marketing Archives - Amy L Sauder

Nobody buys art because they need it. They buy it because of connection.
Matt Tommey of created to thrive mentoring

That is the basis of Matt Tommey’s marketing approach which I’ve been learning and applying since I joined the Created to Thrive mentoring program last September.

Created to Thrive mentoring program binder

Now this sounds like a sales pitch, so let’s back up. I am not an affiliate, nor offered anything, by telling you about this program. This post is for the curious, those who are wondering what I’ve stepped into and where I’m growing.

So how’d I get roped into Created to Thrive?

I already knew and learned so much from Matt Tommey’s work. This wasn’t some salespitch from a stranger. I’d been part of his Facebook group for years. I’d heard him speak at conferences. I recommended a couple of his books back in 2016. I took his free Artist’s Rise Up online class. I’d learned and grown as an artist countless times from his work.

There were a couple type of connections I was looking for last year:

More connections with artists that are further along in their business than me.
More connections with artists who are Christians working in the general marketplace.

This mentoring program offered an opportunity for community in both of those areas.

There’s lots of training out in the world to help me grow as a Christian artist.

There’s lots of training out in the world to help me grow in my artistic skill.

There’s lots of training out in the world to grow my business and marketing skills.

A short weekend training in any of those categories is normally what… a few hundred dollars at best, easily up to a thousand dollars…right?

Enter, the best deal ever.

All of those categories, wrapped into a yearly mentorship program, from a trusted professional I already glean from, for a price I’d normally pay for much less training.

What I’ve gleaned from the mentoring program so far.

Since I joined Created to Thrive, I’ve:

worked on better telling my creative story
revamped my website with SEO
found direction in growing as a Christian artist even though I’m not writing Christian books

And that’s just scratching the surface of the program. There are also opportunities for live Q&A, mastermind groups with other artists, and so much more. The program offers five modules full of training – cultivating your heart & mind, your art, your brand, your business, and your life – to remind me I’m a full person that needs some semblance of balance 😛

It came along when I didn’t expect it.

I say I was looking for training opportunities and for connection. But I should clarify, that was more passive waiting and praying for those opportunities to show up. I didn’t have a specific idea of how to get to there from where I was.

So if this blogpost just blindsided you with a new shiny idea you didn’t know you were looking for, don’t discard it right away.

If you’re looking for Christian artist community and training:

Look into the Created to Thrive mentoring program. Sign up for the free Artist’s Rise Up online class he is offering right now (the same one that got me hooked hehe). Try it out. Ask me questions. Count the cost of doing it, but also count the cost of not doing it.

This program offered all that I was looking for, which I’d originally thought would only be answered by about 20 new things on my plate. Instead I got 1 thing, a program that has so much training I can’t keep up, with growth opportunities for years to come.

Okay, now I’m curious: What training do you recommend for growing as an artist? How has it helped you along the way?

Interested in the Created to Thrive mentoring? Sound like a fit for you? Ask questions below, and maybe I’ll see ya in the group soon 🙂

for the Bookworms

5 things to add to your bookmarketing toolkit

August 22, 2019June 30, 2019 Amy L Sauder

Enthusiasm: being passionate about your work sells. If you’re not excited about it, why should anyone else be? And if others are excited about your work – readers, friends, or even your family – even better. Because if others are excited about your work, that builds credibility as they share their enthusiasm through posts, reviews, social media interactions, and in person discussions.
A catchy title: You need to get their attention before they can even consider making a purchase.
A quality cover: People want to buy something that they feel good about having in their home and becoming part of the image they present to the world. Your book can be the best story in the world, but there’s more than that. “Do I want to be known as the type of person that purchases this item?” each reader will have to subconsciously answer, and the cover is more a factor for that decision than the content inside the book. Let your cover make that answer a resounding “yes”.
Delight: What’s one thing that will make the purchase more than just a purchase? What will bring the reader delight?
A unique experience: What sets your sale apart from buying any other book or item out there?

Overall, remember that every reader is purchasing identity and delight. If you find how your product is offering that, you’ll be 5 steps ahead in your marketing plans.

for the Creatives

The one thing that makes or breaks my marketing

July 25, 2019June 29, 2019 Amy L Sauder

Almost a year of selling “I Know You Like a Murder”. I’m no marketing expert by any means. But I googled and read books & articles and experimented. And thought I’d share the results so you can learn from them.

In my last post for patrons I gave my most successful marketing tactic. But there’s another strategy that makes those tactics possible in the first place, a strategy that I first learned from Ksenia Anske.

But first, let me tell you what marketing I tried, and I’ll also speculate as to why it helped or didn’t (although I could be off in my guesses):

Facebook/Twitter ads: I think for these to be successful, you have to actually know how to use them. Take a class or something. I tried a bit of money in both without learning how to use them first, so I got 0 sales.
Blog Tour: I hired a recommended successful blog tour company. Got hundreds of posts from book bloggers across the web. And got few sales. I think because my book was too niche, and it may have been more successful if it was a more widely read genre.
Book reviewers: I love book reviewers. Their service to the book community – readers and authors alike – is so appreciated and so valued. I sent books out (upon request, don’t just send them haphazardly) and received positive & negative reviews. Both positive and negative reviews are so important, because honest reviews are important. While I did not see tangible results, reviews in general are a book’s lifeline, so indirectly I am sure these pushed interested readers into buying readers (and let’s be honest, into non-buying readers if the book wasn’t for them, that’s important too. No one wants to waste time reading a book that isn’t for them.)
Book booths at area events: This has been one of my more successful, when I’m at the right place with the right people.
Preorders: Lots of posts about launch and lots of hype about finally publishing. This was very successful for a first-time author learning the ropes.
Book launch party: This was my most successful event so far. I sold in one day the same I’d sold through the entire preorder season.

But these aren’t strategies. These are just tools.

Can you spot the difference? What’s the difference between the items in that list that made the first half less successful than the last half?

You. Readers. Fans. Fans of my writing, or even just fans of my existence (I think they’d rather be called friends, but ya know…)

The book launch party was a success because of you. The crime scene tape idea came from one of you. Your fanart inspired and brought about the collectors cards.

Online preorders were a success because of you. Seriously, I calculated and most strangers’ purchases have come from your excitement. So what if the author is excited about their own work, I want to know if somebody else is, right? (I exaggerate, because an author’s excitement also sells btw.) Your attendance, your facebook likes, comments, shares, posts, your purchases – those drove sales more than any work I put in.

Your voice makes a difference to my creative career. So thank you. Thank you for celebrating with me and being with me in this journey.

In your creative pursuits, don’t discount the excitement of those around you. Count it a privilege and an honor, because not every artist gets that. And count it more valuable than anything you can purchase, because you can’t purchase enthusiasm and that’s what sells.

Sure, I learned a lot from studying Lady Gaga’s marketing (become a patron to read more about Lady Gaga marketing). But no matter what, remember it still all starts with you.

Exclusive Content, for the Creatives

My most successful marketing strategy

July 11, 2019November 4, 2019 Amy L Sauder

This post is top secret content for my most raving fans. There are two ways to get in on the fun:

An abridged version of any new post is sent to those who receive my posts by email. You can sign up for free at the very bottom of my webpage.
The all-access pass for the archives and any future exclusive posts is available to paying patrons for just $2/mo. You can sign up through the below link to Patreon.com/AmyLSauder

The only question is, which will you choose?

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Central IL, Showcasing other Creatives

A bookworm’s invite to tea with the Queen

February 16, 2019February 16, 2019 Amy L Sauder

Her Majesty’s English Tearoom in Central IL is an enchanting place to visit, for tea or for books or for browsing. Here is a sneak-peek from local authors of a few of the fun finds along the way (ahem, you just might find a certain Amy L. Sauder in here somewhere)…

Her Majesty’s English Tearoom: Come have tea with the Queen!

I Know You Like a Murder at the Tearoom

Make Me Over at the Tearoom

Zombie Turkeys at the Tearoom

Hidden Secrets at the Tearoom

Plus, a couple events in a far far away (or not so far away) kingdom…

Murder Mystery at the Grand Hotel

Books & Breakfast at Little Traveler

Thanks to Kim Kouski for her her videography, Paul Maitland for directing (you’ll be seeing his books on shelves soon, so remember that name!), and Jacqueline Gillam Fairchild for hosting in her lovely tearoom.

P.S. My friends and I had so much fun making these videos. Check out the blooper reel for more writerly mayhem:

Bloopers at Tea

for the Creatives

Tip for Creating: Ask a Lot!

September 13, 2018August 31, 2018 Amy L Sauder

Want people to buy your work?

Have you asked if they’re interested?
Do they know you’re a creative?
Do they know you’re selling?

If you talk about it a lot, and I mean a lot a lot, then yes they do. But if you can’t tell me that you’re talking about it all the time, then I can almost guarantee you they don’t know.

I talk about my writing with almost everyone I run into. And I have posted multiple times on social media about preorders. And still, I have people who either 1) don’t know my book is coming out, or 2) don’t know they can preorder.

*Ahem, by the way, did you hear you can preorder “I Know You Like a Murder?*

If you can’t say that you talk about your creations a lot a lot a lot, then you probably know people who would support you if they just heard about your work.

If you haven’t talked about it or posted about it in the past 2 weeks, go do it. Now.
Your diehard fan customer might be just around the corner waiting for you to tell them about that amazing cool thing you offer.