For The Love Of Pies: or Just Good Marketing?

New Zealanders love pies. Actually, many people across the globe love pies. We can’t help it. The delicious pastry and the warm filling. It fuels up and lightens up our life. 

But how did New Zealand get so big on their pies?

Is the reason because we make the best pies in the world and everyone who has eaten a New Zealand pie loves it? 

No.

Is it the high quality, fresh, farm-to-table ingredients we use?

No. The most popular pie is the BP pie. 

Perhaps, it’s good marketing?

Pies are a good source of food because they are affordable and convenient. A gas station pie is the perfect thing to pick up on a cool winter day while out on the road. 

You pull in to get gas, the kids are hungry as are you, you smell the warm pies - not a bad price - and you buy one. 

You like it and you buy another. 

You race home from work, exhausted and hungry - you buy a pie. 

You walk up the road and pie a pie. 

They are easy, convenient and tasty. 

They’ve become a craze over time because they’ve been put in front of us, made accessible, and filled a need. 

You can do this with your writing too. You can become a craze and enjoyed by millions if you follow the simple steps:

Put your work in front of people.

Make it accessible. 

Fill a need.

Putting your work in front of people can sound difficult but it’s just about finding where the readers are and uploading to those platforms. 

Top platforms:

Medium.com

This is a place for readers and writers to be part of a supportive community and make money at the same time. Writers earn money when readers read and engage with their work - you even earn more when you read and interact with other writers too. Major bonus. 

Writers can apply to be part of different publications and they can create their own publications too. It’s a brilliant place to start.

Substack.com

This is an email website where you can build a mailing list and grow an audience you have direct contact with. Having your work go straight into a reader's mailbox is a powerful marketing tool. Just make sure you do it right - we all know what happens when we don’t like those pesky emails. But when they serve a purpose, they’re gold.

Facebook.com

There are so many groups for readers and writers to connect. There are groups for writers to give and get advice. There are even groups where you can advertise your work. You can build a community, learn from others and have some fun with colleagues. 

Making your work accessible is also easier than it sounds. 

There are different ways to do this:

Make your work free. 

Not forever. Just when you’re new. Money is a big hurdle for most people so getting rid of this hurdle will make your work far more accessible. Make it free for a day, an hour, make the first book or article free. Make it free while you’re getting your name out there. Make it easy.

Use Tags and SEO.

This one is a little more complex. This is all about making your work easy to find on Google or in any other search engine of your choice.

The simplest way to explain this (and the way I understand it) is to use trending words mixed with unique words. The more words in your work that people search, the more likely google will position it on the first page. The more unique words, the more likely people will find it if they search for something specific that doesn’t have a lot of competition. 

Tags are dependant on the platform you use, basically, Tags are certain words you scream at the search engine so it pays close attention.

Make it easy to read. 

Prohibit construct the matter assiduously toward peruse. Make it simple. Make it readable. Use everyday language. Create a piece of art that is understandable for the majority of the population. 

Filling A Need. This could mean so many things. People need fiction, they need writing advice, cooking advice, life advice - whatever it is people need it. But how many? Do some market research and find out what is already out on the internet and keep looking in that rabbit hole until you find some information missing - that’s a niche need no one is filling in. You’ll monopolise the market. 

If you fill a need that already met - like how to write - put a unique personal spin on it. Maybe it’s advice from your perspective, maybe you bring some industry insider knowledge, maybe it’s your writing style. Fill a need, make it you.

Maybe one day you’ll be as sort after as a pie in New Zealand.