Book Insider: Marketing with Integrity
Many leaders do their work from a sense of service and purpose. Many are quiet leaders who simply want to do the best job and not toot their own horn. Yet we can run into a blocker when we do work we’re passionate about and want to share it on a bigger scale. We ask ourselves:
What’s my personal brand? How do I share it or my passion projects with others without seeming self-promotional?
As a first time author newly connected to the writing community, I’m hearing this same issue with authors who love book writing but dislike the act of promotion or marketing for their book. However, if we can be connected to our message and to spreading it from a sense of service, we can shift our mindset. We can define our personal brand, and also market with integrity using these four core learnings.
1. You have something to say
If you’re a new author or early in your career, you might not call yourself a leader, or think that you have any type of expertise that anyone else would care about. We often feel unqualified, that there’s so many other people out there who have written or spoken on the subject and tell ourselves: “Who am I to have an opinion? What do I have that’s worth sharing?”
In reality, that’s not true. Case in point. I read a lot of leadership books. Many of them repeat the same core messages:
Think bigger. Don’t be afraid of dreaming and reaching for your full possibility
Celebrate your unique strengths
Be aware of your limiting beliefs that hold you back
Connections & relationships matter
Here’s some tools & frameworks to help
What’s unique about each one is that the author is experiencing leadership through their own lens, whether it’s as an ex-FBI hostage negotiator, a relationship therapist, or a black woman in corporate America. (those also happen to be three of my most-recommended leadership books).
You always have something to say because your experience comes from a unique place. You might be the son of a Southern chicken farmer who’s the first in your family to attend college, or an intern at an fast growing tech startup in LA. Your perspective will be fascinating to some number of people, and the story is yours.
2. People love stories
I believe that as humans, we are continually seeking connection. We do this through revisiting memories and stories with our long-lasting relationships. And we do this with new relationships. We listen to their stories and we share ours. We do this to learn what we have in common and perhaps also to be entertained or discover a new insight.
This TedX talk by Abbey Gibb inspires people to “Share Your Shit.” She shares that we are a connect-starved society. And that’s even more true than ever after 18 months of COVID isolation. Everyone is craving interactions and stories. So be emotional. Be vulnerable. Be real. And that will draw others to your story.
What if marketing was simply sharing your story? We all know how to tell stories to our family or to our friends over dinner. The story can be funny, whimsical, sad, or self-deprecation. And it should also be entertaining. Stories are the way we connect with others.
3. Know who benefits from your message
Part of this connecting with others is knowing who would find the story to be interesting. If you think about connecting to someone else from a sense of service, think about who would most benefit from hearing your message.
On the surface level, my book Make Space to Lead shares my journey of leaving Facebook and starting my own business as a leadership coach / consultant / speaker / writer. But on the emotional level, I wrote the leadership book to help people make change in their life.
The clients I’ve been working with have benefited from the teachings, tools, and coaching shared in the book. The book is written for them and for others who share my struggles:
High-achieving professionals who have always believed that we must continually drive ourselves to work harder to gain the success we desire. But the reality is that this is a pattern of busyness and overwork that we’ve trapped ourselves within.
Goal setters and planners who have reached for the next gold star their entire lives. And when they achieve it, they quickly reset the goalposts to aim for the next milestone. Yet now, this approach feels hollow.
People who feel burned out, overwhelmed, anxious, and unsatisfied with our work lives. Now, we might be willing to explore a different way and learn how to design our best professional and personal lives.
Marketing with integrity happens from a sense of service. It comes from knowing that you have something unique to share—it could be big or small— and that it’s valuable for a certain audience. It doesn’t matter how big the audience is, and it always helps to start with the smallest possible niche.
4. Be authentic and direct. Make the ask.
Finally, approach this marketing from a sense of knowing and confidence in your story. No-one else is an expert on the story like you are. You don’t need to beg other people to listen to you or to buy your products. That’s the energy of neediness and desperation. It’s a huge turnoff.
Don’t be needy.
Instead, remind yourself of what you’re good at and of what you’ve done. Share your story. If you’re talking to people who would benefit from the message, then it should resonate.
Finally, don’t forget to make the ask. This is being direct, and not needy. The ask could vary. For example:
Would you try reading my book?
Would you buy my book?
Would you share my book with your friends who might enjoy this message?
Can you give me feedback on the idea?
Do you know anyone else I might talk to?
Many of us chicken out of this last step of making the ask. It’s important to be direct and make the ask from a sense of service.
Bottom Line
As I finish with the writing part of the book, I’m shifting to marketing and promotion. Many authors struggle with this part of the work. Similarly, many leaders struggle with defining and sharing their personal brand and passion projects. Yet we can market with integrity by remembering these four core messages: 1. You have something to say, 2. People love stories, 3. Know your audience, and 4. Be authentic and direct.