DIY Book Promotions: The Magic of Multiple Impressions

Cindy Bailey is co-author of The Fertile Kitchen® Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Optimizing Your Fertility. Her DIY (do it yourself) book promotion has helped propel their book to the top-seller list on Amazon and has gotten their story nationally televised.

If I’ve learned anything about book promotions it’s that they benefit greatly from the power of multiple impressions.

There is a saying in advertising that a customer needs to get at least seven to ten impressions of something before they will buy. This means that a customer might see a product mentioned in a blog, and then see it written about in the local paper, and then find a postcard advertising it at their doctor’s office, overhear a friend talk about it, read a review about it, see it displayed at a conference and so on, up to 10 impressions before they say to themselves, “I should buy that.”

This is why it’s a good idea to be “out there” everywhere. Sometimes when I’m going all out trying to promote an upcoming speaking engagement or workshop, I stop and think about the ROI (return on investment). For a single event, I will: flash the news of it on social media (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn), post an announcement on my networking communities, ask contacts to put out postcards about our book and upcoming event in their offices where my potential audience can be found, post flyers where my target audience might see them, call the local papers to get a listing in their calendar sections, contact a local reporter to do a story on it or send out a press release.

The event comes and sometimes… I only sell three books! Is all my effort worth it? OK, sometimes I do have to think about what events I’m choosing, but most of the time, yes, it is worth it. The event helps to make some of those impressions which eventually result in additional sales. Just giving a talk to 20 people leaves an impression, and those 20 people will leave talking about your book and may share the information with others. Blogging for a couple of websites where your audience gathers leaves even more impressions, and I have to say, the best impression comes from media exposure, particularly TV. Our sales jumped each time our story aired on NBC or CBS.

Here are two examples of the many ways the magic of multiple impressions has worked for me. I was visiting an acupuncturist interested in our book. I left a copy of our book in the lobby as the acupuncturist gave me a tour of her clinic. When I returned to the lobby one of her patients was leafing through the book. She saw me and said, “My friend has this book and says I really need to get it.” After this, the acupuncturist said to me she’d like to buy a case of books for her patients. And who knows how the person in the lobby’s friend heard about our book? Maybe from one of the blogs I write? Maybe from one of my social media blasts? Who knows, but it indirectly contributed to selling 42 books to the acupuncturist.

Then, my husband (the co-author) and I did a cooking demo for our book at a conference in Seattle. At least five different people there told us they had heard about our book – some from the NBC spot which coincidentally had just aired in Seattle the week before-but many from their massage therapist or acupuncturist, or a friend. It was flattering; it meant that we were doing our jobs right and getting the word out. These folks either bought the book, or were well on their way toward their seventh impression.

It’s all about getting the word out, and going for it! In every way you can.