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Online Book Marketing – How Many of These 5 Rules Are You Breaking?

July 6th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

Online Book Marketing

The more I work with writers to help them get the ins and outs of online book marketing, the more I realize that there are five basic and fundamental mistakes that 90% of authors consistently make.

If you don’t fall victim to these five book marketing fiascoes, you’ll be ahead of the pack…light years ahead. So, here are five things to avoid when marketing your books online:

1. Flawed Keyword Research

This is the #1 big kahuna and the place where 99% of authors quite simply stuff it up.

Most authors — including the ones I’ve worked with — haven’t had success using the Internet to market their books simply because they don’t approach the process the way someone who’s used to selling things online would do it. Namely, there’s almost never a plan put in place that will allow them to find, target and eventually dominate a set of keywords that are related to their books.

In order to have success online, you need to familiarize yourself with the concept of long-tail keywords; to understand how to analyze your competition; and how to know, with almost certainty, how much traffic a particular keyword gets.

Lucky for us there are tools available that will do all three. You can find that at the bottom of this article — just follow the links. Make sure you check them out.

2. Too Little Content

Surprisingly enough, even prolific authors with many books to their credit — gifted authors who can write volumes on their area of expertise — somehow think that they can skate by online with just a couple pages (or even paragraphs!) of content.

Untrue.

Here’s the deal: Google and the other search engines LOVE content-rich sites.

This is why mega-sites like Wikipedia and others are able to get all that traffic. Google’s index includes millions of pages from their site.

How many pages from your site does Google know or care about? A guess would be somewhere between two on the low end and five on the high end.

You’ll never rank well for anything other than your name with that kind of site. Bottom line: if you shortchange people online, you’ll destroy your reputation in a heartbeat.

Stop looking at your site as though it were a high-tech dust jacket. Solve a problem for someone — that’s what your book does, right? So do it online, and do it for free, before you start asking people to buy your book.

3. Not paying enough — or any — attention to Social Marketing & Web 2.0

If you haven’t noticed, the Internet is changing. In the past few years alone, outfits such as YouTube, Digg, Squidoo, Facebook.com — and, of course, Twitter — have dramatically shifted the way we interact online.

We’ve been through a seismic shift in the way news and information is not only delivered, but also in how it’s filtered — the “average guy” sitting in a cubicle in his office can catapult a story to the top of the news, no matter what some out-of-touch editor somewhere happens to think about it.

You should be using the sites mentioned above. If you’re not, you’re missing out on one of the biggest opportunities for authors in generations.

(Just check out the links I’ve given you below for the resources that will make it easy to find tons of sites that can help you sell more books.)

4. Ignoring the Importance of Building a Fan Base

It’s amazing how many writers don’t jump on the most powerful online marketing tool there is — the ability to build a base of support and loyal fans through tools like mailing lists, or “followers” on Twitter, or subscribers to an RSS feed, or any number of other methods that traditional Internet marketers use all the time.

Why is this important? Because it’s always true that people who already know your work and like it will be much easier to sell more “stuff” to.

If someone has been won over — if they’ve gone ahead and bought one of your books — then selling them books two through four (or more) is that much easier.

But when you don’t have a system in place to reach those people who bought your first book, you’ll be going through the entire process of attracting and acquiring new readers over and over and over again.

Wouldn’t it be much more efficient to just write and send an email or two to people who are already fans of yours?

Or simply to create a blog post to announce another book?

This is how authors are able to build empires.

5. Trying to Sell Your Book

Huh? This is a mistake? But that’s the point, isn’t it?

Sometimes.

The argument basically goes like this: Of course you want to use the Internet to sell copies of your book. BUT, you don’t want to ignore the relationship-building aspect of what you’re doing, because it’s these relationships, and the loyal fans you’ll naturally develop out of them, that will wind up being the base of people who buy basically whatever you put out (without being “marketed to”).

What would you prefer — selling a couple of books a day now, or selling thousands of books every day to throngs of adoring fans a year from now?

Stop all the struggling.

There’s no reason why you can’t build an information empire the same way thousands of Internet marketers have done. You might want to think about how you could benefit if you stopped trying to just sell one or two books every now and then. Start focusing on creating killer content and getting it out to the very people who need your expertise.

Sales (like you’ve never experienced before!) will inevitably follow closely behind.

If you’re not making a full-time income selling your books online, you’re missing something.

There’s no doubt in my mind that at least 9 out of 10 authors make vital — but ultimately avoidable — mistakes when trying to market books online.

Want to find out if you’re one of them? Visit this free online book marketing blog and finally realize what the “Ten-Percenters” know that you don’t.

How to write a novel – to share your words with the world

July 6th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

Everyone has a story – it does not matter, if the story is fictional, fantasy or how to manual – everyone has a story. So if you are stuck on one small, insignificant detail – namely, that you do not think you know how to write new fiction book, there is hope just over the horizon. , And courageous writers, and you will also be published in one day! There are many online resources available to a writer, so the Internet access and start using today – after all, is a new kind of inside you, just waiting for the birth. Be a midwife of words and bring forth your brainchild!

Of course, you want to write new fiction book, not just keep a journal, so you will need a plan to follow, because the curse of a writer is lack of discipline. Set a time and place to learn how to write novels, adhere to it no matter what happens. Wrote some of the words in a day, resist the urge to revise any of its. Wait until you have finished your fiction novel and only then should you edit – or better yet, have someone else read it over and make suggestions.

Now, you will need to develop a story, a plot, characters, and decide what sort of story you want to tell. Many writers suggest starting with something that you actually know first hand as the best way to learn how to write a novel. Do you know how to ride a horse? Have you ever ridden a horse in a race? Has adopted a number of writers to write their own careers, they know what. You can do this also! At the beginning of a particular procedure, one can help you structure a written timetable for the completion of a new 30 days or 100 days. No matter what method you choose, as long as the began to write – every day!

Build Your Face-to-Face Communication Skills

July 6th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

Having a face-to-conversation is one of the most natural acts we perform; yet, having an effective business conversation, person-to-person, can challenge our communication skills and knowledge.

Let’s look at some of the issues that affect our business conversations: giving and getting feedback through body language; monitoring voice tone and pitch; and the environment.

Most obviously perhaps, body language can give us critical insights into business conversations. How does the other person hold herself, how do her body positions change as the conversation goes through difficult subjects? 

As the conversation progresses, watch for warning signs. Arms crossed over the chest is a classic sign of non-acceptance; in other words, she doesn’t like what you’re saying for some reason. Watch too for a hands on hips pose, which can indicate she plans to vigorously reject your position when it’s her turn to speak.

Similarly, voice tone can tell us when our message gains acceptance or faces rejection. A classic voice tone to watch is the rising voice, which can indicate tension, anger, or distress of some kind. If you get that kind of signal, it’s time to back off and wait for another opportunity.

Listen, too, for warmth and coolness. The implications of these tones require little explanation, but sometimes a reminder is helpful. Judge whether or not to proceed by the tone you’re hearing in response to your opening remarks.

Finally, the environment matters. For example, if the room is cold, then you know arms crossed over the chest may not be a sign of resistance; the other person may simply be trying to keep warm.

And, ask any salesperson about the differences offices make. In some offices salespeople feel at home and comfortably make their pitches; in others, they know they need to begin by breaking the communication chill the room induces.

Summing up, we’ve looked at three key areas for improving communication skills in face-to-face situations: body language, voice tone, and the environment. Adding expertise in your reading of these elements can make you more a more persuasive and more effective communicator.

Spiritual Movies and Their Purpose

July 6th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

Today, there has been an upsurge in the popularity for spiritual movies that connect to people heart and soul. Identifying the meaning of life or true existence may offer comfort to people who seek such knowledge. Many people want to find an answer to whether or not there is more to life than the small portion of humanity that we all represent. there are many more questions uncovered that cause people to wonder more and more about what life really means.

Much of society is uncertain about religion and the true meaning of life. People today want to know the true meaning of life and death and what can consciousness and awareness do to it. There has always been a desire to uncover the truth about what happens when people die. This is one of the reasons that faith is so important to people. Increasingly, man is demanding more substantial reasons to support religious beliefs. Books and movies can be of great help in understanding and answering these questions.

Spiritual movies that connect with spiritual faith and life purpose, and associated questions are a means to help them find more of the responses to several of the many questions that they have. Technology has enabled us to answer many unanswered questions of the past. People want to understand the reason for human life.  Rather than accept age old speculations, some search for answers related to religion and faith.

What Writer’s Block Really Means

June 15th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

You will so often hear someone say that they are unable to write due to a mysterious phenomena known as writer’s block.  Here we will try to decipher the true meaning of the term.

“I have writer’s block and I’m stuck.  I can’t get anywhere.”  You have certainly heard this said by others and may have said something akin to this yourself.
  What exactly is writer’s block anyway?  But definitely it is not a physical or mental ability.  It is likely that when a writer experiences a block in his writing, it is a sign of a larger problem.

Writer’s block is often your bodies way of simply expressing fear or anxiety over your writing.~Writer’s block is frequently the body’s method of expressing fear or anxiety about writing. ~Fear

Fear and anxiety are the common symptoms of writer’s block.  Ask yourself if you are uncomfortable with your topic and if so, why.  Explore any misgivings you may be experiencing such as not wanting to be judged or ridiculed or feeling insufficient.  Are there deep spiritual issues affecting this?  Go deep into your own self. What is the stumbling block? It is  FEAR.  Though these emotions may not be easily assuaged, you can ignore them, permitting yourself to write freely.

A commonly believed issue is that a blocked ability to write is found in what is being written.   If you don’t really believe in what you are writing, it is going to be sluggish and laborious.  Take some time to be totally honest with yourself.  Is the topic something that really strikes a chord with you?  Are you writing on topics you believe others are interested in instead of what you believe in?  Are you, spiritually or emotionally, excluding story elements that are difficult for you to manage?  

an article is nice if it is straightforward.  When writing about something you know, you will find that the ideas come to you much easier.  Readers can distinguish someone who is fake, therefore to be an effective writer never try to con your audience!

Discover how to understand writer’s block with this introductory spiritual writing online course

The Coraline movie brings the Coraline novel magic to life

June 15th, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

The Coraline movie is here! Neil Gaiman’s excellent young reader’s novel Coraline has been transformed into a suitably engrossing film helmed by the highly talented Henry Selick, the man that helmed the 1993 cult classic stop-motion feature film ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. If anyone was able to bring Gaiman’s odd yarn of Button-eyed people in an alternative vision of our actual world, it would be Selick. The visual aspect of the Coraline movie is a beautiful example of stop-motion animation, a moviemaking method that can really be magical when done well.

Where the original book was of the same strange and unnerving sort that we’ve all come to expect and want from Neil Gaiman, the look of the Coraline movie took some people off guard with its use of radiant colour and the method of animation. The Coraline movie is a beautiful piece to view, and will thrill viewers young and old with its weird story and highly entertaining characters.

The voice talent that signed on to the stop motion action of the Coraline movie is extremely impressive too. Dakota Fanning handles the role of Coraline Jones herself, and the rest of the cast has a trio of British television stars in the cast, including Ian McShane, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Teri Hatcher performs the voice of both incarnations of Coraline’s mum. The Coraline movie’s sarcastic cat is performed by John Hodgman.

It is quite appropriate that such a weird book is brought to the screen in such a way that it does capture the ambience of a dream. Stop-motion has that wonderful dreamlike edge to it that Computer generated effects are yet to possess. There is something wonderfully odd about stop motion, especially here in the Coraline movie. It might be the knowledge that the viewer is witnessing inanimate objects moving around on a giant screen, or it might just be that the finished vision of a stop-mo movie is so different to other animated films of the current era.

While the Coraline movie is nowhere near as filled with iconic images as The Nightmare Before Christmas, it is certainly not without it’s visual delights. Just wait for the musical parts, the strange transformations of the characters, and naturally, the scary buttons that people have sewn into their eyes in the alternate universe. Viewers that are yet to read the story are in for a genuine treat as they are introduced to the fantastical world that Gaiman created, a world that is similar to ours, just somewhat skewed.

For people who have enjoyed the book (and it has been enjoyed by just as many adults as youngsters), the Coraline Movie is about as a faithful representation of the original material as it’s going to get. This is one children’s film that will certainly become a much-loved classic for all the family. The Coraline film is pure magic.

 

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