Book Marketing on a Budget: Planning a Book Marketing Campaign that Works

Seven Secrets of Writing a Book that Sells

by: Penny C. Sansevieri

It's one thing to write a book, it's an entirely different thing to write one that's a saleable, viable, marketable product. Ensuring the success of a book is something even the biggest publishers have never been able to guarantee. Mitigating circumstances, flash trends, and world events will all affect buyer preferences. That said, there are still ways to leverage the sales-factor in your favor and here's how you do it.

1. Know your readers. We're not just talking about whether your readers are male or female. You'll want to know myriad factors about your audience. How old are your readers (age range)? Are readers married, single, or divorced? Where do your readers reader live (generally)? What do your readers do for a living? What other books/publications do they read? Develop a profile that includes where they shop, what clubs do they belong to, etc.

These elements will help you incorporate these aspects into your book *and* help you unearth salient marketing opportunities (i.e., publications and stores).

2. Know your market. What's the market like for your book? Is there a trend out there you're positioning yourself towards. Are you reading all the publications related to this topic/trend? Are there any "holes" out there your book could fill? What's the future for this market/topic? For example, let's say you're a fiction writer looking to publish chick lit. Go to any bookstore and you can't help but spot the cutsie, pink, cartoonish covers. Many thought this trend was dying out, but it has recently seen another surge. What do you know about trends related to your book/topic/audience?

3. Similar books. What else has been published on your topic? Have you read all ten books in your category? If you haven't, you should. You'll want to know everything you can about what's out there and how it's being perceived in the marketplace. It's never a problem having a similar topic. When I published No More Rejections - Get Published Today, I knew there were other books out there on marketing. I read them all--then angled my book differently.







4. Getting and staying current. What's going on in your industry today? What are some hot buttons? What are people looking for? What's next on the horizon for this topic/audience? If you can't seem to gather this information through traditional channels, why not survey your target audience? There are a number of places to run free surveys, Survey Monkey is one of them: http://www.surveymonkey.com

5. Follow the media. What's the media talking about these days (besides the California election & Ben-lo)? Keep track of media buzz--what they're paying attention to and what they're writing about. Delve beyond the front page of your paper to the second or third page and see what's filling the pages. If you can get your hands on out-of-state papers, do a comparative review. Do you see a trend in coverage? Is there something that seems to be getting more buzz even if it's on page six?

6. Talk, teach, listen. One of the best ways I've found to get in touch with my audience was to teach a class and do speaking engagements. When I was putting together my book, Get Published Today, I found that the classes I taught provided valuable information for creating a great book because they put me directly in touch with my audience!

7. Timing is everything. When do you plan to release your tome? Are you releasing around a holiday or anniversary? Could you take advantage of any upcoming event and/or holiday for your book launch?

How to Create a Media Frenzy for Your Book

by: Dr. Jamie Fettig

Learn to use the media to create free exposure for yourself and to sell your books. And most importantly, how to be a great guest once you get on the air.
Prepare talking points before making media appearances.
Many new authors spend so much time and energy trying to get in the newspaper or on radio that when they get there, they don't know what to say. But if you take an hour to prepare concise, compelling comments about your book, you'll come off as a real pro, increase sales, and maybe even be asked back!
The average radio interview lasts five minutes, of which three might be broadcast, and on average you might get six inches of coverage in your local newspaper. You don't have a lot of time to waste hemming and hawing about your book, and the journalist interviewing you doesn't want to waste his or her time either. So before you even start soliciting press coverage, write down and memorize your talking points.
You say you know your book? I'm sure you do. But when you're under the gun of a timed interview, or an interviewer hits you with a surprise question, it's easy to stammer or get confused. Talking points are your lifeline. I suggest preparing a list that looks like this:
a. What's the "elevator pitch" (a 10-second summary) of my book?
b. Who is my book targeted to?
c. How did I decide to write it?
d. What are three passages in my book that I want to quote?
e. What can people get out of my book?
f. Where can people buy my book?
Write those down on note cards and memorize them, but keep the cards with you when you do interviews, just in case. That way, you'll come off more professional and make the most of the time you get.
Focus heavily on PR.
If you don't believe in the power of public relations and the media to turn an unknown book into a bestseller, I have two words for you: Oprah Winfrey. Get your book 15 minutes on her show and you'll sell a million copies. That's the power of the media.
Of course, getting on Oprah is the Holy Grail of book marketing, and while you shouldn't NOT try to get on her show, you shouldn't focus only on that. PR is your most powerful tool for creating awareness and selling books. So early on, while you're still in final editing, start making lists of media outlets, cashing in on contacts, making calls and sending out e-mails.
PR works because it's got credibility. Instead of a paid ad, people see an objective journalist reviewing your book, or a talk show host who's chosen to have you on her show because she liked your book. Media exposure carries tremendous weight with book buyers. Ask your friends how many books they've bought after hearing about them on "Fresh Air" on National Public Radio.
These are some of the PR avenues you can pursue:

• Reviews in any and all publications, print and online especially.
• Features in print and online publications.
• Radio interviews.
• Television interviews.
• A regular column in a magazine or newspaper or online.
• Speaking engagements.
• A role as an "expert source" for one or more journalists.
• Creating press events.
• Tying your book to a charity or cause.

It all begins with your press kit. That's a snazzy folder that contains the press release about your book's publication, a bio of you, a black and white photo of you (professionally done) and any press coverage you may have already received. Once you've identified your media list, send that kit to the key contacts at each paper, magazine, TV or radio station.
But don't stop there. PR is about relationships, and you've got to strike the right balance of "eager to help" and "respecting your time." Follow up your press kit with an e-mail in a week or so, and stay in touch. Offer story ideas or to be quoted for a feature. Make yourself an asset to journalists and editors and you'll be surprised at the results.
Two final tips:

• Always include your Web address in your PR, stories, interviews, etc.
• Always get reprints, videotapes, etc. of your press coverage to use later.

Learn to use the media to create free exposure for yourself and to sell your books. And most importantly, how to be a great guest once you get on the air.
Prepare talking points before making media appearances.
Many new authors spend so much time and energy trying to get in the newspaper or on radio that when they get there, they don't know what to say. But if you take an hour to prepare concise, compelling comments about your book, you'll come off as a real pro, increase sales, and maybe even be asked back!
The average radio interview lasts five minutes, of which three might be broadcast, and on average you might get six inches of coverage in your local newspaper. You don't have a lot of time to waste hemming and hawing about your book, and the journalist interviewing you doesn't want to waste his or her time either. So before you even start soliciting press coverage, write down and memorize your talking points.
You say you know your book? I'm sure you do. But when you're under the gun of a timed interview, or an interviewer hits you with a surprise question, it's easy to stammer or get confused. Talking points are your lifeline. I suggest preparing a list that looks like this:
g. What's the "elevator pitch" (a 10-second summary) of my book?
h. Who is my book targeted to?
i. How did I decide to write it?
j. What are three passages in my book that I want to quote?
k. What can people get out of my book?
l. Where can people buy my book?
Write those down on note cards and memorize them, but keep the cards with you when you do interviews, just in case. That way, you'll come off more professional and make the most of the time you get.
Focus heavily on PR.
If you don't believe in the power of public relations and the media to turn an unknown book into a bestseller, I have two words for you: Oprah Winfrey. Get your book 15 minutes on her show and you'll sell a million copies. That's the power of the media.
Of course, getting on Oprah is the Holy Grail of book marketing, and while you shouldn't NOT try to get on her show, you shouldn't focus only on that. PR is your most powerful tool for creating awareness and selling books. So early on, while you're still in final editing, start making lists of media outlets, cashing in on contacts, making calls and sending out e-mails.
PR works because it's got credibility. Instead of a paid ad, people see an objective journalist reviewing your book, or a talk show host who's chosen to have you on her show because she liked your book. Media exposure carries tremendous weight with book buyers. Ask your friends how many books they've bought after hearing about them on "Fresh Air" on National Public Radio.
These are some of the PR avenues you can pursue:

• Reviews in any and all publications, print and online especially.
• Features in print and online publications.
• Radio interviews.
• Television interviews.
• A regular column in a magazine or newspaper or online.
• Speaking engagements.
• A role as an "expert source" for one or more journalists.
• Creating press events.
• Tying your book to a charity or cause.

It all begins with your press kit. That's a snazzy folder that contains the press release about your book's publication, a bio of you, a black and white photo of you (professionally done) and any press coverage you may have already received. Once you've identified your media list, send that kit to the key contacts at each paper, magazine, TV or radio station.
But don't stop there. PR is about relationships, and you've got to strike the right balance of "eager to help" and "respecting your time." Follow up your press kit with an e-mail in a week or so, and stay in touch. Offer story ideas or to be quoted for a feature. Make yourself an asset to journalists and editors and you'll be surprised at the results.
Two final tips:

• Always include your Web address in your PR, stories, interviews, etc.
• Always get reprints, videotapes, etc. of your press coverage to use later.

Promotional Content... It's the little things that count

by: Edward B. Toupin

Promotional content is the invisible content in the various recesses of a
Web page. This type of content is used by search engines and directories to
properly categorize your site and its pages during indexing.

--- Site Title ---

The title is the first thing a search engine displays as a result of a
search. This makes it imperative that the title contains something readable
and descriptive. Do not place a bunch of redundant terms in your
title---make sure that the title can be read as a sentence. If the reader
cannot understand the meaning of the title, then chances are they will not
visit your site.

Once you create your page title, place it once within the header of the page
using the < itle> tags. Many marketers will place their title as
many as five to ten times within the header of their page! This is good in
that your relevance increases from the number of keywords; however, this
repetitive approach is poor netiquette and is usually not accepted by most
search engines.

--- META Tags ---

Meta Tags are information fields located in the header of a Web page. These
tags store information about your browser, keywords, site description, and
authoring information. The two main Meta Tags are "description" and
"keywords." The "description" tag contains a short description of your page
while the "keywords" tag contains a search keyword list for your page.
These two Meta Tags are used by search engines to index your site and are
critical elements of every Web page. When your site is indexed, users can
enter search topics into the search engine to locate your site based on
these two tags.

The Meta Tags should look like this in the of your Web page:




To ensure the proper indexing of your page, you will have to devise a
content scheme that targets numerous types of search engines. Note that
different search engines will index your site in different ways, depending
on the content. For instance, the following list provides information on the
different ways that search engines can index your site:

* Some search engines look for an agreement between the description,
keyword, title, and body.

* Some search engines use only the information located in the first line of
the body of the page.

* Some search engines use a combination of the Meta Tags and the body
content to weight your page based upon consistency.

Obviously, you would want to maintain a consistent content and style
throughout your page. It is important, however, to learn how the different
types of search engines work to have your page properly positioned in the
lists.

--- Hidden Form Fields ---

Once you've developed the keywords for your site, you'll find that you still
have over a dozen or so discarded phrases and words that are relevant to
your page. Your Meta Tags are probably filled to the maximum 255 character
limit and that the first line of your page body is a graphic and contains no
pertinent text. Forcing any of these additional phrases and keywords into
the page can get you rejected from several search engines for "keyword
stuffing," described below.

These types of dilemmas are quite common for many Web page developers, but
the solution is simple: a hidden form field. This form field is identical to
every other form field (e.g. input fields, radio buttons, check boxes,
etc.), however, it cannot be seen on the page in a browser.

The hidden form fields go in the body of the Web page and look like the
following:

Many search engines will recognize hidden form fields and use the
information to index your site in the same manner as they would standard
text in the body of your page. Some search engines ignore such fields,
however, it is important to create pages that are acceptable across all
search engines.

Hidden form fields can be used as the first line of text in your Web page
and should reside in your page before any other content. The reason for this
placement is that most search engines will only use the first 2,048
characters in a document. With hidden form fields, you can still get those
extra keywords into your document without forfeiting space and layout.

--- Keywords ---

Keywords are one of the more important elements of a Web page since they
describe the page to which they belong. The keywords that you select for
your site must be relevant to the page as well as frequently used within the
page's content.

Relevant keywords provide a better position in a search engine for your
target market. For instance, if your site is specific to a new piece of
financial software, it's important to stress the keywords that best describe
the general and specific characteristics of the software. If someone
performs a search for "automobile" and your site appears, it's certain that
you will get a few users. The problem is that these users will do you no
good since they are interested in another topic.

Obviously, if you're selling some product that's important to a wide range
of markets, then nearly any choice of keywords would be relevant to your
site. The point is that you want to ensure that you're bringing in only
those users that are interested in what your site has to offer. In this way,
you are maximizing your marketing effort.

The following rules may not make sense immediately, however, by following
them, you're sure to increase your search engine position as well as the
number of hits your site receives:

* Plural Form of Keywords
When a user performs a search, it's unlikely that they will enter a search
term that exactly matches the keywords you selected for your site. In some
cases, the user will enter the singular form of a keyword and in others,
they may enter the plural form. It's essential to capture both forms of a
keyword to maximize your exposure!

* Repeat Important Keywords
In the days of old, we could repeat a keyword numerous times to increase the
relevancy of a site in a search engine. This repetition allowed sites to be
placed higher in the search engine's list so that the user would see that
site first. Today, search engines filter out those sites that over-repeat
keywords. It's best to repeat the most important keywords no more than twice
to increase your relevancy without being eliminated.

* Diversify Keyword Meanings
Assume that every user has a different vocabulary--some users say "book"
while others may say "publication" or "document." Each word refers to the
same thing, however, unless your keywords are properly selected, you may
only get one-third of your potential hits! When devising your keyword
scheme, take into account the different forms of a given keyword. Create the
keywords important to your site in such a way that, regardless of the search
terms used by a user, your site will appear in the results list.

* Keyword Variations
Consider the fact that users will not enter the keywords into a search
engine the same way every time. For instance, some users may enter "real
time software" while others may enter "real-time software" or "realtime
software." Think about the keyword variations to ensure the capture of as
many users as possible. Also, consider common misspellings of keywords. I
know many intelligent individuals who tend to misspell certain words because
of the phonetic spelling of the word---consider "eves" and "eaves." If a
user consistently misspells such a word and you happen to sell plant hangers
for under eaves, you might lose potential clients.

* Keyword Combinations and Phrases
Some search engines will only take the first 255 characters of a keyword
list, while others accept a nearly unlimited list of keywords. The problem
is that you must target the 255-character limitation to be accepted by as
many search engines as possible. One method to accommodate the keyword list
limitation is to use phrases that best describe the page. For instance, I
could use "ebook marketing" as a phrase that could be found with several
combinations of search topics in a search engine. Another method is to
ensure that the most relevant keywords are located at the front of the
keyword list---even with a 255-character limitation, the most important
keywords are accepted.

--- Keyword Selection ---

Your objective is to attract as many relevant visits to your site as
possible. With that in mind, you will have to select keywords that are
commonly used by users and that are relevant to your site.

You can easily attract users by entering such keywords as "naked women,
adult, sex, ..." into your keyword list. Since these are some of the most
searched-for keywords, I can guarantee that your site will get hits. Do you
think that someone searching for pornography is going to spend very much
time on your page? The problem here is that you will be attracting people
who won't provide a relevant hit to your site. This tactic wastes bandwidth,
time, and money.

--- Developing Keyword Lists ---

Using the information we've reviewed, let's look at creating a keyword list
for a page. This is actually a more difficult task then creating the page
itself since you must determine the best keywords that describe your page.
To begin this task, let's ask ourselves: "how would people begin to search
for a site like mine?"

Immediately, you could come up with about three-dozen keywords to place in a
keyword list, however, many of the keywords that you think are relevant may
turn out to be useless. Think about how you perform searches for certain
information and apply that experience to the selection of keywords for your
page. You'll find that the time taken to create a good keyword list will be
most beneficial.

The best way to weed out useless keywords is to use the steps outlined in
the following list. These steps are proven and have worked on several sites
I've marketed.

* Create an exhaustive list of words that describe your site.
* Review and eliminate words that are least descriptive or redundant.
* Create plural versions of words without altering their form.
* Consider and note misspelling variations.
* Combine words into phases.
* Eliminate duplicate phrases.
* Eliminate phrases with words duplicated in other phrases.
* Check for other words or phrases that can diversify the list.
* Create a comma-delimited list of all phrases and remaining words.
* Move and order the most relevant words to the front of the list.
* Duplicate the four more important words and phrases twice.
* Ask an associate to review the words and phrases.
* Ask an associate to edit the list based on their search preferences.
* Clean up and limit the list to 255 characters.
* Perform searches using your keywords to locate other relevant sites.
* Go to these sites to see how they created their keyword list.

One of The Biggest And Deadliest Mistakes Affiliates Make On

by: David Seitz

XU62BWV76BYE 

Being the affiliate marketing director for one of the
nets most popular affiliate programs I tend to see just
about every type of problem an affiliate could run into.
One of the biggest problems if not THE biggest problem
I see again and again is what we refer to
as "Affiliate Gluttony"

And no, were not talking donuts here!

All jokes aside, affiliate gluttony is a very real and
serious problem among the affiliate marketing world and
you may be surprised to see that your own webpage might
fall into the gluttony category. Don't worry though, it's
only partially contagious and there is a cure!

So what is affiliate gluttony?

Glad you asked! If you can recognize affiliate
gluttony, you can avoid it entirely and increase
your affiliate promotion revenue.

Affiliate gluttony is really greed in disguise. It's
an "unfocused" attempt at earning multiple income
streams. Don't get me wrong "multiple" income streams
should be one of your "biggest" goals but trying to
create them on ONE website is just asking for failure.
No wait... it's BEGGING for it!

I am sure you have seen it plenty of times online.
You come across a website while looking for a product
or piece of information and you get dumped into
gluttony land.

Let's set an example here...

Sally has a website on ebook marketing which promotes
"Big Companies Super Duper Ebook Marketing Guide"
affiliate program. But hold on a minute, while we are
waiting for the page to load ridiculous amounts of
needless images we also see that Sally is promoting
the "Dandy John's Nuclear Powered Orange Juice Squeezer
With Email Attachment Interface" plus don't forget
the "Romance or Bust: Hitch Hikers Guide To Finding
A Soul Mate On The Open Desert Road In 7 Days or Less"
affiliate program and several "hundred" other great
bargains that we all have been looking for our entire
lives! Wow, everything from fruit baskets to rocket fuel.

Damn, we found the gold mine here! I better call my
credit card company right now and request a credit
extension because daddy's going to be ordering up a
storm today! Sally will be on her way to a tropical
paradise by the time I'm done shopping at her site.

S T O P ! ! !

Ok Sally, it's time to wake up! In reality I'd hit
my browsers back button faster than you can say:
"What's a nuclear powered orange juicer look like?"

How many affiliate ad's do you think you can fit on
one webpage? Are you trying to break the record?

This is killing your sales!

Sally has been stricken with a sever case of affiliate
gluttony. All is not lost though, with a bit of work,
Sally will be able to create several income streams
out of her website and all without losing any of her
affiliate programs she so enthusiastically promotes.

If you're already stuck in this rather popular ditch
it's not hard to dig yourself out. Slowly modify
your webpages with a personal touch and you will soon
see your click thru rates and sales referrals
pleasantly increasing!

Our best advice to Sally is to take each of her
most popular affiliate programs and create unique
websites for each.

It's not as hard as you think it is. Imagine if Sally
bought up nuclearjuicer.com and created a 3 to 5 page
website that totally focused on promoting "Dandy John's
Nuclear Powered Orange Juice Squeezer With Email
Attachment Interface" Do you think her sales would
increase? You better believe it! Adding pictures,
personal testimonials and quick load times will help
create a total marketing machine focused on selling
one product! When a targeted visitor comes to
nuclearjuicer.com looking for a juicer they will have
nothing interfering with their purchase decision.

Whether you promote software or lawn mowers, if you
focus on your target market, you will
increase your affiliate referrals.

Sally can immediately put this idea into play with very
little out of pocket expense using these resources:

Domains can be purchased dirt cheap at:
http://www.000domains.com/

Webservers are very inexpensive and easy to find:
http://www.hostinvestigator.com/
http://webhostdir.com/
http://www.hostcompare.com/

"Targeted" Traffic can also be purchased dirt cheap at:
http://www.virtual-imagination.com/payperclick/

Need help with HTML, uploading and graphics? Here is just
about everything you would possibly need to create a site:
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/
http://www.obscure.org/~jaws/htmlhelp.html
http://www.webmonkey.com/

With a little time and patience, you can literally create
as many affiliate income streams as you want! Each one
should be focused on one specific category or concept to
generate the most revenue. When you leave your targeted
visitors with fewer purchasing choices and keep them
focused on one product, you will create many more
affiliate sales.

Remember, a glutton's ugly on the eyes...

DON'T BE A GLUTTON!

Free E-Book Marketing: Destroying The Myths

by: Chayden A. Bates

Before you read this, understand right now: Free E-Book Marketing WORKS! It has been proven to be one of the *most powerful* forms of online marketing ever offered. But with the knowledge of its existence, and nothing but a notion of the idea, many who have attempted to utilize its power have failed. Why? The lack of understanding! Free E-Book Marketing has been in use for over SIX YEARS. Successfully utilized by many "high-class" marketers. These few have been actively creating and promoting Free E-Books since the ability was provided. Then, about the three-fourths of the way through 1999, the news broke of this powerful "new" marketing form and everyone and their brother were trying to "cash-in" on the opportunities they were hearing about. Buying up the e-publishing software stock, many misunderstanding marketers began creating and compiling everything they could get their hands on. Throwing these so called worth while Free E-Books into the world of the Web, they were actually doing more harm than good. Little did ( or do ) they realize the necessary steps that need to be taken in order to ensure their success ... that of quality, unique and beneficial content. Let me ask you, "How many Free E-Books have you downloaded due to its sizzling title, only to find nothing but an over used report with a million and one banner ads flashing in your face?" Too many to count? There in lies the problem. How many "bad" Free E-Books does it take before you stop downloading Free E-Books all together? Do you know what that does, not only for the author of the Free E-Book, but other, successful Free E-Book Marketers? Too say the least, its not good. So what DOES make a good Free E-Book? What makes a Free E-Book successful in the sense that it does what it is meant to do? It's rather simple, and if you're at all interested in this "old" form of marketing, than here are the TWO MOST IMPORTANT aspects you need to realize: ONE: Your E-Book must be focused. It should only present a single offer to its readers. It should not stray or attempt to teach everything about anything. It should be centered around one solid idea: To present your ( business ) knowledge as to establish yourself as an expert in your field. To show and help the reader realize that you are a credible source of information. After reading your Free E-Book, your reader should have a firm grasp of the concepts you present. They should be able to follow through and succeed with the resources you provide. This will help the passing of your Free E-Book as well as strengthen your chances for future dealings with its readers. ( This is what makes you money, not the banner ads. ) TWO: Your E-Book must be educational. If you decide to utilize Free E-Book Marketing, than understand this: Your Free E-Book is to be created to generate leads. How do you generate leads? You educate your prospects about what you have to offer. You show them the hows, whats and whys of how your offer works and will work to benefit them to act upon. You must teach the reader all that you successfully can about what the contents of your Free E-Book will do for them. Before they will hand you their money to enhance their lives, they need to know WHY what you're offering will work for them. By demonstrating, thus educating through the use of your Free E-Book, your reader will naturally gravitate towards you for "further" information, where in you may charge for admission, thus making you your profits. Free E-Book Marketing is simply a matter of understanding how the marketing and psychological strategies of it work. Understanding the above is *by far* the most important aspects of Free E-Book Marketing you need to realize. If what I have just shown you is not followed, you will only work to hurt yourself. People want quality, informative content ... and you want their money. By giving them what they want, then suggesting they come to you for more, you will work to help each other. Free E-Book Marketing WORKS! But ONLY if you use it right. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chayden is the author of the highly acclaimed NEW E-Book, "E-Book Marketing Explained!" and is currently teaching other online marketers how to maximize their online promotional efforts with the use of Free E-Book Marketing - the most "viral" online advantage you've got!. Visit his site for full details: http://www.marketingeffect.com/me.cgi?ME260_campaign.

 

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