It’s my great pleasure today to my have pub-sister, Carrie
Butler, over during her blog tour.
So, take it away, Carrie…
Marketing Voodoo
- Selling the Experience, Not the Product
Back in college, I had a harsh marketing professor. He had a
voice like a megaphone, loved to single students out, and rarely admitted he
was wrong. But you know what? His lessons stuck with me.
"We're not just selling features," he'd always
bark. "We're selling benefits."
One day, he had us go around and try to pitch whatever
writing utensil we'd used to take notes on his lecture. Right there. On the
spot.
Of course, the first unlucky few floundered about, grasping
for a quick summarization. "Well, it's a Papermate mechanical pencil. I
found it in the hall. It says it's, uh, one-point-zero millime—"
"Next!"
As he went around the classroom, the lesson became glaringly
apparent. He was waiting for us to sell the benefits over the features—the
experience over the product. "This isn't just a pen," I declared when
he called on me, thrusting my cheap-o clicky pen into the air. "It's a
statement."
He rubbed his chin. "How so?"
"It was handcrafted in India," I lied.
"Eighteen-karat gold clip, refillable cartridge, polished... uh, barrel.
Do you know what this pen says about me? It says I have good taste. It says I'm
a professional who's willing to invest in her career. It says... I'm just a
little more successful than you are."
Plus, it says I love
BS-ing people. That pen cost me ninety-nine cents.
Now, mind you, the exercise was just for fun—and we all had a good laugh about it—but it does beg the question: Are you selling benefits or features?
What do you love about your book? Is it the fact that it's a
389-page paranormal romance that's making strides in the new adult category? Of
course not. You love the way it made you feel the first time you daydreamed
about it. You love how your heart raced alongside your characters' as the
scenes unraveled. So, what if you started pitching it that way?
Don't spam-tweet us that your book is available on Amazon
for $3.99. Invite us in to experience your world. Give us a teaser. Share a
reviewer's first impression. Take my fabulous host, for example:
“Thompson writes cinematographic scenes of
violence that contrast perfectly w/ those of tenderness & love.” 5 stars http://ow.ly/hj8V9
Doesn't that make you want to read THE MISTAKEN? If I didn't
already own two copies, I'd check that link out!
So, if you take nothing else away from this post, remember
that your readers are people—not numbers. They want to share the experience of
that daydream. They want to connect with it on an emotional level. You just
have to reach out to them. :)
About Strength
When
college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus
outcast, she’s stunned. Wallace Blake is everything she’s ever wanted in a
man—except he can’t touch her. His uncontrollable strength, a so-called gift
from his bloodline, makes every interaction dangerous. And with a secret,
supernatural war brewing among his kind, there’s no time to work it out. To
keep Wallace in her life, Rena will have to risk a whole lot more than her
heart.
Where to buy:
KOBO | ITUNES BOOKSTORE | DIESEL | BAKER
& TAYLOR
About the Author
Carrie daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market. Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.
Where to find Carrie:
Where to find Strength:
