Something I focus on with my books, speaking engagements and consulting is gaining visibility. Early on in my writing career, it was much more difficult to gain visibility compared to today. Yet, today, there is more noise than in the past.
Early on in my writing career, a popular way to gain visibility was with media releases. Another was with radio interviews, but often it required going into the station.
Today there is so much more we, as authors, have available than in the past.
What with social media, joint venture partnerships, affiliate marketing and online article directories, today there are incredible opportunities to get your message out to market in a big way.
With a little bit of research, an author can find plenty of opportunity to get their message out to market.
Where Have Other Authors Appeared?
A quick Google search on authors who write in a similar genre as you will bring up ample listings of where you can target your message. For example, with my soon to be published memoir, my readers also enjoy the works of Cheryl Strayed, Lisa Nichols, Elizabeth Gilbert and Janet Attwood.
For example, by using the search term “Cheryl Strayed blog postings” there are countless listings of where
Cheryl has either guest posted or been featured. All of these are potential locations for me to have my work featured.
With each of the authors who have a similar market reach as me, I would go through the same process.
I then input the information into a spreadsheet.
Granted, this is a time consuming process. You may want to hire a virtual assistant (VA) to do the research for you. After all, for $10 – $20 an hour, you can get quite a long list of potential locations to have your writings featured for under $50.
Hiring a VA to do this type of research frees up your time to write your posts, interview and put your efforts into the activities only you can do.
Breaking Stories
Another way to gain lots of visibility is by piggybacking off of breaking stories through the process of Newsjacking.
The first time I heard the term Newsjacking, I was a bit taken back. Newsjacking? What the heck is that? It brought up images of criminal activity.
But upon a bit of research, I realized that NewsJacking is a powerhouse way to get noticed by the media AND potential clients.
According to the official site for Newsjacking, “It is the art and science of injecting your ideas into a breaking news story and generating tons of media coverage and social media engagement.”
That’s quite a mouthful to basically say, “Newsjacking is a way to utilize trends in the media to enhance traffic to various locations including your social media channels and your blog posts.”
Finding Trends
So how do you find trending stories? It’s actually as close as Twitter, Google, and virtually any search engine.
According to David Meerman Scott, who wrote the book on NewsJacking, “When there is news in your marketplace reporters and analysts are looking for experts to comment on the story. Newsjacking gets you media attention.”
As a story develops in real time, people, who could be potential clients, are interested in what’s happening right now.
With all the forms of social media including blogs, podcast shows, videos and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and so many others, this is one strategy that can be absolute game changer for you and your business.
Specifics to Finding Trends
There are quite a few ways you can find what’s trending in an up to the minute fashion.
A simple Google search with the key words, “Trending news stories” will bring up lots of locations you can get ideas for how to position your message.
Every major news outlet stays on top of trends. You can also go to Twitter and find out what is trending for Twitter users.
For example, let’s say you are a company that provides storm protection insurance. At the time of me writing this post, there was a trending topic about a huge storm brewing off the coast of the United States. You could piggyback off of what’s trending.
Then there is the trending topic of National Boyfriend Day. If you are a relationship coach, what better then to NewsJack this epic day.
Whatever your area of expertise, there are bound to be ways to NewsJack.
Book Launches Benefit from Newsjacking
If you have a book launch coming up, you can definitely NewsJack stories that tie into your story-line, theme or topic.
With my memoir, some of the areas I can piggyback off of are homelessness, addictions, coming out and failure to success. These topics are all part of my memoir. (Be watching for more information on the release date)
However, be aware of any holidays or celebration days you might be able to position a story around. As you get closer to your launch, check for hot trends.
During your launch, keep an eye out for anything trending that would allow for your book to have a connection to. This is NewsJacking at its best.
This is just one way to make the media work for you.
Gaining visibility for your book is an ongoing process. One way to get the most for your efforts is to do something every single day to let potential readers know about your book. To learn powerhouse ways to do this, get my FREE report – Hit #1 on Amazon. Click here to access.
Be sure to join the Power Up for Profits Facebook Group. In there you will find lots of like-minded entrepreneurs who are living lives of passion.
The big point is the speed to which you react to garner the benefit of newsjacking. Just like there is more media now- media attention is measured in minutes (at best). so deciding to add your name to a topic discussion requires a rapid response. Tomorrow is way too late.
Agreed. Speed of light. Google alerts can help. As well, a good VA who keeps an eye out for your opportunities.