I got a huge response to my last post, Why Do Many Artists & Writers Hate Self-Promotion?, including several active discussions on various LinkedIn groups. Self-promotion is a very hot topic! Many of the people who commented on the post talked about their shyness, self-doubts, the unworthiness of their creativity, and other barriers to promoting themselves and their work. One of the biggest concerns was whether or not self-promotion was really effective. Well, let's find out...
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DOES SELF-PROMOTION REALLY WORK?
LET’S TRY IT AND FIND OUT
I got a huge response to my last post, Why Do Many Artists & Writers Hate Self-Promotion?, including several active discussions on various LinkedIn groups.
Self-promotion is a very hot topic!
Many of the people who commented on the post talked about their shyness, self-doubts, the unworthiness of their creativity, and other barriers to promoting themselves and their work. One of the biggest concerns was whether or not self-promotion was really effective. Many questioned whether self-promotion on websites like Facebook and LinkedIn really got results or was just an exercise in ego inflation and hot-air distribution.
There’s only one way to find out. Let’s try it.
A few months ago I wrote a short little book called “The GOOD Book” which I self-published on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. It has nothing to do with the bible or any other holy book. It’s a non-religious inspirational writing about the power of the word “good”. It's packed with “good” common sense that, if utilized, cannot help but create “good” things for one’s self, family and environment. I dedicated it to my sorely missed friend, Jim Henson, who closed a letter to me with the words, “Go forth and do good things”.
Jim’s words have inspired me ever since. And my little book is an attempt to carry on his spirit of kindness and do what he told me to do.
Now, to do this experiment I need your help. I think you know where I’m going with this. I need you to go to Amazon and buy my book.
Does this sound self-serving? Am I just doing this “experiment” so you’ll buy my book? In one sense, yes, it is, and yes, I am. Isn’t there an attempt to convince someone to buy our product in any promotion we do? But in another sense I’m trying to break open the flow of communication by getting you to buy so you’ll be an active participant in what must be a two-way flow of communication. A marketplace does not work if only one side in the buy-sell partnership is active. What this means in that in order for self-promotion to work for you, you must be willing to help it work for others.
My goal is twofold: One is to see if, by the use of promotion on this blog, Facebook and LinkedIn, I can get my little book to go viral. The other is to hopefully prove to you that self-promotion can work it if you’re creative, have a valuable product to sell, and promote it.
The success of this experiment will, of course, come down to the quality of my little book. If it’s good it should generate some word of mouth and sell. If not, it won’t.
If you think it’s good I ask that you give it a good review on Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn or anywhere else you like. Spread the word. This is how promotion works. And this is what will make this experiment work...or not.
You don’t have to have a Kindle to read the book. You can get free Kindle reader apps for iPhone, Windows PC, Mac, Blackberry, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7 here.
By the way, if you’re a writer and have any novels, children’s books, short stories or other creative material you think others might enjoy, you can publish it easily and do just what I’m doing. Here is how simple it is:
1) you write something,
2) you publish it on Kindle Direct Publishing,
3) you promote the heck out of it on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, etc.
That’s it. It may sell, it may not. But there’s always that chance it could go viral like those angry birds. And it costs nothing but a little time to try. It's like playing the lottery for free. And even if you don't make money you'll have the pride of being a published author. Well, sort of.
“The GOOD Book” costs a mere 99 cents, so if it only puts a smile on your face I think you’ll find it was worth the price. And if you think “The GOOD Book” is a BAD book, Amazon will refund your money within 7 days (though you'll probably spend $1.50 of your time trying to figure out how to get the refund).
You can just ignore this experiment, or sit back and watch others participate. I’m sure most of you will. But I believe that those of you who do participate are the ones who will also be able to participate in effective self-promotion. Why? Because you’re willing to play the game. And that’s what being successful at anything is all about.
This is self-promotion. If this works for me it CAN work for you. And it will work for me if enough people go to Amazon and make a few clicks and download the book. We'll all win. You'll get an inspirational read and proof that self-promotion can work for you, and I'll make about 25 cents.
I'll let you know the results of this experiment in a future blog post.
So help me out with this experiment and let's see if together we can make this little book go viral. Just click on the picture, below, and download a copy. It’s really easy.
Also available at the UK and Germany Kindle Stores.
By the way, if this does work, and the "The GOOD Book" takes off, I'm going to revise the book and put a BIG THANK YOU to you all on the last page for doing a good thing.
Jeff
©Jeffrey Scott, All Rights Reserved
