Michael Esser's...
Real Life Tips for:
Writing, Publishing, and
Promoting Your Own Books.
(On a budget of almost zero.)
BOOK THREE: Promoting
Written by:
Michael E. Esser
Copyright 2011 Michael E. Esser
Smashwords Edition
ISBN: 978-1-4659-2040-9
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.
All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2011 Michael E. Esser
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: Press Releases: How to create one
CHAPTER THREE: What does a PR firm do for an author?
CHAPTER FOUR: What is a publicist?
CHAPTER FIVE: Considerations when hiring a publicist
CHAPTER SIX: How to leverage book reviews
CHAPTER SEVEN: Blogging with Wordpress
CHAPTER EIGHT: Blogging with BlogSpot
CHAPTER NINE: Search Engine 101
CHAPTER TEN: Search Engine Optimization
CHAPTER TWELVE: Improving your search engine rank.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Social networking, how do I do it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Social media profile's.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Promoting with 140 characters
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Creating a community on Twitter
CHAPTER NINETEEN: How to host a great Twitter contest
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: More about Facebook
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: LinkedIn 101
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: More about LinkedIn
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Amazon: Improve Ranking
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Marketing on Amazon
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Leveraging Google Adwords
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: A "living room" book tour
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Get your book into libraries
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Get your book into bookstores
CHAPTER THIRTY: Getting a celebrity endorsement
CHAPTER ONE: Press Releases: How to create one
So you want to write a professional press release. This quick guide will run you through those key elements that make up an acceptable press release. Before we start you should remember that you are sending these out to professional like yourself. So be sure that all the elements coincide with that image all the way down to your letterhead.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The first element of your press release is the release notice. Meaning that you have sent this to them and it's available for release “immediately.” Simply put, "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" in all caps along the top of your page. You can specify a specific release day if you need but just so you are aware this is the standard statement used.
Basic Contact Information
Under your release notice be sure to include the contact information for the person in charge of your media relations. This is the person to be contacted just in case there are any questions or requests.
Include a name, address, phone, fax, e-mail and web-site address.
Headline Time!
If there is any point in releasing this information to the press you need to express it here. Meaning make it catches the eye and that it's newsworthy. Formatting should simply be in all caps, centered, and bigger than your main text so that it stands out.
Sub-Headline
A sub-headline for your press release is optional. But if you do decide to include one be sure to format it like a title and make it smaller than the headline.
The Body
The first part of your release needs to begin with your location and the date. The date needs to be the actual date of your release.
Now it’s time to write our press release. We've all heard of the basic questions that make up the five W's who, what, when, where and why. It's those questions we need to answer as precisely as possible while still painting the impressive picture in our first paragraph.
The next paragraph or two might include a quote from a credible source related to the story and continue to support the opening paragraph. Also, for better acceptance by those reading it, keep it down to one page. You might be able to get away with two but one is standard.
For Additional Information
The last part of your press release needs to contain a standard reusable line of information that gives your company's purpose as well as any other essential information.
The Finishing Touch
Always end your press release with three pound signs (###) and make sure they're centered. This is just a standard element for all press releases. It lets the journalist know that's the end of the release.
That's it! You've pieced together your first release and have the tools to duplicate the process in the future.
CHAPTER TWO: Print on Demand
For any independent author one of the biggest concerns outside of the acceptance of you work is whether or not it’s going to reach its intended audience. After you've finished the process of creating your masterpiece and without a team of associate on standby what are you to do? Well, with a few simple tips in your arsenal you'll be thinking like the pros and reaping the rewards as well.
Publicity is by definition an activity that stimulates public interest. Things like advertising and even the dissemination of information have been used to create interest and awareness about something or somebody.
But how can you as an author create your own publicity on a minimal budget? First, think like the big shots. What do they do when their planning to launch a book? They book a tour, do special book signing events, and advertise.
Blog tours. (Just like TV and radio tours only online.)
With today's technology and the focus of today's readers everything's landing on the internet. That goes for book touring as well. Instead of having to employ a publicist or a firm to get you booked on a tour around the country or even your region you can now book your own blog tour. Similar in the traditional sense you'll tour around book review and heavily visited fan blogs doing email interviews, guest blogs, and special giveaways. This instantly puts you in front of their readers building awareness and generating new interest. You can go to places like BlogTour.com or you can simply search out a dozen or so related fan blogs and review sites and request a “stop.” They're used to the requests and will be able to respond directly to you for availability and scheduling, if interested.
Do a “local author” book reading and book signing.
You have something unique about you being an author in your town or city and that is your local. Leverage that unique position by going to your public library and offering to do a “local author” book reading and discussion. Offer to giveaway a few copies of your book or coupons to download a copy from the web as part of a raffle. Provide a print-ready copy of your cover art for posters promoting the event or better yet create and submit them yourself. While you're at it format that poster into bookmarks and copy them at the copy store for pennies. Then give them away before and after the event as an additional promotion tool.
This also works great for locally owned and used book stores. Offer the same giveaways but also bring extra copies of the book to sign for anyone who might like to buy one.
Host a “viral” Twitter contest and post an “author-made” promo video on YouTube.”
Finally, while covering the bases on your self-promoted publicity tour you need to really leverage your social media reach. Using Twitter, host a “viral” giveaway contest that will not only build your followers but will also increase your book downloads and possibly its reviews.
Simply tweet some variation of this:
FREE copy of my new book, “TITLE HERE” just for following @YOURNAME and re-tweeting this message.
The key is to be sure to leave at least 25 characters for the re-tweet formatting. Then be sure to tweet this throughout the day, a few days a week. That way you are sure to reach everyone who’s on their own schedules.
What happens is that the re-tweets piggy back out into the networks of everyone who re-tweets it. Each promoting new followers, new downloads the possibility for new reviews with each copy downloaded, and a continued viral push of the campaign.
Regardless of your others plans use these tips to your advantage. Because whose better to promote your book and career than you.
CHAPTER THREE: What does a PR firm do for an author?
For
the new author who's just finished their first manuscript or the
nontraditional writer who has chosen to control their work and
self-publish their book there is a common need. Both of them could
really use someone to help them to gain publicity for their new
project. That's where a publicist comes in to help.
The
basic function of the publicist is to gain their clients new press
coverage.
For
the author client this means running ads, setting up a possible book
tour, and creating press releases for distribution.
All of
this can be applied to any of the popular media forms including
television, radio, online, and events. A smart publicist will use a
creative combination of all of these to successfully promote their
client.
Depending on the client’s current status and the scope of their existing product they might have an opportunity to book a variety of appearances on nationally syndicate talk shows or late night television programs.
In
addition, the chance to place full page ads in major publications and
have press releases picked up by major papers without any hassle.
These are all possibilities.
On
the other side of this is that new author who just finished their
first book. For them a publicist should be able achieve some relative
success.
For
example, using the “local” angle they might set up an interview
on a local show and maybe a guest appearance on a popular YouTube
channel in your area. They might also approach a local talk radio
show and have a press release picked up for coverage by a few of the
hometown newspapers and magazines.
Realistically they should
be able to at least book what's called a blog tour in which you guest
post and do email interviews on popular fan and review blogs. While
still getting you set up to do library appearances and a local
bookstore signings.
At this level you could do a lot of this
yourself if you are willing to invest the time and effort. But, if
you are in any way hesitant then leave it to a pro.
Also, be sure to give a good look at the freelance market for someone who might be looking to go the extra mile for you while not costing too much along the way.
CHAPTER FOUR: What is a publicist?
If you've been a business professional for any length of time then you have heard of publicists.
You
may not of used one yet in your ventures but you do see their work
play out every day on television, in magazines, and online. They're
the individuals hired by celebrities, authors, and even big
businesses to get them new press coverage. In addition, they handle
any negative situations by putting a positive spin on it. It's for
this reason publicists have been called media “cheerleaders.”
What a day might entail for a publicist varies depending on
exactly who the client is. For example, a publicist who represents an
author may be responsible for placing advertising, arranging book
tours, and sending out review copies. It would also be their job to
do any of the follow up to those they contact in an attempt to boost
the interest in both the author and the book.
The first thing
a good publicist will do is book a meeting with their new client to
discuss the project and their expectations. By doing so, they can
then hash out an agreement on a plan of action and the specific terms
of the publicist’s contract.
The publicist should also act
as an interviewer to collect background information so that they can
prepare an angle to pursue in their press releases, bios, and quote
sheets. (It's in this step that the client is made as interesting as
possible to entice the media.)
Then
once all of the materials are approved by the client they are sent
out to the media contacts. The publicist then has to contact the
media recipients to ensure each one has received the materials and to
inquire about any consideration for coverage. Sometimes this step has
to be repeated by the publicist until desired results are
achieved.
Once
a media contact responds positively, the publicist will then
coordinate the event with the client to ensure it goes off without a
hitch.
The
value of an efficient, productive publicist is immeasurable and they
don't need to be from a big firm either. In today's market there is
an ever growing population of smaller firms and freelancers who can
both achieve what you needing while do so in a cost effective way.
CHAPTER FIVE: Basics Considerations when hiring a publicist
Public relations can be either a blessing or a nightmare depending on how they’re handled.
But, when does a small business owner, like an author, know when it's time to hire a PR firm? Most PR experts agree that the time for you to seek out a PR firm is not when you’ve just begun to market your book but when your book sales are up and it’s flying off the shelf. This can also be translated into when the traffic to your website is booming, and the response or reviews are consistently spectacular.
Instead it’s suggested that those in need of a publicists first get a consultation. The value that can come out of that one meeting is going to have an ROI far greater than a regular monthly retainer fee. The option of finding a freelance worker these days to come aboard and assist you regularly is a great idea as well. Especially since there has been a lot of downsizing in corporate America and these seasoned pros are becoming more available.
But what should you ask when do decide to start interviewing PR firms or publicists?
Here’s a list of the top six questions to ask:
- Ask them if they have a specialty. This is important to ask because you want to find an agency that knows your specific industry well enough to positively impact your business. If they don’t have experience in your industry see if they have some experience handling companies in a similar industry.
- Ask them their approach. This is because you want to make sure your publicist or agency is on the same page as you.
- Ask them how they measure results? This can be a tough question to answer for anyone. Some may measure based on the ROI on comparable ad placement s. While other things they do aren’t measurable, like the work done building brand awareness.
- Ask them how much you have to spend. Know a number you’re comfortable with. Then tell them what you want and ask them how many hours it should take to accomplish it. Also be sure to ask when payments are due and what happens if they’re late.
- Ask how often you’ll hear from them. It is within reason to hear from your publicists or agency at least once per week. This can help to ease your mind with regular updates especially if the firm isn’t physically nearby.
- Ask them who else they represent. This can give you an indication of the caliber of work the publicists or agency is capable of achieving.
Hiring a publicist or a PR firm is like hiring any other regular employee. Meet with them face-to-face, check their prior work, and always ask for references.
CHAPTER SIX: How to leverage book reviews
You finished your book, got it out there for all to see, and have finally started getting a few reviews back...
For
the most part they're positive, maybe a few cranky readers in there
somewhere, but what now? What can you do with those reviews once
you've got them? Do you just sit back and feel accomplished or do you
get out there and get productive? Get productive of course!
But
how can you use those book reviews as part of a new PR campaign?
We've all seen how reviews have been used on the covers of
popular books and even DVD's. They look a little like this: “A
Spectacular Read” or “One of the Best Stories in Years.” Well
those features aren't limited to any particular crowd and you're free
to use your reviews on your book cover in any form you choose. Not to
mention, it gives anyone who picks the book or see's the cover online
a first-hand opinion on its contents from an outside
source.
Following that same principle, use a couple of the
best reviews as text on your promo flier’s. Then place them around
town to promote the book, a book signing, or library appearance.
How
about taking them to the epicenters of all things social and blasting
them out online?
First, post the best of them to your blog. This will be a
great addition to your credibility and give these reviews a home on
which to be seen for years to come. Next, post a link to them on your
Facebook page along with a proud comment that your friends can “like”
and post replies to spreading the message through their networks as
well. Finally, complete the rounds by taking to the 140 character
giant and create a series of tweets that feature a mini version of
the review, a link to your blog posting, as well as a link to your
Facebook posting.
Finally, you're a writer head back to the
keys and write a killer formal press release. It's what the pros do
and it's a great way to get this news out there into the public.
Plus, you can't beat how official the press release is perceived
making it an awesome way to potentially get free press.
So,
if you’re good enough to get positive reviews on something you
worked so hard to create, spread the word and share them at every
chance you get.
You deserve it.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Blogging with Wordpress
The world of blogging is such an active and free place for those bit with the writing bug.
A place to venture out and explore.
Of course before you go live you might want to do a little planning.
Things like picking an overall theme and design for your blog are both good ideas. Honestly it doesn’t have to be tightly structured as you might decide to let it just be a fun collective of ramblings. After all it’s up to you.
One thing that you don’t want to leave up in the air is who you want to host your blog. The choices are vast with some services offering what might seem like great services only to end up not being so “creative” friendly.
Wordpress isn't one of those over promise under deliver types.
Instead they're really on top of their game. As a matter of fact they are growing in popularity at a tremendous rate.
Wordpress has a lot of customizable features that allow you to build on you basic site. It does this by allowing you to add custom menu’s, widgets, and links to your social media all with point-and-click ease.
On top of that they allow you the option of using their great software to host your own blog, on your own servers. This feature gives you the freedom to do as you wish as far as customizing the look, feel, and features of your blog beyond the basic free service.
It does take some technical understanding of the hosting process and will cost you. But the freedom can be worth the price especially once you’ve reached a certain level of success.
On the back end of Wordpress in your administrator section they offer tons of useful statistics. This is great when you really want to gauge your success by tracking your progress.
They have built in search engine tools that allow you to directly link to the three top engines including Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
From a design stand point, the free versions only have the option to choose from the growing selection of templates. (But they do offer the ability to change colors and images easily.)
All-in-all if you want a blog that’s functional and can grow with you Wordpress is a great choice for the budding author in you.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Blogging with BlogSpot
It’s the age old question you may have never known was asked, “Google’s BlogSpot or Wordpress?” While these two are the most commonly used of all the free blog sites available the question still remain, “Which do you choose?” The comparisons between these two giants have been inconclusive and that’s due to the fact that user has their own individual preferences.
For the sake of this discussion we are going to look at the features of Google’s BlogSpot that allow it to outshine its competition.
BlogSpot, also known as Blogger, has been a favorite of many new writers. The biggest reason is the fact that its part of the Google family which means your blog gets automatic inclusion in Google’s Blog Search. Recently they’ve updated the behind the scenes dashboard design and have made it more user rich. These new features do make for a friendlier user experience but require JavaScript to work. (They’ve made it an optional alternative for now.)
When determining the look and feel of your blog you need only select one of the many customizable templates available to you. Once a choice is a made you can change different elements with a simple click.
One of the great features of Blogger is the built-in visitors stats that tell you just about everything you need to know about your visitors. This makes it an easy task to track your growth over periods of time. You can also use these stats to test changes to your blog to see if visitors react better to different elements better than others.
Next, one of the things that put Blogger ahead of Wordpress is the fact that their free version allows the use of third party script while Wordpress does not.
Also, Blogger doesn’t charge for domain name transfers for domains you already own. Wordpress charges an annual fee to transfer domain names.
If your mobile and want to post to your blog via email Blogger allows you to do this.
How it works is they give you a special email address to send your post to and once received are formatted and posted to your blog instantly.
Finally, if you’re looking to turn a profit using Google AdWords on your blog you’re going to have to sign up for BlogSpot because Wordpress doesn’t allow them on their free version.
While the choice is yours, weigh your options. Because both services are popular for a reason; they’re good at what they do. Now you be your best and get to blogging!
CHAPTER NINE: Search Engine 101
In the world of search engines none are bigger or more widely used than Google.
While
there are others pursuing a share of the popular search market like
Bing and Yahoo the truth is a lot of the smaller ones do database
sharing with Google. Meaning that once you're indexed in Google
you'll be indexed elsewhere.
For
most people search engines are their sole gateway to the online
world.
Without
them they wouldn't have the slightest idea how to find anything
online let alone you and your new book.
Search engines are
basically just modern, complex versions of the traditional phone
book. But instead of taking your listing order and ranking you in
alphabetical order they use what's commonly known as “spiders.”
These “spiders” are sent to “crawl” your website reading
text, checking links, and gauging your content for indexing. It's
from this search that your ranking is determined.
One of the
things “spiders” are looking for when searching your website is
your keyword frequency. Keyword frequency is just what it sounds
like; it's the number of times your target keywords appear in your
text, title, and links. This means there’s a formulated method to
their search and an optimum preference to what they are looking
for.
In
addition to keywords there are other elements that factor in when
determining you ranking.
One
element is your “link popularity.” This “popularity” is based
on the number of relevant inbound links to your website from other
outside sources. In this instance more is better but the quality of
the relevant links from other indexed sites can not only improve your
grade but ensure valuable, quality referrals.
Add into the mix
regular updates to your website. By posting fresh desirable content
that seekers are actively searching you'll trigger regular “spider”
revisits that will improve your ranking. At the same time you'll be
creating new posts that will be interesting and attractive to your
readers causing them to return regularly.
As far as search
engines go you need to be ranked as high as possible. The statistics
say that if you're not listed naturally on the first page of the
search results you’re missing out on most of the new traffic
attempting to find you.
Meaning if you're not found there you’re really just lost in the crowd.
CHAPTER TEN: Search Engine Optimization
Once you understand the basic purpose and functions of search engines you need to then prepare yourself and your website or blog to be “optimized.”
The
idea behind this “optimization” does mostly include things that
affect the set up your website but it does also include a regular
commitment on your part.
First, for your website or blog you
are going to need to set your site's text, links, and images to
contain at least your main “key phrase” so that when the search
engine sends its spiders to crawl your website it can read those
things and see where to classify you within their engine's
database.
Notice the term “key phrase” was used. That's
because a simple “keyword” is too general and no longer enough to
classify your site in a specific enough location to ever be found on
the top of the list.
For example, doing a search for, “books” on Google will return millions and millions of results.
In
the real world when a searcher makes this mistake what they do next
is search again only this time using a “key phrase.” Again, using
the same example they might choose, “Scary books” or “California
book stores.” But when that returns less results but still millions
of them they will once again refine their search to be more specific
like, “Stephen King novels”, “The Shining”, or “Los Angeles
used book stores.” it's here in this final round of searching that
you want to focus on for your website.
Next, you need to
adjust the frequency in which those key phrases are used. First, you
need to be sure to include them in the title of your site and even in
your domain name if possible. Include them in your Meta
tags and descriptions. Then be sure that your key phrase is in the
first and last sentences of your text and that the phrase is used
every hundred words or so. (A recent request for articles made by a
SEO company asked for the key phrase to be included 13 times
throughout the 450 word articles.)
That might sound like you'd
end up with something that looks like it has a lot of forced text.
But what you need to know is that the search engines ignore certain
words they call, “stop words.” These are common words that the
spider has been programmed to skip over when scanning your site. So
what you can do is include these stop words within your key phrase
throughout your text and when the spider crawls your site it will
ignore them and just see your main key phrase.
For
example, “Los Angeles used book store” can be included into you
text as, “When shopping in Los Angeles and looking for a used book
stores...” (Just search, “search engine stop words” for a
complete list of words.)
As
far as building your link popularity there are many thoughts on the
subject.
One
you can search out “link exchange” services who, for a fee, offer
links back to your site. Better yet why don't you visit other
author's websites and their respective blogs and ask to do a guest
blog in exchange for one in return. Not only does this mutually
benefit both blogs but can also lead to a cross over in new readers
and built up link popularity.
Those are some of the great
tips for your site but what about you? You have the job of keeping
things fresh and relevant with regular updates and quality content
that is desirable to your target audience.
Schedule
tip: post at least once a week and link your site to your Facebook
and Twitter accounts so that content can automatically make its way
to your page as well.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: What is SEO?
When you search on the internet for something most likely your starting point is one of the big search engines.
Through these search engine results are returned in a specific order based mostly on relevance to the keywords you entered. But, those that are ranked first might be no more relevant than those on the fifth page it's just those first website have done a better job of proving that they are focused on that particular topic more than the others.
Also the location from where you are searching is a factor.
Nowadays the search engines are smart enough to know where you are when you're searching so when you put in something generic like “restaurants” it will most likely return results in your general geographical location.
But even then the reason why this technology works for some websites and not for others lays in that particular websites SEO or Search Engine Optimization.
Search Engine Optimization is the preparation that goes into a website to make it as compatible as possible with any given search engine for the key phrases and category searches it most closely represents.
Meaning if you have a website about being a freelance copywriter in Las Vegas then the elements of your site need to be set to display that most frequently to the engine's spiders.
Spiders are not those creepy crawly things that scare children but the concept is similar. Instead search engine spiders scare website owners when the crawl through their websites text, pictures, links, and videos to see where to put them in their search results.
This is where a little preparation on your part will increase that placement and inevitably your websites potential success.
By going through and including in your website the best possible search terms you'll rank higher. To find these terms you need only to look online for a keyword analysis tool like the one Google Adwords uses or countless others have made available.
You can also simply do some market research of your own by trying to search out your industry like your ideal customer would. Then examine those results for what they've done right and take notes. This is a great way to prepare for your own sites SEO plus you get to see your main competition.
A lot of services offer to do Search Engine Optimization for you and some of them will do a great job. You need to be sure to check references, current clients, and credibility to the best of your ability before trusting your website and your money to just anyone.
After all this is your storefront and to be successful you need customers lining up at the door and not driving by unaware.
CHAPTER TWELVE: Tips for improving your search engine rank.
As an author one of the biggest thing you need to do is be constantly be promoting your work.
Using the internet is the new place to do such marketing and search engines are the vehicles by which our readers are being delivered. But, you need to be ranked on the first page of the popular engines to ever really be found. This huge feat is accomplished using Search Engine Optimization or SEO.
First, if you haven't done so yet you need to search out the most popular search phrases in your industry. There are a ton of tools out there like Google's Adword keyword tool and Market Samurai that can show you the volume each phrase gets and more. Chose the most searched but least competitive phrases to instantly find yourself ranked much higher than those who simply choose a popular generic word or phrase that has heavy competition.
Next, once you have your phrase possibly think about limiting it to your location if it makes sense. What this does is pin point for your new customers that you are local and that may be a selling point if someone in Las Vegas is looking for a freelance writer who is local that they can work face-to-face with. An example,”Las Vegas Freelance Copywriter.”
Now, if you haven't purchased a dot com yet or are willing to purchase a new one think about including your targeted key phrase in the name. This will rank better with the spiders.
Next, go through your headings, alt text for your images, and Meta tags and be sure that you have you specific targeted key phrases included the same way in all of them. Then, go through the main text of your home page and subpages and plug your key phrase in where it seems natural.
Quick tip: While inputting your phrase it's alright to use what's called “Stop Words” in between the words that make up your key phrase.
Essentially “Stop Words” are words the search engines ignore and thus won’t be seen by the spider but help your text to read naturally to your customers. For example, “If you're in Las Vegas looking for a Freelance Copywriter...”
This technique of employing “Stop Words” can be useful for the next part of your optimization and that is regularly updated content. Not only does that show that the site is active but by using key phrases through the text it will help your rankings. Now simply add a few links to relevant outside references to show a buildup of links and make the content desirable so that others link back to it and you'll have all the elements in place.
It's not an overnight thing to simply be on the first page of a Google search. It does take time and consistency to get there but by building off a good foundation and continuing to use favored methods you'll get there.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Social networking and how do I do it.
Social networking is the new backbone of internet marketing.
With
popular website destinations like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and
YouTube you, as an author, have an unprecedented opportunity. Using
these social networks you can build a following that in time will be
receptive to your projects and even be ready to act on your
behalf.
Like traditional social networking the online version
of “word of mouth” advertising has proven itself to be the most
effective and efficient form of networking. Studies show that the
average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times a week and
that 53% of the people on Twitter recommend companies and/or their
products in their regular daily tweets.
In addition, when
consumers were asked what was the source that influenced their
decisions a whopping 71% of them responded by stating that friends
and family members have a great deal of influence in their purchasing
decisions.
That's why you need to set up your social media
profiles on at least the top three or four networking services. That
doesn't mean you have to abandon your personal accounts maybe just
retool them to be more focused on you as a writer. If that's
impossible or you’re new to the social networking scene then
setting up your writer accounts will be your first step.
That
means go to Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and sign up for your free
accounts.
Make
sure that you choose a memorable, easy to market name. If you have a
pen name or a completed book title or maybe have some sort of catchy
name for your specific niche I suggest using that rather than your
real name. Reason being that this will allow you to foster the online
version of your business separate from your real life. While helping
to protect you from any sort of issues that may arise.
When
completing your profiles be sure to use the same cover ready photo or
cover of your latest book in a format that is clear and cohesive with
the others. This will ensure that when your fans find you on Twitter
and decide to seek you out on Facebook they know when they have found
the right account.
To avoid any confusion and ensure the
connectivity of your different accounts link them together. There's
no code or HTML you need to mess with and all of these places allow
you to connect with the others right from your administration page.
An added benefit to the linking of your pages is that they can now
direct traffic between themselves rather easily.
This
leads us to the next step, engaging and interacting.
Engaging
and interacting is important not only to build up the amount of
people you connect with but also to build up your creditability
amongst those you're socially network with. To achieve this set
yourself a daily goal to visit each of your accounts and complete a
set number of tasks. Post new comments, send friend requests to
relevant prospects, send a few personal yet relate-able tweets. Then
in no time you will have built a distribution channel that's ready to
respond to your latest project in a whole new way. A way that
would've cost you big bucks and tons of time. Only now it’s
something you can duplicate and it's just a click away.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Social media and you.
As an author in this digital age you have some advantages over the last generation of writers.
You have the option to publish your books online instantly and then click over and informing everyone you know without leaving your seat, dialing a fax number, or licking a stamp. The disadvantage is that this ease of access has allowed for an increase in competition.
That's were social media and your social media profile come in to play.
The best thing you have going for you is the fact that you're a writer. Writers by nature are both creative and possess the uncanny ability to communicate through written word. Let's use that to our advantage when creating our social media profiles. By definition a social media profile is the persona you display to the world on one or more social media websites. That means it's who you're portraying or relaying on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and beyond.
A lot of authors use what's called a “pen” name or some other alternate identifier when signing their work to ensure anonymity. Online I would suggest you adapt this practice yourself and for many reasons.
The first being that as someone other than yourself you are free to express and explore things that as your official self you may not want to pursue. Things that might open you up to people researching you and possibly harassing you on some level or another. So avoid the hassle and choose a name that is memorable. Something that can easily be used in a conversation between your new found fans.
Next, be consistent. Regardless of where your fans find you you’re going to want them to see you're the same person everywhere they go, to a degree. On your LinkedIn profile you'll probably want to be all business while on your Facebook page you can be a little more social. But when it comes to your Twitter feed you’re going to have to be more natural to be successful. That means the occasional ad will be fine but throw in related recommendations, re-tweets of others you follow, and cool industry related things written in your own voice.
This leads us to the next tip...Be active!
As an author you want to leverage these communication avenues to your advantage which takes time and effort on your part to perfect. That means set yourself some realistic goals for achieving activity on each of the social media outlets you participate in.
A good piece of advice is to visit each outlet daily. Join a set number of groups, post a comment, make friend requests, write on somebody wall with a lot of friends, put out so many tweets, follow a hundred new tweeters, re-tweet a few of their more interesting messages, and so on.
Follow this regular routine and soon you'll be overflowing with prospects who are familiar with you and who are open and willing to hear what you have to say.
Two last pieces of advice. First don't rush off and start pushing your product to everyone you meet. Take some time and ease into it. Sure mention who you are, what you do, and your latest project but don't act like a spammer. It will defeat everything you're trying to achieve. Second, even with an adopted persona be yourself. It will relate the best you.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Twitter 101
In a world consumed by social media one of the top forerunners in its application is Twitter.
Twitter is a unique social networking tool that allows its users to quickly communicate with their followers using 140 characters or less. It's in this unique limiting of the length of your message that makes the quick and easy service so unique.
After setting up your free account you have the opportunity to search for other users of the service by searching for them by keyword. As an author this can be a great targeting tool to find those readers that have directly shown interest in the genre of writing you create. As a copywriter you can search out possible industry professionals and as a film critic you can find other movie buffs.
Regardless of the industry, geographic location, or other specific term once you've found who you think is a good match simply select to follow them. Now every time they post a message it will show up for you to read. On the other side of that process is that those you seek out and follow will usually reciprocate by following you too. It's in this cycle that your reach grows.
What this means to you as a writer other than the ability to target potential readers is that you'll be able to redirect those readers to your blog, website, or even your product page. It's a direct connection to those potential readers you'd normally have to work so hard to get.
Surveys have shown that 239,893,600 Americans are online at home, and a staggering 60% of those internet users already have web enabled cell phones that can and do access Twitter.
Of that 23% of all the time they spend online is spent on social media sites. Now, when 53% of the consumer's using Twitter review and recommend products to their friends and family on a daily basis they are producing referrals that are trusted nearly 12 times more than any mass-produced and artificial descriptions put out by the spam marketers.
So as a writer do yourself a huge favor and start benefiting from all Twitter has to offer to you and your book sales.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: More Twitter
In today’s society its common knowledge that Twitter is an enormously successful social media platform.
Honing
one’s ability to function on that platform is increasingly becoming
more important as the growth of its use expands. For you as an author
the ability to use tweets to increase your readers and book sales
only makes good business sense.
There are some common
questions one asks while become familiar with the fast pace world of
tweeting. For example, probably one of the most asked questions are,
“How do I
get more followers?”
The initial answer is to follow more
people. Every day you should be setting a minimal goal to search out
new people using keywords specific to you as an author or the work
you produce and simply follow those potential readers.
These
are highly targeted individuals that have shown through their Twitter
profile that they are interested in what you searched out. What
happens next is that those that you're kind enough to follow will
check you out, see you're an author in a genre they have a connection
with, and then choose to follow you. It's sort of unspoken thing on
Twitter to reciprocate the following.
After only a short while
with consistent action your followers will grow. Then you can run an
online contest to go viral with your follower campaign.
OK,
so you've got your follower counts building up but now the question
is, “How do I market to those followers?”
In
the realm we call Twitter the limit of our marketing message comes at
only 140 characters at a time. Something that honestly will do you
some good because nobody's reading the long winded sales pitches
anymore. At least not at first. But your tweets should never read
like a sales pitch otherwise they'll just be ignored as spam. Instead
you need to use the best copy writing skills you have to catch their
attention. Sort of like the cover of a magazine or Readers Digest.
It's those grabber lines that link to some content on your website or
blog that get the best results. (Well that and freebie giveaway
contests.)
In addition, you shouldn't focus all of your
tweeting into a small block of time. This is because with the ever
rolling out of the tweet feed your messages will soon be lost.
Instead you should go on and tweet every morning and every night.
Maybe even pop in for lunch from time to time. What it will do is
ensure you get in front of all your followers regardless of their
schedule.
We've mentioned contests, catchy copy with links to
your website or blog, and it’s even a good idea to come up with
some top ten lists that you tweet out one at a time. One last tip on
what should you tweet on a regular basis.
You need to inject
into the whole mix of it all some personal tweets. Maybe tell them
how you’re feeling about your writing, next project, last project,
what you felt about that restaurant, or how your day was. No matter
what you choose to share it will add to your mix and give you a human
element that will come across in your favor.
Happy tweeting.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Promoting yourself 140 characters at a time
So you’re looking to engage in the popular world of social media but need some ideas on how to do this most effectively? Well, when it comes to the social interface known as Twitter what you’re looking at is an opportunity to not only promote your book and build author recognition but to create connections.
The idea behind this micro blogging giant is to connect with others in a unique, limited way that force the creative to do it in 140 characters or less.
How can a writer do this? What are some author-specific tips for promoting one’s self on twitter?
Basically, your goal is to grow your followers. That way when you have a message to broadcast you’ll then cast the widest possible net.
To build your followers you need to first follow. That means use the search function to find anyone who relates to your genre or topic. Feel free to get creative with your search as those results might yield the best outcome. Another cool tool to use for this is called TwitDir. They too allow you to search but also have some ever evolving top 100 lists you might find useful.
In the Twitterverse it’s not uncommon to follow people you don’t know and part of the process is reciprocating the follow with a follow. Of course not everyone adheres to this but enough do especially if you have something in common with them.
While building up your followers you should run a contest.
A Twitter contest is the easiest to run. All you have to do is tweet! How it works is let’s say you want to give away a copy of your e-book to anyone who retweets one of your message? All you do is post something like:
“Please retweet this for me. FREE copy of the new GENRE HERE e-book "TITLE HERE" when you follow @YOURTWITTERACCOUNT and retweet this”
For this type of value added tweet there is a time and place that might be considered a “tweet spot” according to DanZarrella.com. It seems that studies show that if you follow a few simple tips and tricks your tweets will get a much better response than just randomly blasting them out.
These tips are great not just for contests but for any of your tweet. Here we go:
Keep your tweets under 115 characters including the ever important link. This way when they are retweeted your message isn’t altered or shortened and instead remains as you intended it.
If you want them to retweet your message use the magic word, “Please!” Research done by copyblogger.com shows that the occurrence of the word “please” in successful retweets far outnumbered that of other tweets. It’s the call to action, “Please retweet.”
Research also shows that if you tweet your message Monday through Wednesday between 9am and 6 pm you’ll get more retweets statistically. This pattern or spike in retweets seems to make sense as the public returns to work after the weekend eager to check in and connect.
Finally, other than finding those interested in your genre there is another cool use for the twitter search tool. That is searching for relevant topics of conversation that you can then interject an opinion into. One of the biggest parts of an author’s success is being seen as an expert and by fielding and answering related questions you can begin to build yourself up as that expert.
Now just throw in a few personal, entertaining off the wall anecdotes and you’ve got the complete package regardless of what style you write.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Creating a community on Twitter
When you’re ready to build up your Twitter community the better you plan the better the results. So follow these quick tips, tactics, and applications and you’ll find being a self-published author on Twitter can be a very good thing. Especially when it comes to gaining followers and creating relationships that can help point your career in the right path.
First, create a user name that those looking for you can find and easily remember. This essentially will be the label in which you’re going to spend your time branding until two o’clock in the morning. Note that when picking this name the longer it is the more space it will take up. In the Twitterverse longer is not better especially with only 140 characters.
Now familiarize yourself with the language like RT=ReTweet, @ symbol before a user name to reply, and DM=Direct Message or a message sent directly to someone specific.
There is a ton more to learn and Twitter Watch Dog is a great place to learn it.
Next, Find new people to follow. Use the search tool to seek out those interested in your genre. If you want to super charge your searches try Twellow or TwitDir. They also allow you to search but go beyond. Twellow has the search broken down by category while TwitDir has regularly updated top 100 lists that can prove to be valuable.
Once the followers begin to swarm be sure to give back a little. By this we mean take the opportunity to mention those new people that have recently began following you. Not only does this make you look giving but it will help foster a sense of loyalty from all those you mention. Also be sure to spend a little time each day retweeting a couple of things your followers post as this too will help build loyalty and followers.
Finally, you want to craft your tweets like the headlines of a popular magazine cover but make sure you don't over sell it. Instead interject some regular everyday conversation into your daily tweets. This will allow the readers to see that you’re human. In addition, you should always be thinking value when you tweet.
The top value added topics tweeted are:
- how to's
- breaking news
- warnings
- freebie and contests
A marketable name, knowing the lingo, seeking out targeted people to follow and to be followed by, and writing what's being read. It's all key elements to growing your own successful Twitter community.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: How to host a great Twitter contest
When you, as an author, are looking to grow your fan base and increase your readers you need only to get yourself set up with a social network like Twitter.
But why you ask?
Well, surveys have shown that there are around 240 million Americans online and from that 23% of all the time those millions of users spend online is spent on social media sites. Twitter COO Dick Costolo revealed that they have over 190 million users tweeting more than 65 million times a day.
But when you factor in that 53%, or over 34 million, of the consumer's using Twitter review and recommend products to their friends and family on a daily basis they are producing referrals that are trusted nearly 12 times more than any mass-produced or artificial descriptions put out by the spam marketers.
That's means if you plan correctly you can put yourself in front of a lot of consistent traffic with a success rate that is 12 times more effective.
One of the best uses for this type of social networking is to run special “viral” contests.
The basic concept of a “viral” contest is that you create some sort of giveaway, like a free copy of your new book or ebook from WordClay.com, that's open to anyone who “re-tweets” a specific message you post. (“Re-tweeting” is the act of forwarding someone's tweet to your followers.) The only stipulation is that to be eligible for the giveaway they need to follow you and re-tweet that specific message to their followers.
Example: “FREE copy of the new zombie book "The Deadz" when you follow @TheDeadz and re-tweet this. Just message me for code.”
What happens then is nothing short of genius. For every person that re-tweets the message you gain a follower. In addition, that same stipulated message goes out into their sphere of influence and so on. The “viral” contest message piggybacks through follower after follower.
What you’re left with is a growing list of followers that all have expressed an interest in getting a copy of your book. Now you can pick one of them at random and message them directly with details on how to receive their free copy of your paperback and you can message everyone else with some sort of special offer. Better yet grow your social standing by sending them all a coupon code to download a free copy of your e-book as a constellation prize and watch your e-book fly off the virtual shelf.
This idea can be customized any number of ways. Maybe offer the free copy to anyone willing to write a review for your blog or product page. You can set up a t-shirt giveaway using an online design studio to design something cool with your title on it.
The applications of this marketing technique are endless.
Now put it to work for you today.
CHAPTER TWENTY: Facebook 101
With 1 in every 13 people on earth using Facebook you as an author and a business person can’t ignore this social media giant. The 250,000,000 users that log in to interact with their friends and family every single day have a proven hunger for whatever is new. New content and the ability to connect to others is what have led over 71% of all internet users in the United States to use Facebook. But even so that’s only a fraction of Facebook's total users. What's really exciting is the fact that the other 70% of its users are made up of the rest of the world.
To translate, just about everybody online is using Facebook, on a regular basis, and you have the unique international opportunity to directly connect with them.
Your only focus beyond writing should be to get yourself out there and into the endless stream of potential readers this provides. As an author you’re place in the new digital market has never been so controllable. Using the fact that Facebook is already so accepted into so many lives you can market yourself to individuals in a way that's not looked at like traditional marketing.
Facebook is basically a personal bulletin board for its users. It allows you to display your personal information like your education and where you live as well as your work history. One of the more popular functions of this category is the ability for the user to post their relationship status for the world to see. This function even allows them to link directly to their significant others Facebook page.
In addition to that the user can upload and share photos and images that they can “tag” who is in the pictures notifying those pictured that they are in a new photo. It offers the ability to share your favorite things from sports, books, movies and more.
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(Pages 1-35 show above.)