I spent some time with Bob Bare of BestSellingExperts.TV while at the Author 101 University here in Las Vegas last month.

Bob reached out to me to be part of his interview series of Best Seller Book Experts.

Here’s the finished product

Gust post by Alan K’necht

You’ve no doubt spent countless days, weeks even months writing and editing your book. Along the way, you most likely had a working title, an interim title and finally the official title for your book. Congratulation all that is left is to market you book is to ensure that people who hear about can find it.

This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. If you’re like most non-technical authors, you might have never heard of SEO or even considered it in the name of your book. Yet you’re about to come face to face with the reality of SEO. So prepare yourself and get ready to start working on it.

Even before your book is published go to Google and Bing and search on the title of your book. Take a look at what comes up in the search results. Believe it or not this is your first level of competition. When I did this search for my book entitled “The Last Original Idea” I was competing with numerous blogs, news paper articles, etc. that were lamenting that neither Hollywood nor the TV industry has had a truly original idea in decades. Many of published article/blog post had title similar to my book “what was the Last Original Idea in…”, “The are no more original ides ….”.

As a marketer I knew how to get people spreading the name of my book and that was great if people happened to go directly to Amazon (or other online books store) to purchase it, but what if they wanted to know more details about the book or what if I wanted to capture people searching for the last original idea in marketing? To ensure that my book would be found and dominate the search results, I executed a SEO strategy.

As part of this strategy, I was aware that Google will only show 2 listings per website on a page of its search results. Simply building an SEO effective website would only get me 2 spots out of the default 10 which isn’t good enough. How could I ensure that they were the first two listed? I wanted to own the first page of results and if possible the second page as well. I’m happy to report that I do and here’s how I did it and now you can you!

1. Register a domain that is the title of your book (i.e. thelastoriginalidea.com) (to protect yourself from others hoping to steal your thunder also register similar domains (i.e. lastoriginalidea.com)
2. Build a website according to SEO best practices ensuring that you are focused on the title of your book and the subject of your book
3. Create a Facebook page for your book and register a custom URL that includes the name of your book (i.e. https://www.facebook.com/TheLastOriginalIdea)
4. Start a blog that does not operate under your website. This means using a different sub-domain (ie blog.thelastoriginalidea.com)
5. Use the blog to not only post book happenings (book signings, status updates of your book, etc.), but your thoughts on related topics. This is a great opportunity to create both excitement for your book and to demonstrate your knowledge on the subject.
6. Submit your book for various online contests that will create a page about your book or at a very minimum list it as an entrant with a link to your site.
7. Contact book reviewers who have blogs and regularly post reviews. Not only will the review help get your name out there, you can easily get them to link to your site and that’s part of step 8.
8. Now get active and get links & fans to both

Getting Links and Fans

Fans

This may be harder or easer depending on how involved you are already in Facebook. Step 1, tell all your current Facebook friends about it and encourage them to pass the word on. To entice people to become fans create a simple contest (become a fan for a random chance to win X copies of my book). Don’t stop with you current Facebook friends; market this fan generating contest through your email list, twitter followers, LinkedIn account and simply by telling people you know and meet.

On your Facebook page you will of course have a link to your books website. As you get more fans the value of this link will go up and help both the Facebook page and your website rank higher in the search engines.

Don’t forget to post regularly in the Facebook page to garner likes and shares. This activity also help keep and generate new fans, Likes and Shares. Remember your blog (step 4), make sure you post a description of each blog post on your Facebook page as well. This helps generate links to your blog, plus lets people know about and encourages people to read your blog posts.

Your Blog

Ensure that in description area of your blog is a description of your book with a text based link on the books name to the books website. When done correctly, this link will appear on every blog post creating a new link to your book with each post. While not as valuable as links from unique domains, they still count and help your site rank in the search engines.

Your Website

Last but not least the most critical part of the puzzle the book’s website. This is where you need to get tons of links. Here are some sure fire ways to get links:

1. Send out a press release with an established/quality PR distribution company and ensure that it has a text based link to your site in it. When done well, the press release will get picked up by 10 perhaps several hundred websites creating a large quantity of links.
2. Register your website with as many author /book directories as possible
3. Arrange for interviews that will be published online and insist that they link back to the books website.
4. Run a contest that requires people to submit written entries that will be posted on the site and voted for. This works wonders in getting other people not only to tell people where to go, but in many cases they’ll put permanent links to their content on your site (known as deep links)

The Fruits of Your Labor

If you’ve done everything well, now when you search on your books title, you should be dominating the listings (6 out of 10 on the 1^st page maybe even a 10 out of 10 on the first page). To truly reap the benefits of this effort, make sure you have a link to where people can purchase your book on each of the pages listed. After all, isn’t that the ultimate goal of all your efforts?

Alan K’necht is the author of “The Last Original Idea – A Cynic’s View of Internet Marketing” (www.TheLast OriginalIdea.com) and a founding Partner at Digital Always Media Inc. (http://www.digitalalwaysmedia.com) a full service agency specializing in search engine and social media marketing.

Once you’ve written a book or ebook, there are several other products you can create very quickly directly from it that will exponentially increase your profits with very little work. And most authors overlook one or more of them so here they are: audios, special reports, ecourses, video-coaching programs, and high-end coaching programs.

The easiest thing to do after you’ve written your book or ebook, is to record it. It only takes as long as it takes to read it. Then, you’ll want to edit it. And, if you want to, you can find royalty-free music and add music to your intro and outro or have someone do it for you. You’ll also need a CD cover if you want to deliver it as a physical product, and a 3D graphic representation of it for both a CD and/or download. (You can find them at www.fiverr.com for $5 each if you’re short on cash.)

Next, you can create special reports. These can be free or low-cost reports that are used as lead generators to create interest in your book or ebook. What I suggest doing is, looking through your completed manuscript for a whole section that can stand alone. If you find one but you think it has too much good information in it, then you can remove some of it. All, it takes is copying the section into a new word document, creating a new, eye-popping title, and having a cover created and it’s ready to go!

Or, you can take the idea from a section and rewrite it, if you don’t want it to be the exact text as in your book or ebook. These can be created in a couple of hours since you already have all the information you need to do it.

Another great way to create a new product from your book or ebook is to turn it into an ecourse. You can chunk it into lessons, in which case, you would charge for it. Or, you can chunk it into lessons and remove some of the details and give it for free as a lead generator. (Or, give part of it in lessons as a lead generator.) It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to remove the text you want to take out and upload it into an auto responder sequence or hire someone to do it for you-which is what I recommend you do.

You can also up sell people from your book or ebook to an ecourse, in which case you should add additional information to the ecourse version. And again. This shouldn’t take more than a few hours to complete.

You can also take your chapters and turn them into a video-coaching program. You can either talk each lesson into a webcam or video recorder. (Be sure to use a teleprompter, so you don’t look like you’re reading it.) Or, you can use PowerPoints, in which case you just add them to the audio that you’ve hopefully already created. Or, again, hire someone to do it for you! You can also add music and/or graphics to your presentation.

And my favorite-turn your book or ebook into a high-end coaching program. It’s actually already done! You just have to recognize it. It’s there in your Table of Contents! And it can sell from $997 to $2500 for group coaching and $2,000 to $5,000 or more for individual coaching-as long as it’s a “How-to”

Turn each chapter into a module or lesson. Add an action plan at the end of each one and a study guide with an answer sheet and you’re in business!

Each book or ebook you write can be turned into a whole funnel of products for your business with very little effort. So, make it easy on yourself, and create several from every ebook or book your write! You’ll work less, make a lot more, and get your message out to a lot more people!

©Copyright 2011 Ellen Violette www.theebookcoach.com published with permission

Interactive Books Are Getting Better all the time.

Sales of eBooks, and book delivered to an e-reader like the Amazon Kindle are skyrocketing, and there is more video uploaded in the time it takes to read this short post than you could watch in a week.

Text or mostly text books will be a around for a long time to come, but why not present your information in a way that is more engaging to the reader.

Mike Matas shows off one new title for the Apple ipad in this TED Talk video.

How will you use this in your next book?

Best-selling author Donna Marie Thompson FREE Virtual Book Tour

Donna’s book, Bouncing Back From Loss: How to Learn from Your Past, Build the Present, and Transform Your Future is a great read for anyone who’s been through life’s ups and downs and especially for those who are currently facing less than perfect circumstances.

Meet Donna, hear about her book, and how she has bounced back from a series of losses that sideline most of us.

Plus valuable insight on using the Donna’s actions steps to bounce back.

This virtual book tour session is FREE, and available from any phone.

Get the details and register here: Bouncing Back Book Tour

I gotta admit it. I still like getting a book from someone wanting a review. Especially if it’s from and author I’ve met, or a friend recommending a title.

But today, I read most books on my Kindle, phone or computer or audio playback.

As usual, my friend Robert Scoble is ahead of me. He recorded this bit on Cinch

Context is even more important. I want to know why I’ve got the book, dates and plans in your promotion (since I’m the Best Seller Book Expert).

Other contact is good too. Do I know you? Is the book the type I generally read or review? Is this for my reading pleasure, or are you considering using our professional services?

With hundreds of thousands of new books each year, no one reads them all. Rather than a mass mailing hoping for results, use these tips to build real relationships and better long term results.

What did I leave out? What other tips can you share here to get more reviews? What has worked for you?

Author 101 University is a must attend event for authors who are serious about making it in publishing.

I’ve told Rick Frishman that the “101” title is misleading. This has become a networking event that we go back to again and again.

The next one is March 3-6 in LA. I’ll be shooting video segments for my TV show.

Time will be tight, so I’m giving priority to my readers. You do have to be attending Author 101. If not, we’ll have other opportunities announced here in the future.

To get on the schedule, leave a comment below and let me know you’ll be there.

Author 101 is Sold Out

Last I heard, the event is sold out. Publishers, agents, book marketing professionals and authors gathering like this has a tendency to draw a crowd fast.

If you don’t have a ticket, but want to come and be in a video. let me know. I may be able to get a ticket. (leave a comment with your and I’ll email you privately).

Kevin Eikenberry writes great books on leadership.

He also has the launch blueprint down as well as anyone I know. Working with Kevin and his team is fun and profitable.

Watch the video, look at the offer today, and order a copy of the book for anyone you know that wants to be a better manager.

When you do, you’ll see the blueprint at work. Kevin’s community and the network of other best seller book authors who get involved with these cross promotions.

A great book and a blueprint launch will make for a best seller and build a business right

With all the talk of social media and the dominance of Facebook in the out thoughts when we market your book online, authors have been asking me “Do I still need a mailing list?”

The answer is any unwavering YES!

In the 1990’s, just having an email address from a reader meant you had a connection. Then marketers got busy sending out offers and mailings, with some large companies reaching millions of subscribers. Spammers really added to the clutter to the point where many people shut down one email address and started over.

However, in the past decade, we’ve all come to depend on email for important communications. Most good email services do a pretty good job of catching the spam, and we’ve all learned to filter and ignore the mundane or irrelevant mail.

You Have to Be Relevant

When I talk to major marketers about their mailing lists, they tell tales of lower response rates to sales offer emails. One might think that email is on it’s way out.

Not quite, what on it’s way out is irrelevant emails.

It’s true that some young people forgo an email address to get their messages from other sources, but most everyone is getting email type messages in one or more places. Facebook has just announce integration with email systems. Emails between real people have a real conversation is alive and well.

What does this mean for an author today?

You have a major advantage when you engage readers using email. As an author you understand the power of the written word. In an age where much of the communications amounts to the written equivalent of grunts and murmurs, a little bit of attention to good writing really stands out.

Here’s some tips for getting your email read

1. Make sure your are writing as a human being. Put your own name and a return address on every email and expect that some of your readers will reply and want a response. If you have a large following, you may need some assistance, but there’s no excuse for ignoring your readers.
2. The SUBJECT LINE is the most important part of an email message. If your reader thinks it’s just another ad or notice, you’ve lost them before the message is opened.
3. An email is not a book. Keep it brief, get to the point and let your readers know what do next to continue the conversation.
4. Don’t send email just for your own goals. Pay attention to what the readers will be feeling and thinking when they get your email. What is their desire? Speak to those desires and they will respond.

How To Build Your Mailing List

When you know what your readers want, it’s easier to find other places they are reading relevant information. You can buy advertising, or reach these group in forums, chat rooms and user groups… or you can get creative…

My favorite way to find people who are anxious to read about a subject is a cross promotion with other authors in similar niches. We often put dozens to hundreds of authors together to announce a new book launch or business. We know that readers will like seeing what authors they know recommend.

Connect With the Best Authors for FREE

I set up ZeroCostPromotions.com to help authors build their mailing list when we launch a new best seller.

It FREE to join, just sign up at the link to become a PARTNER.

You’ll get the first notice of any upcoming book launch, specialized training, and an inside look at our best seller book launch campaigns.

The site is a bit dated. We are putting up the new page with paid options next month.

Become a PARTNER at ZeroCostPromotions.com to build your list with readers.

72 Authors joined together to share gifts and a book from Dr. Tianna Conti: Love’s Fire: Beyond Mortal Boundaries.

The publisher notified Amazon and made sure there were books in stock. All the authors involved contributed bonuses and a special offer was made for December 7th (the 13 year anniversary of the story on which the book is based). All send out email to their followers, and shared the book with social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

“We woke up this morning to a best seller” said Warren Whitlock of BestSellerAuthors.com “Amazon had run out of stock!  Fortunately, there were enough back orders for the book to be a best seller.”

By 7 AM, the reported rank of book sales was dropping while the publisher worked with Amazon to get an additional quantity of books into the system. An note of the web site was posted reading

Special Announcement:

As of 5:32 AM This morning, Amazon ran out of Love’s Fire. Thank you for making us a BEST SELLER.

GOOD NEWS: Amazon confirms more books in warehouse. While the page may say "out of stock" you can order an still get your book for the holidays.

Author Tianna Conti wrote Love Fire to share what she has learned about love and relationships after experiencing events when her husband passed right after they were married. The book launch was timed to go with a new movie Tianna’s production company is releasing and fell on the anniversary date of her late husband’s passing. Tianna was joyful when she heard the news of the book’s success:

First, thank you not only for Best Seller…it has transformed Dec. 7 one of the worst days of my life into a triumph for the message to enhance others lives and possibilities.   Today, the book is coming out, tomorrow the movie and I adore you for your expertise and timing of our launch.  It is a memory of a lifetime for me far beyond best seller…a new life and we did it together…..created a holiday miracle……heartfelt love and appreciation.

BestSellerAuthors.com is built around Warren Whitlock’s mission to help authors promote new books, share messages, and teach authors to promote their books using social media and online marketing.

Warren Whitlock is a speaker, author, and book marketing strategist. He is a co-author of the first book on Twitter “Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online” and is working on a new book for 2011 called “Profitable Social Media”

We a launching a book to BEST SELLER status on December 7th.. and we are doing it with LOVE.

We have been collecting gifts from our network and will offer a LOVE PACKAGE.

Join us as we reach out to millions of readers to share our love of books, or love stories, and build a love connection with great authors who write about love, relationships and ways to have a better life.

What to Share

We are each buying a copy of Tianna Conte’s Love’s Fire: Beyond Mortal Boundaries from Amazon next Tuesday. Then sending a copy to someone who may benefit from a love story, and perhaps another to a friend who has lost a loved one.

Then we are sharing love with everyone on our email lists, our blog readers, our social networks and inviting them to join us. Tianna’s book will rise to best seller status and allow here additional promotion opportunities to share this message with many more.

A Love Package For Our Readers

Anyone ordering on Tuesday gets 47 bonus gifts from our Love Network of authors and friends supporting us in this event.

Share the love. Put a note on your calendar for Tuesday December 7th, first thing in the morning.. order the book here

Use the BUTTON here to share this post. And click on the LIKE BUTTON to share this with your Facebook friends.

We Would LOVE More Authors

If you have a gift to share we can add you to the promotion. It’s easy.

1. Plan to buy Tianna’s book from Amazon on Tuesday 12/7
2. See how to add your gift to the Love Package FREE
3. Share this page, the event, and Tianna’s book with everyone you can
4. Consider interviewing Tianna for your blog/show (optional, but worth it)

If you don’t have a gift, just make sure you are subscribed to this blog, and/or our PARTNERS MAILNG LIST so you get the free training and announcements I send.

Cross promotions like this one give every partner more exposure, and give you the best chance to meet other authors who understand the power of networking and helping each other grow. The joint venture partnerships of our authors and readers is always the best part.. I’ve watched dozens of partners form six and seven figure business deals from an introduction like this.

I can help you too

After turning down thousands of Facebook friend invitations due to their cap on the number of connection one person can have, I finally put up my own page.

Now I get to write a message when someone send a friends request.. it’s got to be unique… if you cut and paste, Facebook will give you a spam warning. This would have been so much easier if I had not waited.

<===== Click on this box to see my page now

I also put great content every day. I share a lot of links and videos and articles each day, but reserve some of the best for my Facebook Page.

Three weeks into the experiment.. just a few dozen have LIKEd the page. Working on a more hyped up version with free gifts that only go to my page’s followers.

Why Do I Do All This Work?

The Facebook market is huge. Building out pages for clients, with promotions takes some work at first.. but soon the fans start to share and a community is formed.

We’ve seen unknown authors grow to thousands of followers after a few months, and much more if there’s good content and a marketing and promotional strategy.

For my own page, I’ve been forgoing a lot of heavy promotion. I share so much on Twitter and other sites.. so far I’ve not seen a need for a separate strategy. I know in a few months there will be more followers and tell myself that the frustration of watching it slowly build will add insights I can share with you.

Do you have a Facebook Page?

You likely have a profile page on Facebook, but all signs point to Facebook putting more emphasis on PAGES for everything other than your real life friends and family.

If I had it to do over, I’d focus more on the PAGE then my profile. I suggest you do the same.

I now recommend a Facebook PAGE, A blog and online radio for authors who have a  Best Seller Roadmap. If you are new to online marketing, we have resources that can set it all up for you, and a program that can build up a targeted following fast.

UPDATE: We’ve been added to this Business & Economy Directory

No doubt you are anxious to share your message with everyone you meet and talk about your baby.  You have an emotional bond with your book, your topic and are excited to share it.

Authors love their books.

Readers aren’t like you. They have motivations and emotional triggers and their own goals. You and you book are not at the top of their lists.

So How Do You Get Their Interest?

In all your book marketing, social media, interviews and interactions with readers, make it about them.

Sally Hogshead, wrote a book explaining how to be fascinating. FASCINATE: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation

I just finished reading Sally’s book and have dozens of questions for her whenever I get a chance to do an interview. She’s an expert on her topic and I imagine could produce more content, talk for hours and fascinate you with what she knows.

However, on Sally’s Blog, there are interviews with other authors that would be on interest to anyone wanting to know more about persuasion and fascination.

Sally marketing is for her readers. Provides information that readers will love and draws you in with an appeal to your emotional needs, not hears.

Your Appeal To Readers Emotions

Watch Sally’s video below. It’s a short and simple interview with best selling author Scott Stratton about UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging.

This short interview asks questions that would interest readers of Fascinate, and focuses on a message Scott is sharing.

Scott practices this too. The interview is not “why buy my book” or him. His answers are directed to the subject, from the hear and great advice for any author.

Watch for the information. Watch for the method and think about how you might go beyond selling your book and think about what appeals to your readers emotions.

Listen to the Healthy Helpful Authors Partner Training Call

We had some of our 427 partners in the promotion for 11/17 come on a training call. I reviewed how we are leveraging the positions we have to be more attractive to potential readers.

If you have a health related topic, or something that can help others who want to live a healthy happy lifestyle, this book promotion is a great way to join our network FREE.

Come to out Facebook Page to join us, or read about the book promotion here

No matter what topic you write about, putting it in terms that your readers want to hear will always have more appeal.

These three are strong buying motives. When you talk about your book, write descriptions, advertising copy or get interviewed about your book, keep in mind that potential readers are more interested in the outcome they can get from reading than the contents of your book.

When you speak in terms of a positive outcome for them, you’ll be much more likely to get attention, interest and sales from the conversation. Putting your best foot forward is stating benefits in the way your reader wants to hear.

Make sure you state the benefits in a way that covers one of these three whenever you can

Make Money

Can your readers or clients get more money if they follow your advice?  Tell them.

Don’t assume they know this… spell it out.

“reading this blog will give you specific advise to sell more books, and convert readers into buyers”

Be as specific as you can. Tell the story of a successful outcome of a past reader or client.

“One author I worked with used his book to land a million dollar consulting contract”

Most everyone wants more money. If you have a business topic, this is obvious, but you might also show the dollars and cents someone can get from better health or habits, that they get from reading your book.

Save Money

Making money is attractive. Saving money can be nearly as powerful.

“Using my promotion strategy, one author cut his publicity budget by 65% while landing on a national best seller list and getting three times as many leads in a month”

Again, be as specific as possible. You can make saving money the focus of your book, like Brandi Funk did with “Cut Your Health Care Cost Now” where she sites examples of people getting massive discounts on hospital bills, and provides resources for any family wanting quality health care at an affordable price.

You can use save money in many ways. Staying fit reduces medical costs. Motivation make you more productive, saving time and money.

Better Life

Regardless of how much money someone can make or save, the outcome from reading your book, or busying your services will no doubt help someone have a better life.

This is where every author can add value to their books, products or other services.

Once again, don’t assume that people know this. I’ve talked to hundreds of authors who decide to write a book to share their story, give back to the world, or share an important message. When you live the topic, you know how important it can be.. but most of your readers will be buying your book without that experience. Very seldom that someone will purchase thinking they know as much as  you

Spell it out. Make sure your readers know how reading your book or engaging your business will positively affect their lives.

When they know, they’ll be more apt to buy. It’s as simple as that.