Mosquito Marketing Blog

I know I keep repeating myself, but when times are tough and you are cutting back on different things, make sure you don’t cut back completely on your marketing.  When sales are down and the economy is bad, marketing is the one thing you should make sure to do even more than usual.

You should already be doing one thing every day to market yourself or your business or your book or whatever it is you want to sell.  Try to step that up and do 2 things every single day to market yourself.  You will not see immediate results but it will pay off later.

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Aggressively work on your marketing plan:

Send out press releases, keep yourself in the eyes of your target audience during the recession. Since you may have less work than normal, this is a great time to do this. Nothing may happen now but in six months you will see results.

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One of the first things to go when cash flow gets tight is the marketing budget. You couldn’t make a bigger mistake.  Now is the time to amp up your marketing efforts!

When you stop marketing you will have less sales, which translates into less cash flow.

Everyone is cutting back on marketing right now, so this is your opportunity to really shine!  Some things you can do to market during a credit crisis include:

• Marketing online
• Guerilla marketing
• Word of mouth marketing
• Offering specials to existing customers

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Co-mailing, what is it?

I co-mail, but I have to say that I don’t know many other businesses or author’s who do.

Co-mailing is the process in which a mailer, which would be you, combines the mailing of your brochure, flyer, postcard or magazine with that of other similar mailing pieces.

I have 5 self published books and when I sell a book (or two!) I send it out with inserts I have collected from colleagues in the industry.  My books are about collecting money and starting a collection agency.  When I make a sale, I package up my books and I include a flyer about collection software, a postcard about skip tracing, a brochure about becoming a certified collector and a catalog filled with debt collection stickers and tools. In exchange, these businesses have my book listed on their websites, or for sale on their websites.

We support each other while giving the customer added value.

Think about your book, is there anyone you can co-mail with? If you can’t come up with anyone you think you can co-mail with, post a comment below and I will brainstorm and come up with some ideas of who you can co-mail with.

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Barack Obama has won the presidency! Rejoicing is going on world wide - the world has been watching. Obama has made history and will bring change.

How can you change what you have been doing this past year to make your book sales increase and to make more money?  Get out a notebook and write down a list of things you can do differently to increase awareness and sales in the coming months.

You CAN do it - ANYTHING is possible.  The first step is writing it down.

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I am sure if you are an author or thinking of becoming an author you have heard of SPAN.  SPAN is the Small Publishers Association of North America and a great educational, independent publishers resource. I would highly recommend becoming a member when you can afford it.

SPAN as well as everyone else out there is feeling the pinch of the times and have posted some tips and helpful ways authors can survive during these tough times. Be sure to check them and their website out for some great tips and helpful information that can help you to be successful.

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My editor has finished editing the manuscript for Mosquito Marketing for Authors! I am very excited. I will be picking it up this week and then making changes.

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This review is from James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief of the Small Press Bookwatch and Midwest Book Review.

Starting a Collection Agency, How to make money collecting money - Third edition, by Michelle Dunn

No one likes bill collectors, but they are a necessary evil to the continued financial prosperity of America.  “Starting a Collection Agency, How to make money collecting money” is a guide to being what is viewed as many as the bad guy, but in fact is just something that must be done.

Outlining all everyone needs to start their own company in this field, it leaves nothing to guesswork, covering everything from the frivolous as the stationary, to the advanced tactics of professional promotion.

“Starting a Collection Agency, How to make money collecting money is highly recommended for anyone looking to start their own business, and doesn’t mind being viewed as the bad guy to do so.

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I have just learned of a great thing that I really must look into more. It is software for publishers, and it can help you manage data, accounting, sales, and help you with your business management.

According to SPAN Connection (July 2008), “In recent years in the United States, some 80,000 publishers have annually produced about 200,000 titles.”  While I don’t have that many titles, I find that as my publishing company grows and the more books I write and publish for other authors, the more time consuming and disorganized keeping track of everything becomes!

If anyone has any experience with this type of software, PLEASE leave your comments and let us know your thoughts and if it was worthwhile or not so great.

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Noelle Skodzinski, the editor-in-chief over at Book Business Magazine had a great editors note in the current issue of Book Business.  Since almost every business out there is suffering due to the credit crisis and crashing economy there is good news for authors and publishers.  Even though the costs of paper, fuel, shipping and everything else have been rising, book sales in 2007 grew in every segment except mass-market paperbacks and e-book sales increased 23.6% in 2007, with $67 million in sales and have seen a compound growth rate of 55.7% since 2002 according to the Association of American Publishers.

Keeping this in mind, now is the time to implement and work on your marketing strategies. Marketing your books now is so important and one of the first things publishers and authors “cut” to save costs. Don’t make this mistake. If you are strapped for cash try marketing your products, books and business using many of the free or low cost options available to you but don’t stop marketing!

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