One Size Does NOT Fit All When It Comes To Marketing Yourself!

Seriously, do you see those snuggy commercials?

As a matter of fact, someone gave me a snuggy as a joke for Christmas. . .and one size does not fit all. I began thinking about this concept and how it relates to marketing and promoting books.



I have heard that marketing and promoting is something very difficult to do. No matter what publication journey you are on, marketing and promoting is primarily up to you, the author. And I've got you covered! I’ve co-written a non-fiction book with author Melissa Bourbon Ramirez, The Tricked Out Toolbox~Promotional and Marketing Tools Every Writer Needs, (TOT) that will be available as a second edition in less than a month.

My vision for the book was to look like one of the Dummie's guides, chalked full of ideas, tried and true tools that worked for other authors, and testimonies from them. I am published with over 32,000 ebook sales in under six months, so I'd like to think I know a little something about marketing and promoting.

The first thing about marketing and promoting that you need to figure out is your PR PERSONALITY!
You do have a PR personality. Believe it or not.

Me....I'm very outgoing. I love being with other writers, readers, and just about anyone. This makes me an extrovert personality, which is an outgoing overtly expressive person! Me?!!! OVERTLY EXPRESSIVE???!!!!!

The other side of this personality is introvert. Which by MR. WEBSTER means a shy, reticent, and typically self-centered person.

In TOT, this is the first thing you should recognize before you can create your marketing and promo plan. After all, you do need a plan. You are your marketing and promoting department.
You need to know what marketing and promotion personality you have before you can start developing your plans. Why? Because your personality will drive the direction of your marketing and promotion efforts. It’s all about knowing your strengths and weaknesses…and working toward the former.

Personality Quiz:

Take this quick quiz to identify your personality strengths.
1.Do you consider yourself a people person with a lot of friends?
a.❏ Totally. The better question would be…who ISN’T my friend?
b.❏ Not really. I have a few friends, but I usually only talk to them one at a time.

2.Do you consider yourself an…
a.❏ extrovert.
b.❏ introvert.

3.What room in your house do you like to spend more time?
a.❏ I love spending time in my bedroom because it’s my space and it’s quiet.
b.❏ In the living room, of course, because that’s where the action is.

4.Are you loud or quiet?
a.❏ Totally loud, baby!
b.❏ Definitely more quiet.

5.You’ve had a long day. To wind down, you prefer to:
a.❏ hang around at home, listen to music, and just have quiet time.
b.❏ get my peeps and hit the town.

6.How does the idea of talking to readers at a book signing make you feel?
a.❏ Scared out of my mind.
b.❏ Excited! Can’t wait to get around all those people.

7.There’s a conference coming up and they need speakers. What do you do?
a.❏ Dodge the incoming phone calls from the conference coordinator.
b.❏ Jump at the chance. Who cares if I have nothing to say? I can bluff my way through.

8.In school, there were collaborative learning groups. How did you feel about them?
a.❏ I would much rather work on my own.
b.❏ Groups are AWESOME!

9.Your local writing chapter has board positions to fill. What do you do?
a.❏ Decline the offer. I don’t like speaking in front of groups.
b.❏ Jump in and volunteer to be president.

10.If you’re invited to join a critique group, what do you say?
a.❏ “I’d rather just critique one on one.”
b.❏ “I’d love to. How many pages can I bring?”

So how’d you score?

More As than Bs? You’re in introvert.
More Bs than As? Extrovert alert!

File this away as you pick tools to stuff in your toolbox. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure by choosing tools you won’t be comfortable using.

What are some of the marketing and promoting tools for each personality? Let's look at a few:
Extrovert:                                                                                

• book signings                                                                          
• conferences                                                                            
• teaching in person classes                                                     
• join local writers groups/critique group(WLC)                       
• social networking                                                                   
• Kindle boards                                                                        

  Introvert:

• blogging
• teaching on line classes (savvy author)
• join writing groups on line
• social networking 
• holding contests
• Kindle boards

These are just a few suggestions to get you thinking about things you like to do and don't like to do. This is your career. Pick things that you like to do, not the things you think you should do. If you do what you like, your success will follow.

Maybe you like to do something that are a mix of both personalities. That would be the perfect blend. But most of us are one or the other.

Which one are you? What are some things you like to do or think you'll like to do to promote your book?
Next week we are going to talk about when you need to start marketing and promoting your career.