I love meeting passionate content creators, speakers, writers, and professionals who want to launch a journal and need guidance to get from idea or manuscript to a journal-their-clients-can-hold! We usually meet over zoom to discuss cover colors and materials, design and layout process, printing costs...and more! Although journal design is my wheelhouse, we usually end up talking about journal marketing because, what good is a journal if you can’t get it out to your market? I have come across some interesting journal marketing ideas and want to share some of them with you in this article.
Photo copyright Shoal Projects Limited
Start establishing your brand or online presence well before you want to release a journal.
I meet a lot of would-be journal creators who love journaling and have an interesting journal idea, but have no audience to whom they can sell their journal. The first step in launching a successful journal doesn’t have much with the actual journal itself. It has to do with the background work of building an online presence (brand, website, social media accounts) and finding the people who are interested in what you’re creating (and finding ways to keep in touch with them, like through an email newsletter, Facebook group, or similar). The cost for creating a professionally designed and printed journal, if you print in Asia, starts at around $5,000 for the first 500 copies. Before you lay out that kind of money, you need to make sure you are creating something people will buy and use.
Give away a free download in exchange for an email address.
I have seen a few different journal creators do this: offer a printable worksheet from your journal in exchange for joining your email list. Or offer people the chance to test your journal pages and give feedback before you get the whole journal designed.
Share your journal creation process.
Create content about your journal creation process: a photo of the person who inspired your journal project; a picture of you writing in the woods; a video of you talking about how you brainstormed ideas for the journal; pictures of sample ribbons, paper and faux leather material you received from the printer; or a video of you unboxing the journals. Anything, everything can be social media content especially with a project so visual as a journal!
Consider making your first journal product a bit generic.
Journal creators can’t really use print-on-demand and just print one journal at a time, so you have the heavy front-end costs of printing hundreds of journals and seeing how they will sell. Avoid anything that might make your first journal feel dated quickly, so that you can create a timeless journal that can be used for many years.
What makes your journal feel out of date?
A logo or website that gets changed. If your brand has not been established for long, you may end up with a name change or logo change before you run out of journals. It might be better to create a website just for the journal but not for the overall brand you are building. For example, my journal design client Felix registered an LLC under the same name as his journal, “Live Your Potential”.
Dates: A dated journal has to be sold within a very short window of time: who hasn’t seen daytimers on sale for 50% off just a month or two into the new year?
An ultra-trendy look or content: If you’re capitalising on a social media trend or popular video game or maybe even a color that is already trendy, by the time your journal arrives on the ship from China, that trend might be long gone. For this reason, it’s probably wise to stick to a more classic look and feel for a journal so that it can be sold long term.
Brand your journal with a belly band, bookmark or bag.
A belly band, bookmark, bag, or other “wrapper” that you can put on your journal can be custom designed for a particular event or time. For example, the belly band on a 365 day journal can make it seem branded for 2022, even though the product itself could be used any year. A bag can be stamped with event information or a bookmark can contain phone numbers of local sponsors. Speaking of which…
Photo copyright Shoal Projects Limited
Create partnerships or seek sponsors within your niche.
Brainstorm a list of individuals or organizations who offer complementary services and might be interested to partner with you in promoting your journal. For example, the creator of a journal for adoptive parents can partner with non-profits or government agencies helping adoptive and foster parents. A Christian journal might be given out in event bags at a large Christian event in your area, if you sell the journals to them a reduced rate. A kids’ goals journal could be promoted by a local school or by an online kids’ entrepreneurship company. Approach potential partners asking if you can do anything from a giveaway that they share on their social media pages and website to a sponsorship where they pay for some of your printing costs in exchange for including their logo or contact information on your journal or marketing materials.
Make a journal launch team.
Individuals and agencies who are interested in your journal can help you launch it. Plan the time into your journal launch timeline to give your launch team an advance copy and ask them to promote it during the weeks before the full release. Who doesn’t want a free journal in exchange for a post or two about it?
Hire professionals to help you.
Too many journals fail to fly because they look or sound unpolished. If your journal has a lot of text, you need a professional editor to help you. If your journal has any text at all, you should hire a professional proofreader. If you are not a journal designer or have never ordered a book before, I offer journal design and print ordering services, and will talk to the printer for you if you run into any snags. There are people out there who will help you with marketing and distribution of your journal if you want that. There’s no sense saving $400 in proofreading costs but having a journal that’s full of typos and gets negative reviews, kapish?
If you landed here first, you may be interested in my other journal articles:
Or, schedule a one-hour brainstorming session with me to get ready to take your journal from an idea in your head or a manuscript on your computer to a journal you—and your target market—can hold!