25d • General discussion
What To Do Today to Cut Through the Marketing Confusion
Build an email list. Start a TikTok. Post every day. Don’t post every day. Run ads. Don’t run ads until you have a series. Get on podcasts. Build a launch team. Do newsletter swaps. Go wide. Stay exclusive. Make reels. Write long-form posts. Create a reader magnet. Optimize Amazon. Sell direct. Start a community. Build a brand.
And the exhausting part is that they’re not wrong.
That’s what makes it maddening.
If the advice were all terrible, you could ignore it and go make a sandwich. But a lot of it is good advice in the right situation, for the right author, at the right stage, with the right book, for the right goal.
So instead of clarity, you get a thousand open tabs in your brain.
And there you are, holding your book, wondering whether you are supposed to be a writer, a content creator, a media company, a data analyst, a publicist, a graphic designer, an ad buyer, a community leader, and a mildly unhinged motivational speaker with good lighting.
No wonder authors freeze.
The framework I’m going to share with you today is one that you can do each day, and it’s a great place to start. It will not suddenly solve all your marketing problems and produce shiny rainbows and bunny rabbits with gold coins shooting out their fluffy little butts, but it will get you going.
It will bring you forward motion.
Remember, every beautiful oak tree begins with a buried acorn.
Every perfect result begins with imperfect action.
ASK
So here is what I want you to do today.
Do not try to formulate a marketing strategy.
Figure out where you’re stuck.
There’s only five places that could be the core of the problem: visibility, clarity/positioning, trust, sales, or connection.
To help you figure this out, ask yourself the following questions:
Do people not know the book exists?
Then your problem is VISIBILITY.
Do people see the book but still not understand what it is, who it is for, or why they should care?
Then your problem is CLARITY.
Do people seem interested, but they are not confident enough to buy, join, sign up, or take the next step?
Then your problem may be TRUST.
Do people reach the point of purchase but hesitate, click away, or fail to follow through?
Then your problem may be SALES. Something about the offer, description, cover, reviews, price, sales page, or buying process may be creating friction.
Do people buy the book but disappear afterward, never to leave a review, join your list, buy another book, or continue the relationship?
Then your problem may be CONNECTION. Readers need somewhere to go after they find you.
And if you are still writing the book while trying to do every marketing tactic at the same time, your problem may be even earlier than marketing. You may be trying to build a bridge to a destination you have not finished naming yet.
CHOOSE
You probably discovered that you have more than one problem.
That is normal.
A book can need more visibility and more clarity. It can need trust and a better buying page. It can need stronger reader connection and a more consistent way for people to find it in the first place.
This is exactly why authors get overwhelmed. Once you see the whole map, you feel like you have to fix the whole map.
You do not.
Not today.
Today, pick one lane.
Pick the lane that seems to be creating the biggest bottleneck right now.
If you are not sure where to start, start with clarity.
Clarity strengthens everything else. It makes your visibility more effective, your trust easier to build, your sales page stronger, and your reader connection more natural.
So for today, choose one lane.
Not forever.
Not as your new personality.
Just for today.
ACT
Now take action…only one action is necessary.
Take one action that serves that lane.
Not twelve.
Not a whole new identity.
Not a complete brand overhaul because someone on the internet made you feel spiritually behind.
One useful action.
So what action should you choose?
If your lane is visibility, post something that helps the right reader recognize themselves.
If your lane is clarity, rewrite your book description so it actually says what the book is, who it is for, and why it matters.
If your lane is trust, ask a reader for a review, share a meaningful behind-the-book story, or show people why you are the right person to write this book.
If your lane is sales, look at the page where people decide whether to buy and ask what might be creating hesitation.
If your lane is connection, give readers somewhere to go after they encounter you, even if it is simple.
YOUR GOAL TODAY
The goal today is not to solve all of marketing.
The goal is to stop standing in the middle of the noise waiting for the noise to become orderly.
It won’t.
You have to create the order.
Start with the actual problem in front of you. Then choose the next useful move.
So tell me: which lane are you in today?
Visibility, clarity, trust, sales, or connection?
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What To Do Today to Cut Through the Marketing Confusion
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