Are you thinking about hiring a book marketing coach or a book marketing consultant and wondering if they are the same thing? Wonder no more! In this post I'm going to explain what they each do and which might be the right fit for you. And rather cryptically, I'll also explain how one person can be both.
Book Marketing Coach
So what is a book marketing coach, what is a book marketing consultant and are these two job titles interchangeable?
If you have been working in the online space for any length of time you may have noticed a tendency to come up with strange and elaborate job titles. I've settled for the rather dull-but-says-what-it-is ‘book marketing coach'. But I could have gone with ‘book marketing evangelist', ‘book marketing maverick', or ‘book marketing cheerleader'.
While buzzword job titles may be popular online, they don't help anyone understand what it is that you actually do. As a book marketing coach, my job is to guide you and ask questions so that you can work out what you want to do and how you want to do it.
The marketing that works is the marketing that you will do. So while my brand of coaching does involve quite a lot of teaching, my priority is helping my clients find the book marketing system that is going to work for them and that they can stick with long term.
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Grab your guide to investing your book marketing budget
Book Marketing Consultant
So what about a book marketing consultant, what do they do? The key difference is that a book marketing consultant will ask you what you want to achieve and then tell you how to get there. It can be a far more prescriptive way of working and does often involve some prerequisites.
For example, you may need to have a large email list in place in order for some of their plans to work. If you have the resources and you're willing to do whatever you're told, then an experienced marketing consultant may be right for you. If you're more interested in working with someone who can help you devise your own marketing action plan, then a book marketing coach would be your better option.
When a coach is also a consultant…
At the beginning of this post I mentioned that somebody could be a coach and a consultant. That's me! When I work with authors to help them develop a long-term marketing action plan then I work with them as a coach. I help them devise their own marketing strategy that feels good and works with their strengths and what they're interested in doing long term.
But I also consult with authors on book launches. Book launches need a few more specific elements that should not be left to chance and there are certain strategies that I always like to use. During a launch, I can give specific direction to authors and that's when I work as a consultant.
Which is right for you?
So now you know the difference between a book marketing coach and a book marketing consultant, which is right for you? Perhaps neither is right and you need some other kind of book marketing help. In that case, download my free Author's Guide to Investing Your Book Marketing Budget. You can check out all your support options and take the quiz at the end to see what might offer the best solution for you.
Think you might be ready to work with me as your coach? Schedule a chat and let's see if we're a fit!
