Best Seller » online promotion

The Magic Bullet For Getting Publicity

warrenwhitlock — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:49:00 +0000

One question that comes up over and over in the hundreds of interviews I did last year.

“How can a author get known when nobody knows about them?”

I thought you might like to know the answer.. quite simply, it’s the one thing that successful best selling authors do that most others miss…

I use this story of my friend Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Hold, on.. Did you see what I did there? … Mark has sold many millions of copies of his book series yet insists that I introduce him as “co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series”. Why? Because, believe it or not, there are many people who don’t know who he is.

Mark and partner Jack Canfield did many things to boost their book from “a cute pile of stories” to the record breaking success it is today. You could say that the one thing was persistence on multiple fronts.

And then there is that Magic Bullet I promised you…

You have to keep doing this one thing for as long as you want to sell a lot of books. I know it’s the key to separating yourself from all other authors and media competing for your reader’s attention.

Keep doing publicity interviews everyday… every single day

Don’t dismiss this with a “yeah, I know that and I try to…”

How Many Interviews Have You Done This Month?

Let’s get serious for just a moment. This is your career we’re talking about.

Do you have a daily habit of booking more interviews?

Mark and Jack do 5 interviews each and every day to promote a book… and they started this back when we didn’t have tens of thousands of online radio talk shows, teleseminars and millions of blogs looking (sometime begging) for content.

I asked Mark how he booked so many interviews. He explained that they paid retainers to multiple booking agencies and spent heavily to get started. He still retains a publicist today.

Howver, there now are some low cost and FREE resources that will get you started.

Just follow this plan.

How to Get a Ton of FREE Publicity.

I’ve taught this system to hundreds of authors. The ones who follow these simple steps get free publicity. It will take a little while to get results, but once you do this, you’ll be well on your way to continued publicity.

Start with the mindset that you must do this. Only you can be you
Sign up for Author Media Connection. A FREE resource will get you tons of leads
Contact reporters as soon as you receive the daily email
Follow up on email, phone, etc. No excuse that you are too busy.. This has to be done
Ask for referrals from everyone in your network

Once you get started, you’ll want to add more resources and get some help to filter all the leads or book your schedule. If you have an assistant, you can speed up the process, however you can get started yourself. I’ve booked myself on hundreds of shows, speaking gigs and press just by following the steps above.

Don’t wait till your book is done, or till it comes out, or till you have more time… that will not happen.

Make a decision. You want the world to get your message, this is the magic bullet that will propel you to the reach more readers, boost your book to best seller status, and leverage your career success.

Author Media Connection is a FREE service from my friends Steve and Bill Harrison. They know author publicity and have the connections to accelerate everything you do.

The one thing you must to do use this magic bullet.. Click now and start getting more media leads.

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The Science of Social Media Marketing

warrenwhitlock — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:07:00 +0000

Watch Dan Zarrella talk about social media in a way you have not seen before.

Social science, persuasions, and viral marketing memetics are just some of the good data Dan shares

Be sure to pick up a copy of Dan’s book and share this with others who are looking to go beyond the socializing of social media.

Remember, when you do, you’ll be seen as an influencer.. an expert in any subject is accepted in all areas and authors need to be perceived as experts.

How will you spread your meme?

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Get More Buzz For Your Book With Google Buzz

warrenwhitlock — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:56:00 +0000

There are so many social media tools, sites and systems coming online that an author might think about a wait and see approach

Please don’t fall in this trap.

The world is moving so fast that you really need to budget some time to catch a wave as soon as possible. You will need to manage your time.. social media is not a replacement for all other marketing.

Use Google Buzz to Jump Start Your Social Media Plan

Announced just two days ago, Google’s BUZZ has been tried out by 10 million users and updated

If you have been holding back on other social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.. Google Buzz might be just the thing you need to jump start your social media marketing for you and your book.

Signing up is easy.. if you have a Google Talk or Gmail account, you likely already have seen it. If now, now is a good time to get one (FREE).

Publishing is not a one-way street any more. Smart authors are learning to listen to the readers, research their market, establish connections and get quick feedback on ideas.

Have you tried Google Buzz? Connect with Warren Whitlock on Google Buzz and share your experiences via Twitter and comments here.Popular Posts:

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein Is Annoying

warrenwhitlock — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:05:58 +0000

I just heard that the search term “elizabeth potts weinstein is annoying” can get you to the always entertaining Elizabeth Potts Weinstein blog site.

According to her web site, Elizabeth is:

My full name is Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, and I empower solo entrepreneurs to live their truth in their businesses & lives. I’m also a mom, attorney, author, speaker, entrepreneur, video blogging addict, lover of passion, tweetup connoisseur, people loving introvert, and truth evangelist. To keep up with me,subscribe to this blog or follow me on Twitter!

Is Elizabeth Potts Weinstein annoying?

I don’t think so.

She may have done a few annoying things. (check out the Elizabeth Potts Weinstein blog to see for yourself) but I’m pretty sure that you could search for just about any combination of words starting with Elizabeth Potts Weinstein and get similar results.

The photo shown here notwithstanding, I don’t think Elizabeth Potts Weinstein is annoying.

Authors Can Learn From Elizabeth Potts Weinstein

It wasn’t long ago that Elizabeth Potts Weinstein was just another awesome author that I didn’t know. She started engaging me in conversations… some of it silly, some of it about whatever the topic of the day was, but always insightful and fun to read.

She started blogging a few months ago and shared some interesting photos and experiences along with a good dose of wise advice for her readers. The momentum started to grow.

Now I read much of what Elizabeth Potts Weinstein has to say and consider her a friend. Yesterday, she was commenting on the odd search queries people have used to find her blog (are you looking for these.. you can learn a lot about what readers are looking for) and tweeted a message about the “Elizabeth Potts Weinstein is annoying” query used by one person to find her blog.

Not the kind of self promotion you’d expect for an author to use but it worked. Here’s the proof, a post on my own blog inviting you to read more about Elizabeth Potts Weinstein and see for yourself if she is annoying.

What are you doing to stand out online?

Share your comments below. Who knows, we might find something useful you never would have imagined using for self promotion of your book, blog.Popular Posts:

Journalists Are Looking for You Online

warrenwhitlock — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:38:00 +0000

Poll Finds 89% Use Blogs, 65% Use Social Networking Sites, and 52% Use Microblogging Sites — but Reliability is a Major Concern

CHICAGO, IL, January 20, 2010 – A national survey conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

While the results demonstrate the fast growth of social media as a well-used source of information for mainstream journalists, the survey also made it clear that reporters and editors are acutely aware of the need to verify information they get from social media. Eighty-four percent said social media sources were “slightly less” or “much less” reliable than traditional media, with 49% saying social media suffers from “lack of fact checking, verification and reporting standards.”

Are your social media profiles up to date?

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Use Foursquare to Find Readers Near You

warrenwhitlock — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:50:00 +0000

I’ve been investigating location based apps on my phone, netbook and other gadgets and following the trend of people living with a device in their hand at all times.

Why would you want to do this?

We’ve always used any communications device we can to stay in touch with family and friends.

“Give me a call when you get there”

“Check in to let me know you are okay”

“Can you pick up a loaf of bread on you way”

Now technology allows you to do this with ease, add all your friends to the conversation, and have some fun while you are doing it.

By checking in from my new favorite frozen yogurt shop, I was awarded the mayor badge. The interesting thing is.. I knew it would happen, I know it has almost now meaning, but when I got the notice I was a bit excited.

As far as I can tell, this is the entire game here. Click to check in, and get a message that you are doing a good job of it.

Foursquare Grows By 300% in the Last Two Months

from ReadWriteWeb

Location sharing social network Foursquare saw traffic to its site triple in the last two months since November, according to new numbers from traffic analyst firm Hitwise today. The service has seen unprecedented media coverage lately and is no doubt sending more updates to Facebook and Twitter, prompting the growth in visits back to Foursquare that Hitwise is measuring.

Thinking How This Location Based Service Can Be Used by Authors

To date, I’ve just been adding friends who request a connection on Foursquare. It’s a general group and watching them check in is mildly amusing.. about like Twitter when I first started there.

As these services grow, I envision more ways to interact with readers by building a group of people that have said they were interested in your book or topic and happen to be in the same area. Imagine holding a book store signing, a seminar or conference and knowing which readers are there and what they are interested in.

Much of this data is already out there. We have reading lists, wish lists, group lists and social media gathering data based on interest. Twitter has added geo-coding to every tweet.

We are not sure what’s coming next.. but it is coming.

Are you using Foursquare? Leave a comment and let’s talk about using it to listen to our readers, show them more love, attract more readers and create best seller promotions.

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What Drives You To Succeed?

warrenwhitlock — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:02:05 +0000

New York Times Best Selling Author Daniel Pink says that most people are note motivated by the 20th Century carrot and stick management we’ve all grown up with and would do our best when was have

Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

as our goals.

I just finished reading Pink’s lates book “Drive” and WOW!.. this is a must read for authors and entrepreneurs on what motivates people today (actually, always has).

Be sure to check out Daniel Pink’s book marketing.. his blog, web sites and media show him to be following what I teach as “Listen and Love”.. a two way communication between authors and readers.

Here’s one example of many online videos from Daniel Pink

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.Popular Posts:

An Author’s Voice Can Be Worth Millions in Promotion Value

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:30:16 +0000

I’m getting ready for a special class for authors called

“Best Book Marketing Strategies for 2010″

You can attend this Teleseminar Nation event FREE by calling in at 11:59AM Pacific Time (3:00PM Eastern) on 1/28

To Listen Live by Phone:
Phone # to Dial: 323-476-3672
Use Conf ID: 921346#

I suggest you head over to the Teleseminar Nation web site now… at the site, you can scroll down to 1) Submit a question before or during the class or 2) Use the Web Player to listen online

While at Teleseminar Nation, be sure to sign up for an account (FREE) which will allow you:

Updates about teleseminars, classes, radio show of interest
Free promotion for your own teleseminar or radio show
Directories of authors and businesses using teleseminar (great networking tool)

Using Teleseminars and Radio Shows to Promote Your Book

Teleseminars and Radio are wonderful tools to build momentum in your book marketing. There is little or no cost, you can reach anyone with a phone and it’s the easist way to establish a additional channel of communication with your readers.

We all like to hear a voice behind the words we read.. I have had dozens of experiences where I meet someone that I only knew through a teleseminar or radio appearance and it really breaks through to a new dimension when you have had this experience.

Have you used teleseminars to teach the material in your book? Leave a comment below and include links to any free playbacks you offer.

Do you have a Radio Show?

Every author should host their own radio show. There is no cost, and no commitment to length or number of shows.

We’ve seen authors get additional search engine rank and web site readers with just a single BlogTalkRadio show. Each show is submitted to directories, indexed by the search engines and can be found as a podcast on iTunes. Sign up takes just a few minutes.

You can see my show page at http://BlogTalkRadio.com/warren

Be sure to click “Add Friend” and make a connection so we can network and build audiences there.

Secret to Entertaining Author Radio Shows

Most authors can speak on their topic for hours, but it gets lonely speaking into a phone as the only voice (and not much fun for the listeners either).

The cure is easy… just add one or more guests.

You’ll find that it’s much easier to book a guest than to get booked as a guest (which is fairly easy anyway). When you are a show host, you add another creditial to your resume, and you will be amazed at the authors and experts that will set aside time to be on any radio show.

Find guests by browsing through your keywords at BlogTalkRadio, connecting with the other members of Teleseminar Nation or visiting the leading bloggers in your niche. You will find that most of them are open to reciprocating to use you are a guest blogger, show guest or joint venture partners once you have had them as a guest (NOTE: Don’t make reciprocity a demand.. do the favor or having someone as your guest.. waiting to ask until after they have had a pleasant experience on your show.

Need a Social Media, Twitter, or Book Marketing Expert?

I would love to say yes if I am not booked or on a plane… contact my staff at j@BestSellerAuthors.com for availability.Popular Posts:

Security Note: This Site is Safe… What We Learned

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:10:14 +0000

You may have recently seen a Security Warning for this site.

DO NOT WORRY.. WE ARE SAFE… we did not spread the infection.. but learned a valuable lesson we need to share here:

We have Wordpress Blog software installed in an unused folder and it was not up to date.

Hit by badware which we removed and clean up. Days later, we were still seeing the warnings due to caches. MORAL: Keep you blog software up to date. We would have saved hours of work had we installed timely updates.

A MUST READ for Wordpress blog owners

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Wishing You a #Happy10 (Happy New Year 2010: The Year of Giving)

warrenwhitlock — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:52:43 +0000

As we prepare to go into 2010 I want to share with you how we can make a real difference and help each other.

This time last year I had an idea to give away some gifts for New Year’s Day. I wrote this blog post on Twitter Handbook and started using the #Happy09 tag on tweet for a little contest.

Soon it seemed that everyone on Twitter was using #Happy09 and it became the most popular term on Twitter for 3 days.

We had a lot of fun, and soon went way beyond the contest to talk about what we thought was really important.. conversations, relationships, happiness. I ultimately gave away the gifts to April Tara when she asked if it was okay to share all the gifts (April got the message! Read her post about it here).

Since #Happy09, I’ve heard from the people involved many times. New friendships were made, joint ventures started and even some new clients for myself and others, but Twitter has grown by over 1000% and it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever see this again.

But why not try?

Yesterday, I got thinking of what would make for a great #Happy10. The hashtag (that’s the made up word staring with #) was easy enough to come up with and I felt a contest wasn’t right. What we need today is a way to share the spirit of GIVING that makes social media perfect for authors and others sharing a message.

For every business person that want to succeed in the age of social media

I connected with @ThomScott, Colleague of @BobBurg who co-authored the best selling book The Go-Giver with John David Mann. Thom is one of the most giving people I know. I asked if he and Bob could join me on Friday night for my Twitter radio show and do a special on giving and show an example of how Twitter users are going to give more in 2010. Thom and Bob said yes and the #Happy10 idea was good to go.

We will have lots of examples of authors, business people and entrepreneurs who have used GIVING to get more results in marketing and can say they have a more fulfilling life. I’ll also be asking Thom and Bob about their philosophy of book promotion and how they have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of Bob’s books and made multiple best sellers.

Important Notes for Authors, Book Marketing and Others Promoting on Social Media

What you’ve read above is exactly what happened. I didn’t have to rent space, pre-order equipment or get an approval for Twitter or a government agency. More important.. I absolutely did not, and will not set hard and fast rules about how the promotion needs to go.

I have objectives.

I want to see my readers, listeners and everyone get the message of “giving”

I hope to see Bob and Thom sell a few more books and some people remember the radio show

It will be nice that some new people read this blog post and notice what business I’m in

That’s about it. All this will happen and MORE. I can imagine hearing stories in comments here, tweets on Twitter and likely will run into people during the next year who will say “Hi Warren.. You don’t know me but I watched #Happy10.” I also fully expect to see an outcome I have not thought of. I know this can happen because it always does.

Social media marketing is not something you can or would want to completely control. The thousands (and sometimes millions) of people that get involved will have ideas you could not dream of and will carry your message far beyond what you expected.

Please join me in sharing #Happy10. All you have to do is add “#Happy10” to any tweet you think appropriate. There are NO RULES… If you have an idea of how we all can give more for 2010.. more value, more service, more love, more sharing, more content.. just tweet them to me (use @WarrenWhitlock in the message if you want to make sure I see it) or comment here.

Share a link to this blog post by using the RETWEET button or the sharing options below… then watch for #Happy10 tweets using TweetChat or Twitter Search. When you see someone talking about giving (or whatever interests you) REPLY to them and start a conversation. If you use the #Happy10 tag for these conversations it would be nice.. but please don’t feel you have to (NO RULES).

Let me know if you have a positive outcome. I’ll be doing interview on the Social Media Radio Show and will be looking for authors and entrepreneurs who find new people they can help, readers or business ideas so I can feature you in an upcoming blog post.

Most of all.. HAVE FUN… Share your ideas about GIVING and have a prosperous New Year (or #Happy10 as we say on Twitter)Popular Posts:

“The Best Ideas Are Free” Book Review

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:23:40 +0000

Watch iJump 67: The Best Ideas are Free book review in News | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Simon reviews Ben Young’s The Best Ideas Are Free reviewed

Good example of how easy it is to produce a video that can be posted online.

Shine the spotlight on the best new books you find to create a quick post, help your readers and get good promotion for you as an author.Popular Posts:

Increase Your Book’s Promotion Power by 650 Percent

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:54:09 +0000

I was referred to a webinar featuring my friend Tara Hunt (you might know her at @MissRogue on Twitter).

When I got to the link, I was delighted to see the attached video along with others and the promise of more to come.

Steve Cunningham of Polar Unlimited has a program call ReadItFor.Me featuring great books summarized in less than 10 minutes. Every book I saw was worthy of recommendation. I’d suggest you watch the videos and buy all of them.

Watch this video on The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt, order a copy and use these principles in your own business, book promotion and publicity campaigns.

Idea for Authors Marketing Any Book

You can contact reviewers like Steve that may be appropriate for your book. Once you get a video like this, post it on your blog.. and link wherever your can to the reviewers site. There is so much more credibilty in a review by a 3rd party.

And I’m sure you will agree.. this is much more appealing than a text only review in a magazine!

While you are waiting for these types of reviews.. or even before your book is published.. you can make you own videos about the book and post them for all to see and comment on.

Now here’s the social media marketing advanced book marketing technique… Don’t make the video about your own book

You read right. No matter how wonderful your book is, no matter how much of a must read it will become, no matter how essential your message it to the world.. you will get much more WHUFFIE (you watched the video and ordered The Whuffie Factor so you know this, right?) when you turn the spotlight on other people.

By now you know other authors. Imagine how they will feel about a video like this (or an interview, review or guest post on your blog).

The more you shine your light on others, the brighter it becomes.Popular Posts:

How Did You Get That Book Out So Fast?

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:53:35 +0000

My friend Gail Kingsbury called to tell me about her new book and the fabulous stories inside.

I said “I didn’t even know you were working on a book.. How did you fit that in your schedule?”

The answer.. a collaborative effort. Working together, the co-authors were able to high quality material together, join together for to promote it and have a best seller in record time.

We’ve used this process over and over to create books. What’s different this time is the fabulous concept of successful people sharing their story of “How Did You Do That”

They want to get fast results in launching the book and have over delivered fo anyone that grabs the book today.

A great model for authors.

Some inspiration for those writing a book and/or a great gift idea.

I just ordered my copy. I suggest you pick up one or more today. Popular Posts:

Thanks For Your Tremendous Support..

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:24:06 +0000

I have a delightful business model. I get to help authors with good books to share reach new markets and readers with their message.

We have some fun, make a living and live for notes like this..

Thank-you for your tremendous support in helping in promoting Dan’s campaign last Tuesday. We reached the Amazon Best Seller list in RiskBuster’s three categories – hitting the #1 spot in Home Based.

Thanks to all our fantastic partners we had terrific campaign results, without the commitment of partners like yourself this would not have been possible!

We look forward to partnering with you again the near future and reciprocating in promotion of your product and service

Joining a book promotion is easy. Most allow just about any author to participate. The only requirement is a basic understanding of the Law of Reciprocity.. that is you will start a powerful attracting force when you GIVE without expectation of immediate return. The more you give, the more you get.

sell books, book marketing, social media promotion, cross promotionPopular Posts:

Vegas Author Bio of Warren Whitlock

Warren Whitlock, Book Marketing Strategist — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:59:51 +0000

I was digging through the archives and found this video.

My friend, the late Jim Wilson of VegasBuzzz asked me to lunch one day and next thing I knew he had a camera in my face asking me what I do.

Wish I had some more video of Jim.. but this is a reminder of what he taught me. It only takes a few minutes to create content and share online.

We’ve been researching local search, and the ranking possible from videos like this one here.

Granted, the quality is much.. and on this book marketing blog, it’s a bit over over promotion. Jim grabbed 2 books I’d given him over the years to feature (both best sellers). However, I liked how he put a little music, a couple of slides and made a one take video in a restaurant somewhat interesting.

When Jim posted this on his BIO site, my search engine postion shot up and I got a little rise in traffic. Over time, as we’ve added videos from classes, interviews with best selling authors and book promotion examples, we’ve see a steady increase in traffic from the search engines. Not from one post.. but cumulative from all of them put together.

Go to a site like 12seconds.tv, Ustream.com or utterli.com Post a comment here. Share some of your expertise. You’ll soon be recognized as the expert in your field.

It’s as simple as that.Popular Posts: