Why aren't you marketing?

Timidity is the silent acceptance of bondage

Happy Friday…

There’s a fairy tale that goes something like this. A swan’s egg gets put under Mama Duck, to hatch with her eggs. Once the eggs hatch, it doesn’t take long for the little ducklings to realize there’s an ugly duckling in their midst.

Pecked at, ridiculed, laughed at, that little ugly duckling grows up knowing he’s not like the others. Because doesn’t the world love to point out when we don’t fit in?

One day, he gets tired of it all and flies away, only to discover others like him. But not only that. He discovers he was never a duck in the first place, but a lovely swan and the story ends happily ever after.

I wish life was like that fairy tale. Too often, it’s not. Instead, the ugly duckling learns to stay in the shadows. Be quiet. Don’t draw attention to yourself, weirdo.

Three women I love dream of publishing a book.

None of them have started building an audience or a platform. At least one of them never will, and it breaks my heart a little.

A writer on Medium wrote an article that said in order to navigate life with some measure of peace, she’s built what she calls a “nope” list. It’s a list of things she’ll never do. At the top of her “nope list” is building a list so she can “hawk her shit” to people.

I felt so sad reading that.

Marketers ruin everything, don’t they?

The fallacy of marketing

For 20+ years, digital marketing has been my bread and butter. Doesn’t matter whether you sell handbags, coffee, golf bags, tea or books. I’ve sold them all and more.

Every single time I took on a new client, it started the same way, with the same advice. You need to stop that crap you’re doing. No one likes it, and it doesn’t work.

I lie, of course. It does work.
Depending on what you sell.

If you’re Groupon, please email with deals every day. That’s what people sign up for. No one wants conversation or relationships with Groupon. They want deals.

You think people who sell “make money” programs want you on their list for a year or three? Hell, no. They expect churn. It’s part of the process in that industry. They want the sale now, so they pitch hard and heavy. Buy or bugger off, basically. If you’re not ready, come back when you are. Same with magical cures for physical pain.

You don’t sell pain and pleasure the same way.

Bound by misconception…

Too many people think marketing is one size fits all. The best marketing doesn’t look or feel like marketing at all.

Anita Roddick's protests against animal testing rocketed The Body Shop to success despite an advertising budget of zero. Starbucks also launched with an advertising and marketing budget of zero. You don’t sell pain and pleasure the same way.

But writers and authors don’t know that. Honestly—most people don’t. Ask anyone to tell you what “marketing” is, and they’ll describe the process of the hard sell. And so, bound by their misconceptions, they do what doesn’t work, or do nothing at all.

If I had a nickel for every writer who said “I’m a writer, not a marketer,” I’d be on a beach somewhere instead of looking at 6 feet of snow out my window.

Trapped in the binds of misconception.

Why aren’t you marketing?

I’m working on a giant (read: long and in-depth) post about marketing for writers, though the concepts are the same for anyone who doesn’t sell money schemes or pain remedies. I hope to publish it before the end of February.

If you’re struggling with marketing your books or writing, I’d love to know your hurdles. What part of marketing is hard, confusing or frustrating to you? If you’re not doing anything to market your work, why not? If I know what you’re struggling with, maybe I can cover some of that in my post.

Comments are open! :)

---

“Timidity is the silent acceptance of bondage" —Constance Friday

---

What I wrote this week…

• Three Really Old Books That Will Change Your Life

• Little Black Book Writing Contest Offers $20,000 for First Place

• Meet Major, The First Shelter Dog In The White House

• The Playboy King’s Mistresses

---

If you enjoyed, please click the heart to let me know and thanks for reading!

xo,
Linda