Recently I heard a talk from this past November's 20 Books to $50K conference saying you can work up a lot of free exposure by posting on your Facebook author page every day. I've taken this advice for the past two and a half weeks, and the speaker is right. My engagement and followership are way up. If I'm consistent with providing useful and entertaining content over the next several months, my effort may well bear fruit. Today as a conversation starter I posed the question, "Online advertisements. Which ones really annoy you, and why?" So far I have one reply (any is great, considering my previous track record). The person says, I hate all ads. I generally won't buy a product I see advertised. I don't watch TV for this reason. I know I'm an outlier. Advertising/Marketing is psychological manipulation. All righty, then! And what does he think my author page is? What does he think his comment, and comments like his, are helping me do? Dear, dear, dear. I am naughty, aren't I? Let's see if he unfollows me when I announce Book 2 is available for purchase.
I have personally known two successful authors in my life, both I met when I was young, or 45 years ago. Peter Parnall and Bill Caldwell. Both were experts at self promotion and creating an interest in their personality. Both sold an image, both were in some degree full of shit when it came to creating an illusion as to who and what they were, great storytellers with a knack for connecting with the reader so that they wanted to own a piece of the person they just met. Peter did the lecture circuit and was a great public speaker, Bill wrote for the local paper and did human interest stories about local people in Maine and life there. Both had the ability to really connect with the people they came in contact with and made them feel special. Both were great salesman. When you think about selling your work, you are really selling a piece of yourself to the reader. The book, the story has to mean something to them. I would be curious as to who is following you, who gave you a like on facebook and something about the demographics of the group. These are your customers and you should be doing everything possible to tug at their heart strings. I would stalk all of them and see what things they have in common, I would send them a friend request with a note explaining that you see that they had commented or liked something you did and that you might share the same interest. Every business is built one customer at a time. Congratulations on your hard work starting to pay off.
In the preserved remains of the ancient city of Pompeii there are rocks carved with messages from the prostitutes of the day — perhaps making advertising the world’s second oldest profession. There’s a reason it has been used for so long. It’s only since the industrial revolution gained momentum that advertising has become a scourge. It’s not a dislike of marketing per se, rather a question of perceived value. Congratulations on growing your FB following. All you need to do is keep going.
