Mega Online Marketing
25 Sure-Fire Ways to Promote Your Book Online
Welcome Pennwriters!
I created this
page just for you.
Here are 25 simple strategies anyone can do to attract sales, build their mailing list, and earn additional income. This is info every author and soon-to-be author should know. Below you will find a brief description of the items I spoke of in my seminar at the Pennwriters conference. Where available, I have provided a link to a recommended site. Note: I have alreaded added more items to this page since we talked! Pennwriter members, free to email me with other info and or any errors or broken links. If anyone would like to receive info on print-on-demand marketing, (you don't need to be a Pennwriter member) visit www.PODBookDesigns.com
1. Action Marketing Workbook - Before selling anything, books, products, services, whatever, I highly recommend you download Robert Middleton's free 24-page workbook. In about 15-30 minutes time, you will learn more about how to best present your book, product or service than you could ever imagine. His clarifying process helped me tremendously. This workbook is so valuable, I am now recommending it to all my clients as a Must-do. (Did I mention that it is free?) Middleton also offers tons of free articles and other self-helps on his website.
2. Signature Line - This is perhaps one of the most important, and easiest things you can do. Whenever you send an email or post on a website, or whenever something is posted about you, if at all possible, you want your signature line included. A signature line is an expanded byline. It will include your name, your website, and a blurb about what you do. You can set up your email to automatically add this. Search your toolbar in your email program for "signature line."
3. Autoresponders - An autoresponder is a type of email that is automatically sent to a potential buyer or fan as directed by you. To have autoresponders sent, you either need a website set up for this feature, or you need an autoresponder service. I use aWeber.com and highly recommend them. In fact, I switched from another service to aWeber because I liked them better. An autoresponder can be used in hundreds of ways, many which are briefly explained and demonstrated on their home site. They even have step-by-step video tutorials (even I can follow that!) Here are a couple of examples: A) If you have some leftover how-to seminar notes... turn them into a series of automated emails and offer them free as an email-getter. Mix in subtle notes and/or tie-ins about your product and set them to auto mail once a week; B) Write articles concerning your product or topic and have the autoresponder send them out for you at a time interval you specify. Think of it as a second person who follows up the work you have already done since you do nothing once it's set up. (Note, this feature is recommended either for those who have a web designer, or for those who are comfortable navigating websites. No real skill is needed beyond being able to click, cut and paste, and read directions, but you won't want to try this if you are faint-hearted about the World Wide Web.)
4. Collect Emails - Provide a means on your website to collect emails. (This is another thing your aWeber account can do.) Create a viable reason for viewers to want to give you their email. With everyone having a 'newsletter' sometimes that isn't enough. By visiting your site and giving you their email, they have shown interest in whatever you are writing or selling. That makes them more likely to buy your books or products. It is said that it usually takes three or more opportunities before people will buy. Make sure you provide those three opportunities by having them get to know you better whether via email or your website.
5. Product Tie-ins - Particularly if you are writing a non-fiction book, you might be recommending some product or service that has been helpful to you or that will be helpful to your readers. After the book is available, make sure to let that company know you mentioned them in your book. They will often tell their readers about you. One company I mentioned is sending a newsletter to 10,000 people. (Whoohoo!)
6. Reader Views -
From this site, you can obtain a free review of your book. Reader
Views has a bank of pre-approved reviewers who choose from a posted list of
books. Once your book is chosen, you send them a copy for review. They
post the review on their site and on Amazon.com. You can use the review
anywhere you like provided you give proper credit. For an additional
fee, you can receive an express review (no waiting). Another service
that I highly recommend is their PR.web posting service. They will do
an interview with you and write a press release about your book. These
are posted on PR.web and are picked up by a large number of media services,
both online and in print. I had very good results with this myself. You
can read mine here:
7. Postcards - Authors have been sending postcards to their fan base for years, particularly to announce their latest book. Unlike other direct mail, postcards are a fabulous way to get exposure since your message is seen even if the recipient throws it away. There are a lot of great ways to use postcards. Stop by Postcard Marketing Secrets, click on "sample" for the "Top 10 Advantages of Marketing with Postcards", or go to Marketing with Postcards and sign up for the newsletter to receive a download of three chapters from Alex Mandossian.
8. Google Ad Words - I don't profess to be an expert
on this, but if you are into designing your own website and building
traffic, this is something you will want to do, if you aren't already.
Perry Marshall has written a very
helpful e-course called "5
Days to Success with GoogleAdWords" and there's no charge for
it.
9. Write Articles - Having a feature article in a national magazine would be fabulous. But even if you receive no payment for appearing in a small, online ezine, as long as your signature line is used, you gain extra, searchable web links and exposure via their readership. You can also post articles that are available to others on ezinearticles.com and on your blog. Some are even useable for your autoresponders and newsletters. Spread them around and let your words (which probably flow easily anyway) work for you.
10. PRweb.com - You can also post a self-written press release on PR.web yourself for free. For an extra fee, you gain some additional features, such as adding cover photos and other attachments. (These carry more credibility when you are a company posting about a product rather than an author posting about yourself.) If you don't know how to write a press release, here is a free press release creator page.
11. Newsletters - When sending out newsletters to your
fan or customer base, either send a short, topic specific item with a
single link, or send short blurbs about general news with a variety of
links. The goal is to get your readers to check back in with you and
your website. Make sure that: A) You include a viable reason for them
to return; B) Your self-promotion is sincere; C) You include topics or
stories that humanize you. (I spent 20 minutes on one fellow's site when
he posted photos of a trip to Spain and went back a second time to see
photos of his five-year-old twin daughters doing his hair. Of course,
these linked to what he was promoting at the time.) I highly recommend
using Constant Contact for newsletters because then you can track how many people
opened their newsletter and what links they clicked on. You can also
use Constant Contact to send email postcards and newsletters with borders,
photos, and fancy designs. I found it also made it a lot easier for people
to subscribe or unsubscribe without my having to do it all by hand.
12. Blogs - I was going to write a step-by-step, how-to set up a blog, and then found that Jeff Mills had not only already done one, but had great screenshots included too. So instead of writing one myself, I'll just send you over to his site. The tutorial is free. Just sign up for his free blog tutorial, and he will email you a step-by-step PDF for free. If possible, you want your blog to be directly on your website. If you are not able to do it, or do not yet have a website, make sure you have posted plenty of content about your book or product on your blog along with a link to your book on Amazon.com or other online retailers. (Note: This is a great way to start if you don't yet have a website.) When writing a blog, choose topics that are in the public eye making sure to somehow link them to your product or service. I recently wrote about the TV show Project Runway. To see how I tied a survivor TV show to my book, visit this link: http://www.icantransform.com/blog/ .
13. Free Teleseminars - There is a company called Totally Free Conference Calls that is offering free teleseminar access. You can offer your customer or fan base the opportunity to participate in a teleseminar with no additional cost to you. Use this for virtual book signings (participants pay to receive a signed copy of your book, then hear you talk about the book; do a reading; or offer a workshop based on the book during the teleseminar. You can also have a live interview.) There are countless other ways you can use this tool, such as offering online teleseminars.
14. Message Boards - Post messages about your product or service on your own message board and on others' message boards too. If allowed, include a signature line. Do not post hard sell copy, rather stay in topic and participate as a member. If you can't post a signature line, make sure to include enough information about yourself so that a search will find your site.
15. Radio and TV Interviews - Whenever possible, make sure to mention your website and a reason to go there during any interview or promotional spot. If you are unable to offer the exact web address, make sure that you are easily found by your name or product's name. (To check this, put your name or product's name in as a Google search and see if your website shows up on the first page. If it doesn't, you need more content on your site, or a better website name.)
16. Audio and Video Links - There are a couple of different ways you can spruce up your website with audio and video. One is the Instant Audio Generator and the Instant Video Generator. These two products are neat because with very little effort, you can have sound and or audio on your site. Another neat gadget is Site Pal which adds a talking character to your site. The thing that is so unusual about this, is the character's eyes seem to follow you wherever you go on that page. You can't help but notice it. There are samples of these at the bottom of this page. Stephen King had one on his site for awhile, though he has now apparently taken it down. If you don't have the time or knowledge to add your own audio, you can post an audio message on EmpoweringMessages.com. (Click "be a guest" for more info.) Here's a link to the message I posted "The Power of Your Heritage". Coach Zev, who hosts the site sends out a new empowering message to his extensive list each week. A message by Marlo Thomas was sent the week after mine. This is particularly a great site if you have a book to sell, regardless of how you are selling it.
17. Viral Marketing - Viral marketing means simply that a message is quickly passed via word-of-mouth, email, or other means. Everytime you receive an email from a friend with a link to a funny or animated site, that is an example of viral marketing. I created my own example using Pennwriter member, Vickie Fisher's photographs and text. ( It's a flash presentation, so if you're on dial-up, it will take awhile to load.) I just found a second one that is great to watch because it is a pitch to get you to buy a marketing product. It is a spoof of American Idol, so kind of fun to watch. (Note, I have not used any of Michael Port's products so I can't attest to their quality... you can gain the same advice by using the Action Marketing Workbook mentioned above.)
18. POD Casts - POD casts are the newest hot ticket into someone's iPod or computer. Interviews and seminars are just some ideas you might try. Click here to learn more about how to POD cast. Or visit this article for information on making a video POD cast.
19. CDs and Downloadable Audio - I did not know how easy it was to make an audio CD until I took an inexpensive class from Rob Schultz at Audacious Audio. Not only was it very simple, I already owned all the equipment I needed. (You may need to purchase a mike if you don't have one.) I later spent $99 on a printer that prints pictures directly on CDs and voila, I have an additional tie-in product to offer my readers. I only have to record my CD once, but can sell it long-term. It's almost pure profit. Rob was super to work with and he is on my top-ten-people-to-recommend list. Then, after you learn how to make the CD, hop over to Mixonic.com to have them reproduced and printed. (Click the banner below to visit their site.)
20. Business Cards - Definitely have professional business cards made. (I do not put my phone number on mine - that is up to you.) Not only should you give them out freely, include them with correspondence (even to friends), and have a stack of them for workshops and signings, but you can also post them as mini-advertisements on any bulletin board you see during your daily travels. Make sure to include your web address and a reason to go there.
21. Links - Your second most important goal, other than to gain exposure to your own site, would be to have a link to your site from other websites. Whether those links are from friends, banners, articles, PR, webrings, or any other sort of links, the more links the better. When the search engines rank your site (decide how high up to post it out of millions of others for any given search) one of the criteria used is how popular your site is. If you have two outside links, your site is not going to get that high of ranking. Get as many links as you can. More links equal a higher ranking.
22. Chats - There are several sites who offer online chats with authors and celebrities. One that you can check out is the Fish Bowl. If you are able to do this, make sure you mention your website. Many of these are archived (stored as text) on the web - long term. Another site just launched in June 2006 is YourBestToday.com.
23. Workshops and Lectures - Be sure when you host a workshop, lecture, signing, or other event, that you mention your website and offer a handout or business card with your website listed on it.
24. Books and products - Make sure to always include your website address in your book, and on any materials that you mail to people.
I'd also like to recommend numerologist Daniel Hardt who can give you a reading regarding a proposed business or personal endeavor or dream. When I had my own reading, I was utterly amazed at what Daniel could tell me based merely on my name and birthdate. Readings also make a great gift. To learn more, Click Here!
I hope you found this list helpful. Below you will find several more links including the sample of the Site Pal.
Jamie L. Saloff
