Phases of Marketing?

Pam Robertson · Subject: Re: Phases of Marketing? Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:09 am

Sue this is a great tip! Thanks for adding it. Someone told me once that the marketing plan for my business was actually far more important than my business plan, and so I spend about 80% of my planning time on marketing and about 20% on aspects of the business plan. I think that helps me to work ON my business rather than strictly IN my business. At the same time though, it's challenging to figure out what is right, and as you say, at which stage to start hair pulling.

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Sue Durkin · Subject: Phases of Marketing? Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:49 am

I believe there are phases of marketing. It starts out with the "oh crap" and ends with "well done".

The "oh crap" is when you realize that you and only you are responsible for getting your book into the hands of the public; and you don't any of the knowledge and expertise you need. You then move towards actually learning what basic marketing is all about. Next you have to learn how to apply it to selling a book. Then there is learning how to apply that to the genre of your book. Marketing for fiction and non-fiction is not the same. I don't care what anyone says. It just isn't. Even marketing within those genres is different.

After the knowledge comes the application of what you have learned. I hope you have learned it well, because it is a jungle out there: literally. Everyday you hear of someone doing something different from what you learned or even from what you are doing. Should you try that? Should you abandon what has been working for you for something new that might bring in better results? Then again, it may not. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

So now you are applying your knowledge. Now the waiting begins. Does it work? Have you learned all there is to know? Have you chosen the right path of marketing? How long will it take? Should I start pulling my hair out now or wait six months?

Marketing is like everything else. What you put into it is what you get out of it. I don't mean just the time. I mean the effort and the expertise. No matter how much time you put into your marketing if you haven't learned what is best for your book, your genre, you will be pulling your hair out (if you have any left by now) for years.

So sit down. Make a list of your marketing phases. Then take each one and decide what needs to be done. Lastly, do it! That is when the well done comes into play.

That's all there is to marketing.

Good Luck! And happy marketing!

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