Wednesday’s promoting tip for authors

Recent Internet advances have made it easier than ever for authors to sell more books by taking control of their book’s marketing and promotion. Here are 7 web marketing tips that for authors interested in selling more books by creating a web presence that works.

1. Start early. It’s never too early to begin to establish a web presence for yourself and your book (or books). View the web as a way to attract publishers and readers, and build a following, as you plan and write your book. This way, when your book appears, there is a market of book buyers waiting for it.
2. Use a blog platform. Blogs take the complexity and cost out of book marketing on the web. Blogs free authors from dependence on designers. Blogs make it possible for authors with little or no design or HTML experience to create an easily updated web presence. If you can use a word processor or fill in an online form, you can update your own blog-based website. Begin your research at  WordPress, Blogger, or Typepad. (This blog is created with WordPress; I also have a Typepad blog.)
3. Create a “hub and spoke” web presence. Use separate websites and blogs for different purposes. Authors typically use the “hub” site to promote their coaching, consulting, and speaking services.  The hub site contains links to separate blogs and websites for each book.
4. Focus on building your list. Successful authors take a long range point of view; they focus on building their e-mail list of potential buyers and clients rather than making an immediate sale. The best way to build a list is to offer a downloadable incentive, such as a white paper or report, in exchange for signing up for future newsletters.
5. Educate your market. Useful, relevant, timely information is the key to list building and return visits to your website. Share the knowledge and insights you have accumulated. By sharing information, you become known as a trusted resource. Use the web to promote yourself as the obvious expert in your field.
6. Build a community. Create a dialog with your visitors. Invite questions and feedback. Share your book as you write it. Reader feedback enriches your book’s contents by suggesting new questions and topics, while proving the existence of a market for your book. This is the new approach pioneered and extensively written about by Seth Godin, David Meerman Scott, and others.
7. Profit from video. Recent advances in video technology now make it practical for authors to include video as part of their web marketing tools. Video can be easily added to blogs. Video helps authors promote their speaking careers to event and meeting planners by previewing their abilities. The immediacy of video also builds closer relationships between readers and authors. See Michael Port’s (Book Yourself Solid) home page, and Dan Ariely’s (Predictably Irrational) video chapter descriptions.

Online marketing sells books, and it’s never been easier. Today’s authors don’t have to depend on graphic designers and web developers every time they want to make a simple change to their website. Using blog-based websites, authors can take control of their online book marketing and promotion from the start, continuously controlling and implementing their web presence as they plan, write, promote, and profit from their books.

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INVITATION. What kind of experience have you had with web marketing and blogs? What’s keeping you from getting involved with video? Ask your questions and share your experiences, as comments, below!

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