Tony Eldridge's Blog, page 19

Paid Vs Free Book Marketing Activities

There's a healthy conversation going on as to whether free marketing activities or paid marketing activities are the way to go for authors, especially in our time of tremendous technological advances. I'm not here to settle the debate, but I will bring up some pros and cons that you'll need to consider as you create your plan.



Let's start with free marketing.



We live in a great time to be an author. Never in the history of mankind have there been so many tools and resources available to help writers promote their books. You can have an international audience in less than a day without spending a dime. I have talked with authors who are making six figure incomes without paying someone else to market their books, so it is definitely possible.



Here are some pros of free marketing:

Well, it's free!
Free marketing activities are available to virtually anyone
There are plenty of resources to help you master any free marketing activity you come across
They really do help you find readers for your book
Here are some cons of free marketing

The learning curve may be steep
Trial and Error may drag out the time it takes for you to start using free marketing activities effectively
What works for one author does not always work for another author
There are so many free activities to choose from that you may end up diluting your effectiveness if you try to do too much
You run the risk of missing out on a huge payoff by giving up on a free marketing activity before you give it time to mature
You run the risk of wasting too much time nurturing an ineffective free marketing activity rather than switching to a more productive activity


Now let's look at paid marketing activities



Paid marketing activities can be services you pay to someone else to do to market your book (i.e., you hire someone to run a blog tour for you) or a paid service that helps you market your book (i.e., you buy an advertisement in a popular newsletter or magazine).



Here are the pros of paid activities:

Hiring someone will help you can leverage your marketing activities
Hiring someone can give you more time to write
Paying for a marketing service can dramatically shorten your learning curve
Paying for marketing allows you to tap into an expert's established network
Paying for marketing activities can often help you see success much faster than doing it on your own for free
Paying for a marketing service can mean that you avoid all the pitfalls you might make if you did it on your own
Here are some cons of paid activities:

It costs money, often more than it generates through the activity
You may hire someone who sounds better on paper than they really are in action
You and the service provider may have different ideas of what constitutes success
Because of the money investment, you may be forced to narrow your options dramatically 
You may pay a premium for a service and still not know how to use it effectively.


As we look at the paid versus free marketing debate, my advice is to know what you're getting. How important is return on your investment to you? If you choose to hire someone to help you market your book, then good for you. Don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't. In fact, here are some very valid reasons to hire someone:

You don't have the time to do all the marketing yourself
You want to spend more time writing than marketing
You don't want to learn new technologies that you can pay someone else to do for you
You have the money to spend on marketing
That said, there are a lot of free things that you can do with a little investment of time, elbow grease, and education. This blog spends a lot of time highlighting these activities as well as identifying fee-based marketing services from time to time. In the end, you make the choice but hopefully, this will help you better weigh the options available to you.





Contest Update:



The Twitter contest is now over. I will choose and contact the winner this week. The winner will have 7 days to claim the prizes before I choose an alternate winner. I want to thank everyone who participated in the contest and especially the sponsors who have donated these amazing prizes.



I will announce the winner of the contest on this blog, so keep a lookout for the winning announcement.





Related Posts:

Brainstorming Non-bookstore Sales By Joel Friedlander

Business Cards Aren't Boring -- Or Inconsequential By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

8 Tips on Starting Your Own Grass-Roots Campaign For Your Book

Buying and Selling Services In This Economy





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

Resource Of The Week: Wikimedia Commons

Today's resource of the week is Wikimedia Commons. This is a huge database of over 10 million media files that you can use for your projects. Many are copyright free images, but on each piece, you will find the reuse information. In most cases, a simple attribution is needed. The site has a lot of high quality images and other media to use.



There are a lot of ways to explore this site, but my favorite it the search bar in the upper right hand side of the site. Below that, you can narrow your choices by choosing the media type you are looking for.



If you've not come across Wikimedia Commons yet, you're in for a treat. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite places to visit when I'm looking for that perfect image.





Contest Update:



Yesterday, we had our last daily mini prize package. The winner is Synithia Williams. Congratulations, Synithia. Here is what she won:



April 30th

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- The Great First Impression Book Proposal

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- 8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Remember, visit the official contest page today to see how easy it is to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes. The contest ends tonight, at midnight Central time.



The drawing for the grand prize will be tomorrow. After the winner is contacted and responds within 7 days, we will announce the name on this blog. Good luck, everyone!



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

Book Marketing Strategies And Tips Around The Net: April 30th

Wow, what a week's it's been! We've had a great week for the contest, which ends at midnight on Sunday, so make sure you enter before it's too late. We have an amazing prize package ready to give away to one lucky winner. I've been away from my computer, so check out the daily winners for the last few days at the end of this post.



I just returned from conducting a great book marketing workshop with Kat Smith for the Writer's Guild Of Texas. Thanks to everyone who attended.



Well, we have a lot to cover today, so let's get started with out trip around the net!





1. The Dos and Don'ts of Book Distribution, Part 2- Penny Sansevieri speaks with Amy Collins to discuss the ins and out of book distribution.



2. How to effectively publish and promote your books to iPad and iPhone owners- BookBuzzr hosts


3. How to Find Keywords for Book Promotion Articles- Dana Lynn Smith introduces you to the Google Keyword Tool to show you how to find powerful keywords that get results.



4. The Top 10 Most Important Tips on How to Get a Copyright- Shelley Hitz presents an easy to understand "How-To" guide to getting your copyright.



5. 7 Formats for Winning Blog Posts- Joel Friedlander discusses ideas that you can use to help you deliver your blogging content.



6. Jo- Anne Vandermeulen Interviews Me On BTR- Jo-Anne Vandermeulen invited me on her Blog Talk Radio program to discuss book marketing, and my publishing experiences. (Note: The audio will start playing when you visit this link).



7. How Big Blogs Get So Many Subscribers- Have you ever wondered how the big blogs get their traffic? Chris at Traffic Blogger weighs in.



8. Networking Is A Great Word!- Carolyn Howard-Johnson has some great things to say about networking.



9. How to choose the right book title for a brand-building book- Roger C. Parker points you to some resources to help you build your brand via book titles.



10. The Fifth Excuse for Not Using the Power of Social Media- Phyllis Zimbler Miller continues her series on excuses by looking at one that scares a lot of us.



11. What my favourite cafe can teach you about ebook cover design- Steven Lewis shows how inspiration for your book design can come from just about anywhere.



12. Are You Dense?- JA Konrath is one who's not afraid to say it like it is, and here is another must-read from him.



13. Why I Sell My Novel For 99 Cents- Joanna Penn gives her ninety-nine cents worth when it comes to Kindle e-book pricing.



14. 7 Tips For Making Your Blog Posts More Readable- Daniel Scocco invites Eugene Farber to share his down-to-earth blogging tips advice.



15. Zero- L. Diane Wolfe concludes her A-Z Writers Challenge with the "Z" of Zero- a challenge you will want to read.



16. Two Email Marketing Strategies that Work- Darren Rowse invites Shaun to discuss two powerful e-mail marketing strategies.



17. Why Do We Think Talent Ought to Be Rewarded?- Jane Friedman shares her thoughts on success and talent.



That's it for this week's trip around the net. Remember, you have 1 day left to enter the amazing Twitter book marketing contest. Read more below about your chance to win.



Contest Update:



I have been away from my computer for the last few days, so here are the daily winners for the last few days. Sunday, I will have a list of all the daily winners, including the luck person who win's today's prize:



April 27th Winner: Jennie

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Dana Lynn Smith- 10 Steps to Online Networking Success for Authors and Publishers

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 28th Winner: Melissa Khalinsky

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- Social Media Does Not Magically Work: You Have To Work It

Dana Lynn Smith- 52 Experts Share Insider Tips for Selling More Books

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 29th Winner: AnkeB

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Dana Lynn Smith- 10 Steps to Online Networking Success for Authors and Publishers

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Remember, visit the official contest page to see how easy it is to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes.









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

Who Will Want to Read Your Book? By Walt Shiel

Today, I am happy to introduce you to an author and publishing expert who I have been following for a long time now. Walt Shiel is the managing partner for Slipdown Mountain Publications and someone who always has great words of advice on is blog. Today, Walt will discuss the question at the heart of every author's work: Who will want to buy your book?



I have one quick in-house announcement before we get to Walt's post. Kat Smith and I will be will be in Richardson, TX. on Saturday, April 30th from 9 am to 1 pm to conduct a workshop entitled, "How To Market Your Book And You." You can register at the Writer's Guild of Texas site. You can also read Kat's guest post last month titled, 20 Tips For Performing Best Selling Interviews. All who attend the workshop will receive my PDF of Conducting Effective Twitter Contests and Kat's The Naked Author, a $35 value.



Now, on to Walt's post...





Who Will Want to Read Your Book?

By Walt Shiel



If you're a writer and want to sell a significant number of books, you really must ask yourself who will really want to read the book you've been sweating blood to write. The more difficult task, of course, is to answer your own question.



There is really only one unacceptable answer: Everybody!



Trust me, no matter how fantastic your book is or how absolutely essential your early reviewers may claim it to be, everybody will NOT want to read it. Not even everyone in your own hometown. Probably not even everyone in your own family.



A slightly better answer: I don't know.



At least, that's honest. However, just like the first answer, it clearly indicates you need to do a lot more planning before releasing you brainchild into the wild.



So, considering that advice, you decide to narrow it down to... all women 18-35 years old.



That's a bit better, but I will bet that only a portion of women in that age bracket are really going to be interested in your book. To develop a realistic answer, you need to identify more of the key characteristics of your most likely readers.



One way to begin: identify your own likes, dislikes, and passions. Then ask yourself how many of those characteristics would apply, in general, to most of the potential readers who would truly be interested in your book. Here are a few questions about those 18-35 year old women to help you better identify your true target audience:

What other books have they read?




What magazines do they read (and what kind of stories do those magazines publish)?




Where do they hang out online and off?




Do they belong to clubs and associations of like-minded people?




Are they mostly single, married, divorced?




What kind of jobs do they have?




Are they fashion-conscious or oblivious to such things?




Are they aggressive in the work environment or struggling to overcome shyness?


The more such questions you consider, the more clearly you will be able to define your target audience. It might even help to write a couple of brief biographies for your ideal readers. Sort of the way those of us who write fiction develop a thorough back story for our characters. This will give you something more concrete on which to focus, allowing you to write your marketing copy to "Executive Jane" or "Office Assistant Sally" rather than some amorphous anybody.



Now, you must spend some time figuring out how to locate these readers and how to contact them. Maybe an article in their favorite magazine (or ezine) or perhaps in the membership magazine of their professional association. Or maybe you join in on conversations on the popular blogs and online groups that they frequent. However you do it, you've got to work at it.



When you start putting together your marketing messages to these potential book buyers, keep in mind that buying a book involves spending discretionary funds -- in other words, money left over after paying for the necessities of living. Each of those potential buyers has four options for spending those discretionary funds:

Buy your book




Buy some other book




Buy something else (other than a book)




Buy nothing (and keep that money in a pocket or bank account)


In other words:

Your direct competition may be another book, or it may be a lunch, a movie, a DVD, a new T-shirt, or just about anything else of comparable price.




You must convince potential buyers that your book will provide more education, entertainment, enlightenment, or something else of value than any of those other things on which they could spend the money.


You have to craft a marketing message that clearly and unequivocally answers the question that has driven all successful marketing since the first human being wanted to trade something he had for something somebody else had -- the customer's often unspoken question of "What's in it for ME?"



And you cannot answer that question unless you have a clear picture of the type of person you are trying to convince to buy your book. Which brings you right back to knowing for whom you wrote the book. Only then can you say, "If you read my book, you will learn how to..."



And you will have some confidence that the benefit will matter to them.



Once you have mastered the above, you should have a much better idea of how to write the back cover and other marketing copy for your book. After all, it should be aimed at your primary target audience.



Now... ask (and answer) WHO WILL WANT TO READ MY BOOK?





------

Walt Shiel is the managing partner for Slipdown Mountain Publications and Five Rainbows Services. He is also a published author of over 100 magazine articles and five books, including the upcoming Rough War: The Combat Story of Lt Paul J. Eastman, a "Burma Banshee" P-40 & P-47 Pilot scheduled for release on Memorial Day.  

















Update On The Contest Due to technical difficulties beyond my control, I will be announcing yesterday's daily prize winner and today's daily prize winner for the contest on tomorrow's post. Good luck to everyone







 



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

I Can Write A Better Blog Than You (And Other Deceptively Simple Fallacies)

Before I ever wrote a single sentence in my novel, I read hundreds written by other authors. To my embarrassment, I remember thinking on many occasions, "I could write a better novel than this one." Well, one day I decided to back up my words. Even though I did complete the task of writing a novel, I learned that my hubris was so off base.



Now, I applaud the authors who write great stories with the skill of making it look simple. Having gone through the writing process and knowing what's involved, I'm awed by the things that writers go through behind the scenes to breathe life into their book; things that most people will never see. These are the same things that make a daunting task like completing a novel look deceptively simple to people who don't understand what's really involved in bringing a book to market.



The same is true about blogging. Unless someone operates a blog, they cannot really understand what's involved in making daily posts look simple. I am of the opinion that if most bloggers really understood before they started blogging what they would have to do in order to have a successful blog, it would scare them away from blogging in the first place. 



In fact, most things in life work this way. Anything worth doing usually takes a lot more work than what people see when they look at the end results. Those talented enough to make it look easy to the people enjoying the fruit of their labor are people worthy of praise.



I concede that you may be able to write a better blog than me, but if you do, I will have no disillusion of what you did behind the scenes to do it. I will tip my hat to you with the sincere praise that you deserve.



While no one has actually told me that they could publish a better blog than me, having done this for a few years has given me a deeper respect for those who take the first few steps on the journey of being a blogger. Just as I now understand and respect the behind-the-scenes work that every author engages in to bring their book to fruition, so do I respect and understand what every blogger goes through to keep their blog going.



Every reader has the right to criticism a book, a blog, a poem, a song, a painting and anything else that poeple create for public consumption. I really believe that. But we all need to take any criticism with a grain of salt. And as the creator of a blog, a book, or any other creative work, we need to remember that most people will never know what really goes into creating a work. Regardless of what people may say, you have a lot of reasons to hold your head up high for the work you do.





Contest Update:



The winner in yesterday's daily mini-prize package is Peter D Cox. Join with me in congratulating Peter . He won the following prizes:



April 26th

BookBuzzr- 3 Month Author Pro Subscription

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- 8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Today is day six and we have a great daily prize package in addition to the amazing grand prize package. To enter for a chance to win today's daily prize and the Grand Prize package, visit the official contest page.





Today's daily mini prize package is:



April 27th

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Dana Lynn Smith- 10 Steps to Online Networking Success for Authors and Publishers

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download

Remember, visit the official contest page to see how easy it is to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes.



Other News



1. Kat Smith and I will be will be in Richardson, TX. on Saturday, April 30th from 9 am to 1 pm to conduct a workshop entitled, "How To Market Your Book And You." You can register at the Writer's Guild of Texas site. You can also read Kat's guest post last month titled, 20 Tips For Performing Best Selling Interviews. All who attend the workshop will receive my PDF of Conducting Effective Twitter Contests and Kat's The Naked Author, a $35 value.



2. On Monday, I was the guest on Jo- Anne Vandermeulen's Blog Talk Radio show, "Authors Articulating with Jo-Anne Vandermeulen". If you missed the show, you can listen to it on demand anytime. We discussed writing, publishing and marketing tips, packing a lot into this 30 minute program.





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

Kindle Marketing Lessons Using The "Before You Go" Screen by Steven Lewis

I'm thrilled to introduce you today to our guest author, Steven Lewis, author and creator of the newly designed Kindle Self Publishing (formerly Kindle Writers). If you want to know anything Kindle, Steven is your guy.



Today's post is a taste of his expertise when it comes to knowing how to get the best out your your Kindle marketing activities. In it, Steven looks at Kindle Marketing Lessons Using The "Before You Go" Screen.



Steven, take it away...



To my mind there's nothing Elmore Leonard doesn't know about writing. If he writes it, I'm buying it. If he puts his name on a TV show, I'm watching it. And if he writes about writing, I'm living by it. But when it comes to ebook marketing on the Kindle, Elmore Leonard has a lot to learn. (Well, his publishers do, anyway.)



All books on the latest generation Kindle now bring up a Before You Go... screen with the last page turn of the book. The screen invites the reader to share with Twitter and Facebook that they've read the book; and they're invited to give it a rating. The page also shows other books by the same author and a list of books under the heading "Customers who bought this book also bought".









This presents Elmore Leonard and his publishers with two fantastic marketing opportunities.



1. It gives the reader the opportunity to buy another one of Elmore Leonard's books immediately - click the link, hit Buy, and your next Elmore Leonard book is on your Kindle in under a minute.



2. With a couple of clicks a reader can send a link to the book to an audience in the thousands. I have almost 2,000 followers on Twitter, Tony has nearly 10,000. That's one reader, two clicks, 10,000 potential readers.



So what are Elmore Leonard and Harper Collins doing wrong?



I have my Kindle set on the third smallest font size. Even at that relatively modest size, after the last screen of Leonard's novel Djibouti before I get to the Before You Go screen I have to plough through:



1. One screen of information about the author

2. Three screens of a list of other books he's written (which should be hyperlinked to the Amazon page for the book)

3. One screen of credits for the cover illustration

4. Two screens of copyright information

5. Two screens of HarperCollins' international office addresses



That means I've got to hit the next page button 10 times before I see the Before You Go screen.



Some readers will stop when they realise they're at the end of the story. Other readers, perhaps even most readers, will read the About the Author screen. But, I would suggest, HarperCollins is going to lose most readers when they get to the administrative bumph about acknowledgements, copyright and office addresses. Who wants to read that?



By putting too much distance between the end of the story and the Before You Go screen, HarperCollins has denied itself the word of mouth from readers who made it through to the last page turn and used Before You Go to share the book with Twitter and Facebook. Not to mention the reader who, basking in the enjoyment of Djibouti, might have immediately bought another of Leonard's books.



What do you need to know about Before You Go



1. Before You Go is a built-in feature in the latest generation of the Kindle. It's not an option publishers have to switch on or configure. It's just there.

2. Before You Go is not available on earlier model Kindles .

3. Readers do have to have entered their Twitter and Facebook account details into their Kindle in order to share.

4. Many readers have done this, which I demonstrated in a screencast of tweets generated by Before You Go.



Because Facebook pages are private, there's no way of knowing how many people are sharing on Facebook but more people use Facebook than Twitter (over half the population of most western countries); and the average Facebook user has 140-odd friends to share with.



What should you do to avoid Elmore Leonard's mistakes?



If you already have your Kindle book on Amazon, open it up and work out how many page turns the reader needs to make before they reach the Before You Go screen. (If you don't have a Kindle 3, you can fake it because you know Before You Go... comes up with the last page turn of your book.)



Experiment with the number of page turns at different font sizes (you can change the font using the AA button next to the spacebar on your Kindle).



If you haven't published your Kindle book yet, build Before You Go into your book design. Keep the backend of your book light so the reader reaches Before You Go... quickly.



Rather than including administrative bumph, acknowledgements and so on in your book, consider including a link to more information on your website. You might be attached to this information but is it worth more than thousands of potential readers seeing your book recommended by their friend?



--------



Steven Lewis is a bestselling Kindle author who writes about ebook marketing at Kindle Self-Publishing. His book In-Book Promotion covers how to use all the Kindle's built-in features to improve your promotion. The audio, video and ebook of his Kindle Publishing Roadmap is also available as a download.

















Contest Update:



The winner in yesterday's daily mini-prize package is Adam Lebrocq. Join with me in congratulating Adam. He won the following prizes:



April 25th

Joel Friedlander- Free Cover Critique Of Your Self-Designed Cover

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Today is day five and we have a great daily prize package in addition to the amazing grand prize package. To enter for a chance to win today's daily prize and the Grand Prize package, visit the official contest page.





Today's daily mini prize package is:



April 26th

BookBuzzr- 3 Month Author Pro Subscription

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- 8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Remember, visit the official contest page to see how easy it is to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes.







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

9 Non-Technical Tips To Finding Readers For Your Blog

Bloggers are a diverse group of people who end up wearing more hats the longer they blog. For a lot of us, the dream of operating a successful blog became a daunting task when we actually started to learn what is really involved in giving our blog the best chance for success.



Hat 1: Writer- This is the hat that probably wooed most of us into blogging. Then the other hats started coming...



Hat 2: SEO Tinkerer- I say tinkerer because most of us will never be the technical experts like the ones who we often read great tips and tricks from on popular technical blogs. Still, we try out the recommended plug-ins and *gulp* we even play around with our HTML template from time to time.



Hat 3: Marketer- We then realize that if we want people to read our blog, we need to make sure they know it exists.



Hat 4: Social Media Guru- When we see where our readers are, we dig in and become active in their social communities, delicately balancing promotion with relationship building.



Hat 5: Entrepreneur- At some point, we realize that we might be able to make some money on our blog so we start to implement ways to monetize it.



The number of hats we wear as bloggers don't stop there, as we all know, or will soon find out. While all of these hats are important, the daunting task that lies before us can become rather intimidating.



For those who get totally lost in the technical part of blogging, this post was written for you. I want to share non-technical tips to finding readers for your blog. If you're like me, then these are the tips you can grab hold of first as your grow in your ability to put on the more technical hats of blogging.



Each of these tips discusses non-technical, incremental actions you can take to help visitors make the choice to visit your blog.



1. Learn To Specialize- People return to blogs because they know what to expect from them. One way to make your blog sticky is make sure you deliver what people expect from it. I have a list of blogs I visit because I know exactly what I will get when I get there. Authors come to my blog because they know they will learn tips on how to market their books. The same holds true in any business. We go to McDonald's because we know what to expect and we go to Ruth's Chris for the same reason.



That doesn't mean we won't change our focus over time, or we won't start new blogs. But the skills and discipline we learn by specializing our message (or staying in our blog's niche) will give the comfort and predictability that our visitor's yearn for.



2. Master Your Titles- When you write a blog post, the title may be the single most important factor in whether people will click on it and read it or not. By using the right keywords, we can help the search engines find our post; but by asking an intriguing question in our title, or promising a list of items we will deliver, we can create anticipation and make the visitor want to know more. I have a post that focuses solely on this the importance titles called, 7 Tips For Writing Titles That Will Cause Readers To Click On Your Post.



3. Build Relationships- As a new blogger building your place in the online world, it can be a tough thing to find your readers one at a time by yourself. Most successful bloggers either come with a pre-built platform or celebrity, or they create relationships with bloggers and experts who already have an established following. If you can get these people to share your blog posts with their followers, you will leverage these relationships into something that will help you grow your own readership faster than you dreamed possible.



In order to do this effectively, you need to first, be willing yourself to provide value to these experts and bloggers. Most of these people are business people, looking for new ways to market themselves. If you offer to help them market their sites, products or services, then you can get on their radar. Marketing them can be as simple as writing an honest review of their product or inviting them to be a guest on your blog.



My book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests, is about relationship building at its core. Anyone can put together a Twitter contests, but it takes skill to put together one that creates relationships with experts where everyone wins through the contest. But you can apply the same principles whether you conduct a Twitter contest or not.



4. Write Predictably- One quick way to lose a readership is to put out content with a haphazard schedule. Whether you blog twice a week or once a day, predictability of your content's delivery will go a long way in keeping your readership engaged. While an occasional break from your schedule will not likely make a bad impact, the lack of a consistent schedule will do more harm than good to your attempts at growing your readership.



5. Engage With Readers- Perhaps one of the least technical tips in finding readers for your blog is this one. Watch your comments and interact when people leave you one. Give readers a way to send you messages, and find ways to monitor and interact with them on your social networking sites. It's in these interactions that you endear yourself to your readers and become more than the signature at the end of a post. If you want to cement your readership and watch it grow, few things will ever work as well as interacting with your readers.



6. Read Widely- I recently past post number 400 on my blog and I know I couldn't have done it if I constantly gave knowledge without taking some knowledge in. Read up on what the leaders in your niche are saying. Keep up on your industry's news. Stay in touch with the same things your readers are staying up on. Reading widely can help you break through blogger writer's block and give you ways to enhance your own credibility as an expert. If you read widely, it will come through in your own posts. If you don't read widely, that will come through just as well.



7. Become An Expert- People read what experts write. It's not enough to proclaim yourself an expert, you need to back up your claim. You can do this through your writings, by contributing to a forum discussion, by writing and publishing your own book, by appearing as a guest on someone's blog or by being interviewed on a Blog Talk Radio program. Actually, almost anytime you have the opportunity to share your views, you need to take it. It's that media exposure that confers expertise. And if you have credentials, make sure your credentials are prominently displayed. If you earned a master's, a PhD, or specialized certification, or if you have written a book, you have inherent credibility as an expert. Don't be shy to display those credentials.



8. Lend A Hand- Becoming a successful blogger does not have a destination. It's a continuum which means that no matter how successful you are today, you can still learn things that will make you more successful tomorrow. And just because you may shine in one area of blogging doesn't mean that you've mastered them all. That said, when you do find yourself down the road of success, you need to be on the lookout for ways you can help those who are not as successful as you. Call it karma, the golden rule, or what have you, we all need to be willing to reach a helping hand just like someone once did for us.



And even if you've been blogging for only a few months, don't underestimate how much you really do know. And as lost as you might feel as a new blogger, there is always someone who just wrote their first post today. By helping out others, you create relationships that will earn you a lot of fans who will stick by you through thick and thin, and rave about your blog to people they know.



9. Play Nicely- While some people make their living by tearing others down and picking fights, most people are turned off by bloggers who are rude, crude and obnoxious. You might succeed in gaining a few vocal supporters who encourage your behavior, but I believe you will probably quietly lose a whole lot more over time.  Few people ever really win by getting into an online fight with others.



The time will come as a blogger when you will learn how to apply SEO/SEM strategies to your blog, how to integrate feeds into your social networking sites, how to monetize your blog, and how to wear all those other hats that you may now find intimidating. But the tips I just shared with you are ones you can use today, knowing they can make an impact in the success of your blog as you grow into those other important blogger roles.



If you're a new blogger, hang in there. You'll soon be doing things with your blog you now believe impossible. You can take my word on that. I'm living proof.





Two Quick In-House Announcements:



1. I will be the guest on Jo- Anne Vandermeulen's Blog Talk Radio show, Authors Articulating with Jo- Anne Vandermeulen. The show will be today at 5:30PM Central. I'd love to see you there tonight.



2. The winner in yesterday's daily mini-prize package is Laura Edwards. Join with me in congratulating Laura. She won the following prizes:



April 24th

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- Frugal Book Editor

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- Social Media Does Not Magically Work: You Have To Work It

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Today is day four and we have a great daily prize package in addition to the amazing grand prize package. To enter for a chance to win today's daily prize and the Grand Prize package, visit the official contest page.





Today's daily mini prize package is:



April 25th

Joel Friedlander- Free Cover Critique Of Your Self-Designed Cover

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



Remember, visit the official contest page to see how easy it is to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes.











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

Amazing Book Marketing Contest Update

Image Via Wikipedia
The Amazing Book Marketing Contest is in full swing. Today is day three and we have a great daily prize package in addition to the amazing grand prize package. To enter for a chance to win today's daily prize and the Grand Prize package, visit the official contest page.





Today's daily mini prize package is:



April 24th

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- Frugal Book Editor

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- Social Media Does Not Magically Work: You Have To Work It

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download





Here are the winners for Friday's and Saturday's Daily Prize Package.

Each day next week, the winners will be announced at the end of the regular post.



April 22nd

Joel Friedlander- 2 Quick & Easy Guides, Copyright and ISBNs and Barcodes

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- The Great First Impression Book Proposal

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download

Winner: Sarah Butland



April 23rd

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

BookBuzzr- 3 Month Author Pro Subscription

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download

Winner: Kimberly Glass



Join with me in congratulating Sarah and Kimberly for being our first two winners. Remember, visit the official contest page to see how easy it is to enter for your chance to win some amazing prizes.





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

Resource Of The Week: Twitter Bookmarklet III

Today's resource of the week is the Twitter Bookmarklet III. Bookmarklets are tiny applets, or computer applications that are stored as a URL of a bookmark in your browser. If you look across the top of your current web browser, you will probably see a lot of sites saved for quick visits at the click of your mouse.



With the Twitter Bookmarklet III saved in your bookmarks, you can tweet any page you are visiting with a single click. While there are a lot of bookmarkets out that that allow you to do this, I like this one for these reasons:



1. It automatically shortens the URL using bit.ly

2. It automatically pulls the name of the site and the title of the blog post into your tweet

3. It gives you a chance to make any changes to your tweet before you send it



If you click on this image, you will see this bookmarklet on my browser. I changed the default name from "tweet" to "Tweet This". Now, if I am reading a cool post that I think my Twitter followers will like, all I have to do is click this bookmarklet, proof the auto-populated tweet that opens in my Twitter account, and then click "Tweet" when it's just they way I want it to be.



Generally, it takes me less than 10 seconds to tweet the page I'm on when I use this bookmarklet. If you're a twitter user and you don't have a good Twitter bookmarklet, I highly recommend this one.



Contest Results

Yesterday, I launched The Amazing Book Marketing Prize Package Contest. Along with the unbelievable Grand Prize package that one lucky author will win, our sponsors have made prizes available to win each day. Yesterday, entrants could win this mini prize package:



Joel Friedlander- 2 Quick & Easy Guides, Copyright and ISBNs and Barcodes

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- The Great First Impression Book Proposal

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



I'm happy to announce that the daily winner for this prize is Sarah Butland. Congratulations!



If you've not entered the contest yet, you can learn how right now by visiting the contest page. There will be another mini prize package winner today and once you enter, you'll be in the running for the Grand Prize as well.





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

Contest: Win The Amazing Book Marketing Prize Package

For Simply Retweeting Me and Following Me on Twitter, You Have a Chance to Win an Amazing Book Marketing Package From Experts All Over The World



It's back, and this time it's bigger and better than ever. We have prizes to help you market your e-book and your physical book. Enter for your chance to win books, e-books, webinars, memberships, online courses, website reviews and one-on-one consultations with some of the top book marketing experts. One lucky winner will walk away with every prize listed in the Grand Prize Package below.



And this year, we are adding daily prizes in addition to our Amazing Grand Prize Package. You only have to enter once, but the sooner you enter, the more opportunities you have to win.



When:

This contest will run from now through Sunday, May 1st. The Grand Prize winner will be chosen via a random drawing on Monday, May 2nd and will be notified via a Twitter direct message. The winner will have 7 days to respond and claim the prizes before an alternate winner will be chosen.



How To Enter:

Entering is free. Just use your Twitter account to complete both steps below:



1. Retweet the following message exactly as it's entered below. Our program will look for this exact phrase to capture your entry, so please do not alter/add to it in any way:



RT @tonyeldridge Authors, win an amazing prize package from 20 top book marketing experts in the business: http://bit.ly/dTkobl



Copy and paste the above message (tweet) and send it in your Twitter account.





2. Follow me on Twitter- If you have not done so already, follow me on Twitter. Visit my Twitter profile at http://twitter.com/tonyeldridge and click the "Follow Me" button under my picture.



If you don't have a Twitter account, you can create a new one for free at:

http://twitter.com/



That's it! Once you complete both steps, you will be entered in the contest for the Amazing Book Marketing Prize Package. Remember, the contest runs through Sunday, May 1st. Good luck all!



*Contest is void where prohibited





Prizes



*Grand Prize Package*



1. Steven Lewis (@Rule17)

Kindle Formatting Guide



2. Joel Friedlander (@JFBookman)

A) Signed copy of A Self-Publisher's Companion

B) Free 30-Minute One-On-One Consult About Your Book Project



3. Dana Lynn Smith (@BookMarketer)

How to Sell More Books on Amazon



4. Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller)

Complimentary access to 3-part social media webinar series



5. Penny Sansevieri (@BookGal)

30 Minute Consultation With Penny Sansevieri





6. BookBuzzr (@BookBuzzr)

3 Month Author Pro Subscription



7. Joanna Penn (@TheCreativePenn)

Blogging For Authors & Writers online course



8. MaAnna Stephenson (@BlogAid)

Winner's Choice: A Site Review or a One Hour Class With MaAnna



9. Shelley Hitz (@Self_Publish)

A Step-by-Step Guide to Guest Blogging



10. Jo-Anne Vandermeulen (@conquerall)

Premium Promotional Tips for Writers



11. Roger C. Parker (@RogerCParker)

#Book Title Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, and Event Titles



12. Shaila Abdullah (@ShailaAbdullah)

Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation



13. Association of Independent Authors (@AiAuthors)

Lifetime Full Membership (Associate or Member)



14. Sue Collier (@SueCollier)

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5th Edition



15. Sylvia Hubbard (@sylviahubbard1)

Ultimate Internet Marketing Package



16. Carolyn Howard-Johnson (@FrugalBookPromo)

The Frugal Book Promoter



17. Steve Weber (@WeberBooks)

Plug Your Book!



18. Sandra Beckwith (@SandraBeckwith)

30 Minute Telephone Book Publicity Coaching Session



19. Kerrie McLoughlin (@Write4MommyMags)

Get Published in Parenting and Family Magazines Ebook Kit



20. Tony Eldridge (@TonyEldridge)

Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download





*Daily Prizes*



April 22nd

Joel Friedlander- 2 Quick & Easy Guides, Copyright and ISBNs and Barcodes

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- The Great First Impression Book Proposal

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 23rd

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

BookBuzzr- 3 Month Author Pro Subscription

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 24th

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- Frugal Book Editor

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- Social Media Does Not Magically Work: You Have To Work It

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 25th

Joel Friedlander- Free Cover Critique Of Your Self-Designed Cover

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 26th

BookBuzzr- 3 Month Author Pro Subscription

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- 8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 27th

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Dana Lynn Smith- 10 Steps to Online Networking Success for Authors and Publishers

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 28th

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- Social Media Does Not Magically Work: You Have To Work It

Dana Lynn Smith- 52 Experts Share Insider Tips for Selling More Books

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 29th

Shaila Abdullah- Existing Website Review/ New Website Consultation

Dana Lynn Smith- 10 Steps to Online Networking Success for Authors and Publishers

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



April 30th

Carolyn Howard-Johnson- The Great First Impression Book Proposal

Phyllis Zimbler Miller- 8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes

Tony Eldridge- Conducting Effective Twitter Contests PDF Download



May 1st- No Daily Prize. Grand Prize Winner To Be Announced In A Few Days



*Marketing experts reserve the right to substitute an electronic copy of their prize at their discretion. All prizes will be delivered to the winner by the expert.



----

Twitter is an amazingly popular micro-blog that allows you to send and receive updates (Tweets) that are 140 characters or less. Here is a video to explain a little more about Twitter in plain English if you are not familiar with it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o



----





If you'd like to launch your own Twitter contest but you don't know where to start, check out my book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests. Both the PDF and the Kindle version have access to 20 short videos that supplement the lessons taught in the book.







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