One reason why my consulting practice continues to grow is my history of helping clients create three different types of New York Times bestsellers, including new fiction, new non-fiction, and backlist non-fiction. Hitting that list just once is hard enough, but achieving success three different ways is incredibly rare.
I’m proud of those achievements and happy for my clients’ success. And, if you visit my website, I make sure you’re aware of my unique accomplishments. Since those feats are historical fact, there’s no need to hide or minimize the truth.
However, you might be surprised by how many of clients forget to promote their own accomplishments. Even though some of them hit the bestseller lists, they’ve yet to update their books’ Amazon page or their personal website with details about those awards (yes, I’ve reminded them to do it). When people surf their webpages, they think they’re looking at just another average author. That’s a lot of lost sales due to a simple oversight.
The purpose of marketing is to persuade people to purchase. However, persuasion occurs based on the words you use – or forget to use. Language is the power of the sale. People aren’t persuaded by promotional text that is boring, laced with false humility, or fails to describe your achievements. Use language to your advantage.
Here’s the application: If your company is #1 in its field, boldly state it on all promotional materials. If you’ve won a national award, plaster your bio and website with that accolade. If you’ve hit a big bestseller list, update your author bio and book description with that achievement. If your non-profit has distributed over $10 million in aid, lead your marketing text with that accomplishment.
Put simply…if you’ve got it, flaunt it!
