One of the most beloved Christmas songs is Nat King Cole smoothly singing, “Chestnuts roasting over an open fire…” But, before you can enjoy roasting chestnuts, you have to have an open fire. And, in order to start a fire, you must gather together kindling of small sticks and twigs. Once you light the kindling, the result is a flame so intense that it can quickly spread and ignite larger branches around it. As the branches catch on fire, they generate enough energy to get big logs going and give you the open fire that Nat King Cole crooned about. When a blaze gets even hotter, you can have full blown wildfire on your hands. Hey, roasted chestnuts for everyone!
If you want to sell your books, products, or services like wildfire, utilize the same principle. To start your fire, you need to identify and ignite an initial group of readers or customers (your kindling) who will get so excited that they turn into raving fans. I like to call them “word of mouth warriors” because they will forcefully take up the cause to tell others about your book or product. You don’t have to ask them to promote for you. They will do it naturally and willingly, since your value touched an emotional fuel that lights them into action. They freely want to tell others how you improved their life. Or, they want the joy of being the first person to tell others, which makes them feel cool and influential.
How do you find your “kindling” to start a marketing wildfire? Ask yourself these two questions:
1. Who needs my value the most?
2. Who stands to lose the most if they never get my value?
Without kindling, there is no fire. Without kindling customers, there is no wildfire…no word of mouth…no spreading sales. However, once you’ve identified your kindling, the marketing process gets a lot easier.
Now, let’s get back to roasting some chestnuts over an open wildfire…sing it Nat!
