Angela Breidenbach is the American Christian Fiction Writer's new Publicity Officer and a multi-award winning inspirational author, speaker, and business owner. Angela is a Stephen Minister certified in mentor/peer counseling and Assisting Minister at her church. Angela is Mrs. Missoula America 2008 in support of her goal to promote the study of schizophrenia through awareness of brain donation. Not only did she walk the hard line of deciding to donate her mom's brain, but she is also on the brain donation list at the Brain Bank-Harvard McLean Hospital. She is married, has a combined family of six grown children, one grandson and lives in Montana.

Marketing can be scary for a lot of people, especially those who have never done it before or the quiet, shy sort who don’t like to be the center of attention. I’m excited to share a series on Neighborhood Marketing that is fun and effective. Instead of intrusive ads or blaring lights, think of marketing more in terms of a fine dining restaurant experience.

Varied courses build a delicious meal. It’s the layered courses that give long-term staying power and satisfaction. A well-prepared meal provides an excellent opportunity to communicate and connect so people can build relationship and trust with you.

Marketing doesn’t have to be scary at all if we define and understand the dishes and specials from our restaurant’s menu.

Marketing—the big picture, all the choices on the menu.

Advertising—the constant placement of name recognition, like coffee refills. It’s often used as a general term in place of marketing, but really it is the concept of placement (where you buy or get the “ads” and where your consumer will see, hear, or experience your name and your product).

Promotion—the chef’s special that includes a specific and targeted concept, usually short duration versus long-term. A chef regularly changes his special.

Publicity—a specific campaign that creates a buzz about your product through media outlets like radio, newspaper, online, television, etc. This would be the coupon that brought you to the restaurant to try it.

Placement or Buy—your choice of dish as told to the waiter, a specific purchase in a specific place, such as a radio contract or magazine ad purchase or even a long-term Blog Talk Radio show.

Trust is how consumers decide where to spend their time and money. The key is to connect directly to those in the immediate vicinity. Signs, printed material, personal contact, and professional courtesy are only the beginning. Neighborhood Marketing encompasses repetition and connecting to those surrounding opportunities, not just the one place you are working that day.

Many of these things will come into play in a good marketing campaign, but it is the layering multiple opportunities that create depth and staying power. We’ll talk more about layering for multiple connections to your target market next month and how American Christian Fiction Writers are going to approach marketing in their “neighborhood” while building a layered familiarity and trust in potential members and readers. You can tweak these concepts and use them in your marketing, too.

Tip on promotion versus advertising: Advertising gets name recognition through repetition. Promotion gives us the ability to offer a call to action.

What’s happening over at American Christian Fiction Writers and why should you be a part? Because your small membership fee gives you free online classes and up-to-date information as soon as it is released on our ACFW conference! Check these benefits out!

March Meredith Efkin teaches Unputdownable: Structuring a Page-Turning Scene

April Judith McCoy teaches Building a Cast of Characters: How to Create Important Characters and Avoid Filling Your Story with Unnecessary Clutter

May Terry Burns teaches Agent Too Shy to Pitch or Promote

June Jill Nelson teaches GMCs and MRUs: The Muscles and the Molecules of Storytelling

July Meet the ACFW Operating Board through one week mini-courses:

Week 1 Cheryl Wyatt Plotstorming (character-driven brainstorming method)

Week 2 Pam Meyers Deep Point of View

Week 3 Angie Breidenbach Overcoming Your Pirates: Negatives That Hold You Back from Your Goals

Week 4 Margaret Daley teaches Using the Five Love Languages to Enrich Your Stories

August Rachel Hauck teaches You Write Like a Girl

September Cara Putman teaches I’m Headed to the Conference, Now What?!?

October Linda Rondeau teaches Critique Groups

November Kathy Fuller and Jill Ellen Smith How to Write Your Passion and Still Get Published. This course will focus on encouraging writers not to give up writing “the book of their heart” but to also seek out other opportunities for publication. In other words, write your passion, but write things that are marketable, too.

December no course (really?) Think about it. Honestly, who has the time? We give you a break to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to keep your family time precious.