How to Utilize Autoresponders
Posted on February 28, 2008
Autoresponders are programmed messages that automatically respond to preset criteria. For example, when someone signs up for your mailing list, as soon as he or she hits “Submit,” you can have an autoresponder send the subscriber a welcome message.
More sophisticated autoresponders can be created, like a five-day e-course. When someone signs up for your e-course, he receives his first message. The program knows to send out the next message on the following day, etc. Obviously, you can’t personally respond to or acknowledge every request or every action a visitor takes on your website; however, autoresponders enable you to give your customer/reader more confidence in your offerings, and they also provide you with an additional marketing tool (your autoresponders can direct your subscribers to special offers, etc.)
Many email software programs have autoresponder capability built into them. You can use a stand-alone product like www.proautoresponder.com.
This post is an excerpt from the FREE Become a Best-Selling Author eBook, 60 Effective Strategies for Selling More Books. Download it here.
Posted in Web
How to Add “Tell-a-Friend” Functionality
Posted on February 25, 2008
The concept is simple: when someone comes to your website and finds something he likes, you want to make it as easy as possible for him to share it with his family, friends, and associates. “Tell-a-Friend” functionality is the easiest way to do this. There’s nothing better than having someone else endorse and promote you. Be sure to include a “from” field for the person’s name and email address so the recipient knows the message is from his friend (and not spam from you). Also make sure that you have your privacy policy posted to help put your potential advocate at ease. (A simple “We Value Your Privacy” with a link to your privacy statement is all you need.)
For an excellent example of this functionality, go to: www.ideavirus.com and click on “Send it.”
This post is an excerpt from the FREE Become a Best-Selling Author eBook, 60 Effective Strategies for Selling More Books. Download it here.
Posted in Publishing
How to be a Blogger
Posted on February 20, 2008
Blogging is the latest trend on the web (even though it’s been around awhile). A blog (from “web log”) is essentially an online publishing tool, like a web-based journal, that provides a forum for you to communicate with your audience. Your blog can be its own website (hosted by the many blog services online) or integrated into your existing website.
Its functionality is fairly simple: You write a message and post it to your blog, with the most recent message conveniently appearing at the top. Blogging is a useful tool for communicating with your readers, but it may not be the best vehicle if you don’t already have a subscriber base.
There are numerous blogging services on the web (a comprehensive list can be found at www.bestsellingauthor.com under “Market Your Book on the Web”), with the most widely used blogging tool being Google’s free and easy-to-use Blogger (www.blogger.com). Just follow the three easy start-up steps and you can have your blog up and running in under five minutes.
A blog can also replace an e-newsletter: post a new message to your blog and send a simple email to your subscribers letting them know that your blog has been updated. This can be a very effective strategy for circumventing spam software.
This post is an excerpt from the FREE Become a Best-Selling Author eBook, 60 Effective Strategies for Selling More Books. Download it here.
Posted in Blogging
How to Publish Another Book
Posted on February 18, 2008
Once you’ve established yourself as an expert or talent in a particular area, a great way to generating additional sales on your first book is to publish a second. (Of course, this assumes you have exhausted every marketing strategy for your first book project). The second time around, you will have a warmer market, a better understanding of the industry, and a working knowledge of strategies that work for you.
To help you determine the subject of your next book, consider what specialized markets might be interested in your platform. For example, after The Monks of New Skete wrote How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend (Little, Brown, 2002—Revised Edition), which has sold over 500,000 copies, they went on to write The Art of Raising a Puppy (Little, Brown, 1991).
And you never know—your second book might achieve more success than your first. After the sales of John Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, tanked, the publisher refused to publish his next book. Grisham’s second novel, The Firm (published by Dell) hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, with Tom Cruise playing the leading role in the film version. Following The Firm’s extraordinary success, A Time to Kill moved onto the New York Times bestseller list as well.
Understand the “New Factor”: Our society is obsessed with the latest, newest thing. This pining for new products and new packaging seems to be wired into the human condition—especially the post–baby boomer generation. This helps explain why a new book or product can be more easily promoted through the media and why publishers jump when an author achieves notable success, extracting as many books and ancillary variations of the successful book as possible in order to ride the “new wave” to profitability.
This post is an excerpt from the FREE Become a Best-Selling Author eBook, 60 Effective Strategies for Selling More Books. Download it here.
Posted in Publishing
