How to Best Unleash the Magic Power of Consistency in Your Marketing - BM388

Susan Friedmann [00:00:31]:

Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, tools, ideas, and tips from the masters. Every week, introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books. Well, today, It's me again.
And I'm not only the host. Oh, no. Actually, I'm not the host today. My dear friend Jay Malue is taking on the role of host. Hi, Jane.

Jane Maulucci [00:00:59]:

Hey, Susan. So wonderful to be with you today.

Susan Friedmann [00:01:02]:

Yeah. And you're interviewing me, which means we're turning tables around. That's so much fun. So what are we gonna talk about today, Jane?

Jane Maulucci [00:01:11]:

Well, you know, Susan, when you're working with your clients and I have been one of your clients, you really focus on making sure that we have a message, and that we know who our market is, and then that we have a method to speak to them. One thing that I struggle with, and I'm sure other people do too, is managing that method. So I'm looking for some of your magic to understand what's the best way to get that under control.

Susan Friedmann [00:01:40]:

Well, that's a good way to start. Let's dig into that because, yes, I mean, the importance of your message, what you want to say. And those of you who've been listening and have worked with me, you know, when we talk about the book marketing roadmap, that we really, really nail that message because that's so key, the message. And then, of course, the market niche marketing, niche marketing. That's my favorite. It's all about the niche. Who are you marketing to? Who are your peeps? Who are the people who want to hear what you have to say. And then how are you going to deliver that? What's the method that you're going to use? Now the key here is with book marketing is consistency. That often is the difference between people who get noticed and those who struggle to get noticed. It's really all about consistency, Jane. And we can talk more about that because once you decide how you're going to get to that market, you know, what the method is that you're going to use It's like you gotta do that consistently.

Jane Maulucci [00:02:53]:

So that sounds like I have to put it on my calendar.

Susan Friedmann [00:02:56]:

Oh, yes. You just hit the nail on the head. It's having that kick ass marketing calendar. You know, not just deciding, oh, you know, I'm going to do a podcast interview or I'm going to do a blog post or I'm going to do this and this and this and you just sort of decide, oh, let me try this. And, oh, no, that didn't work. Let me try that. And that's often what I get, Jane, is authors who say, oh, I tried that, and it didn't work. Well, marketing is a very inexact science. One day it might work and the next day it won't. However, you never know what that day is going to be, so you've just gotta be consistent It's like this podcast. I've been doing this now.

We're in our 7th year, which I can barely believe. We're coming up shortly for 400 episodes. We're gonna have a big celebration for that, but that's because I've been doing it consistently for 7 years every week. Now admittedly, I missed a week here or there, but for the most part, we've been pretty consistent for those 7 years. And that's built up a listenership, and this is now in the 1.5% of podcasts listened to Worldwide only because of the consistency, and I'm targeting a certain audience with a certain subject matter. That's gotta be planned, and you do that on your calendar. And I know every Wednesday at 3 PM, my message goes out to my list. And I know it goes out earlier on my RSS feed, but my list gets notification at 3 PM every Wednesday. So I've gotta make sure that it's all set up ready to go. And I use a calendar to do that. And my VA who really gets on my case about that.

So, yes. So Jane, as well as my podcast, obviously, there are other things that people can do and put on their calendar, and that could be a blog post or their social media updates or other emails And then, obviously, your podcast guesting, if you don't have your own podcast, which by the way, podcast guesting is the hottest thing for authors. So get yourself on podcasts. As soon as you can and talk about the value that you offer, your expertise as a thought leader.

Jane Maulucci [00:05:39]:

So, actually, no matter where you are in your emails, your blogs, your podcast, you're always presenting that same message. So is there a way to kind of streamline your process when you do your podcast, for instance, or even when you send out your email Are you writing them, like, every Monday morning to go out on Wednesday, or, you know, how do you structure that so that you can Be sure that you've got the stuff ready to go.

Susan Friedmann [00:06:07]:

Yes. And that's all about batching. And so, yes, you're right. For instance, and take my podcast because that's what I really do consistently. And, you know, as I said, I set it up in advance so that it is all ready to go. As I said, my RSS speed goes out in first thing in the morning on a Wednesday, It goes out to my email list at 3 PM Eastern, but that has to be set up in advance. Now There are many different systems out there to do it. I'm currently using Kajabi. I've used to convert kit in the past. I think I've lost count of all the different programs that I've tried.

Jane Maulucci [00:06:51]:

Yes. You are the Amelda of tools. I always call you back.

Susan Friedmann [00:06:55]:

I I like trying things. I like trying things and seeing what works. You know, every program offers something else, and Has I grown? I've needed more functions, which means that I have to look at different programs. That can offer the functionality that I need or what I'm looking for in order to get my message out there to my target audience.

Jane Maulucci [00:07:22]:

So what you're really doing is you're creating your content, you know, whether it's a podcast and email or whatever. So you've got that batch all put together, and then you're using these tools to automate the distribution so that it's managed for you more than you have to think, okay, it's Monday. Now I've gotta post this, and I've gotta do this. And so you're really taking advantage of these tools.

Susan Friedmann [00:07:49]:

And I have to. I mean, if I go away, for instance, I'm gonna be away for a few weeks. Those tools have to be set up before I go. The last thing, especially if I'm on vacation and I'm out of the country, is to start relying on internet that I don't know how good it is, So if it's all automated and set up in advance, I can just what is it? Do it and forget it.

Jane Maulucci [00:08:17]:

Set it up and let it run. That's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. So now, Susan, this podcast. You've had it for years, and I remember when you were first getting it going, you were like, well, you know, we'll see how it goes. And You have quite a stockpile of information now. What was your goal when you first started this? I mean, how did you figure that? Okay. Can do this every week.

Susan Friedmann [00:08:42]:

That was my goal. Before I even started and the teacher, person I learned from John Lee Dumas, his recommendation was to have at least 6, if not more, episodes in the can.

So it all ready to go so that you don't just start with 1 and then, oh, come on the next week. Oh, I gotta do another podcast, you at least start with some in the can and then release them. But at the same time, you've got to be refilling and making sure that there's several in advance. Now currently, I have many in the process. I've recorded them. And then I send them off to be edited and get the intro and the outro put on that. And then I get that back, and I like transcriptions. I like to include a transcription. And You know, there is different things that I have to do, the show notes. So I do a lot of that, which can be time-consuming. I choose to do that. I know that there are many different services out there that offer all these different tools. I've tried them. And You know, me, I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, and so I just a little just a touch of it.

Jane Maulucci [00:10:05]:

I think a little bit is not what you can use to describe a perfectionist, and I would not say you're a little bit of a perfectionist.

Susan Friedmann [00:10:15]:

I think there's a control issue here too sometimes. Just sort of, yes. I like other people doing it. And, you know, I still need to keep my hand in the and to see how things are going. Yes.

Jane Maulucci [00:10:29]:

I will say I will vouch for you, though, you are a benevolent rule so we're good with that.

Susan Friedmann [00:10:36]:

Oh, good. I like that.

Jane Maulucci [00:10:37]:

So you've got your realistic goals. I mean, I find that once a week for this podcast is amazing and that you have done it. And I'm just thinking about if I were to even send out a blog on a weekly basis I would still want, like you say, to set it up so that I've got that backlog that I've got that content ready to go and then automate it so that I'm not worried about it, and that gives me the freedom to create more content that can go out at another time. So I think this is really kind of brilliant. But now what about when you've been doing all of this How do you know that it's working?

Susan Friedmann [00:11:16]:

That's a good question. How is it working? Your listenership, I mean, I don't even know how many people around the world are listening to the podcast because I'm on 12 plus different platforms. With it. However, it is being listened to. And I get feedback from people. People tell me how much they like it. They put testimonials reviews up for me, which I can't thank people enough for because, again, you want people to acknowledge that they're listening to it and they enjoy it and let you know what they enjoy about it. Funnily enough, you know, as much as I spend time interviewing so many different people, which I love doing, The episode where you and I are working with doing this often gets listened to the most, so it has a much higher rating. Which really amuses me, but, what can I say? So people do want to hear from me.

Jane Maulucci [00:12:19]:

 Listening to you. That's all.

Susan Friedmann [00:12:20]:

Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah. I wanna go a step back because something went through my mind when you were talking about, you know, the frequency and doing it once a week. My VA has made me put together a checklist because I do think so automatically that sometimes it's hard to remember to tell if you want somebody else to do it, the sequence. So we're putting together a, what they call, in the corporate world, an SOP, a standing operating procedure checklist of every single step of what I'm doing for this podcast because believe it or not, there are I don't know. I haven't even counted them, but there are at least 20 different steps of little things that I might do for instance, you know, when I finished with the recording, I go in and tweak it a little bit before I send it to my editor. Now I don't need to do it because I'm sure she can do it, but then I have to tell her, could you go through it and make sure that, you know, this and this,

Sometimes if I've got a guest who does a lot of ums and ahs and there are big or is this between what they're saying because they're thinking about what they want to say, which is great. But from a listener standpoint, I want to just close that up a bit. So I would give her those instructions. Sometimes I go in and do it myself because I actually enjoy doing it even though these are things that aren't necessarily to thank them for me to do, but I still like doing them. But that's not, like, always the case. But if somebody would come in, and say they're gonna take this from a to z, the whole gamut of what I do, they need to know all the different steps. And so we're being very meticulous about putting this together so that somebody could, let's say, god forbid, I lose my VA, then I need to be able to say, hey. This is what Michelle did. What needs to be done moving forward? So I'm not reinventing the wheel every time somebody else comes in and and helps me.

Jane Maulucci [00:14:41]:

Well, I would like to think that instead of losing your VA you expand your staff and your VA has other things to do. And so you have another person who needs to do this for you. You know, I love it. They do think if they Your empire is growing.

Susan Friedmann [00:14:57]:

The point here too is that you want to make this goal realistic. Don't put yourself under pressure to think, oh, I gotta do it every week. No. You don't have to do it every week. You can do it every 2 weeks. The minimum is once a month. Mhmm. Because less than that, then it's too long. People need to hear from you on a consistent basis, come back to that word consistency, either it's once a week, you know, there are some people who do it once a day. I mean, I was like, I couldn't do that.

Jane Maulucci [00:15:32]:

Out.

Susan Friedmann [00:15:32]:

But people love to do that. You know, got somebody who does do a podcast every day. In fact, that's what John Lee do masters. He does one every day. I don't know if he still does, but that the way he got started with his entrepreneurs on fire. He was interviewing somebody every day. Then, some people do it twice a week, three times a week. But whatever you decide, make it realistic for yourself. Don't put yourself under pressure to do it, especially if you don't want to and it starts being a drag. If you enjoy some people just enjoy writing, and they'll do a blog every day or two or three times a week. I mean, as much as I enjoy writing, the pressure of doing that is too much for me personally. So my once a week is what I need to do. No. I need to. This is what I choose to do. Find what works for you and whatever you choose. Make it consistent. Make it realistic for yourself. And make it consistent. I love that.

Jane Maulucci [00:16:42]:

Yeah. This is great. This is such a big help. So now I'm gonna have to start working on my calendar and calculate where I want to send out my message, and I already know who my audience is. I already know the message that I wanna get out. So now I've gotta really select my method and make sure that I'm on track with it with starting with that calendar. The rest of it will fall into line, I think, after I do that. She says with her fingers crossed.

Susan Friedmann [00:17:07]:

Yes. Well, again, it's looking at what's realistic based on the other things that you do. I put my energy into my podcast because this is my major form of marketing. Mhmm. Other people do it on LinkedIn, you know, other social media platforms. I do this because I enjoy it. As soon as I stop enjoying it, you know, I've gotta find something else. Now the other thing to think about Jane too is is this working? Oh, yeah. I mean, yes. It's great to put stuff out there, but if it's only your friends and your family who are reading what you put out there or you're listening to what you're putting out there, there's a problem. So you need to look at that and be aware and keep monitoring. Keep monitoring it, and then tweaking it. Maybe you want to. If you decide to do a podcast, they're a different forms. It can just be you. It can be the interview format, which I absolutely love. There are some people who are there two people on, and they just, you and I have this conversation. It could be the Susan and Jane show. We could be doing something. Yeah. I know we'd have a ball, and there are people who do that.

Jane Maulucci [00:18:28]:

Right.

Susan Friedmann [00:18:29]:

They've got a partner and do a back and forth about a different subject. So, yes, And

Jane Maulucci [00:18:36]:

it could also be that maybe you've chosen the wrong method. You might not be reaching the people that you want because like you say, your your podcast may just not be on the right channel. You do have to look at all those things.

Susan Friedmann [00:18:49]:

You have to look at all those things. And just in, you know, looking at method, It's like, you know, if you start putting stuff on Facebook and your target audience is on LinkedIn, there's no point. You're not going to get the traction that you're looking for because it is traction, and it's not going to happen necessarily straight away. There is so much noise out there in the marketplace, and it's only getting worse rather than better. In order to be seen and heard, you've got to use the platform that's going to be right for you, and you've gotta use it in the right place. Now What I love about podcasting is there are all these different platforms that you can put your episodes on And so I don't know necessarily because I don't check the analytics of every single platform. However, I know that I'm on there, and I know that it's being put out there into, you know, the stratosphere and when I look sometimes at where the podcast being listened to, you know, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, I'm like, oh my goodness. That's amazing. I love it.

Jane Maulucci [00:20:10]:

Phenomenal. Yeah. Fantastic. Well, Susan, we're coming down to the wire here, and I know you always ask your guests what's their golden nugget. And so I need to know your golden nugget so I can get better at marketing my book. So tell me, what's the golden nugget for being an efficient manager of your method?

Susan Friedmann [00:20:31]:

I think, you know, if you look at this in a nutshell, your book marketing success is really all about consistency. The message, the market, and the method. As long as you've got all of those correct, and you're consistent about what you do, what you choose to do, what you enjoy doing. As soon as it becomes a drag and you no longer enjoy it, don't do it. You're not doing yourself a favor and you're not doing your audience a favor because Energetically, that energy is going to be transferred. So if you don't enjoy what you're doing, then, hey. You can't that your audience is going to enjoy it as well. Just enjoy what you're doing, but be consistent in what you're doing and have fun with it. I mean, I want to have fun with this podcast. And now it's taken a little bit. In the beginning, I was a little more on the straight and narrow. And then over the years, I feel that I've gotten a lot more flexible. I'm enjoying it a lot more I've always enjoyed it, and I'm enjoying it even more now than I believe that I've ever done. So Yes. So in that's more than one golden nugget. It's all sort of encompassed. I think a lot of what we've been talking about Jane, which is Just so, so important. Yeah. And what I can do to help guide you

Jane Maulucci [00:22:00]:

Yeah. People need to know how to reach you, Susan.

Susan Friedmann [00:22:02]:

They do. And all about, you know, let's start off with a brainstorming session, a 20-minute complimentary brainstorming session at BrainstormWithSusan.com, and it'll be in the show notes as well.  BrainstormWithSusan.com. And that'll take you to my calendar where you can schedule time with me. I am on the East Coast in the US. Even though I've got this foreign accent, people tell me I speak funny. I like it. I'm gonna keep it. Makes me a little different. I like being different. What can I say? So brainstorm with susan.com, and then you can sign up and, spend 20 minutes with me. We'll brainstorm ideas of how you can be more consistent with your marketing, And if you haven't got your message right, let's work on that. If you haven't got your market right, let's work on that. And if you haven't got the method right, let's work on that. So lots of different things that we can work on or tweak to make whatever you're doing now even better.

Jane Maulucci [00:23:14]:

Well, this has been great, Susan. Thank you so much for letting me do this with you. I always have fun every time we get together, and I always learn so much, which is really the true benefit.

Susan Friedmann [00:23:24]:

Well, I love having you as my interviewer. I always know that we're gonna have fun together, which we do on a consistent basis, so I like that. And everyone, in the meantime, I hope you found this interview powerful, and it sparks some ideas that'll help you sell more books. And until next week, he's wishing you much book and author marketing success.