Happy Saturday!
Can’t believe it’s already Saturday again. Time flies when you’re busy!
This week’s newsletter is all about Shannon Olsen. You’ve probably heard of her book, "Our Class is a Family."
Shannon, a former 2nd-grade teacher, is the author of The Classroom Community Collection—a series of 5 best-selling picture books that help build class community and foster positive relationships at school.
With over 15 years of experience in elementary education, she's all about creating fun, engaging resources that get students excited to learn.
Her first book? It hit #1 as a New Release on Amazon, thanks to her awesome community of fellow teachers.
Here are 5 of her marketing strategies (and trust me, she’s got plenty more):
Marketing Strategy 1: Building Before Launching
Here's a pro tip: build your audience before you publish anything.
Shannon Olsen did just that. And it paid off!
While still a teacher, she created and sold engaging resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.
These weren’t just any resources, they were creative tools that other teachers loved because they offered something not every teacher had: fresh, creative ways to engage their students.
Knowing her audience was teachers, Shannon focused her first book, Our Class is a Family, on fostering classroom unity. By the time her book launched, she had a loyal fanbase ready to buy.
Even better, she already had experience creating resources for teachers—now, she just tailored them to her book’s theme: building class unity.
Examples include:
“Class Family Album” – an activity book that ties into Our Class Is a Family, helping teachers and students build community.
“Kindness Tree” – a festive classroom activity that encourages acts of kindness and creates a positive environment.
Key Takeaway: Start early and build trust by offering value related to your book’s themes. When your book is ready, you'll have an eager audience waiting.
Marketing Strategy 2: Emotional Merchandise
Most authors stick to basic merchandise like mugs and tote bags. But you can make yours stand out.
Think of a friendship bracelet. It’s more than just jewelry—it represents a special bond and shared memories.
Now, apply that idea to book merchandise. For example, a farewell bracelet themed around "Our Class is a Family" isn’t just a souvenir. It’s a keepsake that reminds students of the unity and support from their classroom.
These bracelets keep the book’s message alive as students wear them through summer and into the next school year.
They’ll want to share them on social media and with others, creating a Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) effect.
This leads to more teachers wanting them for their own classes, spreading the word about your book and merchandise without extra marketing costs.
Key Takeaway: Create merchandise that resonates emotionally. It’ll make readers eager to share and promote it on their own.
Marketing Strategy 3: Blogs That Sell
Shannon uses her blog to capture interest and guide readers toward buying her resources. All her Pinterest and social media posts direct people to her blog first, not the sales page.
Here’s how it works:
Pick a Relevant Theme: Choose a topic related to your resources. For example, her blog focuses on building classroom community during the holidays.
Highlight the Problem: Address a common challenge—like teachers struggling to keep students engaged during holiday chaos.
Offer Your Resources as the Solution: Show how your resources solve this problem. Shannon’s blog demonstrates how her activities create a positive classroom vibe during the holidays, with easy links for readers to purchase.
This approach provides value and smoothly leads readers to a purchase.
Here is her blog.
Key Takeaway: Use your blog to address your audience's needs and naturally guide them toward your products.
Marketing Strategy 4: Maximizing Pinterest’s Potential
Got your resources, merchandise, and blogs ready to promote your book? Great!
Now, how do you get people to actually visit your blogs?
You have options like social media or SEO (getting found on Google). For social media, you need a platform that reaches both your followers and a ton of new people. Plus, it shouldn't penalize you for adding links. (Yep, some do that.)
Shannon chose Pinterest, and it’s working. She gets 2.1 million views a month with just 5.6k followers.
Even if a tiny fraction (0.2%) buys, that’s 4,200 potential buyers! Plus, each view builds her brand, keeping her book visible to more people.
For newbies, Pinterest is like a digital board for saving ideas. Pins are bookmarks with images, descriptions, and links. Boards are groups of related pins.
How She Does It:
She creates themed boards like “Back to School” or “Classroom Community Ideas,” all tied to her book, Our Classroom Is a Family.
Key Takeaway: Pick a social platform that expands your reach and play by its rules.
Marketing Strategy 5: Giveaway Growth Hack
Starting out on social media, especially Instagram, can be tough. A smart way to grow your following is by running a giveaway.
Giveaways help you attract people who are genuinely interested in what you offer, not just random followers.
Shannon does giveaways often, which has helped her reach over 120k followers with highly engaged posts.
Here’s her simple formula:
Like and Follow: Participants like the giveaway post and follow her @lifebetweensummers.
Comment and Tag: They comment on what they love about their team and tag friends, boosting engagement.
Bonus Entries: Extra chances to win by tagging more friends or sharing the post.
End Date: A set date for entries, with the winner announced in the post and contacted via DM.
Why it works:
Easy actions (like, follow, comment) boost engagement and grow her audience.
Tagging and sharing expose her content to new people.
A clear end date and winner keep it fair and drive quick participation.
Key Takeaway: Giveaways are great for reaching new people. Keep the rules simple and encourage sharing to maximize impact.
And that’s it for this week.
You can view Shannon's:
-Website here
-Amazon Author Page here
See you again next week!
If you’re new here, welcome! This is part of my weekly newsletter where I share how top authors market their children’s books—giving you marketing ideas without the 40+ hours of research. Subscribe here!
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Alex Safari
Co-founder, Zuri Book Pros
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