Laina Turner's Blog, page 23

10 Things I Wish I’d Known When Starting my Author Journey

The fun thing about being an adult is through our journey of getting older we learn so much. The not so fun thing is paying bills. Though by then it’s often too late because we already made the mistakes. Then the hope is we can bestow our great wisdom on those around us.

I’d like to share my great life wisdom with my kids, but they’re at the age where they pretty much think I’m the stupidest person on the planet.

Ahhh, maybe one day.

But you, my smart authorpreneur, you’re ready NOT to make the same stupid mistakes I’ve made as I was growing my author business.

Because you’re smart!

This could be a list of 100 things I wish I’d known when I started but who has time for that. I’ll keep it to 10.

1. Don’t rush. This is a personal struggle for me. When I start a project I want to get it done so I can feel accomplished. I’ve worked hard for years to enjoy the journey more, but it’s not easy. Writing a novel isn’t a fast process and if you try you end up making mistakes and creating a product that isn’t your best effort.

2. Find your tribe. Writing is also a solitary job so you must find people who understand the life you’re leading and will support you. I have amazing friends, but not all understand what I need to do what I do. Other writers get it. They know your fears and struggles and how exciting it is when you get a positive review. Having people to go on this journey with you is paramount to all else.

3. Don’t be so afraid. You’ve all heard that saying, “you can’t please everyone all of the time.” It’s true. You can’t. Negative reviews will happen. It’s ok; it’s part of the process. You need to shift through the negativity, find the pieces that will help you grow and improve (and aren’t just nasty for no reason), and move on.

4. Make writing a priority and write consistently. We all have our own routine, but most authors I know will agree that when you miss a day, it can turn into 2, 3. Missing one can throw off your routine. I’ve learned that even if I have stuff going on and can’t get my full writing time in (which with kids happens a lot) even taking 5 minutes to write a sentence is helpful to keep me on track.

If your goal is to make a living with your writing, then you have to treat it as your job. And that means you don’t have unlimited sick days and vacation.

5. Balanced my time better between marketing and writing. I still struggle with this, but after 10 years I’m better. Authors who master the ability to do both consistently are amazing in my book. You have to constantly be marketing to keep your books front and center in the reader’s view. But you also have to keep making the donuts, so people have something to buy.

6. It’s hard. I almost didn’t put this one in here because it sounds a lot like whining. But we all deserve a few minutes of whining every once in a while, don’t we?

A lot of things in life are hard all to different degrees. Creating an author career I would put more toward the top. You know with air traffic controller and oncologist.

Recognize your job is hard and create the mindset that you don’t care if it’s hard you’re going to do it anyways. No matter what it takes. That’s the only way you’ll overcome all the many obstacles that will stand in your way. And know it’s ok to have a meltdown and pout because it’s hard. Give yourself that pity party and then get over it. Move on and chase the dream!

7. Don’t get too involved in analytics. I love data. You can learn so much from analyzing what you do and the ROI (return on investment). But you can also get so wrapped up in the data that you let it paralyze you. The ebook industry is still so new. Trends change quickly. What worked yesterday won’t work today or tomorrow. While I am a firm believer in taking the time to work on your author business and examining data is part of that, you also need to go with your gut at times.

8. Market before your book is finished. Marketing can’t start too soon. Time invested in developing your author platform and attracting readers equates sales. Building up a reader list takes a lot of time so even if your book is 2 years from completion start marketing now. Get 1 reader a day to subscribe to your mailing list. In 2 years that would be 730 readers who are ready to buy your book. So what are you waiting for?

9. Perfection is hard to achieve. Yes, you want your book to be as perfect as possible, but if you wait until you think it’s perfect, it may never get published. My personal stance on perfection is it’s not attainable. Because once you reach that predetermined level of perfection, you’re going to raise the bar. That will mean your product won’t be perfect anymore.

Most authors I work with use striving for perfection as an excuse because they’re scared. I can promise you that no matter how perfect you think your book is someone will find an error or not like the book altogether. So at some point, you need to draw your line in the sand and just get your work out there.

10. It’s always worth it in the end. Never in the 10+ years, I’ve been doing this have I ever said, this isn’t worth it. NEVER.

I’ve said this sucks; I don’t want to do this, why is it so hard, I’m never going to make it, but at the end of the day I’ve never said all this hard worth isn’t worth it. No one said following your dream would be easy. If it was it probably wouldn’t be our dream now right?

Creating an author career is hard but satisfying. Holding that book in your hand (viewing it on your screen) is rewarding and worth all the hard work.

The post 10 Things I Wish I’d Known When Starting my Author Journey appeared first on Laina Turner.

Build An Author Platform To Increase Your Book Sales

The author platform. Do You Have One?

Some might argue that if you’re a fiction author, an author platform isn’t as important than if you’re a non-fiction author. But I don’t necessarily agree.

Here are my thoughts about building an author platform if you’re a fiction author. The great thing about today’s level of technology and low barrier to entry in the ebook market is we all have the opportunity to be successful. All the people who want to make a living as an author can absolutely attempt to do so.

The NOT so great thing about today’s level of technology and low barrier to entry is we all can make it. All who want to make a living as an author can absolutely attempt to do so.

(Yes I know I was repetitive. Trying to make a point.)

It makes for a noisy world of books and authors all clamoring for readers. I won’t lie. There is a lot of competition, and it’s not easy to stand out.

If this freaks you out, don’t let it. Sure there is a ton of competition, but Amazon sells over a million ebooks a day, so there’s enough for all of us to get a piece of the pie. But to get our piece of that scrumptious pie we have to have a hook, an angle, something that differentiates us from all the other authors out there.

To build an author platform is one way (of many) in which we fiction authors can do that. A way to put ourselves out there to show the world who we are and what we’re all about.

The author platform isn’t about shameless self-promotion. It’s about connecting to your audience or potential audience in hopes to engage readers who will then want to read your books.

Before you can build an author platform, you need to define your target audience. Who is the reader for your book?

I wrote a blog post that goes more in depth about this topic, but in short, you don’t want to target everyone. You need to know who your ideal reader is. What demographic is most likely to buy your book and with them in mind you can build your author platform.

The author platform does the following:

Gives you visibility to your target audience
Shares your unique story
Differentiates you from the others
Connects you with readers

Visibility

People won’t know about your books or who you are if you’re not active in some way. Whether it be social media, face to face, or silently in bookstores. The author platform helps you take that up a notch so you build a home where your readers can find you. That could be a certain social media platform or several, but usually, it’s a website. Even if you don’t want to blog you should have a website, so people have a place to find out more about you.

Your Unique Story

You may be thinking you’re not unique. You’re just an average Jane. What could you possibly have to share that anyone? The answer is a LOT.

Listen, you might not think you’re special, most of us don’t, but you are. Each and every one of us is fabulous in our own way and you my friend need to share how fabulous you are.

Things like what got you into writing might seem dull to you, but others love hearing how authors got started and had the courage to pursue their dream.

Things like what got you into writing might seem dull to you, but others love hearing how authors got started and had the courage to pursue their dream.

Maybe you raise hamsters. Even if a reader doesn’t have any desire to run a hamster ranch you have to admit it IS interesting and who wouldn’t want to read how you got started in that.

Differentiates you

I could easily rattle off 50 self-published authors whom I know and love. 100 if you add read in that mix. But they aren’t all the same. I could tell you a little tidbit about each one that I like, that I remember, and that makes them stand out.

It doesn’t have to be some outrageous thing like you climbed Mt. Everest in stilettos. It could be as simple as you know their favorite place to travel is Colorado, or all their book covers have 1 element that is all the same.

It’s no different than your circle of friends. Each one has that one thing that it theirs. The Signature if you will.

All these things work to help you connect with readers. Readers are people and people like people. They like books as well but even more exciting than a book is a real person behind it. You can only connect so much with an inanity object like a book. But when you share your personality, your passion, your interests, people are naturally drawn to that.

If you’re just starting out this can sound overwhelming. It’s a lot to take in, but if you break it down into small steps, you can work on it as you are writing your book and before you know it you’ll have a platform people will be flocking too.

Way to start building an author platform

First, have a goal in mind. What do you want your platform to be about? How do you want to convey that message?

Create a compelling tagline. One of my favorite authors, Heather Wardell, writes women’s fiction with depth, humor, and heart. That’s her tagline, and I am in love with it. It completely sums up what she writes and who she is.

Mine is Life, Writing, and In Pursuit of Fabulous. Because authors aren’t one dimensional and I think we all have that fabulous inside us waiting to shine. I write on my blog just as many lifestyle posts as I do posts about the art of writing and publishing.

Have a professional website. I realize it’ a financial investment, but it’s your virtue home. It’s worth it.

Write a blog. It’s hard to find even more time to write, but blogging is a great way to help people get to know you.

Podcast. Maybe you don’t want to blog, but you love to chat. Podcasting is a way to verbally get your message out.

Social Media. This is a must whether you like it or not. To run a business these days, you need to be active on social channels, but you don’t need to be on them all. Spend your time where your target market is.

Create a content schedule for blogging and/or social media

Build your email list. I’ve written a couple of posts here and here on this topic. An email list is GOLD. People who subscribe to your list care what you have to say and you need to capitalize on that. Send out members only information in your newsletters. Maybe a short story while they’re waiting for your next book to come out.

You build your email list through creating opt-ins. Those things that get people to give you their email address in exchange for something. It could be a free chapter or a free book that you can’t buy anywhere. Character extras, behind the scenes looks, or extended story lines.

Just remember that we all started somewhere. Even Stephen King started with a mailing list of 1 at some point. Having a successful writing career is a slow and steady process. If you keep at it, you will be successful!

The post Build An Author Platform To Increase Your Book Sales appeared first on Laina Turner.

Build Your Author Platform

All authors whether self-published or traditional need to have a platform. Some might argue that if you’re a fiction author, an author platform isn’t as important than if you’re a non-fiction author. But I don’t necessarily agree.

Here are my thoughts. The great thing about today’s level of technology and low barrier to entry in the ebook market is we all have the opportunity to be successful. All the people who want to make a living as an author can absolutely attempt to do so.

The NOT so great thing about today’s level of technology and low barrier to entry is we all can make it. All who want to make a living as an author can absolutely attempt to do so.

(Yes I know I was repetitive. Trying to make a point.)

It makes for a noisy world of books and authors all clamoring for readers. I won’t lie. There is a lot of competition, and it’s not easy to stand out.

If this freaks you out, don’t let it. Sure there is a ton of competition, but Amazon sells over a million ebooks a day, so there’s enough for all of us to get a piece of the pie. But to get our piece of that scrumptious pie we have to have a hook, an angle, something that differentiates us from all the other authors out there.

The author platform is one way (of many) in which we fiction authors can do that. A way to put ourselves out there to show the world who we are and what we’re all about.

The author platform isn’t about shameless self-promotion. It’s about connecting to your audience or potential audience in hopes to engage readers who will then want to read your books.

Before you can build your author platform, you need to define your target audience. Who is the reader for your book?

I wrote a blog post that goes more in depth about this topic, but in short, you don’t want to target everyone. You need to know who your ideal reader is. What demographic is most likely to buy your book and with them in mind you can build your author platform.

The author platform does the following:

Gives you visibility to your target audience
Shares your unique story
Differentiates you from the others
Connects you with readers

Visibility

People won’t know about your books or who you are if you’re not active in some way. Whether it be social media, face to face, or silently in bookstores. The author platform helps you take that up a notch so you build a home where your readers can find you. That could be a certain social media platform or several, but usually, it’s a website. Even if you don’t want to blog you should have a website, so people have a place to find out more about you.

Your Unique Story

You may be thinking you’re not unique. You’re just an average Jane. What could you possibly have to share that anyone? The answer is a LOT.

Listen, you might not think you’re special, most of us don’t, but you are. Each and every one of us is fabulous in our own way and you my friend need to share how fabulous you are.

Things like what got you into writing might seem dull to you, but others love hearing how authors got started and had the courage to pursue their dream.

Things like what got you into writing might seem dull to you, but others love hearing how authors got started and had the courage to pursue their dream.

Maybe you raise hamsters. Even if a reader doesn’t have any desire to run a hamster ranch you have to admit it IS interesting and who wouldn’t want to read how you got started in that.

Differentiates you

I could easily rattle off 50 self-published authors whom I know and love. 100 if you add read in that mix. But they aren’t all the same. I could tell you a little tidbit about each one that I like, that I remember, and that makes them stand out.

It doesn’t have to be some outrageous thing like you climbed Mt. Everest in stilettos. It could be as simple as you know their favorite place to travel is Colorado, or all their book covers have 1 element that is all the same.

It’s no different than your circle of friends. Each one has that one thing that it theirs. The Signature if you will.

All these things work to help you connect with readers. Readers are people and people like people. They like books as well but even more exciting than a book is a real person behind it. You can only connect so much with an inanity object like a book. But when you share your personality, your passion, your interests, people are naturally drawn to that.

If you’re just starting out this can sound overwhelming. It’s a lot to take in, but if you break it down into small steps, you can work on it as you are writing your book and before you know it you’ll have a platform people will be flocking too.

Way to start building your author platform

First, have a goal in mind. What do you want your platform to be about? How do you want to convey that message?

Create a compelling tagline. One of my favorite authors, Heather Wardell, writes women’s fiction with depth, humor, and heart. That’s her tagline, and I am in love with it. It completely sums up what she writes and who she is.

Mine is Life, Writing, and In Pursuit of Fabulous. Because authors aren’t one dimensional and I think we all have that fabulous inside us waiting to shine. I write on my blog just as many lifestyle posts as I do posts about the art of writing and publishing.

Have a professional website. I realize it’ a financial investment, but it’s your virtue home. It’s worth it.

Write a blog. It’s hard to find even more time to write, but blogging is a great way to help people get to know you.

Podcast. Maybe you don’t want to blog, but you love to chat. Podcasting is a way to verbally get your message out.

Social Media. This is a must whether you like it or not. To run a business these days, you need to be active on social channels, but you don’t need to be on them all. Spend your time where your target market is.

Create a content schedule for blogging and/or social media

Build your email list. I’ve written a couple of posts here and here on this topic. An email list is GOLD. People who subscribe to your list care what you have to say and you need to capitalize on that. Send out members only information in your newsletters. Maybe a short story while they’re waiting for your next book to come out.

You build your email list through creating opt-ins. Those things that get people to give you their email address in exchange for something. It could be a free chapter or a free book that you can’t buy anywhere. Character extras, behind the scenes looks, or extended story lines.

Just remember that we all started somewhere. Even Stephen King started with a mailing list of 1 at some point. Having a successful writing career is a slow and steady process. If you keep at it, you will be successful!

The post Build Your Author Platform appeared first on Laina Turner.

The Power of Journaling

Over the years I have found great strength and resolution in the practice of journaling. It’s my time to talk to God, to be thankful, and to focus on what I want to accomplish.

I decided to write this post when I realized I’d gotten away from journaling. That it had been weeks, months now that I think about it, since I’d last been in the routine. And I can tell.

In today’s busy life we all struggle to find any quiet time. At least I do. Journaling, even for 5 minutes, gives that time where we can be alone with our thoughts. 

I’m old fashioned and like pen and paper. I keep a special notebook that helps to inspire me to write in it; I love beautiful things when it comes to office supplies. But more than the accessories that come with journaling is the feeling it evokes.

My method of journaling might not be what works for you but I’m going to share my process, and then 5 reasons why I want to get back in my routine. 

When I start writing sometimes, I could go for hours, so I do set myself a time limit of 15 minutes. This time is blocked into my morning schedule. 

I start by writing a note to God. I’m not a churchgoer for reasons I doubt I’ll ever blog about but I am a Christian, and I stay connected to God in my own way. Of which this is one. 

I thank Him for all he’s blessed me with, and I ask him for help. I used to feel guilty asking for things when I didn’t deem myself worthy, but then I realized that’s kind of the whole point. Having the relationship where you can celebrate together, cry together, and work through problems together. 

I then write down all the things I’m thankful for. Many of these are the same each day. I’m thankful for my family, my friends, and everything I have. Even though life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, I do realize how awesome my life is. I couldn’t ask for more.

I end with my affirmations. Years ago when I was going through my divorce, I listened to a lot of Louisa Hay and Wayne Dyer. It made me realize how important telling yourself positive things are and how to manifest that positivity into your future desires. 

The mind is so strong, and it can impact your mood and what happens to you depending on your thoughts whether positive or negative. 

Framing what I am working in such a way that I’ve already accomplished it works. I know you might think it’s hooky if it’s not your thing but trust me when I tell you it works. 

I also listened to a Marie Forleo video last week that talked about the power of the phrases “I can’t” versus “I don’t”. That “I can’t” gives a connotation of deprivation which makes you feel depressed and usually makes you want it more (like when I say I can’t have nachos makes me want 5 plates of them). But “I don’t” is a conscious choice. It gives you power because you are making a choice not to do something.

I know it might seem silly, but I’ve tried it the last few days, and it works. Anything that will help keep my mind in a positive place is something I’m going to do.

If my reasons and methods of method of journaling aren’t enough to convince you then let me list a few other reasons why I believe in the positive benefits of journaling.

1. Time between you and yourself.

2. Active thinking about what you are grateful for and what you want in life.

3. Time to focus on your goals.

4. Time to recenter yourself if you’re feeling out of control.

5. A chance to practice gratitude.

6. A chance to get our your frustrations and move on with a clear head.

7. You can work through problems.

8. To create future plans.

9. To commit to something.

10. To note things that you can look back on.

11. Can help you track patterns of behavior (good and/or bad).

You might have only 1 or 10 reasons to journal. Maybe you have 50. Whatever the case if you’ve not tried it go ahead and give it a chance. You have nothing to lose and a lot to possibly gain.

 

The post The Power of Journaling appeared first on Laina Turner.

Pinterest Tips for Authors

Pinterest for author marketing isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think Pinterest.

Me, I think of food. I can get lost for hours on Pinterest looking at new recipes and drooling. Things I’d like to make but are way more advanced than my cooking skills. I also enjoy looking at clothes, houses I can’t afford, and places I want to visit.

Come to think about it, Pinterest makes me very covetous.

So I was quite surprised last year when I began focusing more on Pinterest to promote my books, and I started to get traffic from those Pins.

Crazy, I know!

At first, I thought it was a fluke. But I kept doing it and kept getting traffic. Now Pinterest and Facebook consistently vie for the top 2 spots of referring traffic back to my website.

I know what you might be thinking, oh please no. Not another social platform. I can’t possibly handle managing one more thing.

Don’t worry. Before you run and jump on the Pinterest bandwagon, adding yet ANOTHER social media platform to your already huge list of daily tasks, know you don’t have to be active on every social platform in existence. Not enough time in the day for that. Plus not all are appropriate for your author brand.

Grab Your Pinterest Idea Sheet

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You want to be where your audience lives. THAT’s what’s important. Not the bright, shiny new thing that came out today.

So how can you use Pinterest to build your readership? First, you want to make sure you have the technical aspect of Pinning down. Like all other social media, you want to make sure you’re doing it the right way, so you don’t waste your time. You want to create and promote Pins that will get you the biggest bang for your buck.

Here are some of the basics you want to pay attention to.

Make sure your images are the right size, vertical (approximately 732 x 1200) and that they aren’t too text heavy. There are so many beautiful images on Pinterest, so you want to spend the time on creating them so yours will also stand out. Canva or Picmonkey are 2 free/low-cost sites that you can use to help you create awesome images.

Have your profile set up on your Pinterest page so people can see at a glance who you are and what you’re all about. Link back to your website or wherever you might sell your books.

Use the right keywords relating to your Pin and the board you’re pinning to. Thorough descriptions for your Pins and alt tags will make sure your Pins are searchable.

Have a Pin it button on your website so people can easily Pin your book cover images and blog post images (if you blog).

Pin others content along with yours. Rule of thumb that experts say, and that has worked for me, is a ratio of 3 to 1. Pin 3 posts of someone else to every one of yours.

Remember it’s not all about shameless self-promotion.

What to Pin

1. You want to create boards that relate to your books and interests you and your readers share. For example, I have a board for the main character of my cozy mystery series, Presley Thurman. I post things related to her character and directly related to my books. People who are new to the series or existing fans can check it out and get a better idea of what she’s all about.

I also have boards that are more personal such as cupcakes and cocktails. That’s a board that may not be directly related to my books but is related to my demographic of readers. Like you’ve heard me say a million times you want to connect with your readers on a personal level as much as a professional one.

2. Be consistent. I know it’s hard. I struggle with balancing marketing and writing constantly. I use Tailwind to schedule my Pins in advance which saves me a lot of time. It’s not that expensive, $19 a month, and is totally worth it. I can sit down in the evening, enjoy looking at Pinterest, and schedule the Pins I like and that are relevant to my content.

3. Pinterest also affords you the ability to run contests and get your readers input on different things. For instance, let’s say you want to build the buzz for a new book. You could set up a board and invite readers to Pin their favorite Pins related to elements of your book. You could even organize a giveaway, just make sure to follow the Pinterest guidelines.

4. Joining author group boards or starting your own group board is another way to connect with other authors and readers and get the word out about your books and your author brand.

5. Have a strategy and know what trends are happening each month/season. Make sure to use your Pinterest analytics to see what people like and what they’re sharing. You always want to build in time to look at your data and make changes based on what’s working, or not.

When trying to decide what to do and where to start on Pinterest take it slow. If you’re just starting then create 8-10 boards with 5-7 Pins each. That will give you a good baseline with which to start.

Set a small goal of 30 minutes a week to curate content for scheduling. If you’re not ready to invest in Tailwind (which I can certainly understand), then you might want to set a few minutes each day to search for and schedule Pins.

Most important, don’t Pin just for Pinning sake. Have a specific purpose and goal for your Pinterest marketing and stick to it long enough to see if it’s gaining you any traffic. I recommend at least 30 days before scrapping it and trying something else. Sometimes things take time.

If you’re stuck trying to figure out what boards you should start with and how often you should Pin download this list of suggestions. You might not use the exact topic, but I’m sure it will at least spark an idea. After all, you ARE a creative.

After all, you ARE a creative.

 

The post Pinterest Tips for Authors appeared first on Laina Turner.

10 of my Favorite Summer Things

 My favorite time of year is summer. I can survive winter by thinking of warm sunny days ahead. As soon as I’m able to ditch my coat and wear sandals and flip flops I’m a happy girl. 

When the weather is such that I can have my coffee outside in the morning and my wine outside in the evening life I feel my life is just about perfect.

Summer makes me feel good. It makes me feel optimistic, and I find I’m rarely in a bad mood when the sun is out. I’m much more motivated because who wants to sit indoors on the couch when the weather is awesome. 

I want to be out doing things. 

Though I admit that in the summer I do occasionally long for a rainy day, so I can sit inside and not feel guilty about wasting a day in bed.

What are some of the other things I love about summer?

1. Wearing flip flops

2. Not needing a coat

3. Being able to eat outside

4. Sitting out by the pool

5. Hanging out with friends on my deck

6. Road trips

7. Hiking

8. Going to the park for a picnic or for a leisurely walk

9. Outdoor concerts

10. Barbecues and frosty margaritas

I can also add homemade ice cream and popsicles to that list.

What are your favorite summer things?

 

The post 10 of my Favorite Summer Things appeared first on Laina Turner.

How To Do Anything in 15 Minutes

Getting more done in less time. 

I subscribe to the theory that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” 

Called Parkinson’s Law, as coined in 1955 by Cyril Northcote Parkinson. He was a British Naval Officer, and his point was to make satirical comments about public administration and bureaucracy. I heard it years ago in a management class when my professor was discussing time management, and I thought it was so true.

How many times have you put off a task you had 2 weeks to complete until the last minute, and it only took you 20 minutes to actually do?

It’s also the same principle behind what my mom used to say about it only takes a married man 15 years and 15 minutes to do something. Anyone who has cohabited with their significant other knows this is also the truth. 

I have proved this theory time and time again because I happen to be a master at procrastination. I mean probably the best procrastinator ever. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve waited to the last minute on a project I’ve had weeks to work on and even amaze myself at how quickly I knocked it out when I was scrambling 10 minutes before the deadline to finish. 

All the while berating myself because the biggest issue with procrastination is the stress it brings. Worried you won’t be able to finish in time or God forbid there is an unanticipated problem that crops up.

I try not to be a procrastinator, and I do well about 80% of the time. I block schedule my calendar and allow myself enough time but not too much time to complete a task. I also try not to waste time doing busy work or meaningless work like surfing Facebook under the guise of curating content. 

The key to getting more done in less time is being able to accurate project how much time a task will take and your level of focus on the task at hand.

Start by writing down all you need to get done if you don’t already have a running list. Preferably this list should all be in the same place not on 25 sticky notes and scraps of paper all over the place. I use Trello (a free project manager software that is awesome) and a notebook. I should just use Trello, but I can’t get past the act of writing things down physically. It makes me feel better.

After you’ve written down your list of stuff to do go back through and write down all the parts to each task. Once I started doing this, it made me much more efficient. I would have a task like schedule social media for the week. Well, looking at it, you’d think that won’t take long. Except the task included figuring out what to post, making the graphics, and THEN the actual scheduling. On 5 different platforms.

Once I started to break it down my life went much smoother, and I am much more efficient because I can batch task. If you don’t know what batch tasking is you can read my post here, but the gist is it’s grouping similar tasks together, so you aren’t bouncing back and forth between things which will slow you down.

When I write down all the components of each task, no matter how small, I can then group them into batches. It makes me more efficient and takes less time to complete. 

Notice I’ve said the phrase “write down” a million times. That’s because YOU MUST WRITE THINGS DOWN! Whether it’s your goals or a to-do list. You need to write it down for it to be real.

Now take your list and take your calendar and give each of those tasks a realistic time slot that’s not too much time but also not too little.

Keyword REALISTIC.

Schedule yourself breaks. Don’t plan out 8 hours straight of work. You might be able to do it, but you won’t be effective. You should get up and walk around at least a few minutes on every hour. If it’s scheduled in your day, you won’t feel guilty. 

Know when your productive time is and when your body and mind naturally needs a break. I’m great first thing in the morning but my energy tanks from about 11-2 then I’m back up and running again. 

I’ve learned that taking a nap or watching Netflix or cleaning the house (hahahahaha) during my off time makes me more prepared to CRUSH IT ( by Gary Vaynerchuk) when I get back to work. 

Sometimes you do have to push through, but if you manage your time right, you shouldn’t have to because you’ll be much more productive when you are working.

Track how much time things take you so you can continue to work on being more productive and efficient as you schedule tasks in the future. 

Also look at what you hate doing it might be a task you will want to think about outsourcing. When you dislike a task or aren’t good at it, it’s a drain of mental energy, and you usually will try to put it off as long as possible. It’s better to focus your energies on what you’re good at.

Take time to celebrate. You might think this sounds nuts. To celebrate a task. But you work hard. Be proud of what you’re accomplishing. Even if it’s the most mundane task it’s moving your business and life forward, so it IS something to be proud of.

If you’re like me, you’re constantly glued to your laptop, phone, social media, under the guise of working. Sometimes you do need to say what the hell I’m not doing a thing today and shut everything off. 

Self-care and taking the time to recharge your batteries is the best thing you can do to boost your productivity.

If you have ways, you keep yourself organized and efficient I’d love to hear them.

 

The post How To Do Anything in 15 Minutes appeared first on Laina Turner.

How to Balance Writing and Marketing

There is only so much time in the day, and only so much we can all get done. Even Wonder Woman had to take a break now and then.

And to be honest, I’m not convinced there is a true balance. I’ve yet to be completely balanced in all aspects of my life. Something always gets dropped and then I have to scramble to catch up.

Many of us authorpreneurs are also working another job as we build our writing business. This adds another dynamic to an already full plate. It can be extremely challenging to balance writing your book and marketing it, but it HAS to happen if your goal is to create a career as an author.

You can’t have one without the other.

I’ve made the mistake over and over (and over and over) of getting so immersed in my current work in progress (WIP) that I let marketing my books completely fall off the radar. Then it doesn’t take long until my sales drop.

When you aren’t constantly marketing sales will slip. It’s a fact. You always have to be working to get your novels in front of people and attract new readers. It’d be nice if you only had to tweet a couple times, and sales would flood in for years, but business doesn’t work that way.

If it did Coke and Apple wouldn’t spend billions on marketing.

If you want to grow your writing business into a sustainable living, then you must find the balance as best as possible which means the balance that works best for you.

The good news is writing and marketing are different processes for most people. The energy, effort, and focus it takes to write a book is different than what it takes to curate content for Facebook, write tweets, or a blog post.

One aspect of balancing your tasks is knowing when you are at your best for both processes and schedule your time accordingly.

Make sure you’re organized and work even when you don’t feel like it.

For example, I can sit in front of the TV and schedule social media posts. I don’t need quite the mental focus or energy to do that. Whereas writing takes all my concentration and writing and watching TV would be recipe for disaster.

To find that elusive balance you must plan.

I am a big believer in planning. Failing to plan is planning to fail and all that.

Step 1: Set Goals for writing and marketing – monthly/weekly

To stay organized and set yourself up for success you first want to set overall goals for what you want to accomplish during a certain time frame.

I try to plan out my writing and marketing goals a month at a time, and then I break that bigger goal down to a smaller set of goals for each week.

On Sundays, I sit down and plan my upcoming week. I make sure I work in all the work that needs to get done to reach my weekly objectives.

I set priorities for each day which helps because if something comes up, and it often does at least one day out of the week, I know what I HAVE to do and what I can roll over to the next day.

A tip when scheduling your time is to pad it a little for those unforeseen tasks and urgent emails.

Step 2: Review your previous week

I also review on Sunday evenings what I accomplished the week before and make sure I’m working on the right things. Another thing that is useful to me is I have an accountability call every Monday with a friend who’s also an entrepreneur.

We discuss our upcoming week and previous week and give each other support and feedback. And sometimes a reality check. Like when I started listing all the work I was going to do on a recent flight and he reminded me the flight was 3 hours, not 30.

To be ready for that call I have to do my Sunday routine, so it helps motivate me on the days I don’t feel like it.

Step 3: Get your schedule out of your head

Scheduling your time is a must to stay organized. You might think you have it all in your head but until it’s all down in black and white, you can easily forget things. Of course, you’ll remember them when you least have time and it will throw your entire schedule off.

Step 4: Be realistic

It’s easy to overcommit yourself. I know how it is. There is so much you want to get done, and you think you can do it all.

Maybe you can but often you can’t.

Usually, over scheduling comes from not having a complete grasp of everything a certain task will take or an overzealous idea of how much you can get done.

Managing time and tasks isn’t rocket science, but can be hard to keep yourself on task. You may have to give up things that aren’t central to moving you toward your goal and if those things are fun things they can be hard to give up.

That’s why it’s so important to celebrate your victories no matter how small. It will keep you motivated and thankful you worked on your business instead of holding the couch down.

The post How to Balance Writing and Marketing appeared first on Laina Turner.

My 1st Attempt at Minimalism

I had planned this post as a series. I bought this amazing course Becoming Minimalist by Joshua Becker and was so pumped to start decluttering my home. 

Last year I read Marie Kondo and spent time trying to declutter. I do have to say I’m proud that I accomplished one thing, clearing out my closet of tons and tons of clothes, but mostly because they no longer fit.

But I’ll take it.

I was excited to start 2017 with this 12-week program to declutter my home and my life. To find this peace and tranquility and non-cluttered home that my heart and soul had been searching for.

What a joke. I didn’t get past week 1.

And it’s not at all because of the course. I want to tell you that right now! The course was great. I read the work each week I just didn’t do it. Mr. Becker knows what he’s talking about and from all the Facebook posts in the private group a lot of other people agreed. It seemed very transformational for many people.

I’m sure it would have been transformational to me had I done it.

So why didn’t I do it? 

I’d like to list out my million reasons because I think they all sound pretty fantastic. But what it comes down to is I felt too overwhelmed about where to start, and the time it would take to ever get my house under control. 

Which is crazy because the reason I wanted to take this course in the first place is my home is completely out of control and I’m overwhelmed with how to get it back in order.

I paid for this course to get help and then I still made excuses. So here I am almost 6 months later determined to start over and get on with step 1 which is to declutter your car, your living room, and any other open community spaces.

And yet I’m still frozen. I was on Pinterest last night scheduling Pins and got sidetracked looking at all the home decor and home improvement stuff. 

There were so many gorgeous things on Pinterest. I do have a beautiful house that could be exactly what I want it to be if it wasn’t currently a cluttered mess. We haven’t done any of the finer touches since moving in because I didn’t want to do it until we had control over the clutter. 

Every time I feel I’m starting to make progress on the clutter it doesn’t last. I get tired of harassing everyone else in the house to do their part, and it gets cluttered again in 5 minutes. 

I often feel the situation is hopeless and I have to wait until every grows up and moves out of the house (including my husband) to make any progress on this. And I don’t want to wait that long. 

Mainly, because the plan is to downsize in 10 years when the kids are gone, and I don’t want to be that person who fixes up their house right before selling, so it looks attractive to buyers. I’ve done that before.

It got me thinking about how often we don’t start something because it seems too overwhelming as a big picture. And I know objectively that the first step is to break that big scary task into small manageable chunks and just get started. The excuses need to stop, or maybe I just need to whip everyone else in the house into shape (or threaten them it may work better). I need to have a different approach because no one cares about the clutter but me. But they do all understand that if mama isn’t happy no one is happy.

My natural tendency when I want to do something is to figure out how I can get it done as fast as possible. I don’t have the time to devote 3 weeks straight to decluttering my house which is what it would take. At minimum. 

So I made a schedule that goes through the end of the year using the order from the Becoming Minimalist Course just stretching it out a lot longer. I always preach slow and steady wins the race, so I should practice what I preach.

Since the kids are off school, I assigned more things to them than normal. Unfortunately, my son is having ACL surgery in a couple of weeks and is laid up now. I miss having his muscles to depend on. 

I’m also going to kick in some money for their efforts though I normally am not a fan of paying them for things. They live in my house and eat my food, so they need to do what I say. BUT I want to make it fun. Or at least as fun as possible. And I’m going to be gone for 2 weeks to NYC and Australia, and the kids already hate me. If I ask them to do work when I’m gone, I may come back to a mutiny, so a little cash will hopefully help.

Wish me luck and please, please, please, if you have any great ideas to help me with this journey I would love to hear them. I need all the help I can get.

 

The post My 1st Attempt at Minimalism appeared first on Laina Turner.

5 Elements of a Successful Opt In For Authors

I’ve talked before on the blog about email marketing. I stressed the importance of building your email list. 

A strong email list is like gold. 

The bigger you grow your list, the easier time you’ll have at selling your books. Because the people on your list have already shown an interest in you and what you have to offer.

That’s a much easier sell than strangers on the street.

But how do you get your audience to join your mailing list when every company out there is asking for emails? Why would anyone want more email?

Think about it. How many email lists do you belong to and how often do you actually take the time to unsubscribe when you get 25 of those biggest sale of the year emails in a row (can you say Kohl’s anyone).

The answer is rarely is ever. It’s easier to hit delete, and I don’t want to unsubscribe because imagine if I missed a sale on an item I want. 

I would never forgive myself.

Just because you’re not Kohl’s doesn’t matter. Your list is no different. Will people unsubscribe? Of course, they will. But the Kohl’s marketing department doesn’t sit around crying over an unsubscribe and neither will you. 

What they ARE doing is working on ways to make more people subscribe, and that’s exactly what you need to be doing.

The reason people sign up for your email is they want something you’re offering in exchange for their email address. 

Quid Pro Quo in a sense. But in a non-creepy way.

To create a successful Opt In you need to create a piece of bad ass content that your readers can’t live without.

An Opt-In does several things. Most importantly:

Gets people on your email list.
Allows people to see the quality of your content.
Helps you build a relationship with your readers.
Gives you a built-in set of people to market to.
Expands your reach and allows you to introduce new books, products, and offers without looking for a new audience.

I’m a firm believer of building relationships with my readers over time. It’s like any other relationship. You want to put effort into it and cultivate it. 

When you do you build a life long relationship. 

When you are creating offers and then setting up email funnels (we’ll talk more about that in a later post) you want to approach it as if you are cultivating that long term relationship.

What kinds of things can you use for your freebie Opt In as an author?

Some ideas are:

Short story/novella that’s only available to subscribers.
Book extras/ behind the scenes stuff.
Preview of an upcoming book.
List of your top 10 favorite authors (nothing wrong with showing the love to others).
Discounts/coupon codes for current books.

Those are just a few examples. I’m sure you can think of several things your readers would love to have from you. 

While there is no limit to the creative ideas you can come up wth for your Opt-In, there are certain elements you want that creative idea to have, so it grabs your reader.

What does an Opt-In Need:

Sense of urgency
Exclusive
High perceived value
Be substantive
Call to Action

You need to make your subscribers feel special AND value what you are giving them, so they want to continue to engage with you.

And like any marketing idea, it’s a lot of trial and error. What you think is a great idea for an Opt-In may fall flat. Then one you think is so-so might be the best thing you’ve ever. 

It’s hard work to build that email list especially when you’re writing your next book, but it’s worth all your hard work.

Most email providers will have the ability to create forms you can customize for your specific Opt-Ins. I use Convert Kit which does run $49 for the lowest package, but it’s so worth it. Their forms are so easy to use and give you the ability to integrate downloads for your readers that are easy. 

Keeping it as simple as you can is a good idea. No one likes complicated.

 

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