Tag: style=”font-size: 12px;”>public speaking
Book Promotion Woes?
Too many new authors believe that once their book is written the sales will just come pouring in and they will make a bundle. Sadly, this disillusionment is shattered when they receive a royalty check. The honest to goodness truth of the matter is that the writer’s work is only started when the book is released. Even the huge author names of today began by peddling their books out of the back of their car. Many big-name authors also began by self-publishing because no one recognized their talent. They did not start off their career with a huge bang. They did not have the money to afford publicists and big marketing firms when they started out and yet they are super successful now. Take heart from their examples.
Marketing, promoting and networking must be done every single day, for the life of the book, in balance with your other activities and obligations.
Many new authors feel their only way to success is through book signings and bookstores stocking their book. They are wrong. While in larger centers with good promotion a book signing event or book reading event may result in as much as a couple hundred one-time sales… most smaller venues can only expect less than 10 sales. Is this worth the 2 hours or more that you spend at the event? Not counting all the preperation, marketing the event, promotion materials, time taken from work and any displays that you have designed and possibly paid for ahead of time. These events do not pay authors to host an event so any sales they do have may not even cover the traveling costs, hotel cost, meals, parking or supplies – let alone the time they put into it. Nor do they usually result in long-term sales – sales are often only during the few days around the event.
Bookstores can only realistically stock less than 1% of the 3 million books available on the market. Their discount with the publisher/distributor is large. Authors are paid royalties only on what their publisher has recieved. So is all the time and effort going into attaining spots on bookstore shelves worth it?
While the markets above are valuable and important to any author – what authors need to do is think outside the box. Figure out where your efforts will bring the greatest results. Don’t expect immediate and overwhelming acceptance by the media or your audience. Marketing, networking and promoting are long-term efforts that will reap greater rewards as efforts continue.
Many authors live in tiny towns and hold down jobs or have physical limitations that prevent out-of-town promotions; much like ourselves. This can be overcome. Again, think outside the box, use the Internet and your contacts – and be persistant. Newspapers, libraries, and bookstores are only the most obvious markets and also are the most difficult to gain the attention of without a strong image because everyone is vying for their attention. Work on your image and get strong promotion materials that help you stand out among the hundred thousand or more new books released annually.
So develop a long-term marketing plan and stick with it for the full term of your contract with the publisher. The market plan will grow and change as time goes on. And keep good records so you can determine how you will go about marketing the next book.
I just wanted to mention here that some authors get overwhelmed by the immense amount of effort it takes to market a book. If we take one day, one step at a time we will find it is not so overwhelming. I find it works best to figure out what you will concentrate on this week and then set a goal for today. I do this nearly every day. It helps me keep a steady pace going, without taking on too much or too little.
Remember too, that efforts you are making today may not reap immediate results. You may have to hit a market several times before they pick up your proposal. For instance, some contacts from nearly a year ago are now resulting in promotions in their publications. So be patient and professional in all that you do. Again, keep records so that you can follow up.
Newsletters can be small but effective markets for your work. On average, they can range in size from 1000-17,000 readers or more. E-zines typically reach an audience larger than 5000. Get a few of them in one month and you are reaching a wide audience! You don’t need to be rich or famous or have a publicist if you are determined and able to committ effort every single day. (Do take some time for yourself, though!)
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Best Six Ways to Explode Your Online Business Writing Articles
In today’s highly competitive internet market, the importance of attracting targeted traffic to your website cannot be overemphasized. Fortunately, there is plethora of website promotion strategies you can use to drive traffic to your website. Routing internet traffic to your website can be your number one means of survival, especially in the world of ecommerce. Getting a high search engine ranking can be very hard.
There is a wide variety of strategies you can adapt, from paid advertising to affiliate marketing. However, most of these techniques require payment. Nevertheless, there are ways to promote your website and increase your web traffic without spending anything. Writing articles is one of the best web site promotion strategies you can use, and they can be very effective. How, you may ask, can writing articles help improve your web traffic? Here are the top seven ways in which it can help explode your business.
1.Reach more people
When you write good articles, it would be a shame not to share them with other people. You can post your articles in your website or you can submit them to other sites such as e-zines and online publishers. By submitting your articles to these sites, you give exposure not only to your ideas but also to your website. Simply include a link back to your site or include your information in the resource box. With this, you get exposure and free advertising as well. Submit your articles to popular e-zines and take advantage of their popularity. Other sites who find your article relevant may also link back to you. Thus, you increase your link popularity, which is one of the most important strategies in the internet world. Remember that most people are looking for information online and by filling this need with your quality article; you may reap the benefit of more exposure and higher web traffic.
2.Gain High Search Engine Ranking
Create a new web page for your article in your website. Optimize your article to make it search-engine friendly. Use top-ranked keywords and Meta tags that can give your website a high search engine ranking. As soon as you upload your new webpage to your server, search engines will spider through it and you can gain an increase in search engine ranking. Remember that search engine optimized content is a very effective strategy to gain a high ranking in search results.
3.Optimizes your site for improved search engine ranking
By making your site keyword rich, you can greatly improve the search engine ranking of your site. Remember that keyword density is one of the most important factors that search engines use when determining the search engine ranking of site. However, you should always provide relevant, useful and pertinent information. Avoid the temptation of overusing keywords just to gain a high ranking as this may turn off most web surfers. Relevance and quality is still the most important things to consider when writing articles and it will be doubly useful to your site if you make these articles search-engine optimized.
4.Increases Link Popularity
Instead of looking for other sites who would want to establish reciprocal links with your site, you can simply submit an article to other sites. Just do not forget to include a link to your site in your resource box. When these websites pick up and publishes your article, you automatically get a link partner. Try to get as many link partners as you can. Link popularity is one of the factors used by search engines in determining search engine rankings. Make your article especially useful and appealing, so that more websites will be encouraged to publish it.
5.Free Advertising
Submitting your articles to other websites presents an opportunity to advertise your website without paying exorbitant fees. Although you should avoid marketing language in your articles and make it informative and useful to your readers, you can always include your site’s link in the resource box. In addition, by making your article relevant and helpful to your readers, you are making a good impression for your website, which could ultimately lead to a visit and hopefully a purchase. Good quality content in an article is far better and more effective than a few lines of ad space. You have a very special opportunity to presell your product or service to your prospective customer.
6.Establishes a Good Impression and Reputation
By writing excellent, original and relevant articles, you not only give your site exposure, you are also creating a good impression on your prospects. Encourage more people to visit your site and do business with you by establishing an impressive reputation through your articles. Be seen as an expert in the field and your will ultimately gain more customers eager to do business with you.
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Are You Missing Out Without Online Marketing?
Just about every business can benefit to some degree from online marketing. If you’re not online you could be missing out on a huge potential customer base. This article gives you some reasons to really consider why you should use internet marketing.
If you are not already marketing your business online, it is time to start. Although there are a few exceptions, just about every business can benefit from online marketing. There are just so many advantages to this type of marketing. First of all, it is extremely affordable to market your business online. Other advantages to marketing your business online include the ability to reach a large target audience, the ability to reach potential customers all over the world and the ability to customize the marketing for different sectors of the target audience.
The affordability of Internet marketing is one of many reasons why many business owners are turning to the Internet for advertising. Advertising online is incredibly affordable especially when you consider how many potential customers a business owner can reach with an online marketing campaign. Most methods of online advertising are quite affordable and some of them do not have any direct costs. For example, you may choose to market your business online by participating in industry forums and posting links to your website whenever it is appropriate to do so. In this case the cost of creating and maintaining the website is insignificant in comparison to the number of potential clients you could reach through online marketing. Additionally, the costs associated with posting links to your website are incidental. You could consider the cost of having access to the Internet as part of the cost but you most likely require Internet access for other reasons as well so it is completely worthwhile.
Reaching a large target audience is another very worthwhile reason for marketing your business online. You may have spent a great deal of time and energy doing market research and determine who your target audience is. You may have also spent a great deal of time trying to figure out the best way to reach this audience. This is a very sound marketing principle but as it applies to marketing on local television, radio and print media it only allows you to reach a limited audience. However, when you take your marketing to the Internet you automatically drastically increase your potential target audience because you now have the ability to reach members of your target audience around the world.
This ability to reach customers around the world is another major advantage to marketing your business online. Regardless of where you live and operate your business, you have the ability to reach those who have an interest in the products you sell or the services you provide no matter where they live. This makes it possible for you to do business with customers around the world.
Likewise the fact that the Internet is available 24 hours a day is also very beneficial to those who choose to market their products or services online. Shopping for products and services in person can be very difficult especially for individuals who work long hours or those who work unusual hours. These working conditions make it difficult for these individuals to do business and make purchases of products and services they need during regular business hours. However, business owners who have an online presence are much more convenient because unlike stores and calling centers, the website never closes. This convenience gives potential customers the ability to view products and services, compare these products and service to the ones offered by competitors and make a purchase at any hour of any day.
If you are a business owner who is reading this article and you do not already have a strong online presence, you need to immediately start learning more about the world of Internet marketing. This is so important because if your competitors are marketing online, you may find they are gaining a steady advantage and are becoming more appealing to potential customers. Before too many of your potential customers become loyal customers of the competition it is time to start figuring out how you can market your business online and keep up with the competition.
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A Strategy For Coming Up With A Great Book Title
Book publishing companies hire high-priced people to come up with a title or ìheadline,î because book publishing is a big business; therefore a lot of contemplation goes into making their titles as commercially-viable as possible.
Go into a bookstore and browse through the titles in the bestseller section. Book publishing companies hire high-priced people to come up with a title or ìheadline,î because book publishing is a big business; therefore a lot of contemplation goes into making their titles as commercially-viable as possible. Many well-known and highly successful books started out with other titles. According to Dan Poynter, the father of self-publishing:
ï Tomorrow is Another Day became Gone With The Wind.
ï Blossom and the Flower became Peyton Place.
ï The Rainbow Book became Free Stuff For Kids.
ï The Squash Book became the Zucchini Book.
ï John Thomas and Lady Jane became Lady Chatterlyís Lover.
ï Trimalchio in West Egg became Fitzgeraldís The Great Gatsby.
ï Something that Happened became Steinbeckís Of Mice and Men.
ï Catch 18 became Catch 22
While you are at the store, notice how the other browsers pick up a book, scan the front and back cover, and then put it down again before going on to another book. The whole process takes about two seconds each. Thatís all of the time you have to make an impression on a potential reader. In those two seconds, you must appeal literally to three of the five senses that human beings have, sight, speech, and hearing, and figuratively to the last two, touch and smell.
1) Sight: When someone first comes in contact with your bookís title, it is usually by seeing it on the front cover. So your title must be aesthetically appealing.
2) Speech: If a person stumbles over the words, it will add to the difficult in marketing your book. Even if you are writing only for family members and friends, and you are giving away your book for free, there is still an element of marketing.
3) Sound: Business philosopher Jim Rhone says in order to have effective communication, you must ìHave something good to say, say it well and say it often.î Your title will be heard often, but will it be good and will it be said well?
4) Touch: Touch also means to ìrelate toî or ìto have an influence on.î Figuratively, your title must allow itself to touch or be touched by being able to relate to your readers or have some type of influence on them.
5) Smell: Your title should figuratively give off an aroma. In other words it should project ìa distinctive quality or atmosphere.î If the aroma the title gives off suggests that very little thought or concern was given to it, people will assume that the rest of the book is the same way.
On a recent Publisher’s Weekly Bestseller list, out of 20 books, one had a one-word title; five had two-word titles; four had three-word titles; five had four-word titles; three had five-word titles; one had a seven-word title and one had an eight-word title. The point is, most honchos at major publishing companies believe that the simpler/shorter the title, the better. None of the titles were complex.
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Best Selling Book Cover Design
To get a book cover design may be expensive and painstaking one. Book cover and the layout of the inside pages should catch the eye of the readers in todayís market. Book cover the marketing tool for any writers or publishers if you got that one right then you work is half done. Find a Designer who user the state of art software to which is preferred by most printers.
An interior of a book is also important a well placed layout of a book makes the readers easy to read and sends a message to the reader. The formatting of the interiors should be done before the cover design is completed. A well laid out book page layout is the one most reader preferred. Create a original design that gives an edge over other publishers. Pictures and photos should be given utmost importance and blends with the subject of the book. A wrong design sends wrong signals for the readers and it will remain in the shelf than in the readerís room.
Work with an experienced graphic designer who offers the services like book cover design, case wrap design, book jacket design, text layout, barcode and image scanning. You book is judged by its cover right from the distributors, dealers, book store and finally the readers. Try to get maximum potential out of your book cover and its interior pages.
There are two major parts to be looked at for a best selling book
Part one: – Design Part
That includes the book cover design, book layout and its interior pages.
Part two: – Publishing part
Editing, Copywriting, typesetting, illustration and graphics
Once all these above things are done then it is time for printing. Before doing that you have to observe few things like the spine width of the book cover it is determined by the number of pages in the book. The next process is the book type hardbound or softbound once that is decided submit your manuscript preferably in MS word format with titles sub titles and headings etc.
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10 Ways Web Site Text Can Impact Your Reader's
Article Body:
The appearance of your web site text can actually
increase or decrease your sales. The size, font, style
and color of your text can easily affect your reader’s
buying decision. Below are ten points to consider
when typing text on your web site.
1. Easy To Read- You want to make it easy for your
visitors to read your text. You don’t want to use a light
colored text like yellow on a white background and
you don’t want to use dark blue text on a black back-
ground.
2. Create A Mood- You want to use the color of
your text to create a mood for the reader. If you want
to create excitement, use some red text. If you want to
create greed, use a some green text. Use colors that
would put you in a mood to buy your product.
3. Grab Their Attention- You can grab your readers
attention by using headlines. Make the headline more
noticeable by using a different colored headline than
your ad copy. This offsets the headline and pulls the
reader into the rest of your ad copy.
4. Highlight Keywords- You can emphasize phrases
and keywords that are important to your readers. For
instance, use super, deluxe, fast, low price, free, new,
etc. You could use bolding, underlining, italics, color
changing, etc.
5. Sizing It Up- You don’t want to use text that is too
small or to large. You want to use larger text for your
headlines and subheadings. You want to use smaller
text for your ad copy. If your grandparents can’t read
it, it’s too small.
6. Don’t Use All CAPS!- You don’t want to use all
capital letters in your ad copy. It looks unprofessional
and is hard to read. You may want to use all CAPS
in your headlines to offset it.
7. Font Properly- You want to use a text font that
relates to the product or services your selling. You
don’t want to use a comic type font when your selling
business books.
8. Spacing Out- It’s important to use spaces properly
when typing your text. You should indent and bullet
key benefits your product or service will give the
reader. Your headlines, subheadings, sentences and
paragraphs should be consistently spaced throughout
your web site.
9. I Need Sunglasses- Don’t use all bright text colors
and backgrounds on your web site. It will make your
text hard to read and actually bother your readers’
eyes to the point they just decide to leave your site.
10. Check The Readability- It’s important to check
your spelling and grammar before you upload your
web page. When writing an ad copy you’re allowed to
break some of those grammar rules to get your point
across.
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8 Super Selling Things to Do Before You Write Your Book Sales Letter
Every marketing campaign should begin with a plan. Sales letters are no different. No plan and you may miss the mark of High Sales you are aiming for. Set a roadmap that you can follow to explosive sales every time with every ebook. Focus and aim your sales letter with these 8 preparation tips. Then get ready to sell more than you dreamed:
1. Write a list of frequently asked questions for your ebook.
You want to make sure you pin point what your prospects and visitors are looking for and then give it to them. Find out what their burning questions are and then answer them in your sales copy and product. Before you write the benefits of your products you need to know the problems that audience face.
2. Develop a list to help your prospect visualize using your product.
Answer the questions: “When will your prospect use your product?”, “How will they use it,” “Why will they use it?” For example, if your new product was an ebook: will they read it on their desktop, laptop or will they print it out. Will they relax on the couch and read your insightful tips. Perhaps they will print them and read on the way to work or during lunch break
3. Write down what your up sell offers or possibilities are.
This is where a lot of small business professionals miss out. They fail to create up sell offers. Create your up sell offers and opportunities before you even write your sales letter so that they can be woven into your back end pages and sales messages.
4. Write a list of Benefit Bullets.
What do they get will they experience upon purchasing this product, what will this product give them.
5. Make a list of bonus gifts.
Select bonus gifts before you write the sales letter. This way you can include the benefits in your sales message as a part of your product.
6. Develop your guarantee.
Think about it? A lot of businesses shake in their shoes when it comes to developing a guarantee. But think about it; most small businesses have a built in guarantee. If someone ask for their money back, most small business professionals will just give their money back. They don’t haggle over whether they should or shouldn’t.
7. Gather your testimonials into one file.
If you don’t have any yet for a new product, use famous quotes about your field until you get some. Sprinkle throughout your copy.
8. Go look at your competitor’s sales page.
Examine their FAQs (see if you missed any), what are their bonus gifts, what is their guarantee, what is their up sell, if any? I made this step last so you wouldn’t be tempted to just be a copy cat. But you can use your competitor’s sales pitch as a measuring stick. How did you measure up? Did you whiz past; leaving them in a cloud of dust? Or did you miss a few things that you will now add after examining their pages?
Preparation for your super sales maker will give you the competitive edge you have been looking for. Put these steps into place before you even write your sales letter and sell more. Enjoy the journey and life is made easier.
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5 Tips to Magnetize Your Book Web Site With Benefits
What will make your home page interesting? Good design plays an important part in your site’s overall effectiveness. But it’s not the flash that will interest your audience. It’s not the jingles that will connect with your visitor. It’s the benefits – the ‘what’s in it for me’ list that create interest and even desire.
Would you like to create a magnetic home page, one that magnetizes your visitors? Webster’s Dictionary defines magnetic as ‘powerfully attractive.’ Best selling author and owner of the largest advertising agency in the 20s, Bruce Barton said, “The theme (any advertisement) ought to be based on two principles-first that a man is interested in himself, second, that he is interested in other people.”
What will make your home page interesting? Good design plays an important part in your site’s overall effectiveness. But it’s not the flash that will interest your audience. It’s not the jingles that will connect with your visitor. It’s the benefits – the ‘what’s in it for me’ list that create interest and even desire. Create a home page filled with benefits and it will pull your visitors in. What you say your product/service can do is much more attractive than a beautiful web page with weak copy.
Promote with benefits instead of your bio, your credentials and even the features of your product/service. Put them in their proper place on your site. But your audience will most want to know the value of your product to them.
You must answer questions like, “Will it solve my particular problem?” “What will I gain?” “What will I lose if I don’t use your service?” Some universal benefits answer the how tos: getting more passion, more energy, less fatigue, more money, good relationships, more time, less trouble, less stress, less drama and trauma. Here’s a quick tutorial on magnetizing your home page:
1. Develop a list of 10-20 benefits of each product and service. For example, a client of mine realized her audience didn’t just want to know how to get articles written, they wanted to know why should they write them?
So on the home page selling her article writing ebook, she started with a list of good reasons to write short articles to promote: For the serious marketer this ebook explains step by step how to promote your business, build a gigantic Opt-In List, increase your traffic, get qualified links, increase your page rank, grow your affiliate base, become a recognized expert, and collar more sales.
2. Be specific. List specific benefits. Describe how your customer will feel after buying your product. For example, after you buy my service of teeth whitening, you’ll look and feel 10 years younger without plastic surgery. Then post a picture of what your client looks like before and after the teeth whitening service. Let them see how happier and more confident they look with whiter teeth. Make your page magnetic with specific benefits.
3. Let the passion for your topic show in your marketing copy. Which arouses your interest more? “A 9-Step Power Plan to decimate and dominate the Consultant’s Marketplace” or “The 9-Step Plan to Become a Better Consultant.” “How to Convert More Buyers Into Customers” or “How to use the ‘FTP’ factor to pull amazing clickthrough rates that most marketers will only dream about!” Magnetize your web page with passion that creates desire and sales with your audience.
4. Develop the skill of writing headlines. Provocative titles will stir interest. Provocative statements capture our attention like a fish on a hook. They throw out the baited hook and reel a captive audience in every time. The shocking statement ‘Wives Who Don’t Want Sex’ even if they don’t have this problem will get the attention of the curious.
Use the Command statement for an immediate effect, ‘Become an Internet Millionaire!” Even if it’s a well worn claim, it still captures a large share of attention. Don’t forget the power of the simple ‘How To” information title. It alerts your audience that the information that follows will be simple and easy to digest. Capture the attention of your audience with a home page filled with magnetic headlines.
5. Give your links the power of benefits. We have added magnetic pulling power to our bulleted list, headlines, and titles. It’s all good. But there’s one more area that will give your home page even more pulling power. I got this tip from Allen Says’ “The War Report.” Many unseasoned site owners create links that say things like, “Get your FREE ebook here!” or “Sign-up for our FREE ezine!”
When first exposed to this tip, all I could say was, “Ouch!” I know my sites were filled with links like that. Perhaps we thought the magic word was FREE and people would automatically click on it and download. The truth is ‘Free ezine” tells our audiences nothing. Impart life to all your links with benefits. Those left over benefits and titles you developed earlier in this article. Review each link and pretend you have to get every visitor to click on it.
Don’t wait. If you wait you could be starting the next year without the explosive sales and traffic your site deserves. You have invested time and perhaps money into making your site the best it can be. Now, create a magnetic home page by giving your bulleted lists, headlines and links the power of benefits. Magnetize your home page and prosper!
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