Booksellers Blog

image credit: beX out loud, via Flickr

It’s 2009, and many people are making resolutions. Will you make a resolution to think about, plan, or start an online marketing strategy?

Before you answer that, here are some things to know:

• Online marketing and Social Media are largely about building relationships. Just as in the “real world,” this takes time. You need patience.
• Independent stores have an advantage in building online relationships, because you can begin or nurture many of those relationships face-to-face. This is an advantage that large chain stores or online booksellers do not have.
• It’s not about technology. It’s about solving a business problem or maximizing an opportunity. Don’t get hung up on the tech.
• Online marketing costs less money than newspaper advertising or many other “traditional” marketing efforts.
• Online marketing costs more time than most traditional marketing efforts.
• Measuring your results can be tricky, but you must have some measure of effectiveness.

So how do you build your strategy?

You will see that it’s not any different than offline business strategy:

First, you must identify the problem you want to solve or the end result that you want to achieve.

Next, you must determine the best tool(s) for tackling the problem.

Then, assess ways to measure the effectiveness.

Create your plan, including all of the logistics: time, personnel, resources that will be required.

Execute.

Measure.

Then restrategize , revise, retool, replan, retool as necessary (remember, these are long-term, ongoing relationships you are building, not “campaigns.”)

Over the next several posts, I’m going to take these step-by-step, and will hopefully point you to some terrific resources to help you figure this all out.

I really believe that it will be necessary to have an understanding of the online space in order to have a thriving business in the future. It’s early enough in the game that you can make a real presence and compete — but I don’t think that you can wait too long. Things move fast in this space, and that’s a speed at which our industry has never been known to operate.

Oh, and one last thing: if you are reading this, and find this blog valuable, will you please tell your fellow booksellers? The more people we have supporting each other, the easier this will all seem.  In the meantime, I’m going to try to incorporate more bookseller voices and guest posters.

Thank you for your time and your ideas. Happy New Year.