Marketing for Introverts

Anyone who knows me personally know that I'm an introvert. Like, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm a solid 9. This makes it really easy for me to write and really hard for me to market. I know many of you can relate :). So I'm always looking for productive methods of promotion and marketing that work for me. That's why I'm very excited to welcome Laura Gallier, who's here to share about introverts and the best way for them to approach marketing.







Courtesy of One Way Stock

The introverted author is by no means an unusual creature—far from it. The introverted nature works very well within the creative fields; it often accompanies a vivid imagination and attention to detail, which are fantastic for an author. Unfortunately for introverts, traditionally, that same nature went against the idea of marketing and sales.



Introverts do not enjoy big crowds and find socialising for any real length of time to be draining. This often leads to them fearing marketing as they have to deal with a good number of people for extensive periods. I've also noticed that introverts find marketing very unpleasant as they hate the idea of pushing themselves on others. All in all, they find it very difficult to get out there and promote their books.



The key to helping introverts become more comfortable with promotion and marketing is to change their perception of it. They are most likely to view it as shouting in a very crowded room, feeling rather small amongst the much louder, more confident voices. In this day and age, with social media marketing being the key for most authors, they don't need to shout at the crowd. Instead, they should focus on their strengths and the things they do enjoy: discussing their passions and making solid connections.



Courtesy of antony_mayfield

Introverts form very strong connections and often display incredible amounts of passion about the topics they fall in love with. This should be used to their advantage. An important part of marketing is engagement and building relationships; this means taking the time to show an interest in and genuinely interacting with people. That's great for introverts! This means they can focus on the one-on-one time and really shine on those topics which they're passionate about.



People love to feel wanted, appreciated, and listened to. Introverts excel at that. They're happy to listen and engage on that personal level, which leads to stronger connections and a healthier network. That network will then grow and give the introvert more people to share their passions with—which is where the introvert needs to focus. It's not about forcing your book on people; it's about making people shine, having them light up and come back to you again and again because they feel valued. Introverts should shift their focus from promotion proper and the idea of sales and numbers; instead it's all about those really happy moments and losing yourself in a conversation with a couple of people who share your enthusiasm and interests.



That probably seems like an odd way to approach it, but it makes sense when you understand that marketing is formed around what is often called 'the feel good factor'. One of the best ways to make people feel good is to encourage them to talk, to give them genuine attention and make them feel wanted. Sharing passions and providing new and interesting takes on them are fantastic ways to produce that feel-good factor. This will also form much stronger connections, which are then far more likely to support the introvert as an author. That support can come in the form of direct sales or promotion, as others spread the word and the passion.



People can't help but pay attention and be drawn in when someone talks passionately and shares their love of something. They adore people who give them real attention and make them feel good. Introverts are great at that. You're not bothering people; you're not pushing your book on anyone. You're just sharing your passions with the world and letting them take the next step of buying your book.





Laura Gallier is a passionate and driven literary marketing consultant originally from Southern England who took the leap and moved to Prague. She does digital marketing consultations with indie authors, her focus being social media marketing.
Laura works hard, pushes, takes risks and demands that life plays by her rules. During her free time she writes darker strains of fiction, and will self-publish her books once she finds time between marketing projects. Until then, she is working on a non-fiction marketing book aimed at helping indie authors understand how to market their books.
She can be found at Literary+, which she founded, and on Google+.





Also, I'm reminding everyone that our GOODREADS GIVEAWAY for The Emotion Thesaurus is running through September 18th, so if you'd like a print copy, put yourself in the draw! Lastly, Becca and I should have a release date soon for our upcoming Character Trait books, so if you'd like to be notified, just sign up here. AND, if you'd like a sneak peek at the Flaw Thesaurus Entry covering "MANIPULATIVE," you can find it in this month's newsletter!