You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Networking

"I get by with a little help from my friends" -The Beatles

Networking. It sounds so…so…buzz…so corporate…so Hollywood…or, at the very least, like something- gulp- scary. But, on the contrary, it can actually be rather simple and painless.

Remember that old Breck shampoo commercial in the 1970’s: “And they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on”? That’s networking!

I am suspecting most of you have at least two friends. Think about this: suppose you told those two friends about your book, and that it’s available in January through your publisher in their online bookstore (http://www.dppstore.com/ – yeah, that’s a plug for us too…Every bit of marketing counts, you know.). If they don’t ask you about it, tell them about it (a very enthusiastic tone would be helpful), and also ask them to tell two friends (of course, you don’t have to limit how many people you tell- it’s just that two sounds really simple- not so scary).

Also, think about “friends you haven’t yet met”. Attending open mic readings, poetry slams, author lectures/book signings, writers’ conferences, and joining writers’ workshops gives you the opportunity to make friends and supporters within a community of like-minded people and people who do what you’re doing. And they also know people you don't. They might tell two friends, and you never know who those friends could be- avid readers, radio show talk hosts, bookstore owners...yada, yada. Think: community, collaboration, connections. C ? How great is that?!

Of course as Astrid Cooper cautions in her essay on Marketing and Self Promotion (you can read it in full at http://www.twighlighttimes.com/ACooper4a.html): “…if one approaches making friends with the idea of ‘they can be useful’, then nothing will ever come of such a relationship.” But exploring new outlets and keeping an open mind will surely lead to you meeting new people. When an authentic chance meeting happens or a new friendship develops through commonalities- well…as Cooper also states “[that’s] Karma. Fate. A universal scheme? Luck?...you decide.”