Susan Friedmann [00:00:31]:

Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, Tools, ideas, and tips from the masters. Every week, I introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books. 

 

Today, my special guest is Virginia Parsons. She's the visionary behind media spotlight marketing And the host of the inspirational businesswomen's show for over a decade. Boasting nearly 3 decades in the marketing arena, Virginia has been honored as a best of Reno awardee nine times. She empowers heart centered entrepreneurs to transition from unnoticed to memorable by employing her unique core four marketing system, ensuring they consistently draw in their ideal clients. 

 

She's a friend and a colleague. Virginia, what an absolute pleasure it is to welcome you to the show, and thank you For being this week's guest expert and mentor.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:01:38]:

Well, thank you, Susan. It's really a delight to be here. You know, it is my passion To share tips and strategies that help entrepreneurs step out of their shadow and shine online. So I'm thrilled to be here and share some of those ideas with your listeners today.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:01:54]:

Excellent. And you know that all our listeners or primarily most of our listeners are nonfiction authors, And they're looking to market their books. They're looking to market themselves. And you have four core marketing system, And I would love for us to talk a little bit about that. I know we don't want to give everything away, but let's just get started and Talk to us about what's the 1st core.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:02:23]:

Well, you know, I developed this core for marketing system because after working with clients for so many years, I really started to see some of the problems and mistakes that they were making in getting consistent exposure in the marketplace. And when I looked at it more deeply, I really found that there were just core 4 areas that if people focused on them, They could be much more effective in marketing their service or in your case, the books that you have so that you really become recognized as an expert in your expert in your niche. So I did. I divided into 4 core areas, and the 1st core area is all around Reputation. And from that, what I mean is reputation starts with building it. Many people don't realize how important. It is just to build a reputation. Right? 

 

Virginia Parsons [00:03:20]:

From there, it's about Marketing it. And most people never think about, oh, I should market my reputation. They think about marketing a product, right, or marketing a book, They don't think about marketing their reputation. And so we really go into that in-depth in the first core.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:03:38]:

So one of the things that comes to me, Virginia, as you're saying that, is I think one of the most challenging things for us to do is to market Salves. I know that I could market you a lot more effectively than I can market myself. I remember that I worked in a PR agency, and the first thing they gave me to do was to write a press release for myself. I agonized over that. Help us with this. What do we need to do to even consider Start marketing our own reputation.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:04:16]:

It really does start with building it, as I say. You can't skip to marketing your reputation until you build it. And that's why I say I put these in the categories and then subcategories to help people Follow what I call a step by step road map so that they can cover all of this. Building your reputation initially really starts with getting, good quality referrals and requesting reviews from those referrals. If you don't really know how to request reviews for the experience that people have had with you, Then you're not really gonna build or grow the reputation to start with. Once we get that inflow, Then it becomes much easier to build around that and grow yourself more visible using, of course, what I always say is My favorite ways is doing interviews, live stream video, all different forms of video that gets people to start to see you, connect you with What you do, and after that, we go into marketing all that. It is a 3 stage process, and it's something that is, I say you take it, you know, 1 step at a time so you don't feel overwhelmed, but always thinking with the idea of I'm really wanting to build and market What I call a 5 star sought after reputation in my niche.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:05:37]:

What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see Entrepreneurs make when it comes to exactly what you're talking about with this building that reputation. 

 

Virginia Parsons [00:05:50]:

Yeah. Boy, there is several that I like to share with people because I think that they spend a lot of time spinning their wheels. And by that, I mean that they do what I would call sort of a form of duct tape marketing. Have you ever heard that? They're just kind of implementing random disconnected tactics. You know, the idea of throwing something up against the wall and seeing if it sticks. And oftentimes, it has to do with what I call also those bright shiny objects out there that create what I call marketing detours, Because they're not focused on doing things that really accomplish what their desired outcome is. I always say to my clients, Before you put any energy into marketing, you need to step back and sort of reverse engineer it And determine what is the desired outcome of the action that you want to take. And if you don't do that first, it ends up in being What I call spinning your wheels or this form of duct tape marketing that just exhaust people and doesn't really get consistent results.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:06:59]:

So That is one of the biggest mistakes I can tell people is stop doing duct tape marketing and get a good marketing strategy together that you can follow consistently. And in that process, you're going to start to see consistent results. Consistent marketing will bring consistent results.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:07:18]:

I love that formula. Yeah. It's so true. And it's funny because if I just think about myself, That if things aren't going quite the way I was hoping that they would go and, you know, they came across a little bit of a road bump, a barrier, Then I start looking at, oh, there's a shiny object out there. Maybe that will help me. And so that marketing Sure. I've taken so many times. I'm even embarrassed to admit how many times I've done that.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:07:49]:

And I know that I hear it all the time. It's like, oh, So So being consistent, knowing what you want, and starting with that end in mind is so crucial. Let's move on to core number 2. What is that, Virginia?

 

Virginia Parsons [00:08:12]:

Well, column number 2 is about social media. You really, in this day and age, when I started 30 years ago, you know, it really didn't exist. Right?

 

Susan Friedmann [00:08:23]:

Correct.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:08:25]:

We relied on advertising and print stories and that kind of thing. Press releases certainly was still available back then. But in today's age, we do have digital marketing available to us, and social media is one of the best ways you And get connected with your ideal audience. Now different authors are going to have an audience that is located probably on different platforms. But my approach to it is find 3 or 4 platforms that broadly reach your audience And start working with them. You might focus on 1 first, such as Facebook, in a more professional authorship. You might find LinkedIn to be of greater value, but the point is, again, you need a strategy To get exposure there and to build your reputation, so we've already got reputation working for us. Once you add that marketing piece to the reputation part, you now can transfer that over to core 2, Which is getting it out there on social platforms.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:09:31]:

Now the key to all of this to me is also authenticity. It's not about getting on social platforms, and I will talk about one of my pet peeves in a moment, but it's not about just getting on social platforms and blasting a lot of things out there. It's really more about building your personality, your authenticity, and your passions in a way that Draws just the right people to you who resonate with that. And so I have again 3 what I call sub strategies within the social Media core of core number 2 that I recommend to people. They vary from one of them has to do with An old advertising strategy that still is beautiful today called the AIDA method of marketing. And when we do this with social media, it sort of guides your followers down a path from number 1, which is the a in AIDA, Which is to attract attention. So we create and generate posts that would do that for people who don't know who you are. The I in AIDA stands for generating interest.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:10:42]:

Now that you've attracted their attention, let's get their interest a little deeper into what it is that you do, and so that's the I. Then the d in IIDA is around generating a desire Around what it is that you do. And then the last a in a a I d a, it's spelled a I d a, that acronym, is again, That a is to inspire action. We want them now to take some action. If you develop your social media a Strategy around these types of posts that sort of leads them down the path, what we sometimes would call their hero's journey path. You are ultimately going to attract those perfect clients to you who are ready to take action. These are some of the things that I guide people through all in what I call my marketing maps, showing them step by step How to put these pieces together in their marketing journey.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:11:38]:

I love those marketing maps. I mean, I was just so taken with them, As you know, I mean, you and I can spend a lot of time on that, and it's a pity. In fact, this is where the visual Would be great is for people to see them, but, of course, you know, you're gonna talk more about that shortly. That's super valuable. Now you mentioned a pet peeve. Is this where I ask you what that pet peeve is?

 

Virginia Parsons [00:12:06]:

Well, it is related to social media. Definitely related to social media. So I think there's a good place for me to tell you my Biggest pet peeve is when people grab onto something like either Facebook or it also happens in LinkedIn, And they just start sending random marketing direct messages to you. It is a huge pet peeve of mine. Because when you want to connect with people on a more intimate level, because the key here really is to build relationships, Especially if you happen to be an author who also wants to attract a client base of some sort, then you do need to get more personal. You need to really focus on building authentic, genuine relationships, and that is not done with random Facebook messaging A random LinkedIn messaging that really comes from the perspective and you feel it right away. Even though they don't come out and say it, It feels like buy my stuff. Right? It drives me nuts.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:13:11]:

I get these messages from absolute strangers. I've never met them, And I don't even get that they're interested in me at all. What I receive from these type of messages is it's all about the person sending the message and not about wanting to connect. It's a very big pet peeve of mine. It really repels people, and it will repel Sales if you do it that way.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:13:34]:

I've got a colleague who calls it, first of all, ghosting. You've got people on your list. You never write to them until, of course, You get this booty email, which as you rightly say is like, okay. I know you're on my list, and I've got this product that I want you to buy, and that's as you said. That's when they hear about you. Yeah.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:13:55]:

Let's move on. Retelling sales.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:13:58]:

Calling sales. Absolutely. And I know that that's such a important part of what you help entrepreneurs not do, but rather that you help them get the sales rather than not repel them, which we

 

Virginia Parsons [00:14:12]:

don't have

 

Susan Friedmann [00:14:13]:

to do. Let's move on to number 3. What's that?

 

Virginia Parsons [00:14:16]:

Alright. Well, core 3 is something that I am so passionate about, and I think a lot of people don't spend enough time with this. 3 is all dedicated to list building because it's the 1 marketing asset that you totally control. People don't think about this. They're busy trying to get lots of followers on all the different social platforms, which is great. I'm not opposed to that, But you don't own those lists. Now if you can take the platform that you're on and convert it into some list building, great. And I do talk to people about how to do that.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:14:56]:

As a matter of fact, I've built a very nice list through my Facebook group. I have a Facebook group, but when someone wants to join my group, It's required that they provide their email so that I can let them know about upcoming events that I have. I am using List from social to some extent, but it's not the only way. As a matter of fact, in that core, I have 18 different ways that you can build your list. When I'm working with people, we go through what's gonna be the best for you, and I suggest that they pick out maybe 4 or 5 different ways That really resonate with them, that help them continue to feel authentic in their marketing and in their way of attracting people, But you have to pay attention to list building. It has to be one of the priorities that you focus on in order to get The response back, and that is to consistently attract new followers, build rapport with them, And help turn them into clients or purchasers if appropriate for them. Yeah. Core 3, I think, is just very, very important, and most People don't pay nearly enough attention to it.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:16:06]:

You're so right. And I'm so thrilled that you emphasize this because People are building on rented land, building their oh, I've got 2,000 followers on Facebook or LinkedIn or Instagram. And I'm like, what happens if those platforms go away? How many of those people can you connect with? And it really makes people think

 

Virginia Parsons [00:16:29]:

because they don't think like that. I'd love to share a story with you, Susan, if I could because I think it brings this point Home very, very well. One of the biggest mistakes I made, oh, I guess maybe about 8 or so years ago now Was I depended on building a list around a platform I had no control over. As a matter of fact, I built my entire brand around it, and that was around Google plus and Hangouts on Air. I even had my business titled at that time, Hangout Marketing You. And I was teaching people how to build and increase their exposure and visibility Using livestream, but at that time, the best livestream platform out there was Hangouts on Air. Doesn't even exist today. Not only that, I built a 10,000 following on Google Plus.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:17:27]:

They were loyal followers and then Google decided to shut down Google plus. So where did that leave me? And that's why I'm so passionate about Making sure you control your list, which in this way in core three that you do. I had to totally start over, rebrand my business. That's how media spotlight marketing was born. Because it wasn't about Hangouts on Air, even though at that Time it was really the only live streaming platform out there. It was about making connection with people through these incredible live stream platforms, Through all the various video and media outlets that are now available to us and at a very low or no cost, It's become a huge marketing avenue for people, and yet I made the biggest mistake anyone could make in putting all my eggs into One major social platform, that's why I don't ever recommend that to anyone, and then building a whole brand around it, and I had no control over it.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:18:27]:

Yeah.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:18:27]:

Huge lesson. Huge lesson.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:18:30]:

Scary. Thank you for sharing that because that really hits home. Because as you say, you have no control over these platforms. And who knows if the government starts Stepping in and enforcing certain rules and regulations. I mean, you're hearing things all the time. I love the idea that if you have a group, like you said, you've got this Facebook group, but in order to become a member of that group, You have to share your email address, your name and your email address. So that's key because as you rightly say, Now you can promote to them. You can share other tips or anything special that you just want for this group and maybe not within the actual Facebook platform.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:19:21]:

So excellent. I love that. That's really good. Number 4. This is exciting. I love this.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:19:30]:

I love this map. It really was in the evolutionary process because Of all I've learned over the years and all I've seen my clients go through, so I wanted to make it an easier, simpler, clear step by step path for them to follow. And the interesting thing about the core four, I'll talk to you about the 4th one in a moment, but the interesting thing about the whole concept to the core four is you can start anywhere within the core four and build out your marketing. And so people often start at different points depending on what other marketing assets they already have for their business, what their goals and objectives are. That's why we sit down together and talk about these things so we can develop a good path for them based on the core four. The 4th core Is all about automation. We don't wanna spend all our waking hours on marketing, do we? I mean, you've got your passion. You're a writer, for instance, so you wanna do the writing.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:20:32]:

And then, of course, you wanna get it out to the public, But you don't wanna spend all your time on it, so you've got to put into place automated systems. The core four emphasizes just that. It emphasizes creating automated funnels for the delivery of, for instance, a free gift if you have that, that will help Go back to core 3, which is list building. It's about putting together automated content funnels, Automated product funnels, automated service funnels, depending on what it is that you offer. Now once you've got these in place, And that's the beautiful thing about it. Once you put these into place, they work on their own. And so you start attracting clients 247 while you sleep. Right? And there's another part of that that automation, which is the core four, and that is Connecting with your list, which we've built in core 3.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:21:29]:

So you can't just get a list and then ignore it. I was talking to a client the other day, and they built a pretty good list, but they just never communicate with their list. So their list really doesn't Know who they are and much about them. So in setting up automations for communicating with your list, you also are Genuinely starting to interact with them, helping them get to know who you are, helping them start to trust to and identify with you as an expert in what you do. I call that building up that idea of being a sought after expert. They now think of you when they think of a particular problem that you're the one that solves it. They identify you with that niche, And that all comes from ongoing communication. So setting up these automated systems, which is core four, is really critical to being able to just focus more on your passion, more on your writing so that these things can operate really smoothly for the most part in the background.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:22:31]:

Such an important part, and I know personally that's Where I would put my energy because there's only so many hours in the day of what you can get done. And here, this automation, once it's set, it's rinse and repeat, I believe.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:22:51]:

It usually is. You might tweak it. I always say to people, version 1 is better than version none. I live by that myself. It doesn't have to be perfect. It can be tweaked and improved upon, but at least to get it out there, and it's functioning for you.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:23:06]:

Something you said earlier too, which I thought was really important that you've got all these different marketing techniques, but it's the ones that resonate with you that you need to be doing, putting your concentration in. Because so many times people say, oh, well, I don't really like to do, you know, even so social media, but yet they feel they have to. And I'm like, you do what you feel, you know, is passionate where you can put your energy. Because if you're not putting the right energy into what you're doing, people are going to sense that. So, you know, I know that you empower heart centered entrepreneurs because you're looking at people who want to offer something that they enjoy, where their passion is, where their love for their topic is. So I think that is such an important point. Wow. We've covered a lot in this period, Virginia.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:24:12]:

I can't believe we've gone through all 4, But I know what's happening now is that our listeners are chomping at the bit saying, how do we find out more about Virginia and her call for marketing system.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:24:28]:

I am so pleased to be able to share this with people. I have been Putting this together for some time now, very excited about it, but, of course, because I'm also doing my business, I've been really busy just helping and serving customers. At this point, I am very excited to really announce an upcoming training and demonstration. This is brand new, and it's going to be happening next week. Actually, a week from today, which is this is Thursday, so It will be on February 15th, and the title of my training and demonstration is, from unseen to unforgettable. Four simple steps to consistently attract more clients even if selling feels uncomfortable. This is an opportunity for you to see me go into even more depth around these 4 areas, plus demonstrate How I help people use the mapping system to know exactly what steps to take within each core So that they can get the results they're looking for, which for most everyone I work with, it is to have a consistent Flow of new clients and new leads being attracted to you. And so I'm very excited to be able to share that with everyone and it.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:25:45]:

My objective is to help people literally step out of their shadow and shine online. And by the way, When I say that, it doesn't mean necessarily that you have to be out there everywhere on video. It's not about that. If you're not even comfortable with video, we take other approaches before we go to video. However, I always recommend You sort of move your way into the way of video marketing because it's probably the fastest way to build the no trust and like factor. But shining online means that you are getting your message out there in a way that attracts The people who need what you provide for them. I'm gonna be going all into that a little more depth actually into the The mistakes that people make as well, but I think they'd love to see the demonstration of my whole mapping system.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:26:38]:

Yes. I mean, I've seen it a few times, and it just blows my mind every time I see it. And I plan to be there next week, I know that this podcast will be released next week just before the program. So hopefully, many of our listeners will be able to attend as well. I will put in the show notes the link to that event.

 

Virginia Parsons [00:27:04]:

Because if they can't make it or find out about it too late, They can get the replay. So we want the information to get out to people. Yeah.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:27:11]:

Absolutely. And it's great information listeners. I highly recommend that. Virginia, as you know, we always end off with a golden nugget. You've shared so many golden nuggets. If we can just have one more. Ex

 

Virginia Parsons [00:27:27]:

Maybe I could wrap this up in a nice tidy bow by going back to the basic premise that all marketing, Especially if you're a heart centered author or entrepreneur. From my perspective, all marketing comes from the perspective of being genuine 1st and foremost, when you're genuine, you're going to make authentic connections, And that's just like making a great new friend. When you let what you do come from your heart, There's no doubt you're going to attract all the clients that you'll ever need.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:28:02]:

That is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. I just felt that when you said it. It was beautiful. People didn't need to see you for that because they just heard it in your voice. It. It was just right there. Virginia, thank you so much for sharing this great wisdom.

 

Susan Friedmann [00:28:21]:

And listeners, I'm going to put in the show notes the link to Virginia's demo session where she's going to go through all those 4 core marketing system of hers, which is dynamite. I'll put that in the show notes for you. And you know the drill, If you've got a book that isn't selling the way you wanted or expected to, lets you and I jump on a quick call together to brainstorm ways to ramp up those sales because you've invested a whole lot of time, money, and energy, And it's time you got the return you were hoping for. So go to BrainstormWithSusan.com to schedule your free call. And in the meantime, I hope this powerful interview sparked some ideas you can use to sell more books. Until next week, here's wishing you much book and author marketing success.

Check out Virginia's Master Training: From Unseen to Unforgettable