What you share with your audience is key when it comes to promoting yourself. Your content truly is the embodiment of your message and can make or break your marketing efforts and success.
There are many ways to do this and none of them are too time consuming or difficult, you just have to be willing to put yourself out there and feel confident in self promotion. Your audience wants to know the person behind the product you’re marketing.
Guidelines
Write Good Content
The first way to get people interested in you is straightforward. You have a passion for writing and a desire to share your words and knowledge with as many people as possible. Start writing!
If you have the knowledge and ideas but not the writing skills, find someone to help you with writing and editing. Get off to a great start, and you won’t have to go back and change things later.
Use Your Content For Outreach
You may have a fantastic book published and be an expert in your field, but without a dedicated base of followers, it’s hard to sell your books. Your fans are great allies in helping you get your message out to the world. If they love what you share, they will spread the word and multiply your reach.
Share Broadly and Freely
Don’t be afraid to share! It can be hard to self promote and you may feel as if you are being pushy. However, you have to remember that if you don’t share it, no one will see it.
Convert Visitors to Email Subscribers
When you share content on your website, it’s okay to give a preview and then offer the full piece to viewers who subscribe to your list.
For example, if you’ve written a book on dog breeds, you might create a short e-book on “The 5 Best Dog Breeds for Anything.” You then write a blog post on “The 5 Best Dog Breeds for Families” and at the end of the post, let people know they can get the full e-book (which also includes the 5 best breeds for apartment dwellers, for people with active lifestyles, etc.), if they subscribe to your list.
Ways to Share Content
Your content can be reimagined and repurposed in a lot of different ways. Experiment with different options and see what resonates best with your readers, and what works well for you.
Blog Posts
Creating blog posts on a consistent basis means you’re building a growing repository of free, accessible content. Someone who has just discovered you can read through old posts to get a feel for your work.
Your blog shouldn’t be only about your book. You can branch out and give your readers a better idea of who you are; the person behind the product. You can also pull topics from your writing and expand on them through your blog or break topics down into easy to consume list type articles.
Newsletters
Newsletters are a great way to keep your audiences attention, and gain fans. It can be as simple as sending a monthly roundup newsletter with links to your latest posts and activity, or you you can send an email every time you publish something new.
Social Media
The most important thing to remember is to be yourself. Don’t hide behind your book; if your audience gets to know you as a person, they’ll be more interested in your work. One of my favorite authors shares a lot of her personal life as it relates to the topics in her book, and those stories not only illustrate the book well, they build a feeling of personal connection.
*Watch for a more in depth article coming soon which will break down the different avenues of social media.
Podcasts and Webinars
Many readers enjoy listening to authors talk and expand on topics they’ve written about, and a webinar with a live Q&A session can be a great way to open up personal interaction with your fans. If you’re comfortable speaking and being in front of a camera, podcasts or webinars may be a way for you to promote your book and make personal connections with your audience.
Start sharing your content now. With so many options, there is no reason to wait. Your audience is out there and ready to hear from you!
Recommended Reading
For more information about providing your audience with great content, check out the book Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, and Webinars by Ann Handley.
I love that you have recommended Ann Handley’s book Content Rules. I knew about her other boo, but not this one! I’ll check it out (and your book “Your First 1000 Copies” which I just ordered on Amazon). Thanks for the great tip!