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Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru 
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Archive for the ‘PR and Publicity’ Category6 Ways to Make Your Blog Sticky and PopularSeptember 16th, 2011Hi All! You start a blog, spend hours thinking of topic ideas and finding content, pour time into writing posts, and then find that your traffic numbers are less-than stellar. Hence why many people start a blog but then abandon it. They get frustrated and don’t see an ROI for their time and effort. So, to possibly help you improve your blog, and get you the traffic and audience you want to visit it, here are 8 content strategy tips to consider for increasing the time visitors spend on your blog and can increase the odds of them returning more often:
The key here is also to be consistent. Writing a blog post every 2 months, and then wondering why your traffic is low, is not a good strategy! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Suggested Resource for On-going Great Blogging Tips:  9 Tips Authors Can Use for Marketing Their First BookAugust 26th, 2011Hi All! I came across these great tips in a post on The Creative Penn blog and wanted to share them with you. Whether you’re a new book author, or a seasoned author, and regardless of whether you self-published or have a traditional publishing deal, these tips can help you. They are from an article written by Graham Storrs, author of “Timesplash”. Many of these tips are ones I’ve personally used to market my books, and I also advise my author clients on them, as well. Ready for Graham’s tips??? Here ya go: 1. Get an audience before the release. When you announce your newly-published book to the world, it would be nice if someone was there to hear you. So how many people read your blog? How many friends do you have on Twitter or Facebook? Are you using LinkedIn groups, Goodreads, LibraryThing? Unless you are being followed (friended, or whatever) by hundreds, if not thousands of people, you probably need to put some time into building up your profile on these sites. When you make that announcement, you will feel as if you are standing on the stage in an empty theatre, unless you’ve managed to drag a few people in off the streets first. 2. Create a brand. In writing, the author is the brand. And that means you. You need to present yourself in your communications with potential readers in a way you are comfortable with and which is related to the boks you expect to be promoting. An important part of this is to know which genre you are working in. It’s invidious, I know, but received wisdom is that if you work in more than one genre, you probably need two different names and two different brands. When you are putting yourself out there and finding ways to talk about your book, don’t forget what your brand is – who you want people to see you as. Stay focused. 3. Know what you are going to say. Marketing is about message. Your brand is part of it but the rest is all content. What is your book about? Who will it appeal to? What groups should be interested in it, discussing it, recommending it, and what will catch their attention? Work it all out, find the wording you need to convey the message succinctly and clearly, then, in everything you say, stay on that message. It’s probably not all that hard. You probably write the kind of books you also love to read. Mostly, your target audience is people rather like yourself. Take a while to understand what it is that attracts you to new, unknown writers in your genre and you are half-way there. 4. Understand where your interests lie. You will be selling your book through a variety of channels (book shops, online, as ebooks and as print – possibly POD) and in a number of ‘geographies’ – defined in your publishing contract – to a number of audiences (‘market segments’ in the jargon.) Some channels and geographies will earn you more money than others. If your royalties on net, vs on retail price, it is of critical importance to you personally how big a cut various middlemen are taking. (Remember it can be quite hard to know which channel is best since while apparently high-paying channels like direct sales from your publisher’s own website may earn you a bigger royalty than online stores like Amazon, the latter is likely to out-sell the publisher’s own shop by many times and deliver a much bigger return for your effort. The same goes for audiences. Some are more likely to be interested than others, some more likely to buy, some more likely to spread the word. You are likely to be overwhelmed with work and you need to know where to put your marketing efforts. 5. Keep it rolling. With online sales and ebook editions, publicising a book is not the one-shot event it used to be. Market dynamics have changed since the days when bricks and mortar book shops were all that there was and you had three to six weeks during which your book would be on the shelf before it was returned to make way for the new batch of hopefuls. Now your book will stay in online catalogues for as long as your publishing agreement lasts – and longer if you act to keep it there. You probably have a few months now, after the launch, while your book is fairly new, when you can actively promote it and try to keep people’s attention on it. Even beyond that point, you can run occasional refresher campaigns to lift its profile again. This is all good news for the writer. The bad news is that the marketing need never end! 6. Engage. Talk to your readers and your potential readers. Talk about your book if they’re interested. Talk about the genre. Talk about writing and publishing. Talk about yourself. People are interested. It’s hard to grasp at first. You do interviews, you write blog pieces, you twitter about your life, your opinions, and your book, and you you think, “What the hell is so fascinating about me? Aren’t people going to think I’m a complete ego-maniac?” Well, maybe some will, but an awful lot won’t. They have read your book and liked it and they’re curious about who wrote it, or why you wrote it, or how you wrote it. Even if they haven’t read the book, there are plenty of people with common interests – in the genre, or in writing – who see you as someone who has contributed, or has special knowledge of the journey. You could ignore them all, sit quietly at your desk and write your next book, but it is a deeper, richer experience for everybody – you included – if you engage with them. 7. Keep your pipeline filled. This is more jargon from the sales world. Like it or not, you are selling a product. It’s a business. Your readers are consumers of that product. If they like it, they will want more. The only way they will get more is if you write it. So don’t stop work on that next book, no matter how much extra work the last one has created. A book takes a long time to write, revise, edit and polish. Then you have to sell it to a publisher (oh yes, there are no free rides, each new book can be just as hard to sell as the last one.) Then edit it and then market it. It’s a long pipeline. You keep putting words in at one end and there will be more books to sell at the other. If you stop, there will be a gap. 8. Prepare to work your socks off. You may think you were busy when you wrote the book – what with the day job and family commitments – but once you shave signed that contract, you will shift into overdrive. Now, as well as the day job, the family, and writing the next book, you also have to work with your publisher on edits, and you have to work on your marketing campaign. Your social networking will escalate, your blogging and website content writing will increase, you’ll be trawling the blogsphere working with your communities of interest, and you’ll be pestering reviewers the world over to just please take a look at your book. That’s why I say it’s writing an iceberg – seven tenths of the work comes after the book is finished. 9. Don’t forget to have some fun, or you’ll go nuts. Sometimes, you should even take a holiday! I hope you found those helpful! Marketing a new book can be very challenging, but by implementing tips like those, combined with effectively marketing your book on Amazon, adding PR and writing press releases, and implementing other marketing strategies to your mix, you can ramp your book sales and build a fan base! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Experts Share Great Tips for Using Videos for MarketingAugust 08th, 2011Hi All! I came across this terrific article on SocialMediaExaminer.com, written by Cindy King, entitled: “29 tips to make Your Video Marketing Easy“. Basically, if you are a small business owner wondering how you can begin to use, or more effectively use, short videos in your marketing mix, and you’re on a limited budget, you don’t want to pass up these great tips! Cindy interviewed experts to share some helpful tips to improve your efforts and strategies. Here are a few of the tips shared, and you can read the entire list of 29 by CLICKING HERE! 5 out of the 29 tips:Chris Garrett @ChrisGarrett #1: Try video now My biggest tip is to try video out, see if it works for you. I resisted video for so long due to my shyness, but when I did put some videos out there my audience reacted so warmly (and forgiving of my goofs) that I wish I had tried sooner. You don’t need professional gear, expert editing skills and software, and you don’t need a fancy script. You don’t even need to be super-confident in front of the camera. Just make a good point and deliver content people can use and enjoy. There is no time like the present. Get started! Chris Garrett, author of the popular blog chrisg.com. Kristi Hines @kikolani #2: Use Google Search Stories if you’re shy If you’re shy about videos and not ready to put your face (or voice) on camera, there are still options! My particular favorite is using Google Search Stories to show viewers your best online properties by simply searching for them. You can see mine below that highlights my blog and guest posting contributions. If you’re having a hard time getting particular results to show up, use some more advanced search queries. For example, one of mine was Kristi Hines site: socialmediaexaminer.com, which showed results with just my posts here on Social Media Examiner. You can get really creative too, incorporating results from Google image, maps, news, blog, product and book search to feature photography, a business location, blog posts, stuff you sell and books you have written! Kristi Hines, author of the popular blog Kikolani. Stephanie Gehman @airport_girl
#3: Find your company’s best cheerleader Find your internal cheerleader to be the person you put in front of the camera. Your marketing and sales professionals are not always the most likely candidates to be the star of your company/brand’s videos. Consider the person in the office who encourages and has a smile for everyone, as his/her natural exuberance may be just the on-camera talent you’re looking for! Stephanie Gehman is marketing manager for Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania. Lewis Howes @LewisHowes #4: Start publishing regularly Video can seem like just another challenge to overcome, but I see a major increase in my business and brand awareness all from the power of video. There are a number of tips I could share, but the best one is easy. Simply put, it’s important to start publishing video on a consistent basis. Don’t worry about what camera to use (I use the reverse camera on my iPhone often) and don’t worry about editing it to make it look perfect (the “mess-ups” will make you look more genuine and real) as the most important thing is to simply get your message out there on video. Start with shorter 1- to 3-minute videos that educate your audience, then as you get more comfortable, you can make them longer or do more editing, but for now, the best thing you can do is take action and produce videos on a consistent basis. Lewis Howes, author of a popular blog and soon-to-be-launched Video Traffic Academy. Neal Rodriguez @notifyneal #5: Be transparent and authentic You want to be as transparent and authentic as you can be when expressing yourself on video; talk with a naked tongue. I have generated business through video by communicating passionately and honestly on the topic of social media marketing. I have touched on topics and tactics that other people with whom I operate don’t discuss, like the successful use of social bookmarking platforms like Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Success with such platforms is perceived as black magic by most social media marketers and strategists, but I have communicated how I have been successful in detail through video. The other critical component is the marketing of your videos. I have developed relationships by helping other bloggers and webmasters in my niche, who have allowed me to post guest contributions on their websites. This way, a proportion of people who visit another website will visit mine, and a proportion of people who visit my website linked from the guest post will subscribe to my email list, RSS feed, Twitter, YouTube, Digg and Facebook digital assets. Once you have built a community of engaged friends with whom you keep in touch through social channels, some of these people will help you promote your content by sharing it on social media, buying your products or services, or referring you to somebody who will buy your products or services. Neal Rodriguez is an online marketer who teaches companies how to use social media marketing. OKAY! There are 5 tips to get your head around using video in your marketing mix. But don’t forget to check out the other 24 ideas and strategies that Cindy compiled. Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa 5 Things Your Freelance Sales Writer Must DeliverJuly 18th, 2011Hi All! The following blog is a guest post courtesy of Debbie Feldstein, a freelance non-fiction writer based in New York City. For more than 20 years, she has provided imaginative, unique, and persuasive copy in the form of press releases, brochures, sales letters, and autoresponders. She has authored dozens of books, reports, and articles on effective sales and marketing. Among her ‘best sellers’ are How to Use Social Media Marketing to Attract More Prospects, Make More Sales and How to Create Information Products. For more information, please visit www.creativeblocks.com or send a message to oddball@creativeblocks.com. Plus, I can personally vouch for Deb’s talent because she has been the Editor for my 3 books! She really is fabulous and great to work with. Okay! Let’s jump into Deb’s article: 5 Things Your Freelance Sales Writer Must Deliver The Internet makes it easy to find and hire freelance copywriters. But the question many entrepreneurs and small business owners face when they want to outsource their copywriting needs is this: How do I know which copywriter to choose? (My short answer is ‘Choose ME,’ of course.) If you don’t know anything about the product you’re buying, then it’s tough to get a good deal. For example, if you don’t know diddly about cars, you may end up buying a Yugo instead of a Mercedes. One way to ‘look under the hood’ of a potential hire that you want to handle your business writing is to ask them in their proposal if they know (and can deliver) the 5 essentials of a good sales message. Anatomy of a Conversion-Oriented Sales Message Whether it’s an advertisement in the Sunday paper, a postcard, an online sales letter, a television commercial, or even a flyer stuck under the wipers of an automobile, an effective pitch always includes these elements. To assess skills, ask your copywriter to provide portfolio samples of: ***Headline – A headline should be unique, powerful, and convey the biggest benefit of using a product or service. ***Body Copy – The body copy should be an emotionally compelling recitation of what the consumer will receive and needs to do. ***Social Proof – Testimonials and endorsements, prove that an offer is what you claim. The problem is that many testimonials and long and rambling. (Ask your copywriter for a sample of a before-and-after testimonial that he/she has edited.) ***Guarantee – Guarantees should remove risk so that the consumer has no fear of disappointment. ***Bonus – Offering something of additional value (“But wait, there’s more!”) should transform a sales offer from ‘good’ to ‘irresistible.’ ***Urgent Call to Action – Procrastination kills profits and, unfortunately, prospective buyers may be likely to put aside offers to act upon at a later date. Ask your copywriter for an example of a statement that tells a consumer how to place an order, with an incentive for them to act quickly. Important note: When asking for a sample of these various elements, it is appropriate to request something from the writer’s portfolio. It is NOT appropriate to ask your as-yet-unhired writer to do work ‘on spec’ and deliver samples based on your specific project. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs (and you don’t want to be one of THOSE) sometimes ask numerous copywriters to provide on-spec samples. Then they simply cobble those samples together to create their own sales message, without paying any of the writers whose creativity they are pilfering. Your prospects are waiting for you. And so are the talented copywriters that can help you turn those prospects into buyers. Go for it! Thanks, Deb, for the great advice! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa
Lisa Orrell Voted “Top 30 Brand Gurus in the World”June 01st, 2011Hi All! Okay, so I have some cool news to share, therefore this post is a bit self-serving…but I can occasionally share news about me, and not just helpful tips, on my own blog…right??? Here’s the news I wanted to tell you about…it’s the actual Press Release that was deployed on PRWeb.com: Lisa Orrell, Branding Expert and Marketing Consultant, Recently Voted “Top 30 Most Influential Brand Gurus in the World” Voted on by over 22,000 industry peers and business professionals, Lisa Orrell makes BrandGurus.net’s prestigious Top 30 Brand Gurus List along with other globally known marketing experts, such as: Stephen Denny, Martin Roll, Sally Hogshead and Dan Schawbel. Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru, is a well-known 20-year Branding Expert, Marketing Consultant and Certified Success Coach who works with small business owners, entrepreneurs, entertainers, professional and aspiring speakers, and book authors. And, based on her track record, she was recently included on BrandGurus.net’s “Top 30 Most Influential Brand Gurus in the World” List. According to BrandGurus.net, the winners who made their final Top 30 list were voted on by more than 22,000 industry and business professionals around the globe. “I didn’t even know I had been nominated to be considered for this list. Apparently they had a rather large list of candidates and then put it out to their industry database and social media networks for voting,” explains Lisa Orrell. “I wasn’t notified until the Top 30 List had been selected, so it was a total surprise! And, after looking at the experts who were on there with me, I realized I was in great company. I actually know some of them personally or I have read their popular business and branding books.” Aside from coaching and consulting with clients, Lisa is also the author of 3 business books: “Millennials Incorporated”, “Millennials into Leadership”, and of her highly anticipated new one coming out in August 2011, “Boomers into Business: How Anyone Over 50 Can Turn What They Know into Dough Before and After Retirement”. And, as a professional speaker herself, Lisa conducts popular workshops and seminars on Personal and Business Branding, Marketing, PR, Publicity, Social Media, Book Marketing and Publishing, and launching a Speaker Platform. “I think Lisa totally deserves to be on that list,” says one of Orrell’s clients, Stacey Vulakh, a Time Management Coach, founder of the Timestyle Time Management Approach, aspiring author, and professional speaker. “She has been amazing at helping me create my branding and positioning, launching my coaching and consulting business, building my speaker platform, and helping me develop the concept for my first book. Lisa is so good at what she does…it’s what she’s done her entire professional life!” Because of her vast business experience and notoriety, Orrell has been interviewed by, or written articles for, a wide variety of media, including: ABC, MSNBC, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, U.S. News & World Report, Cosmo, China’s Her World Magazine, BNET.com, WomenEntrepreneur.com, and countless others. Plus, aside from being selected for The Top 30 Brand Guru’s List, Lisa is also the recipient of over 75 national and international awards for marketing, creative and strategic excellence. People follow Lisa’s business insights, tips and advice on Twitter @PromoteUGuru, through her Promote U Guru blog, and on her Facebook Fan Page: Facebook.com/PromoteUGuru. For media inquiries, to contact Lisa about her services, or to have her speak at your next Professional Association event, contact her at: Lisa@PromoteUGuru.com, phone: 408-340-8789, website: PromoteUGuru.com OKAY! So that’s the cool news I wanted to share! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa How I’m Celebrating 2011 National Small Business WeekMay 16th, 2011Hi All! This week, May 16-May 20, is National Small Business Week! It’s an annual event, mandated by the President of the United States, and was started in 1963 to pay tribute to all the small businesses across America each year (now totaling 27.2 million in 2011!). Other quick factoids: More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and small businesses also create 60-80 percent of new jobs in the country…so we contribute to the economy big time! And, because I coach and consult with small business owners, coaches, consultants, speakers and authors, and I see how much they struggle with their branding, marketing, PR, sales, book marketing, and/or social media strategies (prior to hiring me, of course!), I wanted to celebrate this annual event by providing you with a special offer to help your business succeed. Special Offer Details: – Receive a 15% discount on ANY consulting package that I offer. I provide a wide variety of package options ranging in cost so you are sure to find one that fits your budget! – In addition to the special savings, I will also ADD one “bonus” consulting session to any package you choose! – This is limited to the first 5 people who contact me by the end of this national event (by Friday, May 20th). So if you are struggling with your branding, marketing, PR, social media, sales and/or book marketing efforts, contact me right away. I can also help you develop a “topic expert” personal brand platform to attract paid public speaking opportunities and media interviews…I help most of my clients with that! Again, this is limited to 5 people and you need to contact me by May 20th. Just send me an email or give me a call and I will email you my complete Services & Options Overview Package. Contact info: Lisa@PromoteUGuru.com or call 408-340-8789. Let’s get your brand, business and bottom-line booming in 2011! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa How to Write Articles for Branding and Web Traffic: Part TwoMarch 22nd, 2011Hi All! This is Part Two of a 2-part series, so hopefully you read Part One and are ready to continue with learning more about article writing for brand building! Okay! So, you’ve outlined a list of article topics your target audience will benefit from, and you’ve written your first article. Now what? There are a wide variety of online article submission and distribution services available that operate in different ways and that serve different purposes. Here is a brief overview of the types that you’ll encounter. They will: Require you to pay a minimal fee, or not charge anything, to distribute your article online and will create a web page for your article that can be found in search results; or, they will have subscribers who pay a monthly fee to access fresh content (i.e. articles submitted by experts like you) and those people will use your article in their blogs, ezines, websites, publications or newsletters; or, the service will pay you a minimal fee if they approve your article and choose to offer it on their website for others to publish; or, they will charge you a minimal fee to distribute your articles to targeted outlets (not just distribute it online) interested in your topic matter. You can find examples of services that match the variety I just provided by performing online searches using phrases like: Free services to submit articles; online article submission; getting paid to write or submit articles; and services to distribute articles online. You will quickly see there are hundreds of options to get your article distributed and found by your target audience! It can be a bit overwhelming, so start by picking a few and try them out. Another option, if you have the budget, is to hire a VA (Virtual Assistant) or a freelance article submission expert, and they can do all of this for you. You can find people who can help you by posting a request on a service like eLance.com and you’ll receive responses from many individuals who offer this type of support. Plus, you can also find article ghostwriters on eLance.com who are reasonably priced! But, if you plan to get your articles out to the masses by yourself, here is a link to a compiled list of article submission services…it’s very comprehensive and many of them are FREE!!! But before I conclude this 2-part series, I’d like to share one more strategy you can implement for getting your articles distributed: Contact publications and blogs directly that reach your target audience. No matter what your area of expertise is, there are going to be tons of magazines, ezines, newsletters (print and online), websites, social media community websites, and blogs seeking content from outside authors. You can do online searches to find the ones who reach your target audience and then create a targeted hit-list to inquire if they accept guest articles. You will find that some of them will even have article submission guidelines available on their websites! If they find your topic ideas interesting, feel their audience will benefit from your information, and find your articles to be well-written, there’s a very good chance they will publish your content. And, even better, you will begin to establish a relationship with these targeted contacts and that can lead to their accepting your articles on a regular basis. This is a fabulous scenario because their audience will become more familiar with you and that is a key factor for building your topic expert brand! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa How to Write Articles for Branding and Web Traffic: Part OneMarch 07th, 2011Hi All! A very powerful strategy for building your topic expert brand positioning, and for driving traffic to your website, is to write articles and submit them to online article distribution services. Some small business owners also choose to do this for additional income (because there are some article services and media that will pay for your articles), but many experts don’t do it for pay; they write articles for the 2 other key reasons I mentioned. In Part One of this 2-part series I’d like to outline 12 ways to make your articles compelling and how they can become significant traffic-drivers to your website. I’ll then conclude this 2-part series next week by providing you with a list of some popular online article submission and distribution services that you can use to get your articles distributed to the masses. 12 Ways to Create Articles for Brand Building: When you write interesting articles in your area of expertise, it immediately positions you as an expert in your field. It also gives you the opportunity to showcase your knowledge and this can attract clients to you, as well as attract media interviews for you. But, if you’re not a great writer, don’t panic! You can hire ghostwriters (inexpensively) who will write them for you, and you can simply provide them with the topics you think will benefit your target audience. However, regardless of whether you write the articles or someone does it for you, here are 12 tips for making them compelling and a valuable marketing tool for you:
Okay! Get started on creating a list of article topics that will interest your target audience and showcase your topic expert knowledge. And be sure to read Part Two of this series for services that can distribute them for you to obtain massive website traffic and readers! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa 7 Easy Steps to An Effective Marketing Strategy For 2011January 01st, 2011Hi All! The New Year is here…are you ready with a Marketing Plan and Strategy to enter 2011 organized, poised for revenue growth and career success? If you are, fabulous! However, if you’re like many of the new clients who hire me, you’re probably “hoping” 2011 will be better but don’t really have a plan to make it happen. You may even know your previous marketing efforts have been ineffective, but have no clue what to do to fix and improve them. Oftentimes, I find that small business owners, speakers, authors, coaches, consultants, etc. are good at what they do in their profession, but aren’t that great at marketing themselves, their businesses, and/or their products. They run in circles in a “reactive” mode (versus create a strategic plan) and then wonder why they are struggling to land new clients, sell books, secure speaking opportunities, or generate more income for their businesses through other avenues. If any of this resonates with you, keep reading! Here are 7 steps to help you create an effective Marketing Plan and Strategy for the New Year:
Sure, this 7 step process is a simplistic approach (there are some Marketing Plans that are much more detailed and complex), but you don’t need to make it complicated; that’s what can scare you from even trying to create a basic plan! I’ve helped clients outline an effective Marketing Plan in an hour, so trust me when I say this doesn’t have to be a drawn-out process. I don’t care whether your plan ends up being one-page or 50…just make sure you have some sort of strategic plan so you enter 2011 feeling more organized and in control of your new year! And here’s a link to a Marketing Plan software solution that can help you: Marketing Plan Pro. Cheers to a Prosperous New Year and Happy Marketing! Lisa Literary Agent vs Publicist: What Is the Difference?November 27th, 2010Many new authors are confused by the different roles of support professionals in the publishing world. It can be a very overwhelming world! So the goal of this article is to shed some light on the basic differences between 2 support professionals who often cause new authors to scratch their heads: Literary Agents and Publicists. Literary Agent Overview: You’ve written a book manuscript and you don’t want to self-publish it…your dream is to land a publishing deal with a major publishing house. Great goal, but what many new authors don’t realize is that nowadays you typically need to land a Literary Agent to represent you FIRST, and then they’ll shop your manuscript to Publishers. Most Publishers won’t even accept a manuscript unless a legitimate Literary Agent delivers it to them. And, quite honestly, finding a Literary Agent to represent you can take quite some time – months and even years. This is a big reason many authors choose the self-publishing route…out of total frustration! But, for the sake of this article, let’s say you are totally determined to land a publishing deal with a traditional publishing house. Here is some general info you need to know about Literary Agents. What exactly is a Literary Agent and what do they do? In general, they are marketing and sales experts who know how to give your manuscript pizzazz. Their purpose is to determine the compelling pitch that (they hope) will make Publishers want to review your manuscript and offer you a publishing deal. Literary Agents also negotiate the book deals for their clients (often with an attorney involved). How do they charge? Like a Talent Agent, they work on commission based on the deal they get for you. So if you contact an agent and they say they will charge a fee to represent you, RUN! That’s a scam. Legitimate agents only get paid if they land you a publishing contract. Here’s a bit more detail from AgentQuery.com about this: Literary Agents charge a commission whenever they sell the publishing rights (and various sub-rights) of a book. Standard commissions range from 10-15% for the sale of domestic rights and 15-20% for foreign rights. Major Publishers pay authors an advance against royalties. A Literary Agent negotiates the terms of the sale, and then collects a commission for their hard work. Publicist Overview: Whether you are self-published or traditionally published, you can hire a Publicist. And their main purpose is to get you, and your book, mass exposure. So a Publicist typically comes into the picture when your book is close to being published (or after it is) and assists with the book marketing. What exactly is a Publicist and what do they do? Basically, a good Publicist comes up with strategic ideas for event promotions, tries to get book reviews, finds opportunities where you and/or you book would fit nicely (like speaking at an event or coordinating a virtual book tour), contacts the media on your behalf to land interviews, and also “cooks up” interesting story angles to grab the media’s attention. Plus, if you’re “famous” and run into trouble that becomes public, your Publicist is there to protect you from bad press OR (try to) address the issue with a positive spin…think Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen and Tiger Woods! How do they charge? Unlike Literary Agents, Publicists do not work on commission. Most of them have an hourly rate or monthly retainer fee. However, there are some who charge based on “pay for placement” (i.e. charging $3000 if they secure you 10 radio interviews), but under those placement arrangements they are not helping with all the other services I mentioned above. And you typically have to come up with the “story angle” yourself to pitch the media and then they contact the media they think will be interested. But, most authors I work with need help with more than just landing a few media interviews. They need help with Marketing, PR, Branding, and Social Media strategies, too. So I assess and strategize all of the elements needed to market the book and the author – and I consider “publicity” just one piece of the big puzzle. Therefore, I don’t just limit my services to being a “Publicist”. I bring this up so you know what to ask a Publicist before hiring one! I know one author who was pitched by a Publicist and for $2500 a month all she was going to do was contact the media. This so-called “Publicist” had no experience with all of the other puzzle pieces needed to successfully market the author or their book, and my (now) client, who was new to the “publicity” world, came close to signing a contract with her. That could have been a very expensive lesson with very little return! Bottom line? If you contact a Publicist and they don’t mention strategies beyond contacting the media (such as conducting a Virtual Book Tour, or assessing your marketing materials, website and positioning), don’t waste your money on their services. In terms of retainer fees, they vary greatly. You’ll see some Publicists who charge $1,000 per month (for a limited amount of hours), and others who charge $25,000+ per month. Most of the “bigger” well-known Publicists I’m aware of won’t take on clients for less than $10,000 per month, and they require 6-month contracts – a pretty hefty price tag for most authors I know. So, there you have it. I hope this snapshot of differences between Literary Agents and Publicists has given you some clarity. They each play very different roles in the publishing world, and (the good ones) can often make a big difference in your quest for publishing greatness! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa
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