Putting Fear to Good Use

I was talking with a client last week about some trouble she was having writing some marketing promotions. She was promoting a terrific package and an essay contest where contestants could win her package free. She wasn't getting much response, so I asked a few questions.

"How much have you promoted the essay contest?"

"Once."

"Is it on the front page of your website?"

"No. We ran out of time, and then I didn't think about it."

"Why do you think people might not be writing these essays to get this amazing package for free?"

And that's where the magic began. We dug really deeply to figure out her prospective customers' dreams, pains, objections, and fears. It meant she had to think outside her own head, which was filled with sales and marketing and other business items. Plus, she knew this was a great deal. It hadn't occurred to her that her readers wouldn't immediately see that and rush to enter the contest.

To expand your perceptions outside yourself, you have to GET outside yourself. This is true whether we're talking about a marketing campaign, a self-help book, a biography, or a fiction book. The key is to get in the head of your reader. Remember: writing is all about the reader, not about the writer. Think like your readers. Interview prospective readers. Ask them questions.

Here are some questions to get started:

1. What are their dreams?
2. What's holding them back from doing what you think they should be doing?
3. If they were sitting right in front of you, what might they object to about what you're doing?
4. How can you address 1 -3?

For example, if you're writing a self-help book on increasing self-esteem for teen girls, you have to understand their dreams. What motivates teen girls? What do they want? What are their priorities? What's their most pressing issue?

Next, think about what their fears are. What keeps them up at night? What goes 'round and 'round in their minds while they're at school, on the soccer field, at dinner? And how does all that relate to self-esteem (the theme of your book)?

Finally, if you had a teen girl right in front of you, and you told her you had this great book on self-esteem that was going to help her overcome her fears and help her reach her dreams, what might she say? What objections might she come up with? What doubts about you or your material might she have? What holds her back?

This works for fiction, too, although a little differently. What do people need right now? Some experts say that any time we have a national crisis, economic or otherwise, fantasy fiction sales go up. People need to escape and feel as if they're entering a world far better than their own. Perhaps a safer world. Or maybe a more dangerous world that makes the real world look tame by comparison.

As far as objections, that might come down to something as simple as why should they waste their time reading your book? You only have a few seconds to capture their interest in the book store or on Amazon.com. Book buyers first look at the front cover, and then turn the book over to look at the back (or at the front cover flap). You have to grab them immediately. Make your description compelling.

Figure out your readers' dreams and fears, and your own writing will look a lot less scary.