Thanks again to everyone who has been sending me questions. I love it. So, keep ‘em coming! I recently had an email from an ambitious woman who is looking to self-publish a series of books. She had done some research and was finding that the self-publishing “packages” that she was interested in were going to cost her approximately $2,000+ per book. Her question for me: Should it really cost $2,000+ to self-publish a book?
In my response to the woman, I told her that self-publishing, when done properly, can be expensive on the outset because the author / self-publisher is absorbing all of the costs. Therefore, $2,000.00 is not an unexpected amount to expect to pay to self-publish a book. The interesting thing about the woman’s email was that it did not include specifics on what the $2,000+ was going to be spent on. While I understand that the cost of producing the book should certainly be of concern, I was more concerned with what the money was to be spent on. In my opinion, you should be too. So, if you’re considering a book project here are a few things that are “must dos” to produce a professional grade book:
Editing – Once you’ve completed your manuscript, it’s a good idea to have an editor to review the document. The editor will be able to provide insight about how well the overall book flows as well as help to improve (or make suggestions for improving) the writing. NOTE: The extent to which an editor will do these depends on the type of editing you request.
Book Formatting & Layout – There are standards for how books are formatted. With just a glance, a trained eye can easily spot a professionally formatted book from a book put together by a non-professional. It’s critical to format the interior of your book properly if you want to attract outside distributors.
Book Cover Design – The book cover is the first-line marketer of your book. It’s there to say, “Hey! Look at me. I’d be a great read.” when you’re not there to do it. Therefore, make sure that your cover is appealing, your title is catchy and that the back cover copy is compelling.
Proofreading – The book should be proofread twice. The first time should be before the manuscript sent to be formatted. After all, what good is it to lay out a book that’s grammatically incorrect? The second time the book should be proofread is after the text has been placed in the book layout. This second time is primarily a double check to make sure no mistakes were made when copying text from the manuscript document into the book layout or missed earlier in the process.
Initial Promotional Book Verbiage – At minimum, you will need compelling copy for your back cover and a general book description. You will likely need additional standard evergreen copy but what you will need beyond the back cover copy and book description depends on your book marketing strategy. Speaking of that…
Book Marketing Plan – Many authors make the mistake of focusing only on writing the book and publishing it. They neglect to think about what they will do with the book once they have it. Don’t make that mistake! If you do, you will likely find yourself shelling out money left and right trying all sorts of things to promote and sell your book. Admittedly, that may work for a while but it’s a potentially costly method. A more sound business idea is to invest in a book marketing plan. That way you have specific strategies and tactics that you can use to promote and sell your book.
The cost of each of the above will vary, depending on your manuscript type and length as well as the professional that you hire to assist you. However, $2,000 would likely cover a majority of the items on the list above. In fact, you may even come in under that budget for a short book. But, if you note, that list did not include promotional items (bookmarks, postcards, etc. IF you choose to use them), the book ISBN, copyright registration, printing costs or having copies of your book on hand. The takeaway for you: If you don’t have the money to invest in producing and marketing a book, plan your project in stages and don’t move on to the next phase until you do have the money to move forward. You will have much better results and greater success in the long run. Remember: The benefits of being a published author come post-publishing, once you've sold enough books to break even and begin pocketing pure profit—which isn't typically an overnight kind of occurrence.
As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email.
*****
About Tanisha Coffey:
Tanisha Coffey is a professional freelance writer and marketing consultant based in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. She provides her services under the Scribe, Etc. and Scribe, Etc. Publishing (www.Scribe-Etc.com and www.Scribe-Etc-Publishing.com). When she’s not working on client projects, Coffey spends her time developing educational courses for entrepreneurs, blogging and working on creative pieces of her own. The fiction and non-fiction works range from short film scripts, childrens’ books and poetry to self-help, business education and editorial guides.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
7 “Must-knows” When Requesting Quotes
Entrepreneurs need help. It’s a fact. Though the type of assistance needed may vary—accounting, marketing / advertising, payroll, mailing services, legal advice, etc.—there is one thing that is true for all services: The entrepreneur must know (or have a decent idea) of what they need in order for the provider to be effective in helping them. So, when it comes to contacting a service provider, be sure that all of you entrepreneurs out there have thought through the following questions before making a call or sending out an email:
If, on the other hand, you know exactly how you want the provider to solve your problem, say that. However, you should realize that if you’re adamant about what you want and how you want it done, that is what the provider will do. Most providers will advise you if what you’re requesting isn’t the best option for your needs but some will not. Additionally, at the end of the day, the provider’s goal is to make the client happy. So, be sure you’re requesting the right service and that any stipulations you mandate are what you really want and need to solve your problem. Otherwise, you can end up paying for work that you requested that fails to address your original issue.
- What’s the easiest, most succinct way for me to describe my business and the product / services that I offer to the provider?
- What is the issue that I am dealing with that this provider can help me fix?
- What is the source for this problem? / Why am I having this problem?
- When the work is complete, what is the desired outcome? What’s my goal for the work being requested?
- Is there a specific way that I need or want to have the issue addressed? If so, what are the “must-haves” or guidelines that I’d like the provider to adhere to?
- What things have I tried before that either didn’t work or that I don’t care to do again?
- What is the budget / price that I can realistically afford to pay to have this project completed as I want and need it to be completed?
If, on the other hand, you know exactly how you want the provider to solve your problem, say that. However, you should realize that if you’re adamant about what you want and how you want it done, that is what the provider will do. Most providers will advise you if what you’re requesting isn’t the best option for your needs but some will not. Additionally, at the end of the day, the provider’s goal is to make the client happy. So, be sure you’re requesting the right service and that any stipulations you mandate are what you really want and need to solve your problem. Otherwise, you can end up paying for work that you requested that fails to address your original issue.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Getting Media Attention: It's All In The Message!
The Ellen Degeneres Show. The View. The Today Show.
Good Morning America. CNN. MSNBC. Fox. HLN.
LIVE! With Kelly & Michael.
LIVE! With Kelly & Michael.
These are the "big fish" in mainstream American media. Every business would love to be featured (in a positive light) on any of these shows or networks. However, reeling in a big fish is no easy feat. This is where a well-connected PR firm comes in handy. If you can afford it--and some are more affordable than you may think--they can do a bulk of the work for you. But, what do you do if you're a small business or solopreneur that doesn't have the budget to hire outside help? You do like you always do: You roll up your sleeves and dig in!
The first step is, of course, building your target media list. If you're looking to reach local and national television, magazine and newspaper media, a service such as EasyMediaList.com is a fast and inexpensive way to get your list in almost an instant. For niche shows, magazines and newspapers, you'll likely have to scour the Internet for firms that have compiled similar databases--or find them yourself. (If you know of such a resource, let me know and I'll share it with others!)
Once you've compiled your target media list, you'll need to focus on what you're going to say to your media contacts. Think long and hard on this! In my experience, honing your message is key. In that vein, I have four pieces of advice for you:
- Customize your message! While you can build a template for the type of information you plan to share with each TV outlet, you must customize the message that you actually communicate in order to make it pertinent to the show / station. Be sure to study each TV show's target demographics, as well as the network on which it airs, to help you determine the most plausible angles to pitch.
- Keep each TV station's W.I.I.F.M in mind. In case you're not familiar with the acronym, W.I.I.F.M stands for "What's In It For Me?" You must focus on the benefit that the TV show / station and / or its viewers will receive when constructing your message. If you focus on this while weaving in information about your business / organization, your message will be that much more interesting to the show contact.
- Be relevant! As you're creating your customized pitches, you'll increase your chances of a show taking notice if it's relevant to whatever is currently happening or will be happening in the near future. Relevance also ties into W.I.I.F.M.
- Remain determined and diligent. Media outlets are inundated with information daily. As such, you will likely have to contact each station several times if you want to increase the odds that someone will contact you. Therefore, it's a good idea to plan out a series of correspondences that you will send and a schedule you will follow to make this process manageable.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: Getting Started (part 2 of 2)
The article I wrote about a few years ago, 3 Key Marketing Performance Indicators, is still hitting home with a number of you entrepreneurs out there. Many of you responded by saying that it was an “eye-opener” that you hadn’t considered. Then, you followed up with two main questions:
Strategies: Chart Them Out!
In a perfect world, you already have a marketing activities chart and implementation schedule as part of your marketing plan. If you do, I suggest that you use that chart to help you to track marketing activities. If you do not have a marketing activities chart and implementation schedule (Tsk! Tsk!), create one now. List your marketing activities down the left column; you can set up the timeframe of your marketing calendar by month or quarter, whichever is most feasible for your current marketing activities, across the top of the chart. (See the example below.)
Marketing Activities: Create Codes
Manufacturers use barcodes to track their products. That’s how they determine which stores are selling which products the most, when they need to restock products and more. You can apply the same concept to your business by creating your own unique tracking code for each activity for each time you plan to do the activity. To do that, create a “base” code for each type of activity. For example, in my chart below, I used the base code “NWS” for all of the e-newsletters, DM for all direct mail pieces and NR for all news releases. Next, add a unique suffix code to that for each piece / activity you plan to create / do in that type of marketing. This allows you to create a unique identifier for each activity for each type of marketing. There is no set pattern or wording that needs to be used when creating codes to help with tracking. The important thing to remember is to create unique codes for each type of marketing you do as well as each activity within that marketing category.
Bonus Tip: Remember that chart I mentioned earlier? Well, to stay organized, I recommend that you write (or type) the code on your chart so you can cross reference the activity with responses to the activity in the future.
Customers: Get While You’re Giving
Each time you interact with a client, ask them how they learned about your business and / or a particular product / service. This will help you to determine which advertising mediums are working well for you. If you maintain a database of your customers, include this information in along with their other information. If you don’t, set up your point of sale or incoming leads system so that it captures that information. For example, if you’re using marketing to generate leads and you have potential customers to call a specific phone number, one of the prompts prior to reaching a salesperson may sound something like this:” How did you hear about us? Press 1 for TV ad, press 2 for radio ad, press 3 for Google search…” You can use this same concept when selling products or services in-person or online.
Financials: Capture, Categorize & Record
You should capture all sales (types and amounts of products / services sold), revenue and expense data. Your point-of-sales system, business financial software (Quicken, Quickbooks, etc.) or online income / expenses services (Ex.: Outright.com) can be useful in completing this task. If none of those options are feasible, there’s always a good old-fashioned excel file! Once you have that compiled, you can begin delving into your analyses. First, cross-reference your sales with the information obtained from your customers on how they discovered your business / products / services. Next, review your expenses. Categorize and denote which are direct costs of producing, implementing and maintaining each marketing activity. To determine how to use that information, refer back to the 3 Key Marketing Performance Indicators article.
Conclusion
How each of these tactics will be implemented will differ for every business. There are no “hard and fast” rules that must be followed. However, the above suggestions will work if you are conscientious with your planning and collection every step of the way. With that said, I will offer this final suggestion to help you succeed: Take stock of your resources—human, time and monetary—before you begin this process. Doing so will insure that the marketing performance data collection and evaluation processes you have in mind are feasible for your business on an ongoing basis and pinpoint who is responsible for maintaining them.
As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email.
- “I launched my marketing campaign months ago/ am involved in various marketing activities but did not set up a system for tracking tangible data prior to starting. What do I do to measure their performance now rather than waiting another three months to collect data?”
- “What types of things do I need to do to be able to collect data that I can review for marketing effectiveness?”
Strategies: Chart Them Out!
In a perfect world, you already have a marketing activities chart and implementation schedule as part of your marketing plan. If you do, I suggest that you use that chart to help you to track marketing activities. If you do not have a marketing activities chart and implementation schedule (Tsk! Tsk!), create one now. List your marketing activities down the left column; you can set up the timeframe of your marketing calendar by month or quarter, whichever is most feasible for your current marketing activities, across the top of the chart. (See the example below.)
Marketing Activities: Create Codes
Manufacturers use barcodes to track their products. That’s how they determine which stores are selling which products the most, when they need to restock products and more. You can apply the same concept to your business by creating your own unique tracking code for each activity for each time you plan to do the activity. To do that, create a “base” code for each type of activity. For example, in my chart below, I used the base code “NWS” for all of the e-newsletters, DM for all direct mail pieces and NR for all news releases. Next, add a unique suffix code to that for each piece / activity you plan to create / do in that type of marketing. This allows you to create a unique identifier for each activity for each type of marketing. There is no set pattern or wording that needs to be used when creating codes to help with tracking. The important thing to remember is to create unique codes for each type of marketing you do as well as each activity within that marketing category.
Bonus Tip: Remember that chart I mentioned earlier? Well, to stay organized, I recommend that you write (or type) the code on your chart so you can cross reference the activity with responses to the activity in the future.
Customers: Get While You’re Giving
Each time you interact with a client, ask them how they learned about your business and / or a particular product / service. This will help you to determine which advertising mediums are working well for you. If you maintain a database of your customers, include this information in along with their other information. If you don’t, set up your point of sale or incoming leads system so that it captures that information. For example, if you’re using marketing to generate leads and you have potential customers to call a specific phone number, one of the prompts prior to reaching a salesperson may sound something like this:” How did you hear about us? Press 1 for TV ad, press 2 for radio ad, press 3 for Google search…” You can use this same concept when selling products or services in-person or online.
Financials: Capture, Categorize & Record
You should capture all sales (types and amounts of products / services sold), revenue and expense data. Your point-of-sales system, business financial software (Quicken, Quickbooks, etc.) or online income / expenses services (Ex.: Outright.com) can be useful in completing this task. If none of those options are feasible, there’s always a good old-fashioned excel file! Once you have that compiled, you can begin delving into your analyses. First, cross-reference your sales with the information obtained from your customers on how they discovered your business / products / services. Next, review your expenses. Categorize and denote which are direct costs of producing, implementing and maintaining each marketing activity. To determine how to use that information, refer back to the 3 Key Marketing Performance Indicators article.
Conclusion
How each of these tactics will be implemented will differ for every business. There are no “hard and fast” rules that must be followed. However, the above suggestions will work if you are conscientious with your planning and collection every step of the way. With that said, I will offer this final suggestion to help you succeed: Take stock of your resources—human, time and monetary—before you begin this process. Doing so will insure that the marketing performance data collection and evaluation processes you have in mind are feasible for your business on an ongoing basis and pinpoint who is responsible for maintaining them.
As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: Getting Started (part 1 of 2)
An article I wrote a while back has gotten new wind because I received a slew of emails lately because of it! (Thanks!) Of those emails, there were two questions that were the most asked:
(1) “I launched my marketing campaign months ago/ am involved in various marketing activities but did not set up a system for tracking tangible data prior to starting. What do I do to measure their performance now rather than waiting another three months to collect data?”
(2) “What types of things do I need to do to be able to collect data that I can review for marketing effectiveness?”
Right now, we’re going to tackle the first question and in the article after that, I’ll have the answer to question two. Sound like a plan? Great. Here we go…
I have two main pieces of advice for those of you who have marketing activities in progress but no means to track their performance. Since you don’t have unbiased data to complete an objective analysis, you must settle for a subjective analysis of the information that you do have. “What information do I have?” you say. Data you’ve created, of course! More specifically, you’ll have to use the objectives that you set prior to launching your marketing activities. If you did not set marketing objectives prior to implementing your marketing activities, write them now. Caution: Write only three to four objectives you hope your marketing will achieve. Be specific. Normally, you should have specific objectives for each target audience. However, to simplify the process at this juncture, set objectives that are appropriate for all of your target audiences.
To begin your assessment, you should make a list of your active marketing activities. Focus only on those activities that have been underway for at least three months. Since you will be assessing multiple activities using the same criteria (ie. your objectives), I suggest that you create a chart. Input your current marketing activities, one below the other, down the far left column; list your marketing objective(s) across the top of the chart, one beside the other. Then, sit down and prepare to complete an objective assessment of their effectiveness. Next, ask yourself: “How well is X marketing activity meeting each marketing objective I set?” Write your thoughts in the appropriate box for each marketing activity and objective.
Once you’ve filled in the entire chart, go back and review your responses. Highlight the marketing activities that meet all of your marketing objectives. Circle the activities that currently meet at least ¾ of your objectives. Finally, mark a single red line through all other marketing activities remaining. The activities that you highlighted are those that you should definitely continue with. Activities that are circled are “fence-line” activities; they have the potential to work well but need to be adjusted to truly benefit your business. The marketing activities through which you’ve drawn a line are marketing activities that you should discontinue. That’s not to say they are not good marketing tactics but rather than they are not right for your business as they are currently planned / implemented and will need to be redesigned if you decide to use them again in the future.
Again, this will be a highly subjective assessment of the marketing activity’s performance effectiveness. Therefore, it’s not ideal; an objective assessment based on actual data is ideal. Still, a subjective assessment is better than no assessment at all. That leads me to my second suggestion for this group: Start tracking how each of the marketing activities you plan to keep perform…this week!
As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email me. Oh, and remember to check back for the answer to question two above. Talk to you then!
(1) “I launched my marketing campaign months ago/ am involved in various marketing activities but did not set up a system for tracking tangible data prior to starting. What do I do to measure their performance now rather than waiting another three months to collect data?”
(2) “What types of things do I need to do to be able to collect data that I can review for marketing effectiveness?”
Right now, we’re going to tackle the first question and in the article after that, I’ll have the answer to question two. Sound like a plan? Great. Here we go…
I have two main pieces of advice for those of you who have marketing activities in progress but no means to track their performance. Since you don’t have unbiased data to complete an objective analysis, you must settle for a subjective analysis of the information that you do have. “What information do I have?” you say. Data you’ve created, of course! More specifically, you’ll have to use the objectives that you set prior to launching your marketing activities. If you did not set marketing objectives prior to implementing your marketing activities, write them now. Caution: Write only three to four objectives you hope your marketing will achieve. Be specific. Normally, you should have specific objectives for each target audience. However, to simplify the process at this juncture, set objectives that are appropriate for all of your target audiences.
To begin your assessment, you should make a list of your active marketing activities. Focus only on those activities that have been underway for at least three months. Since you will be assessing multiple activities using the same criteria (ie. your objectives), I suggest that you create a chart. Input your current marketing activities, one below the other, down the far left column; list your marketing objective(s) across the top of the chart, one beside the other. Then, sit down and prepare to complete an objective assessment of their effectiveness. Next, ask yourself: “How well is X marketing activity meeting each marketing objective I set?” Write your thoughts in the appropriate box for each marketing activity and objective.
Once you’ve filled in the entire chart, go back and review your responses. Highlight the marketing activities that meet all of your marketing objectives. Circle the activities that currently meet at least ¾ of your objectives. Finally, mark a single red line through all other marketing activities remaining. The activities that you highlighted are those that you should definitely continue with. Activities that are circled are “fence-line” activities; they have the potential to work well but need to be adjusted to truly benefit your business. The marketing activities through which you’ve drawn a line are marketing activities that you should discontinue. That’s not to say they are not good marketing tactics but rather than they are not right for your business as they are currently planned / implemented and will need to be redesigned if you decide to use them again in the future.
Again, this will be a highly subjective assessment of the marketing activity’s performance effectiveness. Therefore, it’s not ideal; an objective assessment based on actual data is ideal. Still, a subjective assessment is better than no assessment at all. That leads me to my second suggestion for this group: Start tracking how each of the marketing activities you plan to keep perform…this week!
As always, if you have a marketing question that you would like me to answer, send me an email me. Oh, and remember to check back for the answer to question two above. Talk to you then!
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Q1 Marketing Management, Not Marketing Mayhem
“What do I do? Where do I start? How do I do it all without overextending my budget?” Those are the top concerns clients express when they sit down with me for a marketing consultation. And, if you’re anything like the entrepreneurs that I work with, I suspect those same questions have kept you awake many a night as you consider how to market your business. Well, I guarantee that you will sleep better this year if you take a few minutes to not only read my blog regularly but to participate in it! So, with that promised, here’s your first lullaby…
It's January; the first month of the first quarter of the new year. That means that, in theory, you should be launching your first round of marketing for the year. However, to do that, you would have had to create this year’s marketing plan last year in the third quarter (at the latest) and finished production on those marketing efforts in the fourth quarter. That’s the theory of how it should be done. In practice, it’s a rarity that small business owners are able to follow that time line, most commonly because of lack of timely planning or money. So, if that’s your situation, don’t feel bad. Instead, feel compelled to get back on track by hunkering down and tackling the following actions this week:
ACTION 1: Audit last year’s marketing activities. Note which strategies and tactics were successful for which audiences and which were not. Which resulted in your greatest response?
ACTION 2: Look back at your books. How much did you spend on marketing last year overall? Next, create an itemized list of the activities and costs. Which of last year’s marketing activities gave you the most bang for your buck?
ACTION 3: Review the types of consumers you attempted to attract. Which are still viable target audiences? Are there new consumer segments that you should focus on instead?
ACTION 4: Consider the current economic client. How has it affected your consumers’ perceived need / desire for and ability to purchase your products or services?
ACTION 5: Set your marketing budget. Based on last year’s cash flow, estimate how much money you can you afford to spend (monthly or quarterly) on marketing activities this year.
If you have detailed records to help you assess the above, use them to paint a vivid picture of your current situation as it relates to marketing; if you don’t, an informal assessment will suffice. The point is to be introspective about last year to gain perspective on how to improve this year. This is the initial analysis that you’ll need to do to assess what you should be doing in regard to your 2014 marketing efforts.
You think you can manage that? Sure you can!
One final note before I go: Now, while I certainly can (and will) write articles and give tips on a plethora of topics, it’s my hope that this blog won’t be a one-sided conversation. Therefore, I invite you to email me with your marketing questions. Let me know which tactics you’re considering, what’s worked for you and what hasn’t. After all, this The Lofty Entrepreneur blog is all about building stronger businesses and smarter business owners.
It's January; the first month of the first quarter of the new year. That means that, in theory, you should be launching your first round of marketing for the year. However, to do that, you would have had to create this year’s marketing plan last year in the third quarter (at the latest) and finished production on those marketing efforts in the fourth quarter. That’s the theory of how it should be done. In practice, it’s a rarity that small business owners are able to follow that time line, most commonly because of lack of timely planning or money. So, if that’s your situation, don’t feel bad. Instead, feel compelled to get back on track by hunkering down and tackling the following actions this week:
ACTION 1: Audit last year’s marketing activities. Note which strategies and tactics were successful for which audiences and which were not. Which resulted in your greatest response?
ACTION 2: Look back at your books. How much did you spend on marketing last year overall? Next, create an itemized list of the activities and costs. Which of last year’s marketing activities gave you the most bang for your buck?
ACTION 3: Review the types of consumers you attempted to attract. Which are still viable target audiences? Are there new consumer segments that you should focus on instead?
ACTION 4: Consider the current economic client. How has it affected your consumers’ perceived need / desire for and ability to purchase your products or services?
ACTION 5: Set your marketing budget. Based on last year’s cash flow, estimate how much money you can you afford to spend (monthly or quarterly) on marketing activities this year.
If you have detailed records to help you assess the above, use them to paint a vivid picture of your current situation as it relates to marketing; if you don’t, an informal assessment will suffice. The point is to be introspective about last year to gain perspective on how to improve this year. This is the initial analysis that you’ll need to do to assess what you should be doing in regard to your 2014 marketing efforts.
You think you can manage that? Sure you can!
One final note before I go: Now, while I certainly can (and will) write articles and give tips on a plethora of topics, it’s my hope that this blog won’t be a one-sided conversation. Therefore, I invite you to email me with your marketing questions. Let me know which tactics you’re considering, what’s worked for you and what hasn’t. After all, this The Lofty Entrepreneur blog is all about building stronger businesses and smarter business owners.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)