SSA #008: How To Master Marketing in 100 Days

Read Time: 4 minutes

I've been running my own businesses for several years now.

Prior to this current business, I ran my own video production company for 9 years (during the first 2 of those, I was also working at the BBC as a camera operator, graphic designer, and in the newsroom).

Before all of that, I tried all sorts of different businesses (in the loosest sense of the word!):

– VHS to DVD transfer

– 35mm negatives to digital images transfer

– Event Photography

– Event Videography

– Gardening

The reason most of these didn't pan out? I didn't see them through. I faced a challenge and ran the other way; towards a new shiny object.

I've come to realize that you will inevitably face challenges in any business. That's all part of the journey (and the fun).

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. The grass is almost always greener where you water it.

Why am I telling you all this? What does any of it have to do with marketing your books

Persistence.

And a technique I discovered a few years back to help you persist.

The Law of 100

The premise of The Law of 100 is very simple:

Step One: Choose ONE skill you want to develop your expertise in

Step Two: Do that ONE thing every single day for 100 days

You apply this to anything within your author business:

– Learning an Ads platform

– Improving your craft as an author

– Developing your email writing skills

– Writing better book descriptions for your books

One recent example of how I've used The Law of 100 was to improve my email writing skills.

The previous rendition of this newsletter, The Morning ACOS, was a daily email I sent (6 days per week, plus a Sunday roundup email). Each edition contained an advertising or marketing tip for authors.

I wrote and sent 146 editions of The Morning ACOS (plus several weekly roundups). You can check out every edition of The Morning ACOS here.

Jerry Seinfeld's Law of 100

Jerry Seinfeld, the wealthiest and possibly most successful comedian in the world, used The Law of 100 at the beginning of his career.

He simply wrote jokes every single day for 100 days straight, then marked a red cross on his calendar each time he completed writing his daily jokes.

When he got so far into his 100 days, he didn't want to break the streak of red crosses on his calendar, so he kept going. And I think you'd agree, it paid off for him!

How You Can Use The Law of 100

As I alluded to earlier, there are many ways in which you can integrate The Law of 100 into your routine.

Want to learn how to run Facebook Ads? Dedicate time each day to doing just that:

– Reading Blog Posts about Facebook Ads

– Watching YouTube Videos about Facebook Ads

– Listening to Podcasts about Facebook Ads

– Taking Courses on Facebook Ads

– Looking at Facebook Ads from other authors

How you spend this time is up to you. However, the most important piece of the puzzle isn't the learning (though that is clearly critical), it's implementation. Taking action.

Jerry Seinfeld didn't become the wealthiest comedian in the world by learning about jokes. He did it by writing jokes (in other words, he did it by taking action).

"An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory"

The quote above from American Philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, sums this up perfectly.

Learning on its own is great, but without implementing what you learn, you'll just feel like you've swallowed the textbook. You'll have no real-world experience. No notion of how something truly works in practice.

You won't face challenges, and therefore, won't figure out how to resolve them.

Advertising, marketing, running an author business; none of it is sunshine and rainbows. There are going to be tough times ahead. And you need to develop the resolve and the skills to push through those tough times.

Taking action on what you learn is where the magic lies.

Finding The Time

We all live busy lives and you might be thinking, "when do I have time to learn a new skill, let alone implement it?".

Let me ask you this...

– Do you watch Netflix for 1-2 hours in the evening?

– Could you get up 1 hour earlier?

– Could you go to bed 1 hour later?

If something is important to you, you will find the time in your day to work on it.

Find 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes. Find time each and every day.

As you move forwards, if you need to, start building up the time you spend learning this skill, acquiring this knowledge, and taking action on what you learn.

If you're already enrolled in The 60 Minute Author (which launches today), you'll soon learn that I recommend dedicating 60 per day to the lever-moving marketing activities in your author business.

The Law of 100 is different; it's a technique for developing new skills, that could, one day, be incorporated into the 60 minutes I discuss in The 60 Minute Author.

An Action Plan

To wrap up this newsletter, I want to leave you with an action plan to help you start implementing The Law of 100 if you decide to do so.

Step One: Pick ONE skill you want to develop over the next 100 days that will help you in your author business. It doesn't have to be marketing-related. It could be craft-related.

Step Two: Find time each day (5, 10, 30, 60 minutes) to develop this skill.

Step Three: Create a Notion Doc, Google Doc, journal, or anything where you can write notes, and use this as a space to write down your learnings (it doesn't matter if it's scrappy!)

Step Four: Split your dedicated time up (however long that may be) into a "learning phase" and a "doing phase". The learning phase will be for consuming information about the skill you are developing. The doing phase is for taking action on what you learn.

Step Five: Keep track of your progress (use a calendar as Jerry Seinfeld did and mark a big red cross on it every time you complete a session) and stick with this for at least 100 days.

If you're feeling brave and have the headspace to do so, pick a second or third skill you want to develop over the next 100 days. But don't overdo yourself and burn out; that will do you (and your progress) more harm than good.

The key difference between successful and unsuccessful people is this...

Consistency.

The only way you can fail at anything in life is by giving up.

Just imagine where you will be 100 days from now if you dedicate time each and every day to developing ONE skill (or more if you're brave). The expertise, knowledge, and real-world experience you will have gained will be immense.

To Your Success
– Matt