Hampton Roads Business & Marketing Blog

Posts Tagged ‘online’

If you’ve just written a book and have decided to self publish it, congratulations. A great book marketing plan is the next essential step. As a self-publisher, you can be a very successful author, given that you have “skipped the middleman,” and taken your destiny into your own hands, so to speak.

Although it’s certainly “easier” in many ways to have your book promoted if you find a publisher first, this is a hard road to go for many authors; it is much easier and quicker to self publish your book at the start, as a means to establish a track record. Once you are successful with your book, it’s much easier to find a publisher who would be willing to invest. The likelihood is that you will enjoy self-publishing enough to never give it up.

Build a website about your book

In fact, you should be building your website at the same time as you are writing your book. You want to have it ready to go once you’ve got a book to sell. Your website will be the central location for people to go to when they want information about your book, or to read samples of it.

It’s all about who you know

In other words, build relationships from the very first day you begin to write your book. Get online and begin to talk about your book with others; there are many writers communities online where you can get help, encouragement, feedback, and simply a sense of community as you work through this usually solitary practice of writing a book.

As you work on your book and talk about it with others at the same time, you should begin to notice that there are a few people that stand out from the others. Lots of people online are “wannabe writers,” so how do you make yourself stand out from them? First of all, when you post, make sure you treat every post as though you were talking about your book with an esteemed colleague, such as an editor, publisher, and so on. There is a lot of “junk” out there, such that many people post gibberish that shouldn’t see the light of day Make your posts stand out. Be remarkable and authentic. Make sure that everything you send out is professional and knowledgeable sounding.

Comment on related forums, blogs, and websites

Once you’ve got yourself ingratiated with several of these communities, begin posting on these like-minded sites; it’s not always necessary to talk about your book directly (in fact, this is sometimes completely forbidden), but do include a sig line with every post. Your sig. line should contain sample links of the book itself (so that people can read a sample of it before they buy), and links to your website so that people can go and purchase your book directly from there — or be linked to the source of your choosing.

Remember, you’re the professional — so write a press release

Many authors overlook that they must treat publicizing their books with as much care as they did writing them. Get a press release and send it out wherever possible, so that the world knows your book has been released. Have a publicist edit or write your press release to make it professional, containing all the key elements.

Article writing means more exposure

Don’t give away your book’s central focus with your articles, but do write and post articles on as many free websites, professional newsletters, and so on as you can find. This will further increase publicity, so that people will go and read the sample link you posted — and then buy your book.

The invention of the Internet has brought about many changes in the way that we conduct our lives and our personal business. We can pay our bills online, shop online, bank online, and even date online!

We can even buy and sell stocks online. Traders love having the ability to look at their accounts whenever they want to, and brokers like having the ability to take orders over the Internet, as opposed to the telephone.

Most brokers and brokerage houses now offer online trading to their clients. Another great thing about trading online is that fees and commissions are often lower. While online trading is great, there are some drawbacks.

If you are new to investing, having the ability to actually speak with a broker can be quite beneficial. If you aren’t stock market savvy, online trading may be a dangerous thing for you. If this is the case, make sure that you learn as much as you can about trading stocks before you start trading online.

You should also be aware that you don’t have a computer with Internet access attached to you. You won’t always have the ability to get online to make a trade. You need to be sure that you can call and speak with a broker if this is the case, using the online broker. This is true whether you are an advanced trader or a beginner.

It is also a good idea to go with an online brokerage company that has been around for a while. You won’t find one that has been in business for fifty years of course, but you can find a company that has been in business that long and now offers online trading.

Again, online trading is a beautiful thing – but it isn’t for everyone. Think carefully before you decide to do your trading online, and make sure that you really know what you are doing!