So part of this whole Kindle Publishing Experiment is the marketing experiments I’m doing along the way. This is where I’m trying out various marketing techniques and then reporting to you on how they worked.
Last week, I did an exercise out of a Kindle ebook (of COURSE I’m an avid Kindle reader – how could I sell Kindle ebooks and not be buyer too?) by Bernadette Jiwa called The Fortune Cookie Principle.
This book is all about developing your brand story, and the exercise I’m going to share with you is one of many shared in the book. (I suggest you get it – and no, that is NOT an affiliate link – Amazon won’t allow me to be an affiliate since I live in Missouri. I’m sharing this book because I actually read it and enjoyed it and am using at least one of its ideas).
The question: What Business Am I In?
While I’m not going to go into great detail, the book walks you through figuring out what your “truth” is when it comes to the business you’re in. The author asks you to be honest with yourself because, she says, “the truth is a real understanding of the business you’re in, which often has less to do with the product you are selling or the service you are providing and more to do with the feelings your brand elicits.”
So, in my case, to define my brand, I need to figure out exactly who I’m trying to help do what – more or less. As Jiwa writes, understanding what business I’m in and why that matters to my readers/clients is what enables me to differentiate my brand.
And my brand, as I understand branding, is part of what will make readers want to buy (and continue to buy) my books. So, the branding is the vehicle I need to use to get my message to as many people as possible. The message spreading far and wide equals success on many levels – financial as well as mission-wise.
So, for me, the business I’m using in the exercise is my Great Kindle Publishing Experiment – AKA the ebook division of BlissFire Media.
So, with that in mind, the business I’m in looks like this.
My Business: Helping women to become the best possible versions of themselves.
I can accomplish this in a number of ways via my ebook writing and publishing, and it all boils down to informing women of actionable steps they can take to create real and lasting positive changes and enhancements in their own lives. I use my experience in journalism, including interviewing, investigation and research, as well as my community management, writing and life coaching experiences to craft my work – but mostly, my books are inspired by my own real-life issues and techniques for having overcome them.
Now, to be sure, this is just one tiny bit of the good stuff that came out of my exercise, but I feel good about where it went.
I’m excited to continue the exercises in this book and I’ll report back to you on any that strike me as especially useful. Have you read this one yet? What are your best marketing techniques for Kindle eBooks?
Questions? Concerns? Things you wanna talk about? You know what to do.
Share your thoughts in the comments section, below, or hit me up on Facebook or tweet me at @angieatkinson. You can also follow Bernadette Jiwa on Twitter @bernadettejiwa.
