I recently had lunch with a friend with whom I’ve done business over the years, and he asked me if I was still working in marketing. Not the question I wanted, given that I was there to develop business.
Considering that most of my social posts revolve around my other job–struggling artist playing author–I thought it was time to share what I’ve learned from launching my recent startup. My passion project is another new business launch, and that’s exactly how I need to treat it.
I’ve been fortunate to operate my own marketing agency for 24 years and have weathered recessions, a pandemic, the Great Recession, and political instability. Without my marketing business, I recognize that there is no writing career.
I’ve met a number of other authors during my journey, and I admire their tenacity in juggling their writing careers with the demands of being an author today. I hope that what I’ve learned can help these remarkable authors as well as entrepreneurs, small business owners, and managers at other organizations.
So here’s what I think can help anyone running a business, whether it’s an author or a Fortune 500 company:
There’s no secret formula.
There’s no SEO/AEO/GEO pixy dust or Social Mediace. It’s more about trial and error and doing your homework. I know, that’s a lot of clichés, but it’s intended to drive home a point. While I highly recommend consultants, especially for busy professional managers, everything you need to know is readily available to you at your fingertips. ChatGPT, Gemini, Siri, and Google all want to help you, but also learn from you. special sau
Embrace AI, don’t fear it.
I loved the Terminator movies and also read Nostradamus, and I don’t think the machines are taking over. Unless AI’s lulling me into submission, I see great benefits in AI in both marketing and writing. Photo creation is one of my favorite aspects of AI. I’ve used AI to develop photos of the characters in my novels; you can see them at johnhoule.net/characters. The ability to create the exact image for an ad or b-roll footage is a game-changer for me.
Typos are just lazy, and the future is bright.
With Grammarly, spell check, and other writing applications, there’s really no reason for typos. There’s even AI that will literally respond to your emails in your voice. Depending on your perspective, you can see this as a solution for those overwhelmed by their email volume, or as an alarming concern that AI is learning to communicate like us. I’m with the former for now.
Video outperforms.
I feel like a broken record since I’ve been saying this for years–video works. Your video doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, your own smartphone video not only looks great but is also more authentic and performs equally well. Just make sure to use a microphone, which doesn’t have to be expensive, and apply prepper lighting to make your videos that much better. The truth remains that video posts do better than static images and words. Think about it, more people watch videos than read (some estimates as high as 80% more; horrifying). As a writer, I’m not thrilled by that, but I’m a realist.
Watch out for predators.
The more visible you are, the more solicitations you get, but it’s worth the price of entry. You wouldn’t believe how many “professionals” want to help me find book clubs, schedule me on podcasts and interviews, and offer reviews of my books. If only I could find a local professional instead of an AI bot; not that there’s anything wrong with it, but they sure do know a lot about me (from the Internet). Just be careful and observant of the many impostors out there.
Enjoy your time in the Wild West of marketing, and know there are still some white hats out there.
John Houle is the president of JH Communications and Main St. Media and can be reached at john@jhcom.net.