Four Tips for owners just starting out

Four Tips for owners just starting out

Based entirely on personal experience

Today’s world in business it is absolutely vital to maintain a steady knowledge base of trends and Social Media movements. Social Media has an effective hold over many of the long-lasting effects of many Industries regardless of product or service. The movement has even found a plantable stronghold in the world of Literature, not just the smoothly abrupt emerging of a new breed of writer, I’m talking about the Blogging Sensation, but also in marketing as well. To have an impactful presence on the market, one must become a fully engaged entity with this new cyber-population. Personally, I have well over 13-plus-years inside of the Writers Universe dating back to the days of ‘Myspace.’ Eventually, I did as many of my fellow veterans have done after establishing an effective revenue stream within the Freelance Markets, I moved on to Publishing. At first, the transition was painful and confusing, it was ironic to realize that my understanding of writing and literature were very far apart. If you were to hand me any story that was in need of the touch of a clever ‘inkslinger,’ no problem. After all, that was how I am able to afford my 2700 Square-foot home on top of my flat 65 acres where I hunt, unsuccessfully for the most part.

This world of Publishing was saturated with free moving operations and heavy shifts in standard since we had no Legal Regulations in play. Meaning the ISBN (Internation Standard Book Number) has yet to fall into the category of mandatory, resulting in a free-for-all battle of trick word-play and questionable services. For a startup company such as Gladiator Publishing Company, we had our hands full. Though I was no stranger at this point to Marketing, SEO, or even SMO for Indie Literature, to handle a variety of genres on top of my day-to-day operations become massively difficult and was in great need of a remedy. So I’ve decided to share some of what I have learned through my course in this Industry that has led my Company to numerous Awards and a few Top-Selling Publications. I call this my Rules of Ruling, not as clever as one would expect from a writer but as my mother always told me “it is what it is.”

Rule #1 — Too Many Hands on the Map

Having an outside group of Employees who have experience in the Markets or have a great knack for innovative strategy is always on my list of ‘Good Things I’ve Done Today.’ However, allowing this group to grow in size could hinder the momentum and start to really weigh down a brain-storming session. If someone is to find themselves in a position where there are too many ideas flowing into one tiny variable of a larger scaled project, take a step back and do not force the project on to the next stage. Marketing is delicate in this industry, or should I say Glass-Bone level of fragile.

Rule #2 — Leave It in the Pit

Do not allow an employee or council member the ability to pitch an idea or state their own strategy outside of the designated meeting hours. Not only is it an unfair way to receive, what could possibly be, a good idea or fix to an ongoing problem but it can send a negative vibe down the chain resulting in a poor morale. My grandfather would tell me that his dad, and the founder of Gladiator Publishing Company in 1920, would tell their employee to jot it down and prepare to present. This was a great concept on multiple levels, especially in my situation since I am a firm advocate of the ‘my door is wide open’ policy. Now this will give the satisfaction and inclusion that the employee was seeking to begin with and it will allow them to take a deeper look into their proposal for a finely-tuned approach.

Rule #3 — Battle the Rumor Mill

A place where I did not expect to find success but oddly have found the most is the Rumor Mills. That is just a fancy word for saying Forums. The way I approach these free-speech platforms is more of an information gatherer. Most of the time a staff member would run across one in their spare time and bring it up at the next Administrative Direction Meeting, which is held every Tuesday. It sounds like a terrible idea, and I can definitely understand why one would believe that, but I have found it to be an amazing source of information. Every portal I have personally entered that is Industry related has a group of aspiring Writers that are fishing for that big Publishing Contract, when they promote the topic of their status the room will come alive with opinions and first-hand accounts. On a few occasions, I read where the topic of Contracts in the Publishing Services Industry sounded like it immediately pointed toward a scam. My attention was captured because my Company has a Services Contract to protect myself and my Authors from any fear of a Legal Blindside. The string was continued by one person stating how happy they would be if one of “these companies” would just put their entire contract on their front page. That would surely stop anyone from approaching them willing to have their wallets dried by a tricky Company man. “Good advice,” I thought to myself. So that is exactly what I did, my homepage now has an interactive flipbook with an actual copy of my Publishing Contract. This has boosted my conversion percentage significantly.

Rule #4 — Find the Unattentive Trends

This may sound like an oxymoron, and technically, it is. From my experience, with the assistance of an overpaid research team, there are plenty of Social Media perks that are not being made useful by others in my industry. Without giving away too much of my formula, Twitter is an Authors best platform when it comes to building an immediate awareness for a releasing title. With their direct-public messaging system it is easy to see how one’s “Tweet” can gain a massive following. For those who have not embedded a following on this Platform, this can be nothing more than a pipe dream as they rely heavily on “retweets.” There are certain hashtags found in our Industry that are set in place specifically to Retweet a new Authors up and coming Project. All the Author needs to do is Tweet and place the proper Hashtag (#) that coincides with this particular support group, this group will instinctually, if not automated, ReTweet the Authors posting to their massive following. It is a great way to gain free exposure and traction and has a highly effective success rate. SMO at its finest moment.

These are only four of my Ten Rules but, for the sake of summary, I will leave you with these few to fold around during your next Company meeting. With the proper techniques in research and a “can-do” attitude, your company can grow to a tremendous height. Thank you very much for your time.