May

30

Create a 7-step Action Plan to promote your book or your business

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Friday’s upcoming event for authors
Join me on next week’s Guerrilla Marketing Association’s weekly expert Interview teleseminar, as I discusses small business and Internet marketing with Stephanie Diamond, former marketing director of AOL. Stephanie and I will be discussing her recently released Web Marketing for Small Businesses: 7 Steps to Explosive Business Growth book.
You’ll learn [...]

May

8

Michael Port’s advice to authors who achieve success: “Keep it simple!”

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Thursday’s profit tip for authors
Early this week, I attended a teleseminar interview involving Michael Port and Stephanie Diamond, two members of Published & Profitable’s Editorial Board. Michael was interviewing Stephanie on the occasion of her new book, Web Marketing for Small Businesses: 7 Steps to Explosive Business Growth.
One of the best parts of the [...]

Jan

24

Save time and close more sales by creating shorter, more persuasive, business proposals

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Thursday’s profit tip
As an author, new business proposals will play an important role in your success after your book has been published. Your book will generate visibility and new client opportunities, but it’s the proposal that gets the sale! Authors who can efficiently create compelling business proposals save time, close more sales, and successfully sell [...]

Nov

20

Why authors need creative briefs

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My latest Design to Sell newsletter discusses Creative Briefs. Creative Briefs are short documents, typically just 1 or 2 pages long, that save time and money by identifying the crucial elements of a project.  Creative briefs eliminate misunderstandings and help authors and those who serve them define and agree upon topics like:

Project goals
Major message components
Target [...]

Nov

19

Numbers versus words: which is more effective?

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I recently ran across a phrase that reminded me of a presentation by direct marketing legend Herschel Gordon Lewis at an AWAI bootcamp where I also presented.
He was comparing the relative efficiency of numbers versus spelled-out words. He cited studies that proved the effectiveness of numbers over words–regardless of what grammarians might think.
Note the 2 [...]

Oct

24

Peter Bowerman’s concise formula for persuasive writing success

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In his Well Fed Writer, Published & Profitable Editorial Board member Peter Bowerman has a strong section on persuasive writing. It includes a wonderfully concise list that can help you write more effective book proposals and marketing messages.
The starting point, as Peter describes, is to determine your intended market is. Then, ask yourself the [...]