Customized products for marketing businesses have been around for a long time. The problem was you had to bulk order. I don’t have the budget for that. Do you?
Maybe you don’t even think of yourself as a business, but as an author you are in the business of selling your books. Unless one book is all you intend to write, now is the time to make that paradigm shift. If you are a writer, you are a business.
I’ll get down off my soap box now and back to today’s topic.
The marvel of print-on-demand technology makes it possible to create affordable custom products for marketing your business.
The Business Card
This is a basic marketing tool all writers should use. Even if you have no published book just yet, have a business card to hand out at conferences or other events you attend. At the very least, your business card should list your name, email address, and web address. Because I’m not just a writer, I list job titles (editor, writing coach) and both my physical address and phone number so potential customers can reach me via methods other than email.
Do you blog? Design your business card to advertise your blog. You never know when you might have a spontaneous conversation about your niche topic while in line at the mall, the post office, or the grocery store.
Specialty Items
When looking at specialty products, consider products you can use as
- Prizes
- Promotional materials for events
- Products your fans can purchase.
Think about the topic of your book and blog niche, and your target audience. Ask yourself how each of these factors be used to create products for the above mentioned categories.
Let me illustrate with some practical application.
In case you think your topic is too obscure for specialty items, I’ll use my upcoming book, Carried by Grace, as an example.
Carried by Grace is a Christian, self-help book about sexual abuse. The target audience is mothers whose child has suffered this abuse.
Prizes come in all prices. For a book event such as a Facebook launch party, besides offering my book as a prize, I could customize
- A women’s polo shirt with a Bible verse from the book,
- A coffee mug with 2-3 tips on taking care of yourself, and
- A stress ball personalized with a tip from the chapter on stress management.
I can offer the less expensive items as prizes to those attending the party, and the more expensive items to those who purchase the book.
For event promotionals, I’m talking about freebies for attendees. Bookmarks are a favorite. But I could also create a postcard printed with encouraging Bible promises on one side and practical tips from the book on the other side as a handy reference tool. I could also do magnets for the refrigerator.
In the realm of product to sell, I can customize
- a calendar personalized with Bible verses, relaxation tips, recipes for busy days, etc.
- tote bags,
- T-shirts, or even
- Inspiriting wall art.
I can offer these items either at events or on my website or both. Paypal accounts are easy to set up, and you can redirect online buyers there to complete the purchase.
How can this be applied to a novel?
My friend Melody Balthaser’s book Seeking Sophie launches later this year. It’s historical romance that takes place primarily in Maine. The male lead character is a lighthouse keeper.
For prizes, Melody could create a calendar with photos of lighthouses of America (or Maine), or famous spots to visit in Maine. She could also do a coffee cup or water bottle with a lighthouse on it. Freebie items can feature interesting facts about lighthouses and historical facts about Maine. Items to sell at events could include calendars (with the cover of Seeking Sophie on the front), cups, tote bags, or hats featuring lighthouses or Maine.
Are you having a booksigning?
- Create a bookmark with fun facts about your characters and setting not revealed in your fiction book.
- Have your book cover (or logo or an important quote from your book, etc.) printed on a coffee cup or favorite item of your target audience and use it as a prize for those who attend your signing.
As attendees sign up for entry to win your prize, you can ask if they’re interested in learning more about your next book, if they’d like to receive your newsletter (if you have one) or updates on new blog posts. This way you capture their email and build your audience platform.
The goal with marketing is to create more awareness of who you are and what you offer. (Tweet this.) Think wild. Put yourself in the place of devoted fans like Trekkies and see what you can come up with that appeals to your target audience and ties into your topic. All this offers potential customers a way to have something useful/helpful/interesting that serves as a reminder of you and your product. Depending on the item, you’ll want to include your brand identifier such as your name, web address, logo, or book cover.
Each of the below sites offers a variety of products you can customize from clothing to coffee cups to calendars (and the all important business cards and bookmarks). Cafe Press and Zazzle I have not used. I have used Vistaprint for coffee cups and business cards with satisfaction and had no issue with product quality. Prices vary widely at each site, so do your research. There’s something for every budget. Visit these sites, scan through their product, and brainstorm ideas.
Think local as well. Look for specialty print shops where you live.
Now go have fun creating totally awesome, irresistible customized products to market you and your books. What item(s) do you plan to use to help market your book? Leave your comments below.
Related articles: 3 tool for creating attention-grabbing graphics