Promoting The Magic List: The First Steps

Guest post by Rick Mauer

My book, The Magic List, is a free ebook based on a simple tool I developed to help my clients see where people might support – or resist – them as they start to lead a big change in their organizations.

Here are three reasons why I wrote the ebook:

1. Give my clients a quick way to begin to apply the concept of the list in their own work.

2. Get the book in as many hands as possible in order to generate interest in my consulting and speaking services.

3. Attract a publisher who would be interested in an expanded version of The Magic List (this is the least important goal).

I posted the ebook last month. To date, people have clicked on the book 1,357 times. It has been downloaded somewhere between 1,000 and 1,100 times. I have no way of knowing how many of those people might have downloaded the book and sent links to their own circle of colleagues.

Here is what I did to get the ball rolling:

Title: I hired copywriter David Garfinkel to suggest a title. In addition to giving me a title and a sub-title that I love (The Magic List: Secrets of Successful Organizational Change), he gave me copy for the cover that I think will draw people in.

Timing: I timed the publication of the e-book to coincide with a keynote I was delivering on that topic to a group of organization development professionals.

Twitter: I tweeted about the ebook a couple of times so far (and will continue to send tweets related to the book). I was glad to see that some people retweeted the link. One of those people has a Twitter list of nearly 5,000 names.

Email Newsletter: I sent an email newsletter out to about 4,500 people. I mentioned it in that newsletter twice since the book went live.

Personal Emails: I sent personal emails to a select list of my contacts with a link to the ebook. Most of these emails included some personal message so that they would know that I was writing to them and not sending out a blast e-mail.

LinkedIn: I mentioned this book on LinkedIn. (500+ people).

Facebook: I posted a link on my business Facebook page at http://www.FaceBook.com/rickmaureronchange (275+ people)

Open Source Project: Before starting the Facebook page, I created the Change Management Open Source Project. It had over 1000 members at the time I made the switch to Facebook. I sent an announcement about The Magic List to that original list a couple of times.

Speaker Bureaus: I sent a hard copy of the ebook to a list of about 40 speaker bureaus. I wanted them to see just how good the book looked. (My designer did a great job.) I figured that they were likely to at least open an envelope and see the cover. I thought that just sending a link in an email would have a much lower open and click-through rate.

I plan to continue all of the social media activities listed above and expand that work by applying John Kremer’s 15,000 Eyeballs approach. This article is the first step in that process.

About the Author

Rick Maurer is an advisor to leaders in mid-sized to large organizations on ways to build support for change. In addition to this ebook, he is author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance (1996 and 2010), Why Don’t You Want What I Want? 2002), and Feedback Toolkit (1994 and 2011).

You can email him at rick@rickmaurer.com. You can read and download The Magic List at: http://www.rickmaurer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/TheMagicList-V1.pdf.

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3 Reasons to Social Network to Build Your Author Platform

Guest post by Nina Amir

Social networking can be a time sink, but it doesn't have to be. More importantly, social networking is a publicity must for any author. There are platforms to be built on social networks. You can build one there.

If you want to build your author platform, start here:

Create a Fan Base on Major Social Networks.

Set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. Your fans on these networks might later purchase your book. They also may circulate the information you post—the links to your blog posts, the date of your book release, the times and places where you are speaking or teaching. This allows their followers to read your status updates and click on your links, which, in turn, increases the chance that new people might check you out, read your blog, subscribe to your newsletter, follow you, purchase your book, etc.

Develop Expert Status.

Every time you participate in forums and groups, such as those on Facebook and LinkedIn, or in any way post information about your topic, you demonstrate your expertise and give other people in those groups, forums, and social networks a chance to notice this. They will look at your profile. They will click on the links you have provided and then possibly choose to subscribe to your blog, follow, or connect with you on a social network, or in some way become fans.

Increase Your Searchability.

Work to increase the searchability of your name, your book title, and your website or blog. Each time you join a network, you create a profile that includes a link that can be found in search engines. This profile also may have a place to link back to your website or blog, which can increase traffic to your blogged book. Most profiles also can include your name, your book title, and your website.Because social networks already rank highly in search engines, your profiles make all of your information more findable via searches.

All three of the above features of social networks are key reasons why you need to get involved in social networking.



About the Author

The author of ten books, including How to Blog a Book, Nina Amir is an editor, consultant, and coach. Her clients’ books have sold 230,000+ copies and landed deals with top publishers. The founder of Write Nonfiction in November, she writes four blogs and two Examiner.com columns.

For information on her services, visit CopyWright Communications. To find all her blogs, go to http://www.ninaamir.com.

5 Ways Authors Can Profit from Linked In

Here's a great article from Mahesh Grossman:

LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, just changed my life.

To be honest, until a few weeks ago, I never took it seriously. From time to time a friend or an acquaintance would ask me to link with them, and I would, but I didn't understand what to do with my network. In fact, I'm not sure I ever invited anyone to link with me.

Now I understand some of the power of this tool -- and it's especially useful for authors. So here are five ways you can use LinkedIn to help you write, publish, and promote your book:

1) Ask for help with your content, including websites and people to interview.

LinkedIn has a feature where you get to ask questions, either of your network or of people in a particular industry. I am working on an ebook that will be a list of a particular group of sites. I asked the network where to find more of these sites and I got an amazing response that made this ebook my top priority. But you could also ask a question like "Do you know how I could find people to interview for my book who have a successful arranged marriage?". Not only would you get suggestions on where to find people to interview, anyone with a successful arranged marriage would be likely to offer to be interviewed.

It's also possible that people have already asked questions on your topic, so if you search the Answers section using appropriate keywords, you are likely to find some usable information as well.

2) Get introduced to famous authors and ask for testimonials.

I am shocked at how many famous authors are on LinkedIn. I have a few bestelling authors as direct links myself -- and I am only one introduction away, meaning someone in my network can introduce me -- from several authors who have sold more than ten million books -- and there aren't that many authors who have done that. So if you were to join LinkedIn and link to me, you would be one level away from the bestselling authors I know, and two people away from these authors who have sold massive quantities of books. That's pretty amazing. So if you have high quality work that has been vetted by a professional coach (one that has been published by traditional publishers!), you could approach a very big name author through LinkedIn.

3) Have a particular agent you want to be introduced to? There are 326 agents on LinkedIn.

I did a search on the term "literary agent" and found 326. I wouldn't try to get introduced to all of them, but you do your homework and find a particular agent that is the most likely to be interested in your work, it could be a good way to make a connection. Once again, you have to really have studied the publishing business and know what you are doing to make this work. But it is an interesting strategy. (And I know of a number of editors from major publishing houses who are also on LinkedIn.)

4) Want publicity? There are lots of periodical editors and TV producers you can network with.

I know several publicists on LinkedIn, and some are connected to top editors and producers. Want to get in Time magazine or Sports Illustrated? There are writers and editors from those publications. Want to get on national television? Once again, you can reach out and try to connect with these folks, who are also on LinkedIn.

5) Want to connect to people who might help market your book? Ask the right question.

Once again, LinkedIn Answers gives you the opportunity to ask how to do something, and let people volunteer to help you. Ask a question like "I'm the author of a book about living a balanced life. I would like to be interviewed on 50 teleseminars this year. How do I find people who might want to host me on a teleseminar?" Whatever your goal is, ask how you can do it, or find people to help you. Some good Samaritans will come forward and say, "I'd be happy to have you on a teleseminar."

So those are five ways to work with LinkedIn.com. The bigger your network, easier it is to get help.

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Mahesh Grossman is the author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger (http://www.writeabooktoday.com) and president of The Authors Team (http://www.AuthorsTeam.com), a company that helps credible business experts become incredible business authors, through ghostwriting, editing, coaching, publishing, publicity and marketing. For a free list of more than 400 agents as well as a newsletter with tips on planning, writing, publishing and marketing your book, go to http://www.getanagentnow.com.

Meanwhile, check out John Kremer's LinkedIn page and become a friend: http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkremer.

How to Use LinkedIn and Other Connections Websites

Guy Kawasaki, author of The Art of the Start, has blogged about Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn in his How to Change the World Blog. His tips apply to other connector websites as well. Read his blog here: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn.