Authors, Musicians & PR’s Brave New World

February 24, 2012 Leave a comment

Yes, the music industry has changed and in many ways it’s more challenging than ever before, but with change comes new opportunities.  Success can still be had by those who work to create it.  The traditional major label options aren’t as great and as varied as they were when the Stones or Madonna or REM initially made their marks, but there are now new and different ways to succeed, develop an audience and build a strong career

It’s not only the music industry that has been stood on its head by the internet.  The worlds of publishing, film and TV are also reeling.   In the past authors expected to sign a publishing deal, get an advance and then prepare for a book tour.  Well times have changed.  Fewer and fewer publishing houses are investing in tours unless it’s for one of their reigning literary superstars.  So whereas more and more musical acts are back on the road and touring, fewer and fewer authors are out there meeting the public and bookstore owners.  Book tours are more important than many realize.  They are about making connections with individual stores, store owners and managers.  Even those inevitable signings that end up with a handful of people in the audience can be beneficial, if a relationship is forged between the writer and a bookseller.  Making it even more challenging is the fact that bookstores themselves are facing some of the roughest times they’ve ever encountered. Independents are falling by the wayside; Borders is gone and Barnes & Noble is doing all that it can to simply survive.

As with all types of intellectual property, book sales are being hit hard.  The model that worked so well only a few years ago, is now broken. Still, in both music and publishing as the old models begin to falter, new avenues and opportunities are surfacing.  For musicians and authors that take their careers and their works into their own hands there is a new world of opportunity out there.

The tough part here is that artists either have to become marketers, or they have to hire PR and marketing firms to handle their promotional needs for them.  Particularly in the fields of art and entertainment, marketing cannot be looked at as a luxury.  Marketing, particularly media relations, is a necessity.  The upside to the internet is that every area of interest has its own bloggers and social media sites.  Savvy authors and musicians are using social media, blogging, and article marketing to create an inbound marketing funnel for their books CDs and music downloads.  Some are launching and investing in their own tours, others are offering online events.  Those that are truly savvy are launching traditional public relations campaigns to reach their target market, establish themselves as experts in their field and gain the validation and legitimacy of being in the news.    With the right buzz both musicians and authors can with a bit of creativity generate their own sales and build their fan base, and establish their own successful careers.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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Promoting Your Art Utilizing PR – Part II

February 17, 2012 Leave a comment

I know how difficult it is for artists to promote their work.  Look at it this way.  PR is an art.  It’s not hawking or selling, it’s the art of effective storytelling.  For it to work it needs a narrative, a story arch.  Learn and use the art of storytelling to promote your art.  Use your creativity in your media relations campaign.  My last article highlighted 4 approaches that artists can use to highlight their work and garner media coverage.  There are at least two other approaches to consider:

1) Controversy:  Are you creating art or a show that is different, or controversial?  If so utilize that.  The media loves controversy.  You don’t want controversy for controversy’s sake (although people have gotten pretty damn far going that route) but you want it to be a part of your work, your show, your journey.

2) Timeliness: Can you tie your work, or a show to a particular time, season, date, etc.?  Can you revolve your media pitch around a particular holiday or tie it into a story that’s currently in the news?  Try and find ways to make your story pitch timely and use that to your advantage.

Regardless of the type of marketing campaign you choose to launch, keep in mind chances are you’re not going to hit a home run your first time at bat.  There are those situations where you score big right off the bat, but don’t count on it.  The most effective campaigns are long term, cumulative approaches.  They need to be refined, adjusted, and modified.  As you go, you learn.  But as an artist, public relations and being featured in the media is your best approach.  It offers the validation and credibility of being featured in the news.  Take a look at your favorite, famous artists, most likely you will find most or all of them are media darlings and have learned the art of PR.

You can definitely launch a campaign on your own if you’re working on a shoestring, but if you can possibly afford it, bring a professional on board to guide you and run the campaign.  If you do bring on a PR consultant or public relations company, work with them.  It’s a collaborative process.  It’s important you work as a team to develop story ideas, media pitches and create a campaign that meets your needs but also allows your PR firm to meet the media’s needs.  Don’t look to your friends and acquaintances to give you marketing and PR advice.  Advice is cheap and easy to give.  Everyone believes they’re marketing mavens, but few actually have a clue.  If you start listening to everyone’s advice you’ll continually be in reactive mode.  Your marketing campaign will function like an old fashioned pinball machine, shooting to the right and then to the left with no focus, no point of view and no concrete direction.

Don’t let marketing your artwork intimidate or depress you.  View it as an artistic challenge.  Play with it.  Have fun with it.  Remember you’re building the bridge between yourself and the public.  You’re giving your art a chance to soar.    

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Filed under artist pr, Authors, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Promoting Your Art Utilizing PR

February 16, 2012 Leave a comment

If you’re a sculptor, painter, photographer, craftsperson, musician, author, cartoonist and/or performance artist creating your art is step one when it comes to launching a successful career.  Once you’ve created your art, you next need to build the bridge between your art and the public.  From my perspective, once you’ve given your time and care, blood, sweat and tears to your artwork, you owe it to your art to get it seen and experienced.

There are a number of ways to promote your art including advertising, direct marketing, guerrilla marketing, social media and publicity.  For artists, PR can generally be the best route.  Public relations and being featured in the media offers the validation and credibility of being featured as a news story.  Often the most effective approach is a combination of medial relations and social media.   The two complement each other.  You can amplify and magnify your media placements via social media and a creative social media campaign can result in coverage in TV, magazines and newspapers.  The most important element when launching a PR campaign is coming up with compelling stories that meet the media’s needs.  Below is a quick overview of approaches you can use when pitching the media:

1) Pitch An Event: Do you have a show or a gallery opening coming up?  Here you have something concrete to point to.  You can offer the media somewhere to go something to see.  But keep in mind that journalists, editors and producers are inundated with offers to come to shows and events.  So find a way to make your story different, compelling

2) Something New:  Give the media something new to cover.  Have you begun working in a new medium?  Have you changed your subject matter?  Is there a new approach or style you’re utilizing?

3) Tell Your Journey:  Your art is a story, but so is your journey to becoming an artist.  Offer the media human interest stories about how you became an artist, how you followed your dream.  Outline the obstacles you overcame, or the uniqueness of your journey.

4) Defining A Trend:  Are you a part of, or are you helping to define, a new trend?  You might not initially think so, but give it some thought.  Don’t just think of art-oriented trends, keep in mind demographic, cultural commercial, and aesthetic trends as well.  Think of how you can position yourself as someone how illustrates that trend.

These are just some approaches that artists can use to help promote their work.  Keep in mind that, like it or not, this is a part of your job.  Have fun with it.  Don’t just keep your creativity for your art; use it in your marketing. You owe it to yourself, your work and the public.  

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

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Six Ways to Market Your Business on A Shoestring

August 3, 2010 Leave a comment

Very few businesses thrive or even survive without marketing.  But it can be an expensive process. There are several options that businesses can utilize that won’t break the bank. Start with the simple stuff.

1) Business cards can be a quick way to introduce your business and pass the information on.  Use your cards wisely, don’t just put your basic information on it.  Come up with a line or two that you can put on the card that explains who you are.  Use it as a way to promote yourself and your business.  Then get the cards out there.  Come up with a gameplan to get your cards in as many hands as possible.  See if there are places where you can have your cards displayed, or boards they can be added to.

2) Network. Join civic and business groups.  Do some homework and find networking groups in your area that you can join.  These are places where you can pass out your business card, but more importantly, these can be great places to make contacts.  If the people you meet at the groups can’t utilize your services or products, they very well may know others who can.  Also develop your verbal business card.

3) Find a way to deliver your pitch in less than a minute.  Ann Convery (www.anncovery.com) is the expert at this.  Utilizing her Speak Your Business in 30 Seconds or Less technique you can develop much more than an elevator pitch; she helps businesses craft their verbal brand.  Once you’ve developed this you have a powerful and effective way to describe your business and give prospects a call to action.

4) Once you developed your 30 second verbal brand, build on that and come up with stories and pitches that you can send to the media.  When pitching the media, position yourself as a resource instead of a sales force. This is particularly important to keep in mind when calling producers or editors to follow up on a PR pitch. When defining your media message, be specific. Sharpen your story. You may have numerous talents, you may have several stories to tell, but don’t try to tell them all at once. You don’t want a one-note campaign, but you do have to play each note individually. If you slam all of the piano keys down at once, you don’t get music, you get noise. What you’re looking for is melody, music. You can tell your various stories, but don’t try to give them to the media all at once, tell them sequentially.  Come up with five or six different topics or hooks that you can comfortably and expertly address. Now put them in order. Prioritize them. Don’t pitch all of our stories to the media at the same time. You want to be targeted and succinct in you media pitches. An effective public relations campaign can be your strongest marketing and branding tool

5) Offer your services as a speaker.  Offer to speak on your topic for free. Your objective is not to make money from the speeches themselves, but to make contacts, establish yourself as an expert and have prospects find you via your speaking engagements.

6) Create an attractive, functional website to drive prospects to.  Make sure and have your URL on your card.  Consider creating a blog and position yourself as an expert in your field.  Go on various social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and post your blogs.  Also post information that would be of help to your clients and prospective clients.

Bonus tip) Post and traditional media coverage that you land on your site, your blog and on the various social media sites.  This is one way you can maximize your media coverage and turn a local story global.

There are countless other ways to market your business.  But these are some good tried and true ways.  Start here and start to build your business.  After awhile review your marketing mix and see what’s working the best for you. Soon you’ll find the right fit for your ultimate marketing campaign.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under Authors, Branding, business, Marketing, Media, PR, PR Campaign, Public Relations, social media, TV Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Experts Solve Your Toughest Business Problems

June 10, 2010 Leave a comment

Want to learn how to attract more clients, make more money, turbo charge your marketing campaign, and have your clients come to you.  Brand builder/communications expert, Ann Convery, best known for her Speak Your Business in Thirty Seconds or Less, has asked me to join with her in her upcoming teleseminar series.  We’re kicking it off with a free one-time teleseminar entitled: Impossible Inquiries—Superb Solutions! Join Ann and me, along with business experts Patrice Barber, President of Taylor Made Small Biz and Beverly Bergman creator of the Money Matrix Hourglass™.  I’ll be addressing how to use traditional PR to build your business, how to meld PR and social media and how to use article marketing to create an inbound marketing machine, which has clients come to you.  Learn more at: http://www.impossibleinquiriessuperbsolutions.com/

Filed under Authors, Branding, Build Your Business, business, internet marketing, Marketing, marketing strategy, Media Relations, PR, small business Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Creating a Marketing Success Strategy for Your Book

June 9, 2010 Leave a comment

Congratulations.  You finished that book you’ve been threatening to write, sent it to publishers, amassed a mountain of rejection slips, but finally found that right publisher.  Your manuscript was accepted.  Or, you realized that traditional publishing is only one approach and you decided to self-publish your work.  Either way, you’re going to be a published author.  Great – you can now turn your attention to your next book.  Your first book is finished; your publisher will take care of everything from here on in, or people will flock to your website to buy your new work – right? Surprise!

Whether you’re a self-published, first-time author or a writer who’s landed multi-book deals with a major publisher, the truth is your job’s just starting.

If you’re with a traditional publisher, it would be easy to blame the company’s media relations departments, but that’s not the problem.  Most publishing companies have slashed their in-house staffs and their publicists are overloaded.  Every month, up to thirty books are dumped on one or two in-house publicists.

It’s an impossible task. What has happened is that many in-house departments have been reduced to little more than direct marketing departments.  They send out books, press kits and press releases and hope for the best. They have neither the time nor the man power to make follow-up calls.   And unless you have name recognition or have written a shocking expose that the entire world is waiting to read, chances are you and your book will get lost in the shuffle.

If your book is self published, don’t expect that placing it on Amazon or building a website is going to do the trick.  Whether you’re self- published, published by a small house or a major publisher, you need to launch and implement a marketing campaign to promote and support your book.  If you have the means, I strongly recommend you hire a firm that understands book media relations to implement your campaign. Although some books are evergreen some are time sensitive. This is one time you don’t have the luxury of learning as you go.

If you want to have your book reviewed, you need to send a copy of your book, or the galleys, to reviewers, often as long as three months before the publication date.  Once it’s published, you immediately want to hit the local media, the talk shows, and the national press.

One area you definitely want to focus on is national and regional radio. There are hundreds of regional and local radio talk shows and current event-oriented programs that feature books and authors. These interviews are almost always conducted over the phone. You can be at home in your bathrobe, discussing your book, while thousands of people listen.

If you are publishing with a major house, view your publisher primarily as a printer and distributor and assume that all of the responsibility for securing media coverage for your book rests firmly on your weary shoulders. If your publisher actually launches a campaign for you, that’s great, but don’t count on it.

And the one great leveler when it comes to marketing is the Internet.  Build an interesting site, create a blog, blog regularly, utilize all of the social media sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Digg, etc.  Create short inexpensive videos of you talking about the book, or reading excerpts.  Be creative.  Come up with short, interesting, enticing videos.  You want to create interest, start a buzz and develop a fan base and – sell books!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

For further information visit:
www.AnthonyMora.com

Filed under Authors, Book Tours, Build Your Business, PR Campaign Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

An Author’s Dilemma: Surviving the Seismic Shifts in the Book Trade

March 26, 2010 Leave a comment

Book signing tours used to be a regular part of the publishing industry.  Authors expected to sign a deal, get an advance and then prepare for a tour.  Some tours, those of the reigning literary superstars, had a glamorous side; for most they were a bit of a grind and a part of the road warrior aspect of trying to sell books.

But book tours are going the way of the LP in the music industry.  They are still there, but they’re becoming scarcer.  It’s a shame, because book tours are more important than many realize.  They are about making connections with individual stores, store owners and managers.  Even those inevitable signings that end up with barely a handful of people in the audience can be beneficial, if a relationship is forged between the writer and a bookseller.  But now independents are falling by the wayside and the large chains are doing all that they can to simply survive.  As with the music industry, the Internet has set the publishing industry on its head.  Stores and chains are failing as more books are being bought and sold online.  As with all types of intellectual property, book sales are being hit hard.  The model that worked so well only a few years ago, is now broken.

The downside is that the days of generous advances, full-blown PR campaigns and multi-city book tours is pretty much a thing of the past, except for a very select few.   Still as the old model begins to falter, new  opportunities are surfacing.  For authors who take their careers and their works into their own hands there is a new world of opportunity out there.

Every area of interest has its own bloggers and social media sites.  Savvy authors are using social media, blogging, and article marketing to create an inbound marketing funnel for their books and to establish themselves as experts in their fields.  Some are launching and investing in their own book signing tours, others are offering online events.  Those that are truly savvy are melding social media with a traditional public relations campaign to reach their target market, establish themselves as experts in their field and gain the validation and legitimacy of being in the news.

With the right buzz, self-published authors can get picked up by majors (if that is their aim).  More importantly by establishing a presence for and interest in their books, authors can generate their own sales and build their reader base.  It takes more work and authors now have to be marketers as well as writers, but the opportunities for sales are out there.  The model has changed and the game has shifted, but, the days of the successful author, need not be a thing of the past.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010


Filed under Authors, Book Tours, Media, PR Campaign Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

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