Audience. How can we connect to an audience (readers) who will love our stories enough to buy, support and spread the word? This is the ever-present challenge on every author’s mind.

If it isn’t, then it should be.

The post before last, we had a big group hug and sang a little digital kumbayah in my post Help! I’m Having a Mid-Write Crisis! We need a pep talk/reality check every now and then to keep going because we are creative professionals. Many of us didn’t choose this life, it chose us. We aren’t going to be happy unless we are creating because it is part of who we are.

That said, if we are here for the long-haul, it is critical we identify, then connect with and curate our audience. You are not alone. Neither am I. Guess what?

We are also NOT special.

Whether is it art, music, theater, articles, fashion, jewelry, Netflix series, or novels, the hunt for the elusive audience has been a universal endeavor. No one has cracked the secret code for finding a guaranteed audience.

Okay no one except the people who write books called, “The Secret Code for Finding a Guaranteed Audience.”

Locating Our Audience

While locating our audience might seem rather daunting (it is), take comfort that it is also nothing NEW. Great news is what has been done before can be done…again.

Today, I am going to share a tactic I invented years ago and highlighted in my book Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World. We are going to learn to do a Word Cloud.

Yes, I know this is a branding book that is eleven years old. I wrote the content to be what is called evergreen, meaning the principals I teach in it work no matter the age, time, or technology. Branding has never changed because humans don’t change.

Don’t believe me? Look at a pyramid then check out Instagram, Facebook, TikTok….

Lotsa CATS.

This is why RoM was all about understanding people. How to identify what they like, hate, love, loathe, are likely to share? It is NOT “The Secret Code for Finding a Guaranteed Audience” but it is possibly the “I Did All the Dumb Stuff So You Don’t Have To.”

While I can never guarantee anything, I can remarkably improve your odds.

Today, I am not going to talk about our product (the books). What I want to do is, hopefully, help y’all think about branding, platform and audience in a fresh way. This means we are ONLY going to do the initial step. If we want to locate our audience, seems only logical we figure out a way to recognize our people when we see them and vice versa.

Identifying Our Audience

This might be a silly example, but before I married and became a mom, I was the auntie to a bunch of nephews, godchildren and all their friends. Though I loathe crowds with the power of a thousand suns, I loved being “Cool Auntie” even more. So, quite often, I’d take a whole gaggle of little kids to theme parks like Six Flags, Disney, the Fort Worth Zoo, whatever.

To keep me sane, we would all dress in some super bright identical color so that I could easily find them, and they could easily find me.

Believe it or not, this is similar to how all humans bond (all animals, actually). We like to find our people. Someone posts a funny meme, or wears an obscure band tee, or quotes some cult classic movie and, Did we just become best friends?

When it comes to marketing for books, you cannot approach it like you are selling toilet paper. Why? Who is NOT using toilet paper? All the ads, coupons and sales are meant to appeal to a vast group of people who’d already planned on buying toilet paper. Books, weirdly enough, are a totally different beast that demand a unique approach.

For brevity’s sake, I explain this more in:

Branding & Attention: Busy Brains in a Busy World

Before we expand on this, I just need to lay a leeetle more groundwork. I promise. It’s critical.

Getting Tribal

Remember the time that all those people who brushed their teeth with Crest mocked the Colgate users on Facebook? Or the folks who preferred Bounty paper towels memed the HELL out of those who bought off-brand on X? What about that time the YouTube video about Listerine users went viral?

Listed among the things that never happened and never will.

WHY?

In sales there are 2 kinds of purchases, low consideration and high-consideration. Low-consideration is like TP, paper towels, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. Those marketing these products aren’t fundamentally trying to ingrain a new behavior in their customers. This is why price points, marketing and coupons work for low-consideration products.

High-consideration are a totally different beast. When it comes to a high-consideration purchase, we humans get positively TRIBAL.

Mac users versus Microsoft? Mustang versus Corvette? Louis Vuitton versus Chanel? Android versus iPhone?

Notice the Differences?

First of all, these products usually are VERY expensive. A cheap Walmart purse will carry my crap just as well as a Louis Vuitton. Notice, though that LV never holds a BOGO sale? Tiffany’s never has a guy dressed as a gorilla twirling a sign to get people in the store.

Why?

They don’t need to.

Want to start a fight? Tell an Android user your iPhone is so much better (or vice versa). Challenge your souped up Honda against a Mustang. Get a diehard Nike junkie to wear Adidas drip. Tell Dallas Cowboys fans they aren’t going to the Super Bo…never mind.

That’s just being mean.

***But Dallas Cowboys fans will wear the jerseys anyway, right?

Y’all get the gist.

How do books fit into this?

Sadly, roughly 93% of the literate population, if asked to rank “things they’d love to do in their spare time,” would rank reading a book down below doing their taxes and getting their teeth cleaned…at the same time.

As writers, we have to acknowledge that while our book might be cheaper than a tube of toothpaste, it costs what people have less and less of.

TIME.

We are asking people to part with money they don’t have to do an activity they believe they will hate for an average of 12-15 hours they don’t have…and pay money to do this AND tell others how awesome it is.

Easy peasy, right?

Yes, and no. If we are aware that traditional marketing never has and never will sell books, then we don’t wast precious time and money. When it comes to books, we have to tap into the power of the TRIBE.

Show me a runaway success series (in print, on screen or both) and I will show you a rabid tribe ready to devour all things related: Harry Potter, Twilight, 50 Shades, Squid Games. Game of Thrones, The Last Airbender, Hunger Games, etc.

Audience: Who Are We Writing FOR?

Now that I set all this up, hopefully this exercise will make more sense to you. Because I am pretty sure you’d love your future audience to argue over who’s your best character, maybe dress like them, buy merch, argue over who should have ended up a couple, etc. Right? Which people DO.

Hang around Dr. Who fans for 30…okay 15 seconds.

Now that you know what a tribe is and why you need one, how do you locate them? This is the technique I mentioned that is in my book.

I have never before blogged on this.

Get out a piece of paper and hand write this exercise. I want to think about yourself. Pretend you are a jar of pasta sauce and we are listing the ingredients that make you, YOU. Add in favorite books, movies, seasons, colors, hobbies, songs, sensory phrases. Just word barf onto the page (not in neat columns).

The more words the better.

I am limiting here because I just need to do enough to make my point. Also, once you “finish” the cloud, keep adding to it. Heck, have friends and family help out, since they see aspects of you that you might not.

I am going to do three different examples to show you my point.

Author A

Science-fiction junkie, twisted sense of humor, Dune, Anime, Manga, graphic art, first-person shooter games, XBox, zombies, cheesy horror flicks, Army of Darkness, Fight Club, all things Mel Brooks, British comedy, Monty Python, Balls of Fury, Dodgeball, martial arts, Kung Fu movies, favorite holiday is Halloween, haunted houses, live in smartass t-shirts, Sabaton, heavy metal, high fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, paintball with my friends, live music, off roading, microbreweries, building models, Ancient Aliens, no such thing as bad pizza, cat person, take in too many strays, Dr. Who, hate sports unless it’s jousting, Renaissance Festivals, ComiCon, DC, Marvel, Suicide Squad, HALO, Borderlands, live on energy drinks, all-night gaming, Squid Games, George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Shogun, Jurassic Park, creating badass costumes, serial killer podcasts, love the smell of autumn bonfires, way too many hobbies, never organized, adulting sucks, only cookbook I use is my Beetlejuice Cookbook

Author B

Believe in love at first sight, Hallmark channel, bubble baths, wine-tasting, retail therapy, gluten free, chocolate everything, baking, Instagram, TikTok, live in the gym, all things fitness, shoes and more shoes, makeovers, Christmas, decorating for the holidays, cooking big fancy meals for my family, crochet, knitting, adult coloring books to de-stress, hosting parties so can dress up, jazz, Michael Buble, Christmas carols, singing in the shower, smell of fresh flowers, taste of hot chocolate chip cookies, gardening, planting flowers in spring, watching the Westminster dog show, Pomeranians, practicing French because no sexier language, new body lotion, expensive perfumes, essential oils, love stories, movies that make me cry, Joy Luck Club movie and book, hate horror or anything gross, love a happy ending, wrapping Christmas packages, Bridget Jones Diary movie and book, Liane Moriarty, home improvement shows, Lifestyle podcasts, organizing junkie, color-code everything, hate a mess but kids so it is a happy mess

Author C

Voracious reader, love history, prefer in depth memoirs, British History, History of the Roman Empire, read all the Greek philosophers, Epictitus, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, speak several languages, taught myself Mandarin for fun, member of the Japanese Club in my city, volunteer as a docent at the art museum, recently took up sculpting, love making pottery, watercolor, Japanese Gardens, Japanese Festival in the Spring, Shakespeare in the Park, hot yoga, making my own sushi, vegan, love the big city, museums, subways, Central Park in Fall, Tai Chi, prefer classical music, NPR, history podcasts, cycling, don’t own a car, built a totally green house out of all reused materials, minimalist, love Swedish furniture, run marathons, read the NYT, collect all the Pulitzer winning novels, foreign films, hate profanity, love etymology, not a fan of holidays but enjoy food festivals, watch shows about exotic cooking, inhale history documentaries when I watch television but usually I don’t, smell of pavement in summer after a rain

Profiling the Audience

Okay so I just gave you profiles for three very different “authors.” What else did I give you? The most accurate picture of their audience humanly possible. Look at that cloud and you will see their potential audience (readers) in sharp relief.

Using a little bit of logic, I am pretty sure that Author A isn’t trying to win a Pulitzer with his literary novel featuring rogue samurai. Author C probably isn’t writing science fiction with loads of chainsaws and smart ass kitschy lines. Author B isn’t going to have profanity or violence.

Not to mention that—with Author B—everyone is going to get a happily ever after, whereas I don’t trust Author A not to turn everyone into zombies or Author C not to end the book with a tragic, but noble suicide/sacrifice for the greater good.

Notice that while they all share certain things in common (all writers, all love to read, all enjoy food, all listen to podcasts, all have creative hobbies, all enjoy animals) these authors are NOT IN COMPETITION…at all.

Even if there is some crossover, books are not so cost-prohibitive people cannot buy more than one (unlike a sports car). For the record, many of the items from all three clouds are ME.

Yes, I know. My humor get any darker and NASA gonna be studying it. But I also love cooking, crocheting, and primarily watch documentaries (and horror).

But I am not for everyone.

It is okay to be an oddball. A pattern will still emerge. That pattern is your people.

Trust me.

That is for another post, though.

Find Your Tribe So You Can Connect to YOUR Audience

It is really easy to get overwhelmed in the digital age of publishing. Part of WHY we get overwhelmed is because are trying to reach everyone. We don’t want to reach everyone because we cannot possibly please everyone. Everyone is not our audience.

Not everyone loves my blog, or my writing style or my tacky memes or even me. *clutches pearls* I KNOW! CRAZY TALK! #Philistines

In all seriousness, I “get” that I am in-your-face-salty and my blogs are LONG. Why? Because I am in-your-face-salty and suck at being brief in life and on the page.

Duh.

Thing is, though, people who like my blogs (audience) also generally like my fiction, even if the genre isn’t their usual forte. If you read The Devil’s Dance, it is no shock I wrote it. Pick up a copy of WTH Did I Just Read? 13 short stories of the Hitchcock-ian variety, and I bet you can pick out which stories I wrote.

Why? Because I cannot create anything without leaving my unique fingerprints on my work. Neither can you.

Writers write from who we are (or even who we long to be). It is why we kinda freak the Normies out.

Tribes Make Markets Manageable

Today, we aren’t going to go into any deeper detail because today is all about figuring out who exactly you are writing FOR. Even if you are writing non-fiction self-help books, I hope you can see how each of these profiles offer a sense of style, tone and voice.

The Navy S.E.A.L self improvement book “Extreme Ownership” has a vastly different tone than Rachel Hollis’s “Girl Wash Your Face” and THANK GOD because a world where Jocko Willink is talking like Rachel Hollis is a parallel dimension that should not exist outside of a Rom-Com.

Jocko Willink isn’t getting up at 0330, checking in on X, and then crushing the weights with super sets with overwhelmed moms trying to fit back into pre-baby clothing. He also isn’t giving his audience tips on how to make the perfect holiday basalmic vinegar or get rust stains out of baby clothes.

Though I seriously just cracked myself up.

Jocko, please don’t kill me.

Jocko Willink and Rachel Hollis, while both self-improvement experts, are not even in the same galaxy when it comes to finding their respective audience. If they aren’t competing for the same audience, why would we?

They appreciate the type of person most likely to benefit from/enjoy their content and then the post and socialize accordingly.

Word Cloud and Audience

Once you have your word cloud, you’ll have a far better idea which social media platforms might be a better fit, what kind of content to post, and ways to connect with people who share those connection points in your cloud.

This will make social media a lot more fun for all involved. Each of my imaginary authors can post about the things they love and enjoy and that will attract others who love and enjoy similar things.

Additionally, the content in that cloud has a MUCH higher chance of being shared. The more people share our content, the more algorithms give us favor, meaning our posts will show up in more feeds (and they don’t even have to be directly following us).

I can post an ad about my book being on sale and maybe a couple people (out of pity or fondness) will share. But the nature of the content is that it dies on the vine.

Memes? Funny videos? Inspirational videos? Open-ended discussions where people can have fun and engage? People loooove sharing that stuff and that helps you grow your platform logarithmically instead of linearly.

Eventually you bond, you talk, you klatsche and create your tribe.

What Are Your Thoughts?

For anyone who cannot wait to know what you’ll DO with your word cloud, feel free to pick up a copy of Rise of the Machines. The book goes into a lot of the neuroscience behind WHY people like a brand or don’t. What is going on in the synapses that either makes a love connection or fizzles?

Technology changes, humans don’t.

If you DO write a word cloud, again, strive to make it as long as possible. Feel free to add to it. It should be a living document.

Y’all have any questions about the CLOUD? Anything I can clarify with a post?

I think the word cloud is a really fun exercise and ONLY FOR THE BOLD AND BRAVE, feel free to post your cloud in the comments and what genre(s) you write if you’d like to volunteer for medical experimentation to be an example of what we’ll be DOING with those clouds.

My other personalities only cooperate so far.

Think of it as a cool way for me to get attention comments and you guys to score some free consulting! Win-Win!

***Remember NOT a column. Do like my examples if you want to volunteer *smooch*

Oh, and iPhone is way better. Only serial killers prefer Android *runs away giggling*

The post How to Create YOUR Audience: Identify, Connect, Convert appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Branding, at least for authors, is a relatively new concept. Selling books was SO much ‘easier’ before the digital age, when life ran at a comparable snail-hooked-on-Valium pace. Or it at least seems that way.

If you need to remove those rose-tinted nostalgia glasses, I do recommend reading my post The Ugly Truth of Publishing & How BEST to Support Writers.

Back to reality.

Now, in 2021, when people are busier and more distracted than ever before in history, branding is harder than ever before. The competition is staggering. Additionally, we have about a nanosecond to capture attention then not much longer than that to keep it.

Turning an impression into a sale? Then into a loyal fan? Even taller order. What color would you like that unicorn?

I know it feels that way, but I am here to make it simple and DOABLE.

Today, the words ‘brand’ and ‘branding’ seem to be tossed around daily. Everyone and everything is or has or needs a brand. What’s funny is that branding might seem relatively new, yet has been around since…people.

Granted how important a brand is, the need for one as an author, etc. is a fairly recent development as I mentioned a moment ago. Yes, we need to craft excellent books (product) but we also must begin building our author brand EARLY.

***As in the first day we believe we might one day want to sell a book.

Ah, but calm down. There’s a lot of confusion regarding what a brand actually is. Many assume ads, marketing, and promotional campaigns are ‘branding.’

Yeah…no.

We can build a brand, but alas we cannot buy one. There are no shortcuts. Ads, promotion, marketing can help expand an existing brand, but cannot be substituted for one.

This approach is akin to believing a Japanese robot-wife is the same as a real human wife. In some areas of life, shortcuts end up a) a waste of time b) a bigger waste of money c) a remake of Blade Runner.

Branding Basics

As I mentioned in my last post, The Psychology of Selling, I wrote my book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World to be evergreen information. In my POV, social media changes daily, but humans never change.

Just read Shakespeare or look at your ex’s Instagram *rolls eyes*.

That’s why my social media/branding guide focuses a lot more on the science behind what creates what we recognize as a brand. 

More specifically, what captures our attention? What turns us off? What renders a brand invisible (thus a non-brand)? Which habits/behaviors can ruin a powerhouse brand that once seemed bulletproof?

How can one brand launch into the stratosphere with little to no budget when another fails miserably no matter how many millions of dollars are poured into ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements?

Obviously, my book delves into far more detail about the science behind branding. But a little common sense goes a long way, and helps us work smarter not harder.

Thus, today we’ll simply touch on why our everyday on-line behaviors collect into a larger pool we call ‘author brand.’

First…

Branding is NOT New

The thing is, humans have always had a ‘personal brand.’ Branding, in its simplest form, is what descriptors we attach to another person. Simply put, it is that person’s (that product’s or that company’s) story.

Think differently.

Just do it.

You’re in good hands.

‘Branding’ an innate habit we use to organize and transition the fuzzy and inchoate into the dramatic, emotional, and memorable.

Branding is simply an extension of story.

That guy/that gal is too amorphous for us to remember. It also doesn’t provide enough detail for us to know how we should respond.

But, ‘That guy who’s been married four times, loves hunting, and collects sports cars’ provides a narrative (a story) that will either resonate or repel depending on the audience.

Humans dig labels, now more than ever before. It’s how we make our increasingly larger world somewhat manageable.

Thus, people we ‘know’ are frequently tethered to a variety of descriptors—vegan, sports enthusiast, triathlete, cat lady, Cowboys fan, craftsy person, the comedian, etc.

There’s the perfect, put-together Pinterest moms and then there’s me….

This, in a nutshell, is ‘branding.’ Humans have been doing this ‘branding’ thing since the dawn of time. The only difference in a ‘personal brand’ and an ‘author brand’ is that the ‘author brand’ should eventually drive book sales.

Also, branding is now more vital than ever before because of the sheer volume of information, people, choices, etc.

This is why author brands are essential, since a brand is basically a beacon drawing people (readers) to something they find familiar and that they already know they like.

Here is where science comes in handy.

The Neurological Shortcut

Our brains are remarkable organs that have the ability to adapt to our environment. Before the invention of the written word, our memory centers were far larger because we had to pass down information orally.

In fact, if you took an fMRI reading of a tribesman from some isolated Amazonian tribe, his brain would look and act very differently from yours or mine.

With the advent of the written word, our memory centers shrank but we gained even larger areas for abstract thinking. This was around the time we start seeing major explosions in science and engineering.

#PyramidsAndLotsOfCatPictures

Now we’re in the Digital Age, and we’re bombarded with stimuli. Internet, television, radio, smart phones, podcasts, pop-ups, etc. etc.

We’ve traded our stellar memory centers and our ability to focus for long periods of time for the unprecedented ability to sift through and ‘judge’ vast numbers of data points almost instantly.

Our brains must process, then sort, save and discard massive amounts of information faster than ever before.

Think about it. We see ads on Facebook all the time. Or do we? Our brains have literally learned to un-see. We cannot manage all the input.

So, if we (authors) are eventually going to advertise our books, how do we make our content visible? 

Branding with Intention

Since our brain is much like a computer processor, it must come up with ways to effectively manage all this input in order to maintain efficiency. To do this, it relies on what are called somatic markers.

Somatic markers are neurological shortcuts and are one of the most primitive functions of the brain because they are uniquely tied to survival and procreation. It’s the same shortcut that tells us the stove is hot.

We don’t need to sit and ponder the stove. We likely learned when we were very small not to touch.

To give you an idea of how somatic markers work, let’s do a little exercise. Is there a perfume or cologne you can smell and it instantly transports you back in time?

Maybe to that first love or even *cringes* that first heartbreak? A song that makes you cry?

Perhaps there is a food you once ate that made you sick and even though there is no logical reason you shouldn’t eat it now, the mere thought of eating it makes you queasy.

These are somatic markers. When it comes to branding, somatic markers are vital.

The Pepsi Challenge

If you are around my age or older you can remember The Pepsi Challenge. For years, Pepsi had been trying to gain an edge over Coca Cola, which had dominated the soft drink industry for generations.

Pepsi—figuring it had nothing to lose—came up with the idea of setting up a table in stores and shopping malls and encouraging people to take a blind taste test.

The results were astonishing…to Pepsi more than anyone.

In a blind taste test, people preferred the taste of Pepsi. Coca Cola was rattled by this news.

They performed the same test and it turned out, people preferred the taste of Pepsi…and this led to brilliant ideas like ‘New Coke’ which was one of the most epic brand failures in business history.

Why did New Coke fail?

Coca Cola reformulated to make the drink sweeter. In blind taste tests, New Coke was a clear winner. So then why did it tank so badly?

Somatic markers.

What Happened? New Coke, ‘Old’ Brains

Years later, neuroscientists decided to see if they could demystify what happened in The Pepsi Challenge. 

They conducted the exact same experiment, only this time they hooked participants up to an fMRI machine so they could witness what areas of the brain lit up.

They held the taste test the same way it was conducted in the 70s—a blind taste test. To their amazement, participants preferred the taste of Pepsi in almost the exact same numbers.

According to the fMRI, the ventral putamen, the area of the brain that tells us something tastes yummy, lit up like Vegas.

*Some have speculated that when it is only a sip, people will prefer the sweeter drink.*

The ‘Human Factor’ in the Brand Equation

The scientists then decided to try something a bit different. They did the test again, only this time they told the participants what they were drinking. This time, Coca Cola won BIG.

Ah, but something strange happened in the brain. 

Not only did the ventral putamen light up, but so did the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with emotion and memory.

See, when it was based on taste alone, Pepsi won. But, when the brands were compared, Coca Cola won. The human brain was in a wrestling match between two very different regions—taste and emotions.

Coca Cola had the advantage because of the vast reservoir of fond memories associated with the brand. In short, Coca Cola had a STORY for sale.

Norman Rockwell Americana, cute polar bears, I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, every BBQ, summer vacation, rollerskating parties, Friday nights with pizza and on and on all were part of the Coca Cola arsenal.

The fond memories (positive somatic markers) associated with the brand very literally changed the taste and gave Coca Cola the winning edge.

Somatic Marker Meets Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

Ever run into a term you KNOW you’ve never heard in your life, then hear it at least four more times in the next week? Or see something you know you’ve never seen before, then suddenly it’s everywhere? Reverse-harems? Punk-Rockabilly-Zydeco? Kombucha?

I’d never heard of Bikram Yoga until a friend told me about it and then…it was everywhere. Following me with sweaty mats…and Kombucha O_O .

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is also known as the frequency illusion or the recency illusion. 

At first glance, one might think this is why it’s a great idea to automate everywhere! Churn out lots of ads! Exposure! The more people see me, my name, my face, my book, the BETTER!

Follow them to the BATHROOM!

Not so quickly.

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon seems to kick in strongest when there’s some kind of an emotional response tethered to the ‘thing.’ 

Interestingly, the stronger the emotional response (positive or negative), the more likely we will see that car, food, book, name, that we suddenly believe is now everywhere, surrounding us.

Ah, but when it comes to OUR brand, what emotional response are we creating? Are people seeing our name because of some good encounter?

Or do they see it and silently rage because we keep crapping up their feeds with automation? Are we all take and no give?

Ads That Pop-Up vs. Ads That POP

We see ads all over. More than ever before in human history, which is why our brains are getting so clever with shortcuts. Most ads we literally do not see.

I could take any random person and have them click through twenty pages of BuzzFeed memes and they’ll remember the memes (emotional), but are unlikely to remember most of the ads plastered all along the sides.

Though most ads will be invisible, some are not. Some might even leap off the page. Why?

What makes us ‘see’ that advertisement?

When we have a highly positive or vastly negative experience, we’re far more likely to notice the ad.

If we see an ad for a book, we may or may not notice. But what about an ad for a book written by someone we know?

Someone perhaps we talked to and liked? The ad practically leaps from the page. We might even buy it because we SAW her ad and OMG! I know her!

Ads alone have very little power to compel a purchase. But, couple them with a brand (story/narrative/emotional experience), and the odds of a sale greatly improve.

This is why ads and promotion alone do very little to impact sales. Until there is a narrative (emotion) attached to the name?

It’s crazy expensive white noise.

Ah, but what’s worse than a non-brand? A poisoned brand. If our brand is the story connected to our names (and by association our books), there can be nothing worse than the toxic brand.

The Biggest Loser Brand Fail

The biggest brand fail I witness is how much authors underestimate the power of social media behavior and its consequential impact on their author brand.

Social media is a massive part of our everyday lives. Everywhere we go, we see people fixated on smart phones, posting pics, messaging friends. Humans are wired to be social, so if you want to know where all the readers are? They are on-line.

***Whether this is good or bad is for another post entirely.

This said, we must appreciate that this isn’t 2008, the age before smart phones, a time when only early adopters lurked on Twitter and MySpace.

Back before roughly 2015, the largest and strongest part of the author brand happened to be the books (because a book is roughly 15 hours of interaction with the author’s ‘voice’).

But now? When people are constantly checking in with their favorite social site(s)? How we ACT and treat other people is the biggest part of the brand. It doesn’t matter how well we write, how awesome our books are, or how cheap we make our product.

If we poison our brand with too many negative somatic markers, we can devastate our brand, regardless how well we write, and the reason is this:

The most powerful somatic marker of ALL is the negative one (namely because it’s intrinsically woven into our very survival).

This is why that tuna salad that gave you food poisoning fifteen years ago still makes your stomach heave just thinking about it. Your body is warning you that this food might kill you (even though logically, you know this tuna salad is fresh).

The primordial brain doesn’t care about logic. Lizard-brain is ALL emotions and experiences and these experiences have a MASSIVE impact on our brand.

There are authors I used to preorder their books. Now? I wouldn’t accept a book of theirs even if it were free.

Why? Because they forgot that people are watching, that flesh and blood humans are on the other side of that screen.

Their ranting, raving, complaining, spamming, name-calling, and trolling comments eventually added up so many negative experiences that there was pretty much no way to counter the effect.

Branding is no longer just about the books.

Books are vital, but what elements are we adding to our story (our brand) when we’re online? When people see our content do they smile, laugh, feel good, want to share the fun? Or do they feel bullied, depressed, overwhelmed, targeted, or defensive?

Colin Shaw’s blog ’15 Statistics that Should Change the Business World but Haven’t’ collected some interesting stats that I’d like to share:

It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience. – ‘Understanding Customers’ by Ruby Newell-Legner.

A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. – White House Office of Consumer Affairs.

70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. – McKinsey.

When we’re on social media…

Everything Matters in Branding

Every post, comment, retweet adds to the story that is our author brand.

People might not remember exactly what we say, but they’ll always remember how we made them feel. In an age where audiences are flooded with too many choices, they’ll default to who they know, who they like, and who consistently makes them FEEL the best (loads of positive somatic markers).

Does this mean we can’t express opinions, that we need to be a cute kitten meme factory and Pod Person? Not at all. My advice is we’re wise to promote what we love instead of bashing what we hate.

For instance, if I’m a vegan and post ’12 Reasons Vegans are Sexier’ on Facebook, then fellow vegans will experience a positive somatic marker.

Those followers who aren’t vegans likely won’t react at all (a neutral somatic marker) because I’ve not placed them in the crosshairs of an attack. In fact, the non-vegan followers might even SHARE my post with vegan friends and family. And if not?

No big deal because we’re all still friends who can agree that we can be friends without being clones.

Oh, and we actually can disagree or inject a different opinion without being mean. Again, simply remember there are actual people on the other end.

Keeping the ‘Social’ in Social Media

Now that y’all have had a Neuroscience 101 crash course—and I guarantee you will see Baader-Meinhof OR Kombucha at least three times in the next week—let’s get down to what’s most essential.

Branding is all story.

It’s a collection of emotional experiences that tie our name to some set of descriptors (hopefully positive ones). This is why automation can’t substitute for hopping on-line and talking to people. It’s why the Golden Rule still rules and why YES, goofing off on Facebook and posting kitten videos counts as branding.

Eventually, with love, care and nurturing, followers can become friends and even FANS.

So have fun. Relax. Show up. Be present and engage authentically. Go write great books and enjoy the people you meet along the way.

I love hearing from you, and I am NOT above BRIBERY!

What are your thoughts on ‘branding’? Does it seem more doable now? The brands I teach y’all how to build are fun and simple and require minimal upkeep because you have brilliant books to write!

If you want a step-by-step on how to create a brand as unique as you that will specifically attract YOUR equally unique audience and then cultivate them into an amazing and supportive network of fans? Seriously, save time and money and just grab a copy of Rise of the Machines.

So again, any thoughts, questions, opinions? I do love hearing from you.

What do you WIN? For the month of JANUARY, for everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice.

What do you win?

The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

DECEMBER’S WINNER Rae Longest. Please email your 5,000 word Word doc, Times New Roman, double-spaced, 12 point font to kristen at wana intl dot com. Put CONTEST WINNER in all caps in heading so I see you and CONGRATULATIONS!

Classes

***Remember, ALL classes come with a FREE recording of class

Business Classes

All classes taught by USA Today Best-Selling Author/Top Podcaster Cait Reynolds

The POD PEOPLE Podcasting BUNDLE: 3 Classes 1 Low Price

$199 for ALL THREE CLASSES. Normal FULL PRICE for all three classes is $377 USD or $317 USD even with all the early registration discounts

If, however, you choose to buy individually…

Introduction to Podcasting

$99 USD

Writing for Podcasting

$129 USD

How to Make Money & The Business of Podcasting

$149 USD

Craft Classes

ON DEMAND The Edge: How to Write Mystery, Suspense & Thriller (Kristen Lamb)

$65 USD Use Thrill10 for $10 off

***More craft classes coming next post. Apologies, but have has a cold for several days so running behind.

The post Branding & Attention: Busy Brains in a Busy World appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Psychology factors into most of what we do in modern life. Companies use psychology everywhere from human resources to building design. Understanding the human mind is a powerful tool.

Though not always deployed ethically (for more on this, refer to the book I recently coauthored, The Trap: Sex, Social Media and Surveillance Capitalism), please appreciate that experts are constantly employing psychological levers to get what they want.

For those who don’t yet know me, I’ll never teach anything unethical. Why would I teach you how to sell a TON of books if you just feel icky at the end of day? And yes, trust me, I have seen more than my fair share of seriously unethical ways to sell everything.

Yes, even books.

Spoofing

One short-lived grift (THANK GOD) shot to popularity in around 2011-2013. Though I don’t believe anyone gave it a technical name, for me, it was the equivalent of spoofing.

In the cyber community, spoofing uses the psychology of trust. A fraudulent party poses as a site, company, brand that consumers trust (E.g. they create a bank site that looks almost the same as a legit site). In the cyber world, the goal is to gain access to personal data, infect machines or steal money.

An almost identical tactic worked eerily similar in the early world of on-line publishing.

Book Spoofing: Psychology of Brand Loyalty

See, in the early days of e-readers, many big name authors either weren’t yet available on ebooks or they were very new to the digital world.

NYC was far from tech savvy, so many of their authors were sitting ducks. Book spoofing (a.k.a. BS) became a popular way to make a quick buck. What was book spoofing?

Unknown, unvetted ‘writers’ just used another author’s hard-earned brand to sell their books.

Readers gravitated by the droves and bought up authors they trusted, not realizing they were actually buying the book equivalent of a Polex watch or Louie Vuiton bag.

Fans were used to seeing these BIG NAME authors turn out a gazillion books and were aware many had insane backlists, thus they had little reason to question the veracity of the titles…until they began reading and realized they’d bought a steaming pile of crap.

Yes, writers con-artists actually did this.

A ‘writer’ would choose a nom de plume that was almost identical to a famous author (E.g. Nora Robert instead of Nora Roberts), then write in the same genre and craft covers to be deceptively similar.

***For the record, I am using Nora Roberts as an example, but YES these writers were foolish enough to spoof brands just as big.)

It doesn’t take much imagination to see the inevitable lawsuits. Despite my quite vigorous protest, plenty of writers played this ‘bait-and-switch’ with readers. They took advantage of Amazon’s emergent SEO system that (at that point) couldn’t discern imposters. Sure, these writers made a TON of money.

Some even tried to lure me over to do the same, boasting of all their riches.

I told them to make sure to save that money for a good attorney and leave me be. I’d earn any best-selling titles myself.

Psychology of Purchases

Now that I’ve given an example of how psychology can be used unethically to guide consumer decisions, we’ll move on. Yes, I released my branding book Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World in late 2013.

I’ve not written any other branding books because Rise of the Machines is evergreen. Gizmos and platforms and social media sites change all the time. Heck, the entire internet is about to change.

Welcome Web 3.0. Yep, it’s coming.

But you know what never changes? People. Understand people and that is 90% of what you will ever need.

What makes people click, share, read, engage? Why do they buy what they buy? What converts a passive browser to a vested consumer, and a vested consumer into an evangelical super fan?

Search engine optimization, rules for meta data, etc. change constantly. It’s almost a full-time job keeping on top of that.

We can hire the best SEO team, have all the plug-ins and be on all the sites, but if we have the wrong core imperatives? We might as well pile cash on the ground and set it on fire.

Products are NOT One-Size-Fits-All.

Low-Consideration vs. High-Consideration

Almost all purchases can be divided neatly into two distinctive categories—low-consideration purchases and high-consideration purchases.

Low-consideration purchases usually aren’t terribly expensive, are common, have a lot of competition, and are something the consumer was going to buy ANYWAY. Haven’t you ever wondered why toilet paper companies spend tens of millions of dollars in marketing?

Who is NOT using toilet paper?

No one is hopping on internet forums to ask experts what is the best toilet paper to buy…and if you are? Um, that’s weird.

Toothpaste. It costs only a few bucks and, if I hate the taste? I toss it. Toothpaste, by and large, is not an emotionally driven experience.

The reason that ads, coupons and FREE work so well with low-consideration purchases is these typically are inexpensive products we probably were a) going to buy anyway or b) were so on the fence that a $2 off coupon or buy-one-get-one-FREE could tip the scales.

High-consideration purchases are the exact opposite.

This is when human psychology becomes a game-changer. High-consideration purchases usually cost more, are highly emotional, fueld by peer pressure, and are NOT typically something we’d normally buy.

One might need a car, but no one buys a Bugatti for practical purposes. A $600 generic laptop from Sam’s Wholesale probably works just as well for most users as a $3,800 MacBookPro. A purse from a thrift store can hold my crap just as well as a real Louis Vuitton (probably better since it wouldn’t be a theft magnet)…and yet?

Why are people willing to fork out absurd amounts of money when there are super cheap substitutes that might even work better? Heck just an OIL CHANGE for the Bugatti Veyron is $21,000.

Trust me, if someone is about to drop the equivalent of a year’s salary or more on a car, a boat, a motorcycle, they research. They are on message boards to make sure they’re getting the BEST of the BEST. When it comes to luxury cars, boats, watches and expensive clothing, computers, and accessories? It is largely about EMOTION and is peer pressure powered.

It’s all psychology.

Psychology of Book Sales

Some of you might be asking what the point of all this is? The point is too many authors fixate on the price of the book and forget the psychology driving the purchase.

At first glance, a book seems to be a low-consideration purchase. I mean, most books cost about the same as a tube of toothpaste. No more than a box of generic teeth-whitening strips. So authors run promotions (coupons) and giveaways and offer FREE books!

*crickets*

So why don’t the tactics that normally boost sales for toilet paper and toothpaste NOT work for books?

Because books, ironically, are a high-consideration purchase. Most people do not like to read *all authors collectively gasp in horror.*

It’s true. If you polled the majority of the population and asked for a list of the top ten things most people love doing in their free time? Reading probably not on the list. In fact, something like 94% of the literate population doesn’t like reading.

Herein lies the rub. We (authors) see the price of our book, but the consumer sees the COST of their TIME. Time is their most valuable resource and no one ever seems to have enough.

Thus, when we go to sell a book, essentially what we are asking is for people to PAY MONEY and give up 12-15 hours of precious and nonrenewable time…to engage in an activity they believe they dislike.

No pressure there, right?

Why Marketing DOES NOT SELL BOOKS

When I say marketing, I mean traditional marketing. As I just mentioned, if we simply look at the MSRP, books appear to be a low-consideration purchase when they are, in fact, a HIGH-CONSIDERATION purchase.

Book sales are driven by brand and buzz. Most of the big brands are there to stay. Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy are still hitting the NYTBS lists even though both authors passed away years ago. Ludlum passed in 2001 and Clancy in 2013.

Unknown but skilled authors, however, are still keeping these colossal brands alive and thriving. The fans remain happy because a) there is a degree of brand integrity they can trust and b) they still get to enjoy new books from their favorite brand.

Even people who typically do not read will happily shell out the full price of a Brad Thor, Stephen King, or Sandra Brown when trapped in an airport because they know and trust the names (code for ‘brand’).

FOMO & Psychology of Sales

When regular people (code for ‘readers’) ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I am an author? At least 80-90% of the time the first question they ask me is whether or not I’ve read 50 Shades of Grey.

And I’ve found at least 50 ways of politely saying, “No.”

No shade on E.L. James (and no pun intended) because she created a cultural phenomenon. Whether this book is my cup of tea or not doesn’t matter. Good for her for generating FOMO.

There is a psychological lever often referred to as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). This is one of many reasons this book became SO BIG. It garnered SO MUCH BUZZ that those who’d not yet read the book felt a sense of peer pressure to see what all the hype was about.

The same can be said about Game of Thrones. Without the HBO series, how many regular people would have bothered with George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books? How many people read The Hunger Games, Twilight, The Martian, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, etc. simply because they’d heard SO MUCH BUZZ they finally felt they were missing out?

I guarantee you there are people who own the entire Harry Potter series in hardback but who are unlikely to read anything else and would not consider themselves ‘readers.’

The Psychology of Expectation

Part of the reason the mega brands have so much power is consistency. People KNOW what to expect.

It’s why people (okay, Americans) vacation in exotic places and STILL go to Chili’s or On the Border for dinner. X, Y, Z brand may not be the BEST quality—McDonald’s—but consumers at least know what they are in for.

This is the same with all brands, even in storytelling. Why is Hallmark such a MASSIVE brand? We’ve seen the memes picking on Hallmark movies.

Guess what? Hasn’t stopped them from having their OWN CHANNEL. Hallmark is a force because they KNOW and UNDERSTAND their audience. They provide—in a movie—what most people never will experience in real life but long to. Hallmark doesn’t need to be super complex, thought-provoking, and deep because that is NOT its brand.

People who want to watch movies with 5 subplots and 15 characters are NOT their audience. Why would Hallmark try and meet expectations of those who are not their consumers?

Romance/Erotica accounts for almost $1.5 BILLION in book sales. JUST BOOKS. Why is romance such big business? Again, the psychology of expectations.

Obviously all genres adhere to some sort of a formula, but the strictest of all is romance.

Romantic Interest A meets Romantic Interest B. They initially clash/don’t like each other BUT over time come together as a couple/team to solve greater problem. In the end, there is a Happily-Ever-After or the more modern Happily-For-Now.

Obviously, romance is an incredibly sophisticated genre. The above formula can be executed in any number of ways with any degree of complexity. But, at the end of the story, if Romantic Interest A and Romantic Interest B are not in some way TOGETHER? NOT A ROMANCE.

Whether it is pasta or podcasts or boutiques or blogs, branding is essential. What is a brand?

When a NAME ALONE has the power to drive sales.

From Hallmark to Hello Kitty, Rolex to romance, consumers need to trust what they are buying/devoting their time to.

What is the Takeaway?

For the WHOLE enchilada about consumer psychology, branding and more, pick up a copy of Rise of the Machines. Since this is a long-ish blog post? We can only cover so much.

The key takeaway is we, as authors, must look beyond price and understand why people buy books. It doesn’t matter if we get great reviews in literary publications (sites) because the regular everyday person isn’t going there.

They’re checking out clothes on Instagram or laughing at TikTok videos. FREE books aren’t going to lure them away from their habits.

Sure, there is a time and place to use FREE, but it’s frequently overused/misused and devalues our product more often than not.

When we appreciate that our goal isn’t a race to the bottom of who can give away the most for free or almost free, that is liberating.

Once we know that we don’t need pay to constantly blitz out ads and marketing campaigns like other products, we can work smarter, not harder.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Now that you understand some of the psychology behind why people BUY, does it make sales seem a more manageable? Did you ever wonder WHY manufacturers advertise toilet paper? Does this take some of the pressure off knowing how much we really do control (quality, consistency, quantity, reliability)?

Any thoughts? Additional comments or questions?

Make sure you scroll down and sign up for one of the new classes. Only the BEST for you guys!

I love hearing from you, and I am NOT above BRIBERY!

What do you WIN? For the month of JANUARY, for everyone who leaves a comment, I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice.

What do you win?

The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

DECEMBER’S WINNER Rae Longest. Please email your 5,000 word Word doc, Times New Roman, double-spaced, 12 point font to kristen at wana intl dot com. Put CONTEST WINNER in all caps in heading so I see you and CONGRATULATIONS!

Classes

***Remember, ALL classes come with a FREE recording of class

Business Classes

All classes taught by USA Today Best-Selling Author/Top Podcaster Cait Reynolds

The POD PEOPLE Podcasting BUNDLE: 3 Classes 1 Low Price

$199 for ALL THREE CLASSES. Normal FULL PRICE for all three classes is $377 USD or $317 USD even with all the early registration discounts

If, however, you choose to buy individually…

Introduction to Podcasting

$99 USD (Use Code New20 for $20 OFF if REGISTERED BY JANUARY 14th)

Writing for Podcasting

$129 USD (Use Code New20 for $20 OFF if REGISTERED BY JANUARY 14th)

How to Make Money & The Business of Podcasting

$149 USD Use Code New20 for $20 OFF if REGISTERED BY JANUARY 14th)

Craft Classes

ON DEMAND The Edge: How to Write Mystery, Suspense & Thriller (Kristen Lamb)

$65 USD Use Thrill10 for $10 off

***More craft classes coming next post

The post Psychology of Selling: Understanding the Consumer appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Branding is a word that seems to have one day—POOF—appeared out of the ether. In fact, when I began blogging in 2006 almost no one in publishing used the term. The rare few who did were hard-pressed to properly/clearly define what a ‘brand’ was.

In fact, many authorities believed authors didn’t need to be bothered with silly passing fads like ‘the Internet’ and ‘social media’ until about 2013. Why would authors need to build a brand?

All a writer needed was a good book. Facebook will last a year at best.

Yep.

Today, in 2019, the words ‘brand’ and ‘branding’ seem to be tossed around daily. Everyone and everything is or has or needs a brand. What’s funny is that branding might seem completely new, yet has been around since…people.

Granted how important a brand is, the need for one as an author, etc. is a fairly recent development. Yes, we need to craft excellent books (product) but we also must begin building our author brand EARLY.

***As in the first day we believe we might one day want to sell a book.

Ah, but calm down. There’s a lot of confusion regarding what a brand actually is. Many assume ads, marketing, and promotional campaigns are ‘branding.’

Yeah…no.

We can build a brand, but alas we cannot buy one. There are no shortcuts. Ads, promotion, marketing can help expand an existing brand, but cannot be substituted for one.

This approach is akin to believing a Japanese robot-wife is the same as a real human wife. In some areas of life, shortcuts end up a) a waste of time b) a bigger waste of money c) a remake of Blade Runner.

Branding Basics

I wrote my book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World to be evergreen information. In my POV, social media changes daily, but humans never change.

Just read Shakespeare or look at your ex’s Facebook page *rolls eyes*.

That’s why my social media/branding guide focuses a lot more on the science behind what creates what we recognize as a brand. 

What captures our attention? What turns us off? What renders a brand invisible (thus a non-brand)? What habits/behaviors can ruin a powerhouse brand that once seemed bulletproof?

How can one brand launch into the stratosphere with little to no budget when another fails miserably no matter how many millions of dollars are poured into ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements?

Obviously, my book delves into far more detail about the science behind branding. But a little common sense goes a long way. 

Thus, today we’ll simply touch on why our everyday on-line behaviors collect into a larger pool we call ‘author brand.’

First…

Branding is NOT New

The thing is, humans have always had a ‘personal brand.’ Branding, in its simplest form, is what descriptors we attach to another person. It’s that person’s story.

It’s an innate habit we use to organize and transition the fuzzy and inchoate into the dramatic and memorable.

Branding is simply an extension of story.

That guy/that gal is too amorphous for us to remember. It also doesn’t provide enough detail for us to know how we should respond.

But, ‘That guy who’s been married four times, loves hunting, and collects sports cars’ provides a narrative (a story) that will either resonate or repel depending on the audience.

Humans dig labels, now more than ever before. It’s how we make our increasingly larger world somewhat manageable.

Thus, people we ‘know’ are frequently tethered to a variety of descriptors—vegan, sports enthusiast, triathlete, cat lady, Cowboys fan, craftsy person, the comedian, etc.

There’s the perfect, put-together Pinterest moms and then there’s me….

This, in a nutshell, is ‘branding.’ Humans have been doing this ‘branding’ thing since the dawn of time. The only difference in a ‘personal brand’ and an ‘author brand’ is that the ‘author brand’ should eventually drive book sales.

Also, branding is now more vital than ever before because of the sheer volume of information, people, choices, etc.

This is why author brands are essential, since a brand is basically a beacon drawing people (readers) to something they find familiar and that they already know they like.

Here is where science comes in handy.

The Neurological Shortcut

Our brains are remarkable organs that have the ability to adapt to our environment. Before the invention of the written word, our memory centers were far larger because we had to pass down information orally.

In fact, if you took an fMRI reading of a tribesman from some isolated Amazonian tribe, his brain would look and act very differently from yours or mine.

With the advent of the written word, our memory centers shrank but we gained even larger areas for abstract thinking. This was around the time we start seeing major explosions in science and engineering.

#Pyramids

Now we’re in the Digital Age, and we’re bombarded with stimuli. Internet, television, radio, smart phones, pop-ups, etc. etc. We’ve lost our stellar memory centers and our ability to focus for long periods of time and have gained an unprecedented ability to multitask.

Our brains must process massive amounts of information faster than ever before.

Think about it. We see ads on Facebook all the time. Or do we? Our brains have literally learned to un-see. We cannot manage all the input.

So, if we (authors) are eventually going to advertise our books, how do we make our content visible? 

Branding with Intention

Since our brain is much like a computer processor, it must come up with ways to effectively manage all this input in order to maintain efficiency. To do this, it relies on what are called somatic markers.

Somatic markers are neurological shortcuts and are one of the most primitive functions of the brain because they are uniquely tied to survival and procreation. It’s the same shortcut that tells us the stove is hot.

We don’t need to sit and ponder the stove. We likely learned when we were very small not to touch.

To give you an idea of how somatic markers work, let’s do a little exercise. Is there a perfume or cologne you can smell and it instantly transports you back in time?

Maybe to that first love or even *cringes* that first heartbreak? A song that makes you cry?

Perhaps there is a food you once ate that made you sick and even though there is no logical reason you shouldn’t eat it now, the mere thought of eating it makes you queasy.

These are somatic markers. When it comes to branding, somatic markers are vital.

The Pepsi Challenge

If you are around my age or older you can remember The Pepsi Challenge. For years, Pepsi had been trying to gain an edge over Coca Cola, which had dominated the soft drink industry for generations.

Pepsi—figuring it had nothing to lose—came up with the idea of setting up a table in stores and shopping malls and encouraging people to take a blind taste test.

The results were astonishing…to Pepsi more than anyone.

In a blind taste test, people preferred the taste of Pepsi. Coca Cola was rattled by this news.

They performed the same test and it turned out, people preferred the taste of Pepsi…and this led to brilliant ideas like ‘New Coke’ which was one of the most epic brand failures in business history.

Why did New Coke fail?

Coca Cola reformulated to make the drink sweeter. In blind taste tests, New Coke was a clear winner. So then why did it tank so badly?

Somatic markers.

What Happened? New Coke, ‘Old’ Brains

Years later, neuroscientists decided to see if they could demystify what happened in The Pepsi Challenge. 

They conducted the exact same experiment, only this time they hooked participants up to an fMRI machine so they could witness what areas of the brain lit up.

They held the taste test the same way it was conducted in the 70s—a blind taste test. To their amazement, participants preferred the taste of Pepsi in almost the exact same numbers.

According to the fMRI, the ventral putamen, the area of the brain that tells us something tastes yummy, lit up like Vegas.

*Some have speculated that when it is only a sip, people will prefer the sweeter drink.*

The ‘Human Factor’ in the Brand Equation

The scientists then decided to try something a bit different. They did the test again, only this time they told the participants what they were drinking. This time, Coca Cola won BIG.

Ah, but something strange happened in the brain. 

Not only did the ventral putamen light up, but so did the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain associated with emotion and memory.

See, when it was based on taste alone, Pepsi won. But, when the brands were compared, Coca Cola won. The human brain was in a wrestling match between two very different regions—taste and emotions.

Coca Cola had the advantage because of the vast reservoir of fond memories associated with the brand. In short, Coca Cola had a STORY for sale.

Norman Rockwell Americana, cute polar bears, I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke, every BBQ, summer vacation, rollerskating parties, Friday nights with pizza and on and on all were part of the Coca Cola arsenal.

The fond memories (positive somatic markers) associated with the brand literally changed the taste and gave Coca Cola the winning edge.

Somatic Marker Meets Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

Ever run into a term you KNOW you’ve never heard in your life, then hear it at least four more times in the next week? Or see something you know you’ve never seen before, then suddenly it’s everywhere? Reverse-harems? Punk-Rockabilly-Zydeco? Kombucha?

I’d never heard of Bikram Yoga until a friend told me about it and then…it was everywhere. Following me with sweaty mats…and Kombucha O_O .

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is also known as the frequency illusion or the recency illusion. 

At first glance, one might think this is why it’s a great idea to automate everywhere! Churn out lots of ads! Exposure! The more people see me, my name, my face, my book, the BETTER!

Follow them to the BATHROOM!

Not so quickly.

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon seems to kick in strongest when there’s some kind of an emotional response tethered to the ‘thing.’ 

Interestingly, the stronger the emotional response (positive or negative), the more likely we will see that car, food, book, name, that we suddenly believe is now everywhere, surrounding us.

Ah, but when it comes to OUR brand, what emotional response are we creating? Are people seeing our name because of some good encounter?

Or do they see it and silently rage because we keep crapping up their feeds with automation? Are we all take and no give?

Ads That Pop-Up vs. Ads That POP

We see ads all over. More than ever before in human history, which is why our brains are getting so clever with shortcuts. Most ads we literally do not see.

I could take any random person and have them click through twenty pages of BuzzFeed memes and they’ll remember the memes (emotional), but are unlikely to remember most of the ads plastered all along the sides.

Though most ads will be invisible, some are not. Some might even leap off the page. Why?

What makes us ‘see’ that advertisement?

When we have a highly positive or vastly negative experience, we’re far more likely to notice the ad.

If we see an ad for a book, we may or may not notice. But what about an ad for a book written by someone we know?

Someone perhaps we talked to and liked? The ad practically leaps from the page. We might even buy it because we SAW her ad and OMG! I know her!

Ads alone have very little power to compel a purchase. But, couple them with a brand (story/narrative/emotional experience), and the odds of a sale greatly improve.

This is why ads and promotion alone do very little to impact sales. Until there is a narrative (emotion) attached to the name?

It’s expensive white noise.

Ah, but what’s worse than a non-brand? A poisoned brand. If our brand is the story connected to our names (and by association our books), there can be nothing worse than the toxic brand.

The Biggest Loser Brand Fail

The biggest brand fail I witness is how much authors underestimate the power of social media behavior and its consequential impact on their author brand.

Social media is a massive part of our everyday lives. Everywhere we go, we see people fixated on smart phones, posting pics, messaging friends. Humans are wired to be social, so if you want to know where all the readers are? They are on-line.

***Whether this is good or bad is for another post entirely.

This said, we must appreciate that this isn’t 2008, the age before smart phones, a time when only early adopters lurked on Twitter and MySpace.

Back before roughly 2015, the largest and strongest part of the author brand happened to be the books (because a book is roughly 15 hours of interaction with the author’s ‘voice’).

But now? When people are constantly checking in with their favorite social site(s)? How we ACT and treat other people is the biggest part of the brand. It doesn’t matter how well we write, how awesome our books are, or how cheap we make our product.

If we poison our brand with too many negative somatic markers, we can devastate our brand, regardless how well we write, and the reason is this:

The most powerful somatic marker of ALL is the negative one (namely because it’s intrinsically woven into our very survival).

This is why that tuna salad that gave you food poisoning fifteen years ago still makes your stomach heave just thinking about it. Your body is warning you that this food might kill you (even though logically, you know this tuna salad is fresh).

The primordial brain doesn’t care about logic. Lizard-brain is ALL emotions and experiences and these experiences have a MASSIVE impact on our brand.

There are authors I used to preorder their books. Now? I wouldn’t accept a book of theirs even if it were free.

Why? Because they forgot that people are watching, that flesh and blood humans are on the other side of that screen.

Their ranting, raving, complaining, spamming, name-calling, and trolling comments eventually added up so many negative experiences that there was pretty much no way to counter the effect.

Brands are no longer just about the books.

Books are vital, but what elements are we adding to our story (our brand) when we’re online? When people see our content do they smile, laugh, feel good, want to share the fun? Or do they feel bullied, depressed, overwhelmed, targeted, or defensive?

Colin Shaw’s blog ’15 Statistics that Should Change the Business World but Haven’t’ collected some interesting stats that I’d like to share:

It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience. – ‘Understanding Customers’ by Ruby Newell-Legner.

A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. – White House Office of Consumer Affairs.

70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. – McKinsey.

When we’re on social media…

Everything Matters

Every post, comment, retweet adds to the story that is our author brand.

People might not remember exactly what we say, but they’ll always remember how we made them feel. In an age where audiences are flooded with too many choices, they’ll default to who they know, who they like, and who consistently makes them FEEL the best (loads of positive somatic markers).

Does this mean we can’t express opinions, that we need to be a cute kitten meme factory and Pod Person? Not at all. My advice is we’re wise to promote what we love instead of bashing what we hate.

For instance, if I’m a vegan and post ’12 Reasons Vegans are Sexier’ on Facebook, then fellow vegans will experience a positive somatic marker.

Those followers who aren’t vegans likely won’t react at all (a neutral somatic marker) because I’ve not placed them in the crosshairs of an attack. In fact, the non-vegan followers might even SHARE my post with vegan friends and family. And if not?

No big deal because we’re all still friends who can agree that we can be friends without being clones.

Keeping the ‘Social’ in Social Media

Now that y’all have had a Neuroscience 101 crash course—and I guarantee you will see Baader-Meinhof OR Kombucha at least three times in the next week—let’s get down to what’s most essential.

Branding is all story.

It’s a collection of emotional experiences that tie our name to some set of descriptors (hopefully positive ones). This is why automation can’t substitute for hopping on-line and talking to people. It’s why the Golden Rule still rules and why YES, goofing off on Facebook and posting kitten videos counts as branding.

Eventually, with love, care and nurturing, followers can become friends and even FANS.

So have fun. Relax. Show up. Be present and engage authentically. Go write great books and enjoy the people you meet along the way.

Coming UP!

If you want to know more about author branding and how to cultivate your own unique story that will attract your unique audience, I’m teaching some killer classes (and remember ALL our classes come with a FREE recording with purchase):

Branding: When Your Name Alone Can Sell

This THURSDAY. Use Brand10 for $10 off. My goal is to teach you how to build a brand so powerful your NAME sells books so you don’t have to. More writing and less *gags* marketing.

Spilling the TEA: Blogging for Authors

Blogging is a powerful way to build an author brand and also make a great income doing what we love…writing. Use Tea10 for $10 off.

As for craft I have a COMPLETELY NEW CLASS!

The Art of Character: Writing Characters for a SERIES

Next Tuesday!

How do we create characters that readers will fall in love with, characters strong enough to go the distance? Find out in this THREE-HOUR class that also comes with detailed notes and a character-building template. Use Binge10 for $10 off.

This class dovetails with my previous class, Bring on the Binge: How to Plot and Write a Series (NowON DEMAND). Use Binge10 for $10 off.

Also, one of my partners in crime, Maria Grace has a totally new craft class THIS FRIDAY!

Populating Planet X: Character Building for Science Fiction

How do we craft human stories when our characters might not be human? Science fiction relies on technology and world-building, but ultimately all great stories are people stories. Use tinfoil10 for $10 off.

This class relates directly to More than Crop Circles: Intro to Science Fiction On Demand. Use tinfoil10 for $10 off. It also ties directly to Not in Kansas Anymore: Science Fiction World0Building On Demand. Use tinfoil10 for $10 off.

Come join all the nerdy fun! See y’all in class!

The post Branding & The Brain: How Social Media Changes but People Never Will appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

The big news in publishing this week is Barnes & Noble’s plan to ax the Nook. After losing over a billion dollars trying to make the Nook a contender, it seems B&N’s new CEO is ready to just cut bait. According to Michael Kozlowski over at Good E Reader:

The NOOK segment (including digital content, devices and accessories) had revenues of $52 million for the 4th quarter and $264 million for the full year, decreasing 39.8% for the quarter and 47.8% for the year. Device and accessories sales were $13 million for the quarter and $86 million for the full year, declining 48.2% and 66.7%, respectively, due to lower unit selling volume. Digital content sales were $40 million for the quarter and $177 million for the full year, declining 36.5% and 27.8%, respectively, due primarily to lower device unit sales.

All I have to say is…OUCH.

I’d like to say I find this news shocking, but I don’t. Of course the question will be, what happens next? As an expert, often others ask us to offer up some predictions. Back in 2009 the Nook was new and doing fairly well, so I gave Barnes & Noble ten years before it would be gone.

If B&N did survive, it was going to be through the Nook which I figured would probably just be bought out by Kobo or Sony or some bored Saudi American prince. I adjusted my prediction in 2012 to five years or less and with the recent news, sadly, I might be correct.

So why is B&N still hemorrhaging?

Understand Your Consumer

#PARTY

One reason many major brands have become casualties in the Digital Age is that they failed to understand that customers now expect business (products and services) to come to them, not the other way around. Consumers liked downloading a song instead of traipsing to a music store. Consumers preferred digital photos over dropping off film. Instead of Tower Records and Kodak leading the way to a new model of service, they became casualties.

We are either architects of the future or artifacts in the future.

Now books…

Before e-books, if we wanted to read a book, we made a trip to the bookstore (or library) because that’s where we could buy books.

Complicated stuff, right?

B&N was very predatory in the 90s until about 2007. They made sure to build fancy mega-structures on every corner complete with coffee shops and discounts as deep as their chairs and they didn’t lose sleep over the independents they drove into bankruptcy.

Yet, this was smart. Consumers of the time were fascinated with megastores and this was a good plan that worked for a while. But, business is organic. It grows and contracts and changes and shifts and anyone in business is wise to remember this.

Bigger is better…until it isn’t.

Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Keith Nerdin…

What is REALLY an Advantage?

Malcolm Gladwell has a really cool book called David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants where he explores how elements we perceive as advantages are often serious disadvantages.

The bible story David and Goliath is the ultimate underdog story. Back in the day armies, in order to avoid suffering major casualties, would agree to simply pit their best fighters and winner took all.

Most of you know the story. Goliath the Philistine was highly trained, heavily armored and the size of a TRUCK, who also happened to be armed with a javelin, spear and sword. Yet, he was beaten by a shepherd boy with a slingshot. At first glance, this seems nothing short of miraculous, but if we dive a bit deeper?

Not so much.

If David had taken King Saul’s armor and sword and fought conventionally we likely would never heard this story. David would have been toast…or more like the jelly smeared across the toast. BUT, David refused to fight in a conventional way. A slingshot might not seem like that big of a deal but slingers were the precursors to our modern concept of an “artillery.”

In the Old Testament Book of Judges, slingers are described as being accurate within a “hair’s breadth”. An experienced slinger could kill or seriously injure a target at a distance of up to two hundred yards. ~Malcolm Gladwell, David & Goliath

This is a long way of saying that sure, Goliath was heavy infantry, but David’s sling and stone had the equivalent effect of Goliath being shot in the face with a fair-sized handgun. David refused to play by conventional rules and he won. Goliath’s fatal mistake was in assuming the conventional rules of engagement would apply.

In a marketplace governed by being leaner, meaner, faster and more convenient, propping up Goliath-sized stores was just a bad plan. Sure, Nook had the potential to rescue B&N out of their predicament, but it didn’t. Why?

Because the Nook was still acting like a Goliath.

B&N…HELLOOOOO?

The company had an identity crisis and failed to make the full transition away from being BIG. Instead of leading the charge to being small and lithe, they tried to use Nook only to prop up the same old way of doing business.

In my opinion, this is like a partial heart transplant. Either be fully committed or forget about it.

They remained married to Big Publishing and bloated price models, were less than supportive of indies (even though those were SALES), and they were still scope-locked on brick-and-mortar.

And before anyone laughs, I think it is pretty safe to bet that Blockbuster Video would still be among the land of the living had they introduced the Redbox technology first. But, instead they kept doing the same old same old and tried to use on-line video only to buttress the lackluster stores that were growing weaker by the day.

And now?

Brave in a Brave New World

We live in amazing times where branding happens at the speed of light. We cannot afford to be idle. A lot of the big brands are feeling this in a major way. This is not limited to publishing. I know this because I work with a branding firm and most of our major accounts have been reinventing what one would think of as firmly established brands.

Sure, in a consumer market where there are only a handful of beer companies, it is safe to use the same kind of marketing. But what happens when the marketplace is deluged with microbreweries and boutique brands? When the young people prefer to enjoy an Ugly Pug Lager or a Buffalo Butt Amber instead of a Miller Lite? How do you not only remain relevant, but convert the youth into being the next generation of loyal consumers?

We have to be brave. We have to fight like a David.

Writers are the ultimate Davids. The indies are responsible for altering the publishing landscape. Writers have unimaginable creativity and resilience. Writers understood the business was about stories, not paper. We didn’t care how readers partook of our books (paper, digital, smoke signals, carrier pigeons), we only cared that they DID. Writers embraced the power of social media and a lot of folks in publishing are now eating the words, “You don’t need social media. All you need is a good book.”

When all the smoke has cleared and B&N either reignites or fizzles out, it won’t matter. Writers will still remain. It just seems funny to me that the very people the Book Goliaths so recently wrote off (writers) probably could have taught them a thing or two .

And what we can take away from all of this is that we writers have to stay frosty. Books are not about us, they are about the reader (code for consumer). We can look at what might appear to be a disadvantage and look at it in a new way. In the end, it takes grit to do what we do. So stay BRAVE.

What are your thoughts? You think B&N is just buying time until the end? Do you think they could rally back? How could B&N reinvent in a way to gain your loyalty?

Quick Announcement: Due to popular demand, I am rerunning my Hooking the Reader—Your First Five Pages at the end of the month and I am doing something different. Gold Level includes me looking (and shredding your first five) but I have added in some higher levels and will look at up to 20 pages. This can be really useful if you’re stuck. I can help you diagnose the problems. It’s also a great deal if you have to submit to an agent and want to make your work the best it can be.

I LOVE hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of JULY, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less). 

For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook. 

The post Barnes & Noble, Dead Nooks, and Brave New Branding appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Kenny Louie

These three professional blunders can hang on like the smell of dead fish and stink up our author career, so avoid them at all cost. I understand that many of you who follow this blog are new, so if you’ve made one of these mistakes, you’re learning. We all oops (especially in the beginning), so don’t sweat it. Yet, I see these three behaviors far more often than I’d like.

You’ve been warned ;).

NEVER Be Nasty in a Blog Comment

I am fully aware that my blog can’t make everyone happy. I work my tail off to entertain and enlighten but I know I can’t be all things to all people. If I’m not your cup of tea? Just click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the e-mail WordPress sends you or e-mail me and I will happily assist you leaving (and cry later *sniffles*).

There is no need for this:

Ohhhh-kay.

The irony was 1) I didn’t even write this particular post. It was a guest post and an excellent one at that 2) It wasn’t negative at all. It just wasn’t coated in glitter and fluff. Professionals don’t have a lot of time and shouldn’t need to be handled with kid gloves and 3) Was it really necessary? I’s written over 600 posts at the time, and one wasn’t her cup of tea? So we just carpet bomb?

I once wrote a humor post about my many failed attempts to join the military. It was a humor post. It was posted for Memorial Day and to honor those willing to sacrifice for the very freedom this person liberally uses…

Yes, this counts as a troll…

Oh, and a warning. Trolls will bait you with the, “You will censor my right to free speech” to get you to approve a nasty comment. But they forget we actually don’t have universal 1st Amendment Rights or we’d be able to yell “FIRE!” in a movie theater or stand and scream profanities and threats in the middle of an Applebee’s without being arrested. Don’t fall for it. Your TRASH function is there for reason.

Also, blogs count as a benevolent dictatorship.

And my personal favorite?

Um…OUCH.

See, the thing is, if you want to tell a blogger she has the brain of a retarded chimp, that she’s a loser-poseur fake, don’t do it in the blog comments (or at all, for that matter). AGAIN, the comment is there forever, complete with the commenter’s name and face.

Oh, and it’s spelled “expertise” by the way .

Most of the time, when I get nasty comments like these I just send them to the trash. They aren’t heathy for the comment community and everyone has a bad day, which is why I didn’t include the gravatars or names of these nice people. But, remember, not all bloggers will be nice.

I have the right to be wrong and y’all have the right to un-sunbcribe, never buy one of my books and tell all your friends that oatmeal is smarter than I am. I get that I can’t please everyone, but there is a way to disagree and remain polite, respectful and professional. There’s no need for ad hominem attacks.

If someone writes a blog you don’t like? Fine. But keep in mind that this person worked hard and for free to offer you something of value. All they ask in return is for some common human decency.

People have long memories regarding those who are needlessly cruel. And sure, a blogger might be a new, unpublished nobody. Doesn’t mean he or she’ll remain that way. We never know who we might need one day, and burning bridges is a bad long-term plan.

If you do goof and hurt a blogger, just e-mail them and apologize or apologize in the comments. A lot of bloggers (I’d like to believe) are reasonable. Own the mistake and ask for gratis.

Never Be Nasty on Twitter

Twitter is a wonderful tool, namely because it can help us go viral. Yet, that’s precisely why we must handle it with care. It can go VIRAL. A random woman on Twitter tweeted a nasty remark about rapper Ice-T’s wife and millions of fans pounced.

This woman had to delete her account and practically go into witness protection. I am certain she didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, but it shows that tweets should be handled with care.

Sure, we can delete tweets, but often by the time we realize we need to delete one…it’s already too late. Twitter goes quickly, so it can get out of hand quickly.

Never Write Bad Book Reviews

This doesn’t apply to book bloggers and book reviewers. That’s your job and we love that you give us guidance on what to read. But, as authors? I believe in what Candace Havens calls Writer Karma.

If I can’t give a book a great review? I just don’t review it. Again, publishing is a small world and we all need each other. The world is already out to throw us under a bus. We need each other to keep from turning into cutters.

***And yes, I KNOW “experts” tell writers to blog book reviews, but that’s a BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE no-no in my book. First because writing reviews is a HUGE time-suck. Average of twelve hours to read a book then time to craft a review. Even if you posted once a week, that is 36-40 HOURS per month we could have spent on the novel. Second, book reviews will never go viral, EVER. And thirdly? Reviewing books muddies and undermines the author brand.

If a writer really bungled and you just cannot remain quiet? Send him or her an e-mail outlining the problems and maybe suggestions how to do better with the next book. This way correction is private and we aren’t publicly and permanently humiliating a peer.

Some writers might not respond well, but I know I’ve gotten e-mails that actually were really helpful. Readers who spotted typos or formatting errors that could be corrected. The idiot stuff? I just ignore, but I do appreciate that it was handled privately.

If you goofed on this and now feel badly, remove the review. In the future, focus on reviewing what you love.

Our BRAND is AUTHOR, not “book reviewer.” My opinion is we can’t do both.

Book reviewers have to be forthright to be taken seriously. This means some books will get shredded. This can undermine how our fellow writers feel about working with us as authors.

“Hey, I publicly shredded your first novel with a two-star but thoughtful review. I have a new book coming out. Can I guest post on your blog?”

“SURE! Just as soon as you send me a lock of your hair to complete that voodoo doll I crafted in your likeness.”

Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Juha-Matti Herrala.

I have a post that delves deeper into this conflict of interests HERE. Remember, we can be Siskel & Ebert or Steven Spielberg. Tough trick to be both.

We Are Human

Image via Flickr Creative Commons, courtesy of Sally Jean

I’d love to tell you I’ve never made a mistake, that I am the shining example to all, but I’ve had bad days too. I’ve screwed up and had to apologize. Just own it and say you’re sorry.

We all need grace, let’s just try not to make a habit of needing it too often. We’re wise to remember there’s a human on the other side of that screen. The digital world is wonderful, but it takes work (and sometimes holding our tongue fingertips) to keep it a positive experience.

Have you ever had someone shred you publicly on your blog? On social media? How did you handle it? Did you cry? I used to. Have toughened up. Do you delete the comment or leave it up so everyone will know they’re a jerk and steer clear? When you see comments on a blog that are rude and in bad taste, what do you do? Do you make note of the name? Defend the blogger?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of FEBRUARY, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly. I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

For those who need help building a platform and keeping it SIMPLE, pick up a copy of my latest social media/branding book Rise of the Machines—Human Authors in a Digital World on AMAZON, iBooks, or Nook. 

The post Three NEVERS of Social Media for Writers appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

AVOID THE SHINY! (Image via David Kayzer Flikr Creative Commons)

Social Tools can make life a lot easier. I cannot imagine trying to keep up with all the people I follow on Twitter without the aid of TweetDeck or HootSuite. This said, those tools offer some little extras that are enticing, but I am here to warn you to stay away from the shiny.

No Need for Multiple Identities on Twitter

Yes, I know TD and HS allow you to have multiple identities. Don’t go there. You need only ONE identity—the NAME that will be printed on the front of your books. If you can’t get it, be creative. Add a “writer” or “author” in front or behind. Use initials. Add a number, an underscore, or even a state designation. I am @KristenLambTX.

ONE IDENTITY, PLEASE.

Writers complain all the time they don’t have any time for social media, but then they have more personalities than Sybil running around making a mess. We only need to hear from YOU, not your book (we can’t emotionally connect to an inanimate object) and not from your characters.

Remember if we are following you, we might follow the other identities too and then we are just being buried in redundancy.

DO NOT TWEET AS A CHARACTER

Tweeting from the perspectives of characters is a gimmicky time suck that fractures our brand and attention. Additionally, anyone interested in following your characters has likely already bought and read the BOOK. This said, this activity does nothing to gain new readers, and for those of us who haven’t read the book? We have no idea what’s going on. And, once we realize you’re conversing with yourself, it seems creepy and weird.

I know there was a best-selling thriller author who I followed. He was constantly talking to someone from the CIA. This didn’t seem weird because Barry Eisler talks to REAL experts all the time on Twitter. The person this author was talking to had a blacked out picture and a bio, but it really looked like some expert from intelligence who wanted to remain anonymous. Months later, I went to buy the author’s book…only to realize I had been following and talking to his character.

*head desk*

I was mortified, then ticked. I unfollowed both and, needless to say, didn’t buy the book.

Multiple Identities Can Get Us In Trouble

There is no humanly way to keep up with multiple identities AND write books. Often, people who use this tactic, resort to automation. Yeah, we love talking to computers. I call Sprint daily so I don’t feel lonely.

People are on social networks to socialize. If we wanted to buy crap we don’t need, we’d be on the Home Shopping Network, not the social network.

Don’t Make Us “Friends With Benefits”

Automation and preprogramming is taking without giving. We expect others to be present and vested, whereas we are too busy to hang out on Twitter. Thus, what we are telling others is that they are Friends with Benefits. All the benefits of friendship with none of the time and emotional sacrifice.

No we don’t feel used at all.

Automation easily gets out of hand, especially when programmed using hashtags. We had an author coach with four identities (all her picture, but different variations of her name) programmed to blast #MyWANA daily, multiple times a day with slight variations of the same messages. Let’s just say, we didn’t buy her services.

We were too busy looking for digital pitchforks and torches.

Triberr is great if we use it to keep our favorite blogs in one spot. All too often, however, it’s been a major source of link spam. TrueTwit (aptly named) might keep you “safer” from spammers, but it opens anyone who clicks that link to validate they’re human to being phished and hacked.

Note: NOT that hard to unfollow and report a bot. Don’t make people jump through hoops.

Avoid the Allure of Algorithms

Yes, I know fan pages can tell you what you posted what time of day what image recieved the most shares and from where, but ignore this. Are you on Facebook or ovulating? Just talk to people. When we pay too much attention to numbers, we get into gaming behavior. We keep trying to duplicate the “magic” and there is no “magic” to be duplicated. Even if there was magic (which there isn’t), all it takes is a slight “tweaking” of the algorithm to change everything.

Just ask anyone who’s been a member of Klout more than six months.

Social Tools are great, but if we focus too hard? A Social Tool can make us a Social Tool. We spam others and automate and wait until Thursday EST just after lunch to tweet about kittens in league with satan because that seems to get us the most followers.

Ticket to CRAZY TOWN.

No Social Media Day-Trading

The WANA Way is a long-term investment. It’s the 401K filled with mutual funds. Keep adding little by little and one day, you will cash in BIG, but only after investing in people and relationships over a long period of time.

Social Tools are Social Media Day-Trading. We are locked to the numbers and gambling on this behavior or that, or adding more identities to make the numbers look good, and NONE of this will have long-term effect…unless one counts wrinkles, gray hair and a twitch in our left eye.

Use Tools to Build Community

I use HootSuite so I can engage with all kinds of people. If I used regular Twitter, there is NO WAY I could keep up or forge friendships effectively. Just because a tool offers a lot of shinies, doesn’t mean they aren’t a bug writer zapper.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTUQyEr-sg0&w=420&h=315]

What are your thoughts? Have you had trouble with tools? What ways to you use them effectively without devolving into a bot?

I love hearing from you!

To prove it and show my love, for the month of March, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

I will pick a winner once a month and it will be a critique of the first 20 pages of your novel, or your query letter, or your synopsis (5 pages or less).

And also, winners have a limited time to claim the prize, because what’s happening is there are actually quite a few people who never claim the critique, so I never know if the spam folder ate it or to look for it and then people miss out. I will also give my corporate e-mail to insure we connect and I will only have a week to return the 20 page edit.

At the end of March I will pick a winner for the monthly prize. Good luck!

The post Can Social Media Tools Make us a Social Tool? appeared first on Kristen Lamb.

Holy Moly! Yes, folks. We are officially closing in on Christmas and the beginning of a New Year. If you guys are anything like me, about half your 2011 resolutions were forgotten two and a half weeks in when you were so hungry you contemplated holding up your local Cinnabon with a shotgun.

I might not be able to help you keep your resolution to lose weight, but I CAN help you reach the goal of creating a successful author blog with the power to SELL BOOKS.

Today I am going to explain why you need my Blogging to Build Your Author Brand Class. Tell your family you want this for Christmas. Two months of class for only $40!!!! In the comfort of your own home!!! You can even wear that dreadful Snuggie you will almost certainly get as a White Elephant gift.

My class will teach you about author branding and how to blog in ways that leave you time to go to the gym watch all the Firefly reruns. But, if I haven’t convinced you to sign up for your own good, then how about this?

Sign up or the Pixies win.

Pixies? Yes, Pixies.

Every day is a challenge for us to manage time, to learn to say no, and to focus. We do best learning ways to get the most output for the minimal time input. *cough* Which is why you need my class. That and January 15th is when the Procrastination Pixies hatch and come to feed….on your dreams.

Oh, I’ll start a blog on Monday after I clean up the tinsel the cat puked all over the guest room.

One of the most common Procrastination Pixies falls under the genus species name, Activia Pixius Busyworkus. This pixie masquerades itself as a really great use of time, but, in reality, is a total time-suck that can have you scrapbooking by lunch.

What does an Activia Pixius look like? The genus includes, but is not limited to, thank you notes three months after Christmas, watching old home movies, organizing baby pictures, and quality time with the Thigh Master you bought in 1994.

Basically any chore that made you groan and roll your eyes until it came time to sit and write is guaranteed to be an Activius Pixius. You make a vow to start blogging regularly, and suddenly that junk drawer that hasn’t bothered you for the past six months is calling out to you like a siren.

Give in to the Pixies and sure, guests can eat off your floors, but sadly, shiny floors do not impress agents. I know, I asked the one locked in my closet—ha ha ha ha! Kidding. My closets are way too cluttered to fit an agent!

Organized cabinets do not sell books. They might make more room for all the books left unsold, but that’s about it. Clean floors don’t sell books. Organized dressers do not sell books. Heck, traditional marketing won’t even sell books. What will sell books? AN AWESOME-SAUCE BLOG!

Just because we are literate and can string together nouns and verbs in a coherent fashion doesn’t mean we know anything about what makes a successful blog that connects to tens of thousands. Just because we recognize a box of Tide or a Xerox machine doesn’t mean we comprehend author branding.

Yes, I made all the mistakes so you don’t have to. Better than that, I have a track record of proven success to back up what I teach. Not only have I put both my books at the top of the best-selling list, but WANA methods have helped other authors rise from total obscurity to become best-sellers as well (and land some pretty fat six-figure publishing deals).

It is one thing for me to tell you guys that you need to a create a successful author blog. It is an entirely different thing to SHOW you how to build one.

When it comes to blogging, you might be thinking:

What do I say? I’m not an expert. Who cares what I have to say? How do I keep fresh and interesting content? How can I do more with my blog than just journal or talk about writing? How can my blog connect with readers?

How can I afford alcohol, candy and new shoes with this new budget?

ACK!!! See! Procrastination Pixie! *hits with a fly swatter*

Where was I?

Knowledge is power. Now, let me ask you some questions:

How educated are you about social media as it applies to authors? How much is this lack of knowledge hurting you and your platform? How much time is it wasting in being unproductive? What are going to be the long-term effects of building a platform on a faulty foundation?

How much time will a little bit of good education save you? How much more time will you have to work on your next novel? How much more time will you have left over to stop drinking and clean out the garage?

Maybe not on the same day, but you get the point.

How much more success will you have because you took time to learn from the successful?

You guys don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

There is A LOT of misinformation about what constitutes an author brand. Many social media experts don’t understand that writers are different. Yes, we really are special unique snowflakes. Author brands are highly unique and complex. What works for Starbucks doesn’t work for writers and for selling books. Go here if you want to know why traditional marketing doesn’t sell books.

I am a writer first. The brand I will help you create will be with you for a lifetime, will grow as you and your career grows. Blogs need to define our brand, not hold us hostage. Not all blog content will work well for growing your brand. Good content and a solid brand are key to working smarter, not harder.

Order now and shipping and handling is FREE!!!!

The self-made man is a myth. No one is successful alone. If we try to do social media all by ourselves by blitzing out spam and form-letters and collecting neat e-mail lists, we are more likely to wear out and give up than to succeed.

WE ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!

The key to being successful on social media is to learn to work as a team and create community. Our team will keep us focused and the Pixies at bay.

I didn’t become successful alone. I had help. More help than I deserved. Now I am here to teach you guys how to create a community vested in your success. We need to learn how to connect to influential people. We need to connect to more than just other writers.

Don’t let the Pixies steal another year. Stand your ground and choose success. Sign up as soon as possible! There are only 100 slots and last time the workshop sold out. Currently over a third of the slots are already filled so time is running out!!!!

If you have taken my workshop, take a moment and share what you learned and how the workshop helped you, transformed you, or revealed six-pack abs you didn’t even know you had. What are your thought? Fears? Cool recipes for rum balls? I dig hearing from you.

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