I’m about 48 hours into my book launch for The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause (Amazon link), so I thought I’d share a few first reflections on the process at this point.

Check out these results:

On the evening of June 1, 2010, the launch day, the book was #1 on the Amazon Nonprofit books list, #2 on the Marketing books list (second only to the legendary The Tipping Point), and the big shocker, #1 on the Movers & Shakers list.

Here are the key parts of the strategy . . .

1) The Pre-Order Campaign That Wasn’t

I was told by my publisher, Jossey-Bass, to use June 8 as the publication date. Even though they expected the books to be in their warehouse by late May, it would take a few days or even a week for the books to get to Amazon and that’s the date Amazon was using.

Thus, I had planned a pre-order campaign that consisted mostly of blogger outreach and an email message to my list of about 10,000 people for the last week or so of May.

Then the UPS guy pulled up to my house on the morning of May 19 with 150 copies, and friends forwarded emails they received from Amazon later that afternoon saying their pre-ordered copies were about to be shipped.

It seems everyone, including staff in various departments at Jossey-Bass, was caught unaware that the book had arrived and shipped early. In fact, it’s June 3 today, the book has been out for over two weeks now, and Amazon still has the publication date listed as June 8!

So much for the pre-order campaign. I had to get my rear into gear.

2) The Whole Launch Day Bonus Game- Blech!

If you do any research at all into doing a book launch focusing on Amazon rankings, you’ll find blog post after blog post advising you to set up a long series of bonus offers to entice as many people as possible to buy the book on the same day. Some authors offer literally hundreds of bonuses.

The plan looks like this: you get all of your friends and colleagues (your launch partners) to provide bonus downloads. You tell book buyers to forward their receipt or order number to an email address and they get an autoresponder with a link to all this extra stuff. Your launch partners then promote this to their own lists, presumably using their own Amazon affiliate codes and pumping up themselves for providing a bonus.

My instincts told me this was not a good approach for this book for two reasons.

(1) Nonprofits don’t like to feel like they are being sold to, period. As a rule, the sector is very suspicious of anything that feels like sales. Marketing a book about nonprofit marketing is actually sort of a dicey proposition. Piling on the bonuses just felt like too much old-fashioned slimy marketing and the whole point of this book is to show nonprofits how to market with integrity so they build a community of supporters around them (or how marketing has a soul, as Danielle Brigida so eloquently put it in her review).

(2) I just didn’t feel like hounding fellow bloggers and consultants for stuff and asking them to push my book to their lists (I’m lousy at asking people for things, which is why I’m in marketing and not fundraising). Making a quick buck is not the driving force in our field (Thank God). So this massive bonus book launch strategy that seems to work so well in the small business world had little chance of success in the nonprofit community, in my opinion.

So, instead, I did a much smaller launch day offer of just two bonuses very closely linked to the book’s content. The first bonus was the most concrete, self-contained, valuable thing I have to offer — an Annual All-Access Pass to our webinar series which sells for $465.  The second was a tagline review by Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention.org, the first stop on the virtual book tour (more on that in a minute). Nancy is also a business partner of mine, so it’s a great fit.

Nancy published my guest post on her blog around 9:45 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The book’s overall Amazon rank at that point, based mostly on pre-orders, was 169,539 and it didn’t appear on any of the lists. I emailed the offer to my list around 11:45 a.m. ET. I received the first receipt from a buyer at 11:23 a.m., presumably based on the guest post. They started popping in regularly about 10 minutes after the email went out.

At 12:30 p.m., less than an hour after the email went out, the book was at 23,348 overall and 18th on the nonprofit list. I decided around this time that I wanted to produce a video for my first blog post about the virtual book tour. Yes, it would have been better to have thought of that days earlier, but I didn’t, so whatever. So I messed around with that for an hour or so.

At 3:24 p.m., I saw this tweet from Jossey-Bass about the book hitting the Movers & Shakers list:

Mind you, I had never heard of the Movers & Shakers list until now. The Movers & Shakers index identifies the biggest gainers in sales rank at Amazon.com in the past 24 hours. Shortly after this tweet, the marketing manager for the book at Jossey-Bass contacted me because the buyer at Amazon wanted to know what I was doing to boost sales, so they could make sure they had enough books in stock to meet the demand. I think we were all a little surprised, given that this is a professional book in a fairly narrow niche!

At the same time that the book hit #4 on the Movers & Shakers list, it was #312 overall, #1 on the Nonprofit list, suddenly #2 on the Marketing list, and #19 on the Business Management list.

I had a little trouble getting the video online (the audio tracking was all off for some strange reason), so it was close to 5:00 pm ET before I posted to my blog about the book launch. Not ideal, but it was only 2:00 p.m. on the West Coast as I often remind myself when this stuff falls to my late afternoon schedule. I had also tweeted seven times during the day and posted to my Facebook Page twice, which is more than usual for me, but practically nothing compared to a typical book launch.

I did see another burst of receipts after the blog post. On my last check of the day before turning off my computer at 10:30 p.m., the book had reached #264 overall and moved into the #1 slot on the Movers and Shakers list. My little book on nonprofit marketing, with my little launch plan, made the single biggest book  sales gain on Amazon on June 1!

3) The Month-Long Virtual Book Tour

All of my friends who know nothing about the publishing world today and who think I’m hotter stuff than I actually am assumed that I would be going on a real book tour. Ha, Ha, Ha. Yeah, right! While that idea was ridiculous, I obviously wanted to get some good publicity for the book.

As I noted earlier, the conventional wisdom is that you need to compress your sales into a very narrow window of time if you want to have any hope at all of getting ranked and getting the attention of brick-and-mortar store buyers. But this a professional book. In a narrow niche. I’ll probably collapse right in the aisle if I ever see the book in an actual store. I’m assuming all online retail sales, coupled with sales associated with speaking gigs, associations, and teaching programs. That’s it. But the book does has content longevity going for it. It’s not trendy or super timely, so it has a potentially long shelf-life content-wise.

To me, that means there’s value in stretching out the publicity campaign a bit, rather than trying to get everything done within one week. So I put together a month-long virtual book tour, anchored with two live events that I scheduled over a month ago, when I still thought the launch date was June 8. The first was a live online chat with the Chronicle of Philanthropy on June 8 and the second was a webinar for Network for Good on June 29. I planned to fill in the calendar with guest blog posts, interviews, etc.

Instead of slamming every blogger I know with a spray-and-pray approach, I hand-picked 20 people and contacted them with a personal email, offering a free review copy of the book, an interview, a guest blog post — basically whatever they wanted. I suggested that they pick a specific date in June that I could put on the calendar, but said I’d be happy with whatever they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it.

All but one or two people responded positively, either with a set date or a commitment to do something later after they had read the book.  I also welcomed other people to join in via a tweet and a note on the book home page, and a few other bloggers added themselves to the tour schedule too.

In Summary

My book reached #1 positions on Amazon on launch day, based on one email, one blog post, one guest blog post, seven tweets, and two Facebook updates. Sounds easy enough, right?

The reality, of course, is much deeper than that, because I have spent the last two years building a community of supporters around the blog and the webinar series that gave rise to the book in the first place. That community of fans is what took the book to #1 – not anything particularly special that I did on June 1.

The rest of the marketing I do this month will be focused on building and serving that community. I’ll share more about the other parts of the book marketing plan in later posts.

Right now, the book sits at #1 on the Nonprofit list, #11 on the Marketing list, and at #1,232 overall.

The Writing for Nonprofits Coaching Program is a month of training and coaching to grow your freelance business and nonprofit clientele. Session starts April 26, 2010. Get the details and register.

The next session of the “Writing for Nonprofits” Coaching Program for freelance writers starts on Monday, April 26. There’s still room if you want to join us!

When I talk with nonprofits about hiring freelance writers, I suggest they focus on four questions when making the decision. Put yourself in the nonprofit’s shoes for a moment and consider how they might answer these questions about you.

1. Is this freelancer a good listener?

As important as creative skills are, the ability to listen to a client’s needs and to incorporate them into the project are critical.  Freelance projects will include many variables, such as audience, message, and tone, all of which require that the client and the freelancer work together to get it right. You should treat this relationship as a partnership, which requires that you both listen well.

2. Does this freelancer seem flexible?

Much of communications and marketing is subjective. While some elements, such as correct grammar and word count, are objective, whether the piece meets the client’s needs in terms of style is highly subjective. A good freelancer knows this and will work with her client to get the style right, even if the first draft is way off.

Also, as the project progresses, a client may very well change her mind about how she wants an issue handled or what elements should be emphasized.  Your ability as a freelancer to “go with the flow” and adjust accordingly is important — within reason. Be clear about the number of drafts and the scope of work upfront and ensure that your clients understand how much they can change before a different payment structure kicks in.

3. Do I like this freelancer’s portfolio and client list?

I suggest that nonprofits who are hiring freelancers for the first time review portfolios looking for experience with a similar project or with a similar organization in subject area, size, or some other meaningful measure.  All professional freelancers should provide work samples and client lists and testimonials on their websites.

4. How do this freelancer’s other clients describe their relationships?

I tell nonprofits to check references. What they see on a website is a good start, but I suggest they make at least one phone call before hiring a new freelancer.  Speaking directly with another client is one of the best ways to judge how well a freelancer works with people. I encourage nonprofits to look for freelancers who have received multiple projects from the same client. Repeat business is always a good sign.

If you work for a nonprofit, what questions do you ask yourself before hiring a freelancer? If you are a freelancer, do you think these questions are the right ones to ask about you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

The Writing for Nonprofits Coaching Program is a month of training and coaching to grow your freelance business and nonprofit clientele. Session starts April 26, 2010. Get the details and register.

A Guest Post by Elizabeth Turnbull, a Guest Expert in the“Writing for Nonprofits” Coaching Program

Whenever you travel and are in a new culture, it’s always a good idea to stay quiet for a while and listen before you speak. Look around you and observe how people greet one another. What do they say when they leave? How do they thank each other? What words are taboo?

Asking these questions will help prevent you from sticking the proverbial foot your mouth. And they’ll give you a more rewarding experience throughout your journey.

For someone transitioning from a “traditional” job, nonprofits are a new culture in and of themselves. They’re not businesses, though they seek money to grow. They’re not government programs, though they offer many basic services to the public. They’re not necessarily churches or temples though many are faith-based.

Nonprofits are their own culture, seated somewhere in an uneasy space of financial transactions and deeply rooted convictions. To further muddy the waters, each nonprofit has its own sub-culture and one food bank may very well have a totally different communications approach than the food bank just a few streets away.

If you want to work with nonprofits, you’ll be wise to listen before you speak.

• Read through the existing materials. What vocabulary do they use? How do they sign off from letters? How do they thank donors? What works and what has to change?

• Read through the materials of like-minded organizations (that’s nonprofit-speak, for “scope out the competition”). What do they do better? Worse? Differently?

• Ask if there are words the organization doesn’t use. Some organizations feel very passionately about vocabulary, and there could be a long list of “taboo” phrases. If you unwittingly use one in your writing, you might step on some toes, and you’ll definitely look out of touch.

• Sit in on meetings and spend time at the office whenever possible. Watching the interactions of staff and the people they serve will fill you with useful information and make your job so much easier.

I’ve worked with a variety of nonprofits during the past five years and no two approach communication the same way — even those with “like-minded missions.” But they have all been extremely appreciative and helpful when I stop, listen, and ask a few basic questions before I step in as their voice.

By listening before you speak, you’ll learn the cultures of your nonprofit clients (including their donors) and help them share their stories in a way that’s meaningful, moving and effective.

The Writing for Nonprofits Coaching Program is a month of training and coaching to grow your freelance business and nonprofit clientele. Session starts April 26, 2010. Get the details and register.

A Guest Post by Betsy Baker of Your Grant Authority and a Guest Expert in the “Writing for Nonprofits” Coaching Program

When I was working full time for my nonprofit employer, I was married but didn’t have children. When my husband and I decided that our house was just a little too quiet (oh, what a rude awakening we were in for!), we decided that it would be great for me to stay at home with the baby but that I’d still need to contribute financially. I would be able to do this because I had a lot of experience as a grant writer and was already getting asked to do grant writing jobs on the side. I was hot!

I’d just stay at home and become a grant writing consultant. I had visions of putting the baby to bed, quietly getting my grant writing work completed along with a couple of loads of laundry, and then starting dinner with baby by my side. I don’t believe that once in the nine years that I have stayed at home has that happened.

First of all, it took Baby a little longer to arrive than expected – approximately seven years. I had quit full time in anticipation of getting pregnant which actually prepared me to get into a routine of consulting that worked for me and my husband. While dinner wasn’t served every night, for the most part the house was reasonably clean, there were clean clothes and there was always food in the refrigerator (or freezer – as in frozen dinner.) For some reason, Baby didn’t understand my routine once he got here. Sure, Baby slept. But I did too when he did. I was exhausted.

I’m proud to say that at age three, my not-so-Baby anymore, Rhodes and I have finally worked it out. Like any working mother, it has been trial and error to find what works for us. What I finally decided was maybe I could do half and half. He now has care 2 ½ days a week while I work and I get him the other 2 ½ to play. I love it and I think he’s no worse for the wear.

So, back to my original question, my answer is simple: the benefits outweigh any challenges I might face. This is what I dreamed of when I was working toward becoming a consultant and I haven’t been disappointed yet:

Being my own boss – Who has not dreamed of this? You know your worth to an organization better than anyone and it can be frustrating dealing with those in authority who don’t appreciate or understand your contribution.

Setting my own hours – Being a grant writing consultant basically means you have the ability to write at 3:00 a.m. if you so wish. Once the appropriate information has been gathered you have the freedom to write when the inspiration strikes. This is especially great for families with children giving you the flexibility to write during school hours (on top of carting to soccer practice, putting dinner on the table, etc., hence, the 3 a.m. time frame.)

Working with whom I choose – The beauty of having your own business is the capability to work with clients of your choice. Of course, when you’re first venturing into the consultant territory, you may not can afford to be so selective. As your business grows, however, you’ll find a certain field that you’re most interested in or develop selection criteria that helps you pick clients that suit your interests and abilities.

Client variety – Speaking of working with clients of your choice, as a grant writing consultant you have the freedom to work with a variety of clients. This situation is perfect for those who bore easily or are eager to work in different fields of expertise.

Working remotely – How does working in your pajamas sound? If you’ve never been one who relished fighting morning traffic to get to a job by 8:00 a.m., a consultant’s job is just right for you. Being a consultant doesn’t mean you never have to get dressed – you certainly wouldn’t want to show up at a potential client’s in a bathrobe and curlers. But a consultant not only can work across town, he or she can work across the country. With today’s technology all information can be exchanged electronically. You set the boundaries.

Minimal start up cost – Most homes today have a computer, internet provider and phone. Starting a home-based consulting business is certainly preferable if space allows since it keeps your costs at a minimum.

So, there it is. The beauty of being a Grant Writing Consultant. I personally think it’s all that it’s cracked up to be!

The Writing for Nonprofits Coaching Program is a month of training and coaching to grow your freelance business and nonprofit clientele. Session starts April 26, 2010. Get the details and register.

It’s been in the works for months, so I’m excited to announce that we are now accepting registrations for the first session of the “Writing for Nonprofits” Coaching Program, which will begin March 1.

You can’t beat writing about and for the causes you love, which is why so many freelance writers have contacted me over the last few years, yearning for details on how to build up their own nonprofit clientele.

I’ll share all I know about building a successful freelance business serving nonprofits during the program. I’ve also asked five other successful freelancers to share their experiences working for nonprofits too. Between the six of us, I can’t imagine a challenge we haven’t faced in freelancing for nonprofits.

The program will last four weeks and includes

• Live training (a webinar or conference call) once a week with me and our guest experts. Each training will be recorded, in case you can’t make the scheduled time.
• Resource materials to read, listen to, and watch. You’ll find new content (e.g. articles, audio, or video) for each business day of the course. Consume it at your own pace.
• Challenges each week that will help you build and improve your business – no busywork here!
• Personal feedback and a one-on-one coaching session at the end of the course with me to review your next steps.
• Networking with other course participants and trainers. Freelancing can be a lonely world, and you’ll be much happier with friends in the business!
• Your name and website listed on Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com and Writing for Nonprofits.com under “Freelancers Who Get Nonprofits” upon successful completion of the course.
• Bonus training: Attend one webinar at NonprofitMarketingGuide.com at no charge, to further hone your skills.

It’s going to be an intense month, and I want to ensure that the freelancers who participate get what they need from the program. That’s why I’m limiting the session to just 10 people. I’m not sure when my schedule will allow me to offer this program again, so if you interested, you should reserve your spot now.

Need a little incentive to invest in your freelancing business? I’ll knock $100 off the registration fee if you sign up in January. Use the coupon code JAN100.

The Writing for Nonprofits Coaching Program is a month of training and coaching to grow your freelance business and nonprofit clientele. Session starts April 26, 2010. Get the details and register.

When I booked this weekend’s trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake with my BFF and fellow writer Rebecca Jamison a couple of months ago, I thought it would be a chance to edit what I had written so far in a quiet, relaxed setting.

Turns out I need it to be a fast-paced, focused 72 hours of serious writing. I’m not as far along as I’d like to be, and this weekend is now all about catching up. How I feel about the book come Monday afternoon will determine what the rest of my summer is like.

So here’s what I’m packing:

- The laptop, of course, with all the book files from my desktop on it, with the files also backed up on a flash drive, just in case.

- My wireless keyboard and mouse, because typing for three solid days on my laptop keyboard will kill my wrists.

- My wrist brace and ibuprofen, just in case it still starts to hurt.

- Blank note pads and pens for back-in-the-office to-do lists and sketching out sections that are bothering me (more like mind-mapping than outlining – see last post!)

- A bunch of research I’ve printed out and need to sort through. I can’t write the whole time, but still need to be working on the book. Will also be good for the plane.

- Running shoes, so I can take long walks. I’ve found that’s the best way to uncover new insights and see things more clearly.

- iPod, for the same reason. Even if I can’t walk, if I can lie flat and listen to my favorite music, my brain resets.

- Sleeping pills. Just in case I can’t sleep in a strange place. I can’t write well when I’m tired.

- My favorite teas. Making cups is a ritual, even if I don’t end up drinking them all.

And what I’m not packing:

- Any other work. This is all about the book, and nothing else.

- Any fun reading. This is not about relaxing, other than hanging out with Rebecca.

I would love to say that I’m leaving the Blackberry behind too, but I just can’t go there! My saving grace is that the condo doesn’t have good Internet access, which means I won’t be distracted by the million different websites I usually visit when at my desk. (Need to check out the Leech Block Firefox plugin recently recommended by my friend Nedra Weinreich to deal with that problem when I get back – except I’m mostly using Chrome these days.)  I’ll check email, Twitter, and Facebook on the Blackberry, but that’s it.

My copy of the book contract and my advance check (minus my agent’s 15%) arrived this afternoon, about six weeks after I signed the contract. Yippee! As a long-time freelance writer, I’ve learned to wait for the paper before getting too excited about the deal. Happy dancing all around.

A few weeks ago at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco, I met Jesse Wiley, my editor at Jossey-Bass (JB), in person. My friend Nancy Schwartz said something funny while taking this photo, thus the dorky look on my face. Poor Jesse had his appendix removed a few days before and still showed up to work the booth!

Jesse and I had a good meeting where he explained to me all the steps the book will go through once I submit the draft at the end of August. A whole bunch of people have to touch this thing.

He also answered several questions I had, such as “Can I use my blog as a first draft of various sections I’m working through?” (Yes) and “Can I get feedback on sections from various nonprofit friends who I’d like to read it before I submit it to him?” (Yes).

We talked a bit about integrating online content and promotion within the book itself. For example, JB can add icons in the layout that signal to readers that they can find additional resources online (Cool!). We might also do an online conference together after the book comes out, in addition to webinars I’ll do on my own through NonprofitMarketingGuide. And I’ll need to get up to speed on all the stuff that authors can do on their book’s Amazon pages.

Jesse also agreed to write a guest blog post, but I have to give him some direction first (turning the tables here, I guess). What questions do you have for an editor at one of the top publishers of nonprofit professional books? Or for someone with book publishing in his DNA (JB is an imprint of Wiley – and Jesse is one of those Wileys)? Click on “Read Comments” to add your questions and comments.

I had a little WordPress database trouble here, but it’s fixed now. Thanks to Joy for taking the time to email me about it!

You can now comment again to your heart’s content. And please do  . . . like most bloggers, I love hearing from readers and opening up the conversation.

Once again, I’m taking a defibrillator to this blog.

On March 26, 2009, five days before my 40th birthday, I signed a contract to write a nonprofit marketing how-to book, to be published by Jossey-Bass in Spring 2010. It was a MAJOR professional goal of mine to have a book deal before turning 40 and I just made it! I’ve had various outlines of the book on my desk for the last ten years and finally got to the place where I was not only ready to write it, but also had the right connections to get a publisher interested. The process of working with my editor, Jesse Wiley, to get the green light and then working with my agent, Mollie Glick, to hammer out the deal took about six months. But now it’s done, and the hard work begins.

As is usually the case with me when starting big writing projects, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about how much time it is going to take. I daydream a lot about writing the book (without actually writing anything) and do the math every which way, converting the 70,000 words I am contracted to write by August 28 into numbers of hours per week I’ll need to write between now and then, numbers of weekends I think I’ll have to work, numbers of words per day, etc. (again, not actually writing a word).

I used to worry that these mental mechanics were procrastination, but I realize now that it’s just part of the process for me. I do this kind of thing all the time, and when I actually do sit down to write, I’m much more productive.

I’ll be meeting Jesse in person for the first time while attending the Nonprofit Technology Network’s conference in San Francisco April 26-28. I’m seeing that meeting as the deadline for all the processing to stop and the real writing to begin.

I’m planning to chronicle this undertaking here, along with anything else I come up with on the business of freelancing for nonprofits. Posts related to the actual content of the book (marketing advice for nonprofits) will be shared, as always, at my Nonprofit Communications blog.

Thanks for reading!

Long time, no post. C’est la vie. Been really busy with NonprofitMarketingGuide.com.

But here is an article that got me to log back in here: Why Work-Life Balance Is a Bad Idea by Michael Gilbert. His point is that work and life shouldn’t be in conflict; they should be integrated.

As a self-employed professional, I have always felt that way. I struggle with balance in other ways — time on client work that pays now versus blogging or research that may or may not pay later, working in the evening when my kids are preoccupied with TV or video games versus forcing all of us away from the screens to do something together, face to face. But I do not see these as work-life conflicts, but rather time management struggles on my part. It’s all important, and it’s all part of me.

This debate reminded me of another one I’ve been having with myself lately: To what extent should I try to wall off my personal life when I’m using social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter? If I am just “professional” on these sites, then I lose out on connecting online with “personal” friends. But I don’t have time, nor do I think it is really possible, to maintain two different profiles on various sites. And I have lots of people in my life who are both important professional contacts AND good friends. I care about what they are doing in all aspects of their lives, and they probably feel the same way about me. And does revealing personal information in a professional setting really have the potential to seriously hurt me anyway?

I’ve decided that the answer to that last one is either “no” or “I don’t care.” I think there is value in letting potential clients see the “personal” side of who I am along with the “professional.” I’m a package, a complete human being. While I’m not going to force any of my professional contacts to wade through personal information on what kind of music I like or who I’m voting for on my main sites like NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, I’m not going to hide that information from that percentage of people who are interested in connecting with me through social networking sites.

And honestly, there are lots of nonprofits that I would NEVER consider taking on as clients because I strongly disagree with their mission statements. So why shouldn’t clients have access to information that tells them more about my personal missions in life if that information is truly important to them? In many cases, it’s all going to be irrelevant to the discussion about working on a project together. But when it is relevant, why hide it, especially when so many benefits come from social networking otherwise?

What’s your take on these questions?