Victor Hansen Self Publishing

Ever thought about going into self-publishing? I know I have in fact have heard great testimonies from self-publishing authors. Mark Victor Hensen offers some great advice to we inspired self-publish authors to be. Take a good read very helpful, encouraging and enlighting.





Self-Publishing

By Mark Victor Hansen
America Ambassador of Possibly




One of the biggest challenges a self-published author faces is generating awareness and demand for their books. This struggle is not unlike the struggle that many businesses are facing today. Chicken Soup for the Soul was born from humble beginnings as a self-published book. Jack Canfield and I had big dreams for our collection of inspirational and uplifting stories, but unfortunately, we didn't have a very big budget. It took two years for the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book to reach the best-seller list. Because it was self-published, Jack and I had to be very creative, innovative, and effective in how we marketed. Our families were depending on us, and we couldn't afford to fail.

During those two years we experimented with many different forms of marketing and advertising. These are the top 3 techniques that we used to attract the demand necessary to transform our humble self-published book into a dominating million-dollar business empire:

We spoke-up: Jack and I were both (and still are) professional speakers and always used Chicken Soup for the Soul stories during our talks to warm up the crowd and reinforce our lessons. After our talks were over, we would always hear the crowd buzzing about how great the stories were. Even if you aren't a professional speaker, you can utilize this subtle, yet powerful approach! Today, many people use social networking to spread the word, but I still believe that there is nothing more persuasive than an honest referral from a friend. Be sure to always keep a copy of your book with you. If someone finds advice the advice you have given, or a story you have told helpful, you can give them a signed copy of your book. If they enjoy it, they will be sure to tell a friend.

We made key contacts: During those two years Jack and I travelled A LOT. At the time, I did a lot of coaching for BIG sales departments at BIG companies. We inevitably met the who's who within the company. These key contacts helped us to get more speaking engagements and to gain traction with a more powerful demographic. When you begin to acquire high-powered fans (or clients) you will gain more credibility, which makes you instantly more in-demand. If you're in business, make friends with your top competitors, you never know when you'll be able to offer something they can't or vice-versa. You can also use these relationships to create symbiotic marketing campaigns. (Think: Restaurants offering discounts with a movie stub.)

We never compromised our quality: Every page in Chicken Soup for the Soul went through a screening process, even the cartoons. Our book was self-published, and we knew that if we wanted to be in the big leagues, we had to have a big-league quality product. We had to do more than talk Chicken Soup, we had to be Chicken Soup. We were consistent and authentic in how we represented our brand and our message in every aspect of our marketing, our lives and ourselves. Do you use the advice you give in your book? Does your book (or business) have the quality of your most successful competitors?

The truth is that only a handful of self-published books reach the best-sellers list, and only a handful of businesses will reach a Forbes list. This fact doesn't reduce the importance of every book that is self-published or any small business. Hard work, dedication, and passion can take you very far in this world. Don't give up because you don't see success immediately. Remember, it took us two years to reach our goal of best-sellerdom, but today, because of hard work and persistence, we hold the world record for having the most books on a bestsellers list at one time. Don't be discouraged if you don't reach your goal immediately, if you are seeing growth and progress, you will get what you want, just keep working and innovating!




 





A WINNER NEVER QUITS AND A QUITTER NEVER WINNER-YOU ARE A WINNER!