It’s so easy to get lost and confused in this world. We read so many books, and blogs, and tweets that it can all get mixed up. So sometimes it’s a good idea to take a step back and recap what the hell you’re doing. That’s what this edition is about, so welcome back to the How To Build An Author House Series

I’m sure you’re all getting rather antsy and wanting to use Twitter and get to the good stuff, right? Get on with it I hear you cry! Well settle on down ladies and gents because it will happen in good time. First though we have some foundations to set for your author marketing, otherwise your house will fall down and the roof will break your neck (figuratively… obviously. Unless you’re actually building a house in which case please be careful)!

If you have followed the previous 6 steps (wait, what do you mean you haven’t been following me. Click HERE quick and add me to your blog roll) then you will have set these foundations I so keenly discuss. The elements of the author platform we’ve gone through so far are:

– Vision Statement

– Mission Statement

– Brand Identity

– Strengths

– Weaknesses

– The Market

– Overall Observations

– Aims & Objectives

The problem with the 6 posts so far though, is that they’re rather long and hardly going to come in handy during times of panic. So that’s what today’s post is about, bringing all the key stuff together and making a pretty little picture. This is what I’ve been working on today, a lovely infographic for your author platform so far:

Author Marketing – infographic

As you can see my lovely little creative (I know I know, I really should take up creative design and leave this author marketing lark to everyone else) shows you from the bottom up all the key things discussed so far in your author platform. I urge you to do something similar and pin it to your notice board, have it as your screen saver, or carry it around in your bag. This is for the times when everything goes dark and you begin to doubt yourself. It’s for the time you don’t want to come, but will no doubt rear its ugly little head from sooner or later.

This paper has on it your vision statement, the reason you’re doing what you’re doing. It provides a break down of your brand identity and how you can leverage your author platform. It tells you your plans and what you aim to achieve. Overall it gives you all the highlights you need when you come across a question you can’t answer, an idea you’re not sure about, or during that time when your stomach begins to quiver thinking you’ve got it all wrong. Simply take a deep breath, look at what your foundation tells you and you can happily go about your day.

There you have it everyone, the end of stage one, give yourself a big pat on the back. Next up is segmentation and positioning, which will overall require a bit of research from your side of things. So far most of the questions you’ve had to ask are of yourself. Now is the time to get out in to the real world and think about who your customers are and which agencies you think will provide the best structure for you.

But remember, this is a Marketing Strategy for YOU, to create an author platform that YOU can use for decades and decades. This isn’t about your book, so when you do think about who you’re targeting, think about the bigger picture. This is author marketing after all, not book marketing (like I keep telling you, that comes later). I’ll repeat one more time…AUTHOR Marketing 🙂

That is all

Turndog Millionaire – @turndog_million