How to Build the Marketing Habit
When you set a big goal, like writing a book or selling a certain number of copies, lots of things will try to get between you and your goal.
Being a writer is weird. It's not a normal vocation. Some people in your life may not understand it. They may send you subtle signals about why you shouldn't be wasting your time.
We have good intentions, but when our initial inspiration runs out, the goal feels like too big of a boulder to push up the hill and we let it roll back down.
Building systems and habits can prevent this particular form of self-sabotage so that it is not such a heavy lift and it's something that we can do continually over time.
So how do we build the writing and marketing habit? How do we put the systems in place so we can accomplish the work, as Seth Godin says, by “drip by drip.”
The excellent book Atomic Habits, by James Clear points the way through four laws of habit change.
The Four Laws of Habit Change for Writers
We're going to look at these four laws specifically through the lens of book marketing so you can finally build a marketing habit (of course, you can apply these same principles to building a writing habit).
Law #1: Make the desired habit obvious
Studies show that people who are really clear and specific about when they are going to do something have a much higher rate of habit adoption. It’s called an implementation intention.
Setting an implementation for book marketing might look like writing two pitches to influencers per week. You’ll do it at 3:00 PM on Tuesdays at the coffee shop. Put it in your calendar so that it’s obvious. Honor it like any other calendar appointment. You're setting a specific goal and then being really clear about where and when it will happen.
Another option to make the habit obvious is something Clear calls habit stacking. You create a new habit on top of one you already have. Your current habit becomes the cue to do the new behavior.
You want to get into the habit of proofreading and sending pitches that you drafted at the coffee shop. And you have a habit of calling your sister every Wednesday afternoon. So, you set an intention to proofread and send pitches immediately after your call. Again, put it on your calendar so you don’t forget.
Another option to make your new habit obvious is called environmental design. You can set up your space to encourage your desired habit. You’ve probably heard the advice that if you want to go to the gym, sleep in your gym clothes, then roll out of bed and go. But there are environmental design steps that you can take even in our digital world.
For example, when there’s a long-form piece of writing I’m working on, I have a separate browser window with tabs dedicated to that project open at all times. The same goes for marketing. I open a whole new window, with a set of tabs all its own. That way, I don't have to remember what I named a file or where I stored it. It’s right there waiting when I’m ready to work on it.
Environmental design is a great way to eliminate all those tiny obstacles that slow you down when you're trying to get a task going.
Law #2: Make the new habit attractive.
There are a few ways you can make a new habit more attractive.
The first one is creating a motivation ritual. It’s something you do right before your desired habit so it feels more fun. Your brain starts to couple the pleasurable ritual with the new behavior, helping solidify the new habit.
If you're a Wordle player, you could do a motivation ritual where first you do the daily Wordle and then you jump into your influencer research for your book marketing.
Another way to make marketing more appealing is temptation bundling. If there's something you really want to do, you bundle it with this new behavior that is not as tempting for you yet. For example, while I get a pedicure, I write my newsletter. I bring my laptop. Someone's working on my feet. I write my newsletter. At the end, I have nice toes and my newsletter all queued up and ready to go.
One of my favorite methods to make book marketing attractive is joining a culture where your desired behavior is the norm.
It helps to be among a group of people where your desired behavior is the norm so you can feel that spirit of community and camaraderie and people will encourage you rather than sabotage you.
For writing and marketing, The Happily Ever Author Club is a perfect example of this. Every Monday, our members set their goals for the week and then they report their progress on Friday during our live call. Seriously, this is so important. You want to be around other writers who are already doing the things you want to be doing.
Law #3: Make the new habit easy.
When it comes to selling your book, you want to keep your marketing plan as simple as possible, and reduce friction between you and your desired new habits. One way to reduce friction is to focus on the form of marketing.
Focus on the form of marketing that is easiest for you. Something is better than nothing, even if it is the lowest friction activity that you can think of. Find one tactic that works for you and double down on that. Getting some results you want will help reinforce the habit.
When you’re first building a book marketing habit, try the “two minute rule” in which you only have to do a piece of the desired behavior for two minutes. Keep it so simple and smooth that you have absolutely no reason or excuse to not carry it out. Your brain makes much less of a fuss when it knows it only has to do something for two minutes.
For example, just type one keyword into your podcast app to try to find one podcast that you can research later for another two minutes.
Of course, sometimes you will end up doing much, much more than that, but you don’t have to.
Finally, there’s automation. Make an investment in technology that can get rid of some busy work. Examples:
Set up an Amazon or BookBub ad that just keeps running (once optimized).
Create a welcome sequence for newsletter subscribers that leads them to buy your book.
There's also a wonderful tool called Zapier that lets different systems and applications work together. It can make ConvertKit talk to Squarespace, or it can make something happen in a Google doc or automatically kick off an email.
Law #4: Make the new habit satisfying.
How do you make book marketing something that your brain is very happy you completed? How can you reward yourself immediately after you perform a book marketing habit?
I like a square of dark chocolate as a reward. Or a nice cup of tea.
Another way to make a new habit satisfying is to find a way to see the benefits. Look at your sales or email list stats, or keep a burnup chart on your wall that tracks the pitches you’ve sent. I use an app called Streaks where I track my habits, and when I mark a habit complete for the day, it gives me a satisfying visual and sound.
If you want something physical and not digital, try putting a jar on your desk and adding a pretty marble or rock every time you complete a marketing task. Your limbic system will love this, because it loves to accumulate things.
And then there's the “never miss twice” strategy. For example, if you say you're going to do one small book marketing task every day and you miss a day, you start again the next day. Writers in particular are particularly prone to the attitude of “Well, shit, I blew it. Now I'm not gonna do it for another two years.” Don’t let that be you. Think about recommitment as just part of the process; the quicker you recommit, the better.
Putting it all together
Here’s an example of how to put all four habit laws together daily or weekly to build your book marketing habit.
Create a simple outreach strategy. For example, focus only on podcasts or running book promos.
Create a browser window for your marketing stuff and always keep it open.
Set an implementation intention in your calendar. “I will write two pitches at 3:00 PM on Thursday at the coffee shop, right after playing Wordle.” And, “After lunch on Friday, I will proofread and send two pitches, and then eat a truffle.”
For your first several sessions, follow the two minute rule. For example, find one influencer to pitch and write one sentence of a pitch.
Use a habit tracker (digital or analog) to give yourself credit for performing the habit.
Join the Happily Ever Author Club where your desired writing and marketing behaviors are the community norm.
Never miss twice. Recommit immediately.
By following these four habit laws, you can build your book marketing into your daily and weekly routine, even if you have lots of other things going on.
There will be a time in the future where you don't even think about it anymore. Your marketing and writing are just things that get done; no drama and no hassle. Just habit.