online book marketing
Market with a Shout-out! Widen your Network with Social Media Swapping
August 23, 2011
Add new comment
by Carly Willsie
Twitter accounts with four followers. Stagnant Facebook fan pages. Blogs that languish in the wilderness of cyberspace, never to be viewed by human eyes. We’ve all seen them (in fact, we’ve even owned some of them). Does this sound eerily close to your own situation? Don’t give up yet.
One of the best ways to kick-start your social media strategy is to participate in a content swap. Content swaps can range from exchanging Tweets to hosting reader giveaways to sharing guest posts with another blogger. All these strategies can increase your exposure and help you widen your social media reach.
Intrigued? Here are seven simple steps to running your own content swap:
- Figure out whether content swapping will work for you. Social media exchange would work well for someone trying to build his or her online platform. If you’ve had a Twitter account for a while but feel underwhelmed by the 147 friends you worked tirelessly to acquire, try content swapping. Exchanging social media is probably a good idea for everyone, though. Whether you’re a social media celebrity wanting to offer something new to your followers or a complete blogger noob looking to establish a following, you can benefit from content swapping.
- Decide what it is you want to exchange. Do you want to swap posts? Tweets? Or do you want to offer a free giveaway per Tweet mentioning you? The possibilities are as wide as you are creative. A simple swapping of blog posts is probably the easiest, but if you’re targeting your Twitter account, getting bloggers to mention your free giveaway for followers might be a better strategy.
- Determine whether you will offer any add-ons for readers. Will you give a free guide or download to the readers of the blog you are guest posting on? This would be a good way to get people to listen to you and actually read your guest post—an especially good option if you aren’t established in the market yet. People love free stuff, and if you’re offering a complimentary ebook download with your post, it might make the difference between being ignored and being read.
- Identify a relevant blogger. You want to look for a blogger in the same niche as yourself. Spend some time researching your audience: Who are they? What do they care about? What do they do online? Who do they read? Once you identify a few bloggers in your space, be strategic in who you choose to reach out to. You want someone who’s similar without being in direct competition with you. Also be sure to target someone that’s popular but also accessible (i.e., don’t try to hit up Perez Hilton on your first try).
- Contact the blogger and outline the plan. Make sure to be clear about what, exactly, the mutual benefit is in your swap. Will this blogger’s readers get a freebie? Will he or she gain more followers by being on your blog? After all, a blogger sharing content with you will want to get something out of the deal as well.
- Execute the swap. Write the post, making sure it is specific, actionable and relevant. Include your contact information in the post. You can even note that the post is open for syndication on other blogs, as long as you grant permission. Before the post goes up, try reaching out to other people in your blogging arena, asking them to make a quick one-line mention about the giveaway or guest post. Keep up with any inquiries you receive and be sure to check the post often. Respond to comments as they come in, and interact with the readers or Tweeters.
- Evaluate. Was the swap worth the effort you put into it? Did it result in more “likes,” more followers, and more page views? Even if it didn’t translate into an explosive increase in followers, check your page analytics to see if more people visited your site. If you run a business, exposure for your company will be more important in the long run than an extra Twitter follower.
If you don’t have the time or energy to go through the research and coordination it takes to participate in a social media swap, have no fear. In the last few years, several companies have popped up that specialize in facilitating content swapping.
Pay With a Tweet allows users to “sell their products for the price of a Tweet.” According to the Pay With a Tweet website, French electropop band The Teenagers is swapping its new single for mentions on Twitter. AppStorm has a great guide to setting up a “Pay With a Tweet” button on your website.
Social Media Swap is a free, member-based portal meant to connect users with other people interested in exchanging everything from Tweets to “Stumbles” to Facebook page likes. The site allows you to pay, buy, and swap. Similarly, Smorty, a blog advertising company, coordinates blog post exchanges by connecting active users with each other.
Whether you go DIY with your content swapping or take advantage of one of the companies offering swap services, a strategic swap can give you targeted readers, more page views, and an increased page ranking—all great benefits for a one-time deal. Looks like your involvement in bartering and trading didn’t end when you got rid of your copy of The Oregon Trail after all. Happy swapping!
Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.greenleafbookgroup.com/trackback/2741
Daphne Lavelle
from Daphne Lavelle on Mon, 2012-01-30 18:52Appreciate you sharing, great post.Thanks Again. Want more.
Joyce Steward
from Joyce Steward on Mon, 2012-01-30 09:43Thanks-a-mundo for the blog article.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Brielle Meekins
from Brielle Meekins on Sat, 2012-01-21 20:01Great, thanks for sharing this article. Want more.
Kassidy Brush
from Kassidy Brush on Sat, 2012-01-14 18:48Great, thanks for sharing this blog article. Really Great.
Tags:
How to Optimize Your Profile on LinkedIn
August 19, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
With so much emphasis placed on Facebook and Twitter, many authors overlook the power of LinkedIn. However, LinkedIn holds greater potential for making platform-building connections offline, especially for those nonfiction authors engaged in speaking, consulting, and other business ventures. To make the most of your profile, make sure you include all of the following steps as you establish a LinkedIn presence.
- Complete your profile. Fill in your work history, your experience, any awards and recognition related to your book or expertise, and a short bio. Include as much information as possible about who you are as an author, and make sure the information you include will interest the target audience for your book. Also make sure you a have a current, professionally taken photo.
- Update your status. LinkedIn is all about professional updates, so only share links, events, or media coverage that pertain to your message an author and expert. Keep info about your cat or your last meal for private conversations.
- Make your profile public. This way people can easily find you, both within LinkedIn and on the web.
- Add links. You can add up to three links to your profile, including links to your blog and website. Be sure to add at least one link with information about your book (which is usually your website).
- Make connections. Go through your Outlook address book, Rolodex, or BlackBerry to find potential connections from your existing contacts. LinkedIn’s quick connect feature lets you connect with people already in your Yahoo or Gmail email accounts.
- Join groups. Find groups that cater to your audience. Make individual connections with members in the group and participate in events and discussions.
- Get recommendations. Have people who have read your book or whom you have worked with in some way write recommendations for you. Be willing to do the same in return should the occasion call for it.
- Set up your company profile. If you have a company or your own small press associated with your book or expertise, set up a company profile. If you have employees, you can invite them to update their profiles with their company affiliation.
The above will help you get your profile page up to a par, but LinkedIn has some other fantastic features that you will also want to use to boost your presence.
- LinkedIn Answers: Demonstrate your expertise and connect with your audience by answering questions on LinkedIn Answers. You can search open questions by category or date posted to quickly find which questions you have the authority to answer. The key is to be precise and to leave the self-promotion out of your response.
- Document sharing. Share your articles and presentations with one of the many document-
sharing plugins available. Some of the most commonly used include SlideShare, Scribbd, and Box.net. All three allow users to download your materials, are available from LinkedIn free of charge, and help you boost your SEO. - Social media plugins. You can add your tweets, blog posts, and Facebook posts to your LinkedIn profile. Just be careful—each platform caters to a different audience, who each want different information. If you are cross-pollinating with repetitive posts, people will turn off.
LinkedIn is always adding more plugins and features. Just check out the application directory on the LinkedIn toolbar for more information. You can also check out LinkedIntelligence, a blog focused on LinkedIn best practices.
Social media is an important facet of your overall marketing strategy. Just as with any social media effort, the key for LinkedIn success is to be consistent and provide value. LinkedIn is more manageable than most platforms, in that the status updates you write should be limited to only those items related directly to your book or profession, so you only need to update once a week or when you add new events, articles, and media coverage. You can set up email alerts to keep you updated on group discussions and LinkedIn Answers as they occur, so you don’t have to constantly check back.
Above all, don’t let LinkedIn or any social media platform consume you. Keep it simple, focused, and constrained to what is realistic for your goals and schedule.
Tags:
Best Blogging Practices, Part Five: Blog Vital Signs
August 3, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
As an author, you’ve probably been told you should be blogging. Blogs are an excellent way to engage your audience and establish yourself as an authority figure. Still, many find the idea of blogging overwhelming and the actual process of writing blog posts almost unbearable. But with a little bit of planning, a few shortcuts, and some tips from the blogosphere, you can be posting and engaging with readers in no time. Here is our five-part series on blogging to help you get started:
Part One: To Blog or Not to Blog (why you should blog)
Part Two: A Blog Without a Cause (what to blog about)
Part Three: Taming the Blog Monster (managing your blog)
Part Four: The Blog Without a Name (promoting your blog)
Part Five: Blog Vital Signs (tracking your progress)
Now that you’ve set up your blog, developed your content, and shared your posts, you’re probably wondering why you’re doing this in the first place? Does it really help you sell books?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Blogs are one of the best ways to create a community of followers. Still, you want to know your time is worth it and that your efforts are working, so it’s best to track your blog statistics. Luckily, there are a couple of free tools out there that make it easy to do so.
This free tool from Google lets you track how many visitors come to your site, how they are finding you, and what content they are viewing most. This is a great way to see what’s working, what’s not, and how well you are doing.
Spredfast is a social media dashboard that lets you post and manage multiple media channels from one portal. There are several packages available, but you will need to contact them directly for pricing as it varies on a case by case basis. The depth of reporting changes with each package, but even the basic package lets you see which users are sharing your posts, how many people are viewing them, and what your total engagement with your audience is like.
How do you use these stats?
- Share impressive numbers with your publicist or publisher to show demand.
- Identify which content people are interested in—or not interested in—so you can adjust new information to meet those needs.
- Track how offline trends affect online trends.
- Work with your publicist to improve your overall marketing strategy.
Check the stats frequently so you can easily see the correlation between trends and content and adjust accordingly. Above all, don’t get so caught up in numbers that you ignore what people are actually telling you. Comments, also, are a great way to track your progress and get ideas for new content and books.
Tags:
Best Blogging Practices, Part 4: The Blog Without a Name
July 27, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
As an author, you’ve probably been told you should be blogging. Blogs are an excellent way to engage your audience and establish yourself as an authority figure. Still, many find the idea of blogging overwhelming and the actual process of writing blog posts almost unbearable. But with a little bit of planning, a few shortcuts, and some tips from the blogosphere, you can be posting and engaging with readers in no time. Here is our five-part series on blogging to help you get started:
Part One: To Blog or Not to Blog (why you should blog)
Part Two: A Blog Without a Cause (what to blog about)
Part Three: Taming the Blog Monster (managing your blog)
Part Four: The Blog Without a Name (promoting your blog)
Part Five: Blog Vital Signs (tracking your progress)
In part four of our series, we will focus on ways to promote your blog. It’s not enough to just create a blog and upload content. All of your hard work means nothing if no one knows about it.
The best way to promote your blog is through social media. Every time you publish a new post, create aquick lead line,attach a link back to your blog,and then share it on your social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and ot
hers. Post them on message boards and in discussions that will interest your target audience, and use relevant hashtags on Twitter to get your post in front of people who will be interested in the topic of your blog. Do this every single time you post. You may even want to post the link 2–3 times in the same media stream in order to capture different people as they view their news feed. Just don’t get too obnoxious with posting links—even it out with plenty of valuable content and personal interaction.
Here are a few more tips to get your blog out there and in front of readers:
- Comment on other blogs that cover your topic. When you post the comment, share a link back to your own blog along with your comment.
- Offer up your posts for syndication to aggregators and other outlets in your genre. Just be sure to prequalify outlets and their practices so you can keep your brand intact.
- Promote social bookmarking through such outlets as Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Social Poster, and more. Most blog services have a widget that will display a bookmarking toolbar for each post. If not, have your web designer embed this type of widget on your blog.
In our next and final post, we cover ways to track your blog’s progress and statistics.
Tags:
Best Blogging Practices, Part One: To Blog or Not to Blog
July 8, 2010
by Shennandoah Diaz
As an author, you’ve probably been told you should be blogging. Blogs are an excellent way to engage your audience and establish yourself as an authority figure. Still, many find the idea of blogging overwhelming and the actual process of writing blog posts almost unbearable. But with a little bit of planning, a few shortcuts, and some tips from the blogosphere, you can be posting and engaging with readers in no time. Here is our five-part series on blogging to help you get started:
Part One: To Blog or Not to Blog (why you should blog)
Part Two: A Blog Without a Cause (what to blog about)
Part Three: Taming the Blog Monster (managing your blog)
Part Four: The Blog Without a Name (promoting your blog)
Part Five: Blog Vital Signs (tracking your progress)
As Seth Godin and Tom Peters say in this video, blogging is the best marketing tool that lets you involve yourself in an actual conversation with your audience.
Now, what is a blog? I’m sure you have some idea (you are reading one now, after all), but here is another video that explains what a blog is, in simple language and with great visuals:
Now you can see why blogging is so important to your platform. It’s a free and easy way to share news, ideas, events, and other important items related to your marketing message.
Getting started
The first thing you need to do is choose a catchy, easy-to-spell, and relevant URL. Your options include:
- Purchasing a domain outright from such places as Go Daddy
- Hosting your blog on your existing website
- Using a free service such as Blogspot or WordPress
Since blogs are updated regularly, hosting your blog on your website gives you the best search engine optimization for your website, but a free site is just as good in terms of creating continuous and engaging content.
Next, you need to develop relevant content, which is covered in part two of our Best Blogging Practices series.
Tags:
Book-Buying Statistics Galore
February 15, 2010
by GreenleafBookGroup
For those of you who like statistics and pie charts, we wanted to share the results of a recent survey about reading and book-buying habits. Conducted by Verso Advertising and presented at last month's Digital Book World conference in New York, the survey covers the demographics of ''avid readers,'' the types of online marketing that consumers deem most effective, and readers' views on some hot topics in the ebook space, like pricing, bundling, and piracy. See the slides from the presentation here.
Tags:
Being a Tease Can Be a Good Thing: The Value of Free Content
February 1, 2010
by GreenleafBookGroup
Many forms of entertainment have been releasing free chunks of content for promotional use for ages. The music industry has singles. The movie industry has trailers. Publishers and authors have to figure out ways to do the same thing with the written word.
The good news is there are lots of ways to do this. As authors, you should be taking advantage of all the technology availableby uploading content to websites and social networks that allow book excerpts (FiledBy, BookBuzzr, Scribd, Redroom, SlideShare), posting samples on your website, tweeting about your samples online, etc. Do not be afraid to put your content out there. Tease the readers. Leave them wanting more.
Tags:
Market Yourself, Market Your Book: Online New Year's Resolutions for Authors
January 11, 2010
by GreenleafBookGroup
The beginning of the year is an exciting time for everyone—including authors. Along with your other resolutions, it’s important to remember that a new year represents a fabulous opportunity to establish, enhance, or even reinvent your author image. Marketing yourself is huge part of making any writer’s book a success. The Internet—and social media, more specifically—has increasingly become the most important aspect of a publicity campaign. If you have not already ventured onto online reading communities and other sites that can help authors spread their work, there is no better time than now! Here are a few to get you started:
- Red Room: A site dedicated to connecting authors and readers. As a Red Room author, you can create a very professional customized page that allows you to upload published works, reviews, interview transcripts, videos, podcasts, as well as blog entries.
- Goodreads: A book-sharing and reviewing site that allows you to sign up as a published author and get your own page, which will include a short biography and background information, separate pages for your books, a place to add links to reviews and interviews, friends and followers, a comments space, and other common features of a social networking site.
- Shelfari: An interactive bookshelf and community for readers, Shelfari allows to create your own profile with a list of favorite books, which you can then review, rate, and tag. A page is created for each author and book, which can be edited by you (or the public at large).
- Scribd: A document-sharing site—it's been called the "YouTube for documents"—where authors can create their own pages and profiles, and easily share a variety of documents—including book excerpts, reviews, interviews, or other book-related paraphernalia for people to view.
Tags:
Publishing, Avant-Garde: Blogs & Online Journals
December 31, 2009
by Auburn Rutledge
Publishing, Avant-Garde continues with topic number two: BLOGS & ONLINE JOURNALS.
Assuming that you read any manner of blog or online journal—including this one—then you are more likely than not familiar with the concept. However, for the less initiated, we’ll turn to the trustworthy Wikipedia for a complete definition:
A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.
Popular hosts and providers of blogs and online journals include Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, LiveJournal, Movable Type and Blogware. Some are free, some paid, and each offers a different mixture of features, applications, widgets and communities. It’s a matter of preference that determines which provider you use.
The reason I want to spotlight blogs and online journals for writers is their twofold function: a place from which to build a platform as a writer, and a place in which to showcase your work.
As to platform—it has become expected, if not an unwritten rule, that a writer should continuously develop a web presence. This is an extremely important aspect of platform-building, especially as more and more people every year begin to rely upon the Internet as a source of information for all things, including entertainment. Which means books. Which means you.
You can find some great information about the basics of blogging (and specifically author blogging) here:
- wikiHow: How to Start a Blog, 8 Steps (with video)
- ABA Feature Comparison of Major Blog Providers
- Online Journalism’s Review: Are you using the right blogging tool?
- Petrona: An overlong post about blog providers
- Daily Blog Tips: Copyright Law, 12 Dos and Don’ts
- Lorelle on Blogging: Should Authors Blog?
- Marketing Tools for Authors, Writers, and Entrepreneurs: Why Should Authors Blog?
- suite 101: Blogging is a Marketing Tool for Writers
- Bob Baker’s Full-Time Author Blog
The focus of this article is the ‘showcasing your work’ aspect. This is as equally applicable to established authors as it is to beginners. What it means is that people can visit your blog and get a taste of your writing style, tone, background, genre. Essentially, they can get a feel for you.
I’ve visited author blogs that have posted writing across the gamut: excerpts of published novels, segments from drafts of unpublished ones, research for nonfiction works, character descriptions, story outlines, book trailers, audiobook links, e-books, and more. This is in addition to observations about writing, art, culture, the business of publishing, and posts on everyday life. In essence, blogs act as public journals of the creative process of writing.
A few examples of author blogs:
- The Temp, The Actress and the Writer (Adrienne Kress)
- Neil Gaiman’s Journal
- Laurell K. Hamilton
- Seth’s Blog (Seth Godin)
- Tess Gerritsen’s Blog
- Mad Woman in the Forest (Laurie Halse Anderson)
- A Writer’s Life (Lee Goldberg)
You can find more comprehensive lists at Technorati, Author Blogs (under construction as of December 2009), The Internet Writing Journal and The YA Book Blog Directory.
You may be wondering: Does ‘showcasing your work’ on a blog or journal mean that it is considered published?
The general consensus is that for legal purposes, publishing excerpts of your work online is not considered publishing in the traditional sense. While I would not recommend posting the entirety of your unpublished work on your blog (in the event that you do plan on submitting your work to publishers), there are other options for those who are considering a strictly self-publishing route—this includes downloadable or e-book content hosted on your blog. For published authors, it is best to check your publisher’s contract with you before posting to your heart’s content, but small segments to interest potential readers seems to be acceptable pretty much across the spectrum.
Having writing samples posted on your blog in addition to regular ‘blogging’ (the commentary, opinions, links and etc. mentioned above) also allows potential publishers and agents to peruse more examples of your work then you may have sent with a query letter, and lets them know that you are working hard on your platform. In this sense, it is crucial that your blog is active. This does not mean writing a research paper daily. You can segment pieces of your writing and set them to auto-update, or write several posts in advance and then spread them out over the course of a few days or weeks. Once you’ve explored a few approaches, you’ll find a natural rhythm—whether it’s short updates daily or longer pieces once or twice a week. The more you post, the more interesting the posts are, and the more you share, the more followers (and hopefully fans and readers) you will gain. And why say no to any extra chance to refine your writing skills?
In essence, blogs are an invaluable enhancement to your credentials—a portfolio that demonstrates your talents like any other artist, including those in visual and media arts. It’s a resume, a curriculum vitae both artistic and practical. It can be as intimate or business-like as you please. You can share as much or little as you want. The blog is the gift of the contemporary author, so use it to the best of your advantage.
Tags:
Big Bad Weekly Tip: Amazon Announces New Video Feature on Author Pages
December 22, 2009
by GreenleafBookGroup
We often hear from authors who would like to add video—book trailers, interviews, etc.—to their Amazon product pages. While Amazon currently does not allow most publishers to add video content to product pages, they announced last week that authors may now upload video directly to their Amazon Author Page.
If you don’t have an Author Page already, now is a great time to get one by signing up at Author Central. Author Pages gives customers a summary of you and your work, and the new video content makes the pages an even richer way to make yourself visible to readers. If you already have an Author Page, uploading video is simple—just sign in, click the new “Videos” tab at the top of the screen, and upload the file. Videos must be less than 10 minutes and under 500 MB. See additional video content guidelines here.
Along with video, Amazon announced an updated Events section, which you can use to post upcoming signings and other appearances (like this author); they also announced more links to Author Pages, which will now be linked in search results. Read more about what you can do with Author Central here.
Tags:
