My $900 Marketing Mistake
I have been published and publishing for eleven years now. I’ve had my share of successes and I’ve had my share of failures, but I think the one that still makes me cringe when I think about it is when I made a very stupid and costly marketing mistake.
Four years into my publishing journey, at the end of 2015 and into 2016, I had my very best publishing year. That year, thanks to a very good marketing choice, I made $22,000 in one year from sales of my books alone. I was a full time writer and publisher. It was my day job. Because I was doing so well, I thought I would leverage that income to work for me, as one hopes to be able to do when the money starts to come in.
I started going to Women in Business networking events locally to start networking with other business women and try to find new authors to publish. One of the women I met owned a local marketing firm. I thought a marketing firm, someone to help me market my books and get them in front of people, was exactly what I needed.
My assistant and I met up with her and her team and told them what I was looking for. I wanted to learn how to promote my books on social media and get them in front of more people. If I could market my books and make them continue to sell, I could do the same for the other authors published under my imprint. I was willing to pay for a plan to market my books and authors so we could get more sales and make more money. Profit, I thought, would bring in more authors and grow the imprint.
I Didn’t Know My Worth
The meeting went well. They hadn’t marketed e-books before, but they were going to do some research and get back to me. Maybe I should have seen this as a red flag, but I saw it as them being willing to do the research to give me what I asked for. They promised to put together a plan for me and get in contact with me when it was ready.
I don’t remember how long it took them to get back to me. A week or two probably, but it felt like an eternity. I knew that I was on my way to really being successful in my publishing career. I could scale the company like I wanted to and continue to be my own boss. My goal at the time was to make enough money to be able to rent an office so I didn’t have to work at home where there were so many distractions. (Fun fact: I have always wanted to have my own office. Lol)
When they finally contacted us, we went to their offices to meet with them (they had their own office in this really cool, old part of town). They printed out this packet of paper and walked through it with me. This packet of paper consisted of info graphics and bullet points on how to use each social media platform. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn. I tried to quell my growing disappointment. Maybe there would be something at the end on how to post and what kinds of posts to make. How to use the platforms to really reach people, but there wasn’t any of that.
They explained it to me and quoted me a price. Nine hundred dollars.
NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS!
$900!!!
I was flabbergasted. Nine hundred dollars for a packet of paper that told me things I already knew. Things that I could have, and already had googled for free. Things that they most likely googled for free and created their own graphics. Then presented to me for NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS!
Disappointed and frustrated, I handed over the money and left.
Yes. I paid them their NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS and took those papers and left. Those stupid papers are still in a binder somewhere. I paid too much money for those stupid things to throw them away. I didn’t know that I could say no. Or that I could call them on their BS and keep my money and spend it somewhere that it would actually do me some good. No one told me that I could stand up for myself and refuse to pay for something that I could get for free. So, here is my advice to you:
Do your own research
There is so much information out there for free. Especially now. Get out there and do your own research and your own leg work so you know when you’re being taken advantage of.
Delegate
This may seem like a contradiction to the previous advice, but listen to what I’m saying. There is a difference between paying someone to do something for you that you can do for free and paying someone to do something for you so you can do something else that’s more important. What I did was allow someone to take advantage of me and assume that I was too stupid to know the difference. I basically told them, “Yes, I am stupid. Thank you,” and paid them for it.
Know Your Worth
People say this all the time. So much so, that it has become one of those things that you ignore. But it’s important that you know what you’re worth. People will take advantage of you if you don’t demand to be treated accordingly. They are going to overcharge you and underpay you until you figure out what you are worth. Start charging what you deserve and refuse to pay more than they deserve.
Set and Stick to your Boundaries
This is important. Boundaries are important. You have to make sure you have them in place and that you enforce them or no one is going to take you seriously. They will not take your boundaries seriously, and you will keep holding yourself back.
In business, it is easy to find yourself being taken advantage of. That’s why creatives have to make sure we know our worth. That way we don’t get taken for $900 for a packet of 12 pieces of paper that you could print from the internet for free. Printer ink might be expensive, but it’s not $900 expensive.
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