How To Get Free Fans

Once upon a time you could spend money on promotion and see positive results.

Like actual sales.

Doesn’t work so much anymore.

Ask any reputable advertiser and they will tell you promotion is good for creating “customer awareness” but is now hopeless for selling stuff.

These days I don't recommend authors spend any money on their marketing, their websites, their book covers, adverts, anything at all – at least at first.

It's simply not worth it - until you have some followers and/or some subscribers.

Why?

Because there's simply no point investing in a brand or a concept, even a single product like a novel - unless you know the thing is working.

Until it sells WITHOUT any help.

This is something I learned when I was signed as a singer with EMI Music.

Recording companies only promote music that is ALREADY selling.

Publishing companies, too, only promote books that are ALREADY SELLING.

That's why we too, as independent authors and entrepreneurs, must do the same - only UPSCALE and/or PROMOTE anything that is ALREADY working.

Never spend money promoting unproven books, novels, or anything else you might sell, like on-line courses or writing services.

The best way to find out if there's any kind of demand for your writing or whatever it is you want to sell is to try to pick up followers to your blog post and articles.

That's it.

Lots of so-called gurus suggest you spend money on Facebooks ads or Google ads, or on making expensive videos or websites that wow across all platforms.

It's all rot.

The best way is the free way - simply by writing articles on social media.

It works every time, it’s easy - and did I mention it's free?

But you’ve got to be smart and consistent in your approach.

You need to ask yourself, Who am I writing for?

What does my ideal reader look like?

How old is he or she?

What do they do for a living?

What sort of things do they like?

Build a picture in your mind of your ideal fan. Just one.

Many would-be marketers make a very simple mistake.

They believe they are selling to LOTS of people - and imagine huge crowds of clamoring punters.

Then they ask, how can we appeal to all these people?

This type of thinking leads to huge errors of judgment - and very often failed marketing efforts.

Because you're NOT selling to lots of people, you're not blogging to a crowd, you're not writing for the masses, you are targeting just one person.

And each person is an individual - and needs to be respected, cherished even, like your best friend ever.

That's the secret.

You're writing for an audience of ONE - your ideal fan.

Place the image of that ideal person in your mind whenever you write, whenever you think of a book idea and whenever you design an article, a blog post or even a tweet.

Your writing is a public manifestation of your persona.

But don't get nervous about it.

Remember that you decide what you want to share - and what you don't want to share.

My subscribers often write me as though we're old friends.

Which I love by the way. But even over the last decade or so of perhaps a thousand posts and articles, I've made sure that there are certain things about me that my subscribers will never know - because I choose not to share them.

Not for any dark or sinister reason. Only because, well, perhaps there's things about me that aren't all that fascinating or relevant or - and this crucial - they're not always consistent with the person I want other people to know.

I speak with many new authors who are literally terrified of revealing themselves online.

I completely understand.

When I started out, certain sentences I wrote sent chills of apprehension, fear, and dread through my bones.

I would often shake uncontrollably as I clicked 'SEND'!

I imagined all kinds of repercussions, scorn, hate mail, criticism, and derision.

Which only very rarely happens by the way.

So yes, I do understand that writing online can be nerve-wracking.

But actually, the hardest part is probably having something to say each time you blog.

This is where your ideal fan comes to the fore.

This person - just this one remember - absolutely loves you - and can't wait to get another message from you.

Especially if it's about something you're passionate about.

We feel comfortable with someone who loves us because we can be ourselves and say what we want without fear.

That's what your ideal fan is like.

And so, when you write or promote yourself, imagine you're writing just for him or her.

Then, the process will begin to get a lot easier!

And – did I mention this process is completely free?