Self publishing is a business, and your book is your product. You are a business owner. Go ahead, take a minute, and wrap your mind around that. Okay, now, lets talk business!
Marketing is always shifting and changing with every new app, and social media platform. Luckily all we have to do is keep our eye on a few people who learn the things we need to know, and just let them tell us. Research made easy is podcasts!
Here are a few podcasts I think every self publishing author can benefit from even if they aren’t specifically about books:
1.The StoryBrand Podcast.
If you don’t listen to any other podcast I talk about today, listen to this one, religiously. This podcast has singlehandedly changed my life. All of the other podcast I mention here are podcasts I listen to when I’m waiting for the next StoryBrand episode to air, and I’ve already memorized the ones I’ve listened to a thousand times.
Seriously, I’m not kidding. I follow most of the StoryBrand staff on Instagram, and am basically obsessed with them as a company.
This podcast will help you rewire your brain when it comes to how you think of marketing. It will give you great advice about your website, the words you use in your marketing, and where to get the most bang for your buck. Stop wasting valuable time and effort, and get more readers buying your books!
I listened to this podcast the whole time I was preparing my book for launch, and sold out of books before lunch on launch day. Trust me, listen to this podcast!
It also helps that the CEO of the company and host of the podcast, Donald Miller, was an author turned business owner genius, so he understands what it takes to sell a ton of books! Don’t believe me, just google the guy!
2. The Strategy Hour Podcast.
Abagail and Emylee are a ton of fun, and they shoot straight (sometimes with a bit of profanity, quite a bit of profanity). Some of what they teach contradicts StoryBrand, and where they differ, I always go with StoryBrand (namely that we are not the hero in the story, our customers are!), but these girls have been fairly helpful with my goal setting, and have recently aired a series of podcasts within the show that lay out how to start your business from scratch, which can be helpful for newby authors just setting up shop!
They have a Facebook community going where you can get a little more as well. After they made vision boards on Facebook live, I was motivated and inspired to do the same, and really think that this year is going to be one of my most productive yet!
3 The Publishing Profits Podcast
This one is great because it is geared specifically toward authors and book publishing. I haven’t listened to this one as much as the other two, but what I have listened to has been pretty solid advice, so I plan to dedicate a little more time to this one in the future. I just have to get over the intro music, lol.
If you’re looking for a podcast that really lays out what goes into marketing a book specifically, then this one is for you. The host interviews people who have been there and done that, and gained the wisdom and know how. I personally prefer to know and understand the business of marketing, and then I can tailor it to my book. However, if you just want some quick book marketing tips to get your sales up and get you started, before you focus on your website and the business side of being your own publisher, then this is a good place to start.
Shameless Plug:
The Kingdom Come Series Podcast (coming summer 2018)
Okay, okay, so my podcast isn’t up yet, but it could give you some ideas for your own marketing. The Kingdom Come Series Podcast is a book club style podcast that will go through each of the books in the series one chapter/episode at a time. I will share some of the behind the scenes inspiration, and maybe some deleted scenes, as well as sneak peeks of upcoming books.
Listening could give you some ideas about how you could use podcasts to reach a whole new audience, and also help your existing readers become more engaged, and win you some more, free, word of mouth advertising!
Bonus:
If you’re looking to market your book on a podcast to reach new readers, check out the Indie Beginning Podcast. You can also follow them, and get in touch on Instagram. They read the beginning of an indie book, and will have discussions and reviews about the book, so that indie authors can reach new readers, and also get some feedback. They announce on Instagram when they are taking applications for their show, and you can submit the first chapter of your book for their consideration!
I hope you guys find these helpful! Happy listening!
brandyange.me 