friends a line just before to tell them that you’re
launching a new platform and would need their help taking it off the ground.
If anyone says “Hi” or welcomes you to their network, respond to them. Make your response
personal—for example, always include their name, and try to mention some relevant
information from their own communication stream. Otherwise, folks may assume it’s a note
from your auto-responder. You’ll want to get in the habit of developing online relationships
whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Optional: Please also sign up for GoodReads, YouTube, a podcast service (such as
BlogTalkRadio.com), or any other social media channel of your choice. When I mention
updating social media channels in this Calendar, please update those other channels as well.
В» Sign up for all the social medial channels you need.
В» Interact with anyone who interacts with you.
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Day 4
Based on your keyword cloud, map out a list of topics you’ll be covering. The major keywords
you’ve selected may become themes (e.g., Aztecs); your secondary keywords may become
topics for individual blog posts (e.g., Aztec History Timeline, Aztec Cuisine.)
You may want to use mind-mapping software for this exercise; I use Tinderbox (Mac) and
NovaMind (Mac/Windows).
When the list of topics feels complete, structure them into an editorial calendar spanning the
next 90 days, assuming a new post every couple of days. It may look like this:
Theme
Conquistadors
Blog Posts
Posting
Date
Post Where?
В» Why did CortГ©s burn his ships?
Aug 12
My Blog
» “Display Violence” against Natives.
Aug 14
Zoe’s Blog
It’s a good idea to organize this calendar as an attractive PDF table and post it on your blog to
attract potential readers and contributors.
Then, refer to “Blogging” (Chapter 3), for insights on writing the first post. Give it the time
and attention it deserves.
Don’t publish that post just yet. Make it as strong as you can, then take a break for the night.
We’ll come back to it tomorrow.
Take a little time to hop on social media and engage with folks. You might also п¬Ѓsh around
and see what’s out there, how other authors in your niche or genre use the tool, and what you
like and don’t like.
Oh, and have you heard back from those people you asked for your web copy reviews? If not,
follow up with them. If you have, incorporate the changes they’ve recommended, if they make
sense to you and п¬Ѓt with your brand.
В» Create your editorial calendar, print it out, and tape it where you can see it every day.
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В» Write your п¬Ѓrst blog post.
В» Follow up with your peers about your web copy.
В» Play around on social media and interact with others.
Day 5
By the end of today, your website will be up and running. If you’ve heard back from your
friends, go ahead and incorporate their comments. If not, go full steam ahead with your own
best judgment. Triple check for any factual errors, misspellings, or grammar problems, then
put that copy up on the website.
Now take a look at that blog post you wrote yesterday. Mostly, you’ll find things to improve
the day after. That’s why we’ll get in the habit of writing a post a day in advance. Polish this
one up, then go right ahead and put it online as your п¬Ѓrst blog post.
Take a moment to celebrate. Your website now has quality content.
When that moment has passed, crack out your keyboard again and start writing a new blog
post. You’ll want it ready soon.
As always, check on your social media. If you’re starting to sense this is going to become a
regular thing, you’re right.
В» Polish your web copy using peer reviews and post it.
В» Polish your blog post and publish it.
В» Update your social media channels after the post is published.
В» Draft your second blog post and set it aside.
В» Interact on your social media.
Day 6
It’s time to get jamming on social media. If you’ve been paying attention as you tune in
every day, you should have a decent idea of how others use it and how you can use it, too.
Today, spend some serious time on Twitter. Get to know others, @ a few people who seem
interesting, and comment on their tweets. Don’t push your books on them.
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Need a refresher on how to behave on Twitter? Review “Twitter” (Chapter 4).
Look over your second blog post for any improvements you can make. Rewrite the draft until
it feels as complete and as brief as you can make it, and set it aside for posting tomorrow.
В» Rewrite your second blog post.
В» Hit your social media posts target for the day.
В» Respond to any comments on your blog, and social media.
Day 7
Today is a rinse-and-repeat day, although, if you had decided to do an audio or video channel,
you’ve got a little extra homework. Go ahead and create an audio or video file, and let it rest
until tomorrow. Like blog posts, audio and video posts get better with age.
В» Polish your second blog post and publish it.
В» Draft your third blog post.
В» Hit your social media posts target for the day.
В» Respond to any comments on your blog and social media.
В» Optional: create audio or video.
Day 8
Once again, if you forewent the audio and video, you’re just getting into the groove of
updating frequently, so repeat yesterday’s checklist. If you did create an audio or video
yesterday, review it and see if it needs editing. If you like what you hear and see, upload it to
your website. And update your social media!
At the end of the day, log into Google Analytics and study your early traffic trends.
В» Rewrite your third blog post.
В» Hit your social media posts target for the day.
В» Respond to any comments on your blog and social media.
В» Optional: Post audio or video.
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Day 9
Today you’re going to seek out other blogs and websites with audiences who might be
interested in your work. Use a search engine to look for websites on the right topics, and see
which other blogs and websites people recommend or interact with frequently. You can also
follow those blog and websites’ owners on Twitter and see who they enjoy interacting with
most.
Here are some solid website examples to start with. Registering with the п¬Ѓrst three will get
your blog indexed by the search engines faster:
В» Best of the Web Blogs
В» www.BlogCatalog.com
В» www.Bloggeries.com
В» www.BrooWaha.com
В» www.writing.com
В» www.thebookdesigner.com
В» www.thecreativepenn.com
Write down a list of twelve blogs and six forums where audiences could be interested in
your work. Remember that these can include blogs that don’t have anything to do with your
subject. Check out “Keeping Up with Other Blogs” for tips.
В» Polish your third blog post and publish it.
В» Draft your fourth blog post.
В» Hit your social media posts target for the day.
В» Respond to any comments on your blog, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter.
В» Find six blogs you enjoy and six blogs where your market hangs out (12 total) and
bookmark them in your browser.
В» Add all these blogs to a single RSS feed. (Google Reader is excellent, but use whatever
you like.)
В» Bookmark six relevant forums in your browser.
Day 10
Today marks the final step in getting accustomed to your “Maintenance Tasks”. After today,
you’ll be doing everything on this checklist—and on many days, additional tasks. The good
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news is you’ll get used to doing the same tasks over and over.
After 31 days, your MTs will become as natural as brushing your teeth or putting on a clean
shirt. Sure, you may not want to do the tasks on any given day—but you really won’t consider
not doing them.
Go to each blog and forum you bookmarked yesterday, and leave a comment on every new
post and/or trending topic. Don’t bother linking back to your own blog unless the site has a
“link love” option (where you can enter the URL of your blog).
For now, you’re just beginning to establish your presence on those blogs, and it’ll benefit you
not to be seen as one of those misinformed self-marketers who participates on other platforms
only to plug theirs.
В» Rewrite your fourth blog post.
В» Hit your social media posts target for the day.
В» Respond to any comments on your blog and social media.
В» Go to your six chosen forums and post at least one comment on each.
В» Go to your twelve chosen blogs and make one comment on every new post.
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Part 2: Getting Help
If you strive to deliver a quality book, you’ll need outside help. That means editors, peer
feedback providers, and lots of elbow grease on your own time incorporating their suggestions
and changes.
This week, we’ll reach out for the help you need and establish a “master team” that can help
you get your product to where it needs to be.
At this stage, don’t ask your helpers for line edits yet, as you’ll be rewriting your draft once
again. Focus them on the overall flow, the logic, the power of your dialogues, etc.
Day 11
Today you’re going to seek out editors who can help you refine your product for the market.
Write to three people who might be willing to support your journey to the launch; these
people could be paid professionals or friends. Refer to “Polishing Your Product” (Chapter 5)
for tips.
This also marks the first day you’ll be performing the full list of MTs. If you need a
handy referral list, there’s one right after the introduction to the 90-Day Calendar, titled
“Maintenance Tasks”.
В» MTs
В» Write to three people who may become editors.
Day 12
Continue your search for good editors. You’ve probably heard back from at least one of the
folks you’ve approached yesterday with a response; if it’s a yes, send him your book and ask
for feedback. If it’s a no, you’ll want to thank him for his trouble and send out a letter to new
potential editors.
Remember, the more editors the better, so send out three more letters today regardless of
whether you’ve heard back from anyone.
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В» MTs
» Respond to yesterday’s potential editors and send your book to those who offered to
edit.
В» Write to three new people who may become editors.
Day 13
Last round: send out three more letters. Over the next week, whoever has agreed to become
your editor will make it to the final list. You’ll work with them regularly, so ensure you’re
enthusiastic about each of these people and feel you can take feedback from them.
If you decide in retrospect that you have three editors you like very much and one that you’re
not sure you can take criticism from, it’s okay to tell that person it turns out you already have
plenty of editors and thank them sincerely for offering to help.
В» MTs
» Respond to the previous days’ potential editors and send your book to those who
offered to help.
В» Write to three new people who may become editors.
Day 14
Today’s a maintenance day. If you happen to get answers from potential editors today,
respond promptly and give them all the information they need.
В» MTs
В» Respond to your potential editors.
Day 15
If you haven’t heard back from some of the people to whom you’ve sent your query letters,
send follow-up notes. If you haven’t heard back from your editors in three days, though, it’s a
safe bet that these people may not have the time to work with you on your project.
В» MTs
В» Follow up on any non-responses to your editor queries.
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В» Respond to your potential editors.
Day 16
Make the п¬Ѓnal editors list. From now on, these people should be at the top of your priority list
when it comes to responding promptly to emails. Remember: they may have no incentive to
help you except the sincere desire to see you succeed.
В» MTs
В» Make the п¬Ѓnal editors list.
» Make sure all your editors have a copy of your book and specific feedback requests.
» If you’ve heard back from some of your editors already, well done. You picked good
editors. Respond to them promptly.
Day 17
While your editors are going through your book, you’re going to get a little more assertive with
your social media.
Start by experimenting a little on Twitter. @ п¬Ѓve extra people and start a conversation with
them. You get bonus points if any of these people retweet something you’ve said or show up at
your blog.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» @ п¬Ѓve extra people on Twitter and start a conversation with them.
Day 18
Delving a little further into social media, reach out directly to someone whose blog or website
has been an asset to you in building your brand or your writing career.
Send them an appreciative email, being specific about what they’ve done that has been useful
to you. Don’t ask for anything, and—naturally—don’t mention your books. Most blog and
website owners will respond to sincere appreciation.
В» MTs
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В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Write an appreciative email to a blog or website owner you admire.
В» @ п¬Ѓve new people on Twitter and start a conversation with them.
Day 19
Once again, with feeling. Today is a repeat of yesterday, but don’t let that fact make you slack
off.
People online, contrary to popular opinion, are not stupid. If you start all your Twitter
conversations the same way, or you’re tempted to repeat yesterday’s letter with different
names, don’t. You want people to see you as an individual worthy of personal attention. Treat
them the same way.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Write an appreciative email to a blog or website owner you admire.
В» @ п¬Ѓve new people on Twitter and start a conversation with them.
Day 20
By today, you should have received feedback from your editors on the п¬Ѓrst chapters of your
book. You’ll have responded promptly to their email correspondence, and today we’ll look at
the editors’ notes and incorporate them.
You don’t need to accept every suggestion, but please consider each one. If you conclude that the
editor simply has a different opinion, but that you’re confident in your own approach, that’s fine.
Take each comment seriously. Your editors took time to give you their thoughts, and you should
understand their comments and consider the implications for your product. If the same note
crops up with more than one editor, that’s a red flag that something needs adjusting.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
» Review all the notes you’ve received from editors and start marking up your own copy
with changes and improvements you can make.
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Part 3: What Your Market Wants
Your editors will continue providing you with excellent feedback. Their perspective will be
valuable to you; they can pinpoint almost every improvement needed; after all, they have the
book in their hands.
In this 10-day stretch, we’ll spend some time learning the market as a whole. We’ll want things
included in your book that your editors may not have even considered. It’s hard to figure out
what’s not there when you have a complete product in your hands. Part 3 is all about listening
to the public and giving them what they want.
If you write fiction, your “information product” will likely be the final draft of the book
you’re about to launch. You may want to approach creative writing websites and collect some
feedback there. A few examples are:
В» www.Writing.com
В» www.BrooWaha.com
» www.Zoetrope.com (you can join their “Virtual Studio”)
В» www.fanstory.com
To get quality input at these websites, you’ll need to give quality input first. There’s no way
around it; you’ll need to read the work of other writers and tell them what you think. People
will return your kindness.
As an alternative, you may want to register with GoodReads and п¬Ѓnd its Groups dedicated to
your topic or genre. These are a fantastic resource to understand what excites and turns off
your potential readers.
Day 21
We’ll start on familiar territory. Remember those blogs and forums you’ve been visiting
regularly to leave comments? Go through the relevant posts and see what people want to
know. What questions do they ask? What excites them in your п¬Ѓeld or genre?
Also, register on some creative writing websites and GoodReads Groups and start studying
their dominating attitudes and expectations.
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В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Browse the comments on relevant topics and write down 5-10 pieces (information or
scenes) you could include in your book that aren’t already there.
Day 22
The best way to find out what’s missing in your product is to ask. When you write today’s blog
post, explain that you’re finalizing a book on a particular topic and ask your readers what
they’d most like to see included.
Make sure to send the word out on Twitter and ask people to retweet because you want lots of
feedback.
» MTs, with a special assignment for today’s post.
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
Day 23
Choose one of your favorite forums and start a thread on your book. Don’t be specific about
what’s already included, because you don’t want anyone holding back their comments if they
see something tangentially related. Simply explain the general topic and ask what they’d most
like to know about.
Get on Twitter and Facebook and promote your blog post more than usual—but in good style
and without spamming the timelines of your followers. If you’ve successfully made friends
with a few people who have large followings, send them a direct message and ask if they’ll help
spread the word so you can get feedback to create a better offering. They should be happy to
help out.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Put extra effort into promoting on social media.
В» Monitor comments closely and follow up with those who introduce new topics.
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Day 24
Write a guest post on building a new product. You’ll have plenty of material to work from:
your mistakes along the way. Explain in the post that you’re finalizing a book and introduce
the idea of getting feedback on what
should be included. Check “Guest
“You’ll have plenty of
material to work from:
your mistakes along the
way.”
Posting” (Chapter 8) for ideas.
We’ll have more intense guest posting
drives in Parts 6 and 8. What we’re
doing now is a live rehearsal for that,
to build the initial connections and
gain invaluable experience early in the
program.
That’s enough for today. You’ll have your own post to work with, after all.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Write a guest post and let it sit until tomorrow.
Day 25
Polish your guest post (don’t abandon your own blog post). You’re about to send it to a blog
you admire, so put some serious effort into making sure everything flows well, makes sense,
and has no errors.
Write a cover letter to go with your guest post and send it to a blog whose audience would
benefit from it. Check “The Pitch” section for ideas.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Edit your guest post.
В» Write a cover letter.
» Send cover letter—with your guest post attached—to a blog owner.
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Day 26
It’s a rinse-and-repeat day. We’ll write another guest post for another blog. This post will still
be to ask for feedback on your product, but I suggest you take a different approach so that it
doesn’t resemble the first one at all.
Get creative and remember that you don’t need the entire post to be about asking for
feedback—only the conclusion where you encourage people to comment.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Write a guest post.
Day 27
Send your new post out to another blog and double-check your correspondence. Remember to
respond promptly if you hear back from one of the blogs. Some popular blogs may take a few
weeks to get back to you, so don’t lose heart.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Edit your new guest post.
В» Write a new cover letter.
» Send cover letter—with your guest post attached—to a blog owner.
Day 28
One more time! New guest post, new blog, new angle on the idea. Dig deep; it’ll be a while
before you write guest posts again.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Write a new guest post.
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Day 29
Send that post out and take a deep breath.
Hopefully you’ve already received plenty of feedback on your own blog, and you’ve taken some
good steps to get even more from larger audiences. These steps should pay off in the next
round.
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Edit your new guest post.
В» Write a new cover letter.
» Send cover letter—with your new guest post attached—to a blog owner.
Day 30
Haul out the marked-up copy of your book that already reflects the notes from your editors,
and start incorporating the feedback you’ve been getting from your market. If more than three
people ask for information on a specific topic, it’s a good idea to make sure it gets in there.
Don’t let your book morph into something you never intended; you don’t need to expand
so much that you’ve essentially created two books in one. But do pay attention to what the
audience is asking for.
If you п¬Ѓnd no one is interested in one major section of your book, it may be wise to excise it
and put in a new section that more people are interested in. Spend some time today making
such choices. The next stretch will be all about rewriting.
В» MTs
В» Go through your feedback notes and see what sections of your book may need changes.
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
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Part 4: The Rewrite
There’s no getting around it: at this point, you’ll have a ton of quality feedback that can
transform your material from “good” to “so-amazing-you-have-to-own-it”.
Unfortunately, to get the feedback out of the margins and into the final text, you’ll have to do
some serious editing.
And by serious editing, I mean a full-scale rewrite.
Don’t skip this step. Editing will only get you so far. With all the feedback and inputs you’ve
collected, there may be a need for some fundamental changes, and you won’t be able to make
it into a coherent new text unless you
“By serious editing,
I mean a full-scale
rewrite.”
start from scratch.
Treat your previous draft as a guideline,
and feel free to use the exact same
sentences if they work just as well in the
new draft. But write it all down again,
incorporating the new notes. You’ll
find yourself adding whole new sections or scenes and removing those that aren’t needed. You
wouldn’t get that far with a simple edit.
As you п¬Ѓnalize your chapters, send them to be proofread. Here are a few options to do this,
although you may have your own way:
В» Hire a professional proofreader, if your budget allows.
В» Split your book into three equal chunks and ask each of your usual editors to proofread
one. This would make the task more manageable for them and save time for you.
» Proofread it yourself, if you’re brave enough. I don’t recommend this as your only
option, although this is necessary as the п¬Ѓnal quality assurance step, anyway.
When proofreading, you may want to change the way you look at your text. If you’ve
been working on a computer screen, print it out. Read your chapters out of order, read
them aloud, or read your manuscript from the end to the beginning word by word, so
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that each word stands out for you.
Ready to create a book that will sail off the shelves? Let’s go. Part 4 will soon become real.
Every single day of this stretch is identical. Rewriting, proofreading, and social media
maintenance. That’s it.
Day 31
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Rewrite.
Day 32
В» MTs
В» Respond promptly to your editors.
В» Rewrite.
В» Send п¬Ѓnished sections for the п¬Ѓnal proofread.
Day 33
В» Repeat day 32.
Day 34
В» Repeat day 32.
Day 35
В» Repeat day 32.
Day 36
В» Repeat day 32.
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Day 37
В» Repeat day 32.
Day 38
В» Repeat day 32.
Day 39
В» Repeat day 32.
Day 40
В» Repeat day 32.
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Part 5: Creating a List—and a Tangible Product
Part 5 is twofold.
First, you’ll finalize your draft and send it off to be formatted.
You may want to refer to “Choosing Your Product’s Format” (Chapter 7) to help you decide
which option is right for you.
Self-publishing a printed book will take a good deal longer; that’s why I’m introducing this
step early on in the Calendar. You’ve got 50 days to make your product perfect.
Second, we’re setting the stage to capture an audience who will be delighted to hear about
your book when it’s perfectly formatted and ready to launch. Part 5’s busy, but it pays to put
your head down and power through.
Day 41
Using what you know about your audience from your research in Parts 2 and 3, decide which
format is best for your product. Then sign up for a book creation and distribution program
like CreateSpace, Lulu, SmashWords, or BookBaby and start the process of formatting your
product for release.
You can also find a free-lancer to do the formatting for you. Take a look at the “Outsourcing
Work” Section in Chapter 2 for ideas.
В» MTs
В» Sign up for a book creation program.
В» Incorporate the п¬Ѓnal proofreading changes and send your product to be formatted.
Day 42
Whatever format you’ve chosen, you’ll spend the next few days in frequent correspondence
with your product creators, making sure they have all the п¬Ѓles they need, п¬Ѓlling out any
questionnaires they may have on the design requirements, etc.
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Respond promptly and don’t be afraid to ask questions. For example, if they need your
product in a file format you’re not familiar with, don’t hesitate to ask how to convert your files
or where you can п¬Ѓnd the correct program.
В» MTs
В» Provide any additional information your product creator may need.
Day 43
Today will be much like the day before, making sure your product creator has all the necessary
information. After tomorrow, corresponding with your product creator will be included in
“MTs,” and you’ll simply know to respond to those people promptly.
В» MTs
В» Provide any additional information your product creator may need.
Day 44
This is the last repeat to get the п¬Ѓnal bits of information to your product creator. Tomorrow,
we’ll get started on creating an email list, so make sure you clear up any remaining points of
confusion between you and your product creator today to have a clean slate for tomorrow.
However, don’t worry if you need more time to work with your product creator on layout and
design. You have until Day 60 to make it perfect. Just keep working on it in the background,
as you go through the following sections.
В» MTs
В» Provide any additional information your product creator may need.
Day 45
Today you’re going to set up an AWeber account to create an opt-in form where visitors can
sign up for your newsletter.
You don’t need to call it a newsletter, and, if you follow this Calendar closely, you’re not going
to issue weekly updates, which is what most think of as a newsletter. Instead, you’ll simply
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invite people to sign up to hear about exciting new products п¬Ѓrst.
The tutorials on the AWeber website are easy to follow, so please log in there and create your
account.
В» MTs
В» Create an AWeber account.
Day 46
Before you put a sign-up form on your website, you need to be sure people will receive an
automatic thank you email when they sign up. You’d need to create that email today. Refer to
“Confirm Subscription” and “Your First Marketing Email” (Chapter 9) if you need some help.
It’s a good idea to add a little teaser by letting them know that one new development is already
well on its way.
Put that email up on AWeber as the п¬Ѓrst auto-response for people when they sign up.
В» MTs
В» Write welcome email and post on AWeber.
Day 47
Today we’ll install that sign-up form on your website. There are plenty of plug-ins that link to
AWeber when someone signs up.
Here’s a simple one for Wordpress, but you may want to talk with your web coder and ask for
his recommendation on the best plug-in that will work with your design and your coding.
В» MTs
В» Install the opt-in form on your website.
Day 48
Now that everything’s set for your email subscribers, you’ll need to create a free giveaway to
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entice people to sign up. This part will be easy. Remember the sections you removed from
your eBook because they weren’t as critical as others? Use one of those and create a 10-point
list of handy tips. Convert it to a PDF and voila; you have a free giveaway.
If you’re a fiction writer, you may decide to offer a short story that showcases your talent, or a
special report for your readers on the latest trends in your genre. You may offer a humorous
look at the genre’s stereotypes, as another example.
Be sure to copyright your material so that no one п¬Ѓlches it. To secure your copyright in the
US, go to http://www.copyright.gov. In the UK and most other parts of the world, there is no
official copyright registration system, although some agencies exist for your peace of mind,
such as http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk.
В» MTs
В» Create a free giveaway and let it rest for a day.
Day 49
Flip through your new free creation to make sure it’s perfect. If you feel like going the extra
mile, also run it by one of your editors. Check that they have the time to review it in one day,
because you’re going to attach it to your first AWeber auto-responder email.
This is a simple action. Write a quick line at the bottom of the welcome email saying, “Click
here for your free giveaway.” Include the title of the piece so folks can see they’re getting what
they signed up for: for example, 10 Hilarious Historical Mistakes in Popular Novels. Then
simply attach your PDF to that email.
Dedicate today’s blog post to your giveaway. This can be a short post, mentioning that you’ve
started an email list to tell people about new developments and projects, and you’ve put
together a free giveaway for anyone who feels like signing up.
Tomorrow, we’ll put that post up on your blog and encourage people to get on your list.
В» MTs
В» Review free giveaway and convert to PDF.
В» Attach it to the auto-responder email.
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Day 50
Today we’ll officially launch your new giveaway. Publish the promotional blog post that you
wrote yesterday, and get on social media to spread the word far and wide about your excellent
giveaway.
If anyone says something flattering about your offer, retweet their comment and thank them.
В» MTs
В» Review your free giveaway one п¬Ѓnal time before it goes live.
В» Promote your giveaway on your blog and on social media.
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Part 6: Maintaining Momentum
You’ve gotten a nice rhythm going, producing excellent content. You have over 20 posts up on
your blog, which means you’ve found a voice and a way of communication that works for you.
Odds are you may have become a little bored, though.
I have a solution for that . . . but it involves more writing.
In Part 6, you’ll further expand your horizons. This is the second, more powerful burst of
guest posting to solidify the interest of people who have bigger audiences and more pull online
than you do.
By the time you’re done with this section, you’ll have made friends in high places. This will
position you well for your coming launch. Check “Guest Posting” (Chapter 8) for ideas.
That said, the formula is simple. You’ll write guest posts targeting the audiences of popular
blogs, you’ll pitch them, and you’ll repeat that process a few times.
The nice part is that you’ll have to stretch your knowledge and your ideas to fit in with the new
audiences, and that means you’ll tap into new areas of creativity and shake out of your usual
way of thinking. It’ll be great for your blogging enthusiasm, and you’ll get out of any ruts you
may have fallen in.
“By the time you’re done
with this section, you’ll
have made friends in
high places.”
Remember that guest posts may be
accepted quickly, but they might run a
full month from now.
Be sure to ask the blog owners when
they’ll publish it. They won’t mind; they
know you’ll want to promote it. It’ll
also mean you won’t show up on five
different websites on the same day; not
that it would be bad, but you don’t want to use up all your firepower at once.
Separately, you may still be working with your product creator on п¬Ѓnalizing your book layout
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and design. Don’t compromise on this part of work; if you run into any scheduling conflicts,
prioritize your product creation and skip the guest post for that day.
Day 51 (“DAY A”)
В» MTs
В» Write guest post for a blog with a larger audience than yours.
Day 52 (“DAY B”)
В» MTs
В» Review your guest post and send it with a cover letter.
Day 53
В» Repeat day A.
Day 54
В» Repeat day B.
Day 55
В» Repeat day A.
Day 56
В» Repeat day B.
Day 57
В» Repeat day A.
Day 58
В» Repeat day B.
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Day 59
В» Repeat day A.
Day 60
В» Repeat day B.
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Part 7: The Final Product
In Part 7, we’ll give your book one final review, because it’s time to start pushing it out to those
who can help you promote it. It’s no time to fool around; you’re pitching to early customers, which
means anything you’d be ashamed to have a paying customer see must be corrected right now.
This is also where we’ll gather affiliates who will be willing to launch your product with you
in just a few short weeks. We have only 30 days to go until the official launch, and you’ll want
lots of people helping you create the buzz for that.
Check “Your Affiliate Program” (Chapter 10) for ideas.
Day 61
Get the п¬Ѓnal version from your product creator and send it out to all of your editors for a п¬Ѓnal
check. Take a hard look at it yourself; you’ll want to nip any formatting or design problems in
the bud right now. Time is of the essence.
В» MTs
В» Send your п¬Ѓnal product to your editors.
Day 62
Gather the feedback from your editors and combine it into one document, so that you can be
sure no edits cancel one another out and that it’s easy for your product creator to read. Send
those edits off immediately as well.
Assuming you’re working with a PDF file at this stage, use the “Annotations” feature of Adobe
Acrobat Reader to mark the edits right in the master file so your product creator can’t miss
anything.
В» MTs
» Combine editors’ notes and send in one document to the product creator.
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Day 63
While you wait for the product creator to complete the changes, write another guest post and
spend some time on social media. If you have any problems that the product creator can’t fix,
now’s the time to ask for help.
В» MTs
В» Write a guest post for a major blog.
В» Spend time on social media and get peer help on any problems or concerns.
Day 64
Draft a letter to at least 20 people who might be interested in promoting your product.
Among these should be the blogs on which you’ve been a frequent commenter in the last two
months, any major website owners who have shown interest in your blog, and any blogs who have
accepted guest posts of yours. You can also include any friends you’ve made on social media.
The letter will simply say that you’ve created a product and would love to hear what they think
of it. If they’d also like to become an affiliate for the product, you’d be delighted to have them
and would appreciate their support.
Don’t give them the hard sell; these people know you and presumably like you. If they’re
interested, they’ll get on board without any fancy selling tactics.
Let them know what the affiliate rate is, too.
В» MTs
» Draft a letter to potential affiliates.
Day 65
Send out your п¬Ѓnal product, attached to your letter, to every single person you think might
be interested in promoting it. Be careful to address each letter individually and to make sure
the addresses and names are all correct. Nothing turns people off of a good project like seeing
their name misspelled.
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В» MTs
» Send letter and product out to potential promoters and affiliates.
Day 66
While you wait to hear back from your potential promoters, it’s time to create an affiliate
program.
Sign up for an online affiliate management tool like e-junkie and make a note of any
information your affiliates might need. For example, most of them will want banners for your
product so they can post them around their blog. We’ll cover that tomorrow.
В» MTs
» Sign up for an affiliate program like e-junkie.
Day 67
Fill in any missing information in your affiliate program, such as banners and promotional
details. Your affiliates are going to want a quick bullet list highlighting the best features of
your product for easy reference. Cover anything you can think of to make their life easier.
Crank up your image editing program and design a few banners promoting your book. A
thumbnail cover image and a brief benefit statement, or an enticing question challenging folks
to create a beneficial mental picture, should be enough for a banner.
Design them in two or three standard sizes. Designers Toolbox is an excellent site that lists the
standard sizes with live examples.
В» MTs
» Create supporting information for your affiliates.
Day 68
By now you should have heard back from some of your potential affiliates. Send those
interested over to your sign-up page (e-junkie will provide this,) so they can enroll.
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Ask if they’d be willing to put up a promotional blog post on the day of the launch. (This is
fairly standard, but it never hurts to make sure.) Keep a list of every single blog and website
that will be promoting your product on launch day, because you’ll want to show up frequently.
В» MTs
» Send affiliates to affiliate sign-up.
В» Offer any information you have and ask how they plan to promote.
В» Create a list of all blogs and websites that will promote you on launch day.
Day 69
It’s time to write a sales page. You won’t use it for another fifteen days or so, but you’ll both
want to give yourself lots of time to get it perfect, and you’ll want your affiliates to have access
to it so they can create excellent sales pages of their own. Spend some time writing the п¬Ѓrst
draft.
Check “Writing a Sales Page” (Chapter 10) for ideas.
В» MTs
В» Write the п¬Ѓrst draft of your sales page.
Day 70
Today, we’ll give that sales page a polish and publish it. Create a hidden web page, one that
doesn’t have any public links to it. If you don’t know how to create a new web page, or a
hidden one, just ask your web coder. It’s a snap.
Put the sales page up and toy with formatting until it looks good to you. Then run the gamut of
your editors and whatever affiliates have already volunteered, asking for their feedback. You’ll
want to take their advice seriously. Many of your affiliates will have more experience writing
sales pages than you do.
В» MTs
В» Write a second draft of your sales page.
В» Create a hidden web page and post your sales copy.
» Send your sales page link out to your editors and affiliates for feedback.
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Part 8: Generating Buzz
This is where you set up your launch for ridiculous success.
Step 1: get guest posts on every blog in sight.
Step 2: spend every waking minute on social media.
Step 3: try to get some sleep, if only because people who don’t sleep tend to get snappy
at prospective buyers they should be attempting to charm.
A quick note: you’ll be doing a lot of
“Try to schedule one of
your major guest-post
appearances on a big
blog for Day 85.”
guest posting this week. If you can, try
to schedule one of your major guestpost appearances on a big blog for Day
85. That’s the last day people can sign
up for a discounted version of your
product by being on your opt-in list.
Make sure you tell them that in your
post.
Ready? Let’s go.
Day 71
Today, we get serious about guest posting. This third round of guest posting will be the most
intense of all, but it’ll be worth it.
You’ll write a guest post, edit it, and send it off to a blog with a cover letter all in one day.
You’ll also want to continue fielding questions from your affiliates and other correspondents,
and, of course, perform your daily maintenance tasks. On top of that, start spending good time
on Twitter chatting about your upcoming launch, because you’ve got to get the buzz a-buzzing.
If that sounds like a lot of work, I’m afraid that’s because it is a lot of work. But there’s only a
little bit of hard work left to do before your launch, so buckle up!
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В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Spend time on social media discussing your project with others.
Day 72
Engage your audience. Start dropping hints in your blog posts about the upcoming launch
date.
If you feel up to it, you can announce a contest—for example, say you’ll choose a random
commenter to receive an early, and free, copy of your product.
Announce the contest the following day (after your blog post has had its usual overnight time
to air out), and officially start the contest on Day 74.
В» MTs, mentioning the contest in your blog post.
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Spend time on social media discussing your project.
Day 73
Use social media to your advantage and ask your friends or fans how to do a successful launch.
Ask what makes a good launch even better; you’ll likely get responses ranging from customer
service to bonus extras to exclusive offers. Consider incorporating some of the suggestions if
they sound appealing, or just stick to the script and thank everyone for commenting. Either
way, you’ve gotten your audience involved in what you’re doing.
This is the last day before your contest, so make sure the post you write for tomorrow’s blog
entry is extra interesting to discuss. They’ll come and say something just to enter the contest,
but they’ll stay engaged—and, perhaps, sign up for your list—if they like what they find on
your blog.
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You’ll be writing another guest post today, too, as you’ll do every day this week. It’ll be a rough
ride!
В» MTs, mentioning your contest.
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
» Get on social media and ask your audience a specific question about a book launch.
Day 74
If you decided to go with the contest, it’s time to launch it!
Put up your engaging post from yesterday and let the comments run wild. Be sure to get on
your social media channels and promote it, too.
В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Promote your contest on your blog and social media.
Day 75
Today, choose a contest winner randomly from the respondents (e.g., by using the number
generator at www.random.org) and announce the win on your blog. When you send the
winner their prize, ask if, as a personal favor, he would give you a book review for your official
launch.
В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Choose winner and announce on your blog.
В» Send prize to winner and request review.
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Day 76
Time to gather some more reviews from people who have lots of pull online. Remember when
you sent your product out to all those other popular blog owners?
Request reviews from everyone who has a copy of your product, or from the top Amazon
reviewers. Check “Gather Some Reviews” (Chapter 10).
В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Request reviews of your product.
Day 77
Did you get some reviews? Slap them up on your sales page.
While you’re there, give it another once-over. Could it be improved? Streamlined? Is there
anything you’ve learned from generating buzz over the last week that might be a good
addition?
Tweak the sales page, and don’t forget that reviews speak for themselves.
В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Add reviews to sales page.
В» Tweak the sales page language.
Day 78
It’s another social media day. Spend some serious time on Twitter talking up your project—
and on all your other social media channels, too.
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You want everyone to be psyched for what you’re about to pull off in the final ten days.
В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Spend at least an hour on social media talking up your project.
Day 79
Social media all the time. If any of your guest posts have run this week, you should be on the
host blog commenting up a storm (nicely!) and encouraging people to sign up for your email
newsletter.
Today is also the day to get your affiliates psyched about the prelaunch and then the launch.
They’ll be a part of both, so send an email out to all your affiliates and ask them if there’s
anything at all they need before the prelaunch begins. Some will need handholding. You’ll
want to solve all those problems now, not later.
В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
» Check in with affiliates to be sure they have everything they need.
Day 80
Today we set up the most important part of your sales page: the buy button.
Here’s one plug-in that works, but ask your web coder if you’re not comfortable tweaking your
page. This is important and you don’t have a lot of time left, so don’t leave it to chance. It’s
easier to have a professional do it for a minimal fee than to give yourself the added stress of
something not working out.
Of course, your buy button may be a simple link to your book’s Amazon, B&N, or another
retailer’s page.
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В» MTs
В» Write guest post.
В» Write cover letter for guest post.
В» Send cover letter, with guest post attached, to another blog.
В» Set up a buy button and (if necessary) the shopping cart at your sales page or the
retailer link.
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Part 9: The Launch
This is it: the final stretch. This is going to be one of the most difficult sections, but you’ve
built up an enormous platform and there’s no good reason to back out now. All your hard
work has come to this; you’ll have an extraordinarily successful launch.
Here’s how.
Day 81
Check in with the people who have agreed to promote your product.
Do they have everything they need? Do they know what date they’ll be promoting on? Will
they be publishing a post about your product? Make sure everyone has what they need and
that you know where you’ll be expected to be on launch day.
Today you’ll also put out a teaser email to your list. This is just a quick heads up to say that
in a couple of days, they’re going to get an exclusive offer. Encourage your list to send new
visitors around to sign up for your newsletter so that those people can also get in on the
discounted version of your product.
В» Perform maintenance tasks, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people
to opt in for the discount.
» Check in with your affiliates and promoting sites.
В» Put out a teaser email to your list encouraging new sign-ups.
Day 82
You’ll be sending out a handful of emails to your list over the next week, and you’ll want these
messages written in advance. Write the following four emails that will go to your opt-in list:
» A “Heads-up! We’re pre-launching tomorrow!” email.
» The official pre-launch email where you offer your product at a discount, with a link to
your sales page and a reminder that the offer only lasts for three days.
В» The day-after email that reminds them the discounted rate will only go on for two more
days.
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В» The п¬Ѓnal-day email that reminds them this is the last day for the discount.
You’ll have a chance to review all of those emails before you send them, but for now upload
them to AWeber as drafts. (Be very careful not to send them!) Do the rest of your daily
maintenance.
В» MTs, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people to opt in for a discount
price.
Day 83
Write the thank you and follow-up email for your list. This is the email they’ll receive right
after they buy your product, confirming their purchase and giving them a link to download the
product if you’ve decided to go with an eBook pre-sell from your site. Upload to AWeber.
В» MTs, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people to opt in for the
discount.
» Write thank you and confirmation email.
В» Upload to AWeber to send after purchase.
Day 84
Perform a dry run of the buying process so you can iron out any kinks before the real
customers have a chance to get frustrated.
Send yourself a copy of the official prelaunch email (the one that includes a link to your sales
page). Use the link to go to the sales page, click the buy button, and buy one of your products.
Make sure you receive a confirmation email, including a link to download your product, and
that the download link works.
Did everything go okay? Have a friend who operates a different kind of computer than yours
try it, too. If you use a Mac, ask a PC friend to do it, and vice versa. It’s wise to also check on
several different web browsers.
В» MTs, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people to opt in for the
discount.
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» Check your buying process “six ways to Sunday”: by yourself, on a different computer,
and with multiple browsers.
Day 85
Recall that I advised you to get a guest post up on a major blog for this day? It’s time to field
those comments.
Be sure to encourage people to sign up for your opt-in list, because the last day with the
discounted price will be Day 89. Get on social media and make sure everyone knows.
В» MTs, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people to opt in for the
discount.
» Monitor guest post and spend time on social media telling people there’s only one more
day to opt in to your list.
Day 86
It’s time to start the pre-launch. Today, you’re sending out the teaser email that tells people to
keep an eye out for the pre-launch tomorrow.
You’ll want to check in with your affiliates one last time since they’ll be sending a pre-launch
email to their personal lists tomorrow, too.
Make sure they all know the official launch (with the full price) is on Day 90, and that this prelaunch is only for their email lists, not the general public.
В» MTs, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people to opt in for a discount
price—tomorrow would be the last day!
В» Send your prelaunch teaser email.
» Check in with your affiliates.
Day 87
It’s the pre-launch day!
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Send your official pre-launch sales email with a discounted rate, and encourage people to click
through to your sales page. Check and make sure everything is going well with your affiliates,
too.
В» MTs, mentioning the upcoming launch and encouraging people to opt in for a discount
price—last day!
В» Send your prelaunch email.
» Check on your affiliates.
Day 88
Send a note warning that the pre-launch price will only last until Day 89 (tomorrow), and
encourage the people on your list to buy now.
Check in with your affiliates again, and be sure not to neglect your email or social media: if
people have complaints and can’t get through to you on email, they may resort to Twitter, and
you want to nip any problems in the bud.
» MTs, mentioning the upcoming official launch.
В» Send your second pre-launch email.
» Check on your affiliates.
Day 89
Tomorrow is the launch day, which means today is your list’s last chance to get the product at
a discounted rate. Make sure they know that.
Check in with your affiliates and see that they’re prepared for tomorrow’s launch.
At the very end of the day, at whatever time you’ve decided to shut off the pre-launch, make
sure you replace the discounted price of your product on e-junkie and your site to the full
price. Otherwise you’ll be giving the general public the same price as the list people—and you
promised the list people an exclusive offer.
One word of advice: it would be wise to set your cut-off time after midnight US Pacific
Time Zone. Once I changed my price after midnight Swiss time, only to wake up the next
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morning to a storm of disappointed notes from US buyers in my inbox and on my Facebook. I
compensated all by sending them my book for free; and I learned my lesson.
» MTs—your blog post for tomorrow MUST be a launch post!
В» Send your third prelaunch warning email.
» Check on your affiliates.
Day 90
The launch day has arrived.
Your only job today is to ensure everything goes smoothly.
В» Make sure all the bloggers who
“If you manage every
problem that comes
your way calmly and
quickly, if you are
considerate of the
people who are buying
from you and give them
the respect they crave,
all the problems will
disappear.”
promised to promote your product did
so, and show up regularly to answer
commenters’ questions or thank them
for feedback.
В» Make sure all the links work and that
the affiliate software is keeping track of
who sent you which sales.
» Make sure your own blog post’s links
work, and that the buy button on your
sales page is functioning properly.
В» Keep a close tab on your email so
you’re on top of any problems in the
system.
В» Stay on Twitter, Google+, Facebook
to п¬Ѓeld questions and to thank people
for buying and promoting your book.
Check in on everything and keep a cool head. Things are bound to go wrong; Murphy’s Law is
a powerful force. But if you manage every problem that comes your way calmly and quickly,
if you are considerate of the people who are buying from you and give them the respect they
crave, all the problems will disappear.
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Congratulations. You just launched a product from an enormous platform that didn’t exist
90 days ago. At the end of the day, pat yourself on the back, count your earnings, and sleep in
tomorrow. You’ve earned this break.
And the day after tomorrow, start preparing for your post-launch Grand Blog Tour.
Then write your next bestseller.
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A Bird’s-Eye View
I’ve created a bird’s-eye view of the 90-Day Calendar so you can see what’s coming and make
sure you п¬Ѓnd the right time to start in your schedule.
Since there’s no reason to start the calendar on the 1st of the month, I’ve just labeled it with
Day 1, Day 2, and so forth. Don’t feel like you have to start on a Monday or a specific date.
Make it work with your schedule and make sure it п¬Ѓts in with any other commitments you
may have.
If you have a big project coming up and it’s going to align with some of the busiest days on the
90-Day Calendar, then plan for a different start date.
But make a commitment, and stick with it.
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The 90-Day Calendar: A Bird’s-Eye View
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1: Laying the Foundation
» Define your brand » write web copy » sign up for social media » set editorial calendar » begin blog » find relevant
blogs and websites
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
2: Getting Help
В» Engage editors В» incorporate early feedback В» get assertive on social media В» contact helpful website owners В»
perform MTs
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
3: What Your Market Wants
» Research your audience’s key expectations » write guest posts to collect ideas » incorporate new inputs » perform MTs
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
49
50
4: The Rewrite
В» Do a complete rewrite of your book or information product В» perform MTs
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
5: Creating a List—and a Tangible Product
В» Finalize your draft and get it formatted В» set up an email list В» create a free giveaway В» perform MTs
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
68
69
70
6: Maintaining Momentum
В» Conduct a guest posting campaign В» perform MTs
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
7: The Final Product
» Give your book the final review » set up affiliate program » write your sales page » perform MTs
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
8: Generating Buzz
В» Conduct п¬Ѓnal guest posting campaign В» run a contest В» engage fans into your launch В» gather reviews В» energize
affiliates » perform MTs
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
9: The Launch
» Ensure perfect execution by affiliates » run pre-launch and launch campaigns » LAUNCH » perform MTs
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Contact
If you have any questions, contact me via www.austinbriggs.com.
You can п¬Ѓnd the up-to-date list of helpful resources here.
Connect with me on Twitter (@TheAustinBriggs) here.
Connect with me on Facebook here.
Connect with me on Google+ here.
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