Expertizing.com

Do you want to be quoted by the national press on a daily basis? (How much would that be worth to your business?)

In the past six months, I’ve been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The International Herald Tribune, Entrepreneur, The Associated Press, PBS, Voice of America, Family Circle, Glamour, Redbook, Self, Oxygen, Health, Prevention, Parents, Parenting, Women’s World, First for Women, Newsday, Newsweek–and even The National Enquirer.

In fact, I’ve been quoted in over 100 prestigious U.S. publications. I call this “Expertizing,” and it’s good for business, regardless of the business you’re in. And anyone can learn to get this kind of media attention, for any book or any business; my Expertizing workshop attendees are achieving this same level of media recognition. And whether you’re self published or traditionally published, you need to do that sort of marketing today if you want to sell books. Here are some ideas to get you started.

First, don’t stop at one book. A series automatically propels you to expert status, in the eyes of both the media and the public. Particularly if you’re writing nonfiction, it’s almost always possible to slice and dice your subject and turn one book into three. And it’s much easier to market a series of books than a single title. Furthermore, when someone goes into a bookstore and of the ten books on publishing, three of them are my Publishing Game titles—which book do you think they’re most likely to buy? You’ve encouraged greater book sales just by having a dominant shelf presence. So think series.

Next, syndicate. A 200-page book is four years worth of weekly articles. Syndicating a newspaper column doesn’t pay very well anymore (you’ll probably make only $5 or $10 per column) but it gets your name out to thousands of people. And syndicating online is even easier. (My next title, “The Publishing Game: Syndicate a Column in 30 Days” will cover the topic more thoroughly, but you can get started just by doing a google search for “[Keyword] article submit.”)

Then put up a website. A website will help guide interested readers—and members of the press—to you. And regardless of your expertise, a website can provoke interest in your topic—even beyond the boundaries of your book. There’s an author who writes money and finance books, which are a dime a dozen. But this author has put up a website called the “Bill Gates Personal Wealth Clock” which tabulates Bill’s net worth minute by minute. And in addition to this completely intriguing way to draw journalists to his site, he’s also got articles called things like, “How to be as Wealthy as Bill Gates.”

Create a national association. A national association will get you media attention automatically, regardless of your other credentials. The National Pediculosis Association in Needham, Massachusetts, is a great example. (That’s lice, for those of you without small children.)

Create a holiday. Anyone can create a national holiday, and it’s free. Register at Chases.com, and on a slow news day, journalists will come looking for more information on your holiday—the more interesting, funny, or quirky, the better. I just helped an Expertizing client set up a holiday for her very technical company that would otherwise have been paid little press attention—but next year, she’s going to be inundated with press attention when National Geek Day rolls around.

Or create a contest. Contests always generate media attention, and they can be easy and inexpensive to organize. A few years ago I wanted to create some attention for my books not from the media, but from the independent bookstore community. So I announced the national “I Love My Independent Bookstore Because…” contest, which gave a monthly $50 prize. Customers loved it because for a few word response, they got a chance to win $50 in books. Bookstore owners loved it, because it reminded customers of why they preferred their independent bookstore to the chainstore down the street. (And I loved it because for just $600, I got national attention from every bookstore in America.) Now, five years later, when I meet independent bookstore owners at trade shows, they still remember me for that contest.

If you’re going to do a flyer for your book, put something useful on the back so people don’t throw it away. The back of my Publishing Game book flyer has a useful hot contact list, with contact information for major magazines, talk show hosts, wholesalers and distributors, book reviewers, and more. (You can get a complimentary copy at PublishingGame.com.) My new Expertizing flyer has information on my Expertizing workshops on one side, but the other side has suggestions of how to write Killer Soundbites that the media will quote. (You can get a free copy of that one at Expertizing.com.) If you include something useful, people will hang onto your flyers forever.

Talk to the press. Press kits mostly get tossed or buried. But today there are services you can subscribe to that will keep you up to date on what journalists are working on, so that you can respond in time to be quoted in their articles. I respond to health journalists with quotes about my Infertility Diet book; I respond to business journalists with information about my Publishing Game and Expertizing products. But I also respond about lifestyle issues—entrepreneurship, marriage, kids, home business. One of the things I do in my all-day Expertizing workshops is train authors and executives to develop the soundbites that will propel them into these articles. But even without training, you can generate plenty of pr for your book this way.

Don’t forget speaking. If you enjoy public speaking, do as much of it as you can. Speaking can pay—even public libraries pay for talks—and even without pay, it’s worth it for the publicity. If you speak at the Learning Annex, for example, thousands of people see your book title and cover. When it comes to speaking, this is one of the few times you shouldn’t focus just on your niche. Cast your net more widely, and see if you don’t have something to say to others. For example, this year I’m speaking at InfoCom Public Relations, at SPAN, and at Book Expo America, all of which are in my target audience. But I’m also speaking to over 200 CEOs at an executive transition firm event—and that’s probably going to generate more business for me, because writers and publishers have heard of me already, but these executives may have not. So look for new audiences and groups that might be interested, as well as your target markets.

And then forget what I’m telling you, about how you have to do this or that sort of pr. Do the publicity you love. What you love doing will be most effective for you, because you’ll enjoy it. So if you like to speak, go out and do that, but if you’d prefer to sit home in your bathrobe and do it all by email, do that instead. Live the dream the way you want to.

Fern Reiss is the CEO of Expertizing.com/PublishingGame.com. More information on Fern’s books (“The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days,” (literary agents) “The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days,” (self publishing) and “The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days” (book promotion) and all-day Publishing Game workshops can be found at PublishingGame.com.

More information on positioning yourself as an expert and being quoted by the media, along with Fern’s Expertizing Workshops at the Ritz Carlton in Boston (May 16), DC (June 24) and Manhattan (October 4) can be found at Expertizing.com

Fern Reiss is the author of The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days (book promotion), The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days (traditional publishing), The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days (self-publishing), and the forthcoming books, The Publishing Game: Syndicate a Column in 30 Days and Expertizing: Positioning Yourself as a Name Brand . She conducts all-day Publishing Game workshops across the country; including NY (March 29), Boston, Chicago (June 8), SF, LA, DC (June 23), Philadelphia, Seattle and Boca Raton (Feb 8). More information on her books, consulting, and workshops can be found at http://www.PublishingGame.com.

Last 5 posts by Fern Reiss

• Publicize Your Novel - April 17th, 2008
• 19 Ways to Publicize Your Book - March 24th, 2008
• Publicize Via Social Networks - February 11th, 2008
• Get More Publicity For Your Book and Business - December 5th, 2007
• Sell More Books to Libraries - October 22nd, 2007