Brian Basilico: Promoting a Book … Business 101

I have been running businesses for over 30 years, so I have a bit of experience. But writing a book made me feel like a novice.

I look at people like Seth Godin, Chris Brogan and other people I like and follow and I feel like a neophyte!

Then I look in the rear view mirror after going through the publishing and promoting of a book and realize that hindsight is truly 20/20!

Having started, run, and sold a couple of businesses, I have learned so many things. Little did I know that all that experience would help me to inherently understand what I needed to do without even thinking about it!

Writing a book is a whole ‘nother topic. Promoting a book is no different than promoting your new or blossoming business. You have to generate a buzz, get people to help you promote it and continue to to look for new opportunities to get noticed.

1. The initial feeling is “This is just a pipe dream, so I will just give it a college try!” Little did I know, is that it would turn into a college text book!
2. Second is, “Once it’s done I can set it and forget it!” Reality is that I had to work harder after it was published, than when I was actually working on the book!
3. Finally… I thought I could do it myself. But in reality.. it took a village (of professionals). When I started, I had no idea that a business book needed an index, and that there are no software programs that could do that. You have to hire a professional indexer!

So you are asking, “Self? What does this have to do and me and my business?”

You have to revisit some basics about you and your business that make you relevant to the people that you serve. Are you just spending time doing what you are doing? Are you doing things that can grow and expand your business? Who cares, and why is it important to me? What follows are three tips and concepts that I feel could really help and new or existing business …

Pre-Promotion is Key! – One of the best thing I did was come up with the title (think business name) and have a the book cover designed (think branding or logo) before I started even writing the book. It created a brand and a goal that I could start to build some buzz around. One of the biggest mistakes people make is they try to make a splash launch that turns out to make more of a belly flop. If your audience can’t visualize it, you can’t get them excited about it! Having a good quality website gives your hype a destination and a place to collect interested names.

Question: Do you create images that help your audience visualize your products or services?

The Busier You Are … The Harder You Market! – When we are busy, we tend to focus on the tasks at hand. Then we neglect our own businesses! You need business when you don’t have enough, but that’s too late to start marketing. Most marketing takes time to blossom into business. When the book was launching, I was promoting the heck out of it. What that did was get me tons of presentations, radio interviews, newspaper articles. That helps keep the buzz alive.

Question: Are you always working to promote when you’re busy?

Quality is Key … Under-Promise and Over-Deliver! – I could have saved thousands of dollars by just cutting corners and doing everything myself. But what people love about my book is the design, organization and flow of information. I hired five people to read the manuscript: an editor, book designer, indexer and more. What that did is turn a good product into a great product. Over and over again, I hear from people who are surprised by the quality of the book and amount of information in it. That has led to some awesome reviews.

Question: Do you do your best to deliver a Baker’s Dozen?

So what makes your business a success … that is up to you?

Relationships are the currency of business and you have to start, nurture and grow them! Promoting it, communication and delivering quality are cornerstones to getting people to know, like and trust you!

I have learned a bunch about writing a book, but my experience has kicked in and helped me do a better job of promoting it … more than I could ever imagined!

What have you learned that you have not thought about in a long time, can help you grow your business… or even write a book about it?