How Can I Launch A Book With No Audience?

Few weeks back I sent out a survey asking whether you had any questions about launching and marketing a book.

I happened to be traveling the day the email went out.

Heh.

Pro-tip: Don’t ask your list for replies when you’ll be away from your computer.

Took me *days* to dig out from that.

But it was lots of good stuff.

Several people asked a variation on this question:

Besides social media, what other leverage can a bootstrapping (low budget) solopreneur use to reach the widest audience possible and generate interest/book sales/clients/blog traffic?

Depending on your niche, there are tons of different tactics you can use to get more eyeballs on your book project.

For some, blogging is a great technique—no secret there.

Giveaways can work effectively.

So can some forms of paid advertising, especially email advertising.

If I had to start all over again, though, in a completely new niche with no email list and no traffic, you know what I’d focus on first and foremost?

Relationships.

Specifically, building relationships with “top dog” leaders in my chosen niche.

As well as those a few rungs on the ladder above me.

When it comes to “leverage,” it’s hard to beat getting exposure to someone else’s loyal followers.

The mistake most marketers make here is, they wait until they *need* something…

Then they send an email saying something like:

“Hey, I was reading your blog post about JavaScript and it is really awesome. By the way, would you mind sending a quick email to your 100,000 subscribers about my new book?”

That’s not what I’m talking about.

You want to identify a handful of 5-10 people in your niche that you genuinely admire and respect…

And begin to regularly invest time in cultivating a *real* relationship with them.

Buy their products—and implement what they teach.

Look for opportunities to encourage them.

Promote them in your own social circle, however limited it might be right now.

Look for ways that you can help them succeed in *their* goals.

In other words…

Give with no carefully calculated agenda.

Yes, this takes work, patience and effort.

Yes, in some sense you’re helping your “competitors.”

But the value of this “relationship capital” is incalculable.

It’s the #1 tool I know of for shortcutting the beans-rice-and-ramen-noodle-soup stage of building your business.

That’s what I’d call a worthwhile investment.