UPublishU, an educational arm of BookExpo America, will host a keynote presentation by Brand New Brand You President, Cindy Ratzlaff on Sunday, June 3rd as part of their educational outreach to self-published and self-publishing authors.

Ratzlaff’s presentation at the first ever BEA sponsored UPublishU is entitled “Do This, Not That: The Social Media Roadmap for Authors.” Ratzlaff will share the “must do’s” versus the “nice to do’s” to helped authors save time, money and frustration as they build a platform to promote their book.

Can you put your core offering into one compelling sentence?

I always ask them, for the purpose of achieving those goals, to shift their focus from the end result to the first challenge; clearly stating their unique value to a potential customer.  This “why to buy” focus helps businesses center their marketing, branding and public relations messages around the most important point of all—their offering.

F.O.C.U.S stands for “Find Our Core Unique Service.”  Figuring this out helps companies address one of the four key elements of branding; variation.  Asking the tough questions, doing the research and creating clear, concise communications will save entrepreneurs and even bigger companies time, money and frustration.

Some questions to ask to help define the unique service or selling proposition are:

How is this service or product different from all others in the competitive set?

• Less expensive, more detailed, easier to use, more conveniently located?

Does the personality of this business or service give it something special?

• Is the business or service provider more highly qualified, more experienced, personally enriched by the product usage?

Why would someone choose this product or service from all other choices available?

• Better customer service and support, first to market, more stylish packaging, more rave reviews, higher perceived value?

Try to put your core offering into one compelling sentence.  This exercise will tell you if you’ve nailed your F.O.C.U.S.  I invite you to post your F.O.C.U.S. statement here and I’ll give you my opinion on whether or not your statement conveys your F.O.C.U.S. to me.  Go.

Publishers want to know.  What is your platform?

We need to know how you are going to sell your book.  As a publisher, we’re going to provide professional editing, design services, expert sales people and great distribution.  We’ll put marketing dollars toward selling you book and work hard to give your book the visibility it needs in stores and online so that YOUR fan base can find it and buy it.  It all starts with you.  The publisher wants to know, before they buy your manuscript, what you bring to the table in terms of a ready made audience.

1. Do you have a radio or television show with a lot of viewers and great ratings?
2. Are you a celebrity?
3. Are you a lecturer with many firm bookings for the coming year?
4. Do you head a vast organization whose members will want your book?
5. Are you social media savvy with more thousands of followers?
6. Do you have a large database that can be utilized to rally your fan base to purchase your book?
7. Have you previously published a bestselling book?

Gone are the days when a publisher could easily take a risk on an unknown writer.  Although that still happens, thankfully, it happens less frequently than one would wish.  So how do you make yourself a more desirable publishing partner to attract the attention and investment of a big publishing house?  You create and execute your own pre-publication marketing plan.  This is a good strategy even if you are self-publishing…in fact, especially if you are self-publishing.

Here are just a few things every author and would be author can do to being now to build a platform that will help promote your book at publication time.

1. Create a Facebook Profile so you can easily connect with everyone you every met.  Those people are the most likely to want to purchase your book and support your newest endeavor.
2. Create a Facebook Fan Page for your book so you have a professional page with your book title that will be indexed by Google, increase your SEO and give you a proper place to talk about the making of your book.
3. Start a Twitter account in your own name.  Every tweet is a unique URL and again, online is all about search.  Every tweet is new content, all new content increases your Google juice, the more Google juice the more people will see your name and find your book.
4. Write a blog.  Do it on WordPress or Blogspot because both of those platforms are already optimized for search.  You need a blog to communicate longer thoughts than can be done through either Facebook or Twitter.  Additionally, your blog can be reproduced as a “guest blog” on sites with more traffic.  This, of course, increases your visibility and the likelihood that readers will find your book.
5. Make videos.  Talk about your book or your area of expertise.  Tell or show viewers something they don’t already know that fits in with your book theme or ideas.
6. Write a book club guide with questions and discussion prompts.  Put it on your blog as a free download for book clubs.
7. Make your own book trailer for free with a program called Animoto.  Upload it to YouTube, Facebook, and your author page on Amazon.com, as well as your blog.
8. Offer yourself as a guest on Blog Talk Radio shows, webinars, teleseminars or any other outlet where your most likely audience already gathers.

These strategies take time to implement.  Most of them are free.  Once you write your book, your new job is marketing.  Having a well plotted strategy will help.  What platform building ideas are you employing?  I’d love to know.

Recommending books to your fans and followers is a good marketing strategy.

If you love to read. have ever recommended a good book to a friend or reviewed a book online, then setting up an affiliate relationship with Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com can help pay your web hosting bills, increase your position as a trusted source of information and support authors and writers through recommending their work. You simply sign up for an account and when you find something you’d like to recommend, you grab the link and share it on Twitter, Facebook, your blog or even through your e-newsletter.  You can build a “recommended reading” widget through these affiliate programs and add new books easily.  These sites pay you a small commission on each sale resulting from your recommendation.  You will not get rich with this strategy, but you can bring in enough to pay for a book or two per month that you’d probably buy anyway.

It’s not the money that makes this worthwhile.  It’s a win-win marketing strategy that helps your visibility, increases your social currency and frankly, gives you something to blog about now and then when you’re stumped.

I only recommend books I love and in the case of Amazon.com, I occasionally recommend other products that I personally use like the Flip Mino Video Camera (which I use every day and love) and the Kodak Zi8 (which I use for speeches and conferences because of it’s exterior microphone capabilities) as well as the really inexpensive but awesome tripod I use which costs less than $15.00 and has a travel case!

I know that I enjoy reading lists from trusted sources.  Trust is the key issue here with dabbling in affiliate marketing.  If you recommend things you don’t like, people will come to view your lists as a waste of time.  So don’t squander your social currency.  Recommend the best and earn a little change in the process.

I’d love to see your recommended reading lists.  I’ve been so busy reading non-fiction books by clients so I can help them with their promotional plans that I could use a good novel to sweep me away.

Your brand is what your customers think it is, not what you think it is. So listen, engage, and if the message you want is not the message they’re repeating, alter your strategy.

If a company stays away from social media so as to avoid negative online feedback they will accomplish two things:

1. They will be unaware of problems that might have been easily resolved but when left alone may become much bigger problems.
2. They will be miss a valuable opportunity to fix minor problems and turn cranky customers into happy evangelizers.

Mashable wrote an excellent post recently sharing three terrific examples of how major brands monitored, managed and resolved (or not) some important brand missteps and criticism.

Bottom line: The conversation about you is going on with or without you. You can only influence it if you are aware of it.  Every company should be active on Facebook and Twitter, at the very least, to monitor and influence their brand reputation.  Every company should have a google alert set for their key words and get that digest daily.  Every company should search their brand name or the name of their current campaign on Twitter daily.

Mrs. P's photo by Jacqueline Veissid

While businesses, public figures, celebrities and authors know the importance of adding social media to their outreach strategy in order to bring their message and brand to the more than 500 million users of various social platforms, the age limitation for participating on some social media platforms has made it challenging to use them to reach children directly.  One team understands that reaching the influencers and the parents is more important than speaking directly to children in a marketing campaign.  The creators of MrsP.com mastered the art of the conversation and are demonstrating the importance of relationships and partnerships when it comes to growing their brand and spreading their message.

The face of MrsP.com is Kathy Kinney, best known for her nearly decade long portrayal of the role of Mimi Bobeck on The Drew Carey Show.  She is well on her way to creating another iconic character in Mrs. P, the fantastically quirky ambassador of reading who shares her love of books through an engaging and interactive website for children.

A cross between Mr. Rogers and Pee Wee Herman, Kathy Kinney’s Mrs. P brings books to life as she reads classic children’s stories in a series of webisodes.

Her talking fireplace, magical bookshelves and games are designed to appeal to emergent readers up through tweens (the scary book room will particularly appeal to this age group).  Mrs. P, herself, graciously agreed to be our guest this week for “Five Questions with the Expert” and share a few of her thoughts about using social media to spread her love of reading. In fact, she was so delightful, she answered a bonus question!

RATZLAFF:

You have a fabulously interactive destination website for children. How are you using social media to reach young readers?

MRS. P:

I’m not trying to reach my young readers directly since most are under the age of 12, but rather their parents and the other adult influencers in their lives — teachers, librarians, literacy advocates and organizations. I have found blogs to be a very effective way to spread the word about Mrs. P, whether as a guest blogger or by enlisting their sites to announce events like my annual writing contest. I’ve been using Twitter to meet these bloggers and fans. But I’m not really interested in showing up Shaquille O’Neal and getting the most Twitter followers in the world, but prefer to connect with people who share my same passion for literacy. I try to have personal and meaningful conversations with my followers and love to share articles about the tremendous importance of reading to children. As much as I’m tempted, because I love to talk about myself, I try not to make it only about me. I’m also proud of the give-and-take on my website. If someone posts news about Mrs. P on their site, we will re-post their story on my site, introducing them to our audience.

RATZLAFF:

How do you separate your Mrs. P persona from the business side of running a website?

MRS. P:

I like to keep focused on my mission as Mrs. P, which is to spread the joy of books and reading. When I receive invitations for interviews, appearances, and business relationships, I ask them to contact my business partner, Dana, who handles that side of the house. She considers the validity of the inquiries and deals with the technical details so that my online presence can just be about Mrs. P’s mission – and having fun!

RATZLAFF:

Can you describe a day in the social media world for Mrs. P?

MRS. P:

I try and ensure that there is something new and fun on my Facebook site several times a week. I have a much smaller audience there than on Twitter, where I make an effort to engage with my followers every morning and evening. I also coordinate with my “elves” to make sure my website has fresh news and engaging messages on my “Did you hear…” page. I’m lucky because there seems to be so much good news lately about my site that I can share with my audience.

RATZLAFF:

Is there any one social platform that performs better than others to help you connect with the influencers who help you spread your literacy message?

MRS. P:

While Mrs. P has very active Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and You-Tube accounts, I do think that Twitter has been the most effective. For example, Everybody Wins! USA, a literacy organization for which I am an honorary board member, will occasionally build Tweet campaigns with us, and together, we grow our audiences and spread news about the importance of literacy.

RATZLAFF:

Have you incorporated video or audio into your social media strategy?

MRS. P:

Video has been a key element in our social media strategy. The team at Mrs. P created a fun music video called “Listen Up, Kids” to get young people excited about reading. We made it available as a free download on iTunes. I asked our fans to post it on their blogs and Tweet about it, and in the first day, we had 25,000 downloads! We also posted it on YouTube to let people know it was free. We had a similar experience with the winning entries from my writing contest. Again, we had over 22,000 downloads the first day by using social networking to spread the word. I think if you have a strong mission and are also willing to give something meaningful away for free, it’s a powerful combination. It’s certainly worked well for Santa Clause over the years, and it’s also built a great deal of awareness for the Mrs. P brand.

RATZLAFF:

I heard a rumor that Mrs. P has plans to create mobile apps.  Any truth to that rumor?

MRS. P:

Oh, yes. The mobile world is a wave I really need to be riding! So in September I will launch a free (there’s that wonderful word again!) Reading Challenge app for the iPhone. It will be a fun and engaging way to test reading comprehension. And it’s yet one more way to bring awareness to literacy and to my website.

Parents, librarians, grandparents and teachers can find Mrs. P on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and of course children can visit her magical library, choose a book from her shelves and have Mrs. P read them a classic.

Facebook is effectively, in addition to being a micro-blogging and communication platform, a search engine. One of the reasons an author needs to be on Facebook is to increase his or her visibility and therefore, help readers find his/her work. Facebook provides three different types of pages to choose from and each has rules, advantages and disadvantages.

Personal Profile
A personal profile is, by Facebook’s own terms of use, a page for people to list themselves by their real name and interact with friends of their choosing. People who connect to a personal profile are referred to as “Friends.” It is against Facebook’s rules to set up a personal profile for your business, your book, your dog or a dead saint. Facebook can, if it chooses, close fraudulent profiles and all the work you’ve done to create that page will be lost along with all of your friends. I recommend that you set up a personal profile, adhering to all of the rules before setting up a Facebook Fan Page (see below). Having a personal profile and setting up a Facebook page from that profile will allow authors to utilize more custom application on the Fan Page. A Fan Page can be created without first creating a personal profile, but doing so limits the customization options available. If the Facebook rules don’t convince you to do this properly, there’s another good reason. A personal profile can only accept 5,000 people as friends. At 5,001, new friends will start receiving a message from Facebook stating that you are over your friend limit and cannot accept any new friends. Trust me and set up your personal profile first.

Facebook Fan Page

Fan Pages are best option that Facebook provides for creating a branded social media presence for you the writer.

This is best option that Facebook provides for creating a branded social media presence for you the writer, for your book, and for your career. People who connect to a Facebook Fan Page must click the “Like” button in order to receive updates from the Page. Once they “Like” a page, they are still referred to by most people as Fans. Because you followed my advice and set up a personal profile first, you can now create custom tabs for your Facebook Fan Page such as “About the Book,” “More about the Author,” “Tour Schedule,” or whatever custom information you’d like to make available to fans. Facebook allows a Fan Page to have an unlimited number of Fans. This is good news for an author or speaker who is working to amass the largest possible list of followers and spread the word about a new book, appearance or project far and wide. Authors can even create an opt-in box and invite fans to subscribe to an e-newsletter, all from a Facebook Fan Page. Facebook Fan Pages are indexed by Google and therefore, they increase an author’s search engine ranking by putting out new, original content regularly.

Facebook Groups
People who join a Facebook Group are called Members. One advantage of Facebook Groups is that they can be made public or kept private. At this writing Facebook Groups are not indexed by Google and that is the single biggest reason for author’s to create a Fan Page over a Group. Unlike pages, groups allow to send out “bulk invites” so you can invite all your friends to join the group. With Pages, you’ll have to invite people individually. Groups are good for spreading a message or brand name through viral marketing, because any group member can also send bulk invites to his or her complete list of friends. But, and this is a big but, Groups are not indexed by search engines yet and that is my number one reason for recommending Pages over Groups to promote an author and his or her work.

I hope this look at Facebook options helps authors, speakers and entrepreneurs start right and maximize their promotional efforts on Facebook. I strongly recommend that all authors create profiles and pages for their work and look forward to answering any questions about the use of Facebook to promote books.

Amy Porterfield

Amy Porterfield is a social media strategy consultant and a regular contributor to SocialMediaExaminer.com. Amy helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, authors and speakers find their “sweet spot” so they can maximize their marketing and publicity efforts through social media. We asked Amy five questions to help authors and entrepreneurs better utilize social media to bring their books and products to new audiences.

Remember to give your best stuff for free. Don’t hold back.

RATZLAFF:

We hear a lot that authors and speakers need to have a platform before a publisher will take them on. What exactly is a platform?

PORTERFIELD:

A platform is a little like the concept of a “soapbox” but in a really good way! It is the space you create for yourself online where you highlight who you are, what you are all about, and connect and foster relationships. In a very literal sense, a platform is made up of all the social sites where you spend your time, including Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. When you create your platform, you want to make sure you choose the social networking sites where your target audience is spending time–because a “soapbox” is no good if no one is listening.

RATZLAFF:

How would you recommend that an author or speaker begin building his or her platform?

PORTERFIELD:

Here’s my formula: Listen first. Listen some more. Research next. And then jump in the game. You have to first really understand who your target audience is…and who it is not. Don’t be afraid to only craft your communications for your ideal audience (it’s ok if you leave some people out–they are not your audience!) and also don’t waste your time on social sites that are not appealing to your ideal audience. To really understand the needs and wants of your ideal audience, take a little time and listen to them online. What are they talking about? Who are they connecting with? What Fan pages are they attracted to? Who are they following on Twitter? Once you have listened and done your research, jump in! Start using the sites that really matter most to your outcome. And here’s my golden rule with social media: Don’t be afraid to mess up. It does not always come naturally at first, and it can even be a bit overwhelming. But don’t let that stop you. Jump in, start talking, and it will all become second nature to you in no time.

RATZLAFF:

What about self-publishing? Can a self-published author really reach a large enough audience to make an impact?

PORTERFIELD:

My favorite example of a self-publishing superstar is Marie Forleo. When she first came out with her book, Make Every Man Want You, she self-published and she used the power of the internet to spread the word. Because she was willing to show up daily, connect with people, be her true self online, and really hone in on the needs and wants of her target audience, her book became a HUGE success. But here’s the thing: It was not easy. She worked hard for that success! So yes, self-publishers can find success online, but just like everything else worth having, you have to work really hard and keep moving forward. And one more thing! I think the authors that really find their voice online and create a strong buzz around their books are those that have found a way to showcase their uniqueness. They carved out a little piece of online real estate that they devoted to their “It” factor. And here’s the really great part–you get to figure out what that “It” factor is for you. No one needs to decide for you. So take a little time to think about what might make you stand out from everyone else (we all have it), and then run with that. You just might be pleasantly surprised with the results.

RATZLAFF:

Which media has the most impact on book sales? Radio, TV, print, online, speaking engagements? Should an author focus on one area or try to be seen and heard everywhere?

PORTERFIELD:

In most cases, there is rarely just one media that will work overall. Like I said earlier, know your audience and you will know where and how to market. But don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Mari Smith, a social media guru who always has great advice, teaches the power of Radical, Strategic Visibility. What that means is this: Be seen and heard everywhere it matters. I think that is so important for authors to remember. The more people see you chatting and connecting online, adding value in your blog, and speaking live, the more curious they will become. And when people are curious, they seek out information about you. But remember this, some media outlets could be a waste of time for you. It all depends on your personality, your audience and your book. So choose wisely so you can enjoy the process and spend your time and energy where it really matters.

RATZLAFF:

What are the top three things an author or speaker can do to increase his or her chances of getting media attention for their book?

PORTERFIELD:

Find Your Key Influencers: Who are the people in your niche that are really getting it right? Who stands out the most when you talk about your niche? Build relationships with these people, comment on their blogs, tweet their content. These relationships are extremely beneficial as you move forward with establishing yourself as an expert in your niche.

Show Up Daily: I have noticed that the authors that are really crushing their competition are those that are showing up daily. They are keeping their blogs current, tweeting great, valuable content, connecting one-on-one online, and giving shout outs to others when they see something they like and want to share. They are present, available and real. This is crucial for all authors.

Mix Up Your Media and Provide Great Content: The authors that use video, articles, blog posts, podcasts and more are the ones that stand out the most. They mix up their media and offer great content in many different packages. This is key. If you have not tried video yet, give it a shot. It’s extremely valuable. And remember to give your best stuff for free. Don’t hold back. When you give out your best stuff for free, you are offering an incredible service to people and I can guarantee they will want more. Plus, this strategy will help you build more trust with your audience. So don’t hold back and you will reap the rewards!

Amy teaches authors, entrepreneurs and business people how to use social media to enhance their marketing and visibility strategies.  Learn more about Amy by visiting her website and joining her on Facebook.

Everybody Wins! USA National Executive Director Rich Greif

Everybody Wins! USA is a national literacy and mentoring non-profit organization whose use of social media to spread their message has been very impressive.  Non-profits, like small businesses, authors, entrepreneurs or speakers, frequently face limited marketing and publicity budgets and stretched-thin human resources.  We asked National Executive Director Rich Greif to share some of his insights into using social media platforms to increase brand awareness, raise funds, promote a cause and develop relationships that could lead to a broader reach for a non-profit.  We think these insights can be used by any individual or business to develop a stronger social currency for their brand.

I would say we are running relationship-building campaigns not fundraising campaigns.

RATZLAFF:

Rich, Everybody Wins USA! is a non-profit and the need to attract both volunteers and donors is a reality.  Has social media helped you in those goals?

GREIF:

Social media has been a game-changer for us in building the awareness and relationships that have lead to more volunteers and funding opportunities. Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and our blog, we have grown our relationships with existing partners University of Phoenix and Pitney Bowes, and formed new partnerships with the children’s reading website MrsP.com and children’s book donation organization First Book, among others. Social media has helped position us as a leading advocate for children’s literacy and mentoring and brought us a level of visibility and credibility that would have taken years to build through other channels.

RATZLAFF:

You’ve been very effective in finding potential funding sources and using the Events application to spread the word.  Can you tell us a little bit about that strategy and how it’s worked?

GREIF:

One of the keys to building relationships through social media is to find like-minded people that share a passion for what you do. One ongoing strategy for us is to search for people or groups with keywords that fit our mission. As you build a following, you’ll find certain people are your strongest followers and supporters. When you’re running a special campaign, it’s often helpful to target your most loyal followers to help spread the word. We’ve used Facebook groups and events to identify and engage targeted groups of 200-300 people at a time which has helped us immensely.

RATZLAFF:

How do you like the Causes application?  It seems like the ability to donate directly from Facebook is a good thing.  True?

GREIF:

It’s helpful to have a direct way on Facebook for people to donate. We used the Causes application with the Chase Community Giving Challenge campaign last fall. We reached out to our friends and fans to donate on one specific day with a minimum $10 donation. With minimal effort, we raised close to $2,000 which is pretty good considering there were no upfront costs.

However, many people assume the Causes application is run by Facebook which it is not. Still, people are concerned about privacy issues and information being shared with Facebook whether it is run by them or not. Additionally, the Causes application is another place on Facebook where a nonprofit can host members. This can be confusing and duplicative if your nonprofit is already running a group or fan page. The Causes application has far less media rich options to communicate with members on a regular basis, so if you are starting out, it’s important to explore which Facebook options will best meet your goals.

RATZLAFF:

You’ve run short term fundraising campaigns on Facebook and Twitter and longer term ones.  Does one work better than the other?  If so why?

GREIF:

I would say we are running relationship-building campaigns not fundraising campaigns.
The relationships are ultimately what leads to greater awareness, partnerships and funding. Some of our efforts are short-term campaigns. On Twitter, we were a featured TwitCause last fall where we would receive a donation every time someone included the hashtag #Read2Kids in their Tweet. We were also featured causes in the recent Pepsi Refresh Project and Change.org Ideas for Change competitions. How you use social media depends on whether you are asking followers to donate, retweet a message, click on a link, or vote for a campaign.

Facebook and Twitter each have their advantages and limitations. On Twitter, influential posts can reach a wider audience if they are retweeted, while Facebook users seem to repost content less often. On Facebook though, you can send an update to all your fans or group members at one time, while there is no similar function on Twitter. And since you can simultaneously post on Twitter, Facebook and other tools, it’s important to strategize how your post can work best with all of these mediums.

RATZLAFF:

What one piece of advice would you give to other non-profit organizations about growing their brand awareness using social media?

GREIF:

I’ll give you two key pieces of advice. First, social media is about building trusted relationships and creating meaningful dialogue. To do that, you need to be a champion and resource for your issue or cause and not just your organization. Part of Everybody Wins! USA’s mission is to be a leading advocate for the importance of reading to all children, not just the ones in our program. If you only promote your organization, that is not a dialogue. We want to foster a culture of reading to children and share all the great work that is happening. As a result we are rated the most influential literacy organization on Twitter by wefollow.com.

Second, just like in the real world, building trusted relationships through social media takes time. There are no shortcuts. You have to devote the time on a consistent basis to be seen as a credible source. If you are committed to growing and strengthening the reach of your nonprofit through social media, then you have to make that a part of a person’s job or figure out the structure that will work for you. Too many nonprofits have casually waded in and out of the social media waters because they’re expecting to see an immediate return or they are not prepared to devote the time to it. Social media is not a get rich quick scheme, but if done with authenticity and commitment, it can take a nonprofit to a whole new level of visibility and opportunity.

Readers can find more information on Everybody Wins! USA on their blog and Facebook Page.