I’ve often heard the phrase ‘sell the problem you solve, not the product.’ As an author and someone who makes retail and wholesale products, it has always made complete sense to me. When I invented my first product, Runaway Spray, I quickly learnt that the way to tell people about it was to exhibit how it worked and what the benefits were. Luckily, as it is a ‘ladder’ stop spray for hosiery, the problem it solves and how quick it works are pretty easy to demonstrate. The same can be true of most products if you think about it.
With my books, I love to write romance novels, and spending so much time on the manuscript means I need to get my marketing right. People can get pretty fed up of being bombarded with sales pitches, but if I stick to my theme, which is love, family and friendship, then I still have a pretty broad spectrum to work within.
My first book tweets began like this: It doesn’t show anything romantic or sexy, so why should someone who likes romance reads click the link?
My more successful ones are like this: They show passion, romance, travel and friendship, without shouting ‘BUY MY BOOK!’
Marketing is constantly changing and I’m learning more about it every day. If you have fantastic ways to entice a reader to your genre without blatant sales pitches, please share them with us all here! Many thanks in advance:)
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Great tips Cy. It’s all about being yourself and absorbing new ideas. I definitely agree that even if you are a dreamer, as I am, you have to be practical and know how to make those dreams a reality.
I relate to your marketing tips, Lizzie, as well as Mae’s and Cy’s. You know it’s a funny thing that all my life I have hated trying to “sell” something and now I find myself as the Marketing and PR director of RRBC. Life sure has a funny way of forcing us out of our comfort zones. 🙂
Sometimes, when we push ourselves out of our comfort zones, we surprise ourselves with the best results. Congratulations on your post at RRBC Jan!
I think marketing is constantly changing, what works and what doesn’t. I try to stay engaged with friends and peers, and I’ve tested out a lot of different things from blog tours to paid advertising. I do love the memes on Twitter. Some of those are so creative and I enjoy seeing them and sharing!
I like the memes on Twitter too Mae. They really make me smile. Engaging and not ignoring is so important. Mutual support from peers helps too.
My tips: stay engaged, make many good decisions, never stop, tune-in, be abstract, never aspire, be yourself, expand your world, don’t be a try-hard, be weird. be confident. If you create something that cannot be bought, everyone will want it. There are plenty of craftspeople but not enough practical dreamers. Let your ideas fly. Get to the heart of you and express yourself.