Considered the Holy Grail of online book stores, Amazon is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Most authors dream of watching their book hit #1 on Amazon, but many are not quite sure what they need to do to make this happen.
Some leave it to chance. Others mistakenly think sending a message or two to their subscribers along with a few social media posts will do the trick, while others rely on the old model of an Amazon launch; get a ton of experts who give a bonus away and everyone promotes the book on the same day.
Granted, depending on the size of one’s list and how responsive it is, you can get respectable results by sending your list a few email messages complimented by a bit of social media marketing.
In some cases, the “give ‘em a ton of bonus gifts” still works, but nowhere near the way it used to. Besides, unless there is a plan for what happens after everyone blasts out the promo messages, this is NOT a sustainable model.
I’ve been involved in very successful launches, selling thousands of copies of books in a few days and I’ve watched launches fall flat with fewer than ten books being sold on “launch” day.
In today’s world of book marketing, it takes a lot more than a one-day launch to have a successful launch. It also takes more than telling your friends and family to buy your book.
To get the most out of your efforts, you need to put effort into the three phases of a launch.
• Prelaunch
• Launch
• Post launch
Prelaunch
Prelaunch is exactly like it sounds. You are prepping for the actual launch. You need to get your Amazon information ready, any incentives you will offer to buyers during a specific period of time, your book sales page, thank you page and a series of follow up messages to build awareness and connection with those who will purchase your book. Additionally, you need to plan for interviews, blog posts, guest blogging, and social media marketing.
NOTE: Buyer incentives can be bonuses you offer. With my last book launch, one bonus was two tickets to a live event I hosted. Not only did the event fill up, I made six figures on the back end by making a sweet offer at the event.
Launch
Although a launch should be ongoing, it does help to have a few days where you are very proactively driving traffic to your book sales page. The sales page should let the potential buyer know that when they buy your book during a specified period of time, they will receive a couple of great bonus gifts from you. Notice I said, “You.”
As previously mentioned, the days of getting a bunch of experts to contribute bonus gifts to encourage people to buy are long gone. Sure, it can be somewhat effective, but with as overwhelmed and time starved as most people are, bonuses for the sake of bonuses are not where it’s at.
Post launch
This is where you gain the most traction from your efforts; if you do this right. Post launch is where you make other offers to the buyers of your book including information products directly related to the topic of your book, webinars and teleseminars, speaking engagements and coaching services.
The post launch can last for weeks, months, even years. It all depends on how well you planned things out and how consistent you are.
Conclusion
To get the most out of all the effort you put into writing your book, put equally as much, and likely more, effort into launching your book. It’s one thing to write your book and a completely different conversation to get a great deal of traction from your efforts.
Like any aspect of your business, focused effort gets much greater results than a haphazard approach.
Kathleen Gage is the “no-nonsense, common sense” online marketing strategist, speaker, author, product creation specialist, and owner of Power Up For Profits. She helps entrepreneurs make money online. Her clients are driven by making a difference through their own unique voice.