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A Chat with Charles
“The Challenge Of Marketing” Part 2
“Sphere of Influence” Marketing
Last month I started what will likely be a three- or four-part discussion on Marketing. This month I want to cover what I refer to as “Sphere of Influence” marketing. It is at its heart a very basic understanding of the natural relationships we all have developed throughout our lives.
The first publisher, that picked up my first novel, actually introduced me to the concept pretty early on in the relationship. They asked me to produce a list of organizations that I was a part of Social Groups like Lions Clubs, Toastmasters, Knights of Columbus, VFW, Church memberships, and others, as well as a list of employment history, activities (like scouting, boat clubs, biking clubs) and then a list of family and friends. Their premise was that I must have a sphere of people that knew of me, with different levels of engagement and depth of relationship.
What amazed me as in 2016 as a 63-year old I had never really thought about the number of relationships I had been brought into through God’s providence. I also realized that because of all of the corporate moves, job changes, and role changes I had been blessed with an incredibly large group of relationships varying from mild acquaintance to deep friendships. For me, that first list was over 500 people. Now to be fair, some of the relationships were brief, and others were much longer and richer, but it still amazed me the first time I wrote that list down just how large it was. After that first list, it dawned on me that my high school class of 130 had not been included, and neither had the two dozen or so college relationships and the more I thought the larger that sphere became.
Now before you get all excited, (as I was pretty excited by the list), I would discover that for having such a large list only a fraction of the folks would ever buy one of my books. But once those folks were alerted to the fact that I was writing, some would mention that fact to others who then would buy the book. I have become prone to asking folks when they buy my book, “where did you hear of my books?” It is always a surprise when I get to see the chain of relationships that finally triggered a purchase. Of course, often I do not know who bought the book(s) as Amazon will not tell you who purchased the book, “after all, they are Amazon’s customer, not yours!” or so I was told when I asked. But that is a story for a later newsletter!
So if you are a new author or an author who has been at it for a while, make sure you create that list. And by the way, in this electronic social world, yes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Alignable, TikTok, etc, while those will drive up your potential “Sphere of Influence” that the first list was still an eye-opener as to just how many folks knew of me. That piece of knowledge just cemented something that most of you have likely heard me say and will continue to hear me say “God’s Providence never ceases to amaze me.”
I had not joined Facebook until that first publisher mandated that I enter that electronic relationship world, but that was only after I had delivered to the publisher that first list. I would hold all of the social media pieces to the side, and just make a list of people through your social contacts outside of these electronic means first. Yes, many of the people on your list may also be following you on one or more of the social engines, but I will talk about the use of those media in a future newsletter.
So once I had that massive list of names, I had to find what pieces of information I had that would get me back in touch with them. (My Christmas Card List of Addresses became invaluable, as I am one of those folks that often drops an annual card to friends from the past, even if I haven’t talked with them in the past year. It is still my nod to the fact that they were at one point in my life closer in contact.) Then there were my e-mail contact lists, my phone lists, etc. Yes, it was a lot of work. But now I had the first list of people I knew that I would announce the arrival of that first book to. When that day finally came, after the book had been out for a year, I believe about 50 folks from that list had bought the book. It may be more, as that first book has had over 18,000 sales now and many of those occurred under the second publisher, (the first publisher went bankrupt…another story for another day) but it was the kicking-off point for my marketing campaigns that continue to this day.
What did I do with that list? Well, the publisher created a release notice, that I either mailed or e-mailed everyone on that list. I followed that with the launch of my author site, which now is a subsite under www.scribblersweb.com. I asked for reviews of the book, especially if it was bought through Amazon. While it sounds like a lot of work and it was, you know one of the neat things was that it rekindled some of those relationships as well.
But the real power of the sphere of influence came not when I was an author all on my own, but when Scribblers Christian Writers Group was formed. You see, each of us in Scribblers has a sphere of influence, and while my contact may not like my spiritual warfare series, they may very well have a son, daughter, or grandchild who might like Mike Owen’s “I Hate Vegetables Poetry Book For Children” or Pat Smith’s “ Bronnie Bronto and His Dino Dollar”, and then there are those history buff’s that are amazed to discover “ The Man Who Carved Stone Mountain” by Donna Barron, or Julie Clarke’s “Pauline D’Alvigany Campbell – Civil War Nurse” or “Dearest Doris” By Anthony Miller letters coming from WW11. And there are now over 80 books each with an author who has their own sphere of influence.
As we approach the holiday season this year, all of the authors will hear my call to talk with their sphere of influence and talk about the amazing collection of books of so many different genres. Books truly are a gift you can give to someone “who has everything”. And we have an amazing collection of wonderful books. Anyone for “A Dinosaur In Decatur?”, “Florida Girl”, or “Life IS Hard, Soften It With Laughter?” I could go on…there are more than seventy others!
And now we have over 230 individuals getting this newsletter. To each of you, I would say, tell your friends and family about the Scribbler Christian Writers Book Store. Pick an author and buy a book! You will help encourage the author and you will get an amazing experience.
Next month…ah yes…social media…using the digital world as part of our marketing campaign. ( How many spare hours do you have?...only slightly kidding! )
Grace to you all,
Charles de Andrade
Scribblers Christian Writers Group
"We All Have A Story To Tell, To The Glory of God" on www.scribblersweb.com (http://www.scribblersweb.com)
In October I will actually be leading a class at the Five Forks Library titled:
Writing Workshop: How to Market and Sell Your Self-Published Book
Saturday, October 22 @ 2 p.m.
Marketing is the single biggest challenge for any unknown author. Learn from self-published authors Charles de Andrade and Michael E. Owens about selling your book on Amazon, marketing budgets, book covers, and how to increase sales by cultivating your sphere of influence.
If you are around, please stop by the library and support Scribblers Christian Writers Group as we support the library in its desire to bring quality education to the people they serve.
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