A Close Up With Michelle Denogean: Marketing For Authors

Writing a book? Startup strategist Michelle Denogean shares her insights on marketing for authors and leading with awareness. 

When we first met Michelle Denogean, we knew she had it dialed in. 

She came to us for a specific purpose. She had a plan. And she knew what she needed to help execute it. 

Now she just needed the right creative partner to help her bring her vision to life. 

Michelle had so much to share with the business world, and we just wanted to help her get the message out there. 

That’s why, once her book published, we booked a chat with Michelle to discuss marketing for authors, entrepreneur superpowers and leading with self-awareness.

Meet Michelle Denogean 

A true entrepreneur at heart, Michelle Denogean wears many hats. When she’s not serving as the Chief Marketing Officer for successful startups, Michelle is writing, speaking and consulting in the startup world. 

With an emphasis on tech marketing, she’s worked with startups for over 20 years and held the CMO title for 15 years. 

“As I built out my career, the founders I worked with noticed I was offering value beyond the scope of marketing,” Michelle shared. “I was offering a much more holistic view of what it takes to scale and grow.” 

Over time, this consistent message sparked an idea in Michelle’s mind. She started organizing her insights into various educational formats, such as presentations, and a lifelong dream began to take shape. This was her book. 

“I realized I could do a lot of good by sharing my knowledge, and part of this book was me finding myself beyond the CMO seat,” Michelle explained. “It helped me see I had a lot more to offer.” 

Michelle had worked alongside so many founders in her career that she had seen the common thread: “What made you great at starting will not make you great at growing.” 

“All founders have a specific superpower – something that makes them incredible at launching a business,” Michelle explained, “but for scale and growth, we need more than that initial superpower. We need to develop the four core competencies that lead a startup through maturity. Then we also need to identify the leadership blind spots that every founder faces.”

In Michelle’s book, GrowUp: Take Your Startup to the Next Level, she reveals her GrowUp Method, a counter-intuitive system that has equipped scores of founders to transform their struggling startups into growing and sustainable companies. 

But before her book had grown from a dream to a reality, she knew how important it was to get her marketing dialed in from the start. 

Behind the Scenes: Book Cover Photography 

“When you write a book, you’re marketing yourself,” Michelle shared when asked about marketing for authors. “You’re putting yourself and your ideas out there, and your book becomes the platform from which you can launch everything else. That’s why your marketing collateral and strategy becomes so important.” 

First, she needed a high-quality website that matched the caliber of clients in her target readership. 

“I knew exactly what I needed right out the gate,” Michelle explained. “The task of getting my website ready spurred the idea for my shoot with SchlickArt because I needed some great imagery to create a platform for all my marketing.” 

For Michelle’s book cover photography session, we also needed some versatility in the shoot. The goal was to create a range of specific images designed for top-tier marketing for authors: an author headshot, a book cover portrait, dynamic shots of her in the role of a speaker, and images that communicated her skill as a thought leader in the business world.

We were able to craft a unique and highly targeted shoot because she knew exactly what she needed for her book marketing plan. 

“I knew what I needed, and the Schlicks helped me execute my exact vision,” Michelle shared. “I built out my website, had the assets my publisher needed, and was able to hit the ground running with my book marketing.” 

And it worked. GrowUp debuted at #31 on the Amazon Best Sellers List for books in the category of Starting a Business. 

Michelle’s Tip: Identify Your Blind Spots

“As a leader, your blind spot is most likely your company’s blind spot,” Michelle explained. 

While the superpowers that Michelle identifies are common among entrepreneurs, she suggests a strong startup needs all four. 

“But that’s an easy fix because you can hire to bring in all those superpowers,” Michelle shared. “To eliminate your blind spot, you have to develop self-awareness and then address it. That’s exactly what my book is designed to help entrepreneurs do.” 

Whether you’re brushing up on marketing for authors, leading a company, or trying to get a personal brand off the ground, Michelle suggests that the difference between the startup and growth phases is self-awareness. 

Before you jump into your marketing plan or business launch, ask yourself where your blind spot might be – and then partner with the people who can support you through it. 

Marketing Photography in Santa Clarita

When it comes to marketing photography, our goal is simple: We want you to walk away feeling like you have the best headshots in Santa Clarita. That’s why we’ve designed a line of Marketing Photography Sessions that are custom-made to make you happy. How do we do that? Simple. We pay attention to you, your needs and your business. We take the time to create a photography experience – we don’t just point, shoot and send you on your way. By bringing our visual marketing background to every session, we help you make smart choices in wardrobe, appearance, posing and expression.

When it comes to marketing for authors, we have extensive experience in shooting high-resolution, print-ready book cover photography and author headshots. Stop by our studio to see the book covers that SchlickArt helped create with our book cover photography. 

Visual Marketing Education 

At SchlickArt, we know your marketing visuals are only effective if you actually use them. That’s why we help you create powerful photography and video – and then we teach you how to share it. With each session, we’ll give you our best tips based on your specific marketing goals. We provide the education and resources you need to brand your content, integrate it into your marketing strategy, post it with intention, and maximize engagement along the way. 

If you want even more tips and resources, we have an educational blog, newsletter and video channel to help you dive deeper, as well as professional presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions if you’re ready to take action and level-up your marketing now. 

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a boutique photo and video studio in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of beauty and authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy — rather than a product, service or person — SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt. 

Kirsten Quinn

A lover of strong coffee and yellowed pages, Kirsten Quinn-Smith is a professional content writer and owner of WordSmith Content Marketing here in Santa Clarita. She believes great content can forge a loyal, authentic and beneficial relationship between you and your audience – and grow your business. With each piece of writing, Kirsten's goal is to position you in the content spotlight through audience-centered, strategy-based writing that actually sounds like you. Why? Everyone has a story, and every story deserves to be heard.

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