Regardless of who publishes your book, you or a high-bred or traditional publisher, you need to take responsibility for the marketing of your book.
In a recent post, I gave three great strategies for marketing your book. One woman left the following comment…
“Is there a listing somewhere of people to hire to help market? I’d love to have someone take over tweets, FB group posts, maybe improve my website, etc.! The marketing is really robbing me of time to write my third novel.”
Great point and extremely valid.

Create the Time to Write

Most authors want to do what they love best… write. And yet, without marketing, you’re missing the opportunity to get your book in the hands of raving fans.
I may sound like a broken record when I say, “Authors, you HAVE to market your books.”
There are no two ways about it… if selling books is your goal.
However, you don’t have to be the one to do the actual work. You can outsource.
Before outsourcing, you need to know what you want the person to do. Make sure whomever you hire knows how to market books. Book marketing is an art unto itself.
It takes more than simply tweeting a few tweets, posting on your Facebook wall, or blogging a bit. It’s very strategic. Find out how strategic with my FREE Report – Hit #1 on Amazon. CLICK HERE.

Start with the end in mind

Steven Covey brilliantly coined the phrase, “Start with the End In Mind.” This is wise council for just about anything we want to accomplish. The success of your book is no exception.
What is the end result you want? Most authors will say, “To be a bestseller!”
Great! You want to be a bestseller, but what will that do for you? When you clarify the answer, you are in a better position to know what you need to do in your marketing.

Be Willing to Market Every Single Day

Marketing every day does not mean marketing all day. It means you do a little something every day. Keep in mind, massive (focused) action is more likely to result in massive results. The more you do, the better the results… one would assume.
Your marketing includes interviews, appearances (both online and off), blogging and guest blogging, article marketing, speaking engagements and mailing messages to your opt in subscribers. You could include a crowdfunding and Thunderclap campaign in the mix. There’s plenty more, but as you can see, there are many choices in your marketing.

When to Outsource

The time to outsource is when you either don’t have time to do the marketing, you feel like it takes away from your writing time and/or you are ready to jumpstart your sales without being the one to do the marketing.
Be careful to select someone who understand book marketing. If they’ve worked with other authors on successful campaigns, all the better.
You can  also hire someone who is skilled in areas other than book marketing if YOU are aware of what needs to be done. You outsource specific tasks, but you must make sure they know why they are doing each task so they stay the course of your overall vision of selling books.

Check References and Quality of Work

Avoid being so eager to outsource that you hire someone who is not qualified. A simple way to avoid huge mistakes is check references and quality of work. Even when you do this you can be duped.
I had a situation where someone came highly recommended for the job of getting me sponsors. It turns out they talked a great talk, but their deliverability sucked. It was a rather expensive lesson.
Yet, in most cases, I’ve had great experiences with those I hire when I take the time to do my due diligence.

Test Them with Low Risk Tasks

Rather than giving them your whole project to work on, start with a small job to see how they do. If they pass the first level of testing, then give them something bigger.

How to Find Those to Outsource To

There are plenty of sites you can find resources; ODesk, which is now UpWork, and eLance.com are two reputable resources. There is a vetting process for people to be listed on these sites, but every so often, even a few bad apples can slip through on these sites so do your homework.
You can also tap into your network of friends and colleagues to find out who they use. Many of your social media connections may have recommendations. Again, always check references and quality of work.
If you would like to know one offshore, very reasonably priced company I use, send me an email to kathleen@kathleengage.com. Put: Name of Outsource Resource in the subject line.

Have a Plan

It’s essential that you know what you are going to outsource. It’s also essential to get regular updates, analytics and reports as to what your ROI is. Don’t assume the work someone says they are doing is getting results. Have them show you what they are doing so you know your money is well invested.

Think You’re Ready

On August 24 – 25, 2017, I’m hosting a very intimate gathering in my office for serious minded authors who are READY to deep dive into their book marketing. This is NOT for those who are not willing to play full out and have a fully developed plan at the end of the two days. Limited to six participants. To find out if this is for you, please email me at kathleen@kathleengage.com. Subject line: 2 Day Author Deep Dive Inquiry.

 
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