Book Marketing Blogs

We had a fantastic show with guest Karen Robertson about what authors need to know to develop a children’s book app.

About our guest: Karen Robertson is a children’s author who turned her book, “Treasure Kai and the Lost Gold of Shark Island,” into a book app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

The “Treasure Kai” book app launched in 2011 and has won recognition and awards including being a Digital Storytime “Top 25 Most Essential Children’s Book App,” and winning “Best in Category” for apps at the New Media Film Festival in San Francisco.

After launching her first book app, Karen wrote her first eBook, “Author’s Guide to Book Apps.”

What is a book app?

A book app is a software program that runs on a mobile device or phone (iPad, tablet, iPhone, Android phones, etc.). Book apps are an eBook on steroids, offering sound, interactivity and other features. (more…)

We had a great show with guest Dave Ursillo on cultivating a personal leadership style.

About our guest: Dave Ursillo’s book, Lead Without Followers: How to Save Our World by Radically Redefining the Meaning of Leadership, teaches people how to become “leaders without followers” in any walk of life by discovering a personal and profound sense of inner leadership.

Since its inception in 2009, DaveUrsillo.com has reached over 75,000 readers in 173 countries. In June 2011, his site was seen in a feature story on nationally-televised CBS Sunday Morning about the world of blogging.

About the book: Lead Without Followers not only explores the cultural, social and political origins of today’s “Leadership Problem,” but cuts into the heart of the human source of today’s convoluted definition of what it means to lead. (more…)

We had a great show on relationship marketing with expert Mari Smith, author of The New Relationship Marketing.

About our guest: Mari Smith is a social media expert and trainer who is considered the queen of Facebook. She was dubbed “the Pied Piper of the Online World” by Fastcompany.com. http://www.marismith.com/books/

People have always done business with people they know, like, and trust. That’s what relationship marketing is all about. In today’s world, thanks to social networking online, there are new, more direct ways of connecting with potential fans, buyers, associates, etc. Mari explains how it all works.

* Traditional marketing focuses on the transaction and closing the sale.

* Relationship marketing focuses on building long-term relationships with customers and clients. Social media makes this kind of relationship building easier than ever.

For example, Facebook has reduced the six degrees of separation to four, Mari says.

That means if you really want to go after specific influencers or potential clients you can court them via social media. You will find all manner of information on them. Do your homework and come into the relationship demonstrating that you care, that you know something about them. (more…)

The Publishing Insiders – host Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. and her guest: Search Engine Marketing Expert Susan Gilbert, along with co-host Paula Krapf, AME’s COO – took a look into their crystal ball to make predictions for 2012 (last year’s predictions are here, http://www.amarketingexpert.com/publishing-insiders-wrap-up-top-publishing-trends-for-2011/).

Content is king: Social media used to be about joining social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, and more recently, Google+. Now being part of social media involves cross-channel marketing, using those and other sites to get your message out. It’s not just about creating the content; however, it’s about really working the content and figuring out how to use the tools the right way. We’re all publishers now thanks to the content we create and we need to learn how to repurpose that content and be transparent. Those who do it right, the cream, will rise to the top.

Personal connections count: The number of followers or Likes is not that important. The focus is on engaging your following and personalizing your relationship with them. Find out who’s in your tribe and how you can provide content with value for them. (more…)

In the ever-changing world of social media there is one source that millions turn to: Social Media Examiner. In a little over two years, the site has become an influential and respected source. The story of how it got there offers a useful model for anyone who is looking to grow followers and generate sales, as founder Michael Stelzner explains.

About our guest: Social media expert Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner and author of the books Launch and Writing White Papers. Visit http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/.

Social Media Examiner began in October 2009. The site now has a following that includes:

* 450,000 people who read Social Media Examiner each month

* 120,000+ email subscribers

* 69,000+ Likes on Facebook

How Mike built Social Media Examiner

The idea was to create incredible content that people would love and want to share.

Mike saw a hole in the marketplace in 2009. There wasn’t a lot of how-to information on using social media such as Facebook, Twitter (and now Google+). Social Media Examiner started offering magazine style pieces and people began following the site and it took off.

Mike believes strongly in sharing content and getting other authors to contribute content. A lot of times people just want to use their own content, but he says there is a time and place to talk about yourself. If you want to build a loyal following, sell books, build a membership site or start consulting, you need to offer a gift. Mike’s gift was great content. (more…)

We had a special edition of the show with Facebook marketing expert Amy Porterfield.

About our guest: Amy Porterfield is a social media strategist and co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies. She helps entrepreneurs across industries establish strategies to maximize the power of social media and increase the success of their online marketing efforts. She is currently leading a webinar titled the Simple Social Media Formula. Learn more at http://www.amyporterfield.com/.

Amy was not an early fan of Facebook. She used Twitter and liked it a great deal, but when she created a Facebook Page she learned tips and tricks that sold her on the value of Facebook as a marketing tool.

A couple of months ago Facebook made some major changes, mostly to profiles. Amy used to teach users that the profile was for friends and family. However, the changes provided a subscribe button on profiles. Now anyone can subscribe to your profile, not just your Facebook friends. The new timeline looks like a news feed. You can add a logo, brand it, and make it look like a Facebook (business) Page.

You can have thousands of people subscribing to your feed on your profile.  (more…)

We had an informative show with social media expert Chris Brogan, who discussed Google+ and why it matters.

About our guest: Chris Brogan is an author, journalist, marketing consultant, and frequent speaker about social media marketing. He is president of Human Business Works, an online education and community company for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. His first project there, 501 Mission Place, helps nonprofits and charities learn how to grow their capabilities. Chris is also Entrepreneur in Residence at CrossTech Ventures, where he’s working to develop New Marketing Labs and The Pulse Network, among other projects.

Chris is also the cofounder of the PodCamp new media conference series, exploring the use of new media community tools to extend and build value. Find Chris in Google+ at https://plus.google.com/u/0/118320665823821681206.

Do we need another social network?

While Chris points out we never need anything – like the new iPhone – people buy it.

Although there is pushback on Google+ it’s important to note that Google is the number one search engine in the world and the company has a huge investment in how people use the web. (more…)

We have some fantastic expert guests joining The Publishing Insiders for special shows on various aspects of successful marketing on social media. The shows are on new days and times so check the schedule below. Be sure to join us for these great shows!

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Special Guest Chris Brogan

Monday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. PST

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders/2011/12/05/special-guest-chris-brogan

Image by bobby-james via Flickr

Chris Brogan is an author, journalist, marketing consultant, and frequent speaker about social media marketing. He is president of Human Business Works, an online education and community company for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. His first project there, 501 Mission Place, helps nonprofits and charities learn how to grow their capabilities. Chris is also Entrepreneur in Residence at CrossTech Ventures, where he’s working to develop New Marketing Labs and The Pulse Network, among other projects. (more…)

Take a look at some of the top book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include getting booked on national TV, selling your self-published book, attracting your perfect readers, sharing on the web and much more. Happy marketing!

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* Tips for Getting Booked on National TV

Image via Wikipedia

The producer of Anderson Cooper’s new daytime show made suggestions to Arielle Ford:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arielle-ford/book-marketing-tips_b_1082213.html (more…)

We had a great show discussing the ins and outs of selling a self-published book with our guest Amy Collins.

About our guest: Amy Collins is the owner of The Cadence Group, a sales and marketing service provider for the publishing industry. In 2008, The Cadence Group launched New Shelves Distribution, a full-scale book warehousing, sales and fulfillment company selling publisher’s books directly to the national chains and independent bookstores in North America. Learn more at http://www.thecadencegrp.com.

Here are some of the things self-published authors should know: (more…)