Marketing & Training Services since’92

http://www.speakerservices.com

November 3, 2011

CONTENT:

- Update from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice from experts

- Teleclasses for November

- Tweets & Blog Posts

I have been busy working with clients on speaker marketing and coaching folks on how to Position, Prospect & Land Gigs Now in collaboration with our team member Jean-Noel Bassior. This four step process seems to have hit a nerve as it is a huge issue for folks. We are sharing the strategies for you or your staff to help identify target markets and decision makers. The end result is that you learn how to leave voice message and or e mails that get call-backs. Not only that you get to practice as I prepare leads for you in your target audience.  Want some of that?

I am heading down to Orange County to teach Speak Your Way to More Clients on Monday, 11/7 for the third time with Ursula Mentjes. Carleen Paul, Skills for Success Reading Center shared.  Speak Your Way to More Clients was packed with tricks of the speaking trade!  Following the examples provided during the workshop will be vital to making my next speaking engagement a great success!  There is still time to register

On Wednesday, November 9 in Los Angeles I am speaking with Linda Hollander the Wealthy Bag Lady at Fill Your Purse Event: Get All the Clients and Sponsors You Want join us http://t.co/ah4kHHQj

I just got off the phone with one of my clients who spoke at a Womens Conference recently and received great reviews and several requests to speak at different chapters around the country.  She was thrilled with the invites and even though there was no pay she decided to go.  Unfortunately she had not taken my class Market Yourself as a Speaker and ran into several dicey situations on her travels.  Had she consulted with me she would have had a link on her website for meeting planners for her AV requirements so that the producer of the event would have all of her needs met before she arrived.

She also had booked another gig and it got cancelled which she did not find out until she arrived at her destination.  I said,  No contract agreement with a cancellation clause and a deposit a head of time to hold the date.  Big lessons learned and money spent that did not need to be spent.  She will be at my next workshop in Los Angeles on December 3, Market Yourself as a Speaker. Speaking is a business. You need to be armed with all the collateral find out more.  Not in Los Angeles?  No worries customized telephone coaching is available.

Greg Montana warmed my heart as he shared his accomplishments with me.  Because of www.speakerservices.com and your coaching I’ve shared the stage with Richard Branson, The Dalai Lama, Mark Victor Hansen, Harv Eker and have had some amazing partnerships. Thanks for the boost! Glad to see you are still incubating us speakers!  Congrats Greg.

To your speaking and marketing success,

Susan Levin

Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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TIPS and ADVICE



DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS IS TRUE?  Daphne Bousquet, CMP” daphne@eventsandprofits.com



One of my favorite things to do is busts myths.  And there are a few when it comes to workshops and seminars.  Often times, these myths can stop you in your tracks and prevent you from achieving your potential. Here is one that I hear all the time and perhaps you may even think it is true.

Ready? 

 You need a big event in order to make a lot of money.  
Nothing is farther from the truth. 

While large events have more potential for making more money, that does not mean that small events can not be very lucrative.

Sometimes smaller events do even better. 

When you have a smaller event, chances are you have a highly targeted audience.  Your ideal audience, if you will.
 The people that are at your event are there for a specific reason: to learn from you. Since the event is smaller, you have fewer demands on your time.  

That gives you more opportunities to really connect with your audience.  You can answer more questions and establish genuine relationships with people who will gladly sign up for your high end offer. (You do make an offer, right?)

After all, they know, like and trust you and the value you can bring to them and their businesses.
 
Now that you know you do not need hundreds of people (or even a hundred) in your event room to make a difference and a profit, does that take some of the pressure off?

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7 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING IN 60 SECONDS OF LESS by Sarah Goliger @hubspot.com

We all know it is not always easy being an inbound marketer especially a good inbound marketer. The things we do to optimize our landing pages, create killer content, keep track of all our analytics they take time! Therefore, to be both a successful inbound marketer, we must be able to use our time efficiently http://www.hubspot.com/social-media-monitoring-in-10-minutes-ebook  to drive the best results in the fastest way possible.

The good news is, even when you do not have a lot of time on your hands, there are lots of little things you can do to dramatically improve your marketing . Here are 7 things you can do in 60 seconds or less to drive more traffic to your site, convert visitors into leads at a higher rate, and increase your ROI.

Tip 1. Respond to a comment, post, or tweet.  A big part of inbound marketing is engaging with your fans, followers, and customers, especially through social media. Take a minute to reply to a tweet or a post on your Facebook page, even if just to say, Thanks for the feedback! or Glad you liked our ebook! Following up with your fans  will show them that you value their comments and will help keep them engaged with your business, making them more likely to convert into leads.

Read more
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Top four book promotion activities you can engage in to sell more books in today’s world 
 @John Kremer


, www.bookmarket.com

1. Speak. Speaking builds a word-of-mouth army better than anything else. Speak locally – at garden clubs, libraries, bookstores, Rotary clubs, JCs, poetry nights, story swaps, book club meetings, etc. Then expand out to a wider area, to nearby cities, to nearby states. Eventually, expand out to an even wider audience.

When someone hears you speak, they become a bigger fan than if they had just read your book. If they like you when they hear you speak, they will tell ten times more people than by just reading your book.

2. Book yourself on national TV. TV is still the largest mass market media. It still reaches more people than any other media – and with more impact. It is worth spending the time contacting the ten or twenty news and talk shows that reach your audience. For most national TV shows, you can get the contact information in one of two ways: 1. from their websites, and 2. via your network of friends and fellow authors.

Your appearance on one major TV show will not only expose you to millions of viewers, but it also opens the door to dozens and sometimes hundreds of other media: newspapers, magazines, radio, more TV shows, etc.

3. Create relationships with high-traffic websites. How many major high-traffic websites that attract your target reader have you created relationships with? Are these real relationships where you contribute content to them on a regular basis?  In today’s world, Internet relationships are the key to marketing success.

Uncover five to ten top websites that already reach the audience you want to reach. Look over their sites until you find a way to contact someone behind the site – a webmaster, an editor, the founder. Then email them with an offer of free content for their readers: an interview with you, a review copy of your book, a free article (that is really good), some tips for their readers, a Q&A column on your specialty, etc. Their obligation, in return, is to link to your website or sales page.

4. Do a Superstar Blog Tour. Or a Mega Blog Tour. Or a Blogpalooza. I’m not talking about the old-style humdrum virtual book tour of 15 or 20 blogs. I’m talking about an event blog tour that creates Internet buzz on a major scale. Event blog tours can build brands, create incredible website traffic, and sell tons of books.

The neat thing is that effective event blog tours take less time to carry out than the traditional Amazon Bestseller Campaign – and are almost always more effective in selling books, building a brand, and driving traffic.

If you want to know more about event blog tours, check out this recording of me speaking about the value and method of carrying out an effective impact blog tour: http://www.bookmarket.com/blog-tour-palooza.htm.

These four book marketing techniques work for almost any kind of book: fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, children’s books, how-to, spiritual, business, even cookbooks. You don’t have to do all four. Start with one and work it hard – you’ll get better results than doing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, EzineArticles, or other Internet marketing flavors of the week.

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Everyone is always looking for the best deal.  Do I have one for you.

Do you know Speakers Community Membership Club ? Over 100 mp3s 60 days free JOIN NOW http://bit.ly/rUSbGI

UPCOMING TELECLASSES

11/16 -  Organize & Optimize Your Social Media Efforts interview with Kim Beasley
- Have you ever felt overwhelmed while trying to figure out how to use social media to get your message out?

- Do you feel stuck in a rut when it comes to connecting with your target customers on social media?

- Are you trying to figure out how to use Google + to develop your business brand and your personal
identity?
Read/register

11/30/11 -  Amazon Bestsellers with Denise Cassino

Discover an affordable way to launch your e-book to #1 Bestseller on Amazon!

All programs apply to both print books and ebooks!

- The steps and strategies of a bestseller campaign?

- How to reach a large targeted audience without the expense of advertising.

- Why it is a win-win situation for the author, the partners and the book buyer.
- The value of joint ventures

 Read/register

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Tweets and blog posts you might be interested in

:

- Top searches on my blog how to market yourself speakers,  speakers schedule of fees, membership site,  making money as a speaker I can help

- Blog Post 10 Social Media Tips for Professional Speakers.  Use Each Form Of Social Media To Strengthen the Others.  http://bit.ly/sK5HeJ

- 


Professional Marketing Materials see list of services http://t.co/5PkGA894 new coaching program Position, Prospect, Land Gigs. Can we help you?

- 

2011 and 2012 Marketing Trends – Be On The Cutting-Edge, Not The Bleeding-Edge! http://steveslightbulbmoments.com/?p=521  via @StevesMoments

- 

Mary Cimiluca I am so proud of you landing several fantastic and high paying speaking engagements. Happy to have you in my corner and that you followed my advise to ask for more and they said YES!

- Grab Your Audiences Attention Right off the Bat http://t.co/fXCnPrBs The opening statement is important do not blow it.

- 

Prospecting: It is All in the Process @wendyweiss The Queen of Cold Calling™ Tips to ensure maximum results http://bit.ly/tejApu

Do You Have Professional Marketing Materials?

Not getting the media attention you deserve?

Not attracting new clients?

Not getting speaking gigs?

Speaker Services Team Can help

Services Include:

√  Speaker Listing for the web, social media, calls for proposals and in Speaker Services Online Directory. http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html

√  One-sheets Made Easy
A one-sheet combines text with colorful photos and graphics to spotlight who you are and what you do. It can be one- or two-sided. Many speakers use one side to promote their speaking and the other to feature a book or product. Great for event planners and talk-show producers because they can quickly “get” what you’ll offer their audiences.

√ Bios and profiles: short, medium, long
Bios in three formats: short, medium and long, so you’ll always have what the media outlet needs.  Also write-ups and listings for corporate publications and professional directories.

√ Interview questions
Talk show hosts and producers love guests who send questions in advance ─ it cuts down their prep time and results in a better interview. We know how to create interview questions that allow you to hit the high points and tell the story you want to tell.

√ Introductions
Show up at your next speaking engagement armed with an intro you actually like!  We can provide short intros for TV, radio, and teleclass appearances; medium-length for speaking engagements.

√  Testimonials
We  can edit testimonials for maximum impact.

√  Pitch letters to editors, reporters, producers
You don’t have to wait for your next event to attract media interest. A strong pitch letter sent to reporters, editors and talk show producers can suggest story angles that generate interest in you, your work, or your product.

√ Press releases
Professionally done to announce an event or the release of a book, film or product; can also be used to link what you do to a local or national news story so the media will call on you as an expert.

√ Videos and Media Coaching
We can provide short, affordable video clips of clients talking about what they do. Great for  websites, blogs and YouTube, and better quality than most Web cams.

√ Website review + write, edit, or rewrite
Make your website copy short, compelling and user-friendly.  We’ll review your site, suggest ways to make it better, and write, re-write or edit the copy.

√ Book Mentor coaching to complete and publish your book
Need help writing or publishing your book? Should you query a literary agent and go mainstream, or is self-publishing best for you? If you opt for mainstream, we can show you how to write a powerful query letter and book proposal and how to play the publishing game like a pro. If you decide to self-publish, we can guide you through the process so you’ll get a great-looking book for the best possible price per copy.

√ Copy for book cover, front and back
Book covers sell books. We can write or re-write your front and back cover copy to make it irresistible.

√  POSITION, PROSPECT AND LAND GIGS NOW taught by Susan Levin & Jean-Noel Bassior (one-on-one or group sessions)

Success strategies for you and your staff. Identify target markets and decision makers. Learn how to leave voice messages that get call-backs.

Session 1
We coach the VA so she/he can market your client as a speaker in a more effective way. We’ll do four sessions. In the first, we’ll show how to make cold calls and get to the right person. We’ll also show how to follow up the first call with a proposal for meeting planners that clearly shows why they should book your client. We’ll coach the VA on how to write the proposal in a way that tailors it to each group’s needs. The VA will send us a draft of the proposal so we can make sure she’s on the right track.

Session 2
We go over the draft of the follow-up proposal with the VA and offer editing suggestions to make it as strong as possible. We make sure she understands how to write a powerful proposal that shows why the group or organization should book your client as a speaker.

Session 3
We show the VA how to prospect for gigs and research target audiences for both speaking and PR. A special report with the information covered will be provided at the end of the call. We will give a homework assignment to choose two or three organizations or companies to call. The VA will make the calls and report back to us in the next session.

Session 4
In the fourth session, we listen to the VA’s experience in contacting meeting planners and sending out proposals. We answer her questions and offer feedback to make sure she understands everything we have covered as she moves forward.

Call for a complimentary session today!

Speaker Services, Susan Levin: 310-822-4922 PT

Using Your Kindle Book To Gain Market Reach
by Kathleen Gage, StreetSmarts Marketing

Looking for a new way to get in front of potential book buyers? Try your hand at publishing a Kindle book. It’s one of the easiest ways to get your material published…fast!

I couldn’t believe how simple the process was from the very first attempt. What’s great is you don’t need an ISBN to publish your Kindle version book. You can publish just about anything including:

•    eBooks
•    Reports
•    Articles
•    Blogs
•    Books
•    Transcripts

The fact is, if you can write it you can publish in Kindle.

There are a few reasons you would publish in Kindle. One, to be published. Two, to make money. Three, to build market reach and credibility. Four, to build your opt in list.

If you’ve been dreaming of being a published author and are not yet there, Kindle is a great first step. There is virtually nothing easier. You don’t have to publish a full length book. Nope. You can publish information you have on your computer. It’s really that simple. So no more excuses.

Although you can make money with Kindle you likely won’t get rich. If getting rich is your main motivator you may want to rethink why you are publishing with Kindle. However,  Kindle books can lead to other, more lucrative opportunities.

One of the best reasons to publish a Kindle book is for market reach and credibility. Yet, you can’t simply get your Kindle book up and expect sales to flood in. Any author who wants to get the most traction for your published works needs to be very proactive with marketing and promotions. There’s no way around this.

The more you market the more visibility you get. The more visibility the more sales. The more sales the more likely readers are to visit your blog and/or website. When you optimize your sites you are prepared for visitors with an opt-in opportunity.

Ignore setting your site up so visitors can opt-in for something and you miss lots of great opportunities. Make sure your site is ready for the traffic you generate.

As you can see Kindle books serve many purposes, the most important of which is to create high quality information for your readers. Create high quality information and you set yourself up for greater success.

Check out my  newest Kindle Book -
The fast and easy way to build your opt-in subscriber with Mini-Courses [Kindle Edition] Click Here

by Judy Cullins,  judycullins@cox.net

Want a lot more book sales? Want your business to stand out from the crowd?

A blog, one of the best content marketing techniques, can give you much higher results than you imagined. It helps you build a following, build a reputation as the savvy expert in your field, and make increased book sales!

The most important thing to remember is to write at least two entries a week, and make your posts compelling, professional, and inviting. Remember to ask people to leave their opinions, and get some buzz going. If you are an author, post points or tips that relate to your book. If you are a service business, give how to’s that you also give as a consultant or coach.

How Can You Keep your Blog Fresh?

Look at other places or blogs in your field to gain ideas. My favorite is joining Linkedin groups that relate to your expertise. These people post discussions that they want info on. So, it makes sense to stay abreast of these, and comment as often as you can with useful tips. These discussions or news articles keep my blog alive with always up-to-the-minute good information on about book writing, self-publishing, and book and business online marketing.

And, when people are ready, they will contact you for specific help from your books, teleseminars and coaching.

What are the Big Rules of Blogs?

1. Keep improving your blog. Get educated with books and take teleseminars. Get a short phone coaching session for feedback to see if you are on the right track.

2. Make sure your content arouses a discussion. Ask questions at the end of the blog. Elicit opinions that keep it fresh.

3. Keep it simple. Do what you can, and if your blog needs some graphics, or style, contact a webmaster who does this kind of work. You’d only need him/her for a few sessions.

Read more at http://bookcoaching.com/wp/blog-marketing-books-business/

by Sue Papadoulis via SuccessfulAuthorSecrets.com or LoveYourLifePublishing.com.

Using public relations (PR) is the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to build your brand, increase your customer base, explode your sales and give you expert status. Don’t overlook going after fr^ee publicity in the media – it is far more extensive and influential than a paid for advertisement. As an author, you’re already an expert in your field – now it’s just a case of making sure the media see you in the same light so you can sell more books.

Here’s my 10-step plan to writing a great press release that will get noticed.

Get the layout right. You need:

The date and city of issue
A headline in larger, bold font
An opening sentence in bold
Text that supports your headline and opening sentence
Your contact details

Create a great headline. Just as in a newspaper article, the headline must sum up the press release contents in a concise manner. See if you can mirror what you see in newspapers and magazines. Keep it to one short sentence and remove unnecessary words.

Write a snappy opening sentence. Your opening sentence can be just as important as the headline in attracting interest from a journalist who may scan this alone and determine whether or not the entire story is of interest. Remember, these words are also indexed by search engines, so if you’re loading your release onto any online distribution sites add some key words (but not to the detriment of the quality of the content).’

Support your headline and opener with quality text. The remaining text supports your story and must answer the questions of who, what, when, where, how and why. Write the text in the format used by your target media outlet. For example if you’re targeting a local paper, write it as a newspaper article – the sure sign of a great media release is when you read it word for word in the paper.

Use quotations. Quote yourself high up in the release – in the second or third sentence. Keep quotes short, sharp and newsworthy (often referred to by the media as a ‘grab’ which summarizes the main point of the story). Add them as a single sentence at a time, rather than as a paragraph of text. A single sentence is easier to read and scan.

Include an expert if possible. If you can find a third party to support your position it will give you and your release instant credibility and move it away from being a promotional piece into the realm of serious news story. This could be a happy customer who’s willing to be quoted or a representative of an industry association. You could even quote a third party who’s already publically spoken about your issue. As long as it’s in the public domain and you correctly attribute the quote, you are able to include it.

Provide full contact details. Include your name, landline, mobile phone number, email address and web address.

Keep it to one page. More than one and a half pages and a journalist just won’t read it. If you’re struggling to include everything, then make a plan to come up with six angles over six months. Over that period of time you can include all the information you need to about your business. By staying in touch regularly, you’re also building a relationship with a journalist which can be a key factor in generating free publicity.

Offer images and make yourself available for an interview. Often, a journalist will want to do an interview rather than lifting quotes directly from a media release. A media outlet may be happy to use your images, or they may want to take photographs themselves, so make yourself available.

Send it out! Develop a list of targeted media outlets, and don’t overlook online PR release sites such as www.free-press-release.com and www.prweb.com.

© 2010 Sue Papadoulis
Sue Papadoulis is a leading specialist in helping small businesses generate free publicity. She is the founder of the DIY PR Kit which provides step-by-step advice and templates to show you how to score free media coverage on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and online. Access Sue’s special video (valued at $279), How to Generate Free Publicity for Your Business, free at www.diyprkit.com.

What does it mean to be a “conscious business owner”?

There’s been an evolution in the online conversation lately, I noticed, toward dwelling on the personal experience of being “conscious:” being in touch with one’s sense of purpose, feeling good about what you’re doing, making heartfelt decisions, being grateful and fair, being healthy and promoting health, being spiritual and soulful…things like that.

While all those things are true and wonderful, there are also cultural criteria the larger business community and society as a whole use to measure “conscious business,” or, lately, “conscious capitalism.”

So if you’re wondering if you’re a conscious business owner, here’s a nine-point checklist you might try out on yourself for starters:

•    Do you strive to be ETHICAL in your dealings with employees, customers, and others?
•    Are you SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE in terms of the people you serve, the communities in which you operate, things like energy and the environment?
•    Are you AWARE of how your products and services impact the greater good?
•    Do you think you’re aligned with your HIGHEST AND BEST purpose?
•    Do you feel the CONNECTION your business has to the needs of the Universe?
•    Do you COMPLEMENT the businesses of others, rather than competing with them?
•    Are you FAIR in your pricing, policies, and other business dealings?
•    Do you BALANCE value with profits well?
•    Do you CONTRIBUTE to the betterment of your community?

If you checked off most of these, you’re a “conscious business owner” by anyone’s standards.  If you didn’t, you now have a new awareness of things you might want to strive toward!

Carol Liege is a contributing author to Align, Expand and Succeed; Shifting the Paradigm of Entrepreneurial Success. This “just released” book is based on the premise that the world is changing at a very rapid pace. We are starting to see that cooperation brings better results than old style competition. It’s a new era and we need to work together to create success for everyone, not just for a few.

This book features dozens of conscious entrepreneurs who share their wisdom, expertise, stories, lessons and insights about the new and exciting shifts that are happening for entrepreneurs worldwide.

This book is designed to raise the vibration of the planet like never before. Get your copy of Align, Expand and Succeed and enjoy an abundance of gifts with your purchase. http://www.aesbook.com

This post came from John Kremer’s weekly news johnkremer@bookmarket.com

Nancy Juetten, author of Bye-Bye Boring Bios, send out the following email to encourage her affiliates and supporters to tweet about the new edition of her book. I think you could create a similar letter to promote your book:

With Halloween coming up super fast, I thought it would be fun to share a series of 22 timely Tweets you can share with your tribe that showcase some of the value packed within the newly released second edition of Bye-Bye Boring Bio. The good news is that sales have been as brisk as the fall weather, and I would love to stir things up even more with your help for the benefit of all.

In the following paragraphs, she describes how to create a unique affiliate link for the suggested tweets. Then she shared the following suggested tweets:

Just put your unique affiliate link at the end of each of the following Tweets, and you have 22 ways to guide your people to attract clients, speaking gigs, and media interview with great bios now.  How great is that? Of course, if you need any additional help, just give me a call at 425-641-5214.

22 Timely Tweets for Trick or Treat!
1. Does your bio showcase your stunning results? Bye-Bye Boring Bio shows you how. (Your link here.)
2. Does your bio get ideal clients to that ‘like, trust, respect’ place fast? (Your link here.)
3. What succinct stories does your bio tell that compel your ideal clients to say ‘yes’ to what you sell. (Your link here.)
4. How sassy are your sound bites? Good ones help you attract clients. (Your link here.)
5. Does your speaker sheet compel meeting planners to say ‘yes’? Bye-Bye Boring Bio examples show you the way. (Your lnk here.)
6. Does your speaker intro invite applause before you say your first word? Bye-Bye Boring Bio examples show you how. (Your link here.)
7. Is your Twitter profile a-Twitter with personality? Bye-Bye Boring Bio examples inspire! (Your link here.)
8. When NPR invites your expert comments, what two sentences introduce you as the authority? (Your link here.)
9. Are your media placements showcased in your bio? Why not? Start today. (Your link here.)
10. How many I’s are in your bio? Shift the focus to your ideal client and see what good things happen next. (Your link here.)
11. Does your bio identify your tribe and niche? It should! Bye-Bye Boring Bio examples show you how. (Your link here.)
12. Do you have a 150-word speaker sheet that offers a descriptive, memorable headline? You should! (Your link here.)
13. Do you ask for testimonials systematically? Bye-Bye Boring Bio shows you how. (Your link here.)
14. Are your a master of new client enrollment? Bye-Bye Boring Bio audio bonus file shows you how. (Your link here.)
15. Are you attracting $$$ from your book before it is published? Bye-Bye Boring Bio audio bonus file shows you how. (Your link here.)
16. Struggling to write about yourself without bragging? Let Bye-Byte Boring Bio ease your pain. (Your link here.)
17. Transform that boring bio from wallpaper to wow now. (Your link here.)
18. Does your bio attract clients or snores? Bye-Bye Boring Bio wakes up decision makers fast. (Your link here.)
19. Bye-Bye Boring Bio. Hello opportunity. (Your link here.)
20. Ready to scare away boring bios and gather more treats? (Your link here.)
21. Attract compensation with your rock star bio now. (Your link here.)
22. It’s your story. Tell it well. Let Bye-Bye Boring Bio show you how. (Your link here.)

Thanks in advance for helping to build the buzz for the most comprehensive tool on the market today aimed and guiding solopreneurs the world over to get seen, heard, celebrated and COMPENSATED for their expert status. There are serious treats waiting for everyone who applies the lessons within Bye-Bye Boring Bio to their expert advantage. Plus, I love writing affiliate checks!

Even if you don’t offer an affiliate program, you can still develop a list of suggested tweets for your fans and followers to tweet or retweet.  A very useful way to get additional exposure and links for your website.

Interview with Stever Robbins, Get-It-Done Guy

Building on his Get-It-Done Guy podcast, which just passed its 7 millionth download, the Get-It-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More gives step by step advice on how to Live on Purpose, Stop Wasting Time, and much more. Need to stop procrastinating? Learn how to ‘speed date’ your tasks, until you find one that clicks. Feel like you can never achieve your daily goals? Learn how to set up an ‘interruption time’, so that nothing can distract you until you’re ready.

1. Why do we procrastinate? What are some simple tips for beating procrastination?
Thinking causes procrastination. No, really. We build up tasks in our mind, thinking they’ll be huge, unachievable,or unpleasant. The remedy is to stop thinking and just start acting. Your brain will still get in your way, however. While you’re filling out your procrastinated expense reports, your brain will distract you with worries that you’re making no progress on the novel you’ve been procrastinating.

As I mention in my book, you can make your brain happy by speed-dating your tasks. List what you’re procrastinating. Start at the top and work on each task for exactly five minutes, then move to the next task. Use a timer to be precise. When you’re done, take a 5-10 minute break and do it again. Five minutes is short; your brain will let you do it. Since you’re hitting several of your procrastinated tasks, your brain knows you’ll get to your other tasks just five minutes from now. It frees you to focus completely on the task in front of you, yet guarantees you’ll go on to make progress on everything that’s important.

2. Your career background includes a lot of technology companies, but Step 3 of your 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More is called “Conquer Technology”. Why doesn’t technology automatically make us more productive? How can we use it to become more productive?
Don’t get me wrong; some technology really delivers on its promise. But often, technology saves effort in one place while adding effort in others. For example, each new gadget packs more capability into each device. What makes it attractive and fun also makes it distracting and kills our productivity.

Technology is a tool, nothing more, and nothing less. When a carpenter uses a screwdriver, she picks it up, uses it, and puts it down again. That’s how you use tools. Treat your technology the same way. Instead of being married to it everywhere you go, divorce your technology. Have it around, just not in front of you. Do your thinking on paper. Decide what you need to do. Then get out the tools to do it. If you need to do something on computer—like send email—get up, walk over to your computer, open the email program, send the email, close the program, and walk back to your main work area. By keeping each task distinct, you’ll learn to use your computer as a tool. Instead of being a distraction, it becomes a superb way of amplifying your focus. In that Step 3 of the book, I explained how I evaluate all of my gadgets to make sure they are delivering on their work-less-do-more promise; I suggest everyone do the as me.

3. Does being organized automatically mean you’re getting more done?
Being organized means you have a place for everything and everything goes in its place. When you’re disorganized, everything you do has the added burden of your having to search for the tools need to do it. For example, when you’re disorganized, writing a Thank You card is an adventure. You have to brave your Supply Pile. You hunt for 5 minutes to find the crumpled paper bag where you stuffed those Thank You cards. You start writing … only to find you’re out of stamps. A 10-minute trip to the Post Office, later your cards are ready to go. If you’re organized, you get out your Thank You cards and stamps. You write the Thank You card, stamp the envelope, and toss it in mailbox. Elapsed time: 30 seconds, instead of 15 minutes and 30 seconds.

If you use the 15 minutes you saved to get more done, then being organized helps you get more done in the same amount of time. Otherwise, you’re getting the same done in less time, freeing up the extra time to do something awesome. Like eat Oreo Ice Cream Cake. That’s one way being physically organized can help you be more productive. I also offer advice on how to organize your days and brain better in the book too.

4. In your book, you recommend people not consider all their options. How can this help someone get more done?
We love choice! We believe more choice means more happiness and more movement towards our goals! The research on choice refutes this, however. Give us more than two or three choices and we become less likely to act and more likely to regret any choice we take.

In daily life, this means too many options stalls us, and we end up less happy with our choices. We make and re-make our decisions until we’ve spent more time and money making the decision than the decision is actually worth.

By limiting our options, we limit the research needed for the choice, and we’re more likely to keep moving forward. My example is buying a digital camera. I’ve needed one for three years now, but there are too many to choose from. If I simply limit my options to the first ten cameras that appear on the Consumer Reports web site, the decision becomes much easier. Will I get the best camera possible? Probably not. But I will get a camera and start doing the photography I need to get done. Without limiting my choices, I stay paralyzed and stressed.

5. Leverage is usually a term applied to finance? The final step of your 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More is called “Leverage”. What do you mean when you use the term?
Leverage is a physics term. A lever is a simple machine. You put in a small force on the long end of a lever and get a strong force out. In finance, leverage means using a small amount of your own money to borrow a much greater amount, so you get huge financial effects using only a small amount of money.

In Get-it-Done Guy’s 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More, I use leverage to mean doing a small amount of work and getting a huge result. Choose ways of working where you work less and get outsized results. For example, most of us scribble down a to-do list as a way of keeping track of what we have to do today. You can get leverage by jotting down that list in a format that someone else can understand. Then you can hire an assistant, give them your old to-do lists, and they can hit the ground running. You are doing a little more work by writing neater and maybe elaborating each item a bit. Your return is immense, though, because your to-do list enables you to free up time by delegating.

6. What is an action day? Shouldn’t every day be an action day?
An action day is one of my favorite tips in the book and a great way to get things done while bonding with a friend. Call a friend who wants to have a super-productive day. Get together in person or by phone, each bringing a list of things you want to get done. Commit to making progress and start working. Check in at the top of each hour, report your last hour’s progress, and declare your next hour’s plan. Your promise to each other gets you started, and the hourly check-ins keep you on track. I find in-person or phone works best for action days.

Every day can be an action day if you have people willing to play. I wrote the final draft of my book by holding five action days a week. The action days kept me going through the rough patches, and a couple of the regular attendees became friends! An action day is pretty intense, though, and I found that two each week was a good number.

I hold regular action days. If you’d like to be on the announcement list, visit http://www.SteverRobbins.com/actiondays. I send out announcements of new action days once or twice a month.

7. What is the biggest hindrance to your personal productivity? How do you deal with it?
The internet. The web and email are a large part of my job, and they’re both distraction machines. The moment I open an email or visit a web site to do research, I risk hours of distraction. Its siren song is extremely seductive and hard to resist…

My solution is to divorce my technology as I described earlier. Rather than thinking of my computer as “my computer,” I think of it as a different tools, depending on my task. Sometimes it’s my typewriter, sometimes it’s my reference book, and sometimes it’s my newspaper. When I think of it in terms of the tool I need at the moment, it helps me stay focused on the current task.

… and when that fails, I use a freeware program called Freedom on my Mac to shut down my internet connection for a couple of hours.

8. If a person can make just one change to make themselves more productive, what would you recommend they change?
Definitely Step 1, which is Live on Purpose. Regularly stop and ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Then make sure what you’re doing is really the best way to reach that goal. I do this a dozen times a day. “Why am I surfing Facebook?” “I dunno. Habit.” “Ok, self, get back to work!”

Living on Purpose goes far beyond your moment-to-moment tasks, however. I used to go to four or five business conferences each year. Why? “I’m doing important business development,” was my answer. Year, right. When reviewing my client list, I realized not a single client had come from attending a conference. My clients had only come from speaking at conferences. Now, I only attend conferences where I’m speaking, or if there’s some other compelling reason to be there.

9. You recommend that people schedule interruptions. How is this possible?
You schedule interruptions by setting aside a time block each day for dealing with interruptions. If you’re interrupted, quickly decide if it’s a show-stopping emergency. If not, jot it down on your “Interruptions” list. Wait until your scheduled interruption time and work on it then. If Bernice drops by, asking you to review a memo she’s written, just say, “I would be happy to. I’m busy right now. How about if I get back to you a little after 4 p.m.?” When your interruption time arrives, her memo will be on your list and you can handle it then. Often if the interruption is someone with a problem, they’ll solve it themselves when you make yourself their convenient rescue service.

Interruptions will take your time one way or another. If you schedule them, at least you can get work done in the meantime.

Purchase the book www.steverobbins.com

Invite from Susan Levin

COMPLIMENTARY

YOU…THE STAR!!! SPEAK-WRITE-MARKET MINI SUMMIT & VIDEO DEMO SHOWCASE In Los Angeles

Sunday, Sept.26, 9:30am-5pm   $FREE  Register Now

In this day and age, to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media conglomerate: a compelling speaker…a credible author…a believable video performer…a master marketer.

In “YOU…THE STAR!!!” you will learn — from acknowledged experts in their respective fields — the ins and outs, the secrets and strategies for being a multi-faceted media personality.

Regardless of profession, everyone is an expert in their field and this event is a perfect opportunity to turn your expertise into a successful business; to master the game of speaking, to navigate the latest technology, and learn exciting new strategies for producing active and passive income.

THE PROMISE OF “YOU…THE STAR!!!”

- EARN why the magic of speaking is invisible

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- TRICKS to sharing your passion & excitement that translate into action and sales

- WITNESS a live video demo shoot

- DISCOVER why a speaker video demo is the ultimate calling card

- GET the #1 secret so you can “play” on camera – it’s the magic secret sauce that brings you $$S!

- LEVERAGE videos into your marketing campaign and convert visitors into customers

- EXPLORE self-publishing vs mainstream publishing

- CREATE time to write your book

- TURN your content into cash

- FIND out how event producers decide who gets booked

- UNCOVER what’s uniquely marketable about you and your mission

- MASTER Social Media, Blogs, Article Writing, Teleseminars, UTube

PRESENTERS:
Jack Barnard is a master presentation & branding coach, a media trainer & writer: a true maverick in the business. He works with speakers, authors & entrepreneurs, both one-on-one and in groups. His original method emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual, focusing on the permission to bring forth one’s distinctive style.

Susan Levin is owner & founder of Speaker Services. Susan is an International Marketing Consultant for speakers & authors. Her company offers marketing & training services & video production service.

Jean-Noel Bassior is a book coach & journalist who specializes in celebrity interviews. She is the author of Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television published by McFarland.

Barbara Niven is an Actress, Speaker and Performance Coach.  Barbara is in demand as a Performance Coach for actors, hosts, speakers & executives. In her studio she videotapes sessions for instant replay & feedback.

Location:  Marina del Rey, 9:30am-5pm

When you register you will receive the address and location.

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Post by Penny Sansevieri, Author Marketing Experts, Inc

1. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much stuff. When I first started speaking several years ago, I would show up with 60 pages of notes. One of the people in the audience said to me, “You’re not planning on covering all of that, are you?” Indeed. As time progressed I realized that my audience would get more with less. While I encourage you to fill your presentation with great information, save the overstuffing for your Thanksgiving turkey and keep your presentation flowing with enough information to sustain, but not so much as to overwhelm. How much is too much? Well, you might have to experiment with this a bit before you get it just right. Try practicing your presentation at home in front of some people who can give you objective feedback, this will really help you polish your program before you go out to the “real” audience. Keep in mind that when you rehearse, your presentation is bound to be shorter; things like questions and audience interaction will also lengthen your speaking time.

2. Look ‘em in the eye: You should always try to make eye contact with your audience; in fact, I recommend that you make and keep eye contact for at least five seconds with select individuals. This will help to engage the listener. Don’t look over their heads at the back wall or your product table, keep your eyes focused on the people who came to hear you speak.

3. Move around, don’t hide behind the podium: It’s easy to seek shelter behind a speaker podium, especially when you’re nervous, but the podium is a subconscious “block” between you and your audience. Try to move as far away from it as you can.

4. Gestures and facial expressions are good: Vary your gestures and facial expressions. An animated speaker is far more engaging than one who has perfected the Poker-face look. This is especially true if you want to keep your presentation light or if you’re presenting humorous material. Also, *smile* – it’s amazing how a warm and welcoming smile can really engage your audience.

5. Attire: when in doubt, get dressed up. If you’re not sure of the attire, I always recommend dressing up. If need be you can always remove your jacket and/or tie, but it’s hard to recover when you show up in your casual clothes and find everyone else is in a suit.

6. Leave the monotone voice at home: Vary your voice, don’t keep to one speed. Vary the speed and rhythm, it’s almost like riding a roller coaster. One minute you’re fast, then slow, then climbing. Keep it varied and you’ll keep your audience’s attention. As for using “um” and “eh” well, you know that’s a no-no, no sense in taking up space here to remind you that you should avoid those place fillers at all costs. If you need some practice getting those out of your vernacular, try attending a Toastmasters group in your local area.

7. Using PowerPoint? Go easy on the text: if you use too much text on your PowerPoint you’ll find that people are reading the text on the slides instead of listening to you. A good balance is a few words to highlight your key points, just enough to get their attention – but not so much that they’re forced to read what’s on the screen. Figure about 10 slides for every 20 minutes of presentation time. Your font size should be 30 point or larger.

8. Handouts are a must: Make sure you give them something to take home with them. What I also do is create a handout and then offer to email my audience the PowerPoint presentation they just viewed. I get them to sign up for it, which gives me their email addresses to not only send them the presentation, but a thank-you note along with an invitation to join our newsletter!

9. Record yourself: As scary as this sounds, this is one of the best ways to better yourself as a speaker. Record your presentation and wait a day to listen to it, this will give you enough “space” from the program to clear your mind and listen to the audio objectively. Note what you liked and didn’t like and don’t worry if you feel like you flubbed the whole thing. Remember that your audience isn’t grading you, they are there for information, and as long as you lived up to your promise you can keep correcting and enhancing your speaking talent with each program.

10. Now let’s talk about BOR (back of the room product). Your BOR can make a huge difference in the money you make on your speaking. Most new speakers don’t make money on speaking, or very little, but the BOR is where you can strike gold. Here are some tips to maximize it. First off, your flexibility for BOR will depend on whether you’re presenting in a speaker-type setup or at a bookstore, but either way, have product to sell regardless of who supplies it. If you can be flexible with what you offer, try packaging several items together, offer a one-time discount for the packaged product and this is a little trick I borrowed from a friend of mine: put together several packages, high end, low end and something in the middle. Attendees of your event will generally pick the middle of the road pricing, which is probably more than you’d sell a single book for. Also, get folks to sign up for your mailing list. Regardless of what you can and can’t sell, make sure you can add people to your list so you can market to them again, and again, and again!

Post from blog@hubspot.com

Yesterday in Boston, author and speaker Seth Godin took the stage at John Hancock Hall. The event was part of a tour to promote his new book, Linchpin, and several members of the HubSpot team attended the morning half of the event.  The morning focused on Godin speaking and making his case for change.

What was the key takeaway from these few hours? All of Godin’s ideas and books can be condensed into one simple word: Permission. After listening to Godin discuss a variety of subjects, ranging from the current economic revolution to the failures of higher education, one thing is clear. The man is completely obsessed with permission.

The Two Sides of Permission

Godin uses permission in two vastly different ways to address his points.  It is clear through books like Permission Marketing and Tribes as well as his talk today that he believes effectively marketing to people in today’s culture requires their expressed permission.  An individual or company needs the permission of a group or tribe of people to be able to join and then eventually conduct commerce with the group.

Godin’s other focus of permission is positioned sharply on the other side. While individuals and companies need permission to market products and services outside the company, to make great products, or “art,” as he calls it, employees need to do great work without waiting for permission.  He maintains that most people are great at doing what they are told, but not good at solving problems that everyone else is afraid to solve. He believes that successful companies in the future will be filled with employees who don’t wait for permission and instead tackle the tough problems head-on.

Impossible and Perfect

Impossible and perfect are the two biggest principles stopping people from progressing, says Godin. Industries at certain times are perfect. For example, record companies in the 1970s. During this time, demand for their product was huge. They had free advertising through radio and a strong hold on distribution. Today, the record industry is in shambles because its time of perfection has passed.

Problems seem perfect because they can’t be solved. Revolutions create opportunities for things that seem impossible. For example, when Henry Ford first sought to mass produce the automobile, it was viewed as an impossible task. The balance between impossible and perfect is what stops individuals and organizations from seeing opportunities in front of them. Godin believes we are in the middle of the biggest economic revolution in history.

He explains that now you don’t need a big office building and a large company to create and distribute a product and build a successful business. Instead, he argues that today we need connections and problem solving skills to build great companies. There is no map in this economic revolution. Value today is created by solving a problem no one has solved before.  It is easy to copy others, but the challenge is building your own map.

8 Marketing Lessons From Seth Godin

1. Spamming People Doesn’t Work Like it Used To – People who spam others have determined that it doesn’t pay for itself like it used to. If you look at companies that are growing (e.g. Zappos), they don’t do a lot of advertising.  They do just a little bit of advertising to keep their investors happy, but have realized that personalized messages will always do better than spam.

2. People Like Doing What Other People Are Doing – We like to be like each other. People strive to fit in and find their own groups, so marketers who facilitate this will win.

3. Ideas That Spread Win, and Free Ideas Spread Best – Godin explained that he made more money by giving away his book, Idea Virus, than he made on his previous New York Times best-seller. Free ideas create demand, and demand can always be monetized.

4. Remarks Make Something Remarkable – When people comment on something, then it is remarkable. The old model, which focuses on companies making average products for average people, is not remarkable. Companies that aren’t remarkable can’t grow quickly.  By making products worth talking about, then companies can become remarkable.

5. What We Make and How We Make It Has Changed – In today’s economy, people are buying experiences and conversations. Godin provided the example of LittleMissMatched, a company that sells unmatched socks that provide a point of interest and conversation for young girls.

6. You Have the Opportunity to Lead a Tribe – Tribes exist today, and they’re looking for leaders. You don’t have to have charisma to be a leader. Leading gives leaders charisma. The internet is the ultimate extension of communication to help organize tribes. Don’t waste time trying to convert non-fans; instead, work to strengthen existing tribes.

7. Lots of Alternatives Exist – Choices are now rampant, so people or companies that are perceived as the best or the leaders are more successful. People have been trained to be good at a lot of things, but not to be the best at one niche skill. Difficult opportunities are the ones worth doing.

8. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Indispensible – Lots of opportunities exist to be a linchpin, but most people and companies are scared of being great and indispensible because it’s hard and scary. By overcoming this fear, marketers can become critical to business success.

Read more

Post by Lynne Klippel
Lynne@LoveYourLifePublishing.com

Do you feel overwhelmed with book ideas? Instead of having one book inside does it feel like you have a raft of books ready to be launched?

It can be challenging to select the topic for your first book. Use these questions to guide your decision making process.

The most successful books have a clear focus and present useful steps to solve a specific problem for a specific reader. In fact, the more clearly you define your target reader and your topic,t he easier it will be to market your book.

Which topic is more targeted?

Stress reduction vs. Mediation techniques for Olympic athletes

Money Management vs. Financial education for new college graduates

Spirituality vs. Corporate executives and the power of prayer

The more tightly you can define your target reader and the specific problem your book will solve, the more successful your book will be.

How will your book contribute to your business?

If you are a corporate consultant, writing a book about French cooking might be a fun and creative project. However, it would not bring you more consulting clients. When you select your topic, make sure you have a clear path from your book to your products or services. Your book will position you as an expert. Use that positioning to your advantage and link your topic to your business.

How passionate are you about the topic?

When you write a book, you’ll be spending the next 3-5 years marketing it. If you pick a topic that bores you or does not resonate with your highest purpose, it will be hard to find the energy to market it effectively.

What gives you the credibility to write this book?

Take a good look at your training, education, and life experience. Do you have personal success solving this problem? For example, if you are writing about financial abundance but you are currently bankrupt, you have a credibility problem, both within your heart and with your readers. If you have never run a successful business, it will be hard to write a book telling others how to run their business successfully.

Many entrepreneurs who are new to their field are so excited about their training that they want to write a book on the topic. It’s better to select an area where you have some real-life experience so that you feel confident about your knowledge of the topic.

When you write a book about a problem that you’ve successfully mastered, you will write with first-hand knowledge of both the impact of the problem, the solution, and the possible pitfalls that people may encounter. Look to your life experience, both personally and professionally, and you’ll find plenty of great book topics.

What topic would be the most fun for you?

Writing a book is a commitment of time and energy. If you select a topic that you enjoy, perhaps even love, the process of writing your book will be fun instead of feel like drudgery. If you just adore talking about branding, have some wonderful success stories, and can’t wait to learn more about new ways to create brands, you’ll probably enjoy writing a book on branding.

Examine your own reading list, both books and ezines. Which books or newsletters do you read as soon as possible because you as so fascinated by the topic? If you have a book shelf full of books on personal development, attend conferences regularly, and work as a life coach, writing a book on accounting would not be much fun for you.

When you’ve answered these questions, you will naturally discover your ideal book topic. In fact, it will seem so logical that you won’t believe you ever considered another topic in the first place!

Lynne Klippel, a life-long book lover, is passionate about helping people with a positive message share it in a book. She focuses exclusively on non-fiction, Business Building Books, designed to help coaches, speakers, small business owners, and spiritual practitioners write books that get them more clients, media attention, and additional income.

Lynne is the author of six books, many information products, and a popular speaker. Her background as a teacher, librarian, and certified coach gives her the ability to break complex tasks into simple steps and motivate you so that you can reach your goals…

Her mission: to be your friend in the book business, sharing information, resources, and just as much help as you need to get your book out of your head and into the hands of eager readers. Lynne lives in Missouri with her husband and sons, and a house full of books.

The following post is from Reno Lovison

Last week, an author who I solicited to consider having me produce a book video trailer said to me, “I am the author, not the publisher, you are barking up the wrong tree.” He went on to explain that he expected his publisher to be responsible for promotion of his book. I have had both a traditionally published  and a self-published book and I have learned that he is right, you don’t need to promote your book – - if you are Sarah Palin with your own cult following or Chelsea Handler with three books on this week’s New York Times Best Seller list and a nightly hit television show to help you publicize to a mass audience every day. I pointed out to my prospect that regardless of celebrity I have seen no publishers selling books on Jon Stewart, Colbert Report, David Letterman or Oprah. The reality is that the task of hawking your title falls squarely on the shoulders of the author.

Have you written a book proposal lately? One of the primary questions publishers want answered is whether you have a ready market. They want to know from you, the author, who the market is for your book, what following you have in that market and ideas of how to tap that market. Uninitiated authors often assume that the publisher will have the answers or find the answers to these questions. The reality is you, the author, are integral to the marketing of your book. If you are a self-published author, you just got a new job–marketing director of “You Incorporated”. Congratulations!

There are any number of ways to market your book and any number of experts to help you. Alex Mandossian and others offer virtual book tours.  Brian Jud can show you how to effectively reach mass retailers; Steve Harrison is an expert in special markets and there are countless public relations firms like Annie Jennings ready to help make you famous. Some other people I have worked with include self-promotion expert Carolyn Howard-Johnson, publicist James V. O’Connor and speaker promoter Susan Levin.  It’s a confusing maze of potential opportunities and I am here to add to the mix.

One thing is for sure, whether you have a publisher or you are self-published, you absolutely must have a website dedicated to your book. This is your portal to which all inquires get funneled. I am amazed to see how many books do not have a website. You cannot simply rely on people finding your book at Amazon and then being so intrigued by your title and postage stamp sized cover that they immediately order a copy. If this is your marketing plan you will wallow in oblivion. You must have a place where people can learn more about you and your book. Your site at the very least should have a decent sized image of your book’s cover, perhaps some biographical information, an excerpt showing a few pages, the table of contents, a few testimonials and a link to someplace to buy the book. Look at www.businesscardtobusiness.com for an example.

If you have a website that somewhat fits the above description, the next step is video. “Hey, I am selling a printed book! Why video?” I am glad you were thinking that. Here’s the answer, because people on the web are in a hurry and we live in a video culture. Many people today want things explained to them verbally and preferably with pictures. Hmmm, smells like video. That’s right. High speed Internet means watching video on the web is easier than ever.

Book buyers have literally a million books to choose from. How will they choose your book? Short book video trailers are much like movie trailers. They are typically less than a minute and are produced to peak the interest of potential readers. You can see some examples at www.authorsbroadcast.com . It takes time to read through a lot of information on your website but you can help the decision making process along by offering your visitors a short book video trailer that quickly says what your book is about and uses pictures to get them emotionally involved. Remember the old adage about a picture being worth a thousand words. Well it’s really true here.  Still skeptical? Consider that mass book seller Amazon now allows and encourages authors to upload videos related to their books. Why? Because it helps sell books. What else can you do with your book video trailer besides put it on your website and upload it to Amazon? Ever hear of YouTube? Of course you have. Well, YouTube is now purported to be the fastest growing and second largest search engine. That means that there is a large number of people actively looking for video content by searching YouTube. You would not think of omitting Google from your marketing plan. Neglecting to submit video content to YouTube is nearly as bad. In addition there are a number of other video websites and book websites that want your book related videos.

So, you don’t need to promote your book. But you wrote a book because you had ideas you wanted to share, don’t stop there, be sure that you get your book into the willing hands of readers who can benefit from your words. Don’t neglect this essential step in the process. You have a lot of work to do in order to get your book publicized but hopefully I have given you a few places to look for help and a few ideas of what to do. It’s up to you.

- – -
Reno Lovison is the Executive Producer of book video trailers at AuthorsBroadCast.com and the author of Turn Your Business Card Into Business.

MP3 Video Marketing, Online Strategies is available http://www.speakerservices.com/products/detail/171

Post by Larry Brooks

First, let’s get one thing out of the way. A blog alone, no matter how popular, isn’t enough to score you a book contract. It’s not quite that simple.

In other words, it doesn’t quite work the way it does on television.

“Did you hear that Random House gave me a million dollars for a book based on my blog?” chirps the hipster starlet as she emerges from a crowded Starbucks, caramel macchiato in hand. “And we’re working on the movie rights. Hey, let’s go for a ride in my Jag.”

But you already knew that real life is more complicated than a sit-com. So let’s talk about the critical role a blog does play in securing a book deal.

Here’s how it went down for me.

A book deal is made up of several moving parts

First, any successful book proposal needs a credible, straight-line, value-promising connection to a hungry target audience.

In other words, exactly the same kind of well-defined niche expertise that makes most blogs work.

Remember our sit-com blogger with the book deal? She got there because she’s oh-so-witty and wise. Think Carrie Bradshaw.

That’s not the real world. Unless your book is about collecting Manolo Blahniks, real-life book deals are about having something valuable to offer a reader, not how fabulous you are.

And because of that, you don’t need huge numbers to make it happen. What you do need is cachet within the niche you’ve defined.

Before my own deal, I’d assumed I would need a subscriber base big enough to fill the Rose Bowl. Why else would a publisher be interested?

And sure, a massive Feedburner number helps.

But in my case, my subscriber base today would fill the conference room at your average Marriott. Not that I’m complaining — after only six months it’s growing just fine, thanks.

But it does illuminate the point: Raw numbers aren’t as important as making a solid connection with a well-defined audience around a valuable niche topic.

My own blog-to-book deal

Before my site launched I was just a crusty old copywriter and a mid-list novelist who had almost, but not quite, hit it big. Not John Grisham big, more like Kyle Mills or Lisa Jackson kind of big.

There are lots of us in that category. Fiction has more near-misses than an American Idol audition.

Lucky for me, though, hardly any of those writers are blogging about it.

While teaching writing on the workshop circuit, I developed a proprietary story development model called The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling.

My blog is about that well-defined niche, within the larger topic of writing. And without that angle, no matter how popular a blog I might build, there would be no book deal.

One quickly notices that my book deal isn’t about my brand as a fiction writer, which frankly has seen better days. It’s not even about my journey as a writing instructor.

It’s about my story development model. My niche expertise.

Neither my blog nor my forthcoming book are about me. Never have been. They’re about you, the writer with a dream.

In other words, people don’t come to my site (and they won’t read my book) because of my novels. They come because of their novels.

A platform is essential

Today, you need an “author platform” to successfully pitch a book to a publisher.

What’s an author platform? It’s how you’ll be doing the promotion for your book. Nine times out of ten, it means your blog.

No blog, no deal, unless you’ve got another great way to get the word out about your book. (For example, you’re a celebrity or a popular speaker.)

That wasn’t the case as little as two or three years ago.

These days, you don’t just pitch a detailed idea for a book. You also pitch the audience that’s going to buy that book. Not only does your platform provide a built-in group of buyers, it also shows the publisher that your ideas resonate with the audience you’ve defined.

The formula for a successful blog-to-book deal

Solid author platform plus unique value proposition equals marketable book. The formula is really that simple.

If both are in place, you don’t need to be a famous blogger with big numbers to score a book contract.

You just need to write a killer proposal, with a well-defined niche topic focusing on your audience, fortified by a successful author platform in the form of a growing blog.

This formula might not get a book publisher to throw sit-com dollars at you. But it gives you a much better chance than even the most fabulous designer wardrobe.

About the Author: Larry Brooks is the creator of Storyfix.com, an instructional resource for novelists and screenwriters. His book, The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling, will be published by Writers Digest Books in early 2011.

Gayl Murphy, Hollywood Correspondent and Media Expert

A rather shy woman named Elaine – with a background and expertise in marketing – telephoned me the other day to talk about hiring me to media coach her in her quest to land the perfect client, so she could do a job she could really love.

Elaine explained, she’s been on the interviewing merry-go-round for so long, with so few nibbles on the brass ring, that she’s really starting to doubt her ability to ever land something (anything) really great.

Elaine called me because, she said, “Being at the end of one¹s rope offers options that being on the top of one’s rope doesn’t.” So she wanted to hire me to help her better sell herself and her skills in the client/job market. Fair enough.

Now from an outsider’s perspective, the combo of a marketer and a Hollywood Correspondent teaming up to land a client might seem like apples and oranges, but it¹s not. And I told her that she came to exactly the right person by calling me, and I¹ll tell you why.

My area of expertise is the “Media.” I’m a veteran Broadcast Journalist, Celebrity Interviewer, Media Coach, Speaker and Author. And when I’m not in front of a camera, or in back of a microphone, I coach businesses of all sizes, including experts, authors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and celebrities on how to work with the media and get their message out and how to tell it to sell it on TV, radio and it print. My book is “Interview Tactics! How To Survive the Media Without Getting Clobbered! The Insider’s guide to Giving a Killer Interview,” and that’s what I teach, coach and speak about.

So how does interviewing for a dream client, or dream job, relate to shinning on TV, or nailing a great radio interview?

Contrary to what you’ve heard, there’s more than one class of media, there’s two. The little media; you, me and everyone we know — our circle of friends, our family, associates, employers, employees and colleagues. You get the picture.

And then there’s the big media, or mass media, which is everything else; TV, radio, online, newspapers, magazines, books, satellite, commercials, infomercials, on-demand, cable, pay-per-view and so forth.

You’re a medium, and I’m a medium. This story and the website you’re reading it on are media. Every time you share your story with another person, or in a group, you’re talking to some form of the media ­ one-on-one, telephone, microphone, camera, computer, etc., because the “Media” is anyone, or anything that has the ability to take your message and move it forward — be it one listener, or one billion listeners.

And that’s the good news, because it means the rules for broadcast media darlings and non-broadcast media darlings are exactly the same! Murphy’s Law: “If you can’t tell your story in a concise and succinct way, with confidence, commitment, color, energy and detail, you can’t sell your story to anyone or anything. You’re not moving it forward.”

In the words of Steely Dan, it’s not enough to just “smile for the camera” anymore. You must have an inner mechanism ­ or “Interview Tactics!” ­ that enables you to flip your “media switch” and deliver your message, or pitch with the media-savvy knowingness of a two time Oscar winner, regardless of who is listening.

So how do you take your message and craft it in a way that people will hear it, take it in and move it forward?

As a veteran Hollywood Correspondent, I’ve interviewed over 14,000 celebrities and newsmakers, and I’ve had the unique opportunity to observe, not only how people successfully deliver their message, but how those on the receiving end listen and take this information in and process it.

The truth is, if your story is well-crafted – meaning it’s compelling, succinct, has energy, is well-constructed (beginning, middle and end) – and captures your listener’s imagination and attention in the shortest amount of time, your listener can¹t help but pass it along. They will tell someone else (maybe even the world) about you.

What this says is: what works in big media, works in little media. What works on TV and radio, works in the boardroom, the conference room, a job interview, a client interview, a trade show, even over the phone. These are “Interview Tactics!” and I’ll tell you what I told Elaine.

When you’re telling your story, bring your energy with you. Relax and enjoy.

In business, your product and service is your story (even if it¹s someone else’s business). You created YOUR brand of it, so your perspective is unique. You live it, so have a good time telling it.

Being interviewed is supposed to be fun. You get to be the star of the “Me Show,” starring “Me” (in this case it¹s YOU!).

When telling your story, your job is to capture your listener’s attention and imagination with your message. One of the best ways is by using color and detail. Don’t just tell me about that how rough and rocky the road to success was, describe how big the boulders were.

Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Know in advance what you’re going to say, just don¹t write a script. Think bullet points. Your story will flow easier that way.

When you can, connect your message/story/product/service to a news story, or trend in the headlines to make it relevant and newsworthy. The press and lay-people love to hear, and pass along, stories that are “ripped from the headlines.”

Stay on topic and stay focused. Be specific. Give facts, details and information. Do your research.

Keep people engaged so they’ll continue to ask you questions about what you do and how you do it. This makes you more dynamic and your story more compelling.

Speak up and speak well. If your voice is thin like Elaine’s, your message is thin. Listen to good speakers and hear how they sound. Confidence lives in your voice as well as the words.

Get a feel for your listener. Do you tell the epic version, or the Reader’s Digest version? Which ever you decide, get to the point and stay there. Don’t worry about leaving things out. Once you’ve opened the door you can always add more information on the back end.

All interviews are a give-and-take proposition. So listen carefully to what’s being asked of you. If you do your homework and you’re prepared you won’t need to anticipate. You’ll KNOW!

Have some solid sound-bites ready at a moments notice. Sound-bites are great because they’ll help you tell your story and keep it attention grabbing.

As for Elaine and her quest for the perfect client, she’s currently working on her voice and reworking her message and her pitch, so that when she throws it out there, she’ll be compelling and dynamic to listen to. And maybe, she’ll even get the brass ring!

Gayl is a Presentational Coach, Speaker and Author of “Interview Tactics! How to Survive the Media without Getting Clobbered! The Insider’s Guide to Giving a Killer Interview!”

As a Media Expert, Gayl Celebrit-izes CEO’s, entrepreneurs, authors, entertainment industry professionals, experts, inventors, investors and celebrities in business and entertainment to CELEBRITIZE themselves and their brands so they can TELL IT TO SELL IT! http://www.InterviewTactics.com

As a veteran Correspondent, Gayl’s has reported the news for ABC News, SKY News, BBC Radio, BBC TV, E!, HollywoodToday.net and BigMediaUSA among others. She has personally interviewed over 14,000 of the biggest celebrities and newsmakers in the world.

Another great post from Penny Sansevieri

After years of working with authors on Internet tours, talking about blogging, podcasting, social networking, and all other assorted online promotional tools, the basic questions still remain: How the heck do I promote myself on the Internet? Broken down in simple steps, this article is designed to give you a good starting point to kick your Internet promotion into high gear. It’s not difficult but you have to start somewhere. Let’s start with your web site.

Web site: Why would someone visit it? Why would anyone care? Before you start marketing yourself online, ask these basic questions. You can get anyone to a web site once, but getting them back a second, or third time is where authors often lose momentum. Studies have shown that less than 14% of web site visitors will buy the first time they visit. It’s only on the second or third visit that they decide to make a purchase. Anyone can drive traffic to your site, it’s getting them back that counts.

The point of your tour: getting incoming links

Here’s the thing: anyone can get incoming links, the point is, you want GOOD and quality incoming links from sites that can actually send you traffic and readers that will buy your book. We get numerous calls from authors who have bought into inexpensive programs that do nothing more than drive unqualified, “tire kicking” traffic to their web site. This kind of traffic is not going to do you any good; in fact, if you’re not careful, getting a bunch of errant links from sites that Google doesn’t feel are right for your topic or market can get you downgraded online instead of a better ranking. So how do you beat this?

First, you’ll want to download the Google toolbar. This toolbar comes with a Page Ranking piece (in some cases you may have to download this separately). This Page Rank is important because it’s an indicator of how important Google thinks a particular site is. Ideally sites you target will have a Page Rank of 4 or above. We like to target sites that have a ranking between 4-6. Then look at the nature of the sites you’re pitching. Are they related to your topic? Do the sites have lots of great content? Would they consider reviewing your book, maybe interviewing you or excerpting your book? Regardless of what they’re willing to do, the idea is to use these sites to help spread the message about your book and give them great content. All sites are looking for great content and if you can offer it to them, it’s a win-win. Here’s what not to do: don’t just link swap with your friends. I know writers who belong to writer’s groups and just swap links with other writers. This isn’t good for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the site you might be linking to (or getting a link from) has nothing to do with your topic.

Slow and steady wins the race: The idea of ‘touring’ or promoting yourself online is about building traffic, links, and authority status within search engines. I tend to reference Google a lot since most of us default search there. People ask me how long they should promote themselves online, I tell them for as long as they need to. As long as there are sites you can pitch yourself to you can continue promoting. Our web site, Author Marketing Experts, has never been promoting in an aggressive fashion. Yes, we use new promotional techniques and cutting-edge Web 2.0 trends but it’s never been about a fast push; it’s always been about slow and steady growth. Because of this we have great ranking, linking, and placement on Google. I’ve never paid for a single ad-word placement or fancy traffic program that leverages links only.

Using blogs, podcasts, and article syndication: the Internet is full of tools to use. Blogs are a great way to promote to but consider this: why not comment on blogs in your market that are getting a lot of traffic? You may not be able to get a review but you can always comment and, you’ll get a link back to your site in the process.

Podcasting is another great tool, there are a ton of podcasts out there that you can promote yourself to. Check out iTunes and Podcast Alley to find some that might suit your topic and market.

Article syndication: another powerful but often overlooked market. Write a piece between 500 and 2,000 words and send it out into cyberspace via sites like Isnare, Ezine Articles and Article City and watch the links start building to your site.

If the idea of social networking, social bookmarking, video and the like are overwhelming then I recommend that you start simple: begin by pitching yourself online and see what you can grow from there. Most of the time the main reason an author abandons any thought of an online campaign is because they are overwhelmed by their choices. Start small and build from there, this is how we did it and how we grew our market. You can too. Then, when you’ve gotten your ‘sea legs’ when it comes to Internet promotion, you can branch out into other areas.

Good luck, here’s to your Red Hot success!

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. Visit AME.

Internet radio is an excellent and low cost way to market your products and services. Your potential audience can include the hundreds of millions of people who have internet access. Unlike using media such as terrestrial radio or television, internet radio is a low or no-cost way to market to large numbers of potential clients.

Begin by doing a search for the shows that are a good fit for your topic. You can find them by doing an internet search or by searching popular internet radio platforms. In addition, search the various podcast syndication sites to get an idea of what shows exist that focus on your target market.

Once you’ve identified the shows that you’re interested in, listen to individual episodes and get an idea of what the show format is. Who are the guests? What are the topics? Make sure the show is a fit for you and your business.

For instance, on my internet radio show I interview women entrepreneurs. Several weeks ago someone sent me a query regarding a young man that she thought would be good for my show. It was obvious right away that she did not understand the format of the shows, and probably had never even listened to them. If she had, she would’ve known that though this entrepreneurial young man might have made an interesting guest, he was not right for my show’s format.

Once you’ve done your homework about the broadcasts that you’re interested in, send a query which should include a brief bio, a link to your website and any media mentions you may have. Provide enough information so that the show host can determine up front if you will be a good guest.

If you get a favorable response and you’re asked to be a guest, pay attention to the guidelines and promptly return any requested information. Usually you’ll be asked for a bio, an introduction (to be read on the air or posted on a website) and a picture of you or your product. If you are regularly sending queries to the media, you should have those materials ready to go.

Request the questions beforehand or confirm what the talking points will be – that way you’ll be prepared and can determine how to present yourself during the show.

When it comes to the show date and time, be on time and be enthusiastic. Once you’re on the air follow the host’s lead. Some hosts may let you do most of the talking; others may only expect you to respond at certain intervals. The bottom line is that if you’re prepared, you will already know what points to make about your product or service. Your excitement about your subject matter will come through in your voice. You may be on a one-time interview, but that interview may have thousands if not millions of listeners. What feelings do you want the listeners to come away with when they hear you?

What will make you a great show guest?

• You’re prepared with a professional bio and pictures
• You promote your appearance on the show
• You communicate well and don’t just reply in one- or two-word answers
• You take your appearance on the podcast seriously – just because it’s an internet show doesn’t make it less important than any other media appearance

What are the things you shouldn’t do if you want to be a great guest?

• Assume that you can send a query in today and be scheduled on the show right away
• Have no familiarity with the show’s format
• Leave it up to the host to do the marketing for YOUR appearance
• Send in requested information (such as bios) late or not at all

After your show is over ask about getting a copy of the recording post it on your site or blog. You can take that one interview and use it to market it over and over. Many people seek out guest appearances on internet radio, but most of them  don’t use their appearance as a springboard for greater marketing opportunities. If you focus on making the best of your guest spot, you will be ahead of the game.

Transition coach and radio host Deborah A. Bailey helps her clients transition from employees to entrepreneurs as they eliminate limiting beliefs and connect with their passion.

Deborah is the host of the internet radio show, “Women Entrepreneurs – The Secrets of Success” and author of the ebook, “Boost Your Marketing & Your Visibility with Internet Radio.”

For more information about Deborah, visit her website http://www.dbaileycoach.com or her blog http://www.womenentrepreneursecrets.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deborah_A_Bailey

The Directory of Book Trade People on Twitter

Book Authors on Twitter: http://www.highspotinc.com/blog/2009/02/a-directory-of-authors-on-twitter — A list maintained by Jennifer Tribe

The following post is from Penny C. Sansevieri, Ceo of Author Marketing Experts, Inc, Training Authors into Success Stories http://www.amarketingexpert.com

As we roll into 2009, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look at some trends for the New Year and ways you can turn these trends into profits for you. Increasingly, we find that with attention spans shrinking, trends seem to come and go a lot quicker. That’s why it’s imperative to know your market and know what the trends are that will have a long-term affect on your sales as opposed to those that are fairly short-lived. Some will be expected trends but I think you’ll find a few surprises in here as well.

1) Green: anything and everything or related to conservation. The same is true for organics and organic products and books related to these topics. Also, keep in mind that it’s not cheap to be green so the more you can teach people how to be green and save money, the more popular your book or product will be.

2) Entrepreneurs: more and more people are leaving their corporate jobs (whether willingly or through a layoff) and finding a safe haven in the entrepreneurial market. Anything related to office, home office, start-ups, inspiration for business owners, whatever it is, it’ll be in high demand. We’re seeing a huge uptick of folks starting businesses and in fact, it’s predicted to be a very fast growing market in 2009.

3) Social networking and anything related to Web 2.0: whatever you’re doing, make sure you’re doing it online. There’s a huge surge in this market and we predict an even bigger one to come. If you’re not online in a way that supports your book and gets to your consumer then you should make that your #1 priority for the New Year.

4) Outsourcing: this is a big one. As more companies lay off, outsourcing options will expand. I’ve read reports saying that companies will start outsourcing everything from HR to accounting. This is great news if you offer a service, if you do and your book ties into this position use your book as your business card. Now is the time to expand on the benefits and cost savings of going the outsourcing route.

5) Business coaching: could it be that the explosion of entrepreneurs will require more business coaches? Possibly. But trends suggest that any business related coaches will be in high demand. Coaching, while having become a bit of a cliché term, is still a popular field, no matter how you define it.

6) DIY: the do it yourself culture will be out in full force in the New Year. If your book or product dials into that in any way, make sure to maximize this benefit in your marketing materials. (see #8 too)

7) Pets and anything related to pet ownership: it’s been a trend for years and it only keeps getting bigger. Anything pet-related and any other sort of tie in will be huge and only grow even more as the year wears on. Four out of ten US households have a pet (most of them a dog), so offering up products and services to that market is a sure win. Also, there are particular markets that tend to be recession proof. Pet services is one of them.

Home: consumers are staying home more than they ever were. If your book is on decorating, home-care, DIY renovation, real estate, and anything in between. Get out there and market it aggressively to decorating sites, home owner-related sites, the DIY market (you’ll find a lot of these folks on Facebook) and real estate sites that are directed at consumers.

9) As time wears on the idea of browsing online is going to shift and consumers will want to get to their data, product, or service fast. What does this mean for you? Well for one thing it will force those of us who are marketing online to be pinpoint accurate in our messaging. There’s little or no time for fluff and, as I mentioned earlier, surfing for the sake of surfing is no longer part of the consumer mind-set.

10) If ads are your thing, then consider this, Advertisements are going to become so desperate that you’ll start hearing a term called Shockvertising, this form of advertisement using shocking words or images to get the viewers attention. We saw this in the UK with the ad for Dexter. I’ll save you the description, it wasn’t pleasant but certainly shocking. You can only imagine I’m sure.

If all of this has left you wondering how you can be a trendspotter in your market here are a few ways you might be able to capture early trends within your marketspace:

1) Listen: listen to what your readers/consumers are asking for. If you start seeing the same request over and over again this might indicate an emerging trend.

2) Read: read publications in your market, go to conferences (these don’t always have to be in-person events, they can also be online) and get to know who your competition is in this space. Read publications, other books. The best sales person is one who is constantly learning.

3) Go online: find out what people are buzzing about on blogs, web sites, even Twitter. You’ll get a lot of real-time data to work with when you know where your audience resides and where they’re talking about what you’re selling!

As we all try to make our marketing dollars count for even more, trends and marketing to these groups is becoming even more important. Taking risks often means wasted marketing dollars. The more certain you can approach marketing, the better served your campaign will be and the quicker it will get off the ground.

Email: Penny@amarketingexpert.com

 Penny C. Sansevieri

We talk a lot about speaking and not to plan a book signing, but rather a book event. However, many of you have been emailing to say “Speaker tips, please!” Here they are, just a few tips to turn any presentation from so-so to sensational!

1. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much stuff. When I first started speaking over five years ago, I would show up with sixty pages of notes. One of the people in the audience said to me “You’re not planning on covering all of that, are you?” Indeed. As time progressed I realized that my audience would get more with less. While I encourage you to fill your presentation with great information, save the over stuffing for your Thanksgiving turkey and keep your presentation flowing with enough information to sustain, but not so much as to overwhelm. How much is too much? Well, you might have to experiment with this a bit before you get it just right. Try practicing your presentation at home in front of some people who can give you objective feedback, this will really help you polish your program before you go out to the “real” audience. Keep in mind that when you rehearse, your presentation is bound to be shorter; things like questions and audience interaction will also lengthen your speaking time.

2. Look ‘em in the eye: you should always try to make eye contact with your audience; in fact, I recommend that you make and keep eye contact for at least five seconds with select individuals. This will help to engage the listener. Don’t look over their heads at the back wall or your product table, keep your eyes focused on the people who came to hear you speak.

3. Move around, don’t hide behind the podium: it’s easy to seek shelter behind a speaker podium, especially when you’re nervous, but the podium is a subconscious “block” between you and your audience. Try to move as far away from it as you can.

4. Gestures and facial expressions are good: vary your gestures and facial expressions. An animated speaker is far more engaging than one who has perfected the Poker-face look. This is especially true if you want to keep your presentation light or if you’re presenting humorous material. Also, *smile* – it’s amazing how a warm and welcoming smile can really engage your audience.

5. Attire: when in doubt, get dressed up. If you’re not sure of the attire I always recommend dressing up. If need be you can always remove your jacket and/or tie, but it’s hard to recover when you show up in your casual clothes and find everyone else is in a suit.

6. Leave the monotone voice at home: vary your voice, don’t keep to one speed. Vary the speed and rhythm, it’s almost like riding a roller coaster. One minute you’re fast, then slow, then climbing. Keep it varied and you’ll keep your audience’s attention. As for using “um” and “eh” well, you know that’s a no-no, no sense in taking up space here to remind you that you should avoid those place fillers at all costs. If you need some practice getting those out of your vernacular, try attending a Toastmasters group in your local area.

7. Using PowerPoint? Go easy on the text: if you use too much text on your PowerPoint you’ll find that people are reading the text on the slides instead of listening to you. A good balance is a few words to highlight your key points, just enough to get their attention – but not so much that they’re forced to read what’s on the screen. Figure about 10 slides for every 20 minutes of presentation time. Your font size should be 30 point or larger.

8. Handouts are a must: make sure you give them something to take home with them. What I also do is create a handout and then offer to send my audience the PowerPoint presentation they just viewed. I get them to sign up for it, which gives me their email addresses to not only send them the presentation, but a thank-you note along with an invitation to join our newsletter!

9. Record yourself: as scary as this sounds this is one of the best ways to better yourself as a speaker. Record your presentation and wait a day to listen to it, this will give you enough “space” from the program to clear your mind and listen to the audio objectively. Note what you liked and didn’t like and don’t worry if you feel like you flubbed the whole thing. Remember that your audience isn’t grading you, they are there for information, and as long as you lived up to your promise you can keep correcting and enhancing your speaking talent with each program.

10. Now let’s talk about BOR (back of the room product). Your BOR can make a huge difference in the money you make on your speaking. Most new speakers don’t make money on speaking, or very little, but the BOR is where you can strike gold. Here are some tips to maximize it. First off, your flexibility for BOR will depend on whether you’re presenting in a speaker-type setup or at a bookstore, but either way, have product to sell regardless of who supplies it. If you can be flexible with what you offer, try packaging several items together, offer a one-time discount for the packaged product and this is a little trick I borrowed from a friend of mine: put together several packages, high end, low end and something in the middle. Attendees of your event will generally pick the middle of the road pricing, which is probably more than you’d sell a single book for. Also, get folks to sign up for your mailing list. Regardless of what you can and can’t sell, make sure you can add people to your list so you can market to them again, and again, and again!

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

post by Judy Cullins  www.bookcoaching.com

The myth continues-that a real book must be in print and it must be over 160 pages.  Speaker need to rethink the premier approach: Write a short book  and self-publish it, to get more bookings, get your word out to thousands, gain credibility, as well as vast virtual promotion and an ongoing increased stream of income.

1.  You can write your short (50 pages to 100 pages) print and eBook at the same time using  Microsoft Word..

Speakers need to know that business people’s reading hours are down from 123 hours per year in 1999, to 109 hours in 2001, and in 2005–the figure is even lower. They want short how-to books.

Speakers have the edge over other businesses because you already have past talks, cassettes, or articles you’ve already written. Just dust them off with a new angle for each audience. This approach creates even more information products that fill that wealth stream.

2. If you don’t get a book out, you don’t get the bookings, your word out, or ongoing lifelong income.

3. To get started:

-Write about what you know–you are the expert
-Solve your audience’s problem or challenge
-List 5-10 benefits and features of your book
-Know your thesis before you write a word
-List 3-5 major topics to later become your chapter titles
-List 3-5 sub points for one chapter title

Take just five – ten hours a week to get your book written in less than a month. Watch your speaking business thrive!

Interview with Paulette Ensign

1) Why would someone want to turn their book into a booklet?

This gives readers a bite-sized palatable introduction to a new topic in their life rather than first delving into a 200-page book as their first experience with new information. The booklet can be an overview of the most important concepts in the book, taking something from each chapter. Once the reader digests those basic ideas, they will be eager and ready for more, which becomes the full-length book. It also gives the reader a choice of which publication is their starting point, rather than a yes/no about whether to buy the book or not. This all gives the author greater sales opportunities.

2) I already wrote a book or I’m thinking of writing a book. How can a booklet help me?

Instead of creating only one booklet from a book, an author may decide to divide the book into as many booklets as there are chapters. Having a series of booklets provides much more revenue than a single book is likely to do. It also lets the reader buy segments of the book that would be most appealing. For the author who has yet to write the book and intends to, doing a series of booklets can be a painless way to write an entire book, and have something to sell before the entire book is completed.

3) How would you use a booklet to market your book?

It’s typical for a booklet author to specifically invite the reader to seek out the book, by adding on the last page “For more in-depth information on this topic, you’ll want to add our book… to your library today.” This is only one of many ways the booklet markets the book. The booklet can also be an inexpensive value-added item that is physically bundled with the book to enhance and increase the value of the purchase.

4) Are there particular types of books that work better for this?

Non-fiction books are often the easiest starting point for tips booklets. However, it is completely possible to create a tips booklet for a fiction book, focusing on some theme in the story or travel to the location in which the story is set or any number of other elements within a fiction book.

5) Is there a formula for writing an effective tip?

Create a tip by writing one sentence starting with a positive verb, telling the reader what to do. Follow that with one or two sentences explaining “why” or “how.”

6) What is a good way to choose a topic for a booklet?

The best topic is the one you are most enthused about and, ideally, is also the focal point of your business or cause.

7) Won’t a booklet keep people from buying my book(s) and services?

The booklet actually encourages more sales of your products and/or services by establishing your credibility and introducing you as a valued resource for more relevant information and/or service.

Can I write one booklet or do I have to write a whole series for this to work well?

Your personality and your business requirements will best dictate whether one booklet is all you need and want to do, or if it makes better sense to develop an entire series. Either way can and has been effective.

9) How does a booklet actually market and promote a business I have?

A booklet defines you as a trusted adviser, expert, and resource. Each time a copy of your booklet lands in anyone’s hands, you are educating them on your expertise and informing them of where  they can get more from you that will benefit their life.

10) Can this booklet be leveraged in some ways, maybe even into other products?

Entire information product lines, both hard copy and digital online, can be developed from a single 3,000-5,000 word tips booklet document. It is highly effective as a business owner to create your booklet in other formats that appeal to different learning styles, life circumstances, convenience, price considerations, and “wow” factor.  It is fairly common for people to want multiple formats of the same information so, at any point, they can choose to read or listen, store on their computer or read at the beach, or share with others in some way. Some formats have no development cost at all. Others can be nominal. The return on your investment can be huge. This is especially true when you become aware of the many opportunities to sell your products in very, very large quantities to corporations for them to use to promote their own product, service, or cause.

(c) 2009, Paulette Ensign

Paulette Ensign is Founder and Chief Visionary of San Diego-based Tips Products International. She has personally sold well over a million copies of her tips booklet in several languages and formats without spending a penny on advertising. She will teach you how to surpass her results. You’re next, no matter where you are on your publishing journey.  Learn more about Paulette’s services.

Post by Judy Cullins

You want your business to be noticed by hundreds and more of unique visitors at your web site every day. You already know that online article directories, ezine publishers, webmasters, and blogs want free content in all kinds of categories. They want and need health, marketing, financial, and spiritual information. To check out where your article fits into the hundreds of categories, go to www.ezinearticles.com.

Article marketing and the audience you serve to make a difference in their lives is a promotion marriage made in heaven. But, you will have a much better chance of attracting your target audience, creating ongoing relationships, and accomplishing top product sales if you write an article that solves a problem for your audience.

Let’s assume your audience is business people like yourself who needs a problem solved–to stop procrastinating, write a book, market a book, create wealth, market a business, create wealth, or develop a loving relationship.

How To Article Writing Formats That Bring your Audience Flocking to your Site.

1. Write a How To Article

Information hungry business people want this one! First, open with a hook–something that will entice your reader to keep reading. That may be a shocking fact, a ponder question.

Then, establish rapport by including the background of the problem and where your audience is now with the challenge.

Follow with solutions and benefits in the article body to make a difference in their lives. You can number these for clarity.

Don’t worry about your article giving away the store. Readers will judge you by your easy to read, organized, concise style and content, and will be come to your web site to see what else you offer.

To get started, make a list of topics you know or that relate to your business. Take one at a time and write a short piece on it. You can write a short article around 400 words to start.

For solutions to the problem, give information and resources that will assist your audience. That includes web sites with the URLs, book titles, or particular experts you know can help get to the solution.

Sample Article Titles from Clients:

“How to Procrastinate to Your Heart’s Desires;” ” How to Create Employees Who Can Hardly Wait to Get to Work Each Day;” and “Promote your Coaching and Speaking Business Through Free Articles.”

2. Write Tips

This kind of how to article takes the shortest time to write and is also the easiest format. Even if you think you can’t write, you can write a tip.

Create a title first. “Five Ways to Strop Procrastination.” After the opening hook, include an introduction with your thesis–the point you want to prove, or the problem you are about to solve. Usually one or two sentences are enough. At the end, include a one or two sentence conclusion in which you add one more punchy way to stimulate your reader to act. Remember to include your power-packed signature file below each article or tip.

To write a tip, after the title….

1. Start with a command such as ” Do this.”

2. Follow that by the consequence of not following the tip. Or, show a benefit of following the tip.

3. Show examples or resources to solve a problem and put the tip into action.

Write an article with 3, 5, 7 or 10 tips in it. It’s best to give a complete tip as listed above rather than just a list. Don’t bore people with a long list.

Tips can be 100-300 words. Keep some on your web site, combine them into a book to sell with correct headers and headlines.

The Biggest Mistake even Experts Make

Starting one tip out with a command verb and using a noun phrase for the next one. This inconsistency makes the article difficult to read and understand quickly.

Expand your influence with how to articles. You’ll attract new tailored visitors, clients and profits.

Book and Internet Marketing Coach, Judy Cullins, can help you build credibility and clients, sell a lot of books, and make maximum profits. Author of 11 books including Write your eBook or Other Short Book Fast and The Fast and Cheap Way to Explode Targeted Web Traffic” Get her free eBook”20 High Octane Book Writing and Marketing Tips” and two free monthly ezines at http://www.bookcoaching.com

The following post is from Joan Stewart the Publicity Hound. Internet marketers are hawking thousands of products that promise to help you promote yourself and get rich quick—AFTER you pay, in some cases, several thousand dollars for the how-to information.

I just discovered one of those how-to products that’s perfect for Publicity Hounds, but at a paltry $10.  It just might be the best money you’ve ever spent.

It’s a 13-page report called “Easy 7-Step Fash Cash Strategy, written by Lynn Terry, who I met at a members-only convention hosted by Stompernet, the Internet marketing membership site, earlier this year. (Sorry, but membership in Stompernet is currently closed.)

Lynn’s report teaches you how to market a special report that you’ve written for a niche audience, even if you don’t have a website, shopping cart, or email addresses of people who have given you permission to market to them.  Most Publicity Hounds I know would love to create info-products for their niche, but they abhor the thought of creating a website, processing the payments or delivering the product.

Lynn suggests that you write a content-rich report that walks people through the steps of how to solve a problem, similar to the 52 special reports I sell on publicity-related topics.

You can give away the report as background information for journalists, or for your favorite clients and customers.  But Lynn suggests you sell it to the public like she’s doing so you have an additional revenue stream.

The only 2 things you need

You only need two things: a PayPal account and an email address. I recommend the report for:

—Anyone who has written a book and is looking for a fast, inexpensive product to create so they can upsell their readers to something else.

—Anyone who has written a book and wants a low-price product that catches the attention of people in a particular target audience who also might be interested in the book.

—Publicity Hounds who want to promote their expertise and demonstrate their ability to solve problems.  If people love the report, they might be inclined to hire you at your hourly consulting rate.

—Speakers who are trying to get paid gigs in a particular industry.  Rather than cold-calling meeting planners, you can market the report to a niche, and then include in the report information about topics on which you speak. I’d even go so far as to suggest that within the report, you mention that readers who would like to hear you speak at a live event should contact meeting planners at their trade associations and hire you for their next event, assuming you’re a good fit.

—Anyone in PR who wants more clients. That includes book publicists, PR agency people and sole-proprietor publicists. Write a report on how to a solve a particular publicity problem. Many people don’t want to do their own publicity. They’d rather hire someone like you.

—Small-business owners who can explain within the report a problem and solution that relates to a product or service they sell.  The report can generate leads that turn into paying customers.

In some cases, you can create the report and start selling it in well under a week.  And if you have questions, go over to Lynne’s discussion forum where she’ll be happy to help you.

From drug store manager to Internet marketer

Michael Brown of Howard, Ohio, one of Lynn’s customers, quit his day job managing drug stores earlier this year and started his own Internet marketing business selling information products after he read Lynn’s Fast Cash Strategy report.  He followed her step-by-step instructions, created a special report, and marketed it exactly as she explained.

Initially, he sold 300 copies of the $10 report. He then expanded the report into a $47 ebook and sold 1,200 copies. Total income from both products: $59,400. Since then, he has created dozens more reports and other information products and sells them from his website, TheProfitHQ.com.

While reading the report, my “ah-ha” moment came when Lynn explained how to quietly sell your report at a few specific websites, and then generate feedback and testimonials which you can then use during the product launch.

Michael says his “ah-ha” moment came when he read on Page 13 the exact wording you should use, including the subject line, when you’re emailing someone to introduce yourself and suggest they join you in a joint venture to market the report.

“That was a good starting point for me,” Michael said.  “It’s one thing to create a product but something altogether to try to round up people to help you promote it.”

Today, his business has grown to include managing two membership sites.

Get Lynn’s report.  Read it, choose a topic, write your own report, and then get started marketing it to people who are searching right now for helpful solutions to aggravating problems. Who knows? You just might be able to quit your day job.

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a News Release.”

Are you a conference professional speaker? Is your present marketing working? Working well enough you have enough profits to vacation each year, buy a nice car, or pay your child’s tuition?  Now you can replace low results marketing with these five solutions. It will change the way you do business if you are willing.

Perhaps you’ve tried high-cost, but low results marketing already. In person networking groups can steal your time and not yield big results. Free talks and book signings are fun for the extrovert, but don’t yield alot unless you give at least six talks a month.

Replace low results marketing with these five solutions. It will change the way you do business!

Top Five Questions Answered So you can Update Your Authentic Marketing Messages  

 1. How can I update my email signature file to attract more clients?

Remember, to engage your audience and get action you need to include a signature file at the bottom of every email. Without it, you miss possible sales and clients. Don’t just taut yourself or your book; show some benefits of your service with a written concept statement such as “I help business people manifest their book dream.”  Offer a free report or white paper through a link either to a squeeze page or to your free ezine. Your purpose is to capture your visitor’s email and add it to your growing data base. From the report they will see you as the trusted expert in your field.

2. Should I brand my speaking business with a short book?

Yes! Either an electronic book or print book, or both. Test your ideas with an eBook; then write your print book for in person programs. Many authors waste a lot of money printing too many copies and don’t realize even the printer makes mistakes. Know your book is your best business card and you can even write a short version to give away or sell for under $10.00. Many speakers I know  practice this. Your target audience is hungry for your information  and they will buy your books. Books are the  #1 product bought online. Your audience is out these awaiting your wisdom. And your book will bring you higher paid speaking jobs.

3. Why is knowing my preferred audience so important to know before I start a book or web marketing project?

The biggest mistake speaking professionals make is to not to be clear on who their audience is. This is the kiss of death. Aim each print marketing message to a particular audience. That includes short sales messages for each book, seminar, teleseminar, web site product sales and your soft sales letter on your website for your service.

Your headlines and titles matter. Make sure they include hot key word phrases that are low competition only and benefits to your audience. You’ll write much better copy when you slant your materials toward just one audience. If more, your copy withers away, and no one is satisfied.

4. Why should I write short articles to submit to the top high-traffic article directories or blogs?

Your targeted audience visits these websites and blogs because it wants free information in your field of expertise. When they like your article, and if you have a powerful original resource box, you will attract droves of unique visitors to your Web site.

The most popular length article is from 250 (blog entry) to 800 words.  Before you post these articles on your own site, make sure that Ezinearticles gets the first version. Google knows who the biggest sites are, and will get your article page up from this source.  Isn’t it better to do just a little work in the right place than to shotgun your marketing and spread yourself thin with far less customer following?

Know that the top sites offer multiple categories that are sure to fit your niche.  You give the article; the resource box brings your target audience to you.

Article marketing is faster and easier, because you already have content from your talks, books or programs to put into your articles. And, with the new rules today, you only have to submit to a few high-traffic sites–much less time with a lot more credibility and unique web visitors.

It’s great that article marketing is free except for your time. I recommend that you start key word research before you submit because the game has changed. You must only use 3 keyword phrases that are in the low competition scale. I recommend you delegate submissions to a VA or webmaster when you can. I credit my Google rating as still #1 with the keyword “bookcoaching” from the 290+ article submissions we sent out over the past eight years.

5.  Why should I write a benefit driven sales letter for each product and service?

You have the marketing down with articles. But, when your unique visitor comes to your site, do you get low sales conversions? Maybe it’s because you haven’t let your visitor know the benefits of your products or service.

A list of talks doesn’t motivate sales.  You won’t get many telecoaching attendees if you don’t share how you’ll solve your audience’s problems.  The same thing goes for your service. Although it’s a bit softer, you still need a unique marketing message for it. How will your customers choose you if you don’t show your values and solutions to their needs?

Book and Internet Marketing Coach Judy Cullins helps  businesses get all the clients and sell all the books they want.  Author of 11 business books including How to Write your  Book Fast and Advanced Article Marketing 3-Book Special. Judy offers free articles and eBook “Book Writing and Marketing Tips” with monthly ezine subscription at http://www.bookcoaching.com and http://www.advancedarticlemarketing.com

post from Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad

Seth Godin does it again. Here’s a brilliant lesson from the master of permission marketing and author of Purple Cow.

A couple of months ago I received an email inviting me to apply to be a member of Seth Godin’s new social networking site, Triiibes – For people who want to lead a tribe and make something happen. 

Of course I responded, got accepted and set up my minimal profile (really need to get that done).

All this is in anticipation of Seth Godin’s new book, Tribes, being released later this month. I preordered the book too.

Here’s where Godin’s marketing lesson comes in, beyond what he’s doing with Triiibes. Yesterday, I received a copy of the new book in the mail. It’s not the copy I ordered. That’s hasn’t been shipped yet. It was an advance copy of Tribes with a letter from Seth Godin, thanking me for taking a chance on signing up for Triiibes.com and for preordering the book.

His request…to give the book I ordered away to someone else. He gave me (and probably thousands of others) a free copy so we will give away the copy we paid for, so his ideas spread to even more people.

Here is what’s going to happen…

All the early Triiibes adopters buy a book and get a free book.

We give a book away to a friend, colleague or client.

More people join Triiibes.

People begin talking about the book, Triiibes and Seth Godin.

Readers start writing reviews on Amazon.com, on blogs, in ezines.

Readers starting posting quotes on Twitter (already started).

More people buy the book.

More people join Triiibes.

More people talk about Triiibes.

How can you implement this strategy for your own products and services?

It’s not really that difficult. You don’t have to start your own social networking site, but you could. You can also have a Facebook group for your book or product or service.

You can do a buy one, get one free to spread the buzz. Why not?

The following post is by Judy Cullins

You already know article marketing brings you high visibility, optimizes your website in Google page ranking, and builds your data base and ezine subscriber numbers. When you post a well thought out article on http://www.ezinearticles.com your readers will visit your web site and first sign up for your free ezine.

That’s how I built my list from hundreds to over 10,000 in just a few years. And, that’s just for starters.

Your articles bring your target market to your web site to see what you have to offer. Don’t disappoint them. When you keep adding new content to your site and submit articles to blogs and article directories, new subscribers and visitors will keep showing up. These become loyal customers.Knowing these benefits, you want to create and submit as many excellent articles as you can. At times, you have the articles complete, but don’t have anyone handy to edit them. Edit them yourself–with a little help from your book coach.

Use this Checklist to Edit your Articles Before you Submit

1. Start your introduction with a hook: ask a question, show a benefit, or give a startling fact.You must hook your readers with something that reaches their emotions. Show them you care. Include questions about where they are now that your article will answer.

2. Make your hook only a few sentences.Make it rich with key words and phrases.Your readers want to get to the heart of your article fast. They want readable, quick tips. Long stories can bring a yawn to your reader. Save them for print publications.

3. Place the article thesis at the end of your introduction.Your whole article must link to the thesis to keep you on track and focus for a more clear and compelling article. For instance, “Use this checklist to edit your articles.”

4. Make all of your sentences short. Since standard sentence length is 15-17 words, make most of your sentences under that number. Complex sentences and multiple phrases make the reading slower and tougher. Make it easy for your readers to find the subject and verb of each sentence, so they get the point fast. Online article readers want easy to read and short articles.

5. Avoid dull, slow sentences.To avoid passive sentence construction, start them with a subject, and then follow with a action verb. For instance, “The coach marketed her business and books through submitting articles online” is an active sentence. “The coach’s books were marketed online through submitting articles.” is passive. Drop linking verbs such as “is,” “was,” “seemed,” or “had.” Keep the total number from 2-4% to create active sentences. Replace them with power, active verbs. Instead of “She is beautiful,” you could say, “Her beauty compels you to stare at her.”

6. Aim for compelling, clear copy.Write for the10th grade reader. Don’t try to impress with pompous words such as “utilize.” The shorter word is always better than the longer one. Always think “What’s in it for them?”

7. Use concrete, specific nouns and names.General references don’t engage your readers’ emotions. Let them see the size, color, and shape. Rather than say, “Write your book fast to make lifelong income,” say “Write and finish your book fast so you can take that well-deserved vacation to the Virgin Islands. Give your reader their ideal picture, let them feel their emotions. Money alone doesn’t motivate, but what we can do with it does.

8. Let go of certain adverbs.Words like very, suddenly, and sparingly, tell instead of show. Use adverbs as often as you celebrate your birthday. Did this past sentence show, rather than tell? Your readers are hungry to experience feelings as well as picture themselves in your examples. Adverbs tell, don’t show.

9. Let go of adjectives. Let the noun make the statement. Instead of saying, She is a super-intelligent person,” you could say, “She’s a genius.”

10. Use the present or past tense of the verb rather than the “-ing” form of the verb.Instead of “she is singing,” say, “she sings or she sang.” Instead of “She had known her article was weak.” Say, “She knew her article was weak.”Make your article noticed by thousands of readers. Remember, your word choice does make a difference–both in commercial acceptance as well as audience understanding. Self editing will help. Get professional feedback on the final version of your article.

www.bookcoaching.com

Why write an eBook?

By Judy Cullins

 You want ongoing, lifelong multiple streams of income. You want to raise your credibility and trust ratings with clients or customers. You want to get your message out so the world can be a better place and you are seen as the savvy expert through your book. You can repurpose your book’s content for big sales and profits through your other offerings.

Yet, You want to spend only a little time on it. (Would you be willing to spend 4 hours a week?) You want to get it out fast (Would 4-8 weeks be OK?) You want to market online at a low-cost investment. And, for some of you, you are ready to be innovative and even take a small risk to get your eBook read by millions, rather than hundreds!

Remember your book’s virtual benefits. No travel, no print book fufillment and distribution, no techie knowledge, no agent, no publisher to slow you down, no big staff and you do it in the comfort of your home office in your best time. And, you can delegate the administrative work to an assistant.

Where are you now?

You have the idea for your eBook; you have a lot of ideas! Take a moment and decide which one you are most passionate about now and will be for the next year. Focus on one great idea, then add others after you finish and market the first book you know will attract your target audience.

Maybe you have your eBook well on its way, but aren’t finished. You need advice on the next step–how to get it done, what’s needed to publish (not much!), and how to distribute it.

Every part of your book can be a sales tool. When you know and apply the essential “Hot-Selling Points” before you write chapter one, you’ll sell more books than you ever dreamed of! Because, when you know your preferred audience, your book’s benefits, its thesis and more, you write a focused, compelling, easy to read book that your readers will love.

Seven Ways to Write Your eBook that Sells Well

1. Write for your niche audience.

You may think everyone will want to read your book, but this assumption will lead you to the general content book graveyard. Specific topics sell better than general and general topic books have a lot more big name competition. When you know your specific audience and write for them you’ll be able to write fast and give your audience solutions they need. What problems does your book solve for them? Where can your find your book buying audience? Hint: your best audience is probably someone like you.

Create an audience buyer profile and keep your audience’s picture in front of you as you write. Ask yourself, is my topic narrow enough? Give your book an angle and include the audience and benefit in the title and sub title if possible

2. Write a book title derived from your target audience.

Survey your audience and ask them what’s the most important challenge they want answers to. You have eight seconds in your title to hook your potential buyer. Check out best sellers at http://www.amazon.com. Notice their subtitles that put forward the book’s promise. You spend less effort and improve on what’s already out there when you creatively imitate the top selling books.Your book title and cover should compel your audience to buy.

3. Write a thirty-second “tell and sell.”

When you answer the question “What’s your book about?” don’t go on and on; use sound bites to grab your reader’s attention such as, “This book’s skills will do more for you than instant cappuccino.” Or, “This book on passion is the senior’s Artist’s Way.

You only have a few seconds to impress your potential buyer. Include your title, a few benefits, and the audience. For example, “Write, Publish and Market your eBook Fast to Pull Online Sales- shows professionals how to shortcut each step of writing, publishing, and promoting a book your audience wants.

Compare your book to a successful one such as “How to Write an eBook Fast!” is the Chapter Blueprint companion to Dan Poynter’s “Self-Publishing Manual.”

4. Write your sales letter before you write your book.

Your book’s sales information can go on the back cover and also on your web site. This important sales tool gives the benefits your potential buyers want. Include compelling ad copy, benefits, testimonials, and a small blurb about you, the author. If your potential buyer likes it, they will buy on the spot.

5. Write your eBook’s introduction.

Hook your readers with a background story of where they are with their particular challenge, your books solutions an benefits why you wrote the book, and its purpose. In a few paragraphs include more specific benefits, and how you will present it (format). Keep it under a page. Your introduction will help you write your sales letter.

6. Create a table of contents for your book.

Each chapter should have a title, preferably a catchy one. If your reader can’t understand the chapter title, then annotate it. Add some benefits or a sub title (chapter’s promise).. Added to the first chapter called “Why Write an eBook! was this partial list of benefits: Create ongoing lifelong multiple streams of income, credibility as the expert, products that sell easily online.

More profits comes your way when you give your readers what they want emotionally and need.

7. Reach out to opinion molders.

After an initial contact of asking for feedback, resend them the same chapter and the table of contents of your book. Ask for a testimonial then. These influential contacts’ testimonials will help promote your eBook online and offline, and bring that audience back to where you offer your services, teleseminars and other repurposed content.

Design every part of your eBook to be a sales tool and a beacon that brings out your best: writing–compelling, understandable, organized, and enjoyable. Knowing the “Essential Hot Selling Points before you write your book will bring you thousands, even hundreds of thousands of customer contacts.

Book and Internet Marketing Coach Judy Cullins helps  businesses get all the clients and sell all the books they want.  Author of 11 business books including How to Write your  Book Fast and Advanced Article Marketing 3-Book Special. Judy offers free articles and eBook “Book Writing and Marketing Tips” with monthly ezine subscription at  http://www.bookcoaching.com

This is truly a wonderful publishing guide that explains and shows you the ins and outs of the publishing industry.  I found it at http://promoteyourproduct.wordpress.com

Most writers claim that ‘writing’ is the painless part of being a writer– the real challenge begins when you attempt to publish your masterpiece. The book industry can be a really hard one to crack, especially if you’re a newbie. No need to panic though – if you’re reading this, all your publishing problems are nearly over!

This article has been designed as a one-stop publishing guide for all types of writers. It is crammed full of useful and current information, which taps into the world of literature by exploring a variety of different channels of publication. This guide explores; Publishing thorough an Agency, Mainstream Publication, Self Publishing, Local Publishing Companies and eBook Publication. It furthers to explore life after your book has been published.

So whether your interests lie in large international exposure for you book, or self publishing, simply read on for a detailed tour of the publishing industry.

Option 1) Publishing through an Agency

The Process

The first step to saving time whilst publishing is making sure that you avoid writing something that will never be read! My advice to anyone who aspires to publish something is to find a literary agent . This is a great time saver as, when you have an agent, you will never again waste time writing something that may be defined as ‘unmarketable’. To further explain – the literary network is very closely knit i.e. in order to have your book published; you would need to go through specific channels. A strict system has been designed to maintain a sense of order in the realm of literature. Now, an agent can help you weave your way through the system – especially if you are a first timer.

An agent is an individual who is able to help you through much of the information filtering process. A recommendation from an agent almost guarantees that your manuscript will be read by a publishing house.

Essentially, the role of an agent is to read and approve your manuscript or any ideas that you may have i.e. queries and proposals. The agent will then decide whether your venture could be successful. If so, the agent will further to draw up a contract with you. Contracts of this nature usually express the agent’s promise to use his/her best efforts to get your manuscript into a publishing house – the exchange is usually about 15% of the entire deal. Your new agent will then work extremely hard to sell your idea.

Agent Hunting

There are usually 2 types of agents – those who work with fiction and those who work with non-fiction. The easiest way to find your match is by paging through a publishing guide/directory, which lists the functions of a variety of agents in great detail i.e. ‘Guide to Literary Agents’ or Agent Query. It is important to take note of any previous books that have been published by the agent/s that you are interested in – usually an agent will take interest in a particular theme, and stick to working with ideas along its lines.

Contacting an Agent

Once you have compiled a list of potential agents, feel free to start contacting them. The best way to do this is via a query letter. In essence, a query letter a short introduction of yourself and your idea – it should feed the agent enough information to arouse interest, but not too much to bore him/her. This is a suggested letter structure:

• The Teaser

Your introduction is usually the aspect of the letter sells you – so make it an attention grabber. Ideally, you would want to describe the compelling fit between the person that you are and your idea for a book.

• Develop Your Idea

Use your next few sentences to explore your idea, explaining what it is that you want to write about. Feel free to add in a snip-bit of your writing that best exemplifies your idea.

• Self Description

Your third paragraph should be based on you. Try to reiterate the connection between you as a person and your idea. You should also feel free to show-off your academic or intellectual achievements.

• Wrapping Up

Be sure to personalize your concluding sentence- making the agent feel unique and valuable to you in your selection process. Conclude by sharing your contact details and preferred method of communication.

Remember, this letter is merely an ‘appetizer’ so keep it short and simple.

Proposal Preparation

After sending your initial query letter to an agent, he/she would normally follow up by requesting a proposal. Essentially, your proposal is a document that accurately outlines an idea for a book. Here’s idea of what your proposal should contain:

• The Overview

The first 2 pages of your proposal should contain a broad summary of the book.
Non-fiction: Explain your intentions in terms of contents and topics. Fiction: Provide a general outline of your plot.

• Target Market

Your next 3 pages should contain a description of your prospective target market. You should define this in terms of; age, socio-economic, and educational characteristics of you potential audience.

• Market Threat and Competition

This section allows you to define what type of threats your book may face in terms of competitors and other books that cover a similar topic. Be careful to do all your homework here, because this section is really important to an agent as it dictates your books marketability.

• Authorship

Use this section to write up a brief description about yourself and your co-authors, if any. Take this opportunity to brag as much as possible, as this section will help your agent convince a publishing house to pay you for your idea.

• Summary of Chapters

This should be the largest part of your proposal – it contains an outline of what you intend to cover in each chapter of your book.
Non-fiction: Provide a minimum amount of information i.e. outlines. Fiction: Provide definite samples of your writing.

• Delivery

This section is relatively small – it simply contains the number of words you think your finished book will contain and the approximate time you will take to write it.

Contracts

Happy Day! So your proposal finally earns you a thumbs up…now what? It’s time to get into some paper work. The best part about this section is that you are not bearing the work load anymore. Your new agent will now send you a contract.

These contracts are usually short documents that you can probably work though on your own, so no need for an attorney. You just need be careful about two things – firstly, that your agent is not looking to exclusively represent you for over 12 months, and secondly that you are not going to billed for the cost of office overhead if your book does not do well on the market.

Click here to have a look at a sample contract.

Once the contract has been signed, your agent will send you a copy of your original proposal with a few editorial suggestions. As soon as you finalize your proposal’s contents, your agent will start pitching your idea to the ‘big boys’ i.e. publishing companies. Once you get the go-ahead as well as the funding, feel free to start writing…Microsoft Word will be your new home!

Option 2) Mainstream Publication

The Process

This option is slightly similar to the first; however the two do have a few minor differences. The primary difference is that the ‘middle man’ or agent is no longer involved i.e. the first step that you need to take in the field of mainstream publication, is directly locating a publisher. Once again, you can feel free to look through a publishing directory or make use of a search engine. This way, you can choose a publisher, that best suits you i.e try Mainstream Publishing if your interest lies in non-fiction.

As soon as you have made contact with a publishing house and managed to spark a bit of interest, you might be requested to ‘pitch’ your book to the company in person.

The Pitch & Self Marketing

Now if consider yourself to be a great public speaker, this could be your moment to shine – if not, just remember that you will only be speaking to a few suits!

The pitch is almost a verbal explanation of everything you would express in a proposal – if you happen to be unfamiliar with the guidelines for a proposal, simply follow the outline mentioned in option 1.

If you choose to publish via mainstream publication, it is important to note that you must be able to market yourself. Even if you do get lucky and a publishing house chooses to publish your book, you will still have to do a major part of the marketing – keep that in mind when it comes to your budget as it will help to have some additional money to use for publicity.

Risks/Benefits

The obvious benefit of publishing via a mainstream company is the possible exposure that you and your book could attain. On a large scale, the scope of various mainstream publication houses extends from local to international.

The greatest risk involved in using this method of publication, is the risk of rejection. You may even be rejected before publication as well as after. It is not often that a well-known publishing company would risk a dollar on an unknown author – so prepare yourself for possible rejection after your pitch. Even if your book does get accepted for publication, rejection is still a factor in terms of your book’s marketability and it is highly unlikely that your publisher will pick up the bill should your book not be successful.

Option 3) Self Publishing – (POD) Print/Publish on Demand

The Process

This option refers to printing a book at the time of purchase. It is an innovative method of publishing books that saves money, time and supplies. The printing industry is ecstatic about this method of publication as it means that books no longer need to be warehoused until purchased.

This method of publication allows you to handle the design work of your book or opt for a service/package that offers cover design, formatting and editing. Various companies offer these services, i.e. iuniverse, intoprint, booksurge and trafford. These companies will assist you in the areas that you may need help – from the time that your book has been ordered to the delivery. The POD will actually help you list your book on Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and other major bookstores by hooking you up with an ISBN.

Here’s how the process works:

• Submit the final draft of your book to a company that offers POD. Make sure your draft is formatted in the way that you want it to look in its final publication.
• You will be requested to wait until your file has been added to the data system of that company.
• The printing company receives an order for your book according to its ISBN.
• An operator at the printing company accesses your file in their system. Ensuring all editing and formatting is correct; the book is released to the printer and binder system. Your book is printed in less than 5 minutes.
• Your book is then packaged and addressed to the customer. It is then sent directly to the customer.
  This entire process takes approximately 10 working days – thus your book can hit the market as soon as possible.

Budget

While this type of publishing has become increasingly popular in the industry, it is important to note that it requires you fork out a bit of your own money – each book will cost you approximately $5.

Risks/Benefits

This option has various benefits. Firstly, most of the companies involved will accept any type of work, no matter who you are – so rejection is not something that you will have to worry about. Secondly, if you are involved with the design and formatting personally, your book automatically will gain a unique edge. Finally, the POD handles distribution and order fulfilment. This means that when you book has been ordered; the POD will print a copy of your book, ship it and pay you a royalty of approximately 30% of the purchase price – leaving you with less grey hair!

With regards to the risks involved, it is important to note that the owner of the ISBN also owns the book’s copyright, so be careful with that and make sure that you purchase your book’s ISBN under your name, not the vanity publisher. You can also click here for a few warnings about POD contracts.

Option 4) Local Publishing Companies

The Process

Local commercial printing companies use the same technology as PODs. Feel free to browse through a publishing directory or just your local directory for a list of companies that offer publishing services. Your next step is to contact the publishing house that you have chosen.

Budget

While prices may vary, expect to pay 3 cents per black and white page i.e. a 200-page book could cost you approximately $6.50.

Print Style Options

Your first choice in terms of printing style is between color printing and black & white printing. This will dictate the cost that you will need to budget for. Most companies offer digital printing, so you can choose the amount of copies that you want printed at the time of publication. In terms of cover design, you are only limited by your own creativity – once again you are free to take charge of your own design. Binding on the other hand, will be handled by the company and is included in the original price per page.

Risks/Benefits

When you publish through a local company, you must take note that the printer will print precisely what you send – this is without any revision or editing. It is crucial that your book is proofread before submission. Also with this option, you will still have to promote your book, fill and ship all orders.

Option 5) eBook Publication

What is an eBook?

An eBook is an electronic copy of your book that may be purchased, downloaded and read immediately online. It can serve a variety of purposes i.e. advertising, the gathering of potential customer’s information and the generation of interest. Not only does this option provide the media for a sample publication of you incomplete book, but it also allows for full publication of your book once it is complete – thus you can sell the electronic version of your book, as if it were a hard copy.

The Process

This option may be deemed the most convenient and economical way to publish a book. Here is a basic outline of the process:

• The Final Draft

To prepare you book for eBook publication, you have to format it exactly the way that you want your readers to see it. This will be easy if you are using a word processor such as Microsoft Word.

• The Format

Unless you know exactly what you want in terms of formatting, I suggest that you stick to a standardised type of book formatting – the outline of a manuscript format is included later on in this article.

• Proofreading

Sorry to say, editing will be your worst nightmare – just when you think that it’s over, go back and proofread again and again. Also try and get others to read your final draft too. Don’t skimp on the quality of your writing simply because you are publishing electronically.



• Copyrighting

Copyrighting your book is your next move. Don’t stress out too much about the ISBN, as you are actually the publisher now, so you will be in charge of the distribution and price setting.

• Designing the Cover

If you happen to have an arty side, this is your chance to bring it out! Feel free to extend your creativity but remember to keep your design, appropriate with regards to your book’s contents. You can also make use of external services should you need help i.e. graphic designers do freelance their services for this type of thing.

• Publication

Now it really gets interesting…There are various programs available that generate self-executable eBooks. It is however important to note that most people are cautious when it comes to downloading new programs. I therefore recommend that you publish your eBook in plain old .pdf format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a well established brand which is both safe and also free for anyone to download. Visit Adobe Online and register for their online PDF Creator to publish an ebook or feel free to do a Google search for a few more eBook publishing programs.

• Your Account

Set up a business account with an ecommerce site like PayPal. You will then have to add your book’s ISBN to your ‘product list’. PayPal will then generate an html code that you can copy and paste where ever you would like to promote your eBook. You will in turn be notified via email, when someone purchases your book. Your last move is to reply to that email by attaching the .pdf of your book and sending the mail directly to your customer…and voila! Your first eBook is sold.

Risks/Benefits

There are various benefits related to this new wave of publication. Firstly, it requires you to spend little to no money out of your own pocket. Thus, there is very little financial risk involved. Secondly, your book can be published from the comfort of your own home…a few clicks here and there is all that it takes. Finally, from a marketing perspective, an eBook opens up various avenues for advertising – it allows you to add links within your book, directing the reader anywhere that you would like i.e. this gives you a chance to expand your business network. Once again, you must remember that you are in charge of your book’s marketing.

Irrespective of the method of publication that you choose, you will need to master manuscript writing…Here’s a handy guide on how to correctly format your manuscript.
Try to make use of this type of formatting prior to submitting it to an agent or publisher. At first glance you may think that these standards may not be aesthetically pleasing, but don’t stress, your publisher should send your original manuscript to a ‘formatter’ that standardizes the format during publication.
Basic Formatting Rules
•Use 1 inch margins around all your text – repeat this on each page.
•Double spacing should be used throughout your manuscript. This type of spacing enhances your manuscripts readability and makes it easier to edit.
•If you want to italicize something, don’t do it now. Only highlight this before the final version is published – anything that you want in italics should be underlined in your manuscript.
•All numbers should be spelt out i.e. type out four instead of 4.
•Most symbols should also be spelt out i.e. don’t use the ‘%’ sign, instead type out ‘percent’.

Life After Publication

So now you are well on your way to publishing success you may wonder what life is like after you publish a book?
Well whether you’ve completed your first or your twentieth title– the mental stamina required to squeeze out the finishing touches of your book as well as the proofreading and designing of your cover, should have earned you a well deserved break…I suggest that you now time to enjoy a little back patting and focus on YOU for a while – take a well deserved break and simply RELAX!

Most hard-workers actually find the state of relaxation rather difficult to achieve after writing a book. The buzz of the outside world is always a contributing factor to the build up of anxiety, even when one is not stressed out about anything at all. If you’re having trouble relaxing after your creative outpouring, here are a few quick tips that may help you out…

• BREATHING

This is a 2-Step method of breathing – Start by filling the bottom of your lungs first and then adding air to the top as you breathe only through your nose. Exhale gradually and feel the tension flowing out.

• TENSE-RELAX MUSCLES

Decide which muscle you want to relax and then tighten that muscle. Feel the tension on the tightened muscle. Now let the muscle become loose and limp. Feel the relaxation flow into the muscle. You can do a series of these, on different muscles.



• LIMP RAG DOLL

Do the 2-Step method of breathing two times. With your mind imagine that all the bones in your body have melted. Feel your mind and body become limp and relaxed.

• MIND QUIETING

To begin you need to focus on your breathing. When you inhale, slowly say ‘I am’ and when you exhale say, ‘calm’. When your mind feels calm you may focus only on your breathing, with no thoughts at all.

So now that you have learnt a few relaxation exercises you should be well on your way to a few days of mental and physical bliss…Even though your book is now on its way to mass production, you need not let your relaxation period be short lived – don’t become overridden with anxiety about publicity, marketing and even worse, sales!

For a stress free way to boost sales and keep abreast of your new book’s performance you should consider subscribing to a promotions and sales tracking company.
With modern publishing methods, like self-publishing and eBook publication in mind, it is easy to understand why sales tracking has become a common pastime for most writers. Because most publishing options force you to take charge of your book’s marketing, it may be a good idea for you to make use of an online service to help you track the sales of your book and handle do a bit of book promotion on your behalf.

Taking this into consideration, let’s take look at the sales ranking and promotions company, RankTracer. This company will do some online promotion and track your book at the same time – giving you on-the-hour sales rank information, graphs, reports and actual sales estimates.

If you are not quiet ’sold’ on the importance of tracking sales, let’s take a look at what its benefits are with regards to your books marketing. You may want to pay careful attention here…

If used correctly, the sales rank information received from RankTracer may benefit you book in many ways. The following information is specifically related to tracking the sales of books sold on Amazon:

• Competitive Analysis

The Sales Rank is released for every product on Amazon, which means you aren’t limited to tracking your own book. Track the sales of a variety of products within a niche to compare and contrast their performance.

• Review/Press Impact Indicator

The Amazon Sales Rank is updated hourly, so the effects of any new reviews or publicity can be tracked pretty much in real time. Consider the following quotes that were taken out of a review on Slashdot.org for a recently released computer title:

“It [the book] provides a generous amount of information about Drupal, and discusses the material at an even pace that should not overwhelm even the most inexperienced programmer.”

“The book does an excellent job of covering all the important topics that would be of interest to beginning and intermediate Drupal programmers.”

“The author clearly has a genuine passion for Drupal, and frequently encourages readers to contribute to the Drupal community and its growing body of knowledge. ‘Building Powerful and Robust Websites with Drupal 6′ is a comprehensive, approachable, and valuable guide to making the most of Drupal – easily recommendable.”

Now have a look at the following sales rank graph that depicts the titles’ sales for the period of the review’s release (can you spot exactly when the review was posted?):



In this case, the sales rank graph is a great indicator that something has happened and can alert you to good (or bad) press almost immediately. Having an email alert service for precisely this reason is also a good idea.

• Advertising feedback & research

What happens if you want to work out how best to spend your advertising dollars? Again, use the Amazon Sales Rank as an indicator. For example, if you take out a newspaper ad and your sales rank hasn’t changed, you know that particular channel is not effective. Alternatively, you might spend money on online advertising on one site with yet again no effect, but from another your sales go haywire. Within the hour you know which option is better and which you should use in future.

With an external company tracking your sales and offering you a bit of extra help with book promotion, you are left with more time on your hands to use as you please – feel free to explore book-signings, tours, public talks and even blog about your new book!

So now you know! I trust that you found my walk through the publishing industry informative. Hopefully it has answered a few of your publishing queries and has helped you find the perfect publishing fit for you. Good luck and happy publishing!

August 27, 2008
Categories: How-to & Education . Tags: writer, books, publishing, publish, how-to, eBook, self publishing, guide . Author: elodie7 . Comments: No Comments

Handy Relaxation Tips For Writers or Anyone who Needs to Relax

Whether you’ve completed your first or your twentieth title- the mental stamina required to squeeze out the finishing touches of your book, has earned you a well deserved break.

It’s now time to enjoy a little back patting and focus on YOU for a while – take a well deserved break and simply RELAX!

Most hard-workers actually find the state of relaxation rather difficult to achieve. The buzz of the outside world is always a contributing factor to the build up of anxiety, even when one is not stressed out about anything at all. If you’re having trouble relaxing after your creative outpouring, here are a few quick tips that may help you out…

• BREATHING

This is a 2-Step method of breathing – Start by filling the bottom of your lungs first and then adding air to the top as you breathe only through your nose. Exhale gradually and feel the tension flowing out.

• TENSE-RELAX MUSCLES

Decide which muscle you want to relax and then tighten that muscle. Feel the tension on the tightened muscle. Now let the muscle become loose and limp. Feel the relaxation flow into the muscle. You can do a series of these, on different muscles.



• LIMP RAG DOLL

Do the 2-Step method of breathing two times. With your mind imagine that all the bones in your body have melted. Feel your mind and body become limp and relaxed.

• MIND QUIETING

To begin you need to focus on your breathing. When you inhale, slowly say ‘I am’ and when you exhale say, ‘calm’. When your mind feels calm you may focus only on your breathing, with no thoughts at all.

So now that you have learnt a few relaxation exercises you should be well on your way to a few days of mental and physical bliss.

Even though your book is now on its way to mass production, you need not let your relaxation period be short lived – don’t become overridden with anxiety about publicity, social acceptance and even worse, sales!

Check out RankTracer, www.ranktracer.com, for a stress free way to keep abreast of your new book’s performance.

Four Tips on Tip Sheets
by Fern Reiss, CEO, PublishingGame.com

Getting newspaper and magazine coverage for your book can be challenging. The book review section has disappeared from many publications; the lifestyle section is very competitive. But a simple tip sheet from your book can get you into almost any publication in America. Here are four tips on writing tip sheets:

Find the most interesting tidbits from the book. For non-fiction books, a tip sheet is really a no-brainer. Just compile a list of the most interesting tidbits from your book. Add a catchy lead at the top and an ‘About the Book’ section at the bottom, and send it to the publications of your choice. Non-fiction books lend themselves to multiple tip sheets, and since tip sheets are the bread and butter of both newspapers and magazines, your tip sheet, if well-written and interesting, is guaranteed to be picked up by a variety of publications.

For my book, The Infertility Diet: Get Pregnant and Prevent Miscarriage, for example, my tip sheets include “Top Ten Tips to Fertility,” “Combating Male Infertility,” “Six Foods to Get You Pregnant,” and “Five Dietary Ways to Prevent Miscarriage.”

For my Publishing Game books, the tips sheets include “Eight Steps to a Bestseller,” “Five Ways to Catapult Your Book into Magazines,” and “Six Paths to a Literary Agent.” If your book is on buying a condo, try “Five Ways to Get That First Mortgage;” if it’s on getting into top college, go with “Six Routes to the Ivies.” With a non-fiction book, you should be able to craft at least a dozen tip sheets without thinking twice.

Craft the tip sheet around the niche items. Crafting tip sheets for a novel can be more challenging, but is still well worth doing. Just as with any marketing for a novel, look for the niche items. For example, if your novel prominently features a golden retriever, do your tip sheet on golden retrievers; if your novel is set in a coffeeshop, try a humorous tip sheet advising on different coffee for different situations. (Novelists might want to try this technique as a way of getting their novel discussed on radio and television shows, by the way; niche items can be a powerful propeller for novels.)

For poetry books, try a meta tip sheet. Poetry is the hardest sell, but even with poetry you can come up with a tip sheet if you’re creative. If you’ve written a poetry book for toddlers, why not do a tip sheet suggesting ways parents can introduce young children to poetry? Or why not do a tip sheet describing how people can use poetry in party games, or as an icebreaker at meetings? It can be difficult to envision a newspaper or magazine piece on the poetry itself, so think meta-poetry.

Keep your tone consistent. Remember to use the same tone in the tip sheet as the book itself. If your book is humorous, for example, be sure the tip sheets have a humorous cast; if your book is flowery, be sure the same is true of the tip sheet. In general, the more interesting and creative a tip sheet you do, the more publications you can count on picking up the tip sheet.

So get busy and start writing. And if you’re still not sure how a tip sheet should look, take another look at this article. It’s a classic tip sheet—and will soon be in publications across America.

Fern Reiss is the author of The Publishing Game: Bestseller in 30 Days (book marketing), The Publishing Game: Find an Agent in 30 Days (finding a literary agent), The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days (self-publishing). For more information on Publishing Game books, workshops, and consulting, and on getting your book and business featured in the national media, sign up for the complimentary PublishingGame/Expertizing email newsletter at http://www.PublishingGame.com/signup.htm.

On September 25, I will be interviewing Fern on Expertizing: Get More Media Attention for your Business in a Teleclass. Check the teleclass page for more information and the mp3 will be available following the teleclass. Click here for products page.