Personal Branding Archives | Page 2 of 4 | Jennifer Lancaster

May 17, 2025

Author Brand Strategy: Tips from Experience

Why Personal Brand Matters for Authors I had no presence of any kind. I was even afraid to sign up for my own author website, let alone talk about my book. It was only when my husband set up a simple website for me that I realised: I had to step into the light. Being invisible wasn’t going to help the people I wanted to reach. As an author, your personal brand helps others recognise and trust your message. It brings clarity to your platform, consistency to your visuals, and character to your writing voice. Readers start connecting with you, not just your book. While others focus on marketing books, I prefer to help authors market themselves first. Why? Because putting yourself in the right light helps your message—and your books—stand out and sell. This is author brand strategy 101.…

May 17, 2024

Personal Branding

Making a Personal Brand, in Plain English

Of late I have been navel-gazing, I mean, assessing my values and brand. I’ve also been doing a content marketing course, which prompted me to gain further understanding about what information nonfiction authors look for. Then I realised that there is no such thing as a typical author. There are many reasons to write a book and just as many reasons to build a personal brand. This branding and values exercises is valuable. It had me thinking about things like: how does my personal brand portray me? How can someone create an authentic vibe? What puts people off… and what do they really want to know about my background/values? Amy Green recently wrote in SmartCompany that personal branding is: “How you are recognised and remembered. It is the art of bringing together your strengths, skills and your true essence, then…

May 17, 2024

Personal Branding

Attracting New Buyers, Despite the Odds

Some have endured the odds of the pandemic and floods, and continue to do so. Thought Leadership is about being resilient. It is about attracting new buyers, so you can write and sell thought leadership books and courses. Experienced specialists often go into their own business (often with a ‘teaching’ focus) and believe that they must pretend to be BIGGER than just one person. Or that their family business must appear very professional, ‘always on’. Because of this belief, smart business owners run themselves close to empty, giving their all because they think success is about high standards of delivery. With Thought Leadership as a focus, that hustle is not necessary. The leader steps out to talk about their beliefs and knowledge, rather than hiding behind a corporate insignia. You may be thinking, ‘this doesn’t apply to me’… I’m not……

February 22, 2023

Book Marketing, Personal Branding

Author-First Book Marketing: First 4 Tips

Having a foundation in online book marketing makes a difference to any author’s ability to succeed in the market. With an Author-first approach, it’s making sure you and your brand goes out into the world. Many of you will have a coaching, consulting or a particular business in the background and with this approach, it’s going to have the most effect. The first three times I published, I had zero brand and no real connection to ‘me’. The next time I published, I went hard on research and achieved some relevance by adding my own case study experiences (and supplier details) to the book. If I could start again, I would make all my books talk to the one audience, even if on a number of different topics. Well, I guess it’s never too late to start over! 1. Start…

January 6, 2022

Book Editing, Personal Branding

Understanding the Editor’s Terminology

Do you ever get the feeling people aren’t quite getting you? Recently I thought while editing my videos that people may not understand me and my editors’ terminology. So here I’m going to explain the editorial terms I often say, some Jenacisms… and touch on what platform and branding is about. When I speak about typesetting, I don’t mean physically setting the type, but it is a word to mean ‘formatting and layout of a book’, and these have rules. Designing the book means use of creativity and choosing two typefaces that complement each other and create a mood for the book. When I speak about InDesign, I don’t mean designing in something, I mean the page layout program from Adobe. I am a fan, even though it is a very intense program. Artwork is not the design, it is…

September 15, 2025

Book Marketing, Personal Branding

Author Brand Cheat Sheet

If you’re lagging in social media followers and personal brand style, then you’ll want to read these cheat sheet tips for author brand strategy. While others specialise in marketing books, I prefer to focus on helping authors market themselves first. But why? This focus puts the author in the best place to then sell books, with simple tactics like emails to their list or a series of content posts. The trouble I had with launching earlier books was I had no platform. First steps were a simple blog site and a Twitter account (this was in 2009). Author Branding First Steps—Shoot First! As a relatively high-quality image of your good self will give you instant credibility, it’s wise to put aside modesty and get pro photos taken. There are many uses for these. Head Shot – studio ‘Doing’ shot –…