A contribution by: Liberal Arts Colleges

Source: http://www.liberalartscolleges.org/blog/2010/10-things-to-consider-before-self-publishing/

Self-publishing enables the writer to control every aspect of the creation and promotion of their book. It’s an appealing option for creative people who have the confidence and time to undertake such a large task. But most writers enter the process not knowing what to expect, relying on their well-honed research skills to learn the ins and outs of the publishing biz. Before you dig too deep, read through the list of 10 things to consider before self-publishing and determine if you’re up for the challenge.

1. The success rate is tiny
Very few self-publishers experience success because they simply don’t know what they’re doing. In many cases, they lack the foresight and perseverance required of a self-proprietor. Some of the common problems encountered by first-time self-publishers include the refusal to seek the help they need, the use of unprofessional covers and weak titles, overprinting and lazy marketing. It takes a lot of time and effort to write, print and market a book, so plan accordingly.

2. Do it for the right reasons
Because of the amount of risk involved, it’s wise to go into the process not expecting to make money. In other words, don’t expect self-publishing to become your primary source of income – if it generates any income. Also, don’t self-publish because you don’t feel that you need any help. If your book has been rejected by multiple publishers, then it could likely use a change or two.

3. It helps to have a niche
Most successful self-publishers are experts in a field with a narrow target audience. If you’ve already made a name for yourself in that niche – perhaps through lectures or previously published articles and papers and you have at least a modest audience, then you could market the book to those same people. Professors often utilize this strategy because they don’t immediately intend to mass market their books.

4. You’ll be running a business
That means a business license is required. You’ll need to know the cost of the operation – as you’ll see below – and you’ll need to devise a marketing strategy if you intend to reach an audience beyond the modest one that may already be established. As a publisher, you’ll need to create a name that include -books, press or publishing- so that people will know what it represents.

5. You’ll need money
Self-publishing is a big investment. In addition to the cost of printing, money must be set aside for marketing and hiring an editor, illustrator and/or graphic designer. A traditional publishing house is normally responsible for those costs, but since you’ll be doing it on your own, they’ll be your responsibility. Be sure to research and establish a budget beforehand so that you won’t encounter any unforeseen financial problems.

6. You’ll still need an editor
Because you won’t be dealing with a publishing house, you’ll need to find an editor to look over your work and offer his or her sage advice. Self-publishers hire freelance developmental editors to perform those tasks – they ensure you have an interesting and readable book. The final say on all matters is still yours, but their expertise will be needed if you have little or no previous publishing experience.

7. Know the details
Before your book hits the shelves, it’ll need an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and a Library of Congress catalog number. The ISBN enables book retailers to identify the title amid their vast collections of books. You can obtain one from the RR Bowker Company. The Library of Congress catalog number enables you to get your book into libraries.

8. Sales will be your job
As previously mentioned, self-publishers must know how to run a business. In order for a business to be successful, it must have an efficient sales team – in this case, it’s you. You’ll need to convince brick-and-mortar bookstores, online bookstores, distributors and wholesalers that your book will be profitable. It’s important to know that different buyers require a different cut of the sales, so don’t demand for every buyer to take the same amount. And remember, patience is a virtue – your books won’t fly off the shelves all at once.

9. Respect will be hard-earned
If you’re fortunate enough to earn respect, it will be hard-earned. Reviewers tend to ignore self-published books because self-publishers tend to be amateurs who, honestly, produce unappealing work. It’ll be entirely your responsibility to get your work noticed by reviewers, retailers and readers. The process by which you compose your book will help determine how much success you’ll have.

10. It’ll never be too late to sell your book to a commercial publisher
If you successfully reach your intended market and have shown there’s potential to reach an even larger audience, then a commercial publisher will likely express interest in taking over the title. But this doesn’t always mean they’ll push it into the next stratosphere of sales. Make sure the people with whom you work will have as much interest in promoting the books as you have – otherwise, the transaction will be pointless.

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Source: http://www.newsletterjournal.com/information/book-marketing/book-marketing-101-book-publicity-for-authors-creating-a-book-publicity-campaign.html

Written by: Ray Robinson

Publicity is that elusive thing that can make or break your book – in all sorts of ways! Learning to promote you and your book is something that can take a bit of “re-training” for most new authors (and many old-timers too). Publicity is really all about selling your idea (and you), but all too often the word “selling” brings up images of polyester clad used-car salesmen, telemarketers, and strong-arm sales strategies that do nothing but alienate your intended customer.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

True “salesmanship” is all about creating a deep connection with your intended reader or reviewer by providing unique, useful and rewarding information about your book. It’s all about creating a relationship that you will both benefit from and to which you can return time and again. It’s about creating the awareness that you are an EXPERT about the topic of your book.

Good publicity is also regular and consistent publicity – there really is no such thing as an overnight success. Remember that you never know who is reading or listening — it just might have been someone who could lead you to bigger and better things.

Here’s some ways to create a great relationship with the editors and reporters that can provide your book the long term exposure it needs to succeed:

1) It’s ALL about your intended audience – and very little about you. You might be brilliant, but the editor only cares about their audience. As a matter of fact, more often than not if you come across as thinking you are too wonderful, you’ll most likely turn out to be a turn off to the editor or reporter. This is where “blanket” press releases that go to thousands of outlets fail – they typically focus on you the author, and unless you are already a household name, guess what? No one cares.

You MUST tailor your release to the intended audience – and it must be unique. Focus on the benefits you will provide their audience. Think about the publication or program you are trying to approach – what do they provide to their audience and does your book contribute to their goals? Don’t under any circumstances make your pitch sound like an ad for your book – if you have a good fit, and have good information inside your book, then it will generate interest in the book. The goal here is to make the editors, reporters, and audience understand that you are an expert on your topic, and that your book contains lots of good information – by PRESENTING some of the information… not by TELLING them you are an expert.

2) Target your pitch. Be confident knowing that reporters and editors have lots of need for information. But also understand the one of the quickest ways to get rejected is to pitch the wrong person – you’ll waste both of your time (and probably annoy the editor or reporter) – do you homework and find out who is the correct contact for your book. Once you’ve found the right person – ask them what they want. Only pitch your idea if it’s a fit. Be sure to respect his or her time – everyone in the media industry works on unbelievably tight deadlines. Ask if they are under a deadline and if so, could you call back at a better time.

Be short, sweet, and to the point – which means get to the point quickly. The audience will eventually want more detail than the reporter or editor – but for your reviewer, be able to sum up your book in 30 seconds or less. “Talk less, listen more” – let the editor or reporter drive the conversation after you have them interested. They will have specific needs and questions – so stop talking and answer them explicitly.

3) Approach ALL types and sizes of publications and media. Don’t be afraid to contact the “big guys” and don’t neglect the smaller ones. Any one in the media has to aggressively pursue getting new and fresh content for their shows, magazines, and newspapers. This is especially true of anyone who needs to fill space on a daily basis. They are almost always on the search for people who can present information on exciting and interesting topics and trends. The biggest outlets are always on the search for an unknown that they can highlight.

The smaller journals and outlets often have a very focused and influential audience – and you never know who might be reading them or listening to their show . The smaller publications can also be “gateways” into the larger ones . Almost every single size of publication has value in your publicity campaign. Your chances of getting into smaller publications is probably higher than the larger ones, so set your time and effort accordingly.

4) Treat your contacts with unfailing respect and politeness. Yes, you are very busy – you might even be far busier than the publicist or producer that you are trying to approach. But you need them to help you out – and being constantly aware that they are very busy themselves will keep you focused on getting your materials to them in a timely manner. Never ever be late in submitting materials for a review or interview.

5) Understand that publicity isn’t a “one shot success” effort. It is all about sustained and consistent awareness of your product. Marketing research indicates that a consumer will need to see your name about 7 times before they will remember it. Try to keep your interviews and reviews spaced out a little bit – frequency and consistency are critical. Don’t ever let up on your publicity campaigns – even the most successful product lines in the world (think Nike and McDonalds) continue to consistently spend millions on awareness campaigns for their products. Very rarely is anyone an “overnight success” – even the best-selling authors spent years building their reputations.

Follow these 5 steps while conducting your publicity campaigns, and your level of success will be far greater than those who have either ignored or never learned these basic steps.

If you like this information (and found it helpful) please feel free to post it on your site, put it in a blog, toss it in your newsletter, or in general spread it around. Please just give us credit here at www.dogearpublishing.net

May you have success in your creative efforts!

Ray Robinson is a partner in Dog Ear Publishing http://www.dogearpublishing.net a self publishing services company specializing in delivering “high touch” services to the author community. His company provides a full range of services to authors, from editorial to page layout to marketing and fulfillment.

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By: Jill Exler
Source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/140980/publishing/5_tips_to_start_selling_your_self_published_book.html

Here are five simple tips to help you get started.

1. Figure out your market.

“Bookstores are lousy places to sell books,” says self-publishing guru Dan Poynter in USA Weekend . “Find the places where your audience gathers and sell directly to them. If your book is about cats, go to pet stores.”

To start selling your book, take the time to research your target audience. Who will be interested in purchasing your book and sharing it with their friends?

Once you know your target market, look at the places they shop and spend their leisure time. What media venues do they watch, read and listen to on a regular basis?

Create a list of all potential organizations, business and groups. This will give you a good understanding of the online sites and brick-and-mortar locations where you need to focus your marketing efforts.

2. Spread the word.

When you are ready to start selling, don’t be shy. Talk about your book, carry a copy around with you and look for every opportunity to mention it. Also be ready to give copies away to influential people who will build buzz about your business.

If you are a good speaker, try to give presentations to groups catering to your target audience. You can partner with various organizations to promote your appearance and build word-of-mouth. This may include issuing a press release, giving books away during radio or television interviews or getting involved with charitable activities.

“Speaking to local, target audiences is a great way to start building buzz about your products and services,” says Melanie Rembrandt, small business PR expert and owner of Rembrandt Communications, www.rembrandtwrites.com. “But in order to build credibility, you need to offer valuable information pertinent to your book’s subject without being sales-oriented. You can always have a book-signing after your presentation to sell your books and meet potential customers.”

Another trick is to leave a copy of your book at your local bookstore or library. If visitors pick up the book and read it, they will ask for a copy of it. Then, the person at the counter may contact you to purchase additional copies.

3. Venture outside your target market.

After you’ve pursued all venues focusing on your specific audience, start marketing your book to other groups outside your target market.

Look for secondary sources that may be interested in purchasing your book as a gift for a friend, co-worker or family member. Perhaps you can partner with a business, charitable organization or hobby-group related to your book-topic?

Think “outside of the box” and try to let as many people know about your book as possible. You can issue a press release, offer special discounts and create newsworthy events to draw attention to your book. And these activities don’t need to cost a lot of money. You just need to think of some ways to stress the unique benefits of your book and take the extra time and effort to plan, coordinate and follow-through with your ideas.

4. Take advantage of business relationships.

If you used an online publisher in developing your book, advertise on their site. If you used a local printer, ask if you can leave a couple copies at their front desk.

Visit all of your local establishments and leave some kind of information about your book. If you are a regular customer, most of these businesses will be happy to help you and the local economy.

And when preparing these “leave-behinds,” think about the benefits for the business and customers. Perhaps you can print up small calendars, checklists, quick tips, bookmarks and other items that advertise your book while offering something of value to potential readers.

You may even be able to partner with various businesses to offer special joint coupons and discounts. Use your imagination, but always keep the benefits for the customer in mind.

5. List your book online.

This may be obvious, but you really need to list your book online to reach the broadest possible market and increase “buzz.” Review your target audience and try to get information about your book posted on all of the pertinent sites they visit.

Also create a simple website. And don’t worry. Today, there are many services that offer cost-effective or free websites to self-published authors. You don’t need to be a technical genius or have a lot of money to take advantage of these services and create an online presence.

However, in your online copy, be sure to stress the unique benefits of your book and provide customer testimonials (for credibility). Also include some information about your background to help you stand apart from others in your genre.

Once your site is up and running, research free, press-release posting sites. Also look for online organizations that may be willing to post reciprocal links to your site to help build search-engine optimization.

These are just a few, simple tips. There are many ways to sell your self-published books. But you can start by focusing on your target audience, work the business relationships you already have and be creative. And soon, you’ll be well on your way to being a top-selling author!

For more tips and information, visit www.jexbo.com.

About The Author, Jill Exler

Jill Exler is a Mompreneur and founder of jexbo, http://www.jexbo.com.

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By: Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Source: http://www.millermosaicllc.com/build-bond-with-readers

In order for readers to spend their money on a novel, they must have the desire to spend time (plus their money) in the world that you the author have created.

To encourage readers to want to do this, you should provide information that helps them enter into your world.

One way to do this is to provide the first chapters for free on your website so that prospective readers can get a good feel for the story and characters. You can do this with PDF downloads or audio or video recordings or all three methods. And you can encourage book groups to choose your book by providing book club discussion questions off your website.

If you have other information related to your book that you can share on your website, do so. For example, if your novel is connected to an historical event, you can include photos or videos or commentary about that actual event.

Or let’s say you wrote a novel about a woman fighting breast cancer. You could include on your website names and contact information for organizations that help breast cancer patients.  By sharing such information with your prospective readers you’re creating a bond between you and them.

Of course, there is the basic question of do you need a website at all? Couldn’t you put your book club discussion questions and sample chapters on book author websites and forget about having your own website?

Yes, you could. But you’d be foolish to pass up the opportunity to have a destination URL for you and your books.

On the other hand, there is an alternative to having a website designed for you. You could do what many people are doing now – using WordPress blog software to create a website. This is usually less expensive and easier than having a programmer design a website, and you have the added advantage of more easily changing content.

With your own website featuring sample chapters, helpful information and book club discussion questions, you will be providing prospective readers with a number of reasons to say yes to reading your book. – P.Z.M.
___

Yes!  You can use this article in your ezine, blog or website as long as you use the article in full and include the following resource box:

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://www.InternetBizBlogger.com as well as a book author, and her power marketing company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

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source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/141467/publishing/how_to_be_a_successful_self_publisher.html
By: John Abate

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When is the best time to sell your book? The idea of pre-selling books is definitely a clever move, especially for self-published authors. Although pre-selling will also involve money, there are a lot of ways to promote your book in advance even on a shoestring budget. Pre-selling books is a marketing strategy that’s a must.

While you wait for your books to be printed, it is ideal to maximize time for marketing and promotion. Other authors have sustained the anticipation of their readers by maintaining author websites, blogs, online journals and the like. They pre-sell by keeping their blogs or websites updated with the latest information and details about their upcoming book. This actually works since readers can conveniently keep track. It is always advisable to give a full month or two to market your book before it is printed. Keep the waiting part as productive as possible.

For your marketing to be successful, you will need to seriously consider how to effectively pre-sell your books. How do you persuade readers to purchase your book even before when it’s out in the market? How do we make books sell even prior to its launch date?

The art of pre-selling involves getting the public interested even before a product is out. An example of this is Apple’s iPad. Even before the product was out, the public was already anticipating and the list of reservations was already quite long. How did Apple do the iPad hype? It’s simple. Apple has done extensive pre-marketing and promotional campaigns for iPad. From product reviews, forums, blogs, to viral websites, they totally covered all pre-selling online venues. They made the public start talking about their product before it even came out.

Here are tips for effective pre-selling:

1. Eye-Catching Print Materials. These materials can be bookmarks, flyers, posters, stickers, and tarpaulins. The production of these materials need not be expensive. If you have the designing skills then you can make your own promotional art and print them at your nearest printing press. It is also advisable for your promotional materials to be consistent with colors and fonts. Make sure that your content will be able to attract and stir interest for readers. Enumerate venues where they can read more details about your book. (i.e. websites, social networking sites, etc.)
2. Utilize Your Website for Pre-Marketing and Promotion. Since it’s your website, you can freely post advance information about your upcoming book. Moreover, you can conduct online contests in line with your upcoming book. Contests and other activities generate attention and interest for the public. You can promote and pre-sell your book while gaining high traffic for your website.
3. Offer A Special Pre-Sale Price. Customers love discounts. If you have already decided on your book’s price, you can offer a special pre-sale price to customers who will purchase your book prior to its release. You can offer special rate discounts to your first 100 customers for example.
4. Blog About Your Upcoming Book. Frequently post entries about your book on your blog. Cover any kind of topic that can keep current potential customers interested and to keep attract new ones. Write helpful articles. Remember that attention is gained when you share helpful information. Read other blog sites. It’s also equally important for you to learn from others. When you do read other blog sites, remember to post a comment of appreciation or a courteous opinion. Don’t forget to post a link to your author website or blog page when you leave comments.
5. Trigger Book Reviews from the National and International Media. Posting a press release about your book online or sending it to reputable media targets via fax increases the chances of a critical review on the substantial merits of your book, and a critical praise will bring you national—even international—acclaim.

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source: http://www.newsletterjournal.com/information/book-marketing/your-book-marketing-plan-winning-strategies-and-tips.html

Many authors hit a roadblock when it comes to putting together and implementing a book marketing plan. You know you need to have one, you have a vague idea of what it needs to include, but pulling it all together into a step-by-step plan of attack is not nearly as easy as it sounds.

A good starting point is to break your plan up into major categories. From there, you can further define and set up strategies for each area of your book marketing plan.

The first thing that comes to mind for most authors and self publishers is book store sales. Makes sense doesn’t it? That’s where people buy books don’t they? It’s true that making your book available to the general public through bookstores is a very vital component of your marketing plan.

However, it is just that — one single component of your plan. There are many elements that will make up your book marketing plan and arranging to have your book available in bookstores is just one of them. Let’s call that component #1:

Book Marketing Plan Component #1

Making Books Available in Bookstores

Now, it’s one thing to secure placement for your book on the bookstore shelves, but now how are people going to know it’s there? Customers can’t (and won’t) buy something they’ve never heard of. This is where the publicity component of your Book Marketing Plan comes into play. Setting up and ongoing publicity campaign is the number one way to drive customers to the bookstore to buy your book. We’ll call this component #2:

Book Marketing Plan Component #2

Setting up and Implementing a Successful Publicity Campaign

Besides book stores, you can also sell your books to nontraditional book buyers like display retailers, book clubs, catalogs, gift retailers, volume buyers (think Costco and Price Club), corporations, foundations and foreign markets. We sell thousands of self published books to buyers like these all the time and targeting these buyers should make up a good portion of your book marketing plan. This will be component #3:

Book Marketing Plan Component #3

Non-traditional Markets

In this day and age, you would be making a big mistake if you didn’t include the internet as a vital component of your Book Marketing Plan. The internet is the best way to directly reach your target customers. It is also the best way to sell to them since you cut out any third parties and retain 100% of the profits. There are many ways to research the internet to ensure that there is a demand for your book and the best ways to fill that demand.

Book Marketing Plan Component #4

The Internet – Your Book Website

These are the four most important components of your Book Marketing Plan. Now you must research each component individually to customize the approach you take for your book.

© Copyright 2004 Ink Tree Ltd.

Ink Tree Ltd. helps authors publish, market and sell books. We have all the tools you need to succeed in book marketing and book promotion. Let us help you make your book a success. http://www.inktreemarketing.com/BookMarketingKit.htm

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source: http://www.millermosaicllc.com/open-mind/

If you are marketing a nonfiction or fiction book, you have to be in this for the long haul. You can’t simply say “I’ve done the best I could for three months and now I’m stopping my efforts.”

Word-of-mouth and opportunities that knock in unexpected places can’t be summoned on a timeline. These happen when book authors follow through for a year or two years or whatever it takes.

While no one has a crystal ball for which tactics offer a sure-fire success method for any specific book, there are some components that can help make it easier for success to reward your hard work.

One of the most important elements of a book marketing campaign is to have an open mind to learning about new things and trying out new things.

What’s meant by having an open mind? Here’s an example of what can happen to a book author who doesn’t have an open mind:

Let’s say author John had a book come out five years ago and at that time he had a webmaster do a website for that book. Now it’s five years later and John just had the webmaster add a page about this new book to the old website.

Wait! What’s wrong with this scenario?

Websites and web marketing have changed dramatically in the last five years, with many new applications that weren’t available then. Websites today take their cues from successful blogs, which have everything up front and immediate – no waiting for flash intros or welcome pages with a few words on a series of screens.

If people don’t like what they see instantly, they are out of there and on to the next website.

Open mind marketing rule #1: Don’t make the mistake of thinking that what was true for the internet five years ago is true today.

Don’t assume that your website from five years ago is “good enough.” Take the time and effort to find out what’s new and what’s effective in the internet marketing world of today. Don’t drive a horse and buggy when there’s a horseless carriage available.

Open mind marketing rule #2: Don’t follow every piece of advice so that you are running around in circles without making any progress.

Understand that some advice is better than others, and that not every piece of advice fits every situation. Take your time to evaluate the information you’re learning and consider what makes sense for your particular book, your own available promotion time, and your strengths and weaknesses.

For example, the social networking site Twitter can be an excellent marketing tool if your personality fits the Twitter modus operandi. But there are people who get easily frustrated with trying to stay on top of various conversation threads. If you’re one of these people, utilize a social networking site that better suits your personality.

Open mind marketing rule #3: Be flexible. If something doesn’t work for you, be willing to admit defeat and move on to another tactic.

Just because many internet marketers say that Facebook is a great place to create relationships, if using Facebook isn’t helping you with your book marketing, admit this and switch to trying something else (although don’t get rid of your Facebook account).

Of course, you can’t give up after only a few days. All of the social networking sites take time and effort to utilize them effectively. But if you’ve given Facebook several months of effort, you should probably consider finding a better site for you to connect with book readers who might buy your book.

In conclusion, if you want to pave the way for a successful book marketing campaign, you must be in it for the long haul with an open mind – ready to learn new things, try new things, evaluate advice, and be flexible.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a National Internet Business Examiner at http://www.InternetBizBlogger.com as well as a book author, and her power marketing company http://www.MillerMosaicLLC.com combines traditional marketing principles and Internet marketing strategies to put power in your hands.

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You would always want the best to market your book. Book events are the times when authors expect much for their book’s exposure. Preparing for these events can be tough considering that there is a list of things that need to be checked and finalized. Book events like make every author dreamy and anxious about long customer lines and stuffed cash boxes.

Regardless of the amount of money that you are going to invest on a book event, it should turn out successful. As self-published authors, you have to wear the event coordinator’s hat. This basically means that you have to spearhead every event and look at everything down to the tiniest details.

This article features a smart checklist on how to improve conducting 5-star promotional events for your book.

1. Brainstorm. This is the stage where you squeeze in everything that’s possible. Jot down all your ideas that best suit your event. These ideas should answer the question: What do I want my readers to think about me and my book? Aside from generating ideas, you should also consider the following elements: relevance, consistency, creativity, and strategy.

1. Sit down and plan out. Think of ways and means that’ll help your ideas come to fruition. Think of practical but highly effective strategies. Your strategies will most likely cover: venue, logistics, promotions, and publicity.

1. Budget. This can be very challenging. Money can easily run out when you’re having fun. That’s why you should optimize the use of your budget for every book event.  Consider what things are necessary. Hold off on the fancy things that can wait when there’s more than enough money. Stay loyal to your budget.

1. Advance publicity. Content, medium, and timing make advance publicity effective. For content, you should be creative and relevant to attract attendees. What can your readers learn from reading your book? What makes your event worth the time? Create a simple yet persuasive strategy statement. State a call to action. Mediums can be attractive invitation cards, bookmarks, flyers, posters, button pins, print ads, press releases, websites or video trailers. Timing can be very crucial. It’s best to launch your advance publicity 30 to 60 days prior to your book event.

1. Crowdsourcing. When you let your readers get involve, you don’t only get attention, but you get the opportunity to generate ideas from them. Crowdsourcing can be in many forms. Get the public involve by letting them help you out on creating a video trailer for your book. Offer appealing rewards to entice a lot of participants. You’d be surprised to see how much ideas can be generated to your advantage.

1. Give away good attitude at all times. Criticism, whether you agree or not, is part of success. Always have a polite and courteous attitude especially when facing impossible-to-deal-with customers.Success doesn’t come overnight.

1. Express gratitude in tangible ways. At the end of every book event, it’s always best when you reward the people who took time to attend. If it’s possible, send out personalized ‘thank you’ cards. By doing this, they will most likely look forward to your next book event.

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Source: http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2010/08/clone-yourself-marketing-tips-that-help.html

By Tony Eldridge, creator of Marketing Tips For Authors

Do you ever wish you had 26 hours in a day or that you could be in two places at once? One way to handle this conundrum is to hire people to do some of the things you just don’t have time to do. But in some cases, the answer to your time-crunch dilemma may be a simple, free solution that you can set up today. I’m talking about automated services that help you get your marketing messages out for you so you can focus on other marketing activities.

In the near past, I would have provided a list of services that you can use to accomplish this. While I will mention a few services that I use, this post will focus simply on educating you on the types of activities that you have available. Why? Because these time-saving services are so widespread and similar in features that a simple Google search will return a virtual smorgasbord of results for you to feast on.

1. Automatically Announce Your New Blog Posts- You could spend an hour each day manually adding your new post to your social sites or you could hire someone to do this for you. But in today’s world, you can set up a service to automatically detect and post the title and link to your social sites. Most of these services will even shorten your URL for micro sites like Twitter.

Before you get all excited and start to sign up for these services, I have a some advice.

• Check out the free services before you pay for this. You may eventually decide to pay for services that offer unique benefits you find desirable, but you may also find that the free services do exactly what you need.
• Be careful not to sign up for multiple services that do the same thing. You may find two cool services that offer unique benefits but they both also post your new blog title to your accounts. You don’t want to flood your social followers with the same announcements over and over.
• Remember that you can set these services up coming or going. What I mean by that is that you can have sites like Twitter pull in your new blog posts or you can even have your blog send out your new posts to sites like Twitter. And there are a host of third party applications that will act as the go-between between services like your blog and Twitter.
• Many applications will post to multiple spots like Twitter and Facebook at the same time, so you may want to look at managing one application rather than managing multiple applications that all do the same thing.

2. Automatically Schedule Your Messages- I love services like Social Oomph. Their free version will allow you to create a tweet that you might want to send out multiple times, save it, and schedule it to run whenever you wish with a few clicks of your mouse. I have hundreds of blog titles going back a couple of years that are still relevant today as they were when I first posted them. Now, once a week or once every two weeks, I can schedule old posts to tweet out to new followers. This can keep great content out of the morgue and help them continue to give benefits to your followers.

3. Have Your Mail Client Sort Your Incoming Mail- Rather than spend your day prioritizing your e-mail or hiring an assistant to do it for you, you can set up folders for incoming e-mails and then set up rules to have incoming mail automatically move messages to these folders. Then, all you have to do is glance through your folders to visually see priority messages.

For example, I never want to miss an e-mail from my wife, Emily. I have a folder in Outlook called, creatively enough, “Emily.” Anytime she sends me an e-mail, it goes straight to that folder and the folder turns bold to let me know an unread message is there. I have folders set up for blogs I follow, incoming bills, Twitter alerts and about 25 other folders. TechTrax has a great written tutorial on setting up rules or for those who learn better by watching, VideoTrainingPro has a video tutorial that will help you set up rules.

4. Make It Easy For Your Followers To Share Through Automation- You love it when people tweet about your post or share it with their Facebook friends, right? Well, people are more likely to do just that if you make it quick and easy for them. Early on, I actually changed the HTML template of this blog to add the TweetMeMe button on all my posts. Now, Blogger has a tool that will add it for you with a click or two of the mouse. Regardless of what tool you use, or where you get it, if you give your readers a simple button to click in order to share your posts, it will increase the chances that they will follow through.

I hope these ideas help you find ways you can automate your daily tasks and free up time to do the other marketing tasks that need to be done. If so, you will be surprised at how productive you will become.

About the Author

Tony Eldridge is the author of the award winning action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, which Clive Cussler calls a “first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure.” He is also the creator of Marketing Tips for Authors, a site that publishes free tips and videos to help authors learn marketing techniques for their books. You can read the serial release of The Samson Effect at http://samsoneffect.marketingtipsforauthors.com/

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