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How To Create a Lead Magnet To Attract Fans and Customers

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales.

Do you want more fans? Do you want more buyers? Do you want more listeners? Do you want leads for your business? Do you want to connect with your audience in a meaningful way?

Your Lead Magnet can do all of these.

  • It can turn a listener into a fan because it gives them something interesting and useful, from you.
  • It can get you more buyers for your products and services because it gives them something that solves their problem.
  • It can get you more listeners because it may be the first contact an online searcher has with you.
  • It will get you leads for your business. That is its purpose.
  • And finally, the lead magnet will help you to connect with members of your audience in a meaningful way because you get to communicate with your leads via email and share information that you don’t share as part of your show.

It's been said, “the better the lead magnet, the bigger the list”.

Actually, I said it many years ago and continue to say it because it’s true.

Yes, I am talking about the lead magnet. The enticing content that makes your reader, listener, audience member want to give you their email address so you can communicate with them on a regular basis ‘privately’ by email.

In all truth, the lead magnet can make or break a lead generation process. A good one will lead to success and a bigger email list. A bad one will lead to dismay because few people will want to get on your list.

Is a Lead Also A Potential Customer?

The short answer is “No”.

A lead is an unqualified contact. Any person that hasn’t been qualified as a prospect is a lead. In the sales process you do this:

Gather leads > Qualify them into prospects > Move them through your sales funnel to become a paying customer.

For example: Your customer is a sales manager in a Fortune 500 company. You may have 50 people download your lead magnet and give you their email address. Of those 50 people, 23 are solo business owners, 5 are business consultants, 11 are virtual assistants, and 12 are sales managers. All of these people are leads.

A prospect is an individual or organization that fits your criteria to be a potential customer. They don’t have to express interest in what you are selling to be considered a prospect, they just have to fit the right qualifications.

For example: Of the 50 people who gave you email addresses, all are leads and 12 are prospects, aka potential customers.

What Is A Lead Magnet?

A lead magnet is anything of value that you offer for free in exchange for someone’s email address.

You can do it through a creative landing page or a simple graphic on your website.

It’s referred to as a “magnet” because it is part of an attraction marketing effort. You want to attract people to your site and program so you offer an enticing freebie. The freebie acts like a magnet, attracting those who are interested in what you’re offering. Those who give you their email address in exchange for that freebie are Leads.

Leads can become prospects.

There are two ways they can qualify to be prospects:

  1. they click on links inside the lead magnet
  2. they click on links inside the emails you send to them (because they’re on your list)

What can you create and offer that is irresistible to your ideal customer?

What can you create and offer that delivers real value and piques their interest in your paid offers?

What steps are involved to create a lead magnet?

Create a Lead Magnet in 5 Steps

1. Know Your Ideal Customer 

Your program is focused on a target audience. This means your lead magnet should be of value to the buyer inside your target audience or the buyer that you want to be a part of your audience.

Everyone listening to your program isn't your ideal customer, but your ideal customer is listening to your program.

It is possible that you have multiple ideal customers. Don't try to create a lead magnet for all of them. Instead, create a separate one for each distinct Ideal Customer.

2. Know What Your Ideal Customer Wants 

You must give them a reason to download your lead magnet. The best lead magnet is the one that gives a quick solution to a common problem your ideal buyer is facing. The quicker they experience results from your lead magnet, the better.

3. Name Your Lead Magnet 

You now know what you're offering and to whom, so naming your lead magnet will be easy. Similar to creating an attention-getting headline for your episode or a blog post for maximum listening or viewing, the name will help you get maximum downloads. Keep it simple, base it on the one challenge and one solution you present in it.

4. Choose The Type Of Lead Magnet To Offer

The most common lead magnets are PDF guides and reports. However, there are other options and there is a list right after step 5. The important thing for you to keep in mind is this:

Keep It Simple. The easier it is to create, the better. The easier it is to download and digest the better.

You want to solve their problem and move them into your sales funnel quickly. Choose a format that allows for fast delivery and consumption.

5. Create Your Lead Magnet

You're done with the strategic work, now you have to actually create the lead magnet.

Let’s look at the types of lead magnets that work well for many podcasters and radio hosts.

Types of Lead Magnets You Can Create Today

Now you know what a lead magnet is, why you should have one, and the 5 steps to creating it.

The most important thing for you to keep in mind is this: you already have the knowledge and likely have the content on hand, so don’t complicate it!

  • If you have a blog you have an eBook.
  • If you have an online course you have a cheat sheet.
  • If you have show notes or transcripts you have a resource guide.

The following list is meant to get you thinking about how you can put your content into a format that will be attractive and useful for your ideal customer. That’s all. If it seems weird or like it’s too much work, then cross it off the list. If it seems doable or like something you may already have on hand, then circle it.

  1. A Short Guide or Report
    Focus on one specific solution for one challenge your ideal customer is experiencing. This could be something like: – show how to prepare their next presentation so their team understands what they need to do- walk through the steps of preparing a speech that inspires or motivates- teach them what to look for when hiring a team member
  2. A Cheat Sheet
    Cheat sheets are more than a checklist but not as in-depth as a guide or report. They’re only a few pages and they get straight to the point. They contain a bit more information than a simple checklist by explaining each point in a short paragraph.
  3. Toolkit/Resource List
    This is an excellent way to provide reference material for them that they can use many times. It’s a great time saver for the lead and a great traffic generator for your website. Because, of course, you’ll have a few tools or resources of your own that they can purchase from your site.
  4. Video Training/Webinar
    Consider creating a video of you showing your prospect how to use your product or walking them through one thing that your service does. Then, at the end of the training or webinar you do a short sell on how they can work with you.
  5. Software Free Trial
    If your product is software, consider the Free Trial option as a lead magnet. When someone can try the product themselves they’re more likely to purchase. How many apps and products have you received a 14-day or 30-day trial to and then purchased for yourself because you liked it?
  6. Offer a Discount
    People love discounts. If it makes sense for you to offer a discount in the form of a coupon or code then all you would need to do is create an image containing that information.
  7. Assessment
    Do you offer coaching? An assessment that includes a guide on how to understand the assessment results is an excellent lead magnet because it not only brings in a lead it also will show you who qualifies to work with you.

Now What?

As you can see, there are quite a few options for creating a lead magnet. There can be more added to this list, but I think there’s enough to get you thinking. Thinking about your audience. Thinking about your ideal customer. Thinking about the content you already have or can easily create that will be attractive to your ideal customer.

What do you do now? You can begin with your own content and quickly create a lead magnet or you can outsource the creation of your lead magnet. Either way, now is the best time to get it done.

Do Your Press Releases Tell “The Story Behind the Story”?

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Publishing.

Great easy tips by Shel Horowitz, book marketing copywriter and strategic marketer, about how to write your book press releases.

Press Releases - Tina Dietz - Twin Flames Studios

Which would you rather read: “Electronic Privacy Expert Releases New Book” OR “It’s 10 O’Clock—Do You Know Where Your Credit History Is?”

If you follow most advice about how to write a press release for a book, you’d end up with something like the first example. You’ll put all the 5Ws in the first paragraph. And you’ll put your readers to sleep.

But when a client hired me to write a press release for a book on electronic privacy, I turned in the second example. The main text repeated the headline and continued: “It's 10 O'clock—Do you know where your credit history is? How about your employment records? Your confidential medical information?

“How would you feel if you found out this sensitive and should-be-private material is “vacationing” in computer databanks around the world—accessible to corporate interests who can afford to track down and purchase it, but not necessarily open to your own inspection?”

The book and author weren’t even mentioned until the third paragraph.

Any book has multiple angles—news hooks you can use to gain media and reader attention. I chose to focus on data privacy that time. If I were writing that press release today, I might focus on identity theft, hacking, or the influence of fake news on elections. But NEVER on “expert releases book.” Publishing a book, by itself, is not news. Just in the US, it happens about a million times a year. That’s 2740 books published every day! You want to stand out in that crowd.

So if you’d rather not imitate a snooze button, try something different. Tell “the story behind the story” and create a press release that people will read (and act on). For nonfiction: What problem does your book solve, what pain does it alleviate, what success does it lead to (financial, relationship, career, personal growth, etc.) Ask yourself who needs the information, and why.

For fiction or memoir, what kinds of people will identify with your main character? What exotic situation or fascinating career fills in the backstory? For either—what seasonal or charity tie-ins, awards, or superstar endorsements make your book newsworthy? If your press release is fun and exciting, readers will realize that your book is also going to be fun and exciting.

As a book marketing copywriter and strategic marketer who writes a lot of press releases and book covers for books, I do this constantly. Here are some actual press release headlines I’ve written for clients (starting with one for my own tenth book):

NONFICTION:

FICTION:

  • If Romeo and Juliet Had THIS Magical Parrot, Things Would Have Been Different: Romeo and Juliet Meets Robinson Crusoe Meets House of the Spirits—in Africa
  • Kidnapping…Terrorists…A Foreign Land: Carinci’s Latest Suspense Thriller Chases Danger Across the Emerald Isle
  • A Children’s Picture Book Where the Good Guys Don’t Win? Yes, Really!
  • Still More Honors for Debut Novel, “The Dark Dreamweaver”—Named an iParenting Media “Greatest Product”

In spite of their “just the facts, Ma’am” training, journalists love these kinds of press releases. And in today’s world where readers can find press releases in search results, you might even capture reader interest directly.

​Shel Horowitz writes press releases and book covers and develops strategic marketing for authors, green and social entrepreneur businesses, and nonprofits. His 7th book, Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers (2007), was endorsed by Dan Poynter, Fern Reiss, and other publishing gurus. His 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, is endorsed by Seth Godin and Chicken Soup’s Jack Canfield. Discuss your next marketing project with Shel: 413-586-2388 (8 a.m. to 10 p.m.US Eastern) or https://goingbeyondsustainability.com/contact/ – and pick up his free gifts for you at https://goingbeyondsustainability.com/freebies/

Shel Horowitz – Book Marketing Copywriter, Strategic Marketer & Book Publishing Consultant

The Hazards of Happiness & Achieving Your Dreams

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Personal Development.

Creating happiness can cause a lot of problems. Achieving your dreams can sometimes feel like a letdown. You spend months and years working toward a goal–like a climber ascending Mount Everest. But when you achieve it and reach the summit, that moment right after you feel the triumph, there is an emptiness.

Achieving Your Dreams - Tina Dietz

“What now?” You start to think.

This is the plight of the high achiever and the pitfall of the pursuit of happiness.

When we (my family and myself) first moved to Costa Rica 5+ years ago, it was a triumph. We accomplished a 5-year goal in 3 years, paying off our debts and finding ourselves in a tropical country with oodles of time and resources at hand. Do you know what I did first thing when we got here?

I slept. A lot.

About two weeks later, I found myself waking up early in the morning with a knot in my stomach, and I couldn’t figure out why. I was restless, picking up doing one thing and putting it down again, dissatisfied and unsettled. One night after dinner, I stood up from the table, exclaiming, “Holy crap!” (I didn’t say crap) “I know what this is!”

“WHAT?” said my startled and confused family.

I threw my hands up and said, “I’m bored.”

Thinking about it that evening, I realized that I hadn’t probably felt boredom since I was in my early 20s, which is more than nunyabizness years ago. I had been too damn busy pursuing my Perfect Day. Now that the dream had been realized, I was at a loss.

Five years have passed since that first dinner table exclamation, and here is what I’d love for you to know as you bring your dreams into reality:

  1. We are more familiar with the feelings associated with failure than we are with the ones related to success. As a result, having what you want can take some getting used to. Contentment, happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment are all muscles you need to flex in order to continue to create and have a life you love (and not sabotage yourself). The more you stop to appreciate your little successes and acknowledge yourself on a daily and weekly basis, the more you “exercise” those muscles.
  2. You may be so used to having a long to-do list, constantly doing things for others, always working under a deadline, etc., that when all of that disappears and you have an open space before you, it can feel like a chasm. Create a daily practice of being quiet and listening to your thoughts to get your mind used to being calmer and quieter. Use any kind of meditation or relaxation practice you like, or even go for a quiet walk or swim. A daily practice of this kind also results in getting amazing ideas and insights in my experience.
  3. When you find yourself feeling guilty or placeless because you don’t know what your next step is and you can choose anything you want, remember to breathe into giving yourself permission. Take 3-5 deep “letting go” breaths (add a sigh if you'd like; it deepens the relaxation response), and tell yourself something loving like: “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.” Or, “All I need to do today is what I get done today.”
  4. Make a “dream list” of all the things you'd love to learn or do or try or experience. Would you like to learn a new language? Have you always wanted to take dance lessons or learn to paint? Volunteer to work with animals, children, or a cause that’s near and dear to your heart? What are all the books you’ve always wanted to read? As you create more time and money freedom, start choosing items off this list to put into your life, rather than creating more busy-ness. Pleasure makes us more productive, not less.

Do you feel like you have a “fear of success” or find yourself overwhelmed, at loose ends, or not sure where your next priority is? Are you taking tons of action, but not getting the results you want? Reach out for a discovery session, and let’s create the life and business of your dreams.

Let’s create the life and business of your dreams

How To Achieve Successful Collaboration In Your Business

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Networking.

When you gather people together, you are helping them get connected with one another. Let's talk about collaboration in your business.

How To Achieve Successful Collaboration In Your Business

The Small Business Collaboration talks with Tina Dietz, international speaker and owner of Start Something Creative Business Solutions, about how to create immediate trust and confidence in business collaborations. Tina discusses how communication is the heart of business and advocates for good communication, as it is critical to ensuring effective collaborations. Good leaders and business owners must have communication to run a successful business and to achieve the best collaboration (which can also help personal growth). When you gather people together, you are helping them get connected with one another. They get to see who you are deep down and connect on a level that isn’t based on small talk.

During the interview, Tina explains and touches on many collaboration key factors such as:

  • The main ways that entrepreneurs are getting communication wrong and strategies to establish trust to build confidence
  • How to recognize “Happy Puppy Syndrome,” which is when entrepreneurs get so excited and passionate about something their message can be overwhelming. You can get too excited and come at someone too strong with too much information, rather than letting them come to you
  • Learning how to get a sense of non-attachment
  • Learn how to trust yourself
  • Have a system in place
  • Trust and build relationships with colleagues without getting attached

Tina also brings in personal experience and excitedly talks about the collaboration that she is most proud of, which is the Evolutionary Business Council, a global organization of thought leaders, teachers, and people looking to make a difference in the world.  The idea of the organization is to achieve shared influence and collaboration. She has been a part of this organization for a little over six years and has gained a number of amazing things from it, some which include:

  • Collaborations
  • Clients
  • Friendships
  • Media Attention
  • Emotional support

She also talks about the keys to a successful collaboration:

  • Use your inner and outer voice as a tool — The mechanics of it can be used to make people really want to learn more about who you really are, your credibility, and your trustworthiness
  • Understand and align on a personal level with your own values
  • Create company and brand that is based off of and aligned with your values
  • Never force a connection
  • Build a relationship that works for both parties
  • Establish trust
  • Communication structure: have a relationship where you feel safe communicating about all aspects of business
  • Shared values, dreams, and goals between yourself and business partners
  • Get things in writing, which falls under the category of clear communication
  • Learn how to deal and flow with the unexpected

Collaborations aren’t always going to be successful; this goes for anyone. Sometimes on the surface, things can appear perfect, even with a friend. Intellectually, someone may have great ideas but not always follow through with those ideas. While this is harmful, it teaches you to count on yourself first and start smaller, to earn that trust and to ensure you are in alignment, not only verbally but also in reality. This is huge with not getting attached. Tina emphasizes multiple times how you are more successful when you aren’t attached to an outcome, which allows for you to communicate openly and freely. It’s okay if something doesn’t work out because there are other opportunities out there. 

Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, but collaborations are all about strength in numbers.  Remember to always put yourself out there and ask for help, build relationships. When you put out an idea, you can quickly start to create collaborations that aren’t part of your core business that can take you in different directions that are equally exiting. There is unlimited growth in so many different areas and directions that you never even knew existed.

Want to learn more about how we can help you develop successful collaborations in your business?

Are You a Purple Squirrel? Should You Be?

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Leadership, Personal Development.

Have you ever heard the term “purple squirrel?” No, we aren’t talking about a mythical animal (even though that would be really cool). “Purple squirrel” in our terms is an analogy for a very particular type of person. Wondering what it means to be a purple squirrel? You might even be one! 

Purple Squirrel - Tina Dietz

What is a Purple Squirrel?

A purple squirrel is someone with a really unique skillset who can apply those skills in a number of different ways. Years ago I read an op-ed piece in the New York Times noting that employers were searching for new employees who were “purple squirrels,” something that doesn’t really exist in nature. Companies in essence were looking for people who had a large skillset who could apply skills to a variety of different areas but remain in one position within the company. I had to laugh, because I immediately identified with being one of these rare creatures.

The Downsides to the Purple Squirrel Life

If you say to yourself, “Okay, sure…I think I am a purple squirrel. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Well, as with most personality traits, there’s a little of good AND bad (but mostly good). A purple squirrel has many assets and can utilize them in almost any scenario. They are strong-willed and determined. If you can analyze data and still have a great background in marketing, if you’re a very good people-person but still know all the current software, or if you can do anything at a job in any position in that firm, you hopefully are viewed as a tremendous asset in your workplace, a valued leader. On the other hand, being a purple squirrel in a company may evoke fears from others that you’re going to take their job or be constantly trying to compete with them. Also, we all know that personalities can clash, because some people just aren’t that easy to get along with; those types of individuals really perceive a purple squirrel as a threat. A purple squirrel often speaks their mind, and sometimes others in a working environment can struggle being around this type of personality.

The Upsides

The benefits of being a purple squirrel are tremendous and can lead to great success. As purple squirrels, we have a unique vision that we want to fulfill and a unique skill set with which we can use to fill it. The challenge of having a unique vision is that not everyone can understand what you’re aiming to accomplish with that vision-so purple squirrels thrive when they can find other purple squirrels who speak the same “language.” Purple squirrels often ditch conventional 9-5 jobs and use their diverse skills and moxy to launch their own company and showcase their abilities, becoming the leaders they’ve always wanted to be by making their own rules. It’s not necessarily an easy path, but it’s a deeply fulfilling one and the innovation that purple squirrels bring to the world makes the world a better place.

You can use your “purple squirrel powers” to address the challenges you experience along the way. Cultivate your compassion for those who may be triggered or feel threatened by your unique skills. You don’t have to necessarily call someone out, but be open to the fact that they may feel a certain way that is different than how you feel. Deep communication skills are essential for purple squirrels, because often you can shift someone from being threatened to becoming your ally by being willing to get creative, dive into the difficult conversations, and find creative solutions.

Some people tend to think of purple squirrels as “too much,” but don’t let it suppress your purple squirrel-ness. Just again bring your compassion and perception to the forefront, understanding that some personality types need time to process in order to use their skills better, so a highly expressive purple squirrel can be overwhelming – and you might be missing out on a fellow purple squirrel who happens to be more of an internal processor! This is never personal; it’s just the wiring of how each individual functions—it’s all different.

Are You a Purple Squirrel?

So, what makes YOU a purple squirrel? Take some time, sit back, and think about your skills and how you use them. Do you think you’re a part of this magical circle of personality types? This will help you be a better leader as you realize and absorb those purple squirrel powers.

Purple squirrels need each other. As a fellow purple squirrel, I speak from experience when I say that it is so important to support each other and reach out to one another. We succeed faster and better when we have like minded squirrelocity around us. When you meet another purple squirrel, bring them into the tribe and help them achieve their success and understanding how to utilize their skills.

So get out there and shout out that you are a purple squirrel, and be proud to be one. Let that squirrel flag fly, fluff those tails, twitch those ears, and declare your membership in purple squirrel tribe! We are leaders, and we can do anything we set our minds to! 

Want some help figuring out what obsession can boost your business?

Audio Marketing for Authors 101

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Business Development, Marketing, Sales.

Audio marketing is an extension of getting your voice out into the world and creating core relationships with your audience, resulting in more book sales and raving fans.

Audio Marketing Get Your Kids to Learn - Tina Dietz - audiobook expert

In this interview for Author Bridge Media, StartSomething founder Tina Dietz discusses the fundamentals of audio marketing for authors.

  • Authors are always looking for a way to get their work into the world
  • Why audio marketing is a very important key for book marketing
  • Benefits and pitfalls of audio marketing
  • Technical considerations
  • Types of audio marketing, including podcasting and audiobooks
  • How to fall in love with your own voice if you don’t like the way you sound
  • Considerations for hiring a narrator for your audiobook vs. narrating a book yourself
  • What you need to know about self-narration for your audiobook
  • Tips for hiring the right narrator for your audiobook
  • How to know if you should start a podcast
  • Tips for how to get on more podcasts

Audio Marketing can create an entire community of your audience, bring people together around your message, and help them connect with you on a deeper level.

Ready to explore audio marketing?

7 Succulent Ways to Promote Your Audiobook

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Leadership, Marketing.

Audiobook sales will top 3 billion dollars in 2018. We’re going to give you some tips and ideas you can use to promote your audiobook masterpiece!

Promote Your Audiobook - Tina Dietz

So you’ve decided to publish an audiobook version of your book – great idea! Audiobook sales will top 3 billion dollars in 2018. BUT, guess what?

That also means you need to (gasp!) market your audiobook. Many authors think of marketing as a big scary thing you have to do in order to avoid failure, but think about your marketing time as time spent getting to know your readers and finding out what interests them.

Whether you’re promoting online, in print, or by word of mouth, there are many different options you can use to help in this process. To help get you started, we’re going to give you some tips and ideas you can use to promote your masterpiece!

Connect with Amazon

After your audiobook has been completed, the first thing you should do is look your book up on Amazon to ensure that the audiobook version is listed on the book’s page. If your audiobook is not listed, contact Amazon to request that the editions get combined. This is particularly helpful because some people exclusively listen to audiobooks, and if they are looking for the book, they will see the audiobook available on the same page in one easy search. Whispersync can also help here, because it synchronizes the Audible audiobook and the Kindle e-book so that you can switch between them with ease. You can go from reading your book in the living room to jumping in the car and listening right where you left off in the story.

Social Media

​Promoting your work online and via social media is a must for any author. Based on who your reader is, focus your efforts on using the social media platform that your readers most use. Do you have an author page on Facebook if that’s where your readers are most? If it’s Twitter, use hashtags wisely so that people who are searching for your book or general book genre can identify your project by interest. Facebook also allows you to promote your post by adding a filter to it to enable traffic with the specific interest. Overall, posting on social media sites using videos created to promote your audiobook (with a snippet of your 5 minute retail sample) or quote memes pulled from your audiobook’s content will bring attention and will also be great for your book’s search engine optimization efforts by back linking to your book’s sales pages.

Promote to Audio Listeners via Podcasts

​Just as you wouldn’t want to waste time pitching your audiobook to a paperback only crowd, you don’t want to promote your audiobook to them either. You want to focus on the audio listeners and the best place to find them is through podcasts! Podcast audiences are already listening and therefore they’re more likely to also be listening to audiobooks. Listen to some podcasts that would be a good fit for your audiobook and take some notes on the audience, jot down contact info, and contact podcasters about what you could bring to the show as a guest. Special giveaways or an inside view of your creative or writing process are good hooks to get listeners to tune in. You can also use your 5 minute audiobook retail sample in your podcast interview or in the episode’s “show notes” to give listeners a preview-both creating interest and generating traffic back to your audiobook’s sales page.

Be Their Guest

Being featured on someone else’s website as a guest blogger is a great way to get noticed and promote your work. In addition to guest blogs, consider Tweet chats, local radio stations, and YouTube interviews. You can reach out to hosts in the same friendly and value-oriented way that you would to ask to be on a podcast. If your audiobook narrator has a blog, ask them if you can guest blog and then host your narrator on your own blog for an article or interview. The more channels you appear on, the more you get the word out about your work. You can even write a blog that interviews the main character of the story and publish this on sites that engage with your readers and audience. This is a fun way to get attention, and it engages your readers in even more.

Free Audiobook Sample

​Giving people an easy, risk-free way to sample your audiobook will peak their interest and have them craving more. When you create your audiobook, you have a “5 minute retail sample” that is featured on your audiobook retail pages so that potential listeners can have a taste of your work. You can use the 5 minute audio clip as a free sample that you can embed on your website in blog posts and on all social media platforms.

Reviews

​Just as there are reviewers for standard print books and e-books, there are also reviewers who specialize in audiobook reviews. By using a google search or checking directories you can find publications, websites, bloggers, and many others that you can submit your audiobook for a review. As these reviews start pouring in, use the positives to your advantage. Post or share these reviews on your websites or social media accounts to draw in more attention, and to spread the word. If you use ACX to produce your audiobook, you can email ACX to receive 25 free promo codes that can be used to send your audiobook to potential reviewers in exchange for a review.

Video Book Trailer

​Sometimes people make their audiobook trailers too long and it can lose the listener’s interest or make them feel as if they have already learned all there is to know already about the book. You want to keep it edgy and have the audience eager to know more or find out what happens next. Also, keep in mind that most people are always in a hurry and only have but a minute or two to spare, so try to get as much detail as you need squeezed into a video that’s two minutes or less. To make it easy, you can again use the 5 minute retail sample of your audiobook to help create your book trailer. Make sure to feature your trailer on your website, social media sites, and even in your e-mail signature.

There are hundreds of ways authors and narrators can market audiobooks, but it’s important to focus on making a connection with readers. Learn where your readers spend their time the most, and that will help you determine where you should focus on sharing about your work. If you offer valuable content and engagement, you will see the same in return, and remember that listening is the new reading, so promoting your audiobook and doing it well is worth it.

Want help creating & promoting your audiobook? My team and I have the expertise you need to unleash your masterpiece

Questions to Ask to Evaluate and Manage Your Ideas

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Creating Wealth, Leadership, Podcasting.

Too many ideas? Shiny ball syndrome? Ask yourself these questions to evaluate and manage your ideas and find the right actions to take to ensure success

Evaluate and Manage Your Ideas - Tina Dietz

I’m a creative person, as many of you are, and I have always dealt with the problem of having a large number of ideas all the time. I call it a problem because that’s what it was before I really learned how to start wrangling all my thoughts and turning them into productive ideas rather than getting caught in the “shiny ball syndrome” that takes us away from the things we need to be focusing on in order to produce the results that we keep saying we want.  

When we’re looking at any idea, we have to bring it outside of ourselves. Examine it like you’re examining a physical object. Look at all the parts: What do you like about it?  What about it has you absolutely enamored? What parts of it are causing you to hold onto it? What do you see about it that connects with the things that you’re thinking about doing or that you’re already doing? Will it slide in easily or take you in another direction? Is it a missing-piece-idea that fits in perfectly with what you have going on, or will it come into play later in the plan?

Asking the Right Questions

Ask yourself these questions to evaluate and manage your ideas and find the right actions to take to ensure productivity and a serene and calm approach to your projects:

  • Will it make a current part of your plan easier?
  • Will it make something better?
  • Will it make something faster?
  • Will it make something more profitable?
  • Will it make it more enjoyable?

If the answer to any—or all—of those questions is “yes,” put it into your plan. This is why I always recommend having a very flexible, creative, and strategic vision plan so that you can slide pieces in and incorporate them into what you’re already doing without throwing a big wrench into the plan.

If the answer to those questions were all “no,” but it’s a good idea, it might just be a good fit for later in the process. Slide it later into the plan, stop thinking about it right now, and use that as a holding center for your idea. It’s not going anywhere, and you can get to it at the appropriate time in the plan without distracting yourself now.

Putting Things into a GeoSync Folder

If the idea is one that you really don’t want to get rid of, but it doesn’t really fit into anything, you can put it into what I call a GeoSync folder. Think of yourself like a satellite, and you have ideas orbiting all around you. Turn this into a concrete idea, and create a GeoSync folder on your computer, Google Drive, or where ever you store your files. Keep track of your ideas, and review them every couple of months when you review your strategic vision plan. This way, they’re not taking up brain space or creating anxiety, but they’re also not disappearing into the ether that is lost thoughts and ideas.

Capture & Release…of Ideas?

It’s important to start an Idea Capture and Release Program. We all know that ideas don’t always come to us at the most convenient times. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we realize that our best ideas usually don’t come to us when we're sitting behind a desk in an office, but rather when we’re using other parts of our brains and allowing our brains to be a little more free-thinking and creative. Where we get ideas is different for all of us, but the important part is to have a way to capture these ideas and not let them slip away.  

This is where habit-building comes in handy. Most of us having our phones with us nearly all the time. Use that to your advantage, and have a spot on your phone—either in your email or a note app—where you have a running list of ideas. Sync this with your GeoSync folder to bring your short-term thoughts of in-the-moment ideas that were captured, and combine them with your long-term stored ideas in GeoSync.

Bill Gates famously said, “I keep my plate full at 60%.” The first time I heard this, it really surprised me because of the amazing enterprises he built. He left 40% of his time for thinking and creative time, reading, or writing. Although these things seem like idle activities on the surface, they are actually the life-blood of creativity and allow your plans and actions to be more streamlined and better aligned with one another. We have a tendency to get really caught up in the hamster wheel of day-to-day life and all the busyness that comes with it, so we will have to be really intentional about scheduling this Think Time into our calendar. When we allow ourselves time to let our brains get into a different mode, we can get a whole new set of ideas that we never would have thought of before.  

Need support for your ideas and help bringing them into reality? Some great resources are:

  • Facebook Group: Online Creators Launchpad
  • Podcasts: Podcasters Hangout or She Podcasts (for us ladies with big ideas)
  • Book Groups: Check out the groups that I belong to on Facebook and also check out Florida Writers Association if you’re in Florida

Use Facebook for good, and get involved in the conversation and in-depth discussions on specific topics if you want to take all these big ideas and bring them into reality. Get out there, and StartSomething Creative! I go over all of this and more in this video, and if you watch it, you’ll even find out how I almost ended up being an emu farmer in Montana.

Want some help evaluating and managing your ideas?

Creating Safety for Ourselves and Being a Vulnerable Leader

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Blog, Business Development, Leadership, Personal Development.

Have you ever wondered what safety has to do with leadership, especially with a vulnerable leader, or being a working professional? The answer is: A lot!

Being a Vulnerable Leader - Tina Dietz

Safety is a concept we learn early on during the most formative years of our childhood. We look to make ourselves feel safe on a daily basis. It is, after all, one of the most basic needs on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and until the need to feel safe has been met, we cannot begin working upward toward the other needs on the list. This leaves us feeling insecure, unfulfilled, and frankly, unhappy.

You’re probably wondering what safety has to do with leadership or being a working professional. The answer is: A lot.

There’s been more and more press recently about being a vulnerable leader, opening ourselves up to connection and authenticity, and how all these things can make us stronger leaders, managers, supervisors, or even just colleagues. And what does it all mean? How can these things make us stronger networkers or speakers?

As professionals, we tend to go through a little bit of a push and pull between wanting to appear professional and be powerful in the moment and still managing to speak to our audience and connect with them. It’s a little bit of a dichotomy, and experiencing this contradiction can make it very difficult to really feel comfortable being vulnerable.

For those of you who don’t know my backstory, I  have a background as a therapist, business coach, and voice actor. From my earliest time as a child, I remember creating a lot of safety for myself by anthropomorphizing the entire world around me (and I still do it today). This has brought me to collect and own a large collection of friends and creatures who have brought me great comfort throughout the years and have their own wisdom that can really only be accessed when you speak in their voice.

Have I lost you yet? No? Good. I'm talking about a large group of puppets, the first of which I discovered at a puppet petting zoo that had been set up when I was in graduate school to become a therapist. It was meant for therapists to shop around to use puppets as therapy tools, but what we found there was much deeper. I noticed George, the black-footed ferret, and I started thinking about how much of a crisis of conscience he was probably having being that he is a carnivore, but he’s also cute and fuzzy. I felt a connection with him right away, and I looked around and noticed that my connection to George was causing others to come over and check out the other carnivores like the wolves. People saw my connection with George, and they wanted to feel that connection too. Spontaneously, several other therapists and I started a carnivore support group. And no, I can’t make this stuff up!

You might never be in a situation where you’ll be connecting with a puppet at a puppet petting zoo, but this lesson translates into human connection as well. When people really connect with one another and allow themselves to be vulnerable, they find a common space of humanity. This common space acts as a mirror to other people, making them more comfortable and willing to come forward with their own feelings.

Many of us as children don’t successfully go through the stage in our childhood that Erik Erikson determined as the time when we decide if the world is a safe place or not. This causes them to not trust the world and to feel like it isn’t there for us. I was one of these people, and there are many, many more like us in the world as well. It’s important to look back through our childhood and find those things that made us feel safe as kids. This can trigger a neurological, emotional, and even a physiological response that can help us move past that unsafe space and step into our adult being so we can then take care of the younger parts of ourselves.

Sometimes to cope with our sense of ‘un-safe-ness’ we over-rely on things like food, sexual contact, or other things that may or may not serve us. We even have a tendency to search for connection on social media, but this often leads to us finding things that are very overstimulating and provoking. It does us no favors, especially for those of us who feel emotions very intensely.

As humans, we have a tendency to want to make decisions right away. We want to push forward, do things, change the environment…but if we do this on top of feeling unsafe or insecure, we might be doing things that actually snowball the negative feelings and lack of safety and make it worse.

Listen to yourself, and you’ll be more able to listen to others. Connect with people, look into their eyes, and when you get nervous or feel afraid, take care of the younger part of yourself that doesn’t feel safe. You can have the grown-up part of you take care of the little parts of you. It’s okay, and it’s necessary.

And, if you need help, just ask.

Take the next step in Your Leadership

How to Use Audio to Get Your Kids to Learn

Written by Robin Thompson on . Posted in Audiobook Marketing, Blog, Podcasting, Productivity.

Why using audio to get your kids to learn is an easy and convenient way to give them opportunities to become even more well-rounded and well-educated.

Audio Marketing Get Your Kids to Learn - Tina Dietz - audiobook expert

In a world full of distractions like YouTube, thousands of different video games, social media, toys, sports, etc., it’s not always easy to get our kids to learn, much less develop and cultivate their interests and skills. But school is enough, right? Wrong. Everyone learns differently-some visually, some are more hands-on learners, and some learn best through audio, which provides a large variety of ways for kids to learn.

With the rise in popularity of podcasts and audiobooks, more and more ways to help kids get get excited about learning and discover new interests are popping up every day. Using audio to help kids learn is an easy and convenient way to give our kids opportunities to become even more well-rounded and well-educated, hopefully resulting in a young person who grows up to love learning.

Here are some ways you can use audio to get your kids to learn so that you can get started right away. They’ll thank you for it!

Using audiobooks to get kids to learn is different from reading with them and is also very different from just sitting them in front of the TV and allowing them to watch shows (even if they are educational). Listening to audiobooks forces children to use different skills than reading and allows for much more imagination than the TV. Children who find reading difficult can also find great relief in being able to listen to a book. Audiobooks are great for car rides, time when children are self-entertaining while you’re cooking dinner, or even for you to listen to together and discuss after. Some ideas of ways to use audiobooks for children’s learning are:

  • Find fun stories for themThere are tons of audiobooks for children of fun, engaging stories with colorful language for them to use their imaginations, learn words, get excited about listening to the stories, and want to talk about them after.  These can be great conversation starters, so make sure to engage with your child about what you listen to together!
  • Provide sketchbooks and crayons or pencils​This helps them to further utilize their imagination. While they’re listening, they can draw what they think their favorite characters might look like, strengthening their creativity and encouraging them to use a part of their brain that looking at pictures in books doesn’t activate.
  • In the case of children who find reading difficult, audiobooks can be a tremendous reliefKids can keep up with their schoolwork easier and also become more confident in their reading abilities by listening to an audiobook at the same time that they’re following along with a print or digital version of the book. By engaging more than one of their learning senses at the same time, the brain can integrate the information with more ease.
  • Be close by to answer any questionsIn order for an audiobook to really be engaging and educational, you’ll want to make sure you can define unknown words for them, answer questions about the story as it unfolds, or even just listen to their excitement as they tell you all about what they’re listening to.

More than half of people in the US listen to podcasts weekly, and yes, they can be used for children as well. Many people think that podcasts are always about business or politics, but there are a ton of different podcasts that exist, and many of them are for children! Some teachers utilize podcasts in their classrooms, and you can use them at home to get your kids to learn, too. There are book club podcasts for kids, science ones, fictional stories, and so much more. Podcasts can be utilized similarly to audiobooks to help kids learn, but they can also be used in the following ways:

  • Podcasts offer the advantage of being shorter, and once your child finds one they particularly like, there are usually a whole slew of episodes from that one podcaster from which they can choose.
  • You can have them create their own podcasts! – Free podcast recording software might not be good enough quality to publish, but it IS good enough to encourage your kids to research topics they like or write their own story. Help them record it, have fun with it, and listen to it as a family (or with friends) later. They’ll have something they’re proud of, and it will encourage them to delve further into their interests and passions. It also encourages a use of words that children usually aren’t otherwise engaging.
  • Podcasts are free and easy to download. Put them on your phone, tablet, or even on your computer.

Long story short, there are SO many options when it comes to using audio to help children to learn, and create the beautiful “side effect” of giving you and your kids great conversation topics to explore together. While we still greatly encourage and recommend that you read with your kids and have them read any and all types of books, podcasts and audiobooks are a great addition to any child’s learning and language skills. They’re also an excellent resource for children with learning challenges. Audio teaches all kids to listen for things to talk about later, to develop their imaginations, and develop the ability to ask engaging questions.

Do you have a favorite audiobook or podcast that would be great for kids or families?Please share in the comments, and have fun learning!

Have thought of publishing your audiobook?