Blogs and RSS Feeds: Just the FAQs Blog Tour with MaAnna Stephenson

I am excited to have today's guest blogger with us. MaAnna Stephenson is wrapping up her blog tour and Marketing Tips For Authors gets the privilege of learning from her expertise. Two decades of technical writing, web design and marketing for countless private clients and community groups have led her to produce a new instructional series titled Just the FAQs, the ultimate user-friendly guides to the technical aspects of internet marketing and promotions.



Each time a blog visitor comments on any or all of the blog stops, they will be entered in a random drawing for two free Just the FAQs classes. Not only that, but every commenter is a winner and will receive a copy of MaAnna Stephenson's e-book the Quick Step Guide. If you haven't already read her books, be sure to pick up the series at http://www.justthefaqs.net/ebooks.shtml.

I encourage you to check out the other stops on her blog tour and read more from MaAnna by visiting her Just The FAQs Blog Tour Page. You'll find a wealth of information on some of the best book marketing blogs out there.

Now, I give you MaAnna Stephenson.


Blogs and RSS Feeds: Just the FAQs Blog Tour
MaAnna Stephenson

Becoming a successful author these days requires an online marketing campaign. That means becoming familiar with Web 2.0 including websites, blogs, RSS feeds, and social networking. But, many authors are not comfortable with the technical aspects of developing an online presence. Even those who are a little bit familiar with HTML waste days and weeks of valuable time trying to find tutorials to help them learn the lingo and the basics of getting started with developing an online presence. Dramatically reducing this learning curve and making it a pleasant experience for non-technical folks was the initial idea behind creating the Just the FAQs series of e-books.

A blog is one of the best marketing tools an author can use to establish an online presence and get buzz on their book. Blogs are easy to use and they allow the author to constantly post news and information on book events, author speaking engagements, related topics, and more. Because viewers can post comments, blogs also give the author a way to directly interact with their audience.

At one time, blogs were used to drive traffic to a static site that served as a large brochure containing more information on the book, articles, and other resource links. Today, blogs have become so popular that they are the main page most authors use to communicate with their audience. So, now the trick becomes driving traffic to your blog.

This is the reason that micro-blogs and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become so popular. They are a great way to quickly announce that you have created a new post.

Another way to increase viewership on your blog is to offer an RSS feed subscription. These are becoming extremely popular because it allows the viewer to subscribe to multiple blogs and read posts from all of them in one place, called a Reader. Google offers one of the more popular Readers. In this way, viewers can create a virtual newspaper of blog posts delivered directly to them and they no longer have to actually go to each site just to see if there is news. RSS feeds also make your blog posts available for syndication on other news sites, effectively increasing your audience. RSS feeds can also be read on mobile devices, which is another trend gaining in popularity.

As you can see, a blog with RSS feeds is the most essential component in creating a successful internet marketing campaign.