JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Robert Chazz Chute, author of Six Seconds, The Unauthorized Guide to How To Build Your Business with the Vine App
(Ex Parte Press)
I’m obsessed with new social media platforms. Vine is a fun little video app that people can also use to promote their websites, books and businesses. “Six Seconds” is the little marketing book about how to do so successfully without being spammy.
Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write “Six Seconds, The Unauthorized Guide to How To Build Your Business with the Vine App”?
Robert Chazz Chute: I was in the middle of writing novels when the Vine app first came along. I have a lot of background in marketing and saw the potential of the app for users, businesses and good causes. I already had all the information I needed and the app was brand new. I set about writing the book in about a week. It’s about 20,000 words, so it’s the equivalent of a lot of blog posts on a favorite subject.
I’d never written an instant book before. The app is so fun, and it came easily. The cover, designed by Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com, won an award, and off it went.
The app keeps changing and updating, but the principles remain the same for using video to market yourself with the Vine app or with any other video platform. If Vine isn’t your thing, you can use the book for Instagram or YouTube, as well.
The marketing principles are evergreen: Be visual, have a sense of humor and don’t sell. Instead, help people buy. It also helps not to sell all the time. Be a witty asset more than a half-witted ass.
JP: What sets “Six Seconds, The Unauthorized Guide to How To Build Your Business with the Vine App” apart from other books in the same genre?
RCC: There are a lot of books about marketing. However, getting your message across in six seconds in a way people will watch and listen can be tough. It’s not so tough it isn’t worth doing.
The app is free, fun and, when done well, can help promote awareness of your brand. Best of all, it can be done quickly. A little creativity and a sense of humor go a long way on Vine, or with any other ad.
JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to “Six Seconds, The Unauthorized Guide to How To Build Your Business with the Vine App” getting out to the public?
RCC: I’ve used video marketing and won new fans for my fiction through Vine. A guy I connected with through Vine ended up becoming a friend I interviewed on one of my podcasts (the Cool People Podcast).
Podcasting, blogging and vlogging (YouTube, as well as Vine) has helped me connect with new friends and allies who have spread the word about my suspense fiction and my books about writing and publishing. Writing a few non-fiction books has helped my fiction immensely.
JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish “Six Seconds, The Unauthorized Guide to How To Build Your Business with the Vine App”?
RCC: I usually write a chapter a day or 2,000 words minimum. “Six Seconds” came out in a rush of long days. My productivity varies depending on my goals for each book.
For instance, my crime novels took three months each. My horror trilogy, “This Plague of Days”, took sixteen months for the first draft. The first two books are out, but how long before I’m really done? Still working on it. Not sure.
JP: What’s next for Robert Chazz Chute?
RCC: Season 3 of “This Plague of Days” is due out in the spring of 2014. I left it purposely vague, so I have some wiggle room.
After that, I have a novel about a kid who’s mixed up in New York’s drug scene who wants to be a movie star and stages Romeo and Juliet while someone tries to kill him. It’s another huge project, and more “literary”, I suppose, but it’s all fun.
That’s what I strive to do in all my books. Even the non-fiction is full of fun. Instructional doesn’t have to mean boring.
http://facebook.com/robert.c.chute
http://twitter.com/rchazzchute
“Thanks for asking for the interview, Joey. This was fun.” ~ Robert Chazz Chute
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I like the fact that this book is good for both emerging technologies and the old ones. The principles are the same.