Phyllis Zimbler Miller
Your goal is to sell more books – and sell those books without spending a lot of money. Therefore, your number one goal is to make it easy for people to find you and say yes to you:
• Yes to buying your book
• Yes to reviewing your book
• Yes to having you on their radio show
To make it easy for people to find you and say yes to you – you must be where these people are. Where they can "meet" you, like you, and want to help you promote your book.
Here are seven good ways to do this:
1. Join social networking site Twitter.com and use Tweetbeep.com to alert you when people on Twitter talk about book marketing or their books.
If appropriate you can join in the conversation. Thus people on Twitter will start to pay attention to you as a book author.
2. Have a call-to-action book website (call-to-action to buy your book or books).
Share one or more chapters on your site. Let people get hooked enough to buy the book NOW. And, of course, have a BUY THIS BOOK NOW option on every page of the website.
3. Blog about your nonfiction book's topic or a related topic to your novel.
Many elements in a novel can spawn blog posts – from recipes of the book's locale to posts on the construction work your protagonist does to all kinds of things. If you're a novelist, you make up stories. Use your imagination to think of blog posts that connect to your novel. Showcase your writing and make an emotional connection with people who can buy your book.
4. Leave comments on other book authors' blog posts where appropriate to lead readers of similar books back to your own book blog or website.
If you choose wisely where to leave worthwhile comments, you'll be reaching fans of the type of book you've written. This is another way for people to learn about you and then find your online "home" where they can visit you.
5. Join LinkedIn and then search publishing groups and writing groups to join.
Get email notifications of the questions posted in those groups and answer those questions if you can add something of value. Extra tip: Try to be one of the first to answer. If several people answer before you do, your response may be buried too far down for most people to see it. Share your information with others, which will help attract people to you.
6. Consider which of the numerous book sites such as Goodreads.com and Shelfari.com fit your personality and time commitment schedule.
It's better not to spread yourself too thin over so many book sites that you can't be a real presence on any site. Choose one or two book sites and go deep (make connections). Engage in conversation about your book whenever it's appropriate as long as you share about other books too. People want to know what other books you like.
7. Join one or two other online communities whose mission has an affinity with your book.
If you write about a medical condition, join one or two sites focused on that condition. If you write graphic novels, join one or two sites focused on this type of fiction writing. Becoming known in the online community is important, followed by sharing of what you do and how this might interest the community's members.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business.
Showing posts with label phyllis zimbler miller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phyllis zimbler miller. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
How to Have an Effective First Website
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" could be applied to the need for local businesses, book authors, or anyone with an idea or product for sale to have a website. Nowadays more and more people tend to first look up information on the web.
If you want your business, book or idea/product to stand out in the marketplace, you have to have an online place where potential customers can find you.
But the truth is, for people who have no website expertise, getting started having a website can be overwhelming:
· Which website designer/programmer to hire?
· How much will the project cost?
· How long with the project take?
· Does the website designer/programmer understand marketing principles?
· Will he/she make the website effective for online marketing campaigns?
· Will he/she make the website user-friendly?
While these questions can be paralyzing — it's easier to do nothing than to tackle these unknowns, you're risking losing your potential customers to local businesses, book authors, and others who do have an effective presence on the internet.
Where do you start?
First you need to get a domain name that effectively supports your business or project.
Make sure that you get one that is memorable, can be spelled easily, and is a .com (people try .com first if they're looking online for a specific website). If you get a domain name with .biz or .net, your online marketing efforts may send potential customers to your competition.
Second, you need to consider whether you want to capture the email addresses of people who come to your website and are interested in what you have to sell.
This "email opt-in box" can be a highly effective if you offer, in exchange for the person's email address, something for free that has perceived value. This can be a report or a discount coupon or something else that is related to the reason the people came to your site in the first place.
And, yes, the placement of an email opt-in box is important. If should definitely be "above the fold" — as high up on the home page as possible. And for maximum effect the box should be on every additional page. This way, if people decide on another page that they want to join your email list, they can do so without having to search for the email opt-in box.
The most important "real estate" of a website is the home page area first seen when a visitor comes to the site. This means that it is no longer considered effective to waste time with a cute flash intro that prevents a visitor from immediately getting to the heart of the site.
Another big negative is to waste real estate announcing in large letters "Welcome to my company site." The most important real estate should answer the question what you are offering in information or products that makes sticking around on your website worth it.
An additional website goal is creating a relationship with potential customers. Nowadays people want to know who is behind the site. Whose authority is being presented online? Thus home page pictures of company buildings are out; home page pictures of company personnel are in.
These are only some of the important elements that you should consider when starting your online presence.
While even these elements may seem overwhelming, if you find a website designer/programmer who understands marketing and is willing to be guided by your website goals, you can make these elements work for you without paying a bundle for your first website.
And once that website is up, you can move on to your next project: utilizing your website as part of an ongoing marketing campaign to attract more potential customers and to convert more potential customers into buyers. – P.Z.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business.
The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" could be applied to the need for local businesses, book authors, or anyone with an idea or product for sale to have a website. Nowadays more and more people tend to first look up information on the web.
If you want your business, book or idea/product to stand out in the marketplace, you have to have an online place where potential customers can find you.
But the truth is, for people who have no website expertise, getting started having a website can be overwhelming:
· Which website designer/programmer to hire?
· How much will the project cost?
· How long with the project take?
· Does the website designer/programmer understand marketing principles?
· Will he/she make the website effective for online marketing campaigns?
· Will he/she make the website user-friendly?
While these questions can be paralyzing — it's easier to do nothing than to tackle these unknowns, you're risking losing your potential customers to local businesses, book authors, and others who do have an effective presence on the internet.
Where do you start?
First you need to get a domain name that effectively supports your business or project.
Make sure that you get one that is memorable, can be spelled easily, and is a .com (people try .com first if they're looking online for a specific website). If you get a domain name with .biz or .net, your online marketing efforts may send potential customers to your competition.
Second, you need to consider whether you want to capture the email addresses of people who come to your website and are interested in what you have to sell.
This "email opt-in box" can be a highly effective if you offer, in exchange for the person's email address, something for free that has perceived value. This can be a report or a discount coupon or something else that is related to the reason the people came to your site in the first place.
And, yes, the placement of an email opt-in box is important. If should definitely be "above the fold" — as high up on the home page as possible. And for maximum effect the box should be on every additional page. This way, if people decide on another page that they want to join your email list, they can do so without having to search for the email opt-in box.
The most important "real estate" of a website is the home page area first seen when a visitor comes to the site. This means that it is no longer considered effective to waste time with a cute flash intro that prevents a visitor from immediately getting to the heart of the site.
Another big negative is to waste real estate announcing in large letters "Welcome to my company site." The most important real estate should answer the question what you are offering in information or products that makes sticking around on your website worth it.
An additional website goal is creating a relationship with potential customers. Nowadays people want to know who is behind the site. Whose authority is being presented online? Thus home page pictures of company buildings are out; home page pictures of company personnel are in.
These are only some of the important elements that you should consider when starting your online presence.
While even these elements may seem overwhelming, if you find a website designer/programmer who understands marketing and is willing to be guided by your website goals, you can make these elements work for you without paying a bundle for your first website.
And once that website is up, you can move on to your next project: utilizing your website as part of an ongoing marketing campaign to attract more potential customers and to convert more potential customers into buyers. – P.Z.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business.
Your Book Is Judged by Its Cover — 7 Tips for Effective Internet Book Selling
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
Books have always been judged by their covers. In a bookstore you look at the cover first, then turn over the book to read the back cover. Or maybe you next read the inside front and back flap covers of a hardcover book.
Now, though, many of us judge a book by first seeing it on the Internet — even if we ultimately buy the book in a bookstore using a 30% off coupon.
And on the Internet, especially on Amazon, the book cover is a tiny thing. And, yes, many books on Amazon have the LOOK INSIDE feature. Still, your book cover has nanoseconds to connect with a potential buyer before that person clicks away to another book.
Here are seven tips for a book cover that gets people interested in your book:
1. Decide on your book cover design by looking at it the exact size it will appear on Amazon. Yes. many books on Amazon have LOOK INSIDE. Still, your book cover has nanoseconds to convince someone to stay around and learn more.
2. Make sure your book cover clearly conveys what the book is about – is it a novel, a how-to book, a memoir? Yes, the title has the heavy lifting duty here, but our brains process pictures faster than words. Use the design cover to speak to our brains.
3. Make sure the title and your name can be clearly read against the cover art. Some books might, for example, use light blue type against a dark blue background. This is not the easiest to read, especially when reduced to a tiny photo.
4. Make sure the size of the title and your name are large enough to be read when reduced to a tiny photo. A great title does no good if it can't be read when reduced in size.
5. Choose simplicity over complexity. You want the eye to be drawn to the title and a photo that makes an impact on the brain. You don't want a cover with so many competing elements that the eye doesn't know where to look first — so the person simply clicks away rather than suffer the confusion.
6. Graphic artists are not necessarily the best people to hire to design your book cover. There are specialists in book cover design who know the additional details that should be considered when designing a book cover.
7. Make sure the cover doesn't mislead the potential buyer. No nude women on the cover of a how-to about growing roses in your garden. On the other hand, you don't necessarily have to have a rose on that book's cover. But the book's cover should have the look and feel that is complementary with the tone of the book.
Bonus tip: No matter how good the cover is, if your book is filled with grammatical errors, incorrect punctuation and spell-check errors (such as their for there), people will be disappointed with your book. If you're self-publishing, hire a professional copyeditor before you publish the book. Your reading public will thank you. – P.Z.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business
Books have always been judged by their covers. In a bookstore you look at the cover first, then turn over the book to read the back cover. Or maybe you next read the inside front and back flap covers of a hardcover book.
Now, though, many of us judge a book by first seeing it on the Internet — even if we ultimately buy the book in a bookstore using a 30% off coupon.
And on the Internet, especially on Amazon, the book cover is a tiny thing. And, yes, many books on Amazon have the LOOK INSIDE feature. Still, your book cover has nanoseconds to connect with a potential buyer before that person clicks away to another book.
Here are seven tips for a book cover that gets people interested in your book:
1. Decide on your book cover design by looking at it the exact size it will appear on Amazon. Yes. many books on Amazon have LOOK INSIDE. Still, your book cover has nanoseconds to convince someone to stay around and learn more.
2. Make sure your book cover clearly conveys what the book is about – is it a novel, a how-to book, a memoir? Yes, the title has the heavy lifting duty here, but our brains process pictures faster than words. Use the design cover to speak to our brains.
3. Make sure the title and your name can be clearly read against the cover art. Some books might, for example, use light blue type against a dark blue background. This is not the easiest to read, especially when reduced to a tiny photo.
4. Make sure the size of the title and your name are large enough to be read when reduced to a tiny photo. A great title does no good if it can't be read when reduced in size.
5. Choose simplicity over complexity. You want the eye to be drawn to the title and a photo that makes an impact on the brain. You don't want a cover with so many competing elements that the eye doesn't know where to look first — so the person simply clicks away rather than suffer the confusion.
6. Graphic artists are not necessarily the best people to hire to design your book cover. There are specialists in book cover design who know the additional details that should be considered when designing a book cover.
7. Make sure the cover doesn't mislead the potential buyer. No nude women on the cover of a how-to about growing roses in your garden. On the other hand, you don't necessarily have to have a rose on that book's cover. But the book's cover should have the look and feel that is complementary with the tone of the book.
Bonus tip: No matter how good the cover is, if your book is filled with grammatical errors, incorrect punctuation and spell-check errors (such as their for there), people will be disappointed with your book. If you're self-publishing, hire a professional copyeditor before you publish the book. Your reading public will thank you. – P.Z.M.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://budurl.com/internetbusiness as well as a book author, and her company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com provides internet marketing information with easy-to-implement solutions to promote your brand, book or business
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