by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Five Things Friday

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Five Things Friday

You know those moments when you know what you know, you just didn’t know you knew it until someone else turns on the light bulb? Yeah. That’s how the new career is lighting up my world lately. And it’s ahh-mazing. It’s like a triple-caffeine-intake while racing the Indy 500 through LA Traffic and surviving kind of high. It is that kind of awesome sauce.

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Which Bulb are You?

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Which Bulb are You?

So, I’m still doing the writing thing, still doing the editing thing. But as you can tell, I’m also still doing the marketing thing. And this new career keeps reaffirming that I know what I’m doing. How’s that for sweet in me tea. (Oh, please. Y’all know it’s not a week unless I mention my sweet tea.)

BEE the Zebra is super excited, too. Because while NIPPERS is all about the media, y’all just know BEE is all about the marketing.

Frankly, My Dear . . . : BEE the Zebra has a plan

Frankly, My Dear . . . : BEE the Zebra has a plan

Now, whether you’re a writer, editor, quilter, clothes salesperson or dog walker, we can at least all agree that we’d have, like, zero business if it weren’t for marketing, am I right? And whether you have a team behind you, or you run a do-it-yourself ad campaign, here’s a few things I know.

So grab yourself a glass of that goodness and relax while I share with you five prominent marketing ideas.

  1. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. And again. And again. Word of Mouth Advertising only works if you open your mouth. You can’t very well be a dazzling zebra if you don’t let anyone see or share your stripes, now, can you?
    Frankly, My Dear . . . : Word of Mouth Advertising only works if you open your mouth.

    Frankly, My Dear . . . : Word of Mouth Advertising only works if you open your mouth.


  2. Brand Awareness. This was a fun one for me to name. Because I love love love helping others find, and maintain, their online identity. You are not your brand. Well, sometimes you are, but not really. You have so many facets. And like most people, you keep a good portion of your private life, well, private. But if you were to poll your peeps, most of them could easily give you five to ten traits that make you, you. From those, you can easily curate your brand. It should be the image you want to publicly reflect. When people think these things, they should think of you. That’s the power of branding.
  3. Needs Analysis. Holy cow, is that a fancy way of saying, “How can I help you?” A needs analysis is a term that’s been used for years. It basically is the LEGO connector between what you need and what someone else has to offer. Offer-Person says, “Let’s discuss this.” And Need-Person says, “This is where I’m at, and this is where I want to go.” So Offer-Person creates some strategies to help get you there. The information is the needs analysis, the diagnostic appointment to get the ball rolling.
  4. Pivoting. We all do this. And as fiction writers we’re especially good at it. This is where Person A says, “I need Item A.” But Person B, who knows more about the situation, says, “I agree. Let’s take care of this and then let’s talk about that.” See? You went from A to B with just a turn of the page. Writers pivot every time we ask you to believe our characters then put them into turmoil. We cause you to read on, with different expectations. [Note to self: Stop letting Josie get into so much trouble in NOLA. no spoilers!]
  5. Audience Engagement. Do I really have to explain this? Nope. But I do want to discuss it. This of course is when you get your peeps involved. You’re nothing without your audience . . . Unless you sing in the shower. And while most of us like the acoustics, do we really want to stop there? Not at all. We all have gifts, talents, product, merchandise, you-name-it-we-got-it stuff that we want to share with others. So we need to make sure we’re actually sharing it, and not just laying it down. It’s a hand-off, a relay-race if you will. Get your people involved and they’re more apt to pass the baton to someone else (that’s the referral).
Frankly, My Dear . . . Are you ready to run the marketing race?

Frankly, My Dear . . . Are you ready to run the marketing race?

So now it’s your turn: What are some of your marketing tips and tricks?

TWEET THIS: Frankly, My Dear . . . : Are you ready to run the #marketing race? @RealMojo68 #FiveThingsFriday

With high top running shoes and a bejeweled baton,
Happy Marketing!
~Molly Jo

And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!

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