Goal-Setting:  The First Step to Success

 

Before you set out on any journey, you need a map. So the first thing I want you to do is answer this question:  What exactly are you trying to achieve with your self-promotion campaign?  If your immediate answer was, "I don't know," then give yourself some time to think about it.

 

To help you set a goal, ask yourself Who am I targeting with this self-promotion effort? For writers, our target audience is generally booksellers or readers or the media. Different methods work for each of these audiences.  A news release can be highly effective in garnering free media publicity but would fall flat with readers.  Bookmarks might work well with readers, but would be almost useless to the media.  You have to know what you want before you can even start thinking about what to do. 

 

Back to the goal.  "I want to Sell More Books," isn't narrow enough to be of any use to you in this endeavor.  Naturally, we all want to Sell More Books or we wouldn't be pondering promotion in the first place.  A better question to answer might be, how do you want to go about selling more books?  Do you want to establish a relationship with booksellers?  With distributors?  Would you rather deal with readers directly, establishing a presence with them?  Do you want a lot of media coverage?  Reviews?  Do you want it all and then some?   

 

You can have a little of each of these, but keep in mind, scattering your promotion efforts across the board--readers, booksellers, distributors, the media, and everyone else who might help you Sell Books--can be prohibitively expensive, not to mention time-consuming.  It can be done, but a narrow, focused campaign is often more effective for and accessible to the new author.  There will always be time in the future to expand.

 

Some of the tasks you will complete overlap the target groups, which is a great use of your time and money.  A profile in your local newspaper, for example, can reach the media (be a great interviewee and they'll come back for more), readers who will be intrigued enough to seek out your book, as well as promoting your upcoming booksignings, which will please the booksellers.  On the other hand, some promotional tools--gadgets, gifts, and giveaways--might only reach one target group: readers.  Which is why establishing a goal is so valuable.

 

Once you have a goal--which isn't chiseled in stone, so don't let setting one immobilize you--it's time to think about your cash flow.