We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Erickson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Hi Lauren, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard
Marketing is something that everyone needs but no one wants to do, especially when it comes to their book, brand, and/or business. It seems there’s a new trend, a new social platform, or a new standard to meet every other week, and with the ten million other items you have on your agenda, it’s no surprise that marketing often falls to the bottom. But what many folks fail to recognize (no doubt due to overwhelm and overstimulation) is that marketing is simply an opportunity to offer genuine value.
In my opinion, marketing yourself in the digital age does not need to be an all-or-nothing approach. Instead of feeling pressured to be everywhere at once, especially if you’re still establishing yourself as a brand or business, pick one or two platforms your primary audience hangs out on to go deep with.
For example, I started out positioning myself pretty heavily in the bookish space on Instagram and began making reels based on trending audio that I genuinely found interesting or funny. I’d tweak the caption or titles to make it about books, writing, or being an author in some way and, because I was already making content, I very passively began uploading it to YouTube. I wasn’t trying to start anything new, I was being efficient. Over the course of six to eight months or so, I had attracted a few hundred subscribers. That told me I had generated interest on another platform that was growing relatively quickly. So, as a newly published author at the time, I gradually began introducing more long-form content around what people didn’t know about the book business and publishing industry. After making one video a week for one year, I had grown my following to over 1,200 subscribers.
So what worked? What did I do that was so different?
Firstly, I worked with what I had. I was already pretty active on Instagram and, coincidentally, that happened to be where my most receptive audience was. Secondly, I made the content I truly enjoyed making, which was short-form videos with funny, trending audio. I was getting positive feedback and making people laugh because I was making content worth their time. Thirdly, and purely out of efficiency, I began uploading those reels to YouTube, another platform I was familiar with that supported short-form content. Finally, I transitioned my efforts toward the audience that was growing the most (which was YouTube) by crafting longer-form content that, again, was worth peoples’ time.
So when it comes to organically marketing yourself online, it’s all about two essential criteria: authenticity and consistency. It’s very easy to overcomplicate social media, but by leveraging what you have, engaging with your budding audience, and providing content that informs, educates, entertains, or inspires, it becomes very easy for people to want to give you more attention.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a #1 Amazon bestselling author, content creator, and entrepreneur. I help small, service-based business owners gain more visibility through various forms of content marketing, with books being my specialty. I’ve delivered a variety of lectures over the past couple years, both virtually and physically, discussing the book-to-brand pipeline at libraries, conferences, webinars, and livestreams.
I initially started out working as a book launcher for an Inc. 5000 agency, managing campaigns for entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and executives, before pivoting toward building out my own brand. Now, I do one-on-one client work and produce educational YouTube content to help authors and small business owners combine the power of storytelling with digital marketing to help them stand out.
You can find me on any of these channels if you’d like to learn more or connect!
Website: https://laurenericksonofficial.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenerickson-chicago/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxQ5-1XVeCmxluVYHhHnlUg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenericks0n/
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Apart from referrals, I have found that my most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been hosting webinars on platforms like Meetup.com. I’ve presented topics on book launching, publishing pathways, defining your target audience, and more as a way to not only get feedback on my speaking and presenting, but to also provide value to a community of creative business people.
One time, I attracted a total presence of two at a webinar. TWO. I was talking about monetization strategies for nonfiction authors and about halfway through my presentation, one of the attendees inquired about my services and if I would be interested in helping him to develop and organize the idea for his first book, a memoir. Although I normally don’t do much work with book coaching, I agreed to work with him and to this day, he remains one of my most engaged clients!
I personally believe that providing value before pitching yourself is a great way to get strangers to better like, know, and trust you because they feel like you have their best interests at heart. As a consumer myself, nothing is more attractive to me than an expert who can answer my questions (and even the questions I haven’t formulated yet) as simplistically as possible. That’s my ultimate goal with webinars and any other content I produce!
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I’m not sure how I initially heard about it, but I came across a transcription of a talk given by the 1950s radio speaker, Earl Nightingale, called “The Strangest Secret.” The copy I have is about 35 pages long, and while I wouldn’t necessarily say it impacted my entrepreneurial thinking directly, it did become one of my favorite books that influenced my approach to life.
It’s essentially about how we become what we think. Groundbreaking, right? Totally never been done before, I know. But what I like about Earl’s approach is how he encourages you to take personal responsibility for the elements of your life you can control while meeting life halfway for the things you can’t.
A quote I highlighted in bright pink in my copy is, “Don’t concern yourself too much with how you are going to achieve your goal. Leave that completely to a power greater than yourself. The answers will come to you of their own accord and at the right time. All you have to know is where you are going.”
In a world where there’s often pressure to have a plan, define objectives, and set KPIs, I find it refreshing to hear a successful figure say that the most important part of any plan you make is just knowing where you’re going. I personally don’t care how my goals and dreams are realized, as long as I’m holding myself accountable to what I say I’m going to do and putting my energy toward the best route of getting there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://laurenericksonofficial.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenericks0n/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenerickson-chicago/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@laurenericks0n
Image Credits
Cre8tive Con (Personal Photo)
Maira Ochoa Photography (Additional Photos)