SPA Girls Podcast – EP142 – Personal Branding for Authors with Lauren Clemett
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This week we were privileged to have personal branding expert Lauren Clemett with us to discuss how to create your personal author brand, and why it’s so important. Based in Australia, Lauren has a wealth of experience with advertising, marketing and branding from a distinguished career in England, New Zealand and Australia. She now helps entrepreneurs understand their personal brand, and how they can use that to amp up their business, and find the right clients. For us, she talks about how to create a personal brand for you the author, and how to figure out who your readers are, and why they should love you! (Hint: it’s all about them)
If the thought of branding gives you hives, then you need to sit down and have a listen to this episode! Lauren takes us through the basics, explains how to create a brand that represents you and your books, and talks about the ways that you can use this information to amp up your books and your author business.
This is another tip-packed episode, so make sure you have your note book handy!
Show Notes:
At 8 years old Lauren was told she had ‘word blindness’ and would never be able to read or write properly, yet she went on to become a five time best selling author and Stevie Award Winning Neurobranding expert, using her dyslexia disability as her greatest asset – to understand how the brain sees brands.
For over 25 years Lauren worked in world leading advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather and Clemenger BBDO as Production Manager and Brand Manager for international corporate AXA, as well as owning her own advertising agency.
She owns her own personal branding consultancy, the Ultimate Business Propellor and created the award winning Authority Rocket program which has helped hundreds of professional services providers around the World, to become well known, well paid & wanted.
What is branding, and why is it important?
A personal brand is the ability to paint a particular picture of yourself, your core values, and emotions in the mind of the reader.
‘You can’t judge a book by it’s cover,’ is not true in this case. A reader wants to know who the author behind the book is. What are their core values? What is relatable to them?
If you choose to have pen names, then each must have it’s only clear branding.
Reader Persona
- Get to know what it is you want to be known for as an author. What do you want your reputation to be?
- Who is your target reader (avatar). What are their attitudes and beliefs. What do they want to get out of reading your book?
- WIIFM – What’s in it for me (the reader)
How to create the personal brand
Before you do anything, even write the book, consider the purpose, and set the intention. What is the outcome you want when people read your book?
Your personal brand is your expert ease. The things you do with ease that others may find difficult. What do you find easy to talk, and write about? It’s pointless doing something that doesn’t relate to you, the story will not flow if it is forced and you’re not interested.
Engage and capture the essence of how you want to make people feel.
It might help you to think about mind mapping before you begin. Get all the things out of your head that relate to the book you want to write.
Marketing is easier if you already know who you want to buy your book. Knowing your audience is vital. This will help with covers, blurbs and social media.
Finding your true North.
How do you rise above those you’re in competition with? Everyone is doing what you are, so how do you make yourself known. What is your point of difference? This is why you must identify what do you want to be known for.
Reputation- what do you want your reputation to be in the market place. What do you want people to say about you?)
Recognition- what do you want to be recognized for. Covers, story methodology, short gritty content, or sweet romance?
Respect- setting intentions. Create appreciation by putting up a really good book. When writing a series ensure you give the reader what they want and expect, continuity is important. Reviewers will help to build respect in your books, and brand. Look at achieving awards, those will help create awareness and recognition. Get yourself out there in the market place!
You can’t help every Mary in the dairy (so don’t try, just focus on what is relative to you and your brand)
How much do you want this? Purpose and Intention. Take the leap and put yourself out there.
Fear is the number one factor that holds a writer back!
Fear of failure
Fear of success
Lauren creates a weekly action planner, and this helped her write four books in a short space of time.
Finding your process is important.
Beware of Bright-Shiny-Object-Ities. Often a newbie writer will come up with an idea without planning the direction they are heading in, and consequently will change focus easily and start a new book before finishing the last one.
Remember the hand guide to help achieve your natural personal brand.
Thumb – (thumbs up) consider all the things that make you feel good as an author.
Index finger – (direction) what’s the stuff you know about already that you can infuse in your books?
Middle finger – (flipping the bird) what’s the stuff you don’t like. What doesn’t work for you?
Ring finger – what engages and captivates you. What do you like to write and could write forever when you get in the zone?
Little finger – what are the little things you do with ease, and likely do automatically the more you write. The little nuances you use without thought.
We’re living in the age of authenticity, so don’t try and be someone you aren’t.
Links
Ultimate Business Propeller. (free starter course on website for branding) https://ultimatebusinesspropellor.com/about/
UBPERS FB page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheUBP/
Lisa J Faith – https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B008OC3YV8
Episodes 100 – 200 List
200 What we’ve learned so far…
199 Interview with Adam Croft – Mindset and Marketing
198 Find Your Sparkle – with Julie Schooler
197 Hack Your Muse – with Kelly McClymer
196 Public Speaking For Authors – with Alena Van Arendonk
195 The Magic Pill – with Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh
194 A Day In The Life Of A Writer
193 Keep It Simple
192 Interview with Skye Warren: Money Mindset and Facebook Ads
For Authors (Part Two)
191 Interview with Skye Warren: Time Management & Advertising
For Authors (Part One)
190 Dragon Wrangling with Scott Baker: secrets for
Successful dictation
189 Interview with Patricia McLinn: Writing by the seat of
Your pants
188 Interview with Morgana Best: Writing & Marketing
Cozy Mysteries
187 Interview with Geoff Symon: Wounds & Crime Scenes
186 Interview with Natasha Bajema, WMD for Authors
185 The Writer’s Detective with Adam Richardson
183 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part Two
182 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part One
181 Learn dictation with Kilby Blades
180 Interview with Brian Meeks, Mastering Book Descriptions
179 Interview with Tara Cremin, Kobo Writing Life
178 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part Two
177 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part One
175 Wrangling Facebook: How To Make It Work For You
174 How To Write A Regency Romance
173 How Do You Identify Your Writing Weaknesses?
172 Interview With Dan Wood, D2D
171 Interview With Serenity Woods
169 5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019
168 Jumpstart Your 2019 Marketing with 31 Quick To Dos for Jan.
167 Scheduling For Writing Success
166 Our 2018 Roundup
165 He Said, She Said: Creating Dazzling Dialogue
164 Interview with Steffanie Holmes: Reverse Harem
163 Interview with YA author Kelly St Clare
160 Amazon Excl v Wide – things to consider and how to market
159 Interview With Kathryn LeVeque
158 Some Like It Hot – Or Not. Heat Levels In Romance
157 Interview With Louisa George
156 The Kindness Factor: Helping You Achieve More and Stress Less
155 Editing
153 Characters: From Cookie Cutter to Kapow
152 Interview with Tina Dietz: Audiobooks
151 Interview with Grace Burrowes
150 Should You Prune Your Mailing List?
149 RWNZ18 Interview with Damon Suede & Geoff Symon
148 Interview with indie superstar, Bella Andre
147 Top Ten Traits for Success
146 Write Better Faster with Becca Syme
145 Newsletter Ninja Tammi LaBrecque
144 Looking After Your Creative Health
143 Interview with Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub
142 Personal Branding For Authors with Lauren Clemett
141 Ten Free Online Tools For Authors
140 Tempting Taglines & Heartstopping Hooks
139 Findaway Voices with Kelly Lytle
138 Get Your Writing Mojo Back
137 Interview with Toni Kenyon: facebook live & serials
136 Dealing with misinformation and change in Sp-ing
134 Interview with Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital
133 Interview with Sara Rosett
132 Organization For Authors – how to keep track of your
research and book details without losing your mind
131 Interview with Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy
130 Critical Care: Leveraging feedback for success
129 Brand You
128 SAS Special: Interview with Johnny B. Truant & Sean Platt
127 Industry Insiders with Damon J. Courtney of Bookfunnel
& Christine Monroe of Kobo
126 SAS Debrief with Jami Albright
125 SAS Special: Interview with Michelle Spiva
124 SAS Special : Interview With Michael Anderle
123 Sports Psychology for Authors – Interview With Nate Vella
122 Using Sub Plots To Amp Up Your Writing
121 Interview with Scott King: Outlining Your Novel
120 Pen-names Pros, Cons and Possibilities
119 Reader Engagement with Nalini Singh
118 Writing the Small Town Setting
117 Handling Negativity and Naysayers
116 Tough Mindset Questions For 2018
115 Interview With Nicola Davidson: Sex and Sensibility
114 Tropealicious
112 Interview With Honoree Corder & Ben Hale: Write Like A Boss
111 Ten Health Hacks For Writers
110 Interview with Kathryn Burnett: Your Writing Audit For Future Success
109 Interview with Melissa Storm: What Readers Want
108 Interview With Zoe Dawson: Writing Across Genres
107 Interview With Dave Chesson, The Keyword King
106 Pros and Cons of Kindle Unlimited
105 Why YOU should do Nanowrimo
104 Ten Truths For New Self Publishers
103 Find 30 Minutes A Day EXTRA!
102 Your Christmas Presence: Maximizing the Holiday Season for Authors
101 The Writing Life: Interview with Katie Cross
100 100 Episodes! Retrospective with funny moments; changing AO title
Trudi’s 10 Lessons from the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit
Adventures in self publishing with Trudi Jaye.
I’ve been jealously watching from New Zealand each year as authors and publishers I know online gather in Austin for the Smarter Artist Summit. It always sounds so amazing – a group of like-minded self publishers together in one place, talking shop and getting to know each other.
This year, I couldn’t handle it any more, and decided to do something about it. (FOMO is a real thing, people.)
So I travelled to Houston, where I met fellow author and SPA Girls podcast guest, Jami Albright, for the first time in person. She then drove us to Austin, for my very first Smarter Artist Summit.
Right from the very start, I loved it: I got a hug from conference co-creator Sean Platt within half an hour of arriving at the hotel. I interviewed the amazingly generous Michael Anderle within a couple of hours, and laughed out loud to a live episode of the Worst Show Ever (the other show that Johnny B. Truant, Sean Platt and David Wright record) by the end of the first evening.
I listened attentively to speakers like Michelle Spiva (marketing and data guru), Honoree Corder (previous SPA Girls Podcast guest, and super-inspiring business woman), Michael Anderle (super-duper author and self publishing rockstar), got advice from industry experts like Carlyn from BookBub, Damon from BookFunnel, Dan and Kevin from Draft to Digital and Chrissy from Kobo, and hung out with other authors, both those I already knew, and some I was meeting for the first time.
I have to admit to being pretty exhausted after my 17 hour trip from New Zealand, but I was determined not to miss a thing. I pretty much ran on adrenaline for the six days I was in the US, meeting and greeting so many people, some of them have already blurred into another. But the one thing they all had in common was a love of self publishing and writing – my two favourite subjects in the whole world.
I’ve been to conferences both in New Zealand and the USA before, but never one so completely in my wheel house. Everyone wanted to talk about the same stuff that I did. Everyone spoke the same jargon: KDP, AMS, KU, BookBub, ENT, you name it, they knew it.
It’s such an intimate setting, you can be listening to one of the experts giving a presentation in the main room, and then later that day, chatting with them in the hotel bar. Everyone was open and approachable, and as a wide-eyed Kiwi chick (We’re not in Kansas now, Toto), I really appreciated it.
I was also hugely lucky to have friends in the audience, even if I was meeting all of them for the first time in person. Jami took me under her wing – aside from being a fantastic writer, she’s been twice before, and introduced me to a whole bunch of people throughout our time in Austin. I also met up with Arianna Golden, another podcast guest and a longtime friend, for the first time in person. Anyone Jami didn’t know, Arianna did. Previous podcast guests were in the audience and presenters, and a talented editor I had worked with were also there to catch up with.
Meeting all these people who I’ve been reading about, interacting with and watching from afar via the internet for the last few years was beyond amazing. It made me realise that, while interacting with people online is great, and we’re lucky to be able to connect even that much from here in New Zealand, there’s nothing like meeting people in person to forge connections and make lifelong friends.
I learned so much in my time there, there were hundreds of takeaways that I could have listed. But I’ve managed to compile my top ten below:
My Top Ten Lessons from Smarter Artist Summit 2018
- Take yourself seriously. Be professional. Treat your writing business like a business.
- It’s all about your readers. From the very first moment you start plotting and writing your book, to connecting with your readers as an author, and then marketing your book to them once it’s done. You should be doing everything with them in mind. If you don’t know who your readers are, you’re in trouble.
- Readers like a little humour in their books. (And Michael Anderle would know.)
- Readers also want to connect to the characters in your books. If nothing else, you need to have a likeable, relatable main character who your readers will love.
- Sub plots with open loops between books in a series are one way to get readers to go from one book to the next.
- Data is good. Always get data, it helps you make the right decisions. BookBub uses data to their best advantage, and they’re very successful because of it.
- Tactics are not marketing. You need a long term strategy.
- You can’t beat meeting people in person. No matter how many Skype calls you have it’s just not the same.
- Collaboration is a difficult but worthwhile beast.
- Everything you want is on the other side of your fear. It should feel a little bit scary – if it doesn’t, you’ve waited too long to do it.
The First 100 Episodes List
Because some podcast apps only list the most recent two years worth of podcast episodes, we’ve listed below our Famous First 100 Episodes. From our rather rough start, we’ve enjoyed every minute of the journey and hope you enjoy listening! Thanks for all your support, Shar, Wendy, Cher and Trudi xx
2017
100 100 Episodes! Retrospective because OMG we can’t believe we made it to 100!
99 Automation for Authors: Interview with Arianna Golden
97 Interview with Shayne Silvers
96 Never Give Up: Interview With Christie Craig
95 Amazon Ads For Authors With Brian Meeks
94 Take Your Marketing To The Next Level with Monica Leonelle
93 RWA2017 Special Interview with Roxanne St Claire
92 RWA2017 Special Interview with Mark Dawson
90 Author Overwhelm Book Launch!
89 Inside The SPA: Why Spa Girls? Why Podcast? Why We want to help authors
88 Your Core Authors Values & Mission Statement
84 Amazon Also Boughts, Algorithms and Author Rankings
82 The Black Moment – with author Rachel Bailey
81 Interview with debut author Jami Albright
80 Mythbusting
79 Dialogue
78 Endings
77 Beginnings
76 First quarter recap and recalibration
75 Writing a Kick-butt Book Blurb with Glenna Mageau
73 Zhushing Up Your Amazon Author Page
71 10 Marketing Tips For Beginners
70 Productivity Hacks for Writers
69 Top Ten Romance Novels of All Time
67 Common Writing Mistakes and How to Fix Them
66 The Book of Your Heart Vs Writing to Market
2016
63 Interview with screenwriter Kathryn Burnett
62 Christmas 2016 Special Episode
60 Interview with editor Olivia Ventura
59 Answering Listener Questions
57 Dealing With Distractions At Christmas
56 Top Ten Mistakes Self Publishers Make
55 Launching a Non-Fiction Book
54 Writing Advice From the Trenches
53 How to Do a Successful Book Launch
52 Interview with Kelly McClymer
51 Characters Your Readers Will Love
50 Celebrating a Half-Century of Episodes
49 Interview with author Tracey Alvarez
48 Interview with author Steffanie Holmes
BONUS 2016 RWNZ Conference: Insights from Michael Hauge, Heather Graham et al
45 2016 RWNZ Conference Indepth
44 Conference episode with Leeanna Morgan
BONUS BONUS EPISODE – Trudi Jaye and Talia Hunter at RWA 2016
43 Great Covers And How To Get One
42 Surviving Writers Conferences
41 Content For Your Facebook Page
36 Help! What Do I Write in My Newsletter?!
33 Getting Your Newsletter Started
31 Self-Editing for Self-Publishers
29 The Ingredients For a Delicious Novel
25 All About Amazon (Part Two)
24 All About Amazon (Part One)
23 Dealing with Author Overwhelm
22 Pre-Publication Checklist (Part Two)
21 Pre-Publication Checklist (Part One)
18 The Right Mental Attitude for Self Publishing
16 Where Will You Self Publish?
2015
13 Author Interview with Cheryl Phipps
9 Interview With Author Toni Kenyon
7 Overview Of The Self-Publishing Process
6 Successful Self-Publishers’ Challenge
About The SPA Girls
The SPA Girls are Trudi Jaye, Cheryl Phipps, Wendy Vella and Shar Barratt: four New Zealand authors who between them have had more than 100 books published.
They’ve been self-publishing since 2013, and Wendy Vella alone, has sold more than 2 million copies of her historical and contemporary romances.
The SPA Girls Podcast (SPA = Self Publishing Authors) is one of the industry’s leading publishing podcasts globally, with over five years worth of weekly top-rating episodes.
Aimed at the beginning self-publisher, the podcast has received rave reviews from listeners and guests alike! Each week the SPA Girls bring listeners a new episode covering all things self-publishing, writing craft, marketing advice, advertising strategies and expert guest interviews.
Listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast app (just search SPA Girls Podcast) or watch the fun on their popular YouTube channel
Trudi Jaye writes urban fantasy and young adult fiction. She’s a trained journalist, communications specialist and martial arts enthusiast. Her urban fantasy series Dragon Rising is set in an alternate universe that looks just like ours – except with dragon shifters and a kick butt heroine…
Learn more about Trudi at:
Cheryl is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author from beautiful Auckland, New Zealand with two alter egos: C.A. Phipps writes cozy mysteries, and Cheryl Phipps writes contemporary romance.
She loves stories filled with feisty heroines, suave heroes and wonderful small towns, and crafting her own heart-warming tales of strong family ties, mixed in with a little romance, humor, and delicious baking!
Find out more about Cheryl at:
Shar Barratt is a marketing specialist by day and writer by night. Her clients include top entertainment brands, international retailers and NYT and USA Today bestselling authors. She’s got more how-to books than any person should have, and is currently working on a cozy mystery series under a secret penname that shall never be revealed (but she’s open to bribery-by-chocolate).
Shar blogs via images on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sharbarratt/
Wendy Vella is a USA Today bestselling author of historical and contemporary romances. With more than two million books sold, over 40 books published, and having been an Amazon bestseller many times, Wendy absolutely loves being an indie author (she started in traditional publishing, then soon saw the light!).
Her extraordinarily popular Regency romances include: The Langley Sisters series, Sinclair & Raven series, Lords of Night Street series, Deville Brothers series. Her sizzling small-town romance series include the Lake Howling series and Ryker Falls series.
Find out more about Wendy at : www.wendyvella.com
