Have you noticed the onslaught of ebooks in the blogosphere lately? It seems like everyone has either written an ebook (like me), is writing an ebook or is about to write an ebook. Personally, I love that the internet makes publishing your own work—and getting paid for it—possible for anyone. And it's quick and relatively easy to boot.
Here's my quick, simple, no-brainer tip (that I wish I had done sooner) for anyone who's selling their own product—ebook or otherwise.
As soon as you think you're going to write an ebook, produce a podcast, create a product or otherwise make something available online to sell, start a "buzz" file.
What's a buzz file?
A buzz file is one place where you keep anything anyone nice says about you or your product.
Did someone quote you in a post? Review your product? Tweet about it? Send you an email telling you how much they appreciated it?
Keep all of that stuff (which hopefully you already do). More importantly, keep all that stuff in one place, not scattered here and there an everywhere. You'll save yourself a lot of time and energy if you keep it all together.
Why keep a buzz file?
Knowing the people who already feel positively about your product comes in handy when:
- You need to write a testimonial page. It's nice to be able to contact those people and ask if you can quote them in a testimonial. I recommend you link back to them as well.
- You decide to create a "Buzz" page. A lot of bloggers add a "Press" page or an "As seen on…" section of their site which highlights the places they have been featured elsewhere. It can add credibility.
- You need support for the launch of another product later. If someone already likes one of your products, chances are, they might like the second. They might even be willing to promote it for you.
- To balance the negative self-talk. Ever do this? 53 people can say something nice and then 1 person says something not-so-nice and I'm absolutely convinced I am a complete and total failure. Getting your self-worth from what others say isn't ideal, but sometimes it's nice to remember that there really are people who genuinely like you and/or your product. Sometimes taking a quick look at my buzz file is just enough to keep me from letting those negative thoughts get out of control.
My buzz file
I've created a label in Gmail ("buz" since "buzz" is reserved by Google) to keep track of the nice things people say. It works just fine as my buzz file.
Any emails I get that are positive, I label and archive (after thanking the sender of course).
If someone writes a post, tweets, says something nice on Facebook, etc., I just grab the URL of that page, post, tweet or status update (remember how I showed you how to do this last time?) and I email that link to myself. Then I label and archive it just like any other email. Simple.
Do you have a buzz file (or something similar)? How do you keep track of it? How has it come in handy for you?
Photo by Sean MacEntee.
This is a really great idea! Thanks!
I like this idea! I think I might try to keep a testimonial page as I go–copy & paste the remark and source on a single "page" on my blog. When I accumulate enough to warrant publishing, I'll already have it ready to go … of course, I will keep the original content in a buzz file too. Thanks again, Amy!
Great idea!
I like this idea and I have done it some, but didn't know what it was called. I actually have just done a copy and paste into a word document and kept it on my computer. Now that it is an "official" item I might try keeping it in Evernote
That's a great idea to keep yourself positive. I never thought about that before.
This is truly an awesome idea. I always give more credit to that one person that dislikes my blog rather than focus on the positive comments.
You and me both.
I think I have a sort of Buzz file in the form of a "Customer Comments" tab on my blog…
Where do you come up with all these great, simple, easy to apply ideas? They've got to run out sometime, don't they?
LOL…hmmm….not anytime soon I don't think. I collect them.
Thank you so much! I really love this idea and wondered how everyone did it!
This is a great idea Amy! Not that I have much buzz going on yet, but in the event that I do (and hopefully one day I will) now I know to keep track of it. I don't think I would have known to do that but it sure does make sense. Thanks for the always helpful tips!
My pleasure!
Great idea Amy! Thanks so much. BTW, I love you're new web design, very user friendly!
Thank you!
I love this idea but feel a little dense. How do you get your buzz emails, etc. when you haven't done your launch yet? I see how it works for your second book, etc. I'm clearly missing something – help me out!!
I continue to love your blog Amy!
Oh, it's probably more my lack of clarity than it is you!
You're right, you wouldn't necessarily have emails prior to launch unless you've asked others to review it etc.
I use Evernote for everything like this.
In various forms, I've kept one of these for 30 years. Most recently, I have a couple of files online–one for blog & one for book. These come in handy when writing book proposals!
Ah yes, great point!
Ah! So a little planning pre-launch would have been a good thing! I guess it's not too late to pass out some free copies and in exchange for reviews LOL!
Always a good time to do that!
This is a great idea. And effective. I did something very similar for -my ebook-. I gave away some free copies to a few long time readers and gave away one whole module to everyone (about 1/8th of the content) before it was released and asked for comments on it. Then I used what people wrote for comments (and sometimes on their own blogs) for a sales page.
Very effective idea!
-Steve
Another great idea, Steve!
I just subscribed to your site today after reading your "45 Tips to Make MORE Money with Affiliate Marketing" post. Great stuff there. I look forward to reading more! Thanks for stopping by, Steve.
I don't have an electronic file, but I have a paper one from when I worked in magazine and newspaper. I need to do this as well. I think I have most email correspondence saved in one folder. I'll have to get this together and organized. I would like to write an ebook one day.
Great post and idea. Thanks.