The Ink Tree Report November/December, 2004
Dear
author/publisher,
We hope
you’re all geared up for the holidays!
This
newsletter is this year’s November and December issue all rolled
into one. We’ll also send you a bit of bonus reading for the holiday
season before Christmas arrives, so be on the lookout.
All the best
for a wonderful holiday season!
Joni,
Denise, Debbie & Linda
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Brought to
you by Ink Tree Ltd., your source of help for anything related to
publishing and book marketing.
Visit us at
http://www.inktreemarketing.com
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Marketing,
Marketing, Marketing
TESTIMONIALS AND ENDORSEMENTS –
Why You Need Them and How to Write Them
<<This
article was selected from the free article bank on our website here:
http://www.inktreemarketing.com/selfpublishingarticles.htm>>
Whether you are
selling a book or a product, testimonials and endorsements are a
necessary and vital part of your marketing plan. Whether you need
one endorsement to accent a particular feature of your book or
product, or whether you need several endorsements to create
credibility – you do NEED them.
Endorsements and
testimonials (which we will call endorsements for the sake of
simplicity) create the push that prospective customers need in order
to become buyers. Endorsements provide credibility to your claims
about the quality of your product and they affirm your expertise and
product knowledge. Even if you are not professionally trained in
your area of expertise, endorsements from professionals or well
known individuals in your field indicate that you can provide value
to the buyer. The simple fact that you have created your product
gives you expert status: after all, you could not have produced your
product without extensive research, commitment and passion. You
become the expert.
The purpose of
endorsements is to thoroughly impress your customers, causing them
to believe that their lives just will not be complete without your
product. Make them short and powerful, and don’t be afraid of a
little humor. People need to feel good about purchasing your
product.
The time to request
endorsements is before your product hits the market. You want the
opportunity to add endorsements to your media kit and news releases,
and you want to print them on your product and in your
advertisements.
Send requests for
endorsements, along with a sample of your product, well before the
product is available for sale. Aim for the stars when requesting
endorsements – ask people who are recognizable in your field and who
are as well known and widely known as possible.
Keep in mind that
granting endorsements is also of great benefit to the persons
providing them, so don’t be afraid to ask. Free publicity is always
a bonus. When you implement your marketing plan, the persons
providing your endorsements will piggy-back on your media and
advertising campaign. To learn more about how to obtain free media
reviews and how to obtain media attention, see the Ink Tree website
at
http://www.inktreemarketing.com/BookPublicityPromotionKit.htm.
People must hear the
name of your product at least seven times before it becomes familiar
enough for them to develop trust and a need to buy. The same is true
for the person lending their name to create your credibility – they
also need to be in people’s faces every day. Have you noticed how
often you see the name of Mark Victor Hansen, author of the
Chicken Soup book series? He endorses many products and in so
doing he has become a household name.
It is acceptable to
provide endorsers with the list of names of other persons from whom
you are requesting endorsements. Often the endorsers will be pleased
to be included in good company. Conversely, they may be flattered to
be included in the list of celebrities.
Be very respectful
of the time of the people that you are approaching for endorsements.
Value their hectic schedules and understand that you are not their
utmost priority. Busy people may not have time to thoroughly
investigate your product or service, or read your book from cover to
cover, so do the work for them. Send them a few versions of
endorsements that you would like, allowing them to merely choose one
and do some minor editing. Pre-writing the endorsements greatly
increases your chances of success and it allows you to emphasize the
points you want to make in order to impress your potential buyers.
Write endorsements
that are specific to your product and that are relevant to the
expertise of the endorser. Don’t ask an author of gardening books to
endorse your novel, your widget or your health food product. Keep
the endorsements relevant and exciting. Writing “This is a great
product” just won’t do. Your endorsements must make buyers feel good
or solve a problem for them. For instance, if you are selling a
healthy lifestyle book, avoid writing “I loved this book”. So what?
Instead, create solutions for your customers. Try something like:
“This book gives you all you need to tighten your sagging bottom and
make your heart happy without fad diets and expensive gym
memberships”.
Keep endorsements
short and relevant, with one to three sentences being sufficient.
Buyers don’t want to read an essay about your product – you have
only a few seconds of their time to attract their attention and
relay your message. Hit them fast and hit them good!
As your product
gains in popularity, you will receive unsolicited endorsements from
happy customers. Be sure to keep a file of them for future reference
and for future inclusion in your marketing campaign. Marketing must
continue forever, if you want to increase sales, and there is no
better way to increase those sales than by the recommendations of
satisfied buyers.
Endorsements are
part of your sales team. Placed on your product or book cover, they
create the justification and urgency that buyers need to part with
their money. Go get them!
Copyright 2004 Ink
Tree Ltd.
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Tips You Can
Use – extended special offer!
Last
month we told you about a special arrangement we made for you with
our friends at Gordon’s Radio List! This offer for Ink Tree
subscribers only gave you $29.00 off the price of this
incredible media list.
Well, we
managed to convince the good folks at Gordon’s Radio List to extend
this offer for one more week, but you have to act quickly
because once the week is over, the offer is over. The list normally
sells for $229, but it’s yours for just $200.00 if you order now.
(If you’ve checked into the prices of other media lists lately, you
know that’s a screaming deal!)
Gordon’s
Radio List gives you access to over 1,100 locally produced and
nationally syndicated radio shows that regularly interview guests.
All but a handful of these shows interview guests by phone, so
there’s no travel required!
Here’s how
to get it:
Email:
NorthRidgeBooks@aol.com
or call: (949) 855-0640 and be sure to tell them you heard
about it through Ink Tree.
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Have You Heard?
“10
Top-10 Lists for Writers” - A simple shortcut for writers who
want to take advantage of the incredible online resources available
today. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a pro. Easy access
to contests, ezines, software and much, much more.
Click Here
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Interesting
Stuff
Marcia
Yudkin
has several sites and offers a range of resources, services and
products for anyone who has something to market and sell. Excellent
holiday reading to be found here. Find reports like: “50 Ways to
Turn Content into Money” and “Profiting from Booklets &
Special Reports”
Click Here
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Mention My
Book!
We’ve been
receiving great response from this new section of the Ink Tree
Report. Don’t forget to submit YOUR book!
This
month’s books were selected because we think they’d make great
Christmas gifts!! Enjoy!
==========================
One Smart Cookie – All
your favorite cookies, squared, brownies and biscotti… with less
fat!
By Julie Van Rosendaal
Available at:
http://www.onesmartcookie.ca
Think rich, chewy, gooey, chocolatey cookies, brownies and squares
are off limits? Not so! In One Smart Cookie, you'll be
thrilled to find over 200 recipes for goodies such as Triple
Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Cheesecake Brownies, Pecan Pie Squares and
even Nanaimo Bars, trimmed of fat but not of flavor!
========================
Picture Poetry on
Parade,
by Joseph Sottile, includes 50+ poems and illustrations for kids 7
and up. Find it here:
Picture Poetry on Parade
Reviewer and public speaker, Jacquie McTaggart, says, "If you like
Shel Silverstein's poems, you'll love Joseph Sottile's Picture
Poetry on Parade. Sottile writes for the young, and the young of
heart. His words tickle the brain, nurture the soul, and gladden the
heart…”
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***The intention of our new Mention My Book section is to give self
published books free exposure. Extra publicity never hurts! If you
want to submit your book for mention, please send an email with the
subject line “Mention My Book!” to us at:
info@inktreemarketing.com***
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Inspiration
"You are not
here merely to make a living. You are here in order to
enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a
finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the
world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."
Woodrow Wilson
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For more
information on Ink Tree and our services for authors and publishers,
visit us at:
http://www.inktreemarketing.com
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