Asking For A Favor

My parents raised me to be self-sufficient, and I’m typically not likely to request help from anyone. Yet my bride reminds me that people want to help me, if only I’ll ask.

Which brings us to my third book, “5 Minutes to Better Branding,” which I published a few months back.

Like all authors, I want to expand awareness, drive traffic to my website and/or Amazon landing page, and (drumroll, please) sell more copies.

Truth be told, I’ve given up on the idea of Brad Pitt playing me in the movie version. And while the action figures didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, I remain eternally optimistic.

Meanwhile, I’ve been promoting the book in my email, social media, newsletters and speaking engagements. I also carry a box of them in my car’s trunk, and business cards with a QR link in my wallet.

But as Violet Beauregarde said in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” “I want more!”

Long ago I learned to regularly test new marketing messages and platforms. So I posted a request to 35 chat groups on Facebook and LinkedIn where I asked several million writers, entrepreneurs, business owners and nonprofit executives to review my book.

Logically, to review my book, you must buy it. Recognizing that my targets had undoubtedly previously missed adding it to their Kindle or paperback libraries, I provided a link to the Amazon page.

Simple, right? No hashtags, no big pitch. I respected the recipients’ time, understood they wouldn’t read a long commercial and targeted the appeal to the most appropriate audiences.

Within 24 hours I had over 5,000 new prospects checking out my book page. Some are buying, others not.

That’s okay with me, because sales is a numbers game. You must cast a wide net in hopes of catching any fish…so this makes perfect sense.

Regardless of what you sell, you too may benefit by reaching out to targeted chat groups and trying to engage their members. You’ll probably encounter some overlap, leading to people who see you in multiple places.

And to achieve success, you’ll want to post similar, nonrepetitive stories over time in hopes that they’ll break through the noise.

However, if you do it well, you’ll expand your audience…and your bottom line.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.
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Find my book immediately at https://amzn.to/4hoslft.