Marketing Tips Around The Net: February 26th

It's Friday and that means it's time to take a trip around the net to look at book marketing posts that catch my eye. Before we do, I have a couple of quick announcements to make.

1. If you are a subscriber to my free Video Tips Newsletter, I want to let you know that the new tip is out. In this video, I walk you through the steps of preparing, uploading and installing the WordPress software to your server. If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up now and watch this video today. I will even give you instant access to over 45 minutes of video tips just for signing up today.
   
   
2. This weekend is that last chance to take advantage of the presale offer for my new training on Conducting Effective Twitter Contests. The product launches Monday at it's regular price. This is the all-in-one book, workshop & seminar training series that teaches you how to find the Twitter followers who are interested in what you have to offer. But it goes into more than how to launch a Twitter contest. You get over 4 hours of how-to and instructional videos to illustrate the lessons taught in the PDF training material. Check out the product page to read more about the content included in this unique training package and to watch a couple of sample videos. Even if you decide not to purchase Conducting Effective Twitter Videos you will walk away with knowledge you can use today just by watching these free videos.
   

Now, on to our trip around the net.

1. What is Article Marketing?- Yvonne Perry speaks on how you can incorporate article marketing into your overall marketing plan.

2. From Book to Multiple Streams of Income- Dana Lynn Smith invites Liz Alexander to her blog to discuss something that almost all authors want to learn more about.

3. Publisher Simon & Schuster Says Authors Should Blog and Social Network- Joanna Penn touches on how S&S are now encouraging authors to build their online marketing platform. After reading this post, you may walk away like I did thinking that if S&S were smart, they'd try to get Joanna on their staff to help things along for their authors.

4. Is Your Twitter Account Consistent With Your Website?- Twitter is a piece of your overall marketing presence. Phyllis Zimbler Miller discusses how you want to make sure that it works in concert with your website.

5. Get In on the Cutting Edge of iPad- Carolyn Howard-Johnson keeps you up to date on the newest technology in this "Hot off the press" post.

6. Facebook Now Integrated into Google- Angela Wilson discusses the deal inked by Google and Facebook and what it can mean to you.

7. Web usability tip: Make it easy for visitors to locate desired content- Roger C. Parker looks at how Dan Schawbel segments his content based on the target audience visiting his site. Executed correctly, this strategy can be a great way to funnel people to the appropriate content they are looking for.

8. Building Cooperative Marketing Relationships: Practicing What I Preach- Shel Horowitz talks about how applying his own marketing principles helped move his Amazon rank from #575,000 to #13. Not bad by anyone's measure.

9. Best Tweets for Writers- Jane Friedman posts a blog called There Are No Rules that contains great material. One of my favorite is her weekly Best Tweets For Writers. In that segment, she lists some of her favorite posts, including posts about marketing for writers. This one takes you to her posts for the week ending 2/19/10.

10. Optimize a Single Post On Your Blog for SEO- Darren Rowse gives some great tips on how to optimize your blog post of search engines (SEO).

That's it for this week's trip around the net. I look forward to seeing you next week. As for me, my family will be celebrating my some Jan/Feb birthdays for family members this Saturday. My three year old twin boys can hardly wait!

What Is A Video E-Book?

Last year, I had the dream of creating a learning tool that was like no other that I had ever seen. I didn't have a word for it, so I thought of it as a "Video E-book". Now, videos and e-books have been around for a while. In fact, many instructors have done a great job at combining these two emerging media into a complementary training package. But until now, combining these two training methods meant:

• Providing the learner with multiple files they had to manipulate to take advantage of the training
  
  
• Or often utilizing proprietary software to make the two technologies work together.
  

My idea was to create a single file based on common technology that allowed me to bring these two training methods together. Fortunately for me, that was the time that Adobe upgraded their Acrobat Reader and their Flash movie player to allow this to happen.

With the Acrobat Reader and the Acrobat Flash Player available for free and being an industry standard, it meant that I could create the "Video E-Book" training in a way that hid the technology under the hood. Users could simply download a single file to take advantage of this new training media.

So, what is my idea of a "Video E-Book"? Quite simply, it's a PDF e-book that has instructional training videos embedded right in it. When you read about opening a Social Oomph account to help you schedule your Twitter tweets, you can watch a video of someone scheduling tweets on Social Oomph just by clicking on the video right in the e-book.

No external links.
No folders of videos to link to the e-book.
No special proprietary programs to download.

It was important to me that technology aided people in learning, not get in the way. That's why, when I release Conducting Effective Twitter Contests on Monday, I am releasing a learning platform that you will most likely be unfamiliar with.

True "Video E-books" as I described just don't exists yet. At least, I am not familiar with them, and most marketing experts I am working with on this launch have not seen anything quite like it. But it's my belief now that the technology is readily available, "Video E-Books" will start to become more and more commonplace. After all, they take advantage of the time honored learning principle created by Edgar Dale, a U.S. educationist who developed the famous Cone of Experience. Dale said that we:

• Remember 10% of what we read
  
• Remember 20% of what we hear
  
• Remember 30% of what we see
  
• Remember 50% of what we see and hear.
  

Conducting Effective Twitter Contests, my first "Video E-book," takes advantage of the way we learn by combing multiple avenues of learning. You can see a quick visual of Dale’s cone from the University of Iowa's website here:

Cone of Experience

So, when you hear me use the term "Video E-book", this is what I mean. If you are an author or marketer, I suggest that you take a look at this new technology. In my opinion, multimedia is the future of education and the "Video E-book" is one great application of the technology available to us.

Already, marketers are starting to become proficient in providing training via webcasts, podcasts, teleseminars, videos, Internet radio, and mp3 recordings. These are all related siblings in the multimedia era we live in. The true beneficiary of this new technology is the recipient of the training, especially if we don't allow the technology to get in the way.

Where is the future of training headed? Who knows? But based on where it has come so far, I am excited to find out.

Tony Eldridge

Review: Launching A Book On The Internet By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

In today's post, I am actually reviewing two items from Phyllis Zimbler Miller of Miller Mosaic, LLC. The first is the mp3 teleseminar recording from Phyllis and her business partner Yael Miller entitled "What You Should Know About Launching a Book on the Internet"

If you have a book, fiction or non-fiction, that you are writing, you know the time is coming when you need to launch it. This recording packs a lot of information that will help you think through what you need to do to have a successful launch. In it, you will learn:

• When to start marketing your book
  
• How to use social media to launch your book
  
• The power of endorsements and testimonials
  
• The importance of your book cover
  
• Considering joint ventures in your launch
  
• The dangers of "over promoting"
  
• Getting your fans involved in the launch
  
• Marketing on Amazon.com
  
• Creating and using videos in your launch
  

Having a mp3 file means that you can download the recording to your favorite PDA and listen to it whenever you have the time. To me, it was like sitting at a table with Phyllis and Yael as I learned the lessons they were teaching.

If you are writing a book and looking for guidance on how to have a successful launch, then this recording will deliver tremendous value to you.

Miller Mosaic also makes a free resource available to you in a report called "Twitter, Facebook and Your Website: A Beginning Blueprint for Harnessing the Power of 3 for Your Business." This free report is designed for the person who is wanting to establish a presence on the web, but may not be sure where to start.

There are so many options available to you when you decide to create a web presence, that the task can seem rather overwhelming. But this reports filters the choices for you and recommends starting with these three: Twitter, Facebook, and your own website (i.e., The Power Of 3).

To me, this report can be best described as a "quick start" guide. It gives you step-by-step instructions on what you need to do to create your presence online quickly by using three of the most powerful platforms available to you. It then discusses how you can link them together to exchange information between them.

If you have not created your web presence, or you have not created it on one of these three platforms, than this free guide can get you started today.

Tony Eldridge

Tax Tips For Freelance Writers

It's Tuesday and that means we have a guest author on Marketing Tips For Authors. Recently, I have been asked tax questions related to work as an author. If ever a disclaimer was appropriate, it's this one: I am no tax expert, or even a tax aficionado. I have, however, found someone who does know a thing or two about taxes. Chuggin McCoffee is here to share tax tips with authors. With April 15th right around the corner, it couldn't be more timely.

Before we get to the post, I have a couple of quick announcements:

1. I want to encourage you to sign up for free webcasts on writing, publishing and marketing your books. This free event is going on all this week with 18 book marketing and publishing experts who will be on various panels to answer all of your questions. I will be on today's webcast (2pm Central) entitled, "PRE-PUBLICATION MARKETING MUSTS" with Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer and Shelley Lieber, The Wordy Woman: Publishing Maven. Visit the Grand Opening Webinar Week page to read more about the topics and to sign up for your free Webcasts now.

2. My new video e-book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests launches March 1st. This is a great marketing resource that can make a huge impact as you look for ways to dig deeper into your niche. When you visit the page, take a look at the sample videos taken right from the video e-book I have made available for you to watch.

Now, on to our guest post today...

It is a wonderful thing to be self-employed as a freelance writer, until tax time rolls around... If it is your first year as a freelance writer filing taxes, you may feel quite overwhelmed. However, once you have a greater understanding of the best route for filing taxes as a freelance writer, it will make life much easier, and you will see the benefits of your chosen profession.

• First of all, consider all of the deductions that you can make as a freelance writer. This includes any materials that you may have purchased for your research, your office furniture, your phone line, advertising, any fees that you paid to freelance writing websites that you are a member of, your computer, printer, Internet costs, and even gas mileage to meet with potential clients. And that is only the tip of the iceberg! You can really get down to the nitty-gritty and start to deduct paper, printer ink, pens, cameras used for any type of pictures for your work, writers training, babysitting fees, and anything else you can think of.
  
  
• The best method to use is to pay your freelance taxes on a quarterly basis. Since you are receiving all of your income in a lump sum, you can set it up with the IRS using the 1040-ES to pay your taxes quarterly so that it is less of a hit once April of next year rolls around.
  
  
• Use a tax preparation software. If all of these deductions have your head spinning, then an easy way to take care of all of your information is using tax software, which is recommended. You can purchase TurboTax as an investment, rather than going to an accountant, and on top of that, the software that you purchase will be tax-deductible!
  
  
• Look for any extra deductions for an added benefit to your taxes. In fact, it is important to be as creative as possible since you can deduct a portion of your rent for your home office, which will be based on the complete square footage of your home. You can also deduct your own health insurance, and any travel that you have done related to business purposes.
  
  
• Don't forget the self-employment tax. This is something that accounts for 15.3% of your income, which can again be paid on a quarterly basis. This also depends upon your tax bracket, so it may cost you more overall. Taking this tax into account will allow you to clearly plan your finances out for the entire year, especially so that you have the opportunity to stay ahead instead of owing to the IRS.
  

The bottom line is that it really does pay to be self-employed, especially since it can save you money in taxes overall. You also have more control of your taxes in the deductions you can create, so being aware of your deductions will work as an advantage to you come April 15. These tips will help you to stay on your toes and avoid unneeded stress as a freelancer during tax time!

*****
Chuggin McCoffee is a coffee fanatic that has spent the entirety of his career cultivating and studying all of the best uses and brewing styles for optimal coffee and espresso flavor. His specialty site for all coffee needs, supplies, and Bunn Filters can be found at The Coffee Bump.

What Is Affiliate Marketing? Part 2

On Thursday, I did a post entitled, What Is Affiliate Marketing? In that post, we introduced the concept of affiliate marketing and identified the two sides of affiliate marketing:

1. Recruiting Affiliates to sell your products
2. Becoming an affiliate to sell other people's products.

For the rest of the post, we then focused on looking at affiliate marketing from the standpoint of recruiting affiliates. In today's post, we will look at affiliate marketing from the standpoint of becoming an affiliate.

Before we get to today's post, I want to encourage you to sign up for free webcasts on writing, publishing and marketing your books. This free event is going on all this week, starting today. 18 book marketing and publishing experts will be on various panels to answer all of your questions. I will be on the Tuesday webcast entitled, "PRE-PUBLICATION MARKETING MUSTS" with Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer and Shelley Lieber, The Wordy Woman: Publishing Maven. Visit the Grand Opening Webinar Week page to read more about the topics and to sign up for your free Webcasts now.

Now, on to our post...

The second way that you can get involved in affiliate marketing is as an affiliate. This means that you sign on to a program that allows you to refer people to another company's product or services. In return, you get a commission if that person purchases the product. Now, this is a very simplistic example of what could be a complex affiliate relationship, but it explains the gist of how being an affiliate works.

There are a number of ways you can become an affiliate. Many companies offer their own affiliate program themselves. You can visit websites of companies you love to see if they have an affiliate program. Alternatively, you can visit one of many companies that handle the affiliate relationship of existing companies. When you do, you can join their program and sell any product from any company they represent.

Becoming an affiliate is a legitimate way to create another revenue stream for your internet business, if that's what you are looking to do. Here are my suggestions for things to consider before becoming an affiliate:

• Find products you believe in- It's much easier to refer people to products you can genuinely endorse. From a business standpoint, if you continually refer people to inferior products, then you will loose your credibility and ultimately the ability to be an effective affiliate.
  
  
• Find companies you believe are ethical- It's a tough thing to be in a business relationship with someone who does not share the same business ethics as you. Like it or not, your reputation will be tied to the reputation of the people you choose to do business with. Make sure you feel comfortable with the way they do business.
  
  
• Follow the rules- Good companies have strict guidelines on how you can represent them when you act as their affiliate. Make sure you are acting within those guidelines. Just as your reputation can be tied to them, so can their reputation be tied to you.
  
  
• Don't Spam- Hey, by now we don't need to get into why spamming is wrong on so many levels. But it's one thing to spam your own products and service, it's another thing to tarnish the reputation of the company you represent as an affiliate. Besides, if they catch you spamming while marketing their products, many companies are likely to end their affiliate relationship with you.
  

We can't end a post 0n affiliate marketing without discussing the FTC's guidelines on affiliate marketing. A lot of buzz has been going on regarding the new guidelines they adopted that affects you as an affiliate. At the heart of the issue is the fact that you need to be clear and upfront when you are an affiliate and use testimonials and endorsements or if you give reviews.

In fact, whenever you use an affiliate link, you need to disclose your affiliate status. The definitions of what constitutes an endorsement or testimonial may be broader than you think, so the safe route is open disclosure. You can read the FTC's communications and educate yourself more fully at the following sources:

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

If you decide to become an affiliate, it can be an honorable and rewarding way to add another revenue stream to your income. The bottom line is really not complicated. Just act ethically and honestly. If you do this, then you are on your way to a potentially profitable business model that can also bring value to people you refer to your affiliate products and services.

Tony Eldridge

Review: Twitter Guide For Authors by Dana Lynn Smith

If you ever wanted to learn Twitter, then you need to know about Dana Lynn Smith's revised edition of her Twitter Guide For Authors. This guide will take you through the process of opening a Twitter Account, but it will do a lot more than that. It will teach you the decisions you need to make early on in order to have a great experience on Twitter.

In this revised edition, Dana discusses Twitter's newest major feature: Twitter Lists. If you know how to use these lists, it can be a great productivity tool for you. She also has added a valuable troubleshooting section that can help you if you run into issues with your Twitter account.

The thing that makes the Twitter Guide For Authors such a useful resource for authors (or anyone else who needs to be on Twitter for that fact), is the simplicity in which the material is presented. If technology is not your cup of tea, then you don't have to worry. This guide can be read and understood by the least technical savvy of us. But what it will help you accomplish is far from simplistic. You will be able to get into the nuts and bolts of Twitter and use it like a pro.

When you get the Twitter Guide For Authors, you will have a resource that will help you with the following:

• Common Networking Mistakes
  
• Managing Your Time Effectively
  
• Choosing Your Twitter Name
  
• Networking Effectively
  
• Twitter Tools
  

This list just scratches the surface of what you will have available to you in this guidebook. You'll learn everything you need to know about using Twitter in your marketing plan and what issues to avoid. Dana even includes action plans throughout the guidebook to give you step-by-step instructions of how to proceed to accomplish specific task and goals. If Twitter has made you nervous, or if you think that you may not be using Twitter to it's full potential in your marketing plan, then check out Dana Lynn Smith's Twitter Guide For Authors. If you're like me, it will be a reference you keep handy to refer to time and time again.

Tony Eldridge

Marketing Tips Around The Net: February 19th

It's Friday, and that means we get to take a trip around the net to uncover book marketing gems that catch my eye. So pour yourself your favorite beverage and get ready to learn a lot.

Before we get started, I have a couple of housekeeping announcements to make.

1. My new video tips is out for those who have subscribed to my Free Video Marketing Tips Newsletter. Blogger just added a new feature that allows you to create static pages for your blog. That means you can create "web pages" on your blog. In the new video tip, I walk you through the process of setting up static pages on your blogger blog. But I also included 3 bonus videos this week, so if you haven't signed up for the Free Video Tips Newsletter, you get access to these 4 videos and the 7 "free gift" videos that all new subscribers get. So sign up today to start learning some great video tips.

2. I also created a new 10 Lesson e-mail course that will teach you how to launch Twitter Contest. The course is free and when you sign up, you'll receive Lesson One as soon as you confirm your subscription.

Now, on to our tips from around the net...

1. What's YOUR Top Question?- Starting Monday, Lynn Serafinn has assembled a VIP panel of 18 top publishing experts to talk about writing your book, publishing your book, promoting your book and benefiting from having written a mind-body-spirit book. Registration for this event is free, but you need to visit now. I will be on the panel of experts on Tuesday. We will discuss PRE-PUBLICATION MARKETING MUSTS. Check it out today.

2. Blog in Advance to Save Sanity- Angela Wilson gives some great advice about planning and preparing your blog ahead of time. The advice in this post is the same advice she gives to her own clients, and now you have access to it as well.

3. Sell more books by targeting free resources to specific markets- Roger C. Parker has created some useful tips to help you see new success at selling your books. By targeting niche markets, you can open new markets to you.

4. Effective Twitter Marketing Strategies- Phyllis Zimbler Miller gives great advice as she discusses how to market on Twitter. Her conclusion: One size does not fit all. How you market on Twitter will depend on goals. Phyllis has also written: Internet marketing: Learn how to run successful contests on Twitter, where she discusses my new video e-book. Check out what she says!

5. How Frequent Changes on Big Web Sites Affect Our Publishing Plans- "What do the constant changes on Facebook and Amazon, etc. mean to us writers of nonfiction?" Carolyn Howard-Johnson updates you on some changes you want to be aware of.

6. Writing As a Marketing Tool- Yvonne Perry gives some great tips as she connects your writing quality with your image. I personally love the 12 minute delay on e-mails sent!

7. How to Automatically Flow Your Tweets to Facebook- Dana Lynn Smith introduces you to a great way to selectively choose tweets to automatically post to Facebook.

8. Podcast: Beat Procrastination With Rajeev Dewan, Peak Performance Coach- Joanna Penn interview Rajeev Dewan, who shares some tips to combat that old enemy we all battle against: Procrastination.

9. Creating Your Own Brand- Sandra Beckwith invites brand consultant and author Martin Lindstrom to share his 5 tips on how you can create your brand.

10. How to Conduct a Successful Book Signing Event- John Kremer invites author Sally Watkins to his blog, where she gives advice on how to conduct a successful book signing.

Well, that's all for this week's trip around the net. I look forward to seeing you all at the expert panel on Tuesday (see the first stop around the net for details). I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Perhaps you've heard about affiliate marketing. You may even be involved with it in one way or another. Then again, you may be like many other people who really don't know much about it. Today, I want to answer a few questions about what affiliate marketing is and how you can use it in your business.

First, what is affiliate marketing? Simply, it's an Internet business model that rewards someone for sending visitors to a website. For example, if company A is selling a product, it may offer to pay someone a portion of each sale when an "affiliate" refers someone to their site who purchases a product.

Some companies will even pay for each visitor who is referred and signs up for a mailing list. From your standpoint, affiliate marketing may fit into your marketing plan in one of two ways:

• Recruiting Affiliates- If you have products you are selling, you may be interested in setting up an affiliate program to give an incentive for people to spread the word about the products or services you are selling.
  
  
• Becoming an Affiliate- This can be another revenue stream for you. By telling people about someone's products and services, you can earn money on each purchase made by someone who you referred.
  

You can think of affiliate marketing as a way to recruit a selling force for you. But just because you have a product or service, that doesn't mean people will be lining up at the door to become an affiliate for you. Below, I have listed some things for you to think about if you are considering the task of creating an affiliate marketing program for your business.

If You Want To Recruit Affiliates

• Sign up for an affiliate program- A quick search of the internet will return a lot of companies that run affiliate programs for you. You can start by checking with your shopping cart to see if they offer affiliate programs. For me, I use 1ShoppingCart's affiliate program since I use them as my shopping cart.
  
  In fact, this link I give to 1ShoppingCart is an affiliate link. From a visitor's standpoint, you just click on the link and are taken to the same place that you would go if it had been a non-affiliate link. But now, 1ShoppingCart knows when you click on it that it was me who sent you.
  
  1ShoppingCart is one of many great companies that can help you set up your affiliate link. If you know someone who sells products online, ask them who they use. This can be a great way to find companies that people are happy with.
  
  
• Create resources for your affiliates- If you want people to refer your products and services, you need to make it easy on them to do that. That means you need to create sales pieces for them, provide e-collateral (banners, buttons, etc...), education, and even suggested text they can use in an e-mail campaign. By setting up a resource page where an affiliate can find a plethora of resources, you increase the chances they will find one suits their selling style.
  
  One resource I created for my affiliates, is a video that explains to them how their affiliate link works. I break it down in a way that hopefully demystifies it and gives them power to use their affiliate links in a way that fits their style. Feel free to watch this video entitled: Using Affiliate Links.
  
  
• Make yourself available without smothering your affiliates- There is a fine line between establishing a relationship with your affiliates and bugging them so much about selling your products that they eventually tune you out. If you spam your affiliates, then they know you will spam people they refer to you. Remember, these people are not your employees. If you are over the top about pushing them to sell for you, you may have a dismally poor affiliate program.
  
  
• Treat referrals like royalty- Affiliates put their reputation on the line when they refer people to you. That means it's incumbent on you to to treat these people as valued guests. If you treat your referrals poorly by spamming them, then it will get around to your affiliate. Not treating your referrals right will be the quickest way to dry up your affiliate program. People talk, and I promise you, word will get around. That's one reputation that's hard to clean up once you've crossed the line.
  
  The bottom line is that you need to treat your affiliates and referrals right.This is the best way to build a healthy referral program that engenders trust, ethics, and excitement. Be a resource to these people and do what is in their best interest. Doing so will increase the likelihood that they will do the same for you.
  

On Monday, I will look at affiliate programs from the other side. We will look at how to join an affiliate program so you can add additional revenue streams to your income. Now the FTC is getting involved with language around affiliate marketing. It seems that you can read all kinds of interpretations about their announcement. We will touch on that on Monday as well.

Regardless of how affiliate marketing may or may not fit into your own plans at this time, this is a viable option for you to consider. If you do, be one of the people who give affiliate marketing a good name, and not one who tarnishes it by engaging in questionable practices. Being open and up front goes a long way to establishing a great affiliate reputation.

Tony Eldridge

Twitter Lists: A Power Tool for Authors by Freya

Today is Tuesday, and that means it's time for our guest expert on Marketing Tips For Authors. I am thrilled to introduce you to Freya, the author community manager for BookBuzzr and Social Media Marketing consultant. In today's post, Freya will discuss how we can take advantage of the list feature that Twitter recently rolled out.

Before we get to her post, I have a couple of quick announcements. First, my video e-book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests launches on March 1st, but you can reserve your copy today with a presale discount of 30%. This unique resource combines traditional e-book training with embedded instructional videos. In fact, you can view 2 of the videos by visiting the description page just to give you an idea of what's in the training.

Second, I want to remind you of the two free lists that you can join today. The first is my free Video Marketing Tips For Authors newsletter. When you sign up, you will receive free exclusive video training tips that show you some of the more technical aspects of marketing your book on the net. In fact, when you join, I will give you instant access to over 45 minutes of instant video training as my way of saying thanks.

The second list is my new free 10 Lesson e-mail course on Creating Twitter Contests. Each week, you will receive the next lesson in the series, but when you sign up, I will start you off with Lesson 1, Introduction & Targeting Followers, immediately. Both lists are free and both contain great content to help you market your book, products, or services online.

Now, on to Freya's post...


Twitter Lists: A Power Tool for Authors
By Freya


Twitter lists are a powerful tool you as an author should use to engage with your audience. Used right it can increase your productivity on twitter many fold and help you reach your goals faster. It will also help organize the twitter chaos a little : )

What are Twitter Lists?

Twitter's 'Lists' feature allows you to group people on twitter. You can make a list on just about anything (from science fiction to friends) and add people you want to it. What I love about this is that I can add someone to a list even if I don't follow them. There are people I want to listen to but adding them to my stream will cause it to seem overloaded so, I add them to a list. For example: I follow a lot of authors on twitter through my 'Authors on Twitter' list but do not directly follow all of them (over time as I get to know them I follow too).

Lists as verification checks

When I meet someone new on twitter and need help to make up my mind on following them, twitter's lists are great tool. Taking a look at how many times someone has been listed helps you gauge their reputation and by looking at the lists you'll know what that person's specialties are. Example: @TonyEldridge is reputed for being an author and book marketer. You can also look through their lists to find more interesting people.

Are lists just groups?

Yes, lists are just groups but the key lies in creating them right and using them well. Before creating your lists make a list of your audience. For example we at BookBuzzr want to engage with authors, publishers and those in the writing/publishing industry. So our lists are – authors on twitter, book marketers, book related, etc.

Grouping people right helps to see conversations better and aids with engagement. As an author you can create lists for marketing your books, different audiences, publishing news, author friends, etc. When you go through each list separately rather than your timeline, it is easier to start relevant conversations, connect with common friends and see all of these conversations happening with more ease.

The key is still engagement

The key to success on the internet is engagement in its many forms. Engaging and connecting with your audience is what will guarantee book sales. Lists just make this easier.

For example: If you are a science fiction author (as you can see its one of my favorite genres), you can create a list of science fiction buffs on twitter. This list will give you a lot of information about your audience and what they are reading currently. It is also a great opportunity to engage in conversations with your readers.

You can also add people to lists for news and information as this will help you stay updated. You can also share this information and start discussions on twitter.

Niche Lists

Some lists on twitter are niche lists; they have the movers and shakers on it. When you watch these lists you are privy to special conversations. You pick up nuggets of knowledge and news and connect with influential people. You can create your own niche lists and watch people start to follow it.


Twitter has proven to be a great networking tool and the new lists feature just accelerates the use of its potential. Grouping your audience right and engaging with them creates more opportunities for your books and writing. The more you connect, make friends and build relationships the more you will benefit in every way: And Lists will help you do this with more ease.

**********
Freya is the author community manager for BookBuzzr – A Free Online Book Marketing Technology for Authors and is the face of @BookBuzzr on Twitter. She is a Social Media Marketing Consultant and blogger. When not online she is a biker, bibliophile, traveler and imagineer. : )


**Note From Tony Eldridge** To see an example of the BookBuzzr tool, check out the sidebar on my blog where you can read my action/adventure novel, The Samson Effect, in BookBuzzr.

How To Register Your Copyright Online

Recently, I applied for a copyright on my new video e-book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests (On pre-sale now). It was easy, especially since I had already created an account with the US Copyright Office when I applied for a copyright online for The Samson Effect. Back then, I was accepted into a beta program when the Copyright Office first started to allow people to apply online. In both cases, my experience has been stellar.

Why would you want to apply for your copyright online?

• The cost is lower- $35
  
• The processing time for your copyright is significantly reduced
  
• You can check the status of your application online
  
• In many cases, you can upload your work online, rather than mailing it
  

If you register your own copyright, you need to check out the US Copyright Office's online registration service. After you open your account, the system takes you through a step-by-step process that solicits specific information from you along the way. Each step has help links to explain things as you continue through the registration process. When you "Register A New Claim", you will be taken to a screen that looks like this (Click on images to see a larger view): This is an important example to use that shows you how the navigation works. Hyperlinks throughout the registration process take you to explanations, or help screens. In order to navigate the process itself, you have to click the buttons at the top that look like the "Back" and "Start Registration" buttons. You use these buttons to add requested information and to successfully save and move on to the next step. Once you start your registration, you are taken to this screen:
On the left, you will see a list of steps. A red check mark appears in the Completed column as you successfully complete that step. Of course, you can see the navigation buttons at the top to take you from one step to the next.

My experience has been that the process is intuitive and with the extensive help available, pretty easy to navigate. If you have not tried to register your work online, you should. Kudos to the creator of this system. Who knew the US government could create a user friendly system that cuts efficiency and costs? My advice: take the people who designed this system and see if they can do anything to help the other government agencies with their processes.

Marketing Tips Around The Net: February 12th

Happy early Valentines Day! I hope you have a wonderful week. It's hard to believe, but here in the Dallas, TX area, we had a record snowfall yesterday- over 10 inches! My three year old twin boys are looking forward to sledding today. My father in Indiana, is sitting back and laughing! At least, this snow will be gone in 24 hours or so!

One quick announcement before we begin. I just launched the presale of my new video e-book called, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests. The book ships March 1st, but you can preorder it this month for substantial saving. Check it out and enjoy a couple of videos I made available for you to watch for free right now.

Well, my vacation from blogging and my internet work is over. That means I am back in the swing of things. Since it's Friday, that means that it's time for out trip around the net to see some of the best book marketing articles out there. I was just told that I have to make a snowman, so let's get started!

1. The Art of Retweeting- Phyllis Zimbler Miller has a site up devoted to helping businesses tap into the power of Twitter called Twitter And Your Website. In The Art Of Retweeting, she gives great advice on retweeting messages. She gives some great thoughts on Twitter's official retweet function that you will want to read.

2. What the Heck is Twitter and Why Should You Care?- With all the Twitter talk out there, it can be rather intimidating for people who just haven't brought themselves up to speed on it. Dana Lynn Smith breaks it down for you in an easy to understand way.

3. How To Launch A Book With No Traditional Media Like Seth Godin- Joanna Penn takes a page from Seth to show you how you can launch your book the guerrilla way.

4. What Do You Talk About On Your Blog If You Write Fiction?- Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives some great advice for anyone who writes fiction and has a blog. Having problems knowing what to include in your blog? Take a look at what she says.

5. Locate new profit ideas by exploring how other authors leverage their books to back-end profits- Roger C. Parker gives some sound advice when it comes to finding ways to make more money as an author. As an added bonus, check out Roger's guest post he did for Marketing Tips For Authors this week: Choose The Right Designer To Set Up Your Author Platform

6. Enthusiasm a Must for Today's Authors- Telling it like it is, Angela Wilson gets to the core issue of success for authors. Do you have what it takes to be successful at selling your book?

7. Selling Your Books In Bulk- Dream of selling your books more than one at a time? Penny Sansevieri tells you how you can.

8. Learn How to Properly Format an E-Book (free class!)- Jane Friedman shares how you can take a free class called eBook 101: Designing for Kindle and ePub. This webinar is on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 1pm EST, so if you are interested in it, check it out now and register today.

9. What's YOUR Top Question? Ask our Experts!- In a little over a week, you will have a great opportunity to access a huge panel of book marketing experts (including yours truly). This opportunity is brought to you by Lynn Serafinn. It will be hard to find this many experts gathered in one place, so make sure you check it out.

10. How to Be Found- Sandra Beckwith goes to the heart of every marketer's question. Her advice may have you rethinking your strategies.

BONUS: The Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon- Many of you may have heard of Dr. Mani already. He is a doctor and an author who sells his books to raise money for kids with congenital heart defects. This Valentine's Day, he is having a "Tweetathon" to bring awareness to his work. Dr. Mani has a link for you to make donations, but you can also show your suppport just by following him and sending out a Tweet during this Tweetathon. There is a wonderful Fast Company article written about his selfless work. He is even giving away a copy of my new video e-book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests, for a lucky follower of his on Sunday.

That's it for this week. Enjoy your weekend! I'm about to bundle up and take off to make Frosty. There are some things I don't miss about the winters in Indy... The snow is definitely one of them...

Choose The Right Designer To Set Up Your Author Platform By Roger C. Parker

Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to a marketer who is a wealth of information: Roger C. Parker. It would take up the entire post to list his credentials and the resources he makes available to authors. Suffice it to say that if you have not visited his site, read his blog, downloaded his tools, read his books or listened to his free weekly teleseminars, you are missing out on great resources.

Today, Roger gives us practical advice when it comes to hiring the right web site designer. He helps us understand how to evaluate a designer that not only knows how to put together a site, but one who is familiar with integrating basic marketing functions within our site as well.

Before we get to Roger's post (a classic to be on this blog), I have an exciting announcement to make. Today, I am announcing the pre-sale launch of my first product since starting Marketing Tips For Authors: Conducting Effective Twitter Contests.

I have pulled from my background as an author and a marketing director for a company that produced training videos to bring you a truly unique learning tool to help you launch your own successful Twitter contests. It's what I call a Video E-book. It's a PDF e-book packed with marketing information, but throughout the book, you will be able to watch embedded videos to help drive home the lessons.

It launches on March 1st, but you can reserve your copy today at a special pre-sale price. Check it out and watch 2 of the 20 videos I have made available for you to preview today.

Now, on to Roger's post...


How to choose the right designer to set up your author platform
By Roger C. Parker

Authors often ask the wrong questions when looking for a web designer to help them create a blog to serve as the hub of their author platform. This is especially true when authors approach- -or are approached by- -local web designers.

During the past 2 years, I've encountered a distressing number of authors who have spent great amounts of money (4-figure sums are not uncommon!)- -who, after 3 or 4 months- -still don't have an appropriately, functioning blog-based author platform.

This is bad enough from the point of view of wasted money. But, it's even worse when viewed in terms of lost opportunities caused by the delays and non-performance.

Inappropriate expectations and delegation
The unhappy scenario described above begins when an author chooses the wrong designer, then delegates too much unsupervised authority to them.

Many designers come to blog and web from a print background. A print background is fine, especially when it has taught the designer the fundamentals of organizing and presenting complex information in a manner that emphasizes readability and permits easy scanning.

The problem is that many "jack of all trades" designers have previously earned most of their living from creating ads, brochures, logos, menus, and newsletters for local businesses and non-profits. They often have a different perspective; they approach blogs and author platforms from an exclusively creative, or "image" background.

As a result, these designers tend to over-emphasize color, type, and layout, while under-emphasizing the functional and programming aspects of blog set-up and design needed for success as the hub of an author platform.

"Many local designers are unaware of the hundreds of thousands of successful authors who have attracted publisher and reader attention with simple, but full-featured blogs that have created platforms based on efficient message creation, distribution, and relationship building."

How to avoid hiring the wrong designer
There are 3 keys to hiring the right designer:

• Change your perspective. Put the emphasis on function rather than aesthetics! Emphasize efficiency and function, rather than "aesthetics" and "image." Granted, it's important that your blog be readable and project a unique, appropriate image. But, it's more important that your blog be ready as soon as possible to perform all of the tasks needed to become the hub of your author platform. Setting-up a full-featured blog should neither drain your resources nor delay your platform-building.
  
  
• Change the playing field. Don't be "wowed" by examples of beautiful designs! All designers can point to examples of previous design excellence. Design ability is just the price of admission. Remember that you- -as a non-designer- -are likely to over-rate a designer's ability to create good-looking graphics. (It's the same way, you, an airline passenger, are likely to over-rate a pilot's abilities, since you don't know how to fly a 747). Instead of being intimidated by their design abilities, change the playing field from "aesthetic" to "functional" by asking the right questions. Put the emphasis on the total author platform rather than surface issues.
  
  
• Supervise rather than delegate. You must provide informed leadership, your designer should implement. With rare exceptions, don't expect your designer to be a marketing expert familiar with concepts like "marketing funnel" and permission-based marketing. Many designers are more comfortable designing logos, for example, than autoresponders, downloadable incentives, landing pages, and the latest social marketing tools. You have to know what you want, based on observing what other authors and information marketers are doing, and adapting their strategies.
  

"The set-up of your blog should neither drain your resources nor should it delay your platform-building. And you must take the lead in knowing what you want."

Questions to ask yourself before hiring a designer
The easiest way to choose the right designer is to ask the right questions. Here, are some questions to ask, adapted from my Designers Qualification Checklist:

1. What kind of clients have you previously worked with? Check out several client websites. Beware of designers whose previous web experience has been primarily based on attractively-designed "brochure" sites that appear to be rarely updated.
   
   
2. What's the designer's own website like? When was it last updated? Is there a recently-updated blog? Did you learn anything about design from visiting their website? Does their site offer a downloadable incentive to encourage e-mail sign-up and long-term relationships? Does the site project a unique, appropriate image?
   
   
3. Do their previous blogs and websites tell a full story in the home page opening screen? Analyze their previous work from a usability point-of-view. Beware of sites that require extensive home page scrolling before the visitor benefits become obvious. Watch out for sites that use fancy video animations to camouflage the lack of a thought-out message.
   
   
4. When visiting site examples, is it easy to locate information and sign-up for e-mail newsletters or tips? Look for "sticky" sites that stress the benefits of building an on-going relationship. Look for examples of sites that educate and engage rather than trying to "close a sale" on the first visit.
   
   
5. Are you willing to show me how to update my blog after you set it up? Authors simply cannot afford the costs and delays inherent in a "hostage" website. It's imperative that your designer be willing to educate you on the basics of adding and deleting content, including creating landing pages and changing the incentive. Look for designers who want to empower you, rather than lock you into a lifetime of future revenues.
   
   
6. Are you comfortable with the designer's fees and terms? What's included? Does the fee cover everything needed for a blog-based author platform? Basics include a downloadable incentive, autoresponder, e-mail and shopping cart capability, a few additional background pages, plus training in adding posts, responding to comments, and creating additional landing pages?
   
   
7. What's the typical project turnaround time? Do you have a formal process, or systems in place, to move the projects forward as quickly as possible? Inefficiency is certain to result if every blog involves a "reinvent the wheel" situation.
   
   
8. What happens when you're not around? Do you have a back-up? Who will be there to help me if something goes wrong and you're not around because you're traveling. Without a team behind them, freelance graphic designers may leave you vulnerable if they get busy or become ill.
   

Checklists and worksheets
When working with my coaching clients, I encourage clients to download and print out a copy of my Designer Qualification Checklist which, as a reader of this blog, you can download for free (no registration required).

Hint: print copies on 3-hole punched paper. Print a different copy for each of the designer's you're interested in, and fill it out by hand as you visit their own website and other websites they've designed.

After you're through, you can store the filled-out worksheets in a 3-ring binder with all of the other worksheets and forms you use to plan, write, promote, and profit from a published book.

About Roger C. Parker
Roger C. Parker is a popular book coach and author of over 30 "how to" books. At his www.publishedandprofitable.com website, and his daily writing tips blog, he offers resources (including free weekly teleseminars) for planning, writing, promoting, and profiting from nonfiction books by breaking big projects, like books, into a simple tasks.

Roger C. Parker On Deck

I wanted to drop a quick post to everyone letting you know that I have an exciting post from a top marketing expert. Roger C. Parker will be talking to us about how to choose the right designer to set up your author platform. You won't want to miss it! That's tomorrow morning.

I have enjoyed my time with my family over the last couple of weeks, but I am eager to get back into the grind of things with my blog and videos as well. We will kick off my return to work with Roger's post tomorrow.

Oh, many of you know that I am from Indy. Even though it was hard to see the Colts lose the Super Bowl, it couldn't have been against a better team. Congrats to the Saints and to the city of New Orleans. They are a class act all the way and certainly deserve the honor of being world champs.

Tony Eldridge

Do-It-Yourself Marketing by Jerry B. Jenkins

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for our guest post for the week. Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to one of the most prolific writers I have met. Jerry Jenkins will be sharing his rich knowledge on Do-It-Yourself Marketing for authors. Jerry has written over 175 books, having sold over 70 million books worldwide, including co-authoring the popular Left Behind series.

I have been way from the computer for a few days, and it looks like my access may be spotty again until next Monday, but I did want to take a few moments before we get to Jerry's post for a couple of quick announcements.

1. If you have not had a chance to sign up for my free Marketing Tips For Authors Video Tips, you can do so now and I will start you off with access to over 45 minutes of Tips when you sign up.

2. I also want to let people who are following the film project of my book, The Samson Effect, know that you can check its IMDb page to keep track of what's going on with it's progress. This is the page that the film producer told me he will update for people to publicly keep track of what's going on with it.

And now, on to Jerry's post...


Do-It-Yourself Marketing
by Jerry B. Jenkins

There are two ways to see your books fly off the shelves: 1—write a book that becomes a phenomenal bestseller, providing your publisher with enough resources to promote and advertise it without limit, or, 2—take advantage of every avenue available to push your own book.

Imagine what might happen if you're successful at number 2. (See number 1 above.)

Believe it or not – and fortunately I know this from personal experience – the books you see heavily advertised and promoted by publishers were big sellers before they qualified for those marketing dollars. Sure, some titles by established authors get more promotion dollars up front, but to justify significant campaigns, a book has to prove to be a big seller first.

Every so-called name author you've heard of (with the exception of people who happen to pastor huge churches or have radio or TV ministries was once where you may be: unknown and unpublished. That you now recognize their names means that somewhere along the line, something went right for them.

Little surprise, if a newcomer's book is going to be heavily promoted, the author is going to do most of the work. If you're not prepared for that, your publisher will be less interested.

So you have a book and a publisher. Now what?

With Twitter, Facebook, and all the other ways to communicate with the masses, it's time to get busy.

A few tips:

Check out www.StartaWildFire.com. Rob Eagar puts out a newsletter, The WildFire Report, that he calls "Book Market News You Can Use." He also provides services for authors, like coaching on how to build your platform, website and social networking advice, as well as services for publishers.

Tyndale House Publishers offers their authors "Top Ways to Be a Super Self-Promoter," which recommends books like:

Author 101 by Rick Frishman and Robyn Freedman Spizman

Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors by Steve Weber

1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer

A Savvy Author's Guide to BOOK Publicity by Lissa Warren

Tyndale also recommends that you be available to your publisher, partnering with them and helping them by providing them with lists of media and personal contacts, writing an opinion editorial on the subject of your book, and giving them with anything else they ask for.

They also urge you to create a relationship with your local bookstore and library, write articles and even create discussion questions based on your book, make contacts with local media, launch a website dedicated to your book, make use of e-newsletters and a blog, urge readers to review your book on Amazon.com and take advantage of Amazon's many tips for writers, develop your speaking ability and make yourself available for such opportunities. They also list tips for how to be a good interview subject for radio, TV, phone, in print, and on web chats.

All publishers urge you create buzz through web campaigns, mass mailings, attending conferences and trade shows, and finding author-centered websites that feature new books.

Find publishers you like on line and ask for their self-promotion hints. You'll be surprised how many will send them, even if you're not one of their authors.

One of the better publications for authors is The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter, which describes itself as "all about successful publishing and powerful promotion." Its editor is Penny C. Sansevieri (penny@amarketingexpert.com).

I found one of their recent issues chocked full of usable stuff on such subjects as:

Their new Author's Edge Book Marketing Program, Branding, Tweeting, Marketing Your Book Event Yourself, Blogging, Penny's blog on The Huffington Post, and much, much more.

These are just a few resources that barely scratch the surface of the plethora of tools available to the enterprising writer. No one knows or cares about your book as much as you do. You owe it to yourself and to your work to take advantage of every avenue to let everyone know about it.



















Jerry B. Jenkins's writing has appeared in Time, Reader's Digest, Parade, Guideposts, and many other periodicals. His 175 published books have sold more than 70 million copies worldwide. He owns the Christian Writers Guild and Jenkins Entertainment, a filmmaking company. He serves as a contributing editor to Writer's Digest.










 -------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect, an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests.