Email blasting works, but the President of Munjack Marketing, Lisa Munjack, has a different take on it and explains why using direct marketing to sell books is preferable. In today’s episode, Lisa also shares where you could find the list to sell your book. She also added that your landing page is important and mentions that you should ensure to add a call-to-action on your page if you want to sell your book. From a talk about her demon-possessed puppy, Bichpoo, to an insightful conversation about direct marketing, this episode provides interesting value for you! Let’s join Lisa today and start selling your books.

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Using Direct Marketing To Sell Books

We have a content marketing guest. Stay tuned because as we move into 2024, as always with the presidential year, business becomes more uncertain. People don’t know if they want to spend money or hold onto their money. Content marketing is going to be a big factor in building trust and getting people to buy your programs, products, and services.

Before we get started with our guest, I want to remind you to go over to BAMagLiveTraining.com. Our guest trainer on March 5th, 2024 is Fran Asaro, and she’s the senior tuber. We use her extensively with our authors in Author Traffic School to be able to build YouTube channels that are profitable and headed in the right direction toward monetization. There are certain pillars you have to reach, and they can be difficult. You have to learn how to attract people to that YouTube channel. Once again, it’s BAMagLiveTraining.com. Go over there and sign up. Fran is our most popular speaker. We have more people show up for her training than anybody else that we have had so far.

Our guest is Lisa Munjack, and she is the President of Munjack Marketing, Queen Bee of the Empollinate small business owner online marketing course, and the Co-Owner of Verona Yoga. For most of her professional career, she has led the promotion department at the New York Post. Ten years ago, she formed a virtual marketing agency, Munjack Marketing, which is a full-service marketing department for B2B and B2C businesses with up to 50 employees. They specialize in content marketing, and the agency’s sweet spot is family-owned businesses.

She lives in Verona, New Jersey with her husband plus a Bichpoo puppy who is convinced is partially possessed by demons. We’re going to have to ask her about that. Her son graduated from Temple University and her daughters at the University of South Carolina. It sounds like she might be an empty nester as well. Stay tuned for our interview with Lisa.

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Lisa, welcome. Thank you so much for being here.

I am so happy to be here. Juliet, thank you for having me as a guest.

The thing that I am sure my clients want to know is why you think your dog is a demon.

That is the most important part of my bio. My dog is a demon for many reasons. He is a pandemic puppy. He gets into everything. There’s probably something going on in the background that I can’t see. We call our dining room table the table of shame. Whenever he does take something that he’s not supposed to take, and we never know what it’s going to be, it ends up underneath the table of shame. He is a little furry hurricane going through the house and destroying things.

We had a lab one time that was like that. He ate every shoe. When I took him to the vet, they were like, “He is going to do this for two years.” I’m like, “Why didn’t anybody warn me? I like my shoes.” It wasn’t so much mine. It was the kids because the kids never put their shoes away.

I could go on for probably an hour about the other ways that he’s a demon but that is just one.

When this show is over, we will perform an exorcism. We will call in a priest and have an exorcism done.

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate it. I will try anything.

I’m excited to talk about our topic. People out there are doing content. Content is building trust but you also do direct mail marketing, and there are ways besides that email that if you don’t have a high email rate to open or on social media where it’s down in the feed where people aren’t finding it, you can sell books. Can you tell us a little bit more about direct marketing and why it’s so effective for authors?

It’s fascinating at least to me because when you hear the words direct mail, it seems very outdated but it’s even more effective these days than it has been in years, and that applies to every age group. There are scientific studies and marketing research behind it. It’s interesting because a direct mail piece, something that’s coming into your physical mailbox or something that’s going directly to the client, is appealing better to human emotions. It’s boosting brand recognition, and driving purchases but here’s a disclaimer. It does need to be part of an omnichannel campaign. It should be part of a digital marketing campaign or a social media campaign. It doesn’t have to be paid. It can be organic postings on social. It can be an email campaign but it can be incredibly effective if it is part of a campaign.

It’s affordable more so than some digital advertising. I experienced this tech fatigue. I unsubscribed to two email blasts that I keep getting, and I’m like, “Unsubscribe.” There’s this fatigue. Direct mail is also a great way to reach people who aren’t following you. They may not subscribe to your newsletter. They’re not part of your database or social media following. Those are some of the top-line reasons that can be incredibly effective.

I want to go back to something, and it’s not related to direct mail. Unsubscribe. I go through at the end of the year and I do much the same, “Who am I not following? Who am I not using?” I am getting an incredible amount of unsolicited emails, and because I was a realtor, I know where that stuff is coming from. Let’s talk about that. If someone has not subscribed to you, you are opening yourself up to a $10,000 fine per time you do that from the Federal Trade Commission. I don’t think a lot of people realize that. You would be surprised how many times I hit the button from a realtor who has gotten the list from a title company and thought, “I could use it.” You and I discussed this the first time we talked. You get on the phone with another entrepreneur, and then they put you on their list.

I can’t stand that. Not only is there the financial hit but you’ve eroded the trust. A lot of this is about trust, “I need to trust you if I’m going to take the next step.” You’ve lost that if you’ve added me to it. If you ask me, “Can I add you to my newsletter? Will you follow it? Will you subscribe? Can I add you to my database?” I have the power to say yes or no. I don’t understand that marketing. It’s not effective.

I am so much of a brat about it that I will hit the reply button and say, “Unsubscribe me. If I get another email from you, I will report you.” You have to have that mail server. I’m going to be transparent. I felt bad. I sent out a blast for an event, and it was supposed to be an invite. Somehow I messed it up, and it put people on my calendar. I was getting texts, and I was like, “I’m so sorry that was supposed to be an invite, not a booking. You’re welcome to show up or not show up. I don’t care.” I felt bad because I messed it up.

You communicated afterward and told them. That’s a big part of it. It’s like, “I own that. Mistakes happen.” That’s the downside of all the tech and platforms that we have but you owned it, and that’s fine. I’m sure a lot of people on the list know you, like you, and trust you. Most likely, you didn’t do too much damage with that.

I don’t think I did but I got a lot of texts, “Why are you sending me this?”

It took up your precious time like, “Now I have to fix this.”

When you do direct mail, are we talking about postcards and letters? What are you talking about? What is the mail? When you take these to the post office, are they regular mail? Is there a certain class of mail?

There are different types. You can do realtors. You will see those. That’s very popular with realtors to say, “We sold a home in your region.” Those tend to be the oversized postcards. I’ve worked with a luxury furniture store. With that one, we did the release glue. You will get them from DSW or Macy’s where you can tear off the little card. There are those types of things. It depends on what type of business you are and what call to action you have. If you are a retailer, then you might want one of those little credit card-sized cards that you can easily remove from the mailer, and then that’s your call to action. There might be something that you want to tear off and mail back in.

The most effective and the least expensive way to go is to do the oversized postcard. USPS has a tremendous easy-to-use system where you can target by ZIP code. You can also target residential or commercial and then pay per piece. We do typically a QR code. It’s an omnichannel campaign. We understand who the client is. You need to understand who your ideal client is. Who are you talking to? Is it a man or a woman? We get much deeper than that.

Direct Marketing: The most effective and least expensive way to go is the oversized postcard. USPS has a tremendous easy to use system where you can target by ZIP code. You can also target residential or commercial.

Do they love demon dogs? If they do, then maybe there’s a picture of a cute dog on there. That might appeal, or they’re like, “What is this piece?” It’s something that’s going to align with your branding and speak to your customers. It might have a sense of humor if you’re like, “My client will appreciate that.” There could be a QR code on there. They scan it. They go to a landing page that you created, especially to align with the direct mail piece. There’s something valuable and free that they can download. That way, you are moving them deeper into your funnel.

I was reading about this. You’re disrupting neurotransmitters with direct mail pieces, which is fascinating. It’s not just marketing. There’s something called the cocktail party effect. When you’re at a cocktail party, and you’re able to drown out all the voices, that’s what we’re dealing with. Every day we’re second-screening. I might be watching a show but I’m also checking my LinkedIn. You’re out somewhere taking a walk, and an ad pops up. The cocktail party effect is that the human brain can only focus on one conversation. If you hear your name, you’re going to now hone in on that.

Direct mail is like somebody calling your name because it’s not fighting for attention with a bunch of other things. You’re looking at your mail. You see a piece. Maybe it has the dog with devil horns, and you’re like, “That’s cute. What is that?” All of a sudden, it’s personalized. It’s relevant, and there’s something there that’s going to solve a problem that I have hopefully because you know your customer. All of a sudden, it is breaking through but it’s also taking them to the next step by taking them onto a landing page. You can do any size that fits whatever your offer is but that oversized postcard is probably the most popular one that we have done.

There you go. The headline is going to be, “Pet exorcism made easy.”

I would look at that piece of mail.

I would look at that piece of mail too even if I didn’t have a dog. When you design these postcards, what are some of the most important elements that you must have on there? Where would we get a list to sell a book? Where would you find that?

There are a bunch of different services out there that will sell lists but sometimes if it’s a realtor getting a list from a title agency, it could be a list of people who are not interested in there. There are marketing companies out there that are credible and will sell you a list. I could get you a whole list of those later if you want to share them. They can be a little pricey but it depends on the book. Let’s say it’s a book about cooking a certain style. Maybe there’s a list of people in a certain area that you can market to, or maybe there’s a local restaurant that would share their list and sell it.

Everybody is selling their lists. Usually, you do have to buy the list. You have to buy the list usually but the most powerful thing that you can have is not increasing your social media followers. That’s great but the most powerful thing that you can do in the marketing world is have your list. Try to build your database as much as you can, and that isn’t by saying, “Subscribe to my newsletter.” That’s going to be using all of your owned media, meaning your website, social media pages, landing pages, and anything you own.

You want to ask people to submit a few pieces of information. People don’t want friction, “Give me your name and your email address, and then you’re going to get this social media calendar if you’re a marketing agency. I’m an accountant. I’m going to get you the five things you need to do before year’s end to reduce the tax hit.” Whatever business you’re in, you want to give them something valuable and free, and then you’re more likely to build your database.

I have my books. They are getting ready.

It’s true. My mind is there. Even if it is the beginning of the year, February, or any time, people are still trying to get their act together.

My books are always completed on January 2nd. They’re ready to go for the account. I’m just waiting for my 1099. I am good about it.

There are a bunch of different places to get your lists but the best thing you can do is to try to continually build your list. Let’s say something happens with Facebook tomorrow. You will still own that list. You’re changing their algorithms all the time. It’s less powerful to have followers and do anything organic but that list is gold.

That’s a great point for those of you who have those people on social media. I have personally witnessed two events. One is an algorithm change back when Facebook decided that communities were better than business pages, and entrepreneurs completely lost the visibility of huge amounts of people on their business pages. Everybody has heard the story of MySpace on this show before.

I had a friend who had over 300,000 subscribers to an online magazine, and they grabbed it there. When MySpace went out and Facebook came in, she lost it. She was getting ad revenue because 300,000 followers is a good chunk, especially back then. It’s so important what Lisa’s talking about. It’s that backup where these people are in your CRM or your mail server. Your CRM is an excellent place to get addresses and mail out for the book instead of sending out email blasts and things like that for a bestseller campaign.

Use social media to drive people to your landing page. The word landing page sometimes is confusing to people. A landing page is separate from your website. It has a separate URL. It is a one-page online page, and it has some form at the bottom typically. That’s where you’re going to have information that is very specific to your book, a speaking engagement, or something much smaller than your website. It’s much more narrowly focused.

The landing page is also great for SEO. You want to make sure that you’ve researched your keywords and phrases and that those are being used on the landing page, especially if you’re focusing on selling a book. That’s very specific content. Going back to the cookbook theme, there might be a free recipe for Valentine’s Day, “Here’s something with oysters or one of the aphrodisiacs.”

Demons and aphrodisiacs.

The landing page can be also a nice tool. It’s easy to put together. A lot of people do them on their own but there has to be a very clear call to action at the end of that so you can ultimately build your list. Keep building your list using different entry points, social media, email campaigns, and landing pages.

Direct Marketing: Keep building your list, but use different entry points, social media email campaigns, and landing page.

A lot of people want to put this stuff on their site. You have three seconds on your site to keep somebody there. If you don’t have an opt-in there of some sort, they will go off to the other areas of your site if they stay at all. That’s why that landing page is so important. It’s separate. It has one directive.

Make sure it’s not too cluttered because we can only hold 5 to 9 pieces of information at one time. The biggest mistake I see when we’re working on people’s websites or marketing is they cram it with information. I’m like, “Nobody is reading this.” We have a few seconds to capture them. Make sure there’s something compelling. The image is clear. I have a fun headline, not a dry headline. I don’t care if you’re an accountant. Make it fun and then give me 5 to 9 pieces of information. Even nine is too much.

I usually do 3 to 4.

That’s smart.

What people confuse it with a lot is a sales letter. Does anybody even do sales letters anymore? I can’t remember the last time I took the time to read through a sales letter. They’re pretty much obsolete at this point.

Not even LinkedIn. I am not connecting with anybody, first of all, if you don’t put a note in there. I need to know who you are, and then the note is, “Your profile impressed me.” I see those words and I decline.

Let’s go there. If you are working with a LinkedIn professional, and they give you this canned thing, I do the same thing. If I have time, and I’m a major smart ass, I will get them back and say, “What do you find that was so impressive about that?” I will go there because it’s silly. At the beginning of the year, you’re going to see all of them. You’re going to get the same message over and over because those people are like, “I’m working with a LinkedIn expert. Let’s get that canned message.”

Let’s talk about that. That’s not content. Content is a trust builder, and it’s informative. You’re being a server, not a seller. If you open up your LinkedIn, and there are a bunch of things in their sales, that person is not a server. A server will go with their content and build your trust. A seller says, “Here it is. Click on it and buy it. Thank you so much. I don’t want to put the work in to get your trust.” It’s the bad boyfriend we were talking about.

We have covered a lot of ground.

It’s the guy who wants to go straight to that third date, “Let’s have sex without getting to know you.” That’s the same mentality.

You have to build that trust. I’ve heard it takes as many as twenty touchpoints to get your message heard, and direct mail is one of those touchpoints. You need to continually serve, not sell. That is the biggest mistake I see. They’re going straight to the sale. Somebody walked up to me on the street and was like, “Do you want to buy a watch?” I was like, “Who are you? How do I know that’s real?”

Was that in New York City where they have those little pop-up tables with fake watches, “Do you want to buy a Rolex for $10?”

At least they’re fake. You’re coming to me, and you seem credible. You have a LinkedIn profile and followers, and we might have some mutual connections but I still don’t know who you are. You’re impressed by my profile. I love to push back although I have to deal with their response potentially if they look through it and be like, “I’m impressed where you went to school or your job history.” I don’t even want to get into a conversation with them but I love that you do it.

I don’t expect an answer. I expect you to realize you used something canned and silly.

It’s not working. If you’re paying somebody to do that, stop paying them because it’s not effective. We need to build trust. People are more skeptical now than ever. You have to develop a relationship. You have to show that you understand the problems of your ideal customer and that you can solve them. If you don’t show that and go straight to the sale, then you’ve missed that opportunity.

If we’re putting together social media posts, we will follow See, Think, and Do. The Do is the sale but first, you need to have them see that you exist, and that’s by proving your credibility. That could be with some thought leadership piece, statistics, or something, and then you can go into the sale a little bit, “I’m doing a webinar. I would love for you to join.” You’re not going to sell them a multi-thousand dollar program, and then it’s rinse and repeat. See, Think, and Do.

I use a little bit more. I have four steps in there. To all of you authors, heads up here. You have to create curiosity. First of all, they have to be curious, they engage, you nurture them, and then you sell. That’s where the content comes in though. Many authors fail. They’re like, “I wrote this book. Everybody is going to buy it.” You have these limiting factors. How many social media followers do you have? How many people are on your list? That’s probably the maximum number of people who are going to buy that book because they’re not going to find it randomly over on Amazon unless you’ve run ads. When you’re thinking about building this, that content is essential to take people to that next step, which is that nurture book.

That goes back to how direct mail is seen as more trustworthy. It’s breaking through that clutter and reaching people that you might not necessarily be reaching. It does go back to getting the right list but there might be a great partner. If you don’t have a budget, then it might be aligning yourself with somebody who is complimentary to your business and sharing their list with you, and then you send something out. We need to repeat our message but not verbatim. We need to reach out in different ways.

Authors are fortunate because they have so much great content because they wrote a book. It’s bundling it, getting it out in different ways, and putting it into downloadable pieces. It was interesting. I saw this statistic earlier. When somebody gets a direct mail piece before they see a social media ad, their long-term memory encoding is 44% stronger, which I thought was fascinating, going back to that omnichannel. When a direct mail piece follows any digital interaction and brand recall, what they call arousal rates increase by over 25%.

It’s releasing on the day before Valentine’s Day too.

I didn’t expect this to take a turn that way. Get that arousal rate up to your clients.

Where can we find you if we want to know more?

This was awesome. You can find me at MunjackMarketing.com. That’s my site. That’s probably the best way to reach out, and then Lisa@MunjackMarketing.com.

Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun.

This was a great conversation. Thank you so much.

Hopefully, my audience had fun too.

I hope so. Thank you so much for having me.

Important Links

• Author Traffic School
• BAMagLiveTraining.com
• Munjack Marketing
• Lisa@MunjackMarketing.com

About Lisa Munjack

Lisa Munjack is the President of Munjack Marketing, Queen Bee of the “Empollinate” small business owner online marketing course and co-owner of Verona Yoga. For most of her professional career, she led the Promotion Department at the New York Post. 10 years ago, she formed a virtual marketing agency, Munjack Marketing.

Munjack Marketing is a full-service marketing department for B2B and B2C businesses with up to 50 employees. They specialize in content marketing. The agency’s sweet spot is family-owned businesses. She lives in Verona, NJ with her husband, plus a Bichpoo puppy who she is convinced is partially possessed by a demon. Her son graduated from Temple University and her daughter is at University of South Carolina.

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