Words on the Page

Monthly Assessment: January 2012

Posted on by lwidmer

Yesterday was busy, but not as much as I’d expected. I had two phone calls vaporize before they happened. That was probably a good thing because we bought a bed for the guest room and ordering it over the phone meant a week and a half delay. Driving to the store, piling it in the…

Lace Up the Running Shoes

Posted on by lwidmer

Some weekends just outshine others, don’t they? This past weekend was as good as they get. It started a little later on Friday – I was busy answering a distant relative’s ancestry request, which I love, but took some time. I was a little toasted thanks to a lot of creative work and computer time…

Things That Make My Head Explode Part Seven

Posted on by lwidmer

Super excited – I just published my book, Marketing 365, on Smashwords! It was a lot of work, but I think I’ve pulled together some useful advice and strategies for you. Think of them as tip-a-day advice that you can apply right away. To snag your copy, head over to Smashwords. Also, please visit me…

The Résumé Debate

Posted on by lwidmer

Yet another busy day yesterday. I tweaked an article, interviewed for another one, organized a few more details for another client, and started a template for an ongoing project. And I marketed. Always that. I did have time to hit the forums and the blogs. I’m seeing this prevailing theme among writers – “You don’t…

Your Unknown Compromises

Posted on by lwidmer

Yesterday was full-tilt writing and coordinating for eight hours (with an hour off for lunch). What I accomplished -well, it seems minor for the amount of time I spent on everything, but let’s just say I have many ducks in a neatly ordered row right now. It’s a good place to be in if you’re…

Double-Duty Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

Good enough day yesterday. For some reason, I couldn’t focus until sometime after lunch, but I did manage to get some client work done and some marketing completed. Today, reviewing the article and out the door with it. I’m pleased with it on first blush, so we’ll see. I’ve been reading about the blogosphere various…

Snow, Fog, and Kilts

Posted on by lwidmer

Thanks to everyone who signed up for the newsletter! Those who registered before midnight on January 21 have been listed in order of their signup time, and I’ve used a random number generator to choose the winner. And the winner of the $20 Amazon card is….. Suzan Kelley! Congrats, Suzan! Drop me a note on…

Worthy Advice: Show Your Stuff

Posted on by lwidmer

Just two more days to score your chance at some free Amazon swag: Sign up to receive my occasional newsletter and you’re entered to win a $20 Amazon card! Make sure you’re all signed up by Saturday, January 21st (that’s tomorrow) before midnight. If you sign up January 22nd, you still get the newsletter, but…

Worthy Stuff: This Job, Not That Job

Posted on by lwidmer

Two things – first, don’t forget to sign up for my occasional newsletter. One of you who signs up before January 21st at midnight will win a $20 Amazon gift card! And I don’t spam, so there’s that.Also, I have an informal poll on the left side of this blog. Just for fun, I thought…

Superbly Idiotic Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

Win something already! Sign up for my occasional newsletter (usually once or twice a month), you’re entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card! Just click right on over there at the left where it says Want More? Everyone registered by Saturday, January 21 before midnight is entered for the drawing. The newsletter gives you…

Devon Ellington

The first one especially gets my goat. I've had strangers contact me, telling me "I don't know how to market" or "present myself" and I should pay them to revamp my sites. First of all, that's insulting. Second, when I look at THEIR sites, the sites are horrible and have nothing to do with what I do. Most of the time, the presentation is pitiful, the content sucks, and there are errors in spelling and grammar. Also, if you mis-spell things in the pitch, why would I think you're the caliber I'd hire?

If someone comes to me and says, "hey, have you ever thought about adding X to your site? I've done it before with great results", I'll at least listen. If someone says, "your site sucks and you need to hire me to fix it" — I'll laugh in his face and move on.

When I was at the indie book fair, some chick was going around to all the tables trying to sell herself as a publicist. She asked everyone the same questions and then started criticizing their marketing plans, telling them they needed to hire her, because she could get them attention.

Except my table. She told me the presentation was striking (it was), asked me questions, and immediately glazed over and walked away in the middle of a sentence when I talked about my marketing plan. When I asked her why she walked away, she said, "I can't do anything for you. You're already doing it all." That's not good marketing, either. Even if I wasn't a client at this moment, if she'd at least pretended to be engaged, I might have been interested in her work in the future.

On second thought, probably not. ;0

Lori

Wow. She made some pretty big mistakes! That first one hits my hot button, too. Seems the "publicist" didn't understand how to approach people and keep them as contacts. I had something similar happen years ago. Some saleswoman showed up at my door trying to sell me what amounted to hermetically sealed steaks. I whipped out a calculator and figured it was $14.99 a pound (high even now, but this was 1990), and she automatically turned off the charm and started packing up her presentation kit, slamming stuff into the sack and not speaking to us. Several mistakes: A) she didn't know her market very well, because we were sitting in the middle of farm country, surrounded by beef; B) she didn't count on any referral business or future business, for she wasn't going to be long for the vacuum-sealed meat business and we might run into her selling something somewhere else; and C) her rudeness guaranteed we wouldn't reconsider later.

Cathy Miller

Slamming your work or site is like those spammers who leave comments that your site stinks or you have a lousy Google ranking so hire them. Seriously? You think that's great strategy?

Another one that gets me comes from a very famous copywriter. I have purchased quite a few books and eBooks of his and find them of value. I know he has a huge subscription base, but I really hate getting hit with a pitch where I already purchased the product – or – I get hit with the same pitch over and over.

You would think someone could figure out how to update a mailing list where you are not sending a sales pitch to someone who already bought your frickin' product.

Thanks, I feel better now. 🙂

Damaria Senne

Group emails to potential clients scream bad marketing to me. Just because it's easy to send a group email to potential clients doesn't mean you should and the only time I want to receive a group marketing letter from a service provider is if I subscribed to the service.

Devon Ellington

Damaria,

Good point. I don't mind a newsletter that lets me know what new products and services are coming; I mind a group marketing blast.

The packaging, I guess. I like a more subtle approach.

Paula

Your vacuum-packed beef reminded me o when a salesman for a similar door-to-door frozen food company rang my bell. His b.o. was so bad the stench lingered long after I sent him packing. Years later a different salesman from the same company showed up. I let him leave a catalog (talk about expensive!), but told him everytime I see their truck it triggers flashbacks to the previous guy's putrid and unappetizing "aroma."

Many years ago I sent a complaint letter to the publisher of a writing newsletter/market list I subscribed to. I noted some sort of recurring problems and said I wouldn't renew if they didn't clean things up. I was my usual diplomatic self, incorporating appropriate humor. Never once did I suggest I could do better, and I wasn't asking for a chance to write for them. The editor replied by calling, saying she and the publisher enjoyed my letter and agreed with the points I'd raised. She said the quality of my writing stood out and then challenged me to help them improve the newsletter. I wound up freelancing there for several years. I think the key differences were 1) I wasn't pitching myself as the answer to their problem, and 2) they were objective and open-minded enough to admit their publication had room for improvement.

Cathy Miller

What a great story, Paula (you getting the gig – not the b.o. story) 🙂

Amelia Ramstead

Whew! I had to check that list and make sure I wasn't doing any of those things! Looks like I'm in the clear… good advice to keep on the burner!

Ashley

One thing that especially bugs me is when I sign up for a mailing list, newsletter, or whatever, and all I get is sales messages. I'm a willing audience when I get sales messages after I get what I signed up for, but if all that business wants to do is sell me something, I'd rather it not be disguised as something useful to me.

It's bad timing to mention this with your newsletter sign-up, Lori, but I registered for yours without hesitation and I'm eager to receive it! 🙂

Lori

Lost my own darned reply – sorry!

Cathy, I hear you. His list is probably huge, so I can see why you get multiple offers. But I agree – if the order's been filled, remove you from that list.

Damaria, super one! Hate that. Nothing says "I couldn't be bothered" more than a group email. Newsletters, as Devon points out, are the exception, and I don't think we expect them to be that personalized – except in the information we receive.

Paula, ew! Yet people think image doesn't matter…

Amelia, I never doubted you weren't committing these sins. 🙂

Ashley, I am my own irony. LOL True enough. I had such a rotten experience when I signed up for a friend's newsletter. Within a week, she's bombarded me with so much crap I unsubscribed. And she calls herself a marketer.

Denise Gabbard

Some good points in this article– the final point is perfect! Payment options are the perfect answer when someone tries to beat your price down. As for that "marketing" friend of yours, I hope you took her by the hand and showed her the error of her ways:(

Lori

Denise, I haven't yet. She's going to point to her vast knowledge and audience. That may be so, but how many more could she capture if she just stopped shouting so much?

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