Mosquito Marketing Blog

Michelle Dunn of Plymouth, New Hampshire is the nation’s top expert  on credit and debt collection. She has seven published books on the  subject and has 20 years of experience in the industry. I’m pleased  to welcome her to Writers In Business. (Interview with Bridgette of Writers in Business)

Bridgette: You have certainly found your niche in the book market and are a  respected expert on the topic of collections. Congratulations! Can  you tell us what inspired you to write your first book on this?
Michelle: I wrote my first book titled “Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money” based on the demand for information on this topic.  I had started my agency and had been working in the industry for about 11 years, when I started getting some national media attention.  this media attention brought me many phone calls, letters, and emails asking me how I started my agency and became successful at it.  This prompted me to write
a book on this topic since there were none out there at that time on this subject.

Michelle: I found the strength and courage to enter this field based on my knowledge of the industry and based on how good I was at collecting.  I also was getting a divorce and wanted to be home and spend more time with my children, I found that I could not accomplish this while commuting 2 hours a day to my job.  I decided to start my own business from home so I could have more flexibility for my family.  In the beginning I did not find much support which is why I started my Credit & Collections Association,  and started a networking discussion group, with a website full of resources and information I had been compiling as I started my agency.  I have always loved marketing as much as collecting, I have read many books, magazines and blogs on the subject in order to learn how to effectively market myself, my association, my books and my business.  I have been very successful at it, mostly because
I am passionate about what I do and I don’t take failure as an answer.

Michelle: The first book in my Mosquito Marketing Series is being printing in the next few months, it is called “Mosquito Marketing for Authors”.  I wrote this book based on so many people asking me marketing questions.  for example as you mentioned all the media I have achieved, I tell people in my book how I did that and how they can do it too.  I tell them what I did that did not work so they won’t waste time and money doing things that aren’t effective. The next book to be published in this series will be at the end of the year and is called “Mosquito Marketing for collection agencies”.

Comments(0)

My first book in my Mosquito marketing series is going to be published this year.  The layout of the book is being done now, along with the cover artwork and the e-book creation.

I am excited about the progress and can’t wait for the release date, this book will explain to authors everywhere how I self-published an award winning book that is a consistent best seller in its category and how you can do it too!

Comments(0)

Having self published many books and having been published traditionally, I found these comments to be interesting and disappointing to say the least.  Some thoughts from editors & producers on self published books:

We don’t review self-published books.  The general feeling is, if the book was good, a “real” publisher would have published it.  Yes, there are some good self-published books, and some go on to be big sellers, but in general, self-published books tend to be poorly written, poorly edited, poorly marketed, “hard” to read, and well, boring. - Mr. Jim Adams, Book Reviews Editor, The New Hampshire Union Leader

They are not “real” books.  - Rich Ott, Business Editor, West Valley View newspaper.

And one we love! :

My take is this: if a book is solid, it’s solid.  I don’t much care about how it got glued together. - Mike Cottrill, Business Associate Editor, Smart Business.

(Thanks Mike! We agree!!)

These are real, actual quotes.  OUCH!

Comments(0)

Bowker has announced that even though traditional publishers are struggling in this ecnonomy, self published books have surged in 2009.

Good news for self publishers?

Comments(0)

What are the most common traits of experts?

• They are motivated
• They have discipline
• They are focused
• They have goals
• They are constantly learning

Comments(0)

Things that help establish you as an expert:

• Publicity
• Your expertise on a particular subject
• Publishing something, a book, special report, articles
• Speaking or teaching
• Being interviewed by the media

Comments(0)

Marcia Peterson writes a blog for freelancers and has a great post about what you can do as a writer to survive during this recession.  Check it out for 20 tips submitted by writers everywhere that can help you to thrive and survive during these tough times.

Comments(0)

Question: I am looking into starting my own collection agency but need help getting clients. I have tried dropping off flyers with business cards at medical professional offices and faxing flyers but no one calls me back.

I see that you used to own M.A.D. Collection Agency and that is it listed very high up in the search engines when you search for collection agency. Can you tell me how I can get my website there?

Answer: It took me YEARS to get my M.A.D. Collection Agency website into the top rankings of the search engines when searching for a collection agency. I can tell you what I did, so that you can do the same but understand that it is a lot of hard work and it takes time, you must be patient.

Some of the ways I boosted my rankings with the search engines:

1. Having relevant meta tags and a description that included my tag line.
2. Submitting my site, page by page, individually to the search engines.
3. Offering something for free. (free e-books and reports)
4. Keeping clients coming back – by allowing them to place accounts online.
5. Keeping debtor’s visiting, offering online payment options.
6. Having press with links to the media on my press page.
7. Exchanging relevant links within my industry.
8. Having a newsletter that I sent out and then archived on my website

These are just some of the things you can do to boost your rankings, have patience and keep at it and you will start seeing results.

Comments(0)

I would use as many marketing methods or avenues that are open to me.  In my experience it has been very beneficial for me to market off line as well as on line.  Some of the things that you really cannot do online that have been very effective for me are:

• Attending networking events.
• Being a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
• Speaking and teaching. (can be done online,  but I sell more books when it is offline)
• Going out for coffee or lunch with another writer or local business person.

An example of successful marketing online:  Outside CBS Studio in New York with Harry

Comments(0)

Though I wouldn’t say it is an absolute necessity, it is a very good idea.  If your media kit is available online, journalists and reporters can view it and download it at any time.  This makes their job easier. It also saves on ink, paper and postage.

Any time you can make a writers job easier, the better your chances of being interviewed and used as a source. Having an online press kit available gives anyone more information about you, your experience, what you have done and what you are doing now.  I offer my press kit as a PDF document, or in a Text Document format.  I include my latest press release, my bio, book reviews, a sell sheet about my books, business expereince information and past press.  I also offer an option to “Request an interview with Michelle” which sends an email directly to me.

Comments(0)