But I want to be straight forward, there is no “silver bullet” or magic pill that will instantly get you to the top of the best sellers lists. It takes work. It takes time. It takes lots of prayer. You have to: Be clear on your message. Have a mission, a calling – deliver that passion via blogs, videos, podcasts and by speaking to group and organizations. Package your brand. You can’t be haphazard about it. Be very strategic. A brand is more than a logo, it is your vision, mission translated in various forms so your audience “gets you” and knows what to expect when they experience you. Know your audience – inside and out. Beyond what they are, but what problems do they have – and how you can help them. Know where they are hanging out online and offline. What media do they consume and who do they admire. How do you gain their trust.

Pin It Social media is about many things: engagement, story-telling, and relationships -but mainly, as of today, SEO. It’s all about the SEARCH. Can you be found – out of all the clutter and messaging, is your content optimized where your ideal audience (and those who are...

Pin It Do you worry about whether your blog offers quality content that your target readers will love? Remember the movie, “Julie & Julia?” She was so excited when she got a comment!  Yes, it’s a good feeling. You’ve got fans! Lady Gaga calls herself “the luckiest...

Someone said that imitation is the biggest form of flattery. I guess that's true - but I also see it as one person too lazy (or too insecure) to sit still, take inventory of their skills, experiences and abilities to follow the vision that GOD gave them. There are no shortcuts. You can't "rip off" someone else and expect to be a success. As Megan Mottley said, "What He ordains, He maintains."

After a few email "blasts" and a few social media clicks, Grant Henderson's social media army went to war. "It's working! Although it's close, he's still leading and votes are increasing -- yay!!" said Felicia Henderson. The voting officially was over at 9 p.m. but by 1:30 we were dusting the competition online.

Lessons learned in order to get tons for Twitter RTs and Facebook Likes to build your brand: 1. Post stuff that makes a difference. Give wisdom, motivation and inspiration. Real hope. 2. Be naked. Be for real. Be creative too. Learn how to work with words. (Poets are a natural at this). 3. Be consistent and maximize your tweets to work as "status updates" on Facebook. 4. Be grateful of the Retweets and Comments. Engage with your social media friends. Be present. 5. Let people know where to find out more info; have a great bio and website. By leveraging your content - you may end up on Dr. Phil like Dr. Thema did!

You've written a book. You got it published. You thought that was hard? Honey, you ain't seen nothing yet. Did you know a best seller takes more than good writing? It takes about a solid year of pre-promotion, PR planning and platform building. Not sure what to do first or when? Here's a list that we give our clients to keep them on track

You’re putting your best foot forward. You’re creating your own community and at this point, people are simply watching you to decide if they will conduct business with you or not. The benefits in the long run will far outweigh the cost to send out complimentary information. Get engaged!

TRADE EXCERPTS WITH OTHER AUTHORS. Offer to include another author’s content in your e-zine or newsletter and ask if they would be willing to do the same for you. The more useful content you give your market the more they will love and support you. Also offer to sell another author’s book at your events and ask them to do the same. Offer commission or an incentive to make it financially worthwhile for others to promote your book. You can’t physically go to every seminar or conference, but you can ship books to another author to sell your books at a conference you are unable to attend.

Social Networking – this is key. A social media plan without a mindset to “network” with others is a waste. Here’s a good rule to follow: 30,60,30. This means spend thirty minutes a day researching a topic to blog/write about. Spend 60 minutes actively networking (connecting, listening, responding, engaging). And spend 30 minutes writing, producing and distributing your content via your blog and social media channels. Note you can set up your blog to automatically feed into your Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter accounts.