Marketing Close to Home

Kathi Macias here, posting a photo of yours truly speaking this past weekend at a retreat in Idyllwild, CA, in the beautiful mountains just an hour's drive from my home. I'm through with traveling now--well, at least for a while. But while I was gone last week, I learned some interesting things about marketing, not the least of which was that you don't always have to go too far from your immediate vicinity to make that marketing happen.

My first trip last week was to Indianapolis, where I gleaned some really great marketing and promotional tips from other authors and marketing pros. Then I returned home just long enough to repack my suitcase and head up to the mountains with my priceless assistant and dear friend, Maggie, for a weekend retreat. Though I was the speaker for the main sessions, I was still able to catch some much needed R&R during that time (thanks primarily to Maggie and to the rest of the ladies who worked together to make this event happen). And I was ever so grateful!

Though I was ministering to and among my home-church sisters, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many bought my books during that weekend. In fact, Maggie had to take orders for more, simply because I hadn't brought enough with me, since I had assumed (when will I learn not to do that???) that most of the ladies in attendance would already have purchased my books at previous church events. In addition, several of them signed up for my weekly email newsletter (available via my website in both English and Spanish), again surprising me, since I had previously believed that most of them were already on the list. (Many were, but I had forgotten that even the "regulars" sometimes bring guests to retreats and other church events.)

One of the most powerful things that came out of this retreat was that I had worked with our church's worship leader prior to the retreat regarding a "theme song," not just for the retreat but also for my next book, BEYOND ME: LIVING A YOU-FIRST LIFE IN A ME-FIRST WORLD. Though the book isn't officially released until July 1, we are already aggressively working to get the word out, and having a theme song for the book is a very effective tool. The song, so graciously composed and sung by the very talented Shelly Morin, will soon be on my website, and will play each time someone clicks on the cover of my new book. And, of course, since "Beyond Me" was the theme of the entire women's retreat, we sang the song during each worship session, helping to seal the topic--and the knowledge that the book would soon be available for purchase--to the hearts and minds of everyone in attendance.

In addition, we also got some great video footage and still shots, some of which will also end up on my website (and possibly the publishers' and my speakers' bureau's as well). These are some important perks, as we authors/speakers would have to pay sizeable sums to get this type of thing done if we were speaking somewhere else. I've had several people say to me that they never make much financially speaking for their home church, but in addition to my having the opportunity to personally contribute to our church family, this sort of local venue also opens a lot of doors for other marketing possibilities.

Though I will undoubtedly continue to fly across the country to speak at other venues as I seek to fulfill God's call on my life to minister, as well as to market and promote my books, I have learned the importance of not overlooking those close-to-home opportunities--and I encourage you to do the same.