Book Marketing Blogs

When I coach authors on what their website needs to look like, I spend a lot of time talking about the words on their website, i.e. their copywriting. But even more important than the collection of words are a few individual phrases no site can be without.

Sign-up: getting your visitor to sign up for *something* is important. Why? Because studies have shown that surfers don’t often buy the first time they land on your site. Often they want to browse, shop, maybe bookmark you for later. If they bookmark you, you’ve lost a sale. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when someone bookmarks the Author Marketing Experts site but when they do, the likelihood of my being able to sell to them is minimal.

Instead, I get them into the AME funnel by encouraging prospective customers to sign up for something they want, i.e. our Book Marketing Expert Newsletter. And then to encourage them even further, we actually give them something for signing up: our tips, 52 Ways to Sell More Books. So if you’re not asking for a sign-up, you might want to reconsider this. Then, give them an ethical bribe in return: give them something they want. Don’t just throw a freebie at them and expect your visitor to jump for joy. Here’s a clue: if you wouldn’t want the freebie, it’s likely they won’t either.

Buy: most of us have been taught not to ask for what we want. I’m giving you permission to not only ask for it, but put it on your home page. So often I talk to authors who say their websites aren’t selling. They’re not selling because the author forgets to ask for the sale. The words “Buy” or “Buy Now” are a call to action that will greatly increase your chances of making a sale. If this isn’t on your home page, have your webmaster or web designer add it ASAP.

Free: I know, now I’m getting confusing, right? I just told you that you needed to ask for the sale and now I’m telling you that you need to give it away. Well, yes and no. Let me explain. First, while you want to have a strong call to action and a “funnel” to get folks into your marketing message, you also want to give something away (besides the newsletter freebie).

Consider this: people want information or they want to be entertained or they want to be educated. If you can do any of these things, go for it. A way you can do this might be through your blog, blogging is a fantastic way to disseminate information in a free format. The next might be through a game on your site, a resource or article page, or other information on your subject or area of expertise.

We had a client once who wrote a book about working with difficult people and she had a game on her site that would let visitors launch a gnarly co-worker out of a cannon (while I love everyone I work with, I used this for other, eh, outside AME people …). Things like that have a great pass-through factor, meaning that folks will pass along the site or link so others can share in the fun as well. People love freebies. Make ‘em laugh, educate them or give them something they can’t get anywhere else, and they’ll beat a path to your door.

The point being that even the best website copy has a few elements that shouldn’t be overlooked. By incorporating just a few simple steps, you can really begin to see your site go from a ho-hum author website to a rockin’ selling tool!

Here’s to your success both online and off!

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When it comes to having a lot of options for coffee you can’t really beat Starbucks. It seems that there’s virtually a store on every corner. Bad planning or an intentional marketing ploy? It’s been statistically proven that the more Starbucks stores there are in a one-mile radius the better each individual store will do. So what does this mean for your Internet marketing campaign? It means that the more ‘stores’ you own, the better your main store will do.

Here’s a real-time illustration: if you have a main website and five incoming links, you’ll get traffic to the main site from five places. Now this doesn’t mean you need five additional sites along with your main one, these five incoming links are from other websites that often won’t belong to you. Now if we’re talking numbers let me say this: five is paltry compared to where you need to be. When we work with clients we like to double, triple, or quadruple their incoming links.

What does this mean to sales? Well, let’s go back to our Starbucks example. Let’s say you’re scouring the ‘Net for a perfect cup of Joe. When someone Googles “perfect cup of Joe,” the mentions of your site come up in excess of 5,000 times. Your competitors come in somewhere at 1,000 or less. So it stands to reason that someone searching on this topic will go to your site before they hit your competitor, right?

Ok, so now that we have the incoming links thing down, how in the world do you go about getting all of these links? Well, sometimes the build is slow but that’s ok. What we’re looking for are high-quality, high-traffic incoming links to your site. Let’s break this down even further.

Going after incoming links can happen in a variety of ways. Not the least of which is a link you get from a site after your book is reviewed. That’s probably the most basic link you can get. Ideally you want links from sites that can drive readers (buyers) to your book. Links from other author sites might be a nice way to network, but they don’t often leverage anything in the way of ranking or sales potential.

Why? Well, readers shopping for similar titles often won’t migrate from one author site to another via a link, they’ll generally head over to Amazon and find a list of “similar titles” or the category: Readers who bought this also enjoyed this title. Which then refers you onto a list of their best-selling books in the same genre. Second, unless you’re getting a link from a celebrity author site, you’ll probably find that most author sites don’t have great ranking. Google looks at the ranking of the site that’s linked to you to determine how valuable this link is and in turn, how much it will matter to your overall site ranking.

The ideal incoming link is from a niche site, meaning that if you’re pushing a WWII novel or a book on dieting, the link is coming from an authority site, i.e. a site that specializes in that topic.

The next option for getting more real estate is to start your own social networking page. There are a variety of sites that can benefit you including: Linkedin, MySpace, Squidoo, and my personal favorite: Facebook. These sites can all offer you a way to connect not just with other people in these social networking circles but also gain a valuable incoming link to your site.

Article syndication is another fantastic way to get more links. Most of us know and understand the article syndication process. You write an article of 500-2,000 words and send it (called syndicating) to sites like: EzineArticles, ArticleCity and many others. Remember to include your byline in the article with a link back to your site.

Commenting on blog postings is another way to drive links back to your site. Head on over to Technorati and dig up at least twenty of the top blogs in your market. Then get in the habit of commenting on the various posts with a link back to your site. The more you comment, the more links you’ll get. The secondary benefit to this is virtual networking: getting to know bloggers in your market is never a bad thing.

Gaining valuable real estate and building your “stores” isn’t as difficult as you might think. It takes time, persistence, and some keen research skills to find the appropriate sites. In the end, the benefits far outweigh the amount of work you’ll do. Gaining exposure online will increase traffic, build platform, enhance exposure and grow your bottom line. So take a lesson from Starbucks and start building a store on every corner. You’ll be glad you did.

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Image by K. W. Sanders via Flickr

If you’re at a loss on what to blog on, you’ll love this blog worksheet with some great ideas for blogging in September

a-potpourri-of-blog-ideas-for-september

We had a lively and informative show this week full of marketing ideas for authors that we hope you’ll find useful!

First, Search Engine Marketing expert Susan Gilbert discussed a free new social site: BearHug, http://bearhugapp.com/welcome.

BearHug offers three main features:

* pulse for messages – you can send updates through the web, Twitter, email, RSS, SMS

* answers – your community can ask you questions, which you and other BearHug members can answer

* first rate ratings and reviews allows members to receive and share feedback, opinions and results

There are some great possibilities here, and Susan said she’d have an update once she had more time to see how all the features work. Check it out, it’s free!

For additional resources and tips, check Susan Gilbert’s website, www.susangilbert.com.

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About our guest: Jo-Anne Vandermeulen hosts a weekly live Blog Talk Radio show, “Authors Articulating,” http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prempromotions, where she shares marketing and promotional tips for writers. Learn about the importance of online marketing, as well as tips and insights into top social media networks such as Facebook, Amazon Connect, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and more! A published author, Jo-Anne’s first book, a women’s fiction (suspense/romance) called Conquer All Obstacles was released in November 2009. Her latest book, a non-fiction resource titled Premium Promotional Tips for Writers, was released in December 2009. She recently created a new online business where she supports and markets her fellow writers: Premium Promotional Services, http://www.premiumpromotions.biz. She offers free marketing tips to authors at http://joconquerobstacles.com.

Jo-Anne knew she needed to build an author platform for herself, and was determined to learn how. She began to read and seek information on how to market herself and her book. She discovered a lot of great resources online and began to write about them on her own blog, figuring that she could help others as she was learning. Ultimately, Jo-Anne branched out from blogging about marketing tips to also offering marketing services for authors.

Helpful Shortcuts for Social Media

All authors have to market themselves, she says, but there are so many options available that it can be overwhelming to develop a strategy. And no one can be online 24/7. Fortunately, there are shortcuts available that can syndicate your content to various social media sites. That way, you only post material to one site, and that content will automatically post to the other sites. TweetDeck, http://www.tweetdeck.com/ for one, allows you to syndicate material to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn; click once and your content appears on all of those sites.

Jo-Anne notes that you want to make sure there isn’t too much repetition of your message online, because then you seem like a spammer. The goal is to be approachable and interactive with your audience. This applies particularly if you use more than one syndication site, like Ping http://ping.fm/ – you may want to send different messages through this site to set it apart from the messages you post to TweetDeck or another syndication site.

Twaitter, http://www.twaitter.com/, allows you to schedule tweets to run at given times; SocialOomph https://www.socialoomph.com/ is similar. This way you can schedule several day’s worth (or more) Tweets and free up your time for other things.

Getting Started on Platform-building

Jo-Anne recommends http://www.booktour.com/ to begin. The site is free, and once you register you can upload material. It’s like having a one-page resume for yourself, and everything is conveniently in one spot, no searching through computer files and folders.

Every social media profile should have a link back to your website – be proactive! Many authors forget simple steps like this, but it’s important to make it as easy as possible for people to find you – and contact you – online. Authors should also not be afraid to get online and try the sites, make mistakes and learn from them.

The top three social networking sites online are currently Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Before LinkedIn, YouTube held the #3 spot, it just goes to show that social media is constantly changing and evolving. Authors should have profiles on the major sites and use sites with syndication (such as TweetDeck, Ping and SocialOomph) to keep their material updated on those sites. Authors can’t put all their eggs in one basket – have accounts on various sites, and some help via syndication, to ensure that the sites are updated frequently.

Another important site for authors is Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/, which features a mix of authors and readers. Goodreads is simple to navigate and has an author program designed to help authors promote their books: http://www.goodreads.com/author/program.

Facebook is a must but tougher to navigate, Jo-Anne notes.

The Importance of Blogging

In addition, authors should create their own blogs. There are a number of free platforms, including WordPress http://wordpress.com/ and Blogger http://www.blogger.com/home. A website is mostly stationary, but a blog is a place where there’s interaction, and it’s a place where readers and fans can see you and your books in a more personal setting. Your readers are looking for a more intimate relationship with you, and you can build fans if you have your own site and contact place.

Susan Gilbert notes that WordPress is a platform and can be deployed on its own account with its own domain name to create a website (as Author Marketing Experts did with their revamped site, http://www.amarketingexpert.com/).

Susan adds that WordPress is search engine friendly so you can never go wrong developing a website using a WP platform – and you can import it when you have a custom site done.

Jo-Anne says authors should make sure their book/product is selling high up on their websites (appearing “above the fold,” so to speak) and to make their buy buttons very clear – it’s a call to action.

Authors should also include a photo of themselves on their site. Even if your book is not published, most readers will be interested in you before your book is out, you are important and need an author platform.

For blogging topics, think of an area of expertise, your niche – something that when you write about it you can’t stop because it comes naturally. Make sure you give valuable content to your readers, something they want. When targeting your audience, think about who will be purchasing your books, and figure out how to find them and attract them.

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Upcoming Episodes – Please join us Sept. 7 for Pursue Your Publishing Dreams with Marc Allen

Publisher Marc Allen believes in encouraging people to go for their dreams, and daring to do what they love — and then showing them how they can get wonderfully rewarded for it. Publishing for him has always been a vehicle to realize his greatest dreams. Books have completely changed his life, and can change the world. Join us to learn what Marc has to share! About our guest: Marc Allen is an internationally renowned author and president and publisher of New World Library, which he co-founded (with Shakti Gawain) in 1977. He has guided the company from a small start-up with no capital to its current position as one of the leading independent publishers in the country. His latest book is The Greatest Secret of All. It may be Marc’s most important book, because it gives us not only one of the clearest explanations of the “secret” of creating what you want in life, but also the far greater secrets of a life well-lived, a life of happiness, inner peace, ease, and fulfillment, where you contribute to making the world a better place for all. Learn more at http://www.newworldlibrary.com/ and http://www.marcallen.com/.

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We had an inspirational show with self-published author Randy Kearse, who has managed to sell 14,000 copies of his books – with many of those sales made on the New York City subway. Blessed with a lot of drive and a true entrepreneurial spirit, Randy attributes his success to doing whatever he can, whenever he can, to tell people about his books.

The show kicked off with a segment on what to look for in a web host, with SEO expert Susan Gilbert.

It’s important to select a good hosting company as not all are created equal, she says.

Two of the most important things to consider are: your up time – it has to be 99%, and not many hosts have that. In addition, you need a good 24-hour 800 number to call. Susan says you need to have a phone number, and if your host doesn’t have a number, don’t use them.

Don’t go with free. If you can’t afford $150 a year for web hosting, don’t even bother, she adds.

And be careful, even with big names – Go Daddy, for instance, has security issues.

For the full scoop on what to look for in a web host, including some recommendations, visit Susan’s blog:

http://www.susangilbert.com/how-to-select-a-good-hosting-company-not-all-hosts-are-created-equal/.

For additional resources and tips check Susan Gilbert’s website, www.susangilbert.com.

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About our guest: Once deemed a menace to society by a judge who sentenced him to 15 years in 1992, Randy Kearse, author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur, served 13 years, 6 months and 2 days in federal prison. He returned to society with a new perspective, a fresh focus, and strong determination to succeed. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Randy grew up in the Farragut housing projects. He provides people with a formula to turn a negative situation into a positive opportunity. He is the author of Street Talk: Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop & Urban Slanguage (first self-published then picked up by Barricade Books Inc. for Street Talk; Changin’ Your Game Plan: How to use incarceration as a stepping stone for SUCCESS; The Writing Game: How to Print, Publish, Profit in the Book Industry; co-wrote From Incarceration 2 Incorporation with best selling author J.M. Benjamin; and recently released The Street Survival Guide for the young Black and Latino Male. Learn more at http://www.randykearse.com/ and http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/nyregion/10books.html.

Randy said that selling his books on the New York City subway happened by chance. He used to set up a table on the street in shopping areas, a tactic he used for about a year until a van accident made it difficult for him and his books to get around the city.

One day he put some books in a bag, jumped on a train, and started talking up his books with subway riders. People were very receptive, and Randy eventually put together a presentation – and the rest is history.

He doesn’t go out every day on the subway to make book sales because it’s not realistic to sell every day at the same level of energy.

While subway riders seem to comprise a tough crowd, he said people have been very supportive. For one, they see in Randy an example of someone who has a passion to do something adventurous, and it excites them.

The book he sells on the subway, Changin’ Your Game Plan: How to use incarceration as a stepping stone for SUCCESS is a nonfiction motivational piece that covers his life journey of overcoming mistakes and adversity. Randy finds his story resonates with a lot of people who have overcome something, and it also appeals to people who love an underdog story.

And Randy has had an amazing comeback – he spent 13 years, 6 months, and 2 days in prison and has since turned his life completely around.

Now he wants to be known for some good in life, not just bad. “Nobody is born bad, we learn to be bad, we make decisions/choices that put us in a bad direction, so we need to go back to that period where we had dreams and choices,” he says.

Randy started writing Street Talk: Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop & Urban Slanguage while incarcerated. He admits prison is a tough place to get creative energy going, and people were saying he’d never sell the book. He never stopped believing, though.

Motivation is not a problem because he’s seen so many lives wasted, destroyed or squandered, and he doesn’t want anyone else to go through what he’s been through.

“It’s about choices, and it’s the choices we make that determine the life we’re going to live,” he says. We all have a certain strength in us, it’s a matter of bringing it out.

Selling books to the public on the street, and later the subway, was not easy at first. Randy said he felt shy about approaching people. Yet when he was living on the street and doing wrong, he wasn’t afraid then. He asked himself: “Why be afraid now, when I’m doing right? That’s how I go forth in my life now,” he says.

What’s surprised him the most on this journey to becoming a successful author is how well people receive him. “A lot of times we have an idea of what a person who has been in prison is like,” he observes, but when Randy speaks to people, he says they tell him they never would have known he’d been in prison if he hadn’t told them. People have not placed a scarlet letter on him, Randy says.

Randy admits it’s still an amazing feeling when someone walks up and says, “I read your book, or it’s changed my son’s life.” He thinks, “You’re talking to me? I’m not sure I will ever get used to that. I never guessed Changin’ the Game Plan would have such an impact, I hoped to provoke some people to change – that they would read the book and say, if this guy can change, I can change, too.”

Although Randy’s stature is growing, he says, “I’m an ordinary guy, you can walk up and talk to me. I don’t think I’m better than anybody just because I’ve written a book.” He went to a book expo with 100 writers, and 99 authors were sitting down waiting for someone to come up to them. That’s not how Randy operates. “I don’t sit down at a book signing. I’m going to meet you and greet you on the same level, eye to eye, I want to shake your hand… people can miss something if they are waiting for others to take action,” he says.

Meanwhile, he keeps on selling; everywhere he goes has books with him. Randy has sold books at Burger King, McDonald’s… and he’s always ready to sell – “anything I can possibly do I’m out there selling books.” He attends conferences, speaks at all kinds of events and has shared his message on boat rides, at barbecues, in schools, at barber shops – he’s open to any and all ideas. You can see Randy in action on this YouTube video.

The most unique place Randy has sold a book is in a bookstore. He walked into a bookstore, started up a conversation with a patron and asked them if they ever read this book (showing them a copy of his book). They asked who wrote it, Randy said he did – and the patron bought it.

It’s that kind of drive that makes a difference. As self-published authors, “we have to grind, be creative. If I don’t sell books, I don’t eat,” he says.

Next up, Randy will start a newspaper in the fall about overcoming adversity, starting businesses, things to inspire people that he hopes to turn into a radio show or local TV access show. “I want to inspire people to live out their dreams,” he says, and these new vehicles will allow him to market his books for free.

In addition, Randy will appear on a book marketing panel at the Self Publishing Expo Oct. 2, 2010 at the Sheraton New York, http://www.selfpubbookexpo.com/.

Randy’s mother is proud of his journey, he says. “That is more priceless than anything I’ve done, just to see the smile on her face.”

His advice to self published authors is simple and straightforward: “Just go get ‘em. Don’t be afraid to approach people about your books, promote them. The worst thing people can do is to say, no, I’m not interested. Give out flyers, beat the street.”

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Upcoming Episodes

Please join us August 24 for our next show, Amp Up Your Online Book Promotion with Jo-Anne Vandermeulen http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepublishinginsiders/2010/08/24/amp-up-your-online-book-promtion-with-jo-anne-vand. Jo-Anne hosts a weekly live Blog Talk Radio show, “Authors Articulating,” http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prempromotions, where she shares marketing and promotional tips for writers. Learn about the importance of online marketing, as well as tips and insights into top social media networks such as Facebook, Amazon Connect, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads and more! A published author, Jo-Anne’s first book, a women’s fiction (suspense/romance) called “Conquer All Obstacles” was released in November 2009. Her latest book, a non-fiction resource titled Premium Promotional Tips for Writers, was released in December 2009. She recently created a new online business where she supports and markets her fellow writers: Premium Promotional Services, http://www.premiumpromotions.biz.

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Think all social networking sites are open to anyone? Not so much. Here are a few that are invitation only. Designed for the elite, movers and shakers these sites are the who’s who of social networking;

A Small World: asmallworld.net – a mix of business leaders and entrepreneurs, media, sports, and fashionistas more than 65% of the members of this group live in European cities but don’t let that deter you. If you can get an invitation to join, take it!

Qube: qubers.com is a luxury lifestyle group, members of this are c-level execs and entrepreneurs and their membership spans the globe!

If you’re at a loss on what to blog on, you’ll love this blog worksheet with some great ideas for blogging in April

a-potpourri-of-blog-ideas-for-april1!

When it comes to tweeting effectively, remember the 60/30/10 rule.

Here’s how this breaks down:

60% helpful content

30% engagement with followers sharing insights, feedback, opinions

10% personal posts

Did you know that the average age of someone on Twitter is somewhere between 35-49, there were nearly 3 million users from this age group, comprising 42% of the site’s audience.

Did you know that restaurants who leave off the $ sign as well as the cents and just round up (or down) they are actually increasing the sales of their more pricier items? Check out this experiment: http://bit.ly/8WdStG