When Kimber Simpkins went out to shoot her book trailer, she hit the road with questions and an openness to what might occur as she interviewed “women on the street” about how they felt about their bodies. She didn’t exactly start with their bodies, however. Her opening question was, “Does this dress make me look fat?”
The resulting video about body image went viral on social media and was picked up by Self.com and the Huffington Post. Here, Kimber offers her experience and advice.
I had an idea for a funny and provocative video percolating in the back of my head for several years. When my publisher asked me to make a book trailer for Full, I realized it was time to bring the idea to life.
I’d never done anything like this, so it was a big deal for me… I had to write up a script, lasso a few friends to help out, hire a camera person and an editor, and get everyone to show up on the same day in the same place.
We had no idea what would happen, because the ‘script’ was just a series of questions to ask ‘women on the street’ about body image.
We’d scheduled four hours to shoot and hoped we’d get some good answers that we could edit into a 3 minute video. We probably asked about ten women to be interviewed for each one who was willing to appear on camera, so it involved a lot of leg work: approaching total strangers with a smile and shrugging off rejections with, ‘Have a great day!’
The publisher New Harbinger contacted the author directly after she self published.
By the end of the day I was amazed at how thoughtful and wise the women we talked to were. We had a ton of great footage, and luckily our editor did a fantastic job putting it all together and adding music to create an ‘I laughed/I cried’ video.
A couple of things that happened behind the scenes, were that I had an eating disorders therapist friend there to debrief everyone who was interviewed, and passed out educational information about eating disorders and negative body talk. I knew we were going to trigger people and wanted folks to have a chance to talk about it if they needed to.
I think a lot of what made the video footage work on the first try was that we chose a great location, with lots of women walking around on the weekend in a busy beautiful area of Oakland, a city where people are known for speaking their minds.
We posted it on Facebook and on my YouTube channel and my publisher’s publicist sent it out to places she thought would be interested. It was picked up by both Self.com and Huffington Post. We also paid a bit to promote it on YouTube.
I shared it on Facebook and asked folks to tell their friends about it. Sharing it on social media, it’s good to keep posting repeatedly for a week or so, so it keeps showing up in people’s feeds. I also shared it via my email list. Body image is a hot topic right now and that—combined with the emotional content of the video—made it compelling for people to watch and share.”
2. Quiz ’em
Rusty Shelton
People love to take quizzes! Rusty Shelton, Digital Media Strategist and co-author of the forthcoming book Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset, has encouraged several of his clients to offer a free quiz as a way to attract new visitors to a website and immediately engage them. It’s also a great way to build your mailing list. You can offer the quiz on your website and mention it on social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as in your blog posts.
Says Rusty, “The name of the game right now for authors and thought leaders is growing your email list so that you own the connection to your audience. Creating a magnet on your website gives people a reason to visit—and engage.”
Dr. Craig Malkin
Quizzes seem to be a particularly effective “magnet”: More than 50,000 people have taken Dr. Craig Malkin‘s Narcissism Test. And more than 150,000 people have taken The Confidence Code Quiz. Check them out and think about what you can do for your own.
3. Subscribe to Relevant Blogs/Bloggers and Comment Immediately on Hot Posts.
Dr. Victoria Dunckley
When I saw a post on banning handheld devices for children under 12 on the Huffington Post, I had a feeling it could go viral. I emailed Dr. Victoria Dunckley, author of Reset Your Child’s Brain and encouraged her to respond immediately so that her comment would be an early one—a comment that added relevant information and linked to her latest Psychology Today article within the comment. She received nearly 20,000 hits to the article due to viral Facebook activity and her single comment had nearly 100 replies just to that one comment.
The original Huffpo article received more than 1 million views, and over 300k likes on Facebook. While Dr. Dunckley’s book wasn’t out yet, many of the people who responded become followers of her blog and joined her mailing list, supporting book sales later. The single comment also resulted in three media interviews: Scholastic News, a publication that goes out to over 3 million children ages 10-12 about screen-time effects on the brain, A PBS Magazine publication in New Mexico on Electronic Screen Syndrome, and The Carlat Report, a child psychiatry newsletter on childhood obesity–which Dr. Dunckley tied into screen-time reduction.
The Huffpost comment also put Dr. Dunckley in contact with experts in her field throughout the nation who are now helping spread the word about her book. Some have even invited her for high profile speaking gigs. This one comment was the gift that kept on giving.
[bctt tweet=”Some keys to successful social media commenting are…”]
Be relevant (don’t spam).
Add value—say something that builds on what the author says, if you can.
Link to a post of your own only when it’s truly appropriate and, again, adds value.
Share the post on social media.
4. Use the latest research to work smarter, not harder.
Frances Caballo
Frances Caballo, author of Social Media Just for Writers and Avoid Social Media Time Suck, points to the latest Pew Research Study as a great source of data about your readers and their demographics. When you understand where your readers hang out on line, times of day, and what they do there, you can better reach them and interact optimally.
Says Frances, “I spend time on the social media networks that bring me comments, shares, engagements and sales” and she suggests you do the same! Frances also studies her Google Analytics and Facebook analytics. She encourages authors to, “Go to your Facebook author page and check Insights, Facebook’s free analytics program, once you reach 35 page Likes. There, you’ll find gender and age demographics that will help you to apply the new Pew Center’s results to your social media marketing.”
5. Show Your Gratitude!
Cathy Turney
If you look at Cathy Turney‘s LinkedIn or Facebook Posts or her Tweets, you’ll notice one thing that stands out above all else—she’s forever thanking and praising colleagues.
I love receiving Cathy’s handwritten thank you notes, too, of course. There’s something special about choosing a special card, taking the time to write a note by hand and dropping it in the mailbox. But Cathy doesn’t stop there.
When she gets media attention, wins an award or reaches a goal, she’s religious about publicly thanking—on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter—all the people who helped her get there. And she’s specific about the ways people have helped her and the skills they possess.
By tagging and thanking her colleagues, we’re continually reminded that we are part of her team. We get to bask in her glories, acknowledge the roles we played and celebrate along with her. And we continue to share her successes and spread the word about her Stevie Award-winning book, Laugh Your Way to Real Estate Sales Success.
Who’s on your team?
Are you thanking them publicly and specifically?
I encourage you to pick one thing from this list and try it. Or be creative about using these ideas as a starting point for your own creative social media strategies.
Comment below to share what you’re doing or to ask questions.
Lisa Tener Selected As a “Top-Idea Maven” by The Woman’s Advantage
Entrepreneur’s Advice Featured in 2014 Woman’s Advantage Calendar
Saunderstown, RI – Lisa Tener, Book Coach and Owner of Write Your Book was selected from over 5,000 submissions to be featured in The 2014 Woman’s Advantage Shared Wisdom Calendar. The calendar provides advice for women business owners from influential women leaders across the US and around the world.
Mary Cantando, Growth Expert of The Woman’s Advantage, today announced that Lisa’s advice has been included in the calendar.
“Lisa Tener’s quote was selected because it was powerful yet easy to understand. Her idea is relevant to almost every woman in business today.” says Cantando. “Women business owners and those who dream of starting a business will learn so much from the advice provided by Lisa and the other successful women quoted in the calendar.”
The Woman’s Advantage 2014 Calendar provides sound bites of advice on key business issues including: organization, promotion, sales, and human resources.
About Lisa Tener
Lisa Tener is an award-winning book writing and publishing coach, author and speaker. Her clients have received 5- and 6-figure book deals with Simon and Schuster, Random House, Scribner’s, HCI, Beyond Words and other major publishers, as well as self published. They have appeared on CBS Early Show, Oprah, Good Morning America and much more. Her Bring Your Book to Life Program won The Silver Stevie Award for Best New Service of the Year-Media in the American Business Awards 2012 and she was awarded The Gold Award for Marketer of the Year in Media. She blogs at www.lisatener.com/blog and on the Huffington Post. Visit her website at www.LisaTener.com
About Mary Cantando:
Mary Cantando is a nationally-recognized expert on women business owners. She is the developer of the successful Woman’s Advantage line of products, geared specifically to women entrepreneurs. Cantando is Founder of The Woman’s Advantage Roundtables, a program that helps women build multimillion-dollar businesses.
About The Woman’s Advantage:
The Woman’s Advantage is a line of information products, including books, workbooks, audio CDs, and calendars designed exclusively for successful women business owners. The Woman’s Advantage Roundtables enable women with small businesses to grow them into multimillion-dollar concerns. For more information, call 919-841-0401 or visit http://www.WomansAdvantage.biz
News Facts:
• Lisa Tener was selected as a “Top-Idea Maven” by The Woman’s Advantage. Her quote appears in the 2014 Woman’s Advantage Calendar.
• The Woman’s Advantage Calendar provides daily advice on key business issues including: organization, promotion, sales, and human resources.
Publicity and Author Platform on a Shoestring: A Frugal Tip for for Free PR
Publicity–or–PR can be incredibly expensive–and sometimes you hit the jackpot, but other times clients can be left holding the bag wondering just where all that money they invested went and what they accomplished.
So, I’m always looking for new ideas for free or frugal PR. Here’s one I came up with for the cost of a poster board and the wear and tear on a magic marker:
I was speaking to a literary agent colleague about the book proposal of an author I’m working with and the agent asked if we can send a sample chapter and mini proposal before Book Expo America, so she can pitch the book to potential publishers.
Sure thing! Only when I got speaking to the author about her platform, she confessed that, other than speaking engagements–which is a good start–she didn’t actually have much of a platform.
Wanting her to focus on the mini book proposal and not on platform at the moment, I realized it would be great if some opportunities just magically offered themselves.
She mentioned that a couple of her clients had connections to local newspapers in a large metro area–a great start to ask for their help. And it was clear she had strong relationships with the families in her medical practice. I suggested a poster for her waiting room:
Is there a way you can get the word out to your networks?
* A poster in the office
* A note in your newsletter
* A friend who can spread the word
* A hospital or organization PR department where you work that might help you for free
Do you have any frugal PR ideas to share? Please share as a comment–Thanks!
Book Covers on Websites: Should I Create a Book Cover for My Website Before I Find a Publisher?
A client recently sent me a nice looking book cover for her website and asked my opinion of it. I liked it, but had she decided to self publish?
No, she said. A seasoned publicist had recommended she post the book cover to gain interest in the subject of her book and help grow her following, perhaps even gain some interviews.
I know the publicist had good reasons for the book cover, but I was concerned that agents and potential publishers would assume she’d self published the book. It could be confusing to them.
Was I over-reacting? I asked my literary agent, Jeanne Fredericks her opinion. This is her response:
Jeanne Fredericks and me at the book launch party for The Creativity Cure last year.
“I would advise most authors not to create a book cover for their unpublished work since it might lead a potential editor to assume that the book has been self-published or previously published. That would, in turn, lead the editor to a fruitless search for sales figures on Bookscan that would confuse and frustrate.
“Moreover, an editor might be led to assume that the author considers herself/himself an expert in design and marketing. Unless the jacket looks professional and is well suited to the work, the editor may think that the author is unrealistic about her/his talents and this could sway the editor the wrong way. Editors like authors who understand that a team of professionals who respect each other’s talents and experience is what is essential to a book’s success.”
While in this case, the cover looked lovely, the first concern still held. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an author grapple with the occasional conflict between platform-building and publishing. Often, we have to consider whether getting publicity now for a central tenet of the book will make it too easy for someone else to take an author’s ideas before the book comes out. Or whether publicity now could make the topic less fresh, particularly for an extraordinary story/memoir.
So, there’s not one right or wrong, but be sure to consider all angles before you make a final decision. Sometimes what’s good for publicity and building a following is good for publishing, but sometimes they can be at odds.
Do you have a question about a website, publicity or publishing decision? Ask away!
Lisa: How has the internet changed how we publicize books and reach the media with our message?
Dan: There are many more ways to reach your audience because of the Internet. In the old days, you had to pitch reporters at traditional media outlets and hope they wrote about you. You still need to do that, but you have so many other ways to reach your audience with bloggers, social media, articles and press releases. Also a reporter today has more options to write about books. In the past, they might have a limited amount of space in the print publication. But today, she can write her story, add a blog post and perhaps even do a podcast of video chat with the author.
Lisa: How are press releases working differently from in the past?
Dan: Press releases can still get the attention of reporters and get them to write news articles and features about the author, or prompt them to write about the book and do reviews. However, press releases aren’t just for reporters any longer. Search engines will index press releases from you website or if you use legitimate press release distribution services like PR Newswire or PR WEB. That opens up all sorts of possibilities of being found on search engines. We frequently get our clients listed on page one of Google for key search terms because of this tactic through Press Release Sender. My earlier interview with you offers more details.
Lisa: Can you say a bit about PR Leads (what it is and how it’s different from the free services out there?
Dan: With ProfNet, PR LEADS started the whole idea of matching reporters and authors. For many years we were the only game in town and our clients got fantastic results in top tier media. Now there are several competitors. We’re still the best because we charge for our service. That means we get a higher level of expert and authors. Reporters realize that difference, so we get top tier reporters using our service. We’ve had clients who used the other services and they return to PRLEADS because of the quality and the likelihood they will get quoted more often because they aren’t competing with 500 other people.
Also, we’re the only service that actually provides training and support. I personally review any message my clients want feedback on. I also provide telephone training. Our clients get a comprehensive 90-day training system that is all part of the service – no extra fees.
Lisa: I had a client who had never responded to a reporter query before joining PR Leads. Your training made him an expert and his platform is so impressive that a major publisher just asked him about writing a book for them! Dan, what’s your advice on responding to reporter queries? How to be effective?
Dan: Offer 2-3 tips that are 2-3 sentences long. That way reporters can copy and paste your info into their articles. It saves them time and makes you stand out. I share about 100 other tips in my book, “Reporters Are Looking for YOU!” I priced it at only $10 so it is affordable for anyone – even people who use free services!
Lisa: Any pitfalls to avoid in responding to reporter queries?
Dan: Not really. Reporters aren’t out to “get you” as some people might think. They just want good, unique answers to their questions. If you don’t have anything to say on point, then you probably shouldn’t waste your time or the reporter’s time. Being a pest would be a pitfall.
Lisa: Any other advice for authors in growing their platforms before book launch or promoting their books?
Dan: Make sure you know your book’s hook. I’ve heard too many authors talk for four minutes and not say anything about the topic. They’ll tell you how hard they worked and who’s publishing it and the problems they had. But they didn’t tell you if it is about leadership, romance or self-help! They don’t see the forest for the trees.
Dan Janal is one of the Founding Fathers and thought leaders of Internet Publicity. His latest book is “Reporters Are Looking for YOU!” Go to PR LEADS for more information on this fast, easy, economical way for small businesses and authors to get publicity in major media. Note: I am proud to be an affiliate of PR Leads and do receive a commission on sales.
Says Rusty, “The name of the game right now for authors and thought leaders is growing your email list so that you own the connection to your audience. Creating a magnet on your website gives people a reason to visit—and engage.”
The original Huffpo article received more than 1 million views, and over 300k likes on Facebook. While Dr. Dunckley’s book wasn’t out yet, many of the people who responded become followers of her blog and joined her mailing list, supporting book sales later. The single comment also resulted in three media interviews: Scholastic News, a publication that goes out to over 3 million children ages 10-12 about screen-time effects on the brain, A PBS Magazine publication in New Mexico on Electronic Screen Syndrome, and The Carlat Report, a child psychiatry newsletter on childhood obesity–which Dr. Dunckley tied into screen-time reduction.
Says Frances, “I spend time on the social media networks that bring me comments, shares, engagements and sales” and she suggests you do the same! Frances also studies her Google Analytics and Facebook analytics. She encourages authors to, “Go to your Facebook author page and check Insights, Facebook’s free analytics program, once you reach 35 page Likes. There, you’ll find gender and age demographics that will help you to apply the new Pew Center’s results to your social media marketing.”
