Oh it’s been damn hard to keep this a secret for so long!  Anyone that knows me and that has followed the progression of the Think Like a Rock Star concept over the past 3 years knows that Kathy has had a bigger impact on my thinking than anyone else.  She’s just unbelievably brilliant when it comes to teaching brands how to create passionate users/fans/customers and what’s so awesome about Kathy is that she makes everyone else feel like they are smarter.  There are so many people that you read their writings and think ‘Wow that guy/gal is pretty smart!’  With Kathy’s writings, you read them and think ‘OMG she just connected the dots for me and now it all makes sense!‘  I am over the moon excited and cannot tell you how proud I am that Kathy will be involved with this book.

So when I asked Kathy if she would write the foreword and she told me she would be happy to review my manuscript and give me some advice, I was thinking that she had no idea what she was getting into 😉  It turns out *I* was the one that was in for a surprise.  Over the next month, Kathy must have written me 20 emails, each one probably 2,000 or so words with insanely helpful advice on how to structure the book.  In short, it all went back to this bit of advice:  On every single page, ask yourself ‘Is this going to help the reader kick ass?‘  Classic Kathy Sierra 😉

Before talking to Kathy, I thought Think Like a Rock Star could be a very good book.  Thanks in large part to Kathy’s tremendous help and advice over the last month, I now know Think Like a Rock Star is going to be a great book.  And Kathy deserves a lot of the credit for that because she’s really helped me flesh out and structure my ideas, and present them in a way that will help the reader grasp the core lessons…and help them kick ass.

BTW if you aren’t familiar with how awesome Kathy is, here’s some of my favorite posts that she’s written:

How your product can inspire The Nod

Inspiring your user-evangelists

Conversational writing kicks formal writing’s ass

Reverse-engineering user reviews

Changing the user-experience without changing the product

And finally…here’s the cover design for Think Like a Rock Star!  What do you think?

The official on-sale date is April 19th, 2013, and Think Like a Rock Star is slated to be available for pre-order on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble later this month!

Pic of Kathy via Flickr user dottavi

PS: Kathy I apologize for the amount of !!!s in this post, but as I said, I overuse them when I am excited about something 😉

BONUS!  Here’s a talk Kathy gave last year on how to write a book that helps readers kick ass.  If you are considering writing a book PLEASE watch this.

If you are getting this post in a feed reader, click here to watch the video.

I’ve started confirming the first few dates for the Think Like a Rockstar Book Tour and I wanted to give you a heads-up on where I’ll be!

The first confirmed stop (for now) is Social Brand Forum in October!  I’m super pumped about this as I’ll be keynoting along with my friends Ann Handley and DJ Waldow.  It’s being put on by our friend Nick Westergaard in Coralville, Iowa on October the 17th and 18th.  Not only will I be presenting Think Like a Rockstar, but I’ll also be conducting a LIVE #Blogchat as well!  If all that’s not enough, the first 100 who register will also get a copy of Think Like a Rockstar, plus DJ’s new book, Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing!  This should be a great event and it’s my first time in Iowa, so I’m excited about that as well!

The second confirmed stop will be in Nashville next May, I’ll be speaking to the local AMA chapter.  More details on this event as we get closer to that time.  Also, another event is confirmed for February that I can’t talk about yet.  Trust me, it will be a BIG surprise to all of y’all 😉 You can check here to see all the latest confirmed stops on the book tour.  I’m also talking to a couple of other events and hope to have those confirmed soon as well.

Now if you want your event or company to be a part of the Think Like a Rockstar Book Tour, there’s 3 options available to you (All rates are for speaking in the continental United States only and don’t include travel):

1 – You can book me to present Think Like a Rockstar for $1,000.00.  This is HALF what I normally charge to present Think Like a Rockstar, and this rate is only valid for the remainder of 2012.  Half this fee will be due 60 days before the event, the balance due when I arrive at the event.  So for example if you wanted me to present on Sept 1st, I’d need $500.00 by July 1st, and the remaining $500.00 would be due when I arrive at the event.

2 – You can book me to present Think Like a Rockstar for $500.00 plus pre-ordering 50 copies of Think Like a Rockstar through Amazon.  The $500.00 fee will be due 60 days before the event.  The best part about this option is Amazon won’t charge your credit card for the pre-orders until the book goes on sale (April 2013).  Think Like a Rockstar will be paperback, so the price will likely be $14-16 dollars.  Also note that you can always take the books and resell them to recover most of your cost.

3 –  You can book me to present Think Like a Rockstar if you pre-order 100 copies of Think Like a Rockstar through Amazon.  Again, Amazon won’t charge your credit card for the pre-orders until the book goes on sale next year.  And you can always take the books and resell them to recover almost all of your cost!

I am offering such low rates on presenting Think Like a Rockstar because I want to build as much momentum as possible for the book prior to its launch.  The presentation will be 60-75 minutes including 15-30 mins for Q&A.  We can also add this with other services, for example if you’d like to bring me in to present Think Like a Rockstar PLUS do a Live #Blogchat, I can work out an impossibly affordable deal for that.

Also keep in mind that these slots will likely start filling up as we get closer to August when the book is available for pre-order.  Plus I have a couple of big announcements concerning the book before then that should drive additional interest 😉

BTW if you would rather have me present Think Like a Rockstar after the book has come out, we can totally do that as well.  Think Like a Rockstar will go on sale in April of 2013.  The exact pre-order and on-sale dates should firm up as I finish the manuscript, which is 50% done right now!  Just email me if you want to schedule a date in 2013 after the book has gone on sale.

Also, please note if your company or event is within driving distance of where I am, such as Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham and Huntsville, PLEASE contact me as I will give you a very good deal on having me come in and present Think Like a Rockstar.  So if your local chapter of the Social Media Club or AMA, for example, wants to bring me in, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

I’m so excited about this book and can’t wait to finish it for y’all.  In fact the biggest reason why the manuscript is only 50% done at this point is because I keep re-writing the chapters I’ve finished cause I think of a way to make them better 😉  I hope you’ll enjoy it and I hope I can see YOU when I present Think Like a Rockstar!

As soon as I announced that I was writing Think Like a Rockstar, a lot of people began asking me if there would be a book tour.  Of course there will be!  I have been holding off on locking down dates till we got a bit of clarity about the book’s production schedule.  We now know that Think Like a Rockstar – How to Create Social Media and Marketing Strategies That Turn Customers Into Fans will be available for pre-order in August, and will be on-sale in April of 2013.

Now since this whole writing/publishing a book deal is new to me, I’ve begun to learn just how incredibly important it is that your book get as many copies pre-ordered as possible.   Here’s why:

1 – Higher pre-orders signal to book resellers like Amazon and B&N that they need to order more copies.

2 – Higher pre-orders signal to your publisher that they need to do a larger print run.

3 – Pre-orders count when the book ships, which can greatly impact your book’s sales numbers in the first week it’s on-sale.  Which also greatly impacts its chance of making all those bestseller lists!

So, that means I am going to do everything I can to encourage pre-orders of Think Like a Rockstar from August through April!  Which means I am going to do a LOT of speaking.  And I’m going to do everything I can to make it as easy and affordable as possible to bring me to your company or event to present Think Like a Rockstar!

If you want to be a part of the Think Like a Rockstar Book Tour, there’s three options available (All rates are for speaking in the continental United States only and don’t include travel):

1 – You can book me to present Think Like a Rockstar for $1,000.00.  This is HALF what I normally charge to present Think Like a Rockstar, and this rate is only valid for the remainder of 2012.  Half this fee will be due 60 days before the event, the balance due when I arrive at the event.  So for example if you wanted me to present on Aug 1st, I’d need $500.00 by June 1st, and the remaining $500.00 would be due when I arrive at the event.

2 – You can book me to present Think Like a Rockstar for $500.00 plus pre-ordering 50 copies of Think Like a Rockstar through Amazon.  The $500.00 fee will be due 60 days before the event.  The best part about this option is Amazon won’t charge your credit card for the pre-orders until the book goes on sale (April 2013).  Think Like a Rockstar will be paperback, so the price will likely be $14-16 dollars.  Also note that you can always take the books and resell them to recover most of your cost.

3 –  You can book me to present Think Like a Rockstar if you pre-order 100 copies of Think Like a Rockstar through Amazon.  Again, Amazon won’t charge your credit card for the pre-orders until the book goes on sale next year.  And you can always take the books and resell them to recover almost all of your cost!

I am offering such low rates on presenting Think Like a Rockstar because I want to build as much momentum as possible for the book prior to its launch.  The presentation will be 60-75 minutes including 15-30 mins for Q&A.  We can also add this with other services, for example if you’d like to bring me in to present Think Like a Rockstar PLUS do a Live #Blogchat, I can work out an impossibly affordable deal for that.

The bottom line is that I want to make it so affordable for you to bring me in to present Think Like a Rockstar that you can’t say no!  I’ve already confirmed a couple of events in October and February 2013, but can’t announce them yet as the organizers are waiting to make that announcement.

If you have any questions about these options and want to discuss locking down a date, please email me.  Or if you really want to have me present Think Like a Rockstar but none of these options work for you, email me and tell me what your situation is, I’ll try my best to work out a scenario that works for us both!

BONUS: I will do Option #1, presenting Think Like a Rockstar for just $1,000$500 to the FIRST taker(plus travel)! I can only do this for $500 one time, and it’s dependent on you paying the $500 by June 1st.  After June 1st, the offer goes away.  Please email me if you are interested in discussing this or any other option to have me present Think Like a Rockstar at your company, event or organization.

I had to chuckle at reading this article from Billboard which ponders why Lil Wayne gets more interaction on Facebook than Akon does:

“Lil Wayne was sending out short little posts – it could be ‘hi’ or ‘go Green Bay Packers,'” RootMusic’s doctor of pages, Matt Conn, said at the NARM panel “Social Music, Marketing and Monetization.” “Those things were his personality. Akon’s page would be posting three or four line paragraphs with no new pictures  and they were usually about new shows being announced or songs.”

So Lil Wayne is actually trying to connect with his fans, while Akon is trying to promote to his.  And we are somehow surprised that one Rockstar has an engagement level that’s 3 times that of the other?

And here’s the article’s takeaway: “The conclusion? Facebook updates need snappy text, high-resolution photographs and items that the artist asks fans to share. The focus in building fan bases has shifted in the last two years from the collecting of email addresses and sending out blasts to accumulating valuable “likes” on Facebook where an artist interacts with fans.”

No, Facebook updates need to be real.  So does your communication on all Social Media channels.  Want to know a big reason why Rockstars like Amanda Palmer and Lady Gaga are so popular on Social Media sites?  Because they share themselves as much or MORE than they promote themselves.  They snap pictures getting ready backstage, they show you pictures after their concerts with them out partying with their friends.  Even when they do promote themselves, they are honest about why they want you to support them and what it means to them.

Recently, there’s been a few articles claiming that companies are dumping their blogging efforts for Twitter and especially Facebook,because they feel they can get more ‘engagement’ on these sites.  A Like or ReTweet is only great if it leads to some other action.  People want to engage with companies they trust, companies that are real.  That means sometimes you have to forego promoting yourself for instead sharing content that helps your audience.

BTW for the cynics out there that wonder how you monetize this whole ‘being real’ stuff, and how Rockstars can make money off trading jokes on Twitter with their fans, there’s this:  On May 1st, Amanda Palmer started a page on Kickstarter trying to raise $100,000 to fund her new record and a tour to support that record.  She was hoping to raise $100,000 from her fans by May 31st.

Today is May the 14th, and she’s currently raised over $600,000 from over 12,000 fans.  By the time her funding window ends on May 31st, she will have likely raised over a million dollars for this project.

Not a bad return on ‘being real’ on Twitter.  Be straight and honest with people, don’t BS them, and you’ll be amazed at how much more ‘engaged’ they’ll be with you.  And you might even find out that they’ll give you their business, as well.

PS: Are you signed up for my newsletter that helps companies better understand and utilize Social Media Marketing?  It comes to your inbox every Wednesday, and features original content that you won’t find here.  If you want to subscribe, click the link, and thanks! 

 

…I’m writing a book!  Actually I’m writing the only book I’ve ever wanted to write, Think Like a Rockstar!  Rockstars have passionate fans that absolutely love them, so why can’t brands as well?  The short answer is they CAN, and Think Like a Rockstar will show companies and organizations how they can cultivate advocates for their brands and the business value in doing so!

Here’s some of the main areas that will be addressed by Think Like a Rockstar:

• Who are your brand’s fans, and why you need to connect with them instead of simply trying to ‘acquire’ new customers.  I’ll walk you through how to not only recognize your fans, but how to connect with them and even how to convert ‘ranters’ into ‘ravers’ (If your company has been struggling with how to respond to ‘negative’ feedback online, this is for you!).  I’ll also profile individual brand advocates so you can learn what makes these customers so very special.
• I’ll walk you through exactly what Rockstars do to connect with and cultivate their fans.  And a lot of what they do is completely confusing and counter-intuitive to most marketers.  They do crazy things like give away their product to the people that are most willing to buy it, and instead of trying to blast marketing messages to millions, they go out of their way to connect with only a dozen or two customers at a time.  But their methods work, and you’ll learn why.  Also, if your company is one of the many struggling to build engagement around your social media marketing efforts, Think Like a Rockstar will teach you how to solve this common marketing problem.
• An overview to becoming a Fan-Centric company.  Yep, after this you’ll have no more excuses!  This will show you what needs to happen both internally and externally in order to create a framework where you are directly connected to your brand’s fans, and they to you.
• And oh yes, there will be case studies, lots and lots of case studies!  I’ll look at dozens of examples of how both Rockstars and brands are embracing and empowering their biggest fans.  I’ll walk you through exactly what they did, explain why it worked, and show you how you can apply those lessons to YOUR marketing efforts!

I’ll be sharing more in the coming days/weeks/months about Think Like a Rockstar leading up to its publication (I’ll be sharing with you those dates as soon as they are nailed down).  Think Like a Rockstar will be published by McGraw-Hill and I could not be happier to be working with them.  Plus my editor, Casey Ebro, immediately ‘got’ why the idea behind Think Like a Rockstar was so big, and has been so enthusiastic about this project.  That’s critical, if you are thinking about writing a book, the importance of having a passionate editor that believes in the potential of your idea cannot be understated.

For the last four years, people have been asking me ‘So, when are YOU going to write a book?’  I haven’t written a book because I didn’t want to write a book, I wanted to write THIS book.  Seriously, this is the only book I’ve ever wanted to write, ‘writing a book’ is not on my bucket list but I wanted to write this book because I believe in the concept that strongly.

This wouldn’t be happening without the help and advice of many people, but I wanted to mention a few friends that really helped me turn this project into reality.  They are Beth Harte, Lisa Petrilli, Lou Imbriano, Ann Handley and Amy Africa.  And an additional thanks to Lisa for introducing me to my agent, Linda Langton, who was an immense catalyst in helping this project see the light of day.  I’ll have a future post on the value of getting an agent versus going it alone when trying to get a book deal (and I tried both!).

Thanks to everyone that’s been so supportive of my being able to write Think Like a Rockstar.  Now if you don’t see me blogging as much here for the next 4-5 months, hopefully you’ll understand why 😉