Related Posts
Book Marketing Mondays: The Single Best Marketing Tool for an Author
Recognize Your Clients/Readers To Show Appreciation

Bookmark and Share:

Connect to us via our other social media buttons. Just pick your click!

Not too long ago, an author’s dream of getting a manuscript published and distributed rested largely on the hands of the publishing houses. Authors with rejected works had the option to self-publish their manuscripts, although the high cost of this process discouraged many rejected authors from taking this route.

A lot has changed since then. The rise of internet and digital technology has drastically reduced the cost of self-publishing, and has given birth to hundreds of competing self-publishing companies. Now, virtually anyone can turn a raw manuscript into a published book.

But while the process of publishing has gotten easier, the process of selling books has not. In fact, it has gotten harder. The remarkable growth of the self-publishing industry, while initially thought to be a boon to authors, has given birth to a twin problem: an overabundance of published books.

Consider this: Close to 200,000 books were published last year in the United States alone, 80 percent of which are self-published and you can bet a large chunk of these books are for sale. What’s more, the number is expected to rise this year. With this kind of competition, how does an upstart author market a self-published work efficiently?

There are many ways to market a book, but whatever kind of marketing platform an author chooses to adopt, the most vital marketing tool an author can do to boost a book marketing campaign is by owning a well-designed website.

For any author, having a well-designed website is the single most important move in selling a book. A website will serve as a highly credible marketing base for any author, and exponentially increases the visibility, market reach, and promotional power of any book marketing campaign.

A website, when linked to a particular book advertisement or marketing campaign, will greatly reinforce the information and marketing punch disseminated by publicity campaigns, e-mail advertisements, or any other type of online book marketing campaign.

Furthermore, a well-designed website facilitates the connection between the author and the clientele in a professional and convenient method — a very pivotal aspect in today’s book-selling industry.

A website serves an ideal host for an “author blog”, which is one of the most effective — and perhaps most underrated — book marketing tools in the current book marketing landscape. While many authors are not aware of this yet, a well-designed and frequently updated blog webpage effectively translates into avid reader patronage.

The reason is this: books that capture a reader’s interest do not go unremembered, and neither does the author who wrote it. Enamored readers want to get involved. A memorable reading experience makes readers want to know the author, as well as the book’s the themes and back story. They want to know what’s the current and upcoming projects of the author who has so effectively captured their imagination and touched their emotions. As mentioned earlier, they want to be involved. A website will take care of this area with optimum effect.

In addition, “author websites” are regularly visited by the movers and shakers of a wide range of industries. Whether it’s a film producer in search for a new film project, or a businessman in pursuit of revolutionary business ideas (self-help books), a wide range of visitors will be accommodated effectively by a website, which serves as an online organizer. Here, you can list your contact information and other contents, making yourself available to every person in the world at any time.

Finally, a website is hands-down the most cost-efficient book marketing tool. With the recent growth of companies that offer book marketing services, an author can easily own a well-designed website for a couple of hundred dollars.

The bottom line: Before you start waging any kind of book marketing campaign, start your program with the most important tool in the business of book promotion and marketing — and get yourself a website.

Learn more about the dynamics of marketing self published books, Internet Marketing Promotion, Book Marketing Services, and many other useful tips about online book marketing.

Related Posts
How to Avoid Becoming a Book Marketing Dinosaur
TGIF Book Marketing Tips: Book Authors Need a Dedicated Website for Their Books

Bookmark and Share:

Connect to us via our other social media buttons. Just pick your click!

*The succeeding article is about marketing self published books, Internet Marketing Promotion, Book Marketing Services, and many other useful tips about online book marketing.

With hundreds of thousands of books getting published everyday, the competition level of the book-selling industry is currently at an all-time high. Consider this: In 2008, over 200,000 books were published last year in the United States alone, 80 percent of which are self-published and, not surprisingly, a large chunk of these books are for sale. What’s more, the number is expected to experience a significant rise this year.

With this kind of competition, an upstart author with limited financial resources (and can’t afford a book publicist) and limited time (and can’t go on a nationwide book-marketing tour) would do well by marketing a self-published work through the Internet. But just how does a published author wage a low-cost, yet efficient book marketing campaign in the Internet?

One of the sure-fire ways to do just that is through the opt-in email advertisement campaign, a unique book marketing method that reaches a massive, yet viable, target audience through electronic mail (email) advertisements.

An email advertisement campaign, essentially, is a massive email broadcast of “book ads” sent to hundreds of thousands—and even millions—of “profiled” email subscribers. An “email book ad” consists of a visually appealing and enticing graphic advertisement of a book, replete with the book description, the book details, and if any, the positive reviews of the book. These “book ads” also come with a unique Web address or URL (uniform resource locator) links that direct the “clicker” to the book author’s official Website or online bookstore, or even both, where the consumer can read more about the book and learn how to purchase it.

As previously stated, these ads are specifically designed to hit e-mail subscribers who have “opted” to receive commercial marketing messages, according to their specific areas of interest.  For instance, an email book marketing ad for a book about, say, French cinema will be delivered to a customized mailing list of e-mail subscribers who have indicated their interest for “movies”, “books,” or “literature” in their email profiles.

Opt-in email book marketing advertisements reach a vast, specific target market, making it a favorite marketing tool for authors for its precise demographic targeting, massive reach, and reasonable cost. But perhaps the best thing about this program is its traceability: email marketing service providers routinely furnish clients with detailed reports of the email advertisement’s “open” and “click” rates. An “open” rate is the statistical data of the number of ads that are “opened” by a target email subscriber, while the “click” rate is a statistical tracker of the number of times the ad is “clicked” by a target email subscriber.

As such, opt-in email marketing ads not only boost the marketing punch of a book but it also serves as a terrific reference guide for future marketing campaigns, making it a highly effective, multi-dimensional book marketing tool in today’s competitive book-selling landscape. 

BookWhirl.com’s email marketing services is designed to reach email subscribers who have opted to receive marketing messages, according to their specified interest. Over all, your book advertisements are delivered to their appropriate market – an efficient way for your Book Publicity.

Bookmark and Share:

Connect to us via our other social media buttons. Just pick your click!

source: http://www.marketingscoop.com/effectively-promote-book.htm

Your published novel or ebook? Generate sales with proven online marketing strategies.

If you’re looking to market your personally authored book or ebook, learn from the Internet marketing experts. Selling books online is a great way to promote your product and increase sales. Although many marketing methods are available, there are some in particular that have proven to generate above average results for selling books – printed and electronic.

Learn more about each of the following if you’re ready to start selling and be sure to seek guidance from those who have already successfully marketed online.

1. Develop a Website or Blog.

Thinking that it’s not worth developing a website or blog for a single publication? Think again. Today, acquiring a domain name is easier than ever – and it costs less than $10. Additionally, you can buy a website or a website template for about $75. If you know some very basic HTML, you can develop a website for less than a hundred dollars. Having a website that is only focused on a single publication can work wonders for promoting your product.

Blogs are even easier to create. Already have a website but need a blog? Visit Blogger.com, WordPress.com, or simply type in “free blog” into Google. You’ll quickly find a whole host of free blog sites that help you set up a blog in less than five minutes. Once you’ve created your blog, enter a post about your ebook and provide a link to your online store or order form.

If you’re looking for a way to process online transactions, visit Paypal.com. For about twelve dollars per month, you can process transactions for those wishing to purchase your book online. There are other online transaction management tools you can use, but Paypal is one of the easiest I’ve used to set up and accept online transactions.

2. Use Online Marketing (PPC) Programs.

By now you’ve heard of Google Adwords. Other providers such as Yahoo! and MSN also offer pay-per-click programs. These online marketing programs allow you to promote your book or e-book to a very targeted audience. For example, if your book is about “antique lamp shades”, you can purchase the keyword phrase, “antique lamp shades” to display on sites that offer related content. As a result, those seeing your ad can click through to your website or Jump Page.

The best part about pay-per-click advertising is that you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement. Be careful though, you could end up with a lot of clicks and only a few conversions. Test multiple campaigns and evaluate their effectiveness on a daily basis. Google offers you free tools that can help you evaluate the results of your campaign in greater detail such as Google Analytics.

3. Develop a Specific Jump Page.

Short of building an entire website or starting a blog, you could simply build a single jump page. A jump page is a promotional page that pitches your product or service. There are tons of successful jump pages out there that you can reproduce with your own content.

The most successful jump pages are those that are easy to read and include testimonials. Testimonials from book reviewers are very influential. To make your jump page even more compelling, offer print and audio testimonials. A good site to follow is SEO Elite.

4. Give Samples.

One of the most effective marketing strategies on the planet is sampling. You see companies offering samples to invite users to try their products or services. The same can be true for book purchasers. Share a summary, a chapter, or let them peruse your book. Just spend some time on Amazon.com and you’ll quickly see how promotion and access can play a major role in the purchase decision.

One great technique is to offer a small sample for free. Offer additional access (perhaps to a full chapter), after users provide you with their name and email address. This allows you to touch prospective purchasers via email after they’ve contacted you, keeping their interest high and continuing to promote your publication.

5. Email marketing.

With the 2003 introduction of CAN-SPAM legislation, email marketers must be very careful about who they email and how. Learn CAN-SPAM basics before you begin emailing people. A couple of things to keep in mind from an email marketing perspective is that your own list (of emails collected via your website) will almost always perform better than a purchased list. Think about ways you can collect the names of individuals visiting your website such as offering a free summary or excerpt in exchange for their name and email address.

From a CAN-SPAM perspective, make sure your physical address is included on each email and offer an opt-out. If a recipient asks to be taken off your list, remove him/her within 10 days. You can also use an online service to help manage your email marketing. Online email providers are very careful about conforming to email marketing standards and will lead you through the process step-by-step.

6. Refer a friend

Your current customers can be your best marketers. Once an individual has purchased your book, be sure to give them a reason to refer others. Perhaps you can offer them a special promotion on a different product or perhaps additional content that wasn’t available with their first purchase.

Offering a friends and family coupon is another great way to generate additional sales. Something as simple as a $5 off coupon is a great way to promote your product and create buzz. Whatever tactic you use in your email, be sure to encourage customers to refer others.

7. Leverage an affiliate program.

Are there other websites that attract the audience that would be perfect for your book? If so, contact them via phone or email and see if they’d be willing to sell your publication in exchange for a commission. This is a great way to reach an audience in an affordable way and is considered an affiliate program.

Most of the successful products being sold online today are not being promoted from a single website. Rather, many sites are promoting a given product or service. These sites are often referred to as niche sites as they cater to specific audience or segment. In addition to doing some research on your own, you can also investigate affiliate program sites that you can use to promote your product.

Affiliate sites bring together advertisers and publishers. The publishers provide the content, software, or resources, and the advertisers promote these products in exchange for a sales commission. A common type of affiliate site uses coupons to encorage purchase. Everyone knows that shoppers nowadays use web coupons and promo codes to buy the stuff they want on the internet. This is the perfect way to leverage the power of affiliate marketing.

Marketing your book or ebook takes time but can have significant pay-off. Utilize some or all of the marketing methods described above to sell you book online. These methods have been used by some of the most successful internet marketers promoting print and electronic book products online. Internet marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn from the experts and follow internet marketing strategies like those above which have already proven successful.

*Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert, search engine optimization specialist, and the President of MarketingScoop.com. He has more than 12 years of marketing experience and had appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit MarketingScoop.com for further details and more free marketing articles.

Related Posts
Effective Methods of Book Promotion
Online Book Promotion: Your Competitive Edge

Bookmark and Share:

Connect to us via our other social media buttons. Just pick your click!