Mastering Your Life Purpose vs. Marketing Your Life Purpose

[melodydanielluna]

Hello there.  My name is Melody and I am a fantasy/science-fiction writer from the West Coast of Canada.  I recently published my first short story, and I am writing/editing more short stories to be published in the future.  I am also going through my debut novel with an editor.  And I am dedicating a lot of time to reading/studying great books/stories, Story/writing craft and other things applicable to my domain of mastery/field. 

Something that I struggle with is time management.  Specifically, knowing how to allocate my time: how much should I invest into studying/mastering the craft itself, how much should I invest in creating and finishing and publishing my work, and how much should I invest in marketing? 

All of these things are important, yes.  But which is the most important? 

On the one hand, I feel creating the work itself is the most important.  But on the other hand, I feel as though without the proper research and development, I won't create quality pieces of work/books, or 'products', to sell.  That said, I don't want to be too much of a perfectionist with this, as I recognize perfectionism is procrastination in disguise. 

I can see the value of marketing too, because if I can market my products (my books, etc.) effectively, then I can quit my day job as a hair-dresser, or reduce my hours, and dedicate more time towards the work I find most meaningful, my writing.

That said, I also see the trap of obsessing about how the hell I am going to market myself as an author and sell enough books to survive.  This is a trap I've fallen into in the last year and a bit, since initially taking Leo's Life Purpose course.  As soon as I started treating my writing as my plan for my long-term career, all of these fears about how I am going to pay the bills came up.  I'll have months where I am really focused on marketing, but I am not studying/practising my craft very much.  And I'll have other months where I am practising my craft a lot and seeing growth there, but I am basically ignoring this hurdle of marketing. 

I am also thinking about the concept "The Purple Cow" and the phrase "Be so good they can't ignore you", and I remember Leo talking about baking the marketing into the product itself.  The idealist in me wants to believe that if I just focus on my craft and write the best books possible I will eventually develop an audience of readers and be able to quit my hair-dressing job.  But I also wonder if there is some amount of standard marketing recquired to see success at all.  I've heard other creative entrepreneurs talk about how they had to 'hustle' for five-ten years to set things up, but now they are in flow and get to simply focus on their craft.

In conclusion, I am willing to put work into marketing as well as writing, if this will be effective for my goals.  But at the same time, I want to avoid the trap of using my marketing as a means to avoid doing the work itself. 

I am very open-minded to any ideas anyone might have regarding this issue. 

Thank you for this community, and thank you to Leo!

Cheers

[Sahil Pandit]

@melodydanielluna Have you considered what marketing yourself would look like?

Are you comfortable being in front of a camera? These are a few questions to consider because marketing yourself to the niche you want to be a part of is just as important as you writing that next book.

[melodydanielluna]

Yes, I've tried various things, but I haven't really found my 'groove' yet. 

Actually, I've tried having a YouTube channel, but my focus for my videos was too broad and I couldn't seem to build an audience.  I am comfortable in front of a camera, but I'm not sure if marketing myself on YouTube is the best investment of my time.

More recently, I've tried blogging on Instagram, and once again, I struggle to gain any traction with a following. 

Recently, I changed my approach with Instagram however: instead of posting photos of life, I post little text images of my writing.  I enjoy this a lot more than I do posting pictures of my coffee and then writing a length caption that most people ignore.

I've also been thinking about getting back into video-making too.  But with more of a focus.  Maybe educational videos about Story and writing craft?  I don't know.

Still, the idea of giving writing advice as a mans to get people to buy MY book sounds a bit snake-oily to me.  Or perhaps I'm being to cynical?

Also, I don't want these efforts (hours spent filming/editing videos, etc.) to distract from the writing itself, which already takes a lot of time. 

[Sahil Pandit]

@melodydanielluna I think you should continue to keep experimenting with different types of content. Try different platforms (TikTok, Pintrest, IG micro-content via short videos..)

You could make YT videos and edit the videos into smaller clips that could be uploaded to the different social media platforms. 

This would save you time so you can focus on writing.

[universe]

Marketing is not wasted time and definitely worth it.

On the other hand it doesn't have to take up so much time. It can be as simple as introducing yourself to new people as "Hi I'm Melody, I'm a writer!". Chances are those people really need a writer right now or know people who are looking for one. Put yourself out there and opportunities will open up to you.

[melodydanielluna]

@Sahil Pandit Those are good ideas.  Thank you!  Maybe I just haven’t found my platform or my style of content yet.  
 

I’ve been getting good responses on the short pieces of writing for Instagram, so maybe I’ll try uploading them to other platforms as well.

[melodydanielluna]

@universe Thank you so much for your reassurance that I am not wasting my time by marketing myself and my writing.  My father is an author, and is very against marketing.  He seems to think it’s “fake” and that it’s a waste of time.  But really it’s just letting people know who you are and what you have to offer, I suppose.  There are good, high-conscious ways to market one’s self.

[Sahil Pandit]

@melodydanielluna I see no harm in marketing yourself/your books as long as you do it from an authentic place? Good luck!

[melodydanielluna]

@Sahil Pandit Yes, I agree.  I think the key is marketing authentically.  And dismantling this limiting belief I have internalized from my father.  
 

If I don’t market my books to people, something else will be marketed to them anyway.  My vision for the world is to get people reading more and better connected with Story.  I have to find a way to make my marketing about that, rather than a hard sell.