No one wants to believe they will be impacted directly by tragedy. Yet, with all that’s happening around the globe, we’ve reached a point where it’s not if, but when, you will be impacted.
If you’re an author who writes about disaster preparedness, natural disasters or any number of trending topics, be sure to invest time in proactive marketing of your book(s).
How Readers Search
One of the first places someone searches out books on topics of interest is Amazon. If you’ve laid the foundation for your Amazon listing, author page and book description, readers are likely to find your book when they search for specific topics.
As of late, some of the top trending topics specific to current events are gun safety, hurricanes, floods, fires, and earthquakes.
Media outreach
If you’ve written a book on any one of these topics, now is the time to reach out to the media as a resource they can reach out to for accurate information.
A simple way to do this is search out breaking news stories. Trending stories are as close as Twitter, Google, and virtually any search engine.
Google Alerts
You can also set up a Google Alert on a specific topic. Google Alerts sends emails to you when it finds new results—such as web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, or scientific research—that match the user’s search term(s) when you’ve requested updates.
To do so simply go to https://www.google.com/alerts, fill in the fields and you’re good to go.
Specifics to Finding Trends
A simple Google search with the key words, “Trending news stories” will bring up lots of listings where you can 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, if you own a company that provides disaster relief insurance, there are plenty of current events that you could use to inform consumers.
There is so much going on locally and nationally, you won’t have to do more than a quick Google search to find plenty of opportunity to educate the public on various aspects of disaster relief and preparedness.
More than simply promoting your products and services, educate the public on how to prepare for disasters. This positions you as an authority and “go to” resource.
Timing is Everything
In order to get the most out of current events, get as much in place as possible in order to respond in a very timely fashion.
Preparation includes your website, blog, expert one sheet, interview questions, headshot, and any specific marketing material you will be asked for.
To save time in delivery of information, set up a page on your website. When you reach out to the media, you can include your media page link with your message.
Your information prevents unnecessary loss
This is not about taking unfair advantage of tragedy, but rather, it’s about being a helpful resource.
One of the most important things for any author to keep in mind is this; your information can save loss on many levels. If you write about earthquake preparedness, imagine how beneficial your information will be to those in high risk areas.
If you write about animal safety during natural disasters, your information can save the heartache of the unnecessary separation of a pet from their family when people know how to protect the family pets and/or livestock.
Say you write about important items to take with you in case of an evacuation. A simple checklist you provide the market can be a huge benefit to potential readers of your articles, blog posts and books.
The time to develop your outreach strategy is before people need it. That way, when the time arrives they are searching for solutions during devastating occurrences, it’s likely your information will be readily available with a simple Google search.
Don’t wait to prepare. Do it now.
