I work with a ministry that self-publishes its own books. These are posted on our website, displayed at ministry-related conferences, and mentioned to donors via print and email. How can we expand our market?
It depends. (For those of you following this blog regularly, I hope that made you smile.)
It depends on a number of factors. In this case the question is more specific to non-fiction authors, thus my answer will focus on that genre.
Platform
The key to any market reach in today’s world is platform. That can be defined as the size of the audience who are interested in your material.
In this case the person who asked did not say if the books were from the head of the ministry or if the books were by various people within the organization. It makes a difference. A visible “spokesperson” can set the level of opportunity.
Ministries are often headed by someone who either founded it or has been named the chosen successor. Campus Crusade (now called CRU) was founded by Bill Bright. Over the years the ministry grew into an international one. For years, any new book by Bill Bright got a lot of attention in the marketplace because he was so well known and admired.
Before Dr. Bright passed away the organization wisely set up a succession plan so that the ministry continues to thrive today. The difference is that if you are not part of CRU I doubt you could name the head of the organization. Thus the “platform” of a personality that can reach beyond the ministry via the publishing of books is not as much of a factor.
If a ministry plans to use their publications as a strategy platform (visibility) is a key.
Content
What you are writing about must also resonate. If the ministry is very specific in focus and quite small, like a ministry to men who like to watch Equestrian competitions, then the books will have a limited market no matter what you do. (I’m being silly, of course, to make the point.)
Take a look at the books you are writing. Do they have a wide reach? And if so, what makes them unique? If it is yet another book on evangelism, or doctrine, or prayer, or marriage, you will naturally be wrestling for attention against a bunch of similar books.
Consider creating some free content. Something that is well crafted, attractively produced, and yet something that delivers well. Something that the reader is happy they provided their email for in exchange for the free book.
We have attempted to do this with the Christian Writers Institute by offering a free PDF booklet on book proposal preparation (see the sign up page on the web site).
One writer who has continually been successful with his content is Jeff Goins. Visit his site and listen to his advice.
Consistency
Once you have the attention of a new reader be consistent with the content you provide.
You don’t have to blog every day like we do (but we have four writers to draw from), but putting something out regularly is a way to build new readership over time when your words are shared with others.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve visited a potential author’s web site and found an abandoned blog. The last post is over a year old. That suggested this author is no longer engaged with their reader. If you’ve done this either 1) remove the date from your blog posts 2) remove the blog from your web site. Some authors switch to Facebook for their reader engagement, which is fine, but don’t forget about you own web site.
Much depends on the nature of your ministry as to what should go out on a regular basis. While you may think “We’ve already written about this topic” realize that today is a different audience than the ones who saw that post three years ago. Maybe it’s time to refresh that previous post and bring it back to the top.
Build That Mailing List
Today’s question mentioned a donor list which is a great start. And may be all you really need. But if you want to reach new readers there needs to be additional efforts to find new readers who want your content. Buying Facebook ads or Google ads is only one strategy (albeit a bit of a shot in the dark).
When I bought Marcher Lord Press in late 2014 they had developed a healthy email list that was of high quality and very responsive. After rebranding the company as Enclave Publishing our focus was to try to build the list. We redsigned the web site from the ground up and then used a number of online campaigns like an online sweepstakes and other content giveaways. In 18 months we quadrupled the list. The best part is that the “open rate” percentage of the list remained the same. In other words those who signed up wanted to hear from us.
Tom Morkes has an excellent article I recommend that all authors read regarding the building of their email list: (The Author Email List)
Kimberley Grabas also has a good article to review: (A Writers Guide to an Email List)
Author Media has great tips on what to put in the newsletter you send to that list (8 Elements of an Effective Newsletter)
Your Turn:
What tips can you provide to the readers of this blog?
What resources can you tell us about that help people develop or grow an existing platform?
Dark Friday
The only additional suggestion I can make to this excellent article is that after a while, you don’t own your social media presence; your readers do. They are your investors, and they have a say in what you write.
Perhaps not a direct vote, but they’ve given the currency of time in exchange forgetting to know you, and you, as a writer, are beholden to give them a message that is consistent in content and voice, even when you don’t feel like it.
There are days I don’t feel optimistic; there are days I don’t want to blog at all. But I now that there are people out there who DO read what I write, regularly, and delivering either a self-indulgent message of despair or leaving a day blank isn’t a good option.
I can be honest; my current post is. I’m frankly terrified by physical circumstance, and of that state to which it may progress. That’s fair game. But to use my readers as a safety valve for venting some of the sorrow and bitterness that is, after all, a passing atmosphere of the heart…no. It’s not right.
Andrew,
Glad to see you, and I appreciate that while you are honest, you don’t pass along sorrow and bitterness to your readers. You are careful about that, and I admire you for that.
Steve, still learning and building my own platform. The view from here finds,
“it depends” refreshing! Wide smile.
Like Andrew, I’m finding that writing’s the thing. After all, it’s the reader first, right?
Beyond grateful for you and your four agency writers posts here. 🙂
Steve, I just looked at the Tom Morkes article and the Author Media checklist and subscribed to both. These are truly excellent resources!
I’m getting enough visitors to my author website (a Roman history site because I write Roman Empire historicals) to keep it on page 1 or 2 at Google for some of my article pages. Today I have #4 for Roman empire crime and punishment and #1 for Roman indigestion at Google, but almost no one signs up for my emails. I’m looking forward to trying some of what the sources you gave us recommend.
Thanks for all the great help you give us here!
Thank you, Steve, for this post and the smile from “it depends.” 🙂
I’ve been wondering how to expand my platform and you’ve given me a lot to think about. I’ll check on those articles you noted.
Two questions I have:
Do you think it’s cheesy to hand out business cards for a blog? I’ve met so many people and thought how convenient that might be. But I don’t want to come off pushy or, well, cheesy.
And my second question deals with speaking. Do you think public speaking at events is a good way to expand my market? I’ve done a little of this (very little) but wondered if that might be an area to stretch into. I’ve noticed writers’ websites sometimes state that he or she is an “author and speaker.” How exactly does a person branch into that area? (Oops…I asked a third question.)
Thanks again for all of your advice. I’m excited to grow and see what God has in store for my writing.
This is one of your best posts ever, Steve. The links to newsletter marketing are terrific. I’ve saved them all and downloaded the free information. Thank you so much for an informative post.
Thank you Bonnie. “Best ever”? High praise indeed.
As usual . . . I’m late to the table. But this was a great post!
Wanted to add couple details from my own experience in support of your points on using incentives to build a platform of followers (specifically an email list). The best investment I ever made was taking two weeks to write a prequel to my debut novel and get it professionally edited. Cost me $50. It’s also built an email list of 1,500 subscribers in the past several months. Through FB lead generation ads, I’ve been adding subscribers for roughly 50 cents per subscriber, and I “sponsored” a YouTube video that generated 250 subscribers in 24 hours. The YouTube video will likely indefinitely generate 3 subscribers per day (it has been for weeks), and I now have nearly 500 from it–all because I was able to leverage an incentive that took two weeks and $50 to create. It’s worth it to develop a strategy to build your platform. Now I know that within about a month, and an initial investment of $1,500, I could have an email list of about 4,000 subscribers, an open rate of 25-30%, and an overall click-through rate between 5% and 7.5%. Hope this is helpful to someone! Blessings!