It’s been a busy time since my last newsletter. A time in which the name Steve Jobs has been on the lips of many. I heard of his death while at the WIN conference in Rome and since then have found myself mentioning many times, as I am sure you have too. For me, I will be eternally grateful for his beautiful, easy-to-use computers. I have lost count of how many I have owned over the years, but do recall, that I have been a Macaddict since 1988. I think I may only be beaten by Stephen Fry. Anyway, the reason I mention Jobs is because he once said that ‘it is only by looking backwards that we can connect the dots’. I’ve said that a few times this month, a month in which my feet have hardly touched the ground. Looking back at October, and at all the things I have done, I lay in bed this morning, reflecting on the month, and, as always, looking for the theme about which I would write to you. And then it hit me, as I looked back and connected the dots, that this month has been all about collaboration.

It all began at WIN, when Kristin Engvig, its founder, shared the organisation’s networking rules, one of which is collaboration. Being reminded that doing things in teams and finding others to work with is not only an essential part of networking but is also crucial for people like me who work alone. For years I have described myself as a ‘one-man-band’ but now I realise that is not true. I work with three different editors and three designers on a regular basis not to mention the good friends and writers in my support network who readily brainstorm with me about my business ideas or problems.

For years I have recognised the value of working with others, believing that 1 + 1 = >2. Oh yes. And that’s one reason why I approve of co-authoring books. When you work with another author, it means that you bring not only two sets of experience and skills to the table but also two networks and information sources. The more networks you have at your fingertips, the more people you can potentially sell your book to. But having a team of writers is about more than just potential clients. It’s about potential supporters, reviewers, bloggers, promoters and those folk I like to call cheerleaders.

And then last week, as I picked the finalists for the second edition of my humorous anthology, Forced to Fly, I realised I too had the possibility of involving all those collaborators in the promotion when the book comes out next spring.

I also took delivery of my batch of books from a collaborative project I was included in, Crave The Hague. Crave books feature locally owned women’s businesses, city by city and are the brainchild of American entrepreneur, Melody Biringer. Those people who feature in the book pay  to have a beautiful, colour, illustrated, double-page spread about their business, included in the book, but receive books in exchange. Sell the books and you have recouped your investment.

You see, that’s the key to a successful collaboration. It has to be WIN-WIN for all parties.

The bloggers who joined my blog tour for Sunshine Soup mostly received review copies from me or a guestpost or both. I also made sure that I retweeted every tweet, commented on every blog and linked to every appearance on my Facebook page.

The contributors to Turning Points have all received books to sell in exchange for their collaboration, the ability to buy more books at discount and have the benefit of being able to show their clients and contacts not only their eight pages in the book, but have all their contact details shared there as well as on the unique Turning Points website that Kate has created where she has also interviewed all the contributors. Again, the deal has been WIN-WIN.

Forced to Fly contributors too receive books and buy-back discount options amongst other things.

And Crave, The Hague contributors will find the book distributed to hairdressers, reception areas, hotels and cafes in the city, in addition to a host of online promotional efforts, live networking events and more.

I love to collaborate and believe that books are better for having the contribution of a group of people.

So, how could you collaborate? Who would you collaborate with? And how can you make your collaboration WIN-WIN?

If you are not signed up to my Monthly Inspirer (now in its 9th year and available by simple sign up here on my website) then today’s newsletter is also posted here. I hope you enjoy it.

Shameless self-promotion

I bet some of you are shuddering at the very title of this piece.

Not terribly British, is it, to boast?

The Australians call it Tall Poppy Syndrome, the Dutch advise that we don’t stick our heads above the parapet. The Norwegians call it janteloven (Jante’s Law), which, in a nutshell, means don’t think your special or that you are better than us. (Source Wikipedia)

But the trouble is that I like to stand out from the crowd, in fact, I think it is mandatory in my kind of business.  I am an advocate of shameless self-promotion. I have to be. And so, I believe, do you. That is if you want to be a successful writer who actually gets stuff published and (whispers) makes some money from it.

Networking = shameless self-promotion

I have run workshops on networking for a few years now. As someone who is now living in her fifth country and who has fought to keep her business alive and growing throughout the 24 years she has been abroad, I attribute almost all my success (bad word, Jo, slap wrist) to networking.

How do I ‘use’ networking?

I use networking to meet people who might hire me, buy my books or ask me to publish them, one day. I also use networking to meet people who may never hire me nor care two hoots about what I write but who like me and trust me and may refer me to their friends. Regardless of which type of person I hope to add to my network, it is fundamental that they know what I do.

But herein lies the problem. How can we communicate what we do clearly and concisely and memorably without sounding just a little bit proud of our achievements? How can we build trust in people unless we share a few of my success stories? But then… the moment we share our successes some may accuse us of breaking Jante’s Law. And, unfortunately, some may actually start to dislike us because they think we are bragging. Fortunately, there may be another way …

The easy way to ‘promote’ yourself

Andy Lopata is a friend of mine and I have helped him with the editing of all of his books. His latest, Recommended, has just been published by Pearson and I have to say that it is terrific. (Did you spot how I threw a teeny bit of self-promotion in there? See, I can’t help myself, sorry.)

In his book, Andy shares how to present yourself to others so that they actually want to refer you. He doesn’t suggest that you go about shamelessly promoting yourself… no, he suggests something that may sit easier with you – that you simply do a fabulous job of what you do. That you exceed expectations, that you deliver early, do terrific work and that you are super to work with.

Of course, you also need to be very clear about what it is that you do for a living. In fact, my line, above, about people needing to like, trust and know you, is one of Andy’s.

If you want to see Andy in action, take a look at this super short video on YouTube about how to get your clients to refer you.

And on the subject of getting your clients to refer you…

It is with butterflies in my stomach that I share the news that my first novel will go live on Amazon later this month.

As part of my promotion I am planning a ‘virtual book tour’ Sept 26^th – 3rd Oct – and I would like you to be part of it

It is with my heart in my mouth that I ask you to do me a BIG favour and help me with some promotion (bad word!) for my novel.

Could you mention Sunshine Soup to your network between 26^th September and 3^rd October, my launch week?

You can do this in a variety of ways:

• You could interview me about any aspect of writing, living abroad or running a business and place that on your blog or on a website.

• You could ask me for a review copy of my novel and post a review on your blog.

• You could ask me to write you a guest post for your blog.

• You could post an extract of my novel on your blog.

• You could post a link to my book for sale on its Amazon page via your Facebook page or wall.

• You could Tweet about my novel, with a link to either my website or to the Amazon sales page.

And to thank you for doing this, I will do something for you, in exchange:

• I could interview you for my Writers Abroad radio show.

• I could take a look at your book proposal.

• I could mention you on my Facebook page, blog or Twitter.

• I could take a guest post from you on my blog.

You see the other thing that helps you to grow your network without breaking Jante’s Law is to say thank you to those who help you. To reciprocate. To nurture the people Andy calls ‘champions’.

If you do something for me then I would love to do something for you in exchange.

Asking

Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to ask you to something for me?

I have agonized over the previous section while those butterflies went crazy and caused my stomach to clench.  Why is asking for favours so darn difficult?

But, the thing is, I believe that not only do we all have to find comfortable ways of promoting ourselves, but that we also have to ASK for help.

And there is no way it would sit easy with me if I didn’t practise what I preach. So I did. Here goes, I’m pressing the send button now…

Wait a moment while I fetch my soap box.

Saying thanks

I have just had an inspiring morning with the journalists who attend my monthly Journalists’ Support Group meetings. One of the group shared how she had been doing a number of reviews on new and interesting books and mentioning them on her blog. As all good bloggers do, she has then been tweeting about these books. As all good authors do, they have been retweeting her kind mentions. Some of them have also contacted my journalist directly and thanked her for her kindness.

Makes sense?

Of course it does.

The fact is that one of the best ways to grow your network of the nice, kind people (such as bloggers) who write about your books for free is to take the simple step of saying thank you. Saying thank you will show the nice, kind people (such as bloggers) that you are nice and kind too. And so a relationship starts to form between authors and bloggers.

The next thing that happens is that the nice, kind blogger is likely to write about your book A SECOND time.

You see …. you do business with people you like. And one way to make someone like you is to say thank you.

Authors need bloggers

If you are an author you NEED all the publicity and reviews you can get. One of the best ways to get this coverage is to make friends with bloggers, journalists and so on.

Authors need to ensure that they spot every single mention your book receives. The easiest way to ensure you don’t miss any (and thus don’t miss the chance to thank the writer and start to build that all-important relationship) is to set up a Google Alert for the title of your book and another for your name. As soon as you spot you have been mentioned zoom on over there and say thanks.

Simple, isn’t it?

You see, the harsh reality is that IF (God forbid) you do forget to thank that nice, kind blogger, then that nice, kind blogger may do one of the following:

• Forget all about you and your book and never mention it or recommend it to anyone ever again
• Think you are a miserable and ungrateful so and so
• Write about your biggest competitor instead

And you would not want that to happen, now would you?

OK, rant over. I shall now put my soapbox away.

This week I finished running my Definite Articles workshop and got such a buzz from doing what I love best: ‘sharing what I know to help others to grow’. I shared everything I have learned about writing and selling articles. I also offered to connect my students with the experts in my own network, should they need quotes from them for their features.

When you are a new writer you are unlikely to have the networks you need. I have a  network of over 5000 in my address book and  have the contact details of people who are an authority on every topic about which I write. I’m not simply ‘lucky’ though. No, I have built this network easily and quickly, by attending the best conferences I can and where experts give workshops and keynotes on the topics about which I am passionate. I take copious notes while these gurus are speaking and focus on what I call quote spotting. Yes, I collect the quotes these people say, make a note of who said this and when and where and then use them in my articles.

Last week I attended my seventh WIN conference and came home with pages of fabulous quotes.

If you want a glimpse of the kind of quotes you will hear at such a place take a look at this video below. If this doesn’t convince you of the value of attending yourself next October, I don’t know what will.

The Global W.I.N.conference – The essence from Videoprod.ch on Vimeo.

Jo Parfitt networks with Nina du Pre at Connecting Women Sept 2010, photo by Stephanie Ward

I like to consider myself to be a natural networker and realised this week that I have been on the board of a networking group for 12 years. In fact, when I think I about it, I first became aware of the importance of networking when I heard Donna Messer say the immortal words: ‘it’s not what you know but who you know that makes your business grow,’ at the WIN conference in Milan in the 90′s.

I have been writing for over 20 years and as a journalist I know that my articles and books are enhanced by the quotes I can include from the experts I have met along the way. Now that I focus on helping other people to get their writing published I always encourage my students to get out there and build relationships with people so that they can then approach them later for comments for their work.

As someone who has made a living from writing I am well aware that Donna Messer is absolutely right. The more people I know, the more I can write about. The more people I know, the more ideas I have. The more people I know, the richer my information sources, the more people I know I can ask. And when I know a lot of people that means that a lot of people know about me.

One of the best ways for a writer to build their network fast is to attend a conference where the speakers and workshop leaders will cover areas that they would like to write about . The best conferences are places where the delegates too provide a rich source of contacts and information. As someone who  specialises in careers, particularly portable careers for people overseas, I am a big fan of the Women’s International Networking Conference (WIN) and next month I will attend for the seventh time. Just three days among some of the most creative, fascinating women from all over the world will keep my muse and contacts book fed for a whole year. As someone who specialises in expat life I also attend the Families in Global Transition conference, and next year will go for the seventh time too. But I go one step further. I don’t just attend these conferences, I speak at them too. Standing up in front of an audience is one of the best ways of promoting myself and raising my profile. Better still, these conferences have bookshops too, where speakers can sell their books, so I take advantage of that too.

In the photo above, you see me at Connecting Women, a network I have chaired for 2 years and for which I have been on the board for 5. Last night I was the speaker too, speaking about, guess what? Networking!

If you are serious about getting published and making a living as a writer you need topics and people to write about, you need people to know about you and approach you with your stories. So, go on, get networking.

As someone who has run my own business for over 20 years I learned a long time ago that networking is a fundamental part of my business. I have seen first hand how giving is one of the best ways to grow my client list.

Here, in this month’s column at The Hague Online, where I am Writer in Residence, I share the story of a fascinating scene that unfolded in front of me while I sat on the London Underground last weekend, when I attended a super Book Promotion Seminar.

Click here to see how many opportunities lie in wait for those who give.

Arvind Devalia was one of the presenters at the book promotion seminar. He has sold thousands of copies of his book Get the Life You Love and Live it and has boosted his business many times because he recognises the value of giver’s gain. Here, in his recent blog post, you will see the story of how he once donned a red wig in aid of Sport Relief and gave away free coaching sessions. And how, in exchange, he received tons of free publicity, a column in a local paper and sold masses of books. Read all about that here. Arvind is an author, coach, speaker and internet entrepreneur.

Do you have any stories of how you have given something away and received much more than you expected in return? Please share those stories here.

The following is my column from my November Inspirer newsletter, now in its seventh year. To subscribe and pick up a copy of ’50 Steps to a Book in Your Hand’ please go to my website www.joparfitt.com

I often tell my students and clients that they need to be Googleable if they are to impress a publisher. I recommend that they start a blog, give talks, use social media tools and go the extra mile towards growing their network. Publishers are interested in authors with a following. If you self-publish you need an even bigger network if you are to sell your book once you have written it. You need to be famous in your field. A bit of a celebrity. Whichever route you take to market it is clear that the bigger your network the more chance there is that your contacts will buy your books. Let me tell you about two people who do this brilliantly.

Andrea Martins, founder of the fabulous free website ExpatWomen.com, flew here to the Netherlands this week from Kuala Lumpur. A long haul in many senses of the word, but one that she felt was worth the effort. Andrea came to attend, have a stand and present a workshop at the Expatica, I Am Not a Tourist fair in Amsterdam. I went along to present a workshop of my own and to help out on her stand. The fair was attended by thousands and we talked ourselves hoarse, and yes, it was worth it. As a result, hundreds of people signed up to Expatwomen, a website that supports and inspires women overseas with its success stories, features, reviews and its hugely popular confessions section. Andrea also keeps an active blog that she uses simply to ‘shout out’ about people she meets or things she learns along the way that she knows will interest her thousands of subscribers.

I only went to the fair to help out, but Andrea allowed me to take my marketing materials along and so I made some pretty decent connections myself. One of whom was the hugely inspiring Melody Biringer, who runs The Crave Company and publishes books about the things women crave in the major cities of the world. She came to Amsterdam from her usual home in Seattle, to bring the concept here. Melody attended my workshop on writing life stories and within minutes had taken out her iphone and sent a tweet to her followers about me. Melody has sent over 6000 tweets to her 2000 followers since she joined Twitter just over a year ago. But in addition, within hours she had posted a blog about what she learned at my workshop too. And tweeted about that, of course.

Sorry, have I lost you? Are you wondering what the point of this may be? It’s simple . . . Andrea and Melody are role models. They want to promote their businesses to as many people as possible, use every means they can and their effort pays dividends. As a result both are well known in their fields. Let me just remind you what it is they do to deserve such status:

Ten Steps to Celebrity Status

1. Attend an expo or conference
2. Run a workshop at said expo or conference
3. Find places to hand out marketing materials
4. Have a website
5. Keep a blog
6. Use Twitter and other social media tools and share stuff regularly
7. Network like crazy both on and offline, talk yourself hoarse
8. Travel if you have to
9. Offer something that people want to sign up to
10. Share what you have with others

But do you really need to be famous if you want to write a book? Isn’t that a bit over the top? No, it isn’t. You see, two days ago I was sitting drinking a rather overstrong coffee in the office of a major UK publisher, in London, talking about the ‘front list’ – the books that are in the front of bookshops, newly published and being promoted like crazy.

’95 per cent of the front list is written by celebrities,’ he said, laying both hands on the table and looking me in the eye.

‘Seriously?’ I said. ‘You are exaggerating, right?’

‘Hum,’ he pondered for a split second. ‘Actually, this time of year, it’s closer to 100 per cent.’ He leaned back in his chair and I blanched. If bookshops favour the front list then publishers favour the front list ergo we need to be famous if we are to stand a chance.

So, there you have it, from the horse’s mouth. If you want to get published you need to become a celebrity, or failing that, just famous in your field. I hope my ten tips above will help to get you started.

Warmly

Jo

I have just had a great meeting with Bea Stanford, who found herself as an expat in a part of The Netherlands that has no existing infrastructure for expats like her. So, realising that there was a need to network with other expats she started Inside Twente. This neat site has blogs and forums and is a kind of Facebook for Twente dwellers. It is also a really good place to get yourself know. Being a big fish in a small pond means you are more likely to get noticed. So, if you have a book that might interest these hungry Twente expats, or would like to meet some inspiring folk. Drop by Inside Twente. I’ve just joined the club and am thrilled by Bea’s wonderful initiative. I am glad to be part of Inside Twente.