A short video by Julie Broad (Book Launchers) explaining why social media alone won't reliably sell books and outlining five practical strategies: have a plan and hook, identify where your readers actually are, leverage personal relationships, build and own your own email list, and use social media as a supplemental touchpoint. The video emphasizes relationship-building, offline and niche discovery of readers, and controlling direct contact (email list) over relying on platform-owned audiences.
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If you're thinking social media is going to be the solution to sell your book, stick around. I've got a few thoughts on that for you. Hey there, I'm Julie broad with book launchers.com a lot of authors come to me thinking social media is how they're going to sell their book. But social media isn't a catch all solution to sell your book. It's in fact, you're more likely to waste a lot of time trying to use social media to sell your book than you are likely to successfully sell books via social media. Unless, of course, you have a really good plan in place first. If you haven't Already, download our 8 Ways to Sell 1000 Books for under $100 free guide. It's a game plan to help you out. Now. First, you need a plan to sell your book from the start. Your book, it needs a hook to know what will hook your readers. You need to know who your readers are. Second, you need to figure out where those people are hanging out. Even though there are 2 billion people on Facebook, it's not always the best platform to reach your readers. Surprise if it sounds like work to find them. Well, that's because it is. For some types of books, you're going to find readers hanging out on Goodreads, but. But a lot of times you're actually going to find them offline at conferences, trade shows. They might be reading magazines or frequenting certain types of businesses in your area. Or they might be searching for solutions on videos or podcasts. Social media might be the answer, but there may be better ways to find your ideal reader. Third, consider who you know. The success of my first book More Than Cash Flow, which was entirely as a result of the support of a handful of key people in the Canadian real estate industry. Their support promoting my book to all of their audience is the reason it went to number one overall on Amazon without them. When I was promoting the book to my audience, I was able to break the top 100 overall, but it was because of them that I hit number one. Tim Ferriss. He launched the four hour workweek to massive best selling status a little over 10 years ago. Now, using relationships that he'd built with bloggers. These relationships were built well in advance of publishing his book, but they were cornerstone to his success. If you're a platinum level of book launchers, we pitch your book to bloggers and podcasters on your behalf and we'll get you some exposure. But the people who are going to help you the most will know you personally if you Want your book to do well, make sure you're building relationships and adding value and supporting people in your industry so that they will do the same when the time comes for you and your book. Fourth, develop your own list. Social media is not a catch all solution. As I mentioned, you're squatting. You actually don't own these contacts, you get to use them. But at the end of the day make sure you own your own list. So drive people to your website, connect with them, collect their emails and and then use social media for multiple touch points. At any time, the owner of the property, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, they can decide that they no longer like the way you're using their property and throw you out. If they do that and you haven't been building your own connections on your website, you'll lose everything. So make sure you're connecting with people in other ways where you can control the list and you own it. And then use social media to supplement your book marketing strategy. Whatever you do, make sure you have other ways to connect and contact your potential readers. These folks will be the most likely to buy your book, spread the word for you and help with early reviews. Bottom line, social media offers a way for readers to interact with you. It's a great way to stay top of mind and build connections. But for social media to work, you must know who you're writing for, which what's going to get their attention and find a way to get yourself in front of those people. Best of luck with your book. And if you want help figuring out who you're writing for and have support through the entire self publishing process, book a call with me. I'm happy to chat to see if we're a fit to help you write, publish and promote your book. Alright, if you like this video tip, please give it a thumbs up. And of course while you're here, subscribe to the channel so you catch all the video tips to help you write, publish and sell your book. See you in the next video. Bye. And if you want I was going really slow to know that rhymes. Your book needs a hook supporting if you're a platinum member level. Oh, I'm done. I'm gonna. I gotta finish the video with a. Yeah, I know it's the end of the day. She's excited. Okay. Yes, a thumbs up. That's right. That's a wrap. Yes, that's a wrap.
