Dear Writer, I hope you had a beautiful week and took time to consider developing a learning mindset! This week, we’re going to look at another mindset to help prepare you for marketing success. That mindset is experimentation.
You see, writer, experimentation is where you begin to put feet to your learning. It’s an ability to take what you’ve learned—whether from others or from your own successes and failures—and to leverage that to make calculated risks. It’s might sound a bit intimidating, but experimentation can be a fun and playful stage of the marketing process.
But before we get started, here are some others who embraced experimentation in their life and work…
Experimenting in History
George Washington Carver, one of the most celebrated African American botanists, embraced experimentation as he searched for a way to help poor African American cotton farmers revive their struggling farms. Carver encouraged these farmers to begin planting peanuts and sweet potatoes to become self-sustainable. He even developed various recipes to teach the farmers how to live off their peanut and sweet potato harvests. Not only that, Carver began exploring over 100 new uses for the peanut to help drive a market for these new crops, so that the farmers could not only survive but begin to thrive.
You see, writer, Carver not only saw the needs of the farmers, he also invested himself in finding and making solutions accessible to those who could not afford to explore and experiment their way to success. We do a similar thing when we create paths for readers to experience God’s glory through our story.
Experimenting in the Bible
Isaac is another good example of experimentation. When famine came to the land of Canaan, God instructed to Isaac to remain in the land, instead of fleeing to Egypt. Issac obeyed, and God prospered him. But when Isaac’s Philistine neighbor King Abimelek saw Isaac’s growth, he became afraid and asked Isaac to move away from his city. Isaac respectfully retreated into the wilder parts of Canaan and began re-digging the wells his father Abraham had made to water his flocks.
Twice as Isaac re-dug old wells, Philistines came and argued with him over the well’s ownership. Instead of getting discouraged, Isaac persisted in both moving and digging. When he dug two uncontested wells of his own, he knew God had given him the space he needed to thrive. And here’s the interesting thing: after Isaac settled, King Abimelek—recognizing God’s favor on Isaac—came out to sign a treaty with him.
You see, writer, there may be some initiatives we start that the Lord seems to be leading us in. And we may scratch our heads when they don’t seem to go well. But here’s the thing. If at every failure, we stay close to the Lord and persist, He will lead us and use all that we learn to grow us and help us reach our readers.
Experimentation in Life
I started experimenting when God put it on my heart to begin praying for healing for strangers. Often I’d seen the obvious pain of others and had wanted to see them well. When God encouraged me that He’d given me a gift of healing to use, I spent some time learning about healing prayer. But at some point, I had to begin stepping out in faith, experimenting as I learned to trust His leading. As I did, I met with both successes and failures as I learned to discern His voice from my own thoughts and integrated His principles of faith and love with my desire to see others healed. And here’s the thing…
Experimentation in Your Life
Often marketing is about stepping out in faith on what God has shown you. You see, God often trains us as we go. Just like He did with His disciples. Let me show you…
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- The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. – Psalm 37:23-24
- Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:9
- I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you. – Psalm 32:8-9
You see, writer, learning to take risks is really about learning to rely on the Lord throughout the marketing process. It’s about learning to steward well what He shows you so that He can expand you to hold and do more. Often that process of expansion takes place as we are faithful to act on what He has given.
Where to Start with Experimentation
So are you ready to start experimenting with marketing for your book? Here are some ideas to get you started!
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- Pray. Ask God for wisdom about your story, your unique readers, and what connection points you can begin to leverage to reach them. God provides wisdom to all who ask, and as we persistently bring these requests to Him, it attunes our heart and mind to be on the lookout for His answers.
- Play a Little. Once you’ve begun to identify those points of connection, give yourself permission to play. Do a little dabbling as you learn to see what really gels with you. These “dabblings” don’t have to be wildly large or public. The point is simply to find out whether a certain kind of activity suits you before you commit to try it out for a time.
- Take a Risk. Once you begin to identify marketing channels that suit both you and your audience, create a simple plan of action that you will be able to execute for 30 days or more. The idea here is that you have to be consistent for long enough to see if your initiative is working or not.
- Pray, Evaluate & Iterate. As you begin to move forward in faith, you will likely begin to see problems, gaps, and holes in your plan as well as what is working well. Keep going long enough to get accurate data. But as you go, I encourage you to set aside some time weekly to evaluate your efforts—what’s working, what isn’t, and why. Then adjust your plans and try again. Because here’s the thing…
Experimentation is about partnering with God to walk out a work He’s prepared for you from before the foundation of the earth. (Eph 2:20, Heb 4:3) It’s about learning to add our faith to what He’s already envisioned for us. Because here’s the thing: any big work God’s given us to do is one He has a plan for. Now, this might seem like the opposite of experimentation, but you’ll notice that every step of faith towards God’s plans includes an element of risk.
For Carver, it was convincing farmers to produce historically less marketable crops. But Carver spoke the farmers with faith that he could create a strong demand for peanuts and sweet potatoes—and with God’s help he did. Isaac trusted God’s word to stay in the land of Canaan, in spite of the drought and Philistine animosity. As a result, God so obviously blessed him that Isaac’s enemies came to fear him and recognize God’s blessing on his life. For me, as I risked getting it “wrong” and offending people I didn’t know, God used my successes and failures to build a confidence and accuracy that helped to see more and more people set free. And here’s the thing writer…
Taking the risks is always worth it. Even when they seem to fail. Because not only will taking these risks cause you to learn, but it will also expand you and your skill and perspective as you go. Best of all, it causes you to know God better as you join in His adventure. As you do, you are more and more able to invite your readers into that unique expression of His glory and their own adventures with Him, too.
So I encourage you today, writer, to make time to begin prayerfully experimenting with ways to reach your readers. As you allow Him to transform your life, you never know how He will transform others lives through you.
#risk #faith #growth #EveryWriterWriting
