April 2018
I recently learned that the name April comes from the Latin Aprilis, the etymology of which is most likely from aperire, meaning ‘to open’, alluding to the month when trees start getting leaves again and flowers begin to open. After a long, cold winter, April always feels like rejuvenation to me, with the temperature climbing, the daylight hours lengthening and the flowers blooming, even though April can be cold and wet.
A few other interesting tidbits about April:
- The birth flower is the daisy;
- The birthstone is the diamond;
- It is National Poetry Month as well as Financial Literacy Month, National Volunteer Month and Jazz Appreciation Month, among other observances.
In this month’s newsletter, you can read about how to run a successful book launch. If you’ve run a book launch, I would appreciate learning how it went for you, what worked well and what didn’t. Just email me at judy@skillbites.net or call 610-783-4519.
For those authors interested in becoming speakers, tune in to this month’s SkillBites Show, where you’ll learn how to get paid speaking engagements from the head of the Atlantic branch of the Canadian Association for Professional Speakers. Read more below.
1. New Publication
SkillBites will soon be publishing Rick Itzkowich’s The Referral Playbook: How to Increase Sales with Proven Networking Strategies. A former CEO and business owner of 2 successful companies, Rick is a Vistage Chair, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author and an official member of the Forbes Coaches Council and recognized Forbes CommunityVoice™ Contributor. His book provides a step-by-step guide for how to turn referrals and connections made at networking events into prospects and ultimately into customers. As stated in the Foreword, written by Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, “I believe if you follow the plays Rick has laid out—from embracing the right networking mindset all the way through applying simple sales ratio formulas for your day-to-day sales actions, your business revenues will improve exponentially.”
2. The SkillBites Show
Each month, we bring you an expert to help you get your book done, leverage your book, grow your business or improve your life. The shows are recorded, so if you can’t listen to one live, you can listen to the recording by clicking here.
Our next SkillBites Show will be held on April 18, at 1 pm ET. Our guest will be Cathleen Fillmore,owner of Speakers Gold and a top marketing consultant to professional speakers. Her clients include owners of global businesses, NY Times best-selling authors, speakers in the Hall of Fame and a couple of reformed rascals.
Cathleen is also the founder and past President of the Atlantic branch of the Canadian Association for Professional Speakers, and she has written five books as well as hundreds of articles for North American trade magazines. She will speak on how to get paid professional speaking engagements. She will cut to the chase and show you how to do well in this fascinating field.
To listen to the live presentation, you can call in at (641) 715-3660, Access Code: 467398.
Last month we heard from Rick Itzkowich, a successful millionaire entrepreneur who creates turnkey lead-generating products to meet today’s demand for tools to increase your business. Rick shared tips on how to increase sales with proven networking strategies. If you missed this presentation, you can listen to it by clicking here, or you can read some of the tips from this show on the SkillBites blog at http://resources.skillbites.net/blog/.
SAVE THE DATE: Next month, the SkillBites Show will be on May 16 from 1 to 2 ET. Our guest will be Julie Friedman Bacchini, president of Neptune Moon, LLC. Julie is a master of digital marketing, with particular strength in the Analytics and helping clients gain powerful insights from their data. In this show, Julie will cover the basics of two types of paid advertising on Facebook – promotions and ads, and explain how to best use them to reach your target audiences. At the end of the session, you will understand the types of audience targeting available as well as how to track basic results from your promotions and ads.
3. Tip of the Month: Conducting a Book Launch
A great way to get the word out about your book publication as well as to celebrate your publication is to do a book launch. There are many different types of book launches: small cocktail parties, large banquets, book signings, online launches via social media and blogs, and free book campaigns, to name just a few. What kind of launch you should have depends on your objective for the launch, the preferences of your target audience, how much effort you want to put into it and how much money you want to spend on it.
A lot of planning has to go into doing a successful launch. First, identify a launch date. To make sure your book is done and available before the launch, plan it at least a few months after the anticipated publication date. You’ll need a good 3 months to plan the launch anyway. Try to find a date that is connected with your subject matter – e.g., for a book about motivating employees, find out if there is an employee appreciation day near the date of publication. You can go to HolidayInsights.com for a list of holidays.
Next, figure out where you want to hold your launch, and whether it will be an online launch, offline party, or both. Decide whether you want your launch to be serious or fun. Will you serve any refreshments, provide any entertainment, give a speech? How long will the launch be? Will you ask anybody else to speak?
Once you’ve decided on a date and the type of launch, next you want to get the word out. Send out invites, evites, press releases, emails, social media, local listservs, networking groups, flyers, direct mail.
If you are going to do an online book launch, try to find some joint venture partners who have the same target market but offer a different product or service. For example, if you offer coaching services for people in transition, maybe partner with a headhunter or resume writing service. Have each partner offer a freebie such as a discount off their services, or a free consult – anything that would be of value to your target audience. Anyone who purchases your book during the launch would receive all the freebies, incenting them to purchase your book. The benefit to each JV partner is they gain exposure to the lists of everyone else, and anyone who chooses their partake of their freebie then joins their list.
Decide if you want to hand out bookmarks or other useful items that have your book’s name and where to purchase it. Make sure you have lots of copies of your book to sell and autograph at your launch. SkillBites can help you plan your launch and get you the print copies of your book as well as bookmarks or other products that you desire.
Don’t forget the follow-up campaign – try to get the contact info of everyone who purchases your book on the day of your book launch. Find out if they liked the book (and might give a testimonial), or if they want more information or services. Consider offering a discount, or invite them to participate in a workshop; try to up sell them.
4. How are you promoting your book?
What have you been doing to promote your book? I’d love to hear what has been working for you, or if you’ve tried different marketing tactics that haven’t gotten you the results you desire. I’ve been developing a course on how to market and leverage your book, and your feedback as to what has worked or what hasn’t would be very helpful for me. You can email me at judy@skillbites.net, or call me at 610-783-4519. For those who share what they’ve been doing, I’ll return the favor with some additional ideas that they could try.
5. Earn Commissions For Referrals
Do you know anyone who has been wanting to write a book but has been stalling? Let them know that SkillBites offers a variety of services to make book writing and publishing easy, quick and convenient. When you sign up to be a SkillBites affiliate, you can get a commission for each person who signs up to purchase SkillBites services through your unique referral link.
Thanks for supporting SkillBites. If there is anything you think we ought to be doing better or anything we should be doing that we’re not, please let us know. We value your input.
Cordially,
