How to Get into A Publicity and Marketing State of Mind

state of mind

Something I hear quite often is, “Oh no. I have to start publicizing and marketing my book? All I want to do is write or all I want to do is work in my business. Publicity and marketing is another entire job.”

While it’s true that marketing and publicizing your book and your business takes a different skill set, there is no reason it can’t be fun and something you look forward to. You just have to have get into the right state of mind.

Your state of mind has to be appropriate for whatever it is that you want to do. If you’re going to go exercise, it’s helpful to be in a motivated state. Let’s face it: Imagining how hard the workout is going to be is not going to be a great motivator. At the most you’ll just feel like it’s one big chore. Not helpful. Instead, if you visualize how great your workout is going to be, how strong you’re going to feel, and the rush of endorphins you’ll experience when you’re finished, well that’s a better motivator. When it comes to taking action to promote your book and business, you need to be in a state of mind where you are ready to get started and keep at it.

Here are some tips that will help get you there!

1. Think specifically about your ideal reader and customer or client. I know it’s tempting to say your book is “for everybody,” but truly, no book is for everyone. To think of “everyone” means you’re thinking of no one in particular, so think about your perfect reader, customer or client. Who are they? Male or female or both? Are they a particular demographic? How about a particular psychographic? Get the picture of them firmly in your head and visualize them right in front of you.

2.  Ask yourself, what is the problem they have that I am the answer to? Take a moment to consider their pain and what they’re struggling with. Remember a time when you struggled with something and how awful it felt. Remember how good it feels when you discover a solution? How can you help your target market get free from this pain? You have a gift. You have something of great value to him or her. You are their solution. Hooray!

3. Let go of the struggle. Think about all ways you can help your potential clients and customers to let go of the struggle. Imagine yourself sharing with them your own tips for making their life better. These are your key messages. See them smiling. Feel yourself smiling.

4. Create a sense of knowing inside. Know that you have answers to their problems. Know that your solutions can help a lot of people, so begin strategizing how you’re going to reach them. If you don’t reach people, they don’t know about you, your book and business. You must reach out.

5. Now, begin working on your campaign. This might be brainstorming all the different ways you can help. I might mean creating a list of media contacts you’re going to go after. What you do next depends on where you are with the book marketing and publicity process. Stay motivated. Make it important. Make it fun and an adventure. This makes all the difference, and it’s the key to my own work.

6. Embrace storytelling in your marketing and publicity – brainstorm ways of reaching people and create narratives and anecdotes about your book that will entice readers and touch their emotions. Emotion is motion. Touch their hearts.

7. Take your key messages and edit them. Remember: Being concise is critical in a very noisy world. Come up with sound bites. These are simple phrases that capture a key message with only a few words. They stick in people’s minds. They remember them.

8.  Throughout the process, stay positive. Remember that you’re helping others. If at any point you start feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, it’s time to go do something else. Take a walk or go for a run. Play with your child or your pet. Call someone you love. Do something different, and then begin again with step #1. Think about your ideal reader, customer, or client…

State of mind is everything. In the right state of mind, you can do anything. Experiment. Pretend. (There is something to the “fake it till you make it philosophy.” Play. Try. Persist. You can do it!

To your success!

Joanne

P.S. Have you checked out my Publicity Cheat Sheet yet? It’s a tool what will help you generate the media interest that you want.

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