What to do daily, weekly and monthly to mark your book

“The key is not to prioritize what is on your agenda, but to schedule your priorities.” -Stephen Covey

Most authors will not become millionaires unless they have multiple works or multiple streams of income that can keep their income level constant. Otherwise, they won’t be able to quit their “day jobs.”

But there are ways to build momentum, expand your platform, and solidify your brand to make it successful. Most authors tell me, “I don’t have time” or “I don’t know what to do next” or “I hit a brick wall and can’t seem to get motivated to market anymore.”

You can promote yourself every day just by doing these things. When I train clients, these are the things I tell them to do on an ongoing basis:

Monthly

• Attend a writers meetup or review group.
• Ask for reviews or endorsements from those to whom you have also given “companion” copies.
• Attend a civic organization and tell members what you do.
• Read trade publications like Writer’s Digest or The Writer.
• Take a teleclass or attend another type of event live online.
• Look for contests you can enter or prizes you can be nominated for.
• Create a YouTube video message or be a guest on a local cable show.
• Hold or schedule a teleseminar.
• Update your media list and do research to add new ones.
• Invite a media person you’ve admired to lunch.
• Participate in an event by speaking, presenting or teaching.
• Write articles and submit them to article directories.
• Post reviews of other books you’ve read on Amazon.
• Write and publish press releases.
• Write and present reports to the media.
• Create and distribute a newsletter online or by direct mail.
• Reach out to bloggers and see if you can take a “blog tour” with them.
• Meet with your advisers, mentors or “master mind” partners.
• Add additional information to your website or blog (ie a blog article, a link).
• Keep in touch with the key bookstores that sell your books.
• Email mini-courses to those who sign up through an Eblast you send.
• Manage back-end tasks like customer support, accounting, sales, etc.
• Look for easier ways to do business. Ask others what systems they use.

weekly

• Give someone you know one of your books and follow up in 30 days.
• Visit an online forum and participate in or get some public relations training.
• Look for new articles to read about internet marketing and joint ventures (Google).
• Listen to podcasts (search for the topic of interest online in a podcast directory).
• Send an email to your email list, providing them with a suggestion or a link to a blog post that you find useful.
• Send a handwritten note or postcard to someone you’ve posted in person or connect with online.
• Post to your blog and add a new feature to “amp it up” (get hints from other blogs).
• Leave postcards or bookmarks in the places you go regularly: bookstores, libraries, hairdressers, cleaners, restaurants, coffee shops.
• Update your website or blog by adding “hits in the media” and current interviews.
• Email someone online you’d like to connect with.
• Interact with a “group” on Facebook or LinkedIn.
• Get to know the key authors/leaders in their field. Follow their blogs or google them to see what they are up to.
• Keep track of your statistics on your website, blogs and open ezines.
• Make at least one blog talk show or at least call one.
• Post a newsletter on your MySpace or Facebook and add some new blogs.

Daily

• Write. Write. Write. That is your main job. Content is king!
• Read some trade pubs or read magazines in your niche.
• Comment on someone else’s blog.
• Make a phone call to a media outlet in which you would like to appear.
• Read newspapers for topics you can comment on.
• Scan the columns of regular columnists and give your opinion on their blogs.
• Add friends to your Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn accounts.
• Follow someone new on Twitter or Shelfari.
• Add people to your database that you know or haven’t been in contact with (with permission).
• Add an automatic signature to all your reply emails.
• Twitter by sending a link to their blog, to their favorite blog, or to a free report they can download.
• Join industry-related message boards, chat groups, or Yahoo groups. This helps increase exposure and gives your information to stay ahead.

For a creative writer and author, time is managed by calendars, not clocks. What he is doing is leaving a virtual “footprint” wherever he goes, online and offline. These elements can be implemented with little or no outside help.

If implemented correctly and consistently, these mini-marketing tactics can help revolutionize your ministry or business in no time. By continually promoting yourself with your platform’s key message, people will come to you for information and expertise.

Remember to be in a marketing mindset and let people know why they should buy your book (mention the benefits of what the book will do for them). Keep the main thing “main thing” – focus on changing lives and making an impact for the Kingdom.

Building strong relationships is critical at every stage of branding. However, don’t expect instant results. Trust is the foundation of all relationships. Trust is never given freely, trust is earned. Show your strong commitment and be willing to stay the course.