You can sell plenty of books on any given day if you know how to SELL YOURSELF!
Before anyone knows or sees anything about your book---they’re going to see YOU. You are the exterior of the overall package. And how you come across can make or break your book sales.
You must first sell YOU!
Unless your name is Oprah or Donald Trump—chances are you’re only known by a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the population. But I should point out that Oprah and Donald were once in the same boat….they had to package themselves...but sure enough---over the course of time they “sold themselves.” They sold their skills to the right people who bought into their dreams and helped them achieve the successes they have today.
So what makes you any different from them?
I would say absolutely NOTHING!
Now Selling Yourself can be easy or difficult. Remember, it’s all in the packaging.
So what is involved in the packaging: #1 is SELF-PROMOTION. You are your best sales person. Let’s just be real here—in order to self promote you need to have some personality. You may have an absolutely fabulous book but if you don’t have some pizzazz to go with that book, chances are your sales won’t be as successful as you want them to be. Now, I’m not saying you have to be bursting at the seam with a personality that sounds like you’ve had one too many cups of coffee but do let yourself shine.
You know there’s a saying with athletes that whenever they get ready for a big game or big match, they put on their “game face” and you can think of self-promotion in those terms---as getting pumped up or being enthusiastic.
The great poet and novelist Oscar Wilde once said: “I knew that I had come face to face with some one whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself.” Poet and Novelist Oscar Wilde
Now I don’t know who he was talking about but based on that comment, whoever it was could sell him anything at anytime. And that’s what people will look at when they look at you. Yes, they will listen to the presentation about your book but they will also be looking at how you say what you say. Does it really sound like you believe in what you’re saying or are you just trying to make a sale? Do you have PASSION for your book? What is your energy level---your confidence? The other thing is, if you don’t know already, you need to learn how to work a room.
Poet Maya Angelou is quoted as saying “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” So if you make your potential clients feel like you’ve connected with them and that you really care about them it will definitely pay off in the long run.
Another component of selling yourself is the non-verbal communication. You’d be surprised at the number of sales that have been lost because of body language. One of the critical mistakes people make is the lack of direct eye contact with a client or an audience. Do you ever notice how some people have a difficult time looking directly at you when they talk to you?
Another non verbal sign is the frown on the face. Some people do it and aren’t even conscious of it. You know the frown I’m talking about---the one that’s right between your eyebrows. It seems to be an automatic reflex for some when you hear someone say something you don’t quite agree with.
To learn more about increasing your book sales, please attend my workshop on Saturday, August 18 at the Woodlawn Community Center, 2120 Gwynn Avenue in Baltimore. The workshop begins at 5pm.
“Personality has the power to open many doors, but character must keep them open”
