Because many of her friends have influence with people the course is designed to help, I suggested she start by asking those friends to help spread the word. It’s a quick and easy way to begin moving forward.

But piggybacking onto someone else’s platform can – and should – involve far more than asking friends for support. The process is all about cross-promotion and collaboration.

How to leverage someone else’s network

It’s a smart strategy if you want to sell more books or other products, build an email list, or increase your social media follower count.

Here are eight ways to use the power of someone else’s network to reach your book marketing goals.

1. Do an Instagram takeover.

With an Instagram takeover, you literally take over someone’s Instagram account, posting your content instead of theirs. Create Instagram Stories and posts, or go live.

Keep in mind that this needs to be a mutually beneficial opportunity. Your host – perhaps another author in your genre – wants to know that you:

• Have an engaged audience that you’ll bring with you
• Will deliver quality, relevant content
• Will promote the takeover to your network

Keep the momentum going by arranging for your host to take over your account the following week.

2. Propose a newsletter swap.

A newsletter swap is a smart way to leverage someone else’s network while building relationships with others who reach your ideal readers.

With a newsletter swap, you and the influencer agree to promote each other’s books, programs, or products in your email newsletters.

I’ve got the how-to details in “How to do an author newsletter swap.”

3. Be a podcast guest.

Being any kind of guest is a great way to expand your reach, but I consider a podcast interview to be one of the easiest. Just show up and talk about something you know a lot about.

You’ll want to be thoughtful about what you say, of course. I always recommend working to communicate two or three key messages when you’re interviewed. Write them down ahead of time, and find ways to work each in at least once during the conversation.

Be sure to read “Message development: Know what you want to say and how to say it” first.

Support the podcast by promoting your appearance to your network so this is a win-win for all – you reach the podcast’s audience, but you also introduce your connections to the podcaster and their show.

4. Guest blog.

If you been hanging around here with me for a while, you know I’m a fan of guest blogging for several reasons.

When you write an article for someone else’s site, you’re providing an opportunity for your ideal readers to sample your writing.

via GIPHY

In addition, your host will most likely include a link to your book on Amazon or another retail site as part of your short guest blogger bio. (Learn the other reasons I love guest blogging in “4 reasons to embrace guest blogging.”)

Be careful to deliver a quality article that you’ve edited and carefully proofread. This isn’t an opportunity to “phone it in.” This should be a showpiece, not something you did so you could cross it off a list.

Get tips for being the best guest blogger ever in my free Guest Blogging Cheat Sheet.

5. Speak at a virtual or in-person summit.

via GIPHY

I do this once or twice a year, and I’m increasingly particular about the events I speak at so that I can maximize my time and reach.

I like to speak at events featuring other presenters who I’m fairly confident will promote the event to their networks.

When all speakers share summit news with their followers, everyone benefits. When they don’t, people in their networks aren’t exposed to helpful presentations and speakers, and other presenters don’t expand their reach and influence.

Speaking at a summit and offering free downloadable tips to attendees is one of the best ways I have for building my email list.

I usually create a new advice-packed “lead magnet” related to my presentation topic and require people to provide their email address to download it. They get bonus how-to information and my free, weekly, book marketing newsletter, and I can help more authors with articles like this one.

(Get fiction lead magnet ideas here and nonfiction ideas here.)

6. Bring well-connected people to your audience.

Do you have a blog or a podcast? Do you love using Facebook or Instagram Live? Invite influencers and others who share your audience to be your guest.

This helps you create quality content your followers will appreciate while your guest brings their audience to you, even while they’re connecting with yours.

Expand the impact by providing your guests with event text and images they can use to promote their guest appearances both before and after the events.

7. Get publicity.

Publicity – news media exposure – is the OG of audience leveraging.

Pre-social media, using publicity strategies to reach news outlets’ readers, viewers, and listeners was one of the only ways you could piggyback onto another’s platform.

Why should you work to reach audiences served by newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, and content sites? Publicity will help you:

• Get discovered
• Be seen as an authority and expert
• Sell more books
• Appeal to libraries and bookstores
• Expand your platform

Because I’m a national award-winning former publicist, I’ve written about publicity quite a bit on this site. Scroll through the articles here, and be sure to register for my author publicity course, “Get Quoted: A Journalist’s Strategies for Using HARO to Snag Book Publicity.”

8. Propose a joint venture.

The dictionary defines a joint venture as “a commercial enterprise undertaken jointly by two or more parties which otherwise retain their distinct identities.”

For us, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement where you partner equally with someone else to achieve a common goal.

Let’s go back to my friend’s situation. If her course is designed for people like you – my audience – she could propose that I host a free training with her that teaches something helpful and previews the course.

We agree that in exchange for access to my audience, we will split the income she earns from course registrations generated by our joint event. She expands her reach, I provide you with useful free training, and we’ve both earned something in the process.

That’s a solid joint venture.

Which of these options works for you?

You’re better suited to some of these than others, right? If you don’t have a blog or podcast, you won’t be inviting people to write for you and you won’t be interviewing them on air.

But if you’re killing it on Instagram, a takeover there might become your new best tactic. Love talking about the writing craft or your book’s topic? Look into being a podcast guest.

It doesn’t matter how many of these you’re willing to explore. What matters is that you pick at least one – just one – and learn how to make it happen. You’ll move in the right direction – forward!

Which of these works best for you already? Which one are you going to try now? Please tell us in a comment.

5 easy steps to a successful media appearance

By A.G. Billig

If your goal in 2021 is to serve more readers by inspiring or entertaining them with books, consider doing more audio and video interviews. Emerging authors with small audiences can especially benefit from the large followings of established platforms – if they do it right.

A high-impact appearance on a podcast, a radio or TV show, or even on an online summit, will grow your fan base and book sales. It also gets people talking about you in a positive way, and all of us here know that word-of-mouth is still king.

You need to take the right steps to ensure your media appearance is a success. What you do before the show is equally important as what you do during the show, while being interviewed.

Here are your five easy steps.

1. Sharpen your core messages and talking points.

Think about your writing objectives, your book, your target audience, and your author brand and identify the top three messages your readers need to know (these are your core messages). One of your core messages should be your book pitch.

Also come up with five short phrases that describe the topics you can address and are passionate about. These are your media talking points.

As a publicist, an author client’s media talking points help me pick the right media channels for the author. They can also serve as a discussion guide for interviews. You can do the same for yourself, without a publicist.

Having clear core messages and media talking points will help you be sharp and to the point during the interview. It will also put you at ease since you will sit in the front of the microphone or camera with the confidence of someone who knows what they are talking about.

I always remind my clients before an interview to write on a small piece of paper the ideas/information they absolutely must convey, including their social media handles.

(Editor’s note: Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates has a message development template plus samples to help you with this. Learn more here.)

2. Become familiar with the show and the host.

As a former radio and TV host, I promise you that the host of the show has your best interests at heart and wants to put you in the best light. But she also has an audience to please.

So get familiar with the show by listening to or watching at least one episode.

Pay attention to the type of questions being asked. Identify the common ground between your books and the show’s theme and build your answers around that.

In doing so, you will get your message across in an interesting and engaging way for the audience – and benefit from a successful media appearance.

3. Test your equipment and setting.

Some interviews are live and others, recorded. Either way, you need to be ready to roll as soon as you are “on air.”

Make sure that your microphone and camera are working properly. If you have a new generation laptop, its camera and microphone should work fine.

However, if you’re serious about doing interviews and even starting your own podcast, it’s worth investing some money into a microphone you can plug into your computer.

For video interviews, check your background and make sure it looks nice, but not distracting. Avoid a blank wall, though—it will come across as cold and impersonal.

Also ensure that your face and body are properly lit so you don’t appear too dark or, the opposite, washed out.

4. Show up as the best version of yourself.

The camera and microphone easily give away how you feel in that moment. So, when you do a radio or TV interview, whether live or recorded, you need to show up as the best version of yourself.

Here’s how you can do that:

• Make sure you build inner excitement about it before the interview starts because that will show on your face and in your voice.
• Speaking of voice, warm it up before the show by singing a song you like, reciting a poem, or reading out loud the book excerpt you will share with the audience.
• Shake your body, dance, or walk briskly in the room to get the blood circulating in your veins and build up your energy levels.
• If it’s a video interview, women need to apply a minimum of makeup—foundation, powder, eye shadow, mascara, and lip-gloss.
• And, even though nowadays authors are being interviewed from the comfort of our own homes, you need to look professional and not as if you just got out of bed. Wear nice clothes that are consistent with your author brand.

5. Be yourself.

As with other aspects of our lives, preparation is key. However, leave room for spontaneity.

In order to have a successful media appearance, you want to be present in the moment, listen carefully to the host, and let your creativity fill your mind with brilliant answers. Don’t be afraid to use humor. It is much needed, especially in times like these.

Remember to stay authentic and shine your true colors, and you will captivate the audience.

Do you have a question about interview prep for A.G.? Please leave it in a comment.

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month it’s StoryOrigin, a site that helps you:

• Distribute review copies
• Create country-specific purchase links
• Build your email list
• Offer audiobook promo codes
• Organize newsletter swaps

It’s free while in beta mode, so create your account and give it a try.

How (and why) I turned my book into a podcast

By Kate Hanley

My book, How to Be a Better Person, was released in January, 2018. Sales eventually quieted down, and I lost my promotion mojo. I also was very busy with client ghostwriting and other projects, which is great for my bank account, but not so great for my creativity.

I knew I needed something to keep both my book and me “out there,” but I didn’t have any ideas for a new book.

Then a fated conversation with a friend about how the 401 tips in my book would make great (and short) podcast episodes set my wheels turning.

Just a few months after that conversation at the May 2019 American Society for Journalists and Authors conference, I launched the podcast on September 23, 2019.

Here are my takeaways thus far.

My goals for starting a podcast

When I launched the “How to Be a Better Person” podcast, I wanted to:

• Build my audience. I know I want to write more books, but with the majority of my mindshare going to client work, I don’t have ideas. Until the muse visits again, I want to grow a demonstrable audience and develop a deeper relationship with listeners. 

• Put myself out there as an expert in a new way. Lots of people have written a book. Lots of people have started podcasts. Fewer have done both.

I hope to raise my profile in such a way that I will open myself up to bigger opportunities—as a columnist, a speaker, or something I can’t yet foresee. In addition to providing new revenue streams, having a higher profile will serve me well when my next book idea comes along.

• Have a personal project I love doing. I love working for clients. But I also know I need something that’s mine to get excited about to really feel fulfilled. I have always loved the audio format, ever since hosting a radio show in college. Being in a quiet room, alone, wearing headphones, and talking to an imaginary listener really does it for me!

• Monetize . . . some day. Of course, I do have fantasies/goals of monetizing the podcast, but I felt it was important to build an audience first. As soon as I get through the first 100 episodes, I will seek sponsors; ask for individual supporters through Patreon; or develop a paid program.

The nuts and bolts

Once I had my goals articulated, it was time to go into creation mode—my favorite part! Here’s what that involved.

1. Deciding the format. 

Now that the podcast market has exploded—there are more interview and richly produced investigative podcasts than you can shake a stick at—I wanted to differentiate myself somehow.

My book’s format leant itself nicely to a short (five minutes or less), daily format. I started offering seven episodes per week. After getting feedback from listeners, examining my listening rates, and doing a reality check with my own busy schedule, I dialed that back to five episodes a week.

2. Writing. 

This has been harder than I anticipated because I didn’t understand how different it is to write for a podcast. The writing in my book is really spare. A podcast is much more conversational.

I don’t yet feel comfortable just making some notes and riffing—when I have tried it, it has necessitated more audio editing which is either time-consuming if you’re doing it yourself or more expensive if you’re hiring someone to do it for you.

So, while I am getting faster and less fussy at writing the scripts, it still takes me about 30 minutes to write and record each episode.

3. Recording. 

This piece has been much easier than I expected: A co-working space where I live opened a fully outfitted podcast recording studio that is affordable to rent.

That meant I didn’t have to spend any time figuring out which microphone to buy; I didn’t have to struggle to find a (nonexistent) sound-proof place in my house.

The results

Naturally, I’ve been watching for something to happen, looking for results that indicate whether creating a podcast made business sense for me or not. There have been a few surprises so far.

• Downloads. Six weeks in, I’ve just hit 10,000 downloads. I am thrilled with these numbers even as I look forward to them growing. I think the short format encourages folks to listen to multiple episodes whenever they first discover the podcast, which keeps these numbers high. 

• Book sales. Surprisingly, the podcast hasn’t yet positively impacted book sales. In fact, according to the Book Scan data I have access to via Author Central on Amazon, the book is selling about 25 percent fewer copies per week since I launched the podcast (they went from the mid-20s to the high teens).

Perhaps this is because folks think they don’t need the book since they can get daily content for free on the podcast. Or perhaps it just hasn’t been long enough to see an effect. Still, it gives me another outlet to promote the book as a holiday gift (and, later, as a graduation gift). We’ll see how sales this holiday season compare to last holiday season.

• Newsletter subscribers. I went back and forth on this, and decided against adding everyone on my existing newsletter list to my podcast newsletter list – it just felt like spamming to me, and I’m supposed to be helping people be better people! So I’ve started a podcast newsletter from scratch and it has been slow to build. At some point I need to re-think this.

• Increased visibility. As all authors know, a book, like people, starts to age as soon as it’s born. A daily podcast, on the other hand, is always brand new. This makes it easier to promote—and I’m doing a lot more of it than I ever did for any of my books.

I’m regularly pitching media outlets of all sizes now to get publicity, and consistently posting on social media to an extent I never have before. Maybe I have an appetite for promotion because the podcast is free and that means I’m not asking anyone to spend any money?

I also feel really proud of it, and I’m less shy about talking about it for reasons it would probably take a therapist for me to fully understand.

• More dialogue. In the majority of my episodes, I solicit feedback from listeners, either via email, Tweet, or Facebook or Instagram post. While it’s slow to build, it is opening up new lines of dialogue between my listeners and me, which is priceless. Every email, tweet, and direct message is great fuel that keeps me going!

On a personal level, podcasting has helped me with two of my own goals—to get better at leveraging content I’ve already created, and to get better at being consistent. Launching a daily podcast is great for building consistent habits.

While this is where things stand almost two months in, I’m excited to see what else arises as I keep at it. After all, 80 percent of success is just showing up, right?

To listen, sign up for podcast news, and/or drop me a line, visit beabetterpersonpodcast.com, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.