'How does a writer go about selling his or her product?'

A few days ago, I sent an email to Dora Robinson, one of the hosts of the radio program 'Writing on the Air'. I wanted to know if she received my bio and if there was anything else I should know about the show and our upcoming discussions. She responded with a few questions I should think about, one of which was the title of this posting. I think it's time to dive in a bit deeper.

Seth Godin is a marketing guru, an author of 11 books and an Internet phenomenon. In his daily blog, he writes about ideas that work equally well for businesses and individuals who have something to say or something to sell. So when he wrote about 1000 True Fans, I took notice. The concept came from Kevin Kelly who founded Wired magazine back in the early 90's and now writes many blogs including The Technium. In it, Kelly explained that it might be possible for artists to make a living by pulling themselves out of the shallow end of the Long Tail where there are very few buyers (see my last post) towards the middle of the curve where it is likely to make more sales. For example, if you are an author and can find 1000 true fans that would not only buy any book you wrote but also buy a t-shirt and a mug and drive 100 miles to see you in person and while there buy the hard-cover, out-of-print, signed edition of the same book, you are on your way. According to Kelly, 'the point of this strategy is to say that you don't need a hit to survive. You don't need to aim for the short head of best-sellerdom to escape the long tail. There is a place in the middle, that is not very far away from the tail, where you can at least make a living. That mid-way haven is called 1,000 True Fans'.

Getting 1000 fans require direct and constant communications and exposure for a sustained period of time. This is the greatest challenge facing those who want to leave the very low-volume end of the long tail towards the higher-volume, more financially viable part of the curve. I know this is not easy, but the new rules of marketing are not for the timid. To bolster the point, check out this NYT article about Jonathan Coulton, a musician who has made a living by going viral.

By now, it's pretty clear where I am going with this. In order to sell your creative work online, you need to have an online presence that talks to your readers and be willing to get involved. Since we all like lists, a good marketing strategy should consist of the following:

1. Marketing plan - know your goals, target audience and resources you are willing to commit.
2. A blog - content should be fresh, relevant and informative - readers can tell if you are faking it.
3. Website - include the product, testimonials, your story & cool stuff for the fans.
4. Social Media presence - choose a couple from Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo or meetup.com.
5. Building a fan base - know who they are, stay engaged and find ways to keep them interested.
6. Conversion - Ultimate goal is to convert your supporters from fans to buyers.

I've said this before but it's worth saying it again. Building a reputation on the Internet is hard work and it will take time especially with limited resources. There will be exceptions here and there but for the most part, the momentum will build gradually and steadily.  There is however, a right way (I'll recommend some books later) and a wrong way of doing this work (trial and error).  For my own consulting business, I've done it the wrong way before (i.e. my old website) but I've come full circle and now doing it the right way this time around....