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Putting Out a Social Media Firestorm BEFORE it Starts!

Note: A version of this post appeared in this week’s Think Like a Rock Star newsletter.  If you would like to subscribe, click here.

Last week when I was in Nashville something interesting happened: I was primarily in town to talk about Think Like a Rock Star with the Nashville chapter of the AMA at their monthly luncheon.  But earlier that morning, I briefly spoke to a group of about a dozen CMOs.

It was interesting to hear the feedback from both groups.  After the lunchtime presentation, some people wanted to talk about how to find and connect with their fans, many people loved the case studies, some people wanted to talk about creating more engaging content.  In other words, there were plenty of themes that resonated with the audience, and areas that they felt they needed help with.

But the group of CMOs were focused on one key area:  They wanted help in dealing with customers that were using social media tools to say negative things about them or even attack their brands online.

I *love* this topic because I believe it’s so misunderstood by many companies.  The first thing to realize is that the vast majority of the time when a customer says something negative about your brand, it’s not because she wants to cause your brand harm, it’s because she wants your brand to respond to her!  That’s it.  She’s tried calling your customer support line and she was put on hold for 15 mins, then hung up on.  She emailed your support department yesterday, and has never heard back.  She’s tried the ‘normal’ channels to get your brand to help her, and she’s gotten no response.  So she does the only thing she knows to do next: She’s turned to social media to bitch about you, hoping that it will get your attention!

That’s typically how it goes.  Granted, sometimes people DO want to start trouble for your brand, and sometimes customers DO attack your brand just to see what you will give them to shut them up, but these instances are the exception.

So how can you plan TODAY to better deal with a customer ‘attack’ that might be coming tomorrow?

First, you need this:

GuardDogStart connecting with your fans.  You want your fans to be more engaged with you, you want them participating and interacting with you on your social media sites.  There are countless reasons why this benefits your brand, but for the purposes of this topic it’s this:  Your fans are the ‘guard dog’.  If I am a person that TRULY wants to come to your Facebook page and cause a stink, seeing that you have several fans that LOVE your brand commenting and engaging there, scares me off.  Why?  Because your fans will come to your defense if someone shows up trying to start trouble.  So if I am there to pick a fight with your brand, I don’t want to fight with your fans.  So if your fans are ‘guarding the yard’, I will move on.  Think of your fans as your ‘Social Media Home Security System’.

Second, you need to create a plan for dealing with customer complaints.  The starting point is to assess why the person is complaining.  This helps you determine if the person is truly a disgruntled customer that needs your help, or a troll that’s just there to kick sand all over the place.  The disgruntled customer will typically talk about their experience, what went wrong, how they tried previously to resolve the issue, and could not, etc.  The troll will typically talk about your brand in more general terms, accuse you of not supporting Belief A or Agenda X, of creating a product that destroys the environment in Area B of the world, etc.  BTW the disgruntled customer should not be confused with ‘I want a freebie’, as these are trolls in disguise that think if they complain about you that you will offer them a freebie to shut them up.

The idea is, you want to give the actual customers the service they need and deserve, and not waste time on the trolls.  And again, the odds are you will rarely, if ever encounter a troll.  Especially if you have engaged with your fans and they are actively ‘in your yard’.

So if you currently need help dealing with angry customers ‘in your social media yard’, then I have three options to help you:

1 – Subscribe to the Think Like a Rock Star newsletter for free.  It’s a weekly newsletter and one of the most common topics we tackle is dealing with negative comments from customers online.  Click here to subscribe.

2 – Read Chapter Six of Think Like a Rock Star (click here to order it on Amazon).  The entire chapter is devoted to properly handling negative comments with multiple case studies from brands that did a great job of handling customer complaints, and a few that did not.  It walks you through the exact steps you should take to respond to unsatisfied customers in order to convert them into passionate fans.   The book costs $15 currently on Amazon, and this chapter alone is well worth that price.

3 – Hire me to help you deal with upset customers online.  I can work with you to craft a plan and strategy for handling future negative feedback you encounter from customers, as well as help you tackle current issues you might be facing.  I can also be available ‘on call’ to help you handle future issues that pop up that require your attention quickly.  Email me to discuss your exact needs and the help I can provide you.

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How to Totally Botch a New Book’s Marketing In the First Month (Hint: Create a Plan)

Hey y’all!  So over the last few months as I began promoting the fact that Think Like a Rock Star was coming out, more and more of you started contacting me saying you were either starting to write your own book, or thinking about doing so.  So I wanted to share my experience with the book’s launch so that maybe it will help you.

First, you need to understand this: You are on your own when it comes to marketing your new book.  Seriously, 99% of the book’s marketing and promotion is on you.  No, your publisher isn’t going to help you, at least not very much.  Not because they are evil people, but they are in the publishing business, not the marketing business.  They have limited marketing resources, and what they do have goes to proven authors with big names.  That’s not me, and it’s not you.  So as Michael Hyatt says, you have to essentially assume the role of CMO of your own book.  Because you are.

Now, when you are marketing a new book, one of the big considerations is your launch strategy.  We’ve all heard stories about this author or that author that moved several thousands of copies of their new book at launch, and made the New York Times Bestseller List.  What that author won’t typically tell you is they sold 5,000 copies during launch week because they promoted the book at launch endlessly to their email list, which had 200,000 members that they have been building since 2000.  The point is, unless you have a huge platform to promote your book from, IMO it’s not worth the effort to focus most of your efforts on a big launch.  You SHOULD try to sell as many copies as possible at launch, but you should be trying to sell as many copies AFTER launch as well.  But there’s no denying that making a bestseller list is a huge deal, but for me, I felt my efforts could be better placed elsewhere.

Amazon sells your book when they get it

This is a lesson I learned the hard way.  First, let me back up and tell you what my plan was:

1 – The paperback version of TLAR was scheduled to go on sale on April 19th.

2 – From watching other books that had launched from my publisher, typically Amazon would start selling the Kindle version of the book about 3 weeks prior to selling the paperback version.

3 – That gave me a 3-week window to get as many reviews up as possible for the Kindle version of the book.  This is big, because a review for the Kindle edition also shows up on the paperback/hardback version of the book, even if it’s not out yet.  So if the Kindle version of the book comes out 3 weeks before the paperback version, that means any reviews of the Kindle edition will show up in the listing for the paperback edition.  What I wanted to happen was to have several great reviews up for the book at launch, to drive more sales.

4 – In February, McGraw-Hill put TLAR on NetGalley.  NetGalley is a site where publishers provide a free ebook version of their books, and potential reviewers ask for a copy of the book to review, and the publisher then sends the book to the people they approve.  The idea is that if you request a copy of the book via NetGalley, you are doing so because you intend to review it online.  Think Like a Rock Star was the most requested title on NetGalley that McGraw-Hill has ever published.  So I was pretty stoked about that, and thought it would drive a LOT of reviews leading up to the launch.

5 – In March and leading up through the end of April, I had planned on doing multiple guest posts on multiple sites.  Now this is something I honestly wasn’t looking forward to doing.  I hate the idea of asking (which to me seems like begging) other bloggers to let me write a guest post for them.  I had already done a few by the end of March and everyone I talked to was extremely gracious about it.

6 – I created a small Street Team to help me promote the book.  This was honestly the smartest thing I did, as it was effectively tying into the core concept of TLAR: Connect with your fans and give them control of your message.  The Street Team would help get the word out about the book, review it on Amazon and elsewhere, etc.

7 – I created #Rockstarchat in March to help support readers AFTER they bought the book.  This was also smart, because it provides value for people AFTER they buy the book, but it also drives NEW sales as people participate in the chat.

8 – I sent out a small number of paperback review copies to people that I *knew* would likely buy the book.  I didn’t see this as losing sales, I saw it as a way to THANK people that were supporting me and the book.  This was a very small number, maybe 10 copies total.

 

So now I had my launch strategy

And when I say ‘launch strategy’, I don’t mean ‘my strategy to move enough copies at launch to make the New York Times Bestseller List’.  I just assumed THAT would never happen.  But I did want to make a splash at launch to give the book a nice jumpstart and help it hit the ground running.  But again, I wanted the launch to be the START of the book’s sales, not the high point!

So the plan was this:

1 – From mid-March through the end of April, do multiple guest posts for other bloggers to build exposure and awareness for the book

2 – The Kindle version of the book should drop around late March, the paperback version on April 19th.  That gave me a 3-week window to get as many reviews up as possible on Amazon.  Inbetween the Street Team, the people on NetGalley that had requested a review copy, and sales from new customers, the goal was to have a few dozen reviews up by April 19th.  My feeling was that that many would be enough to help drive NEW sales of the paperback at launch.

 

So I was ready to go, and then Amazon pulled the rug out from under me

On March 26th, I noticed that the Kindle edition of TLAR went on sale.  Excellent, this was the 25 days before the paperback version was set to go on sale, which was exactly where I was thinking it would start selling.  Perfect.  I immediately emailed the Street Team, and a few friends that I knew had read the book and asked (read: begged) them to please post their reviews on Amazon ASAP.  By the next day Amazon already had 3 reviews up, and I was feeling like the plan was starting to click into place.

Then it happened.  On Friday, March 29th, I got an email from Amazon saying the on-sale date for TLAR had been moved up from April 19th to April 1st!  So that 3-week window I was expecting between the on-sale date for the Kindle version and the paperback version had been reduced to 5 days.

Lovely.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst part.  The paperback version of TLAR went on sale on April 1st on Amazon, and immediately sold out.  And was out of stock for three freaking days.  Which was awesome and terrible all at the same time.  It’s awesome that the book was so popular that it had sold out, but terrible that I missed three days worth of sales during launch week because Amazon can’t properly manage its inventory for a book that had pre-sold well for 6 months prior.  As you can tell, I am no longer bitter 🙂

So it’s now the 1st week of this month, and my launch strategy is officially in the toilet.  Best laid plans, and all that jazz.  But I started noticing something happening:  People started telling me that their copy of the book had shipped, or a few had already received their copy of the book, and were posting pictures of them on Twitter.  Of course this thrilled me and I went out of my way to thank them and engage with them.  Then strangers started doing the same thing.

Then it hit me:  The fans of the book needed to be the people that were driving the promotion of the book, not me!  So I went out of my way to start engaging with fans of the book, which is what I was going to do anyway, but I did so aggressively.  I thanked them profusely, and I noticed that they started promoting the book MORE as a result!  They started encouraging other friends to buy the book.  They started reviewing it on their blogs and other sites.  Of course I would ask them to also review it on Amazon if they could (a couple of people THANKED ME for asking them to please review MY book on Amazon!)

This is just a sampling of what I was seeing on Twitter during launch week:

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What I also noticed was that sales went up after launch week.  More reviews started coming in on Amazon (Four 5-star reviews last Thurs and Friday alone), and more people started talking about the book on Twitter and Facebook.

Then last Tuesday just before I started presenting TLAR at Jacksonville State, I saw this on Amazon:

Amazon#1#2

BOOM!  That was the high-point for sales of the book at that point, and what’s most important was it was being driven by fans of the book.  Now I’m not posting this just to brag (ok I am a little because I’m super proud of this book), but mainly to make the point to you that this was painfully easy to do!  All I did was embrace the fans of the book and THANK them for helping me promote the book.  How many times have I said that the two most important words in social media are ‘thank you’?  This is not rocket science, folks.  Find the people that are supporting you (your fans), and embrace them and THANK them.

Say ‘Thank You!’ early and often, and mean it.  That’s really all there is to it when it comes to driving new sales.  If I can figure this stuff out, anyone can do it 🙂

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#RockstarChat Today is With Billboard’s Social Marketing Manager Katie Morse!

katie mo headshots 4Today’s #RockstarChat will have its first co-host, Billboard’s own Katie Morse!  I interviewed Katie for Think Like a Rock Star, and in today’s chat she will talk to us about how rock stars are using social media and other marketing channels to connect with their fans.  Then we’ll talk about what brands can learn from rock stars in connecting with their own fans.

To prep for today’s chat, I wanted to share an interview I did with Katie several months ago while I was still writing Think Like a Rock Star:

Mack: For Rockstars, it just seems so natural for most of them to have a very close connection with their fans.  Yet for most brands, the exact opposite is true.  Why do you think Rockstars go out of their way to embrace their fans, when most brands keep their’s at arm’s length?  

Katie: I think this dichotomy exists for 2 reasons.

1 – Brands never HAD to “embrace their fans” before social media. Many brands spent millions doing the opposite, in fact – turning their customers into anonymous data points and trying to make the most amount of money possible based off of statistical models and predictions.

2 – Rock stars have a necessary connection with their fans based off their model of monetization… in these days (and even previously) you had to tour to make money. Now that’s apparent more than ever, and who goes to a show? PEOPLE! Musician’s couldn’t ignore their fans the way brands could before.

I also think that brands, for a long time, were afraid of “being human”. You see this pop up in all sorts of areas… scripted customer service calls, for an example. Somewhere along the line from the mom and pop shops of the 1800-1900’s to the monolithic corporations of today brands lost that “human touch” which musicians could never afford to lose.

Mack: Throughout your professional career, and especially now handling Social Media Marketing for Billboard, you’ve been exposed to how Rockstars connect with their fans.  What do you think is the most important lesson or two that brands can learn from the relationship Rockstars have with their fans?

Katie:  1 – Go off-script. I Tweeted the other day(Edit by Mack, this interview was done last Aug for the book ;)) that Josh Groban’s Twitter account is consistently one of my favorites to follow. Why? Because he’s not a marketing machine. He’s a real person with a personality. He even has some pretty good jokes! Brands don’t need to learn to “be human” but they DO need to learn how to better communicate with real people online. That requires adopting a more conversational and human tone and not being afraid to be honest, or deal with the unexpected.

2 – Less Wizard of Oz, more Dorothy. People want to see what’s behind the curtain more than ever these days. Musicians have taken to Instagram en masse, just as an example, and many share photos of life on tour or even daily live (Rihanna, Drake, etc). This content is GOLD in fans eyes… who doesn’t want to see what Drake’s hotel room in Cannes really looks like, or what Rihanna really gets up to on a “night out with the girls”? The same thing should apply to your brand. No, not everyone cares to see photos of worker bees in cubicles, but we DO want to take a peek into how your bottled beverage is really put together, or what the raw incredients for my favorite meal at a restaurant really look like. GE does a wonderful job of this with their Instagram account, by the way.

Mack: How can a brand measure the bottom-line impact of connecting with their biggest fans?  I think most brands accept that fans probably spend more than the average customer and speak more positively about the brand, but if a CMO wanted to convince her boss to launch a formal program to connect with its brand advocates, how would she sell the boss on spending the money to do so?

Katie: It has to tie back to revenue, so start there. First – start with proving that your biggest fans DO spend more, do your research! From there, I’d suggest asking for a small budget to launch a pilot program to connect with and reward brand advocates. They may love your company, but everyone loves getting a little something in return, too. Perhaps a small meetup (drinks on your company!) might be a good place to start. You can invite the CMO, structure it like an informal focus group and get opinions from your biggest fans. From there, show them that you used their feedback in some way! Measure the amount that they spent before and after, and also measure the buzz they helped to create for your company online over time. Those are the results the CMO wants to see and those results also give you a great parameter in asking for budget. On the up side, if your initial foray ends up creating more referrals/sales/revenue than you projected, you can ask for a bigger budget! Increased online buzz is great, but ultimately if that leads to sales, page views, or whatever your revenue driver is it’s a win. If not… try again.

 

And Katie will be joining us today at 1pm Central at #RockstarChat on Twitter to share more smartitude like this.  Hope you can join us!

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The Two Most Important Words in Social Media Are ‘Thank You’

ThankYouYesterday on Twitter I started getting tweets from people saying that their copy of Think Like a Rock Star had shipped, or a few even posted pictures of the book as it arrived.  SUCH an amazing feeling for an author to see others excited about receiving my book!

And of course I made a point to thank anyone that tweeted that they had ordered the book.  Then something interesting started happening.  I began to notice that people were favoriting my tweets thanking them!  Really?  Are we so conditioned to being underappreciated that we feel the need to favorite a tweet where someone thanks us?  I had people thanking ME for thanking them!

This is another reason why I think that most people, brands, organizations, etc make proper social media usage way more complicated than it has to be.  When I say ‘thank you’ on Twitter to someone that has helped me, I’m not being a ‘social media expert’, I’m being a decent human being.  In much the same way that using social media doesn’t make you a ‘social’ person, if you treat others with the same kindness and respect via social media that you do offline, you’ll be respected and appreciated online as well.

Don’t make this stuff harder than it needs to be.

Want to instantly get more comments on your blog?  Get in the habit of saying ‘thank you!’ when someone comments.

Want more people to share your content on Twitter?  Get in the habit of saying ‘thank you!’ when someone RTs you.

Reward the type of behavior that you want others to engage in.  In other words, appreciate and thank the people that are helping you, and they will probably keep doing so.

PS: Thanks to everyone that has ordered Think Like a Rock Star.  Amazon actually RAN OUT of copies but I’m being told there are more on the way.  You can order your copy here, and if you are still on the fence as to whether or not you’ll enjoy the book, please check the reviews.

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Think Like a Rock Star is Officially ON SALE!

TLARTWeets

UPDATE: Amazon is currently SOLD OUT of Think Like a Rock Star.  You can still order it, but there’s currently a 6-12 day delay in shipping.  Barnes and Noble still has it in stock for the moment, and it’s the same price as Amazon, $11.00.

Eleven months ago I announced that I was writing Think Like a Rock Star, today I can announce that the book is officially ON SALE!  The book is only $11.00, and here’s 5 reasons why you should buy Think Like a Rock Star TODAY:

1 – Step By Step Instructions In Every Single Chapter: Before writing this book I checked the Amazon reviews for comparable marketing and social media books.  The most common complaint was ‘tells me why I should be doing this, but doesn’t show me how to do it‘.  So I forced myself to show you HOW to do everything, if I tell you WHY it’s important to do something, I also tell you HOW to do it.

2 – Case studies from both the music industry and business side.  Every point made is clearly illustrated by rock stars that use these methods to connect with their fans, as well as businesses that are doing the same thing.  This way you can see what success looks like and it helps you understand the lessons I am teaching.

3 – An entire chapter devoted to responding to angry customers online and converting them into passionate fans.  You not only get exact, step-by-step instructions on how to respond to angry customers, but I also show you why they are angry, so you can avoid this situation in the future.  And case studies are provided of businesses that successfully handled a potential social media firestorm with their customers, and a couple that did not.  This chapter alone is easily worth the price of the book.

4 – The entire book takes you on the journey from being disconnected from your fans, to being a fan-centric organization.  The book starts with teaching you the very basics about connecting with your fans.  Then once those initial connections are made, it teaches you about the process of working with your fans.  Then as those connections grow, I walk you through building formal programs to connect to your fans like outreach programs or brand ambassador programs.  At the end you have a book that walks you through the process to becoming a fan-centric brand, step by step.

5 – It’s a business book that is actually fun to read!  Boring business books are SUCH a pet peeve of mine.  I hate them, and it’s the main reason why I never finish most of the business books I start reading.  Think Like a Rock Star was written to be a fun read, because I am throwing a LOT of information and lessons at you, so if the reading itself isn’t fun and enjoyable, you won’t stick around to process everything you are being taught.  But so far, everyone I have heard from has really enjoyed the book.  And so far ‘The Jewel Story’ seems to be the favorite.  You’ll have to read the book to see if you agree!

BONUS:  Johnny Cash as a case study in a business book.  That alone guarantees that Think Like a Rock Star has to be awesome 🙂

 

Now since this is officially Launch Week on Amazon, you will seriously help me if you buy Think Like a Rock Star this week.  Besides, at $11.00, the book likely won’t go down in price any further, so this is probably the cheapest you’ll ever get it.  And if you have already bought the book, or if you have already read it via NetGalley or another source, would you please go this week and review the book on Amazon, on GoodReads, and on Barnes and Noble?  This will greatly help me as more reviews drive more sales.

Thank you all SO much for your support and encouragement here, on Twitter and Facebook.  It means the world to me and I am so excited to see an idea that I am so passionate about be in book form where it can help companies and brands better appreciate and connect with their biggest fans.

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How The Zac Brown Band Cultivates Fans, By Feeding Them

The power of connecting fans with each other.  It’s a key business lesson that rock stars have long understood, that many brands still don’t get.

About three years ago, The Zac Brown Band started doing something before each concert called an Eat N Greet.  The idea is to bring the band’s biggest fans together before the show, and feed them a ‘gourmet Southern meal’.  But more than that, the band has created a very low-key and comfortable way for their biggest fans to connect with them.  The band serves their fans, then as they are eating Zac Brown and other bandmates will walk around and mingle with the fans and spend time talking to them.  It’s not a time for taking pictures and signing autographs, it’s a time for the band to truly connect with its biggest fans and get to know them a little better.

Last year I blogged about how Taylor Swift does something similar for her biggest fans with the T-Parties.  With both the Zac Brown Band’s Eat N Greet and Taylor’s T-Parties, the idea is to create a special experience for the artist’s biggest fans.  But more than that, these rock stars are creating a way to get their biggest fans together and connect them to each other.  They’ve created an intimate setting where the fans are connected to each other over a love of their favorite artist.

This is important because these fans will share stories with each other about their favorite artist, and it helps validate to them why they love them.  And as the fans connect with each other, it increases the chance that they will become friends themselves, since they now have a very common interest: They are both fans of their favorite artist.

Maker’s Mark does something similar to this with its barrelmates in its brand ambassador program.  Each brand ambassador gets a chance to buy whiskey from a particular barrel.  Their name and the name of 29 other ambassadors goes on each barrel.  The barrel spends several years aging, and as it does, Maker’s Mark creates an online forum to connect these 30 people to each other, and let them get to know one another.  But the common thread here again, is a love of the brand Maker’s Mark.

Again, it’s not that rock stars have a natural advantage that brands do not when it comes to cultivating fans.  It’s that rock stars understand the value of their fans, and relentlessly focus on giving their most passionate customers ‘more than they expect’.

As you watch this video, think about this; What if your brand had a way to connect with its biggest fans, 50 or 100 at a time, all across the country? How would that impact the number of fans that your brand has? The relationship with those fans? Customer loyalty? The amount of sales driven by those fans?

Now ask yourself why you aren’t working to create an amazing experience like this for your biggest fans. And if you want to learn how to get started, I’ve written the very book that shows you how.

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More Think Like a Rock Star Book Tour Stops to Announce

Hey y’all, I wanted to give you an update on a few new speaking engagements I’ve added to the Think Like a Rock Star Book Tour page.  You can always check here for the latest info on where I will be speaking.

The great thing about both these events is that they are in Alabama!  I rarely get to speak in my home state, so this is a treat!  The first event is Power to the People, it’s an all-day Social Media Marketing/Mobile Marketing workshop that I will be doing along with the amazing CK at Jacksonville State University, in Jacksonville, AL.  We’ll be covering all things Social Media Marketing and Mobile Marketing, and I will be presenting Think Like a Rock Star.  Plus, the first 25 attendees will receive a copy of Think Like a Rock Star and all attendees will receive a copy of CK’s new ebook Innovation Through Mobile.  If you are interested in attending (it’s a BARGAIN at $99 for 8 hours of workshops, plus breakfast and lunch!), then click here to register!

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The second Alabama event I’ll be presenting Think Like a Rock Star at is a new conference, Y’all Connect.  This is the South’s first conference focused on Corporate Storytelling.  It’s in July, and already has a great speaker lineup including Ike Pigott, Nichole Kelly, Peter Shankman, Andrea Weckerle and many more!  Also, the first 100 people to register for Y’all Connect will receive a free copy of Think Like a Rock Star!  Plus I will be signing copies at both events!

Finally, if you would like to have me present Think Like a Rock Star at your event or for your company, please email me.  I will make it as affordable as possible for you, and will also do a book signing for free.  All of McGraw-Hill’s internal sales forecasting as well as early reviews we’ve gotten on Think Like a Rock Star point to it being a very successful book, so please contact me now if you want to lock me in to present over the next 3-4 months.

Also, I am offering Think Like a Rock Star workshops for companies that want to learn how to better connect with their fans and most supportive customers.  The length of the workshop can be completely customized from 2 hours to 2 days.  Additionally, content will be crafted based on your company’s unique needs.  Please email me to discuss what those needs are, and to check my availability.

Oh and one last thing, #RockstarChat starts in ONE HOUR on Twitter at 1pm Central!  Today we will be talking about whether it makes more sense for companies to try to connect with influencers, or their fans.  See you there!

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Want to Read Think Like a Rock Star Now, For Free?

My publisher, McGraw-Hill has added Think Like a Rock Star as one of the books available on NetGalley.  NetGalley is a site that lets book reviewers have access to advance, uncorrected copies of books.  It’s intended primarily for members of the media and bloggers that frequently review books on their site.

So if you want to read an electronic copy of Think Like a Rock Star, go to NetGalley and create a free account, then request to review Think Like a Rock Star.  Now I cannot stress this enough, it’s up to the publisher whether or not you are granted access to the book.  And if you have written 2 blog posts this year and have never reviewed a book on your blog, well you’re probably not going to be approved.

If you are approved, you can either read the book on your Kindle, or read it on your Mac or PC.  If you want to read it on your Mac or PC, first go and download this e-reader from Adobe.  Then you can download the book and read it.

That’s it!  Now there is another option if you want to access the book now:  You can always join the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team.  You’ll be approved for access to the book now, but there are certain responsibilities to being part of the team, so make sure you review them at the post.

Finally, if you want to pre-order the book (it comes out in five weeks) then Barnes and Noble currently has it for $11.28 and Amazon has it as an e-book for $9.99.  The e-book will likely be released in 2-3 weeks.

BTW thank y’all SO much for your support of Think Like a Rock Star.  I had a marketing call with McGraw-Hill last week and they did their first sales projections for the book and although they wouldn’t tell me the exact numbers yet, they said the projections were ‘VERY good’! Thanks to everyone for your continued support, I think this book is going to really help a lot of companies better connect with their most passionate customers, and create amazing experiences for them!

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Announcing the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team and Free Benefits For You

NOTE: The Street Team is now full, thanks for your interest!

As we talked about on Monday, I don’t like to ask for help.  But I am going to do so now because I need your help to make Think Like a Rock Star as successful as possible.  I need you to join the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team.

The TLAR Street Team will help me get the word out about Think Like a Rock Star to other people.  This team will be limited to 25 people, and if you agree to join, you will get special benefits that are only available to this team, including:

  • An electronic copy of the book now, 6 weeks prior to it being available in stores.  This will be available on a site online for you to read.  Other than a few select marketers that I requested feedback from, you will be among the first 25 people in the world to read Think Like a Rock Star.
  • A special Marked N Remarked copy of Think Like a Rock Star will be mailed to you in May.  Your copy of Think Like a Rock Star will be signed and numbered and each copy will be marked up with notes, sketches, underlined key points, etc.  No one else in the world will have a copy like this.
  • You’ll receive a free 30-minute phone call with me sometime in 2013.  We can discuss your social media strategy, how your company plans on connecting with its fans, advice on setting up a blog or Twitter chat, literally anything in world you need help with.  I normally charge $150 for a 30-minute consulting call.
  • A 25% discount for the remainder of 2013 on any TLAR-related products or services I offer.  This includes speaking and workshops.

Now here’s what I will expect from you if you join the Think Like a Rock Star Street Team:

  • You agree to post a review of Think Like a Rock Star on Amazon no later than April 19th or the date it first goes on sale on the site in paperback form, whichever comes first.  A big part of my launch strategy for Think Like a Rock Star is to have as many Amazon reviews as possible up by launch week for the book.  You are encouraged to write reviews on other online booksellers as well, but you must agree to write one on Amazon by the end of the book’s launch week.
  • You agree to help promote Think Like a Rock Star to your online networks now through the end of the book’s launch week (tentatively set for April 19th-25th).  This includes sharing links to buy the book on Amazon, B&N and other etailers.
  • You agree to participate (as you can) in future #rockstarchats every Weds at 1pm Central on Twitter
  • You agree to give me constant feedback and advice on how we can better spread Think Like a Rock Star’s message to more people.

That’s it!  Now if you have already pre-ordered a copy of Think Like a Rock Star and want to join the Launch Team, do-so and what I’ll do is write a guest post for your blog and we can giveaway the copy you pre-ordered (since you’ll be replacing it with a S&Ned Marked N Remarked copy ;))

If you want to join the TLAR Street Team, then please email me and let me know.  I will need your email address so I can get you online access to Think Like a Rock Star (you’ll need to sign up for a free account on a 3rd party site, but otherwise it’s a painless process).

I really need your help with this, thank you so much!

by

What Amanda Palmer Teaches Us About Asking For and Receiving Help

I was delighted to see that TED posted Amanda Palmer’s talk from last month on its site.  Amanda is one of the main music case studies in Think Like a Rock Star, and it’s because she does an amazing job of not only connecting with her fans, but asking her fans for help and support.  She is constantly giving her fans free and secret shows, then again she is constantly asking her fans to help her, either by providing her with an item she needs, or by supporting efforts like her record-setting Kickstarter project.

But the core lesson of her talk was about the power of asking for help.  This is a topic that resonated with me because it’s one I struggle with.  As Amanda said in her talk, asking for help makes us vulnerable.  A lot of people don’t like being vulnerable or being put in a vulnerable position.  But the upside of this is that it also makes it easier for others to connect with us when we are vulnerable.

Every week during #Blogchat I will have people tell me that they get so much value from the chat.  That’s honestly a big reason why I continue doing it, because I know it is helping so many people become better bloggers.  I love that I have created a way for hundreds of people to come together every Sunday night and help each other.  But I absolutely hate the idea of bringing on sponsors for #Blogchat, because I hate asking for help.  Honestly, I rarely push for sponsors unless there is a perfect fit, or if I really need some extra money.  Otherwise, I simply hate doing it because it feels like I am trying to monetize something that we all create together.

But with my book, it’s a completely different story.  I love promoting the book, because I don’t see it as asking people to help me, I see it as asking people to support an idea.  People have asked me over the last year ‘How can I help support YOU and your book?’  I clam up when I hear that, because I don’t want these people to support me, I want them to be excited about the idea behind the book.

So in light of Amanda’s talk, I found that dichotomy interesting between my reluctance to ask for help personally, versus my wanting help spreading an idea I am passionate about.  I’m interested to hear what you think about it.

Here’s her TED talk:

[ted id=1682]

And in light of her talk, I wanted to make it the focus of our first #RockstarChat on Wednesday at 1pm Central on Twitter.  We’ll chat about how brands can do a better job of asking their fans to help and support them.  Hope to see you then!