I am no stranger to the kind of winter the Midwest and East Coast have had this year. I just spent a week in Ohio where it was beginning to feel like a true heat wave, with highs in the high 20s and lows in the mid-teens—it is all relative I suppose. Before I arrived, they consistently had low negative temperatures and not-so-high highs! I felt like I needed to hunker down and stay inside with naps, books, and movies.
Is this what it feels like when you think about developing a platform for your title? Is it like the cold of winter, when you just want to escape it all? How do you being to thaw out to grow your title and your platform?
Strategic plan: Take some time to develop a plan for growing your business. It does pay off. Whether your goal is simply to sell more books or your goal is branching out into consulting, workshops, and/or an additional title.
Budget: What will it take to implement the strategic plan? By creating a simple budget you can monitor your progress financially, and you can measure the payoff against the marketing tactics you have in place.
Grow the plan: The strategic plan is in place, and you know where the money is coming from to implement your plan. What marketing tactics will you put in front of your potential clients? A website, Facebook, blogging, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and LinkedIn are just a few places to use your tactics. What about a mailing or a complimentary webinar? What is best for your subject and potential client base?
Social media: Whatever plan you decide to use, be consistent, be relevant, and be user friendly with your client base.
Evaluate: What metrics will you use to monitor sales volumes and other key indicators of successes and needed improvements or changes? Make sure the effort you are putting into the tactics is measurable and is bringing you the results you are looking for.
Time: Give your endeavor the time it needs to grow customers, followers, friends, retweets, repeat customers—whatever is applicable. In a given timeframe, if you are not getting the payoff for your time/money, then you need to review your options and potentially adjust your strategic plan and or budget.
Think spring!