Note: This is our last post of 2011! We’ll see you all back on the blog on January 9, 2012!
It’s not quite time to break out the champagne yet! Before you ring in the new year, take a few moments to evaluate 2011. If you’re in the writing phase of your self-publishing journey, take a good, hard look at Shannon’s Writing Review and Resolutions post from last week.
Regardless of where you are in the publishing process, however, there are always marketing actions you can take to garner a bit of publicity for yourself and earn new readers. Let’s evaluate how you did in that arena this year and begin thinking about how to accomplish even more next year!
The positives: What did you accomplish?
Even if you did nothing else this year, taking the time to sit down now and THINK about marketing is a gigantic positive. Aside from that, however, jot down anything else you did to get your name out there — tweeting, newsletters, selling books, blogging, etc. We’re all about motivation and positivity here, so pat yourself on the back for any and all positive marketing steps you took this year.
The negatives: Where did you fall short?
The best laid plans of mice and men…well, you know. Just like our eyes can be bigger than our stomachs when eating, our brain can dream goals larger than time (and life) allow us to meet. What goals did you fail to meet this year? And, the bigger question — why? Did life get in the way? Did you lose motivation by February? Were the goals too big? Not well-defined? Taking the time now to evaluate and learn from those shortcomings will most certainly help you move forward in the coming year.
Homework: How will things be different in 2012?
Using both of the lists you made above, think up (or jot down) at least 2 ways in which 2012 will be different. How do you accomplish more of the positives you listed and less of the negatives? We don’t want you to write down specific goals (no worries, we’ll tackle that in January), but take a few moments to picture the ideal (but realistic) marketing version of yourself a year from now and what you can do to get to that spot.
Talk Back!
Share your positives, negatives, and what you’ve learned from this year in marketing in the comments.
We’ll be off until our next post on January 9th, but we hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday and rings in 2012 in style! We hope to help you make it the best one yet!
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