I had my sixth book published in 2008 and at the time, I was barely familiar with LinkedIn and Facebook. But one day a man fromNewJerseyasked if I would add him as a friend on Facebook and after thinking “why would I want to take the time to be on a site with college kids?” I decided to do it anyway.
Much to my surprise,John’s friends included Deepak Chopra, Bill Maher, Bob Burg, Marlon Sanders and many of the “Who’s Who” list of authors and speakers. I was very impressed, to say the least. So I did what many Facebook newbies do, I addedJohn as a friend and requested his well known friends add me to their lists.
It was one of the best marketing decisions I have ever done. First of all, how would I ever have been able to meet so many people who are so well respected and second, the possibilities of the relationships becoming valid connections was priceless.
After a few months I decided to brave it and ask if I could interview some of the authors who were in the same genre as my new Law of Attraction book. Everyone I asked agreed and I was able to generate amazing content for my website and produce audio programs which were interesting and unique.
About a year later, one of my contacts on Facebook asked if I would join him in a project to interview 20 authors and public figures in the singles world. Of course I agreed and again, the odds were amazing. We approached 45 and 22 agreed to work with us. Only one turned us down for the interview and the others weren’t available in our required time frames. It was a wonderful package to include with one of my other books focused on dating.
One day about a year after I began to develop these great relationships, someone asked if I would join their group on LinkedIn. I was actually the 78th member on LinkedIn and was personally asked by the founder to join. But at the time, I thought it was predominantly for technical computer types and recruiters. I couldn’t figure out the relevance to my interests until one of my clients introduced me to the groups on the site.
A whole new world of contacts opened up for me. I was able to go to one group, ask questions of other authors, and develop great relationships with authors, publishers, distributors, and all of the other industry categories, authors need to be successful. Nearly everyone I approached in the author related groups were receptive to collaborating on an interview or even sharing information about how they achieved their success.
There are no short cuts for an author to become successful, but I have to say, talking with others about what they have done is one of the greatest methods of keeping up with what is available and what is working for them.
I will typically ask if I can interview them and if they will broadcast the interview to their database. Although not everyone follows through on the broadcasting, I still have only rare occasions where someone declines the offer. Depending on the size of their database, I will add between twenty and two hundred new contacts into my database for every joint venture I procure.
Often we will take the joint venture to the next level as well. They will reciprocate and interview me. Cross promotion is very effective in gaining new contacts.
The best part of the process is getting to know others out there in cyberspace who are dealing with the same concerns I am as an author. Many have become great friends. Some have become clients and I have become a client of many of their services. We often take the time to introduce each other to who else we know who we believe are great connections for each other.
Yes, it does take time, but it is worth the time and it opens up a whole new world for authors who have a tendency to isolate themselves.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download