Blast O' Joy

A Parable about Asking for What You want

Some years ago, when I was promoting the Ballantine edition of my book, How Much Joy Can You Stand?, I had a fantastic crisis. It was fantastic because it reminded me of a truth as old as the hills: when all seems lost, just ask.

Basically, the worst thing that can possibly happen to an author (and a publicist) happened. I actually forgot an interview. It was just one of those mornings when I had a houseful of guests. In fact, I was busy serving blueberry pancakes when it struck me that something was wrong ... something was very wrong.

Just like Miss Clavel in the children's book, Madeline, I ran fast and faster towards my office, trying to figure out the disaster. When I got there, I fumbled through my file and saw that I'd been scheduled for an interview on a Colorado radio station at 9:05 AM, and it was now 10:05 AM! I could feel the bottom of my stomach drop out.

How was I going to face Joanne, my beloved, trusted publicist who had worked so hard to schedule the interview? And how was I going to face the folks at Ballantine who were counting on me to show up and do my part? I just stood there, doing my best to curse quietly so the children, and houseguests, wouldn't hear me.

For a good twenty minutes, I hung around my office avoiding calling Joanne. Blueberry pancakes and my houseguests were totally forgotten. Instead, my mind was full of excuses, which The Big G (my friendly name for God) kept patiently answering. The conversation went like this:

ME: It was only 7AM on the West Coast. I can't call NOW.

THE BIG G: Joanne would be at work already, as she has to be on East Coast time often to do her job.

ME: I've already blown it, right? So why bother calling anyone? 

THE BIG G: You never know, Suzanne.

ME: I just can't tell her... I can't. She'll kill me.

THE BIG G: Joanne will not kill you. She'll help you.

ME: But remember the other time -- when the station gave my publicist the wrong time? Remember how mad the DJ was when I got him on the phone? That guy yelled at me!

THE BIG G: Everyone's different, dear.

Finally, I called. Joanne was not mad and certainly did not try to leap through the phone and kill me. In fact, she was the essence of grace under pressure and said, quite sanely, "The host is a really nice guy. Call him up. He'll probably put you on."

So I girded my loins again, dialed, and explained to the man why I was an hour and twenty minutes late. "Can you hold on?" he asked, and two minutes later I was doing the interview, marveling at the fact that all I had to do was ask.

So often we assume we 'know' how it's all going to turn out. We're completely certain of future results, and base our information on previous circumstances that have little to do with the here and now.

I'm here to say that we don't necessarily know a thing -- all we can do is ask and try, ask and try, no matter how scary it seems. Otherwise, the only certainty is that we've once again caved into our fear and stayed stuck, instead of moving forward.

Or, as the sign a friend has above her desk says, "Just Ask".

After my interview, I called Joanne back and told her how it all turned out. "This is so great!" I gushed, "I can write about it in the Joy Letter."

"Fine," Joanne replied. "But don't miss anymore interviews, okay? Even for your newsletter."

Tags: publicity, self promotion, radio interviews

How to Be Appropriate on a Blog

I'm learning a lot teaching my 'Blog Your Way to a Bestseller' course with Andy Wibbels. In particular, it's fun observing what Andy calls the 'Geek Underground Etiquette Among Bloggers'. This is the practice of not going on blogs and leaving spammy comments that sell stuff. Or ingratiating yourself with bloggers just so you can sell something to their people.

Instead, you need to be an upright blogging citizen. Andy says: 'operate from the right place of integrity and it all works'. I actually think most people who violate those little rules above simply don't know how the game is played - after all, it's all pretty new, right?

I love that spreading the word about your blog simply means going out, making (honest-to-God) friends, introducing yourself here and there, and letting yourself be heard. That's neat!

Five More Things You Can Do Right Now to Build Platform

1. Learn how to optimize your site for search engines. Remember those keywords we were just talking about. Well, there are lots of cool tricks you can do with them that help boost your attractiveness to search engines, who will deliver almost 80% of your traffic, according to experts. For one thing, forget splashy banners and try text ads with a few keywords inserted into your home page (basically just a box with text in it.) Plant 6 or 7 key phrases throughout the copy … three times appears to be a magic number. Then be sure to create a site map of your website, and put the link down in the footer. On the site map, give keyword-imbedded descriptions of each link on your site. SE's love that!

2. Create free articles and learn where to submit them. One of the really great things about the Web is that you can write an article, and shoot it out there to thousands and thousands of readers in a matter of a few hours. Be sure to include an optimized 'bio box' at the end which includes your name and URL, but also bold, hyperlinked keywords that can attract search engine attention. When you order my ebook, Get Known Now; How to Build Your Platform as a Self Help Expert, you get a bonus of several databases including a list of more than 90 article banks, syndicators, and distribution sites to submit your article to.

3. Create a media kit. This is a two-pocket envelope with a fast, easy to read précis of just who you are, what publicity you've already gotten, and why the media should know about you. Include press releases, reviews, tip sheets, bios, site or product write ups, any press mentions, and your head shot.

4. Book some free talks and workshops. Nothing connects with an audience like a little piece of you. Appearing live is not only a chance to make a more forceful impression on your audience, it's a great reason to attract local media …and rack up clippings for your media kit and reel. (See below.) Start small with local venues like the Kiwanis Club or Business & Professional Women's Associate

5. Start a blog. Just like this one! Once you’ve got a brand in place and a sense of your niche and market, set up a blog. Use it to define your voice, get clear on your offer, and learn more about your market. They come with way more search engine optimization already built in. In fact – you can learn all about why blogs are the best way to create best selling products in a free teleclass I did with Andy Wibbels. Blog on!

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to building your platform and getting known in the world. For more information on doing what it takes to become famous in your field, check out my site at www.getknownnow.com

Five Things You Can Do to Build Platform Now

So here’s my to-do list for you on how to get your platform strong and solid now – and build that national audience you’d like for your dream work.

1. Research and carve out an ironclad niche. Get clear on who you are, what you do, and what pre-existing problem you solve. Then put that niche into words with a brand name or phrase. Don't be just another vanilla coach who wants to 'help people live authentically.' Research your niche on the Yahoo, Google and Amazon.com to find out just who else is doing similar work. Then look for ways to separate yourself from the pack.

2. Identify your market. Before you can begin connecting with your audience, you'd better find out who they are. Then you can best tailor your efforts to hone in and find them. What sorts of magazines do they read? What kinds of life changes are they going through? What sorts of websites would they hang around at? Create an R&D group of friends or associates to survey for this information.

3. Research your best keywords. Keywords and phrases are the meat and potatoes of Internet marketing, and a great entry point for finding your audience. Go to www.wordtracker.com and use their services for a day to really dig into which keywords get more traffic, and which get less. Experts advise using uncrowded key phrases that are a bit 'off' (i.e. 'New York literary agent' instead of 'literary agent'.) These will produce a steady stream of hits, but you won't be competing with (literally) 50,000+ other sites for attention.

4. Get the best URL. Try to reserve a URL and site name that reflect your best keywords. Yes, having a fun name can be helpful, but a clear name will do a lot more for you. Especially if it has a keyword imbedded in it (and in the URL.) That makes Search Engines happy, and will do lots to help you down the road as you distribute articles, etc.. Think benefit benefit benefit. Good site URL's we've found, for example, are "Successnet.org" and "Selfimprovement.com". Your target market is more likely to find you (at least in the beginning) through this, than through your name.

5. Get a terrific headshot. Not enough can be said for biting the bullet and hiring a genuine, professional photographer. (Not the guy at Sears with the veiny grey backdrop.) You can find location photographers who shoot portraits on the side through websites like alltimefavorites.com

You can learn more and find more tools about building platform at www.getknownnow.com or my platform blog at www.painlessselfpromotion.com

How to Attract National Media & Publishers to Your Creative Work

As some of you know, I have this whole other line of work that helps anyone – particularly creative professionals – package themselves so they build a solid platform.

What... pray tell... is a platform?

A platform is what you stand for in the marketplace - your carefully defined niche … AND it's how many people out there know about it, and you. 'Platform' is the industry buzz word literary agents, TV bookers, magazine and newspaper editors, and just about everybody in the media uses when determining whether or not to feature you or do business with you.

As in "Nice idea... but what's the author's platform?"

Platform is what separates you from the pack; without it, you can kiss mainstream book deals, interviews, columns, and air time good bye. More than one literary agent and editor in major publishing has told me they seldom consider proposals for books or columns from writers with no platform.

Why? There are several answers, depending on whom you ask.

Book industry types need authors with platform because the publishing houses no longer have marketing money for books besides those at the top of their lists. That means they rely on unpaid publicity to sell books, i.e. airtime on radio and TV, and write ups in newspapers, magazines and websites.

Meanwhile, radio and print media folks are simply looking for the next big thing - or trying to anticipate trends. So if they run across an author or self-help expert with a platform that is quickly brewing, they're interested.

In addition, TV and other major media bookers need to know that the guest they trot out in front of millions is a proven entity, so they tend to really check you out in advance. They want you to have a website, media clips, a great press kit, a video reel. Your platform works as a kind of public pre-approval which reassures media bookers. And all of these folks have less time to do more, so they need everything they're offered to be laser-like in it's intensity and clarity, easy to access, and loaded with reasons why. A big platform certainly helps get the point across faster that you're someone to feature.

So your ability to 'break out', as it's known in the media, is not about the nobility of your cause or even, ultimately... sigh... the depth and quality of your work. It's all about how many people already know who you are and what you do. Like right now. Before all that great TV and magazine exposure.

This has to be this century's biggest catch-22, because how can your work actually get known unless you impress all those folks listed above?

The good news is that you can. Developing a platform is a straightforward affair that requires mainly focus, patience, and stick-to-itiveness … all qualities that are easy to conjure up when you're passionate about your work.

I’ll be running more on platform building tomorrow … do check back!