So here's the thing. Marketing for all intents and purposes is a major pain in the ass. As depicted by this little girl here, most days when tackling the entire marketing paradigm, this is exactly how I feel. Mostly due to my own lack of knowledge of the entire marketing conundrum, but I guess the biggest thing for me when it comes to marketing is I have never "marketed" myself. In the past whenever there has been marketing involved I have been working for someone else, selling another's product, and as such I have always been quite successful at it, hell remember the ole saying "I could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo? Well I could, I did for many years, Now, regardless that the phrase is no longer politically correct what with the 'Eskimo' moniker and all, you get my meaning just fine I'm sure. So what with the being an author and all that, I am now faced with the prospect of having to do just that -sell myself- or moreover the books I have written that are indeed all about myself. I have two books published and now the prospect of getting them into what are referred to as 'Brick and Mortar' stores, I find I do need to approach owners and managers and representatives of all things bookish and give them reason to want to buy my book to sell in said stores. A daunting task for the uninitiated. Now don't get me wrong, I know I'm a like-able enough guy and for the most part I can get along with anyone in any given situation or circumstance but the fact that I am asking others to not only firstly, give me the time of day- because they know I am selling something, yes I want their money, but I need to be able to explain myself and my product quickly and concisely so as not to take up too much of the prospective clients time and to do this with finesse and tact so as to make them want to give me their money. Yup, I am selling myself before the books. If the client does not like me from the git go, I guarantee they ain't buyin' no stinkin' books! How does one approach such a scenario? Especially when one has suffered from very low self-esteem and self-confidence for most of their lives, is this even a possibility? That is exactly what the books are focused on in many ways though, so how do I combine this little trinket of information into a sales pitch you ask? Trial and error has been a big part, this has definitely been a learning curve for me and I must admit that my initial attempts at this new foray into the unknown have been less than stellar. But. It has not been in the crapper either. I have had to this point limited success with the big boys, all things considered though, this is a tough game, and at present I am fairing well in my efforts at becoming the next Stephen King (in sales-not content just to point out the blatantly obvious). I guess the good thing is I do not give up easy, that's just it, if it was easy I would not even attempt this new venture of mine. Sobriety has given the wherewithal to see this damn thing through to this point, the next move is a challenge I am certainly willing to tackle with guns blazing!
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AuthorMy thoughts on all things worldly, and... Archives
December 2019
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