Book Marketing Blogs

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How visible are you? Yes, it really is a popularity contest, check out http://www.howsociable.com and see how visible you or your business is online.

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Advanced Marketing Institute has a free Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer for analyzing the emotional marketing value of a headline. I use it for finding good fit alternatives for my speeches, blogs, newsletters, and articles. Just type in your headline, and it will give you an  “emotional rating” for the title based on your  word choice. It takes just a few seconds, and has proven helpful for crafting a good title. http://www.aminstitute.com/headline/.

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Want to know what your website visitors see on your site? Take a look at Google’s new tool, the “Above the Fold” look at your site. Go to http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/ and enter your  URL. You will see your site overlaid with areas that represent 99%, 98% and so on of the browser sizes used on the Web (based on Google tracking). You might be surprised to find that half of what you think your visitors see goes completely off the page!

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If you’d like to become a trendspotter online there’s a quick and easy (and free) site you might want to consider: www.trendrr.com – just plug in your data and start tracking results. You can also see what’s hotly being discussed on blogs and Twitter by clicking on their “buzz” feature. Very cool site!

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In an age of new media where the rules are changing faster than we can write them, it would make sense that publishing rules are changing too, wouldn’t it? Does it still make sense to query an agent, go to conferences and network with other writers? Or should you just sit home and blog and hope someone finds you online? Truth be told, it’s a combination of all of it. Sites like Twitter have really leveled the playing field. If used effectively, Twitter can really help you to leverage your market. You don’t have to be a superstar when you start on Twitter but you can certainly become one by being on it. Then of course there’s blogging, and social networking, video and on and on. So what should a budding author do to get noticed? Or, perhaps you have self-published a book and want to get a mainstream house to pick it up. The key here is to first identify your goals, then find ways to go after them both online and off.

Queries, do they make sense?

Yes they do. Publishing still lives by a few standards and this is one of them. There is a process and you should still respect it. This doesn’t mean that you won’t wake up someday to an email from a publisher or agent who has read your blog and wants to publish it (yes, some publishers will publish blogs) but until that happens, the submission process is a sacred, old world tradition that isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.

Does networking matter?

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Yes but here’s the good news. You don’t have to fly around the country to every conference to do this. You can network right from your own home. The key is to find a network that works, and stay connected. That network could be on Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo, it could even be through your blog, other blogs you follow or, an old fashioned email connection. Whatever it is, it’s easier than ever these days to stay in touch with people without having to hop a plane to do so.

Facebook strategies, what will get you noticed?

Social networking is a great way to get noticed but if you’re using the page as your own personal go-to site for friends and family, then you’re not using it to its full potential. Design your Facebook page to support your work: make sure your blog is feeding to Facebook, keep the site updated with current projects, events, you can even use it to become a filter if necessary. The key is, use Facebook as your professional resume. You should also consider “friending” people who are in similar industries, you can even go in and friend a publisher or two, you never know where this Facebook friendship could lead.

What’s considered a “good” online presence?

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A good online presence is one that helps build your platform. So a web site and blog, a social networking page and if you’re really ready to push yourself online, maybe even a Twitter account. You should also consider a newsletter sign-up on your home page or an RSS feed to your blog. Publishers like to see when authors are building their tribe and once you start adding subscribers, you can also mention this to the publishers you’re pitching.

What are the key pieces that publishers find attractive in a new author?

Your book is your resume: if you decide to self-publish as a means to get the book out there and/or find a publisher, remember that your book really is your resume. You would never send a resume to a potential employer that was full of typos, right? You should never send a book out into the world that isn’t letter perfect. The quickest way to get noticed is by publishing quality work, the quickest way to get dismissed is by producing junk. Second, they want an author who knows his or her market and, if you’re connected to it online, all the better.

Do publishers really care about all of this stuff?

You bet they do. When a publisher is considering an author, they will often look at the author’s “reach” or platform, you can start pulling this together by working your Internet base, building your followers and getting buzz going on your book or topic even before it’s published.

So what can I do right now to get started?

1) Get a web site

2) Start a blog

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3) Get to know your online community, where do they hang out, what blogs do they read. You should be reading and commenting on those blogs. Get to know your virtual neighbors.

4) Find out how you can be of service. This is particularly true of non-fiction authors: find out what the need is and figure out how to fill that need. There’s no quicker way to becoming a trusted resource than by becoming a trusted source.

The Internet has really leveled the playing field when it comes to getting published, getting noticed, and building a platform. With some marketing and careful effort, you can build your platform/audience base, and gain some much needed attention for your work. The years of sitting in some publisher’s slush pile are gone. Now, thanks to sites like Facebook, Squidoo, and Twitter you can cultivate a voice, audience and, if you’re lucky, even a publisher!

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1. Tiny Spell – Have you been typing in a program like Notepad and later found a spelling error? Well, now there’s a nifty little program that checks all your spelling in any window environment. You can customize the dictionary, turn it on and off, and change up the settings. So, if you always wished your application had a spell-check built into it, now it can!

2. Capture Fox – If you are a FireFox user, here is a nice add-on. Capture Fox allows you to record a video screencast of your computer screen for free while also capturing your narrated audio. While you may not have all the bells and whistles found in a program like Camtasia, you can still put out a decent video with this tool.

3. Jaycut – The bad thing with most free video screen capture programs is the lack of editing ability. Well, now you can edit your videos online for free at JayCut. It doesn’t have all the features of a premium editing program, but you will be surprised at what you will be able to do with it. Once you’re done with the edit, you can share, embed or download the final product.

4. Writeboard – This nifty free online application allows you to collaborate with people all over the world with your documents. Every edit is saved so you have a history from the first draft to the final project.

5. Basecamp – The creators of Whiteboard also make Basecamp, an online project management tool. I have used this in the past and really love it. You can set milestones, tasks, and just about everything you need to manage a project. You can also assign roles for others and limit their access to only the areas of the project they need access to. There is a free version of this tool, but you have to look hard for it. In the pricing area, look at the small print directly under the paid options.

6. FaxZero – Ever need to send a fax from your computer? Well, now you can for free at FaxZero. The free version does send ads on the cover page, but if that’s no big deal, then this tool can get the job done for you. Or, Free Fax – sends free faxes online to the US and Canada. Plus, it does NOT place ads on the user’s fax.

7. Meetup – Meetup.com is a great place to go to find local meetings in your area on just about any interest. Many of these local groups would love to have an expert visit their group, so it’s a great resource to check into to help increase your exposure.

8. GOOG-411 – At $2 a pop, directory assistance can really add up. If you are looking for a local business, Google has rolled out GOOG-411. Just call 1-800-466-4411 (1-800-GOOG-411) and in a few seconds you’ll be connected for free to your local business.

9. Evernote – Evernote is an application with a free option that allows you to gather all your notes into one place. Whether you type them, slice a piece of a web page, choose photos or videos, you can do it all through Evernote and collect them into one place. You can even take a picture of your post-it notes and upload them! But what makes Evernote really powerful is that after you upload them, Evernote will automatically categorize them and make them searchable for easy access by you later. Of course, you can also categorize your notes yourself.

10. Dropbox – Do you ever wish that you could access all your important files from any computer you have? With Dropbox, you can. Even if you work on a Mac today and a PC tonight, you will still have access to everything whenever you need it. And the free version starts you out with 2 gigs of storage.

11. ReQall – This is a cool new tool that allows you to call a phone number and record a voice note. ReQall will then transcribe it and even e-mail it back to you. This can be great for grocery lists if you don’t have a pen and paper handy, but the applications can be far-reaching as I’m sure you can see. And the pro versions even expand the capabilities of the free version. In fact, when you sign up, you will be given the pro account to try for free. After 15 days, your account will automatically revert to the free account unless you take action.

Tip submitted by Tony Eldridge, who is the author of the award-winning action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, which Clive Cussler calls a “first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.” He is also the creator of Marketing Tips for Authors, a site that publishes free tips and videos to help authors learn marketing techniques for their books. You can read the serial release of The Samson Effect at http://samsoneffect.marketingtipsforauthors.com/. A complete list of free resources is at http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/p/free-resources.html.

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1) People like what other people like: we often forget this but reviews do sell books. Make sure and list reviews, blurbs, and/or testimonials on your site and in your store.

2) How tough is it to get to your shopping cart? Now, more than ever, you want to make the experience of getting to your shopping cart quick and easy. Add a buy-now button to your home page if you don’t already have one. Don’t hide your stuff, especially now.

3) People are really bargain hunting these days so give them a reason to shop on your site: offer specials, incentives, added value. This is especially good if you’re trying to lure folks from buying on Amazon and giving Jeff Bezos a big cut of your sales.

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How many times have you heard: “Oh my site is getting a million hits a day” – you mosey on over to the site, look at it and wonder how on earth they’re getting that kind of traffic. Or maybe they’re not. There’s a handy site called: Compete, http://www.compete.com. Just type in the web site address and compare it to your own. Compete will pop up with a nice little graph showing who has the biggest legs on the web. You might be surprised by what you find out. This is really helpful when you’re considering sites to pitch to. Finding out their market share online is huge.

This is also handy for all the hundreds of social networking sites people are recommending. Are they worth your time? Plug the URL into Compete and find out.

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If you’re overwhelmed with email (as I am) you probably love this headline. Let’s face it, between emails from the International Lottery (”Congratulations, today is your lucky day! Send us $500,000 and you will get a check for $3M!”) and all the other crazy emails and spam you get, it’s getting harder and harder to decipher what’s real, what’s spam, and what should just be flat out ignored.

The Wall Street Journal just did an article on this topic. They discussed the benefits of using services like Twitter, Facebook messaging and on site email, and how social networking and instant messaging are overtaking the once popular way of communicating: email. They went on to say, “Email’s reign is over.”

So, is email dead, really? Well, not entirely, but let’s face it – with spam filters swallowing everyone but Tokyo and emails often stopping at the server’s wall, it’s tough to know what gets through and what doesn’t. The problem with this is its impact on email campaigns.

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If you have recently done an email campaign and wondered about the success of it, consider this: it’s likely that only 5% of the emails actually got through. No, I’m not kidding. I wish I were. And if they did get through, how many people even bothered looking at them? And of that percentage how many made a purchase? AME’s Search Engine Optimization expert Susan Gilbert agreed, and said that most online promoters are now avoiding email for promotions because effectiveness and conversion are at all-time lows.

Keep in mind that while the Journal piece refers to individual emails, this is not what we’re worried about (although that does factor into the equation). We’re really talking about marketing campaigns based on email blasts. That’s where it starts to get sticky.

When we look at things like an email newsletter the open rate of newsletters in general has gone down. Is that because our readers have become less engaged? Doubtful. It’s likely because they aren’t seeing the newsletter in the first place. So what do we do with that? We post the newsletter on our blog so those who subscribe can see it without filtering through a zillion ad-based, junk emails. We also Twitter on it, which will then get exposure through our Twitter followers, the same with Facebook and, well, you get the idea. The new norm are these social networking sites which allow people to filter what they read and bypass the tricky email filters that don’t seem to work well, anyway.

The point is that as you’re looking for ways to promote yourself, don’t trust email to make you famous, make you a bestseller, or make you money. By all accounts, today email may be one of the worst ways to promote yourself and it’s only going to get harder. As new viruses come into our realm and hackers get craftier, spam filters and firewalls have to get tougher. This means that your outbound messages may as well sit in the outbox of your email.

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If you’ve got a campaign planned that depends on the success of an email getting through, consider revamping it and moving the model to something that is more dependable. Consider running tweets on your Twitter account, or try announcing your program to your Facebook Fan page followers or those who have friended you on Squidoo.

Alternatively, have you ever considered doing a postcard or print mailing campaign? Post office volume is at an all-time low and savvy marketers should be taking advantage of this decline in mail to use it perhaps for their own marketing purposes. Some of our biggest authors and clients were secured by mailer campaigns. When done correctly, they do pay off.

The bigger message to all of us is that we need to move away from antiquated marketing methods. It’s hard to think that email is antiquated, isn’t it? And when you compare it to using the good old postal service I guess that old saying is true: “What’s old is new again.” Fashions come back into style and marketing methods have seasons, too. I believe the season for email marketing has passed, at least for now.

So how do you create an irresistible sell? How do you create a product or pitch so perfect, that customers can’t resist it? We all want it, but finding that secret recipe to becoming someone that beckons success or that the media can’t stay away from can be tricky.

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First, you’ll want to look at your book as more than a book, look at it as a solution to someone’s problem, an experience, an adventure, but stop looking at your book and thinking of it as “just a book” – you’re not selling a book, you’re selling an experience. Think about the last TV commercial you watched. When was the last time someone came out and said “hey, I’m selling a widget, isn’t that cool?” No, instead they show you the experience the widget can give you and how it will change your life.

The first person you have to sell your book to is you. I talked to an author a few weeks ago and she told me, “well, the book is ok I guess.” OK? If you’re going to sell this book, you’re going to have to think it’s more than just “ok;” you’re going to have to love it. If you’re not passionate about your stuff, no one else will be, either.

Give your readers what they want, not what you think they need. This is a big one, and most retailers know this lesson by heart. Giving your readers what they want can be hard. How do you know what they want? By listening to them. We had a program that for years we sold on our web site. It was a “do it yourself” sort of a package that authors used to love. Then, we started getting complaints about the product (we offer full refunds on all of our products), so we returned the fees and took the product back to the drawing board. Consequently, we now have a redesigned, stronger product and people love it. Listen to your customer/reader and give them what they want, it’s that simple.

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What’s your Loss Leader? Do you have something you can give away? Loss leaders or “leave behinds” refer to inexpensive gifts, pens, freebie reports, booklets, or in some cases, your book. If it’s appropriate to your market, genre, and book, consider coming up with your own loss leader. I was at a romance writers convention recently, and some authors there had the cutest things, everything from custom chocolate bars to small containers of bubble bath (with the name of their book title on them, of course!). Consider what your loss leader is, and whether or not you want to create one.

And finally, you’ll want to use the right words to tell your story. This harks back to the “your book is more than a book” statement. Take a look at the words you’re using to sell your book. Are you pushing emotional hot buttons, are you tapping into your readers’ desires, hopes, and fears? If you’re not, go back and tweak the copy till it’s right, or better yet, hire someone to do it for you. I have yet to write the copy on my own books. Why? Well, I’m simply too close to it. Invariably I miss something, and it’s usually something big. Don’t let the big message slip through your fingers, get that copy to sing.

Being irresistible in the eyes of your reader is different for each of us, but the biggest piece to this is that it’s not what matters to us, it’s what matters to our buyer. By keeping the needs of your customer in mind, you’ll always have the exact right book, message, or product, and before you know it, you, too, will be impossible to resist.