Crafting Your Voice in a World of Imitation

“Don’t just write a business book. Put some art and love into it. I think make it something you’re really proud of.” —Matt Treacey

Matt Treacey combined his background in ecological science with his work as a marketing consultant for the world’s top business authors. He discovered that marketing can follow the same healthy growth orders of natural ecosystems and that authors can implement these ideas to create their own healthy marketing plans.

In this episode of “Authors Who Lead,” I talk with Matt about his book, Natural Orders: Email Marketing Automation Strategy for Small Online Business, and how authors can see marketing as growing healthy relationships rather than a one-time stressful venture.

Mistakes in Marketing

One of the first mistakes that Matt sees authors make in their marketing efforts is making the process too complicated and trying to do too much. Authors need to think of marketing their book as a long-term venture, not just a one-and-done event. If we try to do too much and make it complicated, it’s hard to sustain and we get burnt out. Just as in nature, growth needs to start simple and slow with a good foundation.

Another mistake is what Matt calls the “top-down cascade.” This is when we send emails to our lists that “aren’t valuable enough and you end up with poor engagement.” He’s referring to open rates and clicks. If we aren’t giving our audience what they need or want, they won’t open or interact with our emails.

Marketing as a Conversation

One of the best ways to use email marketing is to create a narrative with your audience. Matt suggests that you can string a series of emails together to introduce a series of ideas or connect ideas between your different books. This narrative with your audience shares more of yourself with them. Instead of always telling them why they should buy your books, you can weave stories and narratives into the conversation so that they can feel the authenticity of your topic.

In this podcast, Matt also shares with us:

That you should underpromise and overdeliver

Determining success with clicks and open rates of emails is difficult these days.

It is better to decide if your content is helpful to your audience by the number of unsubscribes and the number of click-throughs in your emails

Social media audiences are like a walled garden: they are a risk because someone could take them away from you. It is better to grow your own email list.

Every email sent should educate, inspire, or entertain

What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Are you struggling to market your book? Share in the comments below!

That’s all for this week. If you have a message inside of you that needs to be written, today is the day to start. Don’t delay—take action.

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