“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar, the ultimate motivator, knew that when we authentically and unselfishly support other people, great things happen. I’ve experienced the truth of this principle many times in my life, but especially recently, when I joined forces with two other WordServe authors.
Karen Jordan, Kathryn Graves, and myself decided to collaborate on writing a non-fiction book for women. By doing so, we discovered some surprising side benefits. We’ve found the magic of the collaborative process for writers improves marketing, increases our income potential, and adds a fun element to the author’s journey.
The pressures seems lighter, because we’re in it together.
One of our most exciting accomplishments came from developing a women’s conference based on our book’s title and message. We outlined options for a one-day conference as well as a two-day event. We came up with a suggested ticket price and estimated income from the event based on a variety of attendance number ranges. We brainstormed ideas for other creative ways to support the Untangled Women’s Conference. And we reviewed different expense scenarios, weighing convenience against cost.
Then we formalized our thoughts.
We created an Event Planner’s Kit to make it easier for churches and organizations to host Untangled. (I found it much more efficient and thorough to generate resources as a team versus what I might accomplish on my own.) We created a marketing flyer, and put it on our speaking tables at events, mentioned it in passing conversations, and posted it on social media. One of the most important actions we took was praying for and with each other.
We didn’t wait long before seeing results.
The response amazed us. Within a week, we had a conference scheduled and on the calendar in one state, while two other states began serious talks with us. Within three weeks, we had sent out four more conference kits to other states by request. Because of our collaborative marketing efforts, this coming fall/winter/spring should fill up fast with paid speaking gigs and greater book sales.
As we traverse this new world of collaborative marketing, we are learning many things. But the truth of Zig’s words is already evident — by helping each other through the collaborative process, we are all winning. This is what we can tell you so far:
8 Reasons the Magic of Collaborative Marketing for Writers Works:
- You build off of each other’s ideas — growing creative efforts.
- You share the expenses, reducing costs for each individual.
- You expand the message reach further than one individual can accomplish on their own.
- Your mind moves from thinking of your efforts as self-promotion, to that of helping your fellow writer(s).
- You enrich the lives of readers, event planners, and audiences by offering them a diverse experience through multiple voices.
- You sell more books as an author by increasing your opportunities to speak and participate in other cooperative public events.
- You feel more courageous to step out and try new things.
- You have people to support and celebrate with, who really understand the emotional highs and lows of writing and marketing.
Have you collaborated with other WordServe authors? If so, what did you do, and how did it affect your book sales as well as your morale? Would you be interested in brainstorming and collaborating together?
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