Promote U Guru Blog

Posts Tagged ‘authors’

Bad Social Media Etiquette Could Be Killing Your Brand

March 19th, 2015

Hi All!

Back in 2012  I wrote a blog post entitled “Do You Suffer from Social ‘Me’dia Syndrome?”. It was picked up by tons of other blogs and also led to my being asked to write variations of it for several online business communities and magazines.

I bring this up because yesterday I spoke to a client of mine who was asking me about Social Media strategies. After my chat with her I realized that it was a good time to revisit this topic in 2015. Why? Because MANY people are still clueless about proper Social Media etiquette! And that impacts your Personal Branding!

Have YOU forgotten the word "social" in Social Media?

Have YOU forgotten the word “social” in Social Media?

Here’s the deal…you have to participate to make it work for you. If you make it all “about you”, you’ve lost the entire essence of what Social Media is about! I find that many new clients who come to me are not getting much out of their Social Media and online marketing efforts because they’ve forgotten ONE little detail…they forgot about the word “social” in their Social Media strategy.

Here are a few tips that will quickly illustrate my point:

1. Comment on other peoples’ blog posts. If you have a blog and want people to comment on your posts, you have to comment on OTHER peoples’ blog posts to start generating traffic to yours. It’s simple: If you read a blog post you like or have an opinion on, don’t just “keep it to yourself”. POST A COMMENT!

2. Retweet other peoples’ tweets: If you like a tweet from someone else, take a split second to click on the retweet button to share it with your followers. That’s why the retweet icon exists! To SHARE info with everyone and help cross-promote each other to help increase awareness for other people. It’s amazing how much more tweet-love and traffic you’ll get if you retweet, reply and comment on other peoples’ tweets. AGAIN…it’s part of being “social” in tweet-ville…and it’s part of Social Media etiquette!

3. Comment or Like other peoples’ posts on Facebook or in LinkedIn Groups: If you want more people to comment and/or click on the “like” button on your Fan Page or Profile posts, then do it more for other people! It takes less than one second to click “like” under someone’s post and sometimes just a couple of seconds to write a comment. Again, if you see a post that you like or find interesting, rather than just THINK to yourself, “That’s funny!” or “That’s cool!” or “That’s interesting!” or “That’s really helpful info!”, move your cursor up to the word “like” under it and simply click. Or type a short comment to acknowledge what that person posted!

This may all sounds like common sense BUT it’s NOT common practice…which is why millions of social media hobbyists and small business owners are involved in Social Media but frustrated with it. They constantly just focus on posting stuff about THEM, their businesses, their products or events, their books, their families, their vacations, their kids, the songs they like, food they like to eat, etc., but they rarely take the time to acknowledge what other people post and share online.

So…here’s my challenge to YOU: If any of this describes how YOU participate in the world of Social Media, make “improve my Social Media etiquette in 2015″ one of YOUR resolutions this year! You’ll be pleased with the results and will truly be participating the way the world of Social Media was intended.

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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10 Social Media Tips for Effective Book Marketing

August 31st, 2014

Hi All!

With the boom of self-publishing, most authors don’t have the backing of a traditional Publishing House to handle the marketing of their books. And, nowadays, even if you do land a book publishing contract, many Publishers don’t provide the marketing support they used to.Social media concept

So, regardless of whether you self-publish your book OR sign a book deal, you’ll find yourself having to be your own Publicist and Marketing Expert. Unless, of course, you can hire someone to do it for you. However most authors who contact me are on a tight budget and can’t afford a costly Publicist. That’s why authors hire me to provide them with customized strategies and plans that they can execute themselves and/or with the help of a cost-effective Virtual Assistant.

Please keep in mind that Social Media is just ONE strategy in your overall book marketing mix. You need to also include PR, media outreach, and other marketing strategies for effective book marketing. And I’ve written plenty of blogs and articles on those, too.

But in this article, I’d like to focus on 10 tips that you can use to promote your book, increase your book sales, and build your brand, using Social Media:

1. Embed a Retweet Button

Who doesn’t love a free sample? Give one chapter away for free to your audience and embed a retweet button in strategic locations, motivating readers to easily share it with their followers on Twitter. Side Note: Avoid just sending tweets that are all about “Buy my book!” with a link to it on Amazon.

2. Promote Your Personal Brand

Promoting your Personal Brand as the author is as important as promoting your book! So in your Social Media posts, make your prospects want to connect with you. Share stuff about your hobbies, interests, your writing process, and expertise. Let the audience (who could be prospective buyers of your book) get to know you as a person by not JUST focusing your content all about your book.

3. Ask Readers to Spread the Word

Ask readers of your book to tell their networks about it. This is something MANY authors don’t think of doing. Don’t think that just because someone loved your book they’re going to remember to share the news with others. People get busy and forget! Remind them about your book and give them a little nudge to tell their networks about it.

4. Network with Other Writers in Your Genre

Find authors who target the same audience that you do for your book. Don’t look at them as competitors even if those authors have written books on the same topic as yours. Promoting other writers can help attract readers to your book, and those authors may reciprocate. Get involved in their social networks: “Like” their Facebook Pages, follow them on Twitter and retweet their posts, and ask them to write a Guest Blog for your blog, and ask if they would accept a blog post from you for theirs. Building relationships with other authors in your genre is a great strategy for cross-promotion that benefits you both!

5. Create a Video Contest

Run a contest asking readers of your book to share a video about why they liked your book so much, and award the person who provides the best one with a $25 or $50 Gift Card (i.e. for Starbucks or a VISA gift card). You can then post the Top 10 videos (or all of them) on your YouTube Channel, your Facebook Page, on your website, tweet the links to the vids, share them in your e-newsletter, etc. Those videos all become marketing tools to promote your book in a wide variety of ways.

6. Use Hashtags

Use hashtags of your industry to promote your book on Twitter (and elsewhere) to reach a larger audience who are interested in your topic. Confused by hashtags? Read this great article for an overview and tips!

7. Participate in the Conversation

Monitor the conversation about your book online, and post responses to comments. Engaging with your audience will grow your audience base and encourage others to join the conversation. Again, it’s another strategy for people to get to know you as a person, and that can forge bonds with them.

8. Go Niche

Search Google to find social networks in the same niche as your book. Become a fan of these networks or pages. Participate in the conversations and when appropriate, mention your book. But be sure to avoid only posting comments promoting your book because that will annoy people.

9. Mention Your Book in Your Social Network Bios

I’m always shocked by how many authors who contact me DON’T have their books mentioned in their bios on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. Your book, and a link to it, should be added to every online bio you have.

10. Add the Book Title to Your Email Signature

Again, this is another very simple thing to do that many authors don’t think of. Add your book title and a link to it in your email signature block so that EVERY person who receives an email from you sees it.

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Four Ways to Market Your Content (that Most People Don’t Do)

July 14th, 2014

Hi All!

You feel you have created a masterpiece in the form of your long-form content, such as an article or blog post. But it is of no value to you until others read it. You need to spread the word to attract traffic. So your content needs publicity; just like big brands that advertises products regularly to stay fresh in the minds of their target audience.

Here’s a phrase I use a lot because it’s true: This may all seem like common sense BUT it’s not common practice.

Everyday I’m contacted by small business owners, speakers, other types of self-employed people, and authors wanting to increase book sales, who want my help with their company or personal branding, PR, publicity, and

Do YOU Market Your Content Effectively? Most people don't!

Do YOU Market Your Content Effectively? Most people don’t!

marketing. So I can honestly say that the following tips are NOT regularly used because the people who initially contact me aren’t doing them!

How can you market your content? Keep reading:

Smart Use of Keywords

SEO is more about smart placement of keywords. There is no place for keyword stuffing in Google. Any articles that are flooded with keywords won’t rank well in the search engines. Therefore, proper keyword placement is important.

Let’s say you HAVE done your homework of accurately placing keywords at the right places in the content. But it won’t help much if you do not include keywords as #hashtags in your text. Remember to use your brand name, main topic, and subtopics as hashtags. However, avoid crowding your posts with hashtags.

Use Interesting Images

Your headline won’t always attract readers. With so many status updates and posts on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook from friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. flooding their profiles, most social media users simply move on unless you grab them. And oftentimes it’s an interesting pic that will get their attention first and cause them to pause to look at your topic headline.

Expert Advice

When sharing your content on social media sites, do not forget to make smart use of expert advice in your posts. Consumers today look for advice from experts in the industry, and if you can prove yourself as an expert, you will likely attract more readers of your content. You can also include the insights, quotes, and tips from other experts in your industry in your content to “enhance” your position as an expert, too. You’ll be “guilty by association” and that’s a good thing!

Share to Get Shared

Again, this may sound like common sense BUT it’s not common practice by most of the new clients who come to me. They spend all their time focusing on “them” versus sharing other people’s content. Bad move! How can you expect people to retweet your tweets, share your posts and spread the word to THEIR followers if you NEVER do that for them?

Several years ago I wrote a very popular article about how people suffer from Social “ME”dia Syndrome, and the concept is STILL relevant TODAY…if you’re suffering from that get help quickly and start supporting others in your social networks. Ya gotta GIVE to GET!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

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Three Ways Authors Can Get Media Coverage for Free

June 18th, 2014

Hi All!

On a regular basis, I have Authors contact me who are extremely frustrated because they’ve spent tons of time and effort (and oftentimes, a lot of money) writing their books only to see the sales of it minimal. But typically this isn’t because their books aren’t good! Rather, the lack-of-interest and low book sales are the result of most people not knowing their books exists.

You can get media coverage without a big budget or Publicist!

You can get media coverage without a big budget or Publicist!

That’s where PR and Publicity can help. Yet most Authors who I speak with never even issued a Press Release announcing their book was published; let alone put effort into an on-going media outreach strategy. PR and Publicity is a critical component to building awareness for your Personal Brand and attracting more interest in your book, so it shouldn’t be overlooked.

If you’re experiencing frustration and low book sales, keep reading. It’s time to be your own “Publicist” to achieve that “all important” awareness you’re lacking after you publish.

Here are three PR strategies that don’t require a financial investment. They simply require an investment of your time:

Don’t Make Your News General:

The media wants key tips, interesting lessons, and compelling angles that come from your book, and they normally want you to provide them with that info. Don’t make them have to dig for it in your Press Release (or book) because they rarely will.

Basically, GIVE THEM article or segment ideas. Don’t give them a “general” Press Release just about your new book and hope they’ll think of a reason to interview you.

But AFTER the release of your new book has become “old news”, the strategy above is one you can use on an on-going basis to continue getting media coverage…and your book will always be mentioned in any interviews you do. It’s like getting an Oscar! Once an actor is nominated or wins one, they are never introduced again without that being mentioned along with their name.

Be Sure to Pitch the Right Media:

Make sure the media you pitch actually reaches the target audience YOU want to reach! This may sound like common sense, but it’s not common practice. You have to create a targeted list of print media (i.e. magazines/newspapers), online media, blogs, podcasts, and Radio and TV shows that cover topics like yours.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you’re a Leadership Coach who has written a book on effective management skills, don’t waste your time pitching ideas to a Top 40 radio “morning zoo-type” of show that primarily reaches young people between 14-21 years old. The Producers won’t be interested in your topic so they won’t book you as a guest on the show.

Follow Up is Key:

After you have emailed the media contacts your pitch and/or Press Release, FOLLOW UP! This is where most non-professional PR people drop the ball. It normally takes more effort than just sending them one email. The media gets pitched a lot so it’s important to send several follow up emails and even leave 1-2 voicemail messages.

Being the squeaky wheel is sometimes required to get their attention. And once you do, they’ll quickly tell you whether they’re interested or not. But please note that just because they may not be interested in your topic right away, doesn’t mean they never will be.

Maybe they just covered a topic like yours so they don’t want to do another segment or article on it again quite yet. The good news to that is twofold: you know they ARE interested in topics like yours, AND you will now be on their radar as a “Topic Expert” for future stories they do.

In closing, getting PR and Publicity for your Personal Brand and book is not complicated. It just requires some time and effort. You really can get massive media coverage even without a budget or the help of a professional Publicist!

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Lisa Orrell Voted “Top 30 Brand Gurus in the World”

June 01st, 2011

Hi All!

Okay, so I have some cool news to share, therefore this post is a bit self-serving…but I can occasionally share news about me, and not just helpful tips, on my own blog…right???

Here’s the news I wanted to tell you about…it’s the actual Press Release that was deployed on PRWeb.com:

Lisa Orrell, Branding Expert and Marketing Consultant, Recently Voted “Top 30 Most Influential Brand Gurus in the World”

Voted on by over 22,000 industry peers and business professionals, Lisa Orrell makes BrandGurus.net’s prestigious Top 30 Brand Gurus List along with other globally known marketing experts, such as: Stephen Denny, Martin Roll, Sally Hogshead and Dan Schawbel.

Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru, is a well-known 20-year Branding Expert, Marketing Consultant and Certified Success Coach who works with small business owners, entrepreneurs, entertainers, professional and aspiring speakers, and book authors. And, based on her track record, she was recently included on BrandGurus.net’s “Top 30 Most Influential Brand Gurus in the World” List. According to BrandGurus.net, the winners who made their final Top 30 list were voted on by more than 22,000 industry and business professionals around the globe. 

“I didn’t even know I had been nominated to be considered for this list. Apparently they had a rather large list of candidates and then put it out to their industry database and social media networks for voting,” explains Lisa Orrell. “I wasn’t notified until the Top 30 List had been selected, so it was a total surprise! And, after looking at the experts who were on there with me, I realized I was in great company. I actually know some of them personally or I have read their popular business and branding books.”

Aside from coaching and consulting with clients, Lisa is also the author of 3 business books: “Millennials Incorporated”, “Millennials into Leadership, and of her highly anticipated new one coming out in August 2011, “Boomers into Business: How Anyone Over 50 Can Turn What They Know into Dough Before and After Retirement”. And, as a professional speaker herself, Lisa conducts popular workshops and seminars on Personal and Business Branding, Marketing, PR, Publicity, Social Media, Book Marketing and Publishing, and launching a Speaker Platform.

“I think Lisa totally deserves to be on that list,” says one of Orrell’s clients, Stacey Vulakh, a Time Management Coach, founder of the Timestyle Time Management Approach, aspiring author, and professional speaker. “She has been amazing at helping me create my branding and positioning, launching my coaching and consulting business, building my speaker platform, and helping me develop the concept for my first book. Lisa is so good at what she does…it’s what she’s done her entire professional life!” 

Because of her vast business experience and notoriety, Orrell has been interviewed by, or written articles for, a wide variety of media, including: ABC, MSNBC, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, U.S. News & World Report, Cosmo, China’s Her World Magazine, BNET.com, WomenEntrepreneur.com, and countless others. Plus, aside from being selected for The Top 30 Brand Guru’s List, Lisa is also the recipient of over 75 national and international awards for marketing, creative and strategic excellence.

People follow Lisa’s business insights, tips and advice on Twitter @PromoteUGuru, through her Promote U Guru blog, and on her Facebook Fan Page: Facebook.com/PromoteUGuru.

For media inquiries, to contact Lisa about her services, or to have her speak at your next Professional Association event, contact her at: Lisa@PromoteUGuru.com, phone: 408-340-8789, website: PromoteUGuru.com

OKAY! So that’s the cool news I wanted to share!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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Business Building Tools for Coaches and Consultants

February 11th, 2011

Hi All!

Many of my clients are coaches or consultants, and they hire me because they are struggling with growing their practices and generating more income. And, some of them are also authors who have written a book to help increase their notoriety as an expert so they need my help with their branding and book marketing, too.

If you can relate to any of that, and you are a coach or consultant, I recommend checking out these (2) FREE tools, created by my colleague, Kathleen Gage. Kathleen is an online marketing expert and has helped many coaches and consultants increase their income by becoming more savvy about using the internet as a key marketing and sales tool for growing their practices.

Here are the 2 FREE Products she is offering:

1. SPECIAL REPORT: What You Need to Know to Start & Build Your Coaching or Consulting Business

Again, it’s free and NO OPT-IN is required! Simply click here to receive this info-packed pdf!

2. 3-PART VIDEO SERIES: Build a Successful Coaching and Consulting Business

This is ALSO FREE, and simply click here to access the videos!

And, if you’re really serious about ramping your practice, be sure to check out the New Horizon’s Telesummit! 12 Experts (one is me!) will be conducting sessions loaded with advice and strategies all about how to grow your coaching and consulting business. Here is a snapshot of what you’ll learn by attending this event:

– Attract higher-paying clients
– Develop multiple streams of revenue
– Have the choice to work face to face or virtually
– Gain massive visibility and credibility
– Become and expert at social media
– Be viewed as an industry expert
– Develop a sustainable business
– Convert prospects to paying clients
– Create money-making products to sell to clients

There are several different registration options, ranging in price, so you’re bound to find one that works with your budget! And the event is VIA PHONE, so you can attend from anywhere on your phone.

The New Horizons Telesummit is February 23rd and 24th, so CLICK HERE for details!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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How to Sell, or Make Your Free e-Book Available, on Amazon

January 28th, 2011

Hi All!

Recently, this question has been posed to me a lot: “I want to sell my e-book on Amazon, or I have a free e-book that I want to make available on Amazon. How do I do it?”

So, I decided to write a quick blog post to answer this question for authors. This isn’t intended to give you the step-by-step instructions! It’s intended to give you the general info you need to get started:

TIP ONE: Amazon’s Digital Text Platform (DTP) Service: This enables you to self-publish ebooks for Kindle downloads: https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin

Note: This is for whether your ebook is free or you plan to sell it. It also has directions for getting your ISBN and provides that info once you’ve logged in to your account (IBSN info is also provided in the 2 article links below). Directions for log in/account set-up are provided on the link above. This page also provides info about Amazon’s DTP compensation program when you’re selling an ebook.

Also, read this short “how to” article. It says that in order for your ebook to be SOLD on Amazon for download on a Kindle an ISBN IS REQUIRED: http://www.ehow.com/how_5740131_sell-ebook-amazon_s-kindle.html

TIP TWO: Here’s a good “how to” article about creating and distributing your ebook through Amazon. It states this info is for whether your ebook is FREE or to be sold. According to this article, an ISBN number is NOT required for FREE ebooks on Amazon (but I’d get an ISBN for an ebook even if the ebook is free): http://www.ehow.com/how_4489551_sell-book-kindle-format.html

TIP THREE: If you’d prefer NOT to do all of this yourself, here’s a turnkey service that will layout/format your ebooks, get your ISBN numbers, and set-up your ebook with major online retailers. They handle all of it for $149 per title (plus 15% commission of net per sale): http://www.ebookit.com/

Okay! That should take some of the mystery out of this process for you, and hopefully saved you time in researching the answers on your own. Good luck!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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How to Conduct A Virtual Book Tour to Increase Your Sales

November 13th, 2010

Hi All!

Book authors are on a never-ending quest to promote their books, sell their books, and increase awareness for them. Yet, many authors struggle with this. I know this first hand because I have a lot of clients who are authors and seek my help with their book marketing.

One effective book marketing strategy that most authors do not use is conducting a Virtual Book Tour; using blogs as the vehicle. There are many ways to do one, so this post will give you some general guidelines to follow and you can adjust, alter and brainstorm additional ideas for your tour.

And the great thing about Virtual Book Tours is that it doesn’t matter if your book is new or not! There are many authors who have books that are several years old and their Virtual Book Tour brings the book back-to-life, generates interest for the book amongst people who didn’t know about it when it first came out, and ramps sales again. So don’t think this strategy is just for NEW books! And, it doesn’t matter whether you self-publish or not! I know authors who get hung-up on the self-published status of their book, but it’s NOT an issue!

1.)   Establish a timeframe for your tour. This can range from one week to one month. And you’ll want to start organizing it 1-2 months ahead of time for effective planning.

2.)   Find blogs that reach the audience you want to target for your book, and contact the owners of those blogs. This can range anywhere from 10 to a million blogs! How many blogs involved on your tour just depends on the time you have to do this outreach and how many blogs are the right fit for your book’s topic.

3.)   Tell each blogger the tour’s timeframe and what your expectations are when they participate in the tour. This may include: During the tour, they need to write a review of your book that includes the book’s cover linked to your Amazon page or wherever your book is sold; and you’ll provide them with 1-3 articles that pertain to your book’s topic that they will run during the tour as “guest blog posts” (from you) on their blog. And in the articles you provide them, they’ll include your short bio, pic of your book (or of you), and link to your website. You’ll provide EACH of the blogs that participate the same articles and each of them can run the articles in any order they want during the tour.

4.)   Send each participating blogger an organized “kit” for the tour (via email). This should include: General tour info (restate expectations, tour timeframe, roll-out schedule, etc.); file of your book cover; file of your headshot; and the articles you wrote for them to use as “guest posts” (as Word docs with links embedded to your website, Amazon page, etc.). Don’t rely on the bloggers to find the correct links to YOUR stuff!

5.)   Mail each blogger a copy of your book. Obviously you need to do this so they can read it BEFORE the book tour launches. And, no, don’t ask them buy it! Mail them a free copy!

6.)   Offer several copies of your book to each blogger who participates to use as a giveaway item for a contest they can create (or use it as a free gift for something the blogger wants to promote). You may not want to do this with every blogger who participates (if you have TONS of blogs on the tour), but you’ll want to offer it to the ones who have a lot of traffic. This is a good strategy because aside from them writing a review for your book and running the articles you provide to them during the tour, they can create a contest (or promotion) “around your book” which will be additional exposure for your book.

7.)   Thank and mention the blogs who participate on YOUR blog throughout the tour, on Twitter tweet the links to the blog posts they do about (and from) you, mention them on your Facebook Fan Page, etc. Doing all of this is critical because you are giving the participating blogs exposure to YOUR social networks, and that’s good business. The bloggers who participate on your tour are doing YOU a favor so giving them some “link love” and exposure is only right.

8.)   Consider sending each blogger who participated in your tour a Thank You gift when it’s over. Again, show them gratitude for their time, effort and help in promoting YOUR book!

Okay! That’s a general overview of how to do a Virtual Book Tour. Yes, I could go on & on with more ideas for conducting a successful tour, and ways to make it more elaborate (but that can get costly), so this gives you a good starting point. The “basic” approach I provided can get you great results as long as you PLAN ahead of time and connect with enthusiastic bloggers who are excited to participate in your Virtual Book Tour.

And if you want help with ideas, planning, and execution of your tour, or need other book marketing strategies, you know where to find me…

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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Cool Online Tools to Reach Targeted Media Interested in Your News

November 01st, 2010

Hi All!

I wanted to share some very cool tools that can help you reach TARGETED media and industry influencers; who are specifically interested in YOUR news and expertise. By using these tools, you can attract media interviews and get mass media coverage to build your personal or business branding platform, increase your income, and increase the sales of your products (i.e. your book if you wrote one!).

AND, I don’t care whether you’re a one-person company, small business, self-published book author, etc. The media (print, broadcast and online) is on the hunt for interesting news and topics 24/7, 365-days a year. So you don’t have to be famous or have earth-shattering news to get their attention! They just want interesting news or segment ideas that will appeal to their audiences.

I recently helped an author-client land a featured interview on a popular talk show on Lifetime! And she is a self-published author who just started working with me…getting media exposure rolling CAN happen fast if you make some effort!

SO…go for it!

1.) PitchEngine.com

Overview:

Unlike traditional wire services, PitchEngine enabled users to openly create and share their own content, while including images, videos and attachments at no cost. In 2009, more than 70,000 pitches were shared by 27,000 organizations looking to get the word out to not just journalists, but to bloggers, consumers and other influencers as well. PitchEngine’s “Co-op SEO” concept enables brands big and small to experience exceptional indexing in major search engines.

2.) MediaSyncOnline.com (FREE!)

Overview:

MediaSync is a free Web-based service from mBLAST that allows Marketers to easily research and use detailed, up-to-date media intelligence on print and online publications, their staff and their areas of coverage.

With MediaSync, you can find:

  • Detailed profiles for relevant editors, reporters, analysts and bloggers, including contact information, contact preferences, and latest articles and topics of coverage.
  • Detailed publication profiles, including industry classification, traffic statistics, staff lists, and more for thousands of print and online publications, newspapers, blogs and social media sites.
  • Detailed editorial calendar information, including topic, editorial and advertising close dates, and more.

MediaSync allows users to search for the information they need (on their companies, clients OR the competition), refine the results, save their search and receive alerts when new information is available that matches their criteria. They can also upload existing media lists and/or create and maintain new ones, and export it all into a contact list or briefing book.

3.) Special Learning Guide: “Promote U Thru PR – How to Get Mass Media Coverage to Build Your Brand & Income”

Overview:

Check-out my info-packed Learning Guide that outlines the PR & Publicity strategies I help my clients with, and the ones I personally use (which have landed me over 100 media interviews!). This special guide typically sales for $37, but for a limited time I’m offering it for $27.

I charge a lot more than $37, let alone $27, for the seminars, workshops and webinars I conduct on this topic…and the info in this Learning Guide is the same as I share in those more expensive events.

It covers everything you need to know about attracting the media, pitching the media, writing a killer Press Release, online tools and resources, and MUCH MORE. Simply CLICK HERE for the details of what you’ll learn…it’s on the Products Page of my website.

So there you have it…3 very cool tools that can help you reach the media YOU want to reach, and who are interested in YOUR news.

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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12 Strategies to Sell More Books at Events

June 23rd, 2010

Hi All!

I came across this great article written by Penny E. Sansevieri, CEO and Founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. It’s entitled, “12 Secrets to Selling More Books at Events”. It’s filled with great info, so I hope all of you authors benefit from these great tips!

Article Excerpt:

So you got a book event, great! Now you want to maximize it, right? You’ve heard your writing buddies (or perhaps read online) about the lack of attendance at signings, so figuring out how to maximize the event, regardless of the numbers might be tricky. While I spend a lot of time addressing online marketing, the offline component is one you shouldn’t overlook. If book events are where you want to focus, then bringing in some ideas to help you sell more books is something you should consider.

Some years back when I was promoting The CliffhangerI ended up at a book signing in the driving rain. I mean, it was pouring and the store was all but empty. It was amazing I sold even one book, let alone seven. While not a big number, the copies were all sold to people who were seeking refuge in the store from the rain and not there for my event. This signing taught me a lot about events and connecting with consumers in stores. If you have an event coming up, consider these ideas before you head out:

  1. Marketing: First and foremost is the marketing of your event. But I’m not talking about the marketing you do the media (though that is great too). I’m speaking of in-store marketing; this is what most folks seem to overlook. This is where you supply things to the store to help them market your event. Because the first phase of a successful event is driving people to it. Here are a few thoughts.
    • Do bag stuffers. You can easily do this in your favorite computer program, do two up on a page, meaning that you use one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper to do two fliers. You’ll want to ask the store first if they mind that you provide this. Most stores or event venues don’t.
    • Bookmarks: while most in the industry see these as passé, people still love them. You can do bookmarks and bag stuffers (or staple them to the flier) or you can do custom bookmarks with the date and time of your event. Nowadays it’s pretty easy to get these done cheaply. Keep in mind that if you are having the event in a mall or other type shopping area, you might be able to drop the bookmarks (or bag stuffers) off at the nearby stores to see if they’ll help promote the event.
  2. Book signings are boring: Regardless of where you do the event, plan to do a talk instead of a signing. People are drawn into a discussion and are often turned off by an author just sitting at a table. Marketing is about message and movement so stand up and speak. If speaking in public is intimidating to you, go to Toastmasters or some other local networking/speaking group and see what you can learn.
  3. Unique places: If you want to get more attention for your event, consider doing events in unique places. We’ve done them in video stores, electronics stores, gyms, even restaurants (on slow nights); doing outside-the-bookstore events is a great way to gain more interest for your talk. Why? Because you aren’t competing with everyone else at the bookstore for your crowd. When you do an event at a locale that doesn’t normally do events, you’ll attract more people just because it’s considered “unique.”
  4. Show up early and talk it up: OK, so let’s say you’re in the store and there are a ton of people in there shopping (a book event dream, yes?) I suggest that you take your extra bag stuffers or custom bookmarks and just hand them to the people in the store. Let them know you are doing an event at such and such time and you’d love it if they can sit in. You’ll be surprised how many new people you might pull in this way.
  5. Customize: Regardless of what your talk is about, poll the audience first to see a) what brought them there, or b) what they hope to learn if your talk is educational. I suggest this because the more you can customize your discussion, the more likely you are to sell a book. If you can solve problems (and this is often done during the Q&A) all the better. You’ll look like the answer machine you are and readers love that. If you have the answers, they’ll want to buy from you. I promise.

Those are only five of the great tips she shared out of 12so CLICK HERE to read the other 7!

Cheers and Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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