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.

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).

I still see many books for sale without a Kindle version.

And I still get asked if the author marketing suggestions I teach are good for e-books.. from people who decided not to print a book as a cost cutting idea.

Here’s the future for a reading experience. This children’s book demo is a little bit over the top in terms of style, but the technology used is here today and affecting how we’ll expect to read tomorrow.

What are you doing to adapt your story and involve your readers?

Guest post by Geri Schneider Winters, Wyyzzk, Inc.

Marketing your own book is a necessity, especially when you are published by a "real" publisher. This is a lesson I learned the hard way.

In late 1996, I was asked to teach a class on a specific technique for writing software requirements. The students loved the class, and asked me if there was more information on the topic. At that time, there was not. Someone said, "Will you write a book for us on this topic?"  So I said yes!  I talked to a friend who had published a software book, and when he found out the topic, he got really excited. His publisher (a top publisher of software books) was looking for a book on exactly that topic! My friend introduced me to the publisher, and a book was born.
And so, by a very lucky sequence of events, I was a published author of a best selling book with the top publisher for the industry  There were no other books on that topic for 3 years, and the topic was hot.

I knew nothing. I thought the publisher would take care of everything. So there I was riding the top of a great wave, and I did nothing about it. No marketing, no followup, no promotions, no speaking engagements. No method for finding out who was purchasing my book.

The publisher promoted the book for a while, primarily by sending notices to book sellers and text book salesmen. But over time, they had other, newer titles to promote.  And because I knew nothing, my contract drastically limits my options as to what I can do myself.

Fast forward to 2005, and I had become interested in marketing and promoting my business. Over several years, I learned all kinds of things about how to promote my self as an expert. Warren taught me the things I should do as an author.  And I have been kicking myself these last several years for not doing this earlier.

You see at this point, I am trying to build a market, when 10 years ago, I had one.  I gave up all the advantages of being an author, and it is really hard to bring that back.  People want to know "What have you done for me lately?", not what did I do over 10 years ago. If I contracted with a publisher today, I would retain rights to e-books, books on tape, or at least be able to give away sample chapters.

Once my book is out of print, I can apply to recover the copyright and do anything I want to with it. But the book is still in print and still selling a hundred copies or so a year. So chances are, by the time I get the copyright back, no one will be interested in the topic.

I have also learned that books stay in print far longer than I ever thought. I have to consider 10 years or more of demand for my books, and consider how I will satisfy the demand for the book, as well as follow on products and services.  And that means I have to know who buys the book.

What am I doing today? I wrote another book last fall, and am testing it on a few people in my market.

I have some refinements planned based on feedback, and have some nice quotes from reviewers. When I am happy with the book, I will create a full marketing plan for it, along with plans for follow up products and services. Will I go with a regular publisher? I have not yet decided. I will be looking a lot more carefully at my options, and making sure that any contract I sign gives me the flexibility to promote my new (and future) books. Because now I know the publisher will not do it.
Warren’s advice in this area is priceless. He has taught me – and many, many other people – what to do to avoid the mistakes I made the first time. I hope I have a great topic again, but I am not going to depend on that. I am going to do the right job with marketing and promotions, and use the book to increase my business.

With e-reader prices dropping like a stone and major tech players jumping into the book retail business, what room is left for publishers’ profits? The surprising answer: ads. They’re coming soon to a book near you.

To understand why this is inevitable, consider the past few years. The historically staid and technology-averse publishing ecosystem has been ripped apart and transformed.

Take the first seven months of 2010 alone: In April, Apple came out with the iPad and quickly sold over three million units. Apple also launched its own proprietary bookstore, iBooks. In June, Barnes & Noble lowered the price of …

More at Wall Street Journal

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”

Gust post by Stephen Shapiro

Look at any group of people who effortlessly work well together. Odds are the individuals share a lot in common with each other. They might have similar backgrounds, expertise, interests, or personalities. This is natural. Contrary to conventional wisdom, opposites do not attract. We find it easier to work with people who are like us. As a result, teams that lack diversity are the norm.

In fact, there is plenty of scientific research suggesting that homogeneous teams do indeed perform better than more heterogeneous ones for “low difficulty” tasks – those with lower levels of ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity.

However, research also shows that in situations involving “high difficulty” tasks, heterogeneous groups consistently perform the best. Innovation is, by its very nature, fraught with uncertainty and complexity. It is obviously a high-difficulty task. Although homogeneous teams are more efficient, it is the uniformity of thinking on these types of teams that limits breakthrough ideas and reduces innovation. Ensuring a range of innovation styles should be the goal in constructing such groups in order to maximize team performance.

Unfortunately, diverse teams, left to their own devices, are rarely efficient. Differences of opinion, creative tension, and infighting will naturally emerge. Individuals who think differently do not naturally communicate well with each other. Therefore, it is important that innovation teams be given the tools to “play well together.”

Putting this together, we end up with three simple principles. And these are the three key principles of Personality Poker:

1. People in your organization must “play to their strong suit.” That is, make sure that everyone understands how they contribute to and detract from the innovation process. This includes ensuring that you have the right people with the right leadership styles in your organization.
2. As an organization, you need to “play with a full deck.” Embrace a wide range of innovation styles. Instead of hiring on competency and chemistry, also hire for a diversity of innovation styles. Every step of the innovation process must be addressed with people with the right innovation styles.
3. “Deal out the work.” That is, you must divide and conquer. You can’t have everyone in your organization do everything. Instead, get them to divvy up the work based on which style is most effective at a given task. You can’t have everyone generating ideas, or focusing on planning.

Innovation is the life-blood of your organization. It is crucial for long-term growth. Without it, your business will almost certainly become irrelevant and commoditized. Unfortunately, although it is important, it is not always easy. However, applying these three simple principles can help you create high-performing innovation teams that consistently “beat the house.”

Publishing is not just pages in a book.

You know about ebooks, audio books and programs derived from books using video, multimedia and web technologies.

Now let’s rethink the reading/viewing/consuming experience. There are new tools coming that will allow you to put your book into a platform that creates a rich interactive experience.. so reader can pause and go deeper into an area, and for those of us who market, maybe BUY SOMETHING.

Here’s one I’m loving. Qwiki Now in Alpha, meaning that you may have to wait to use. In the meantime, watch this short demonstration and an imagine how readers will interact with your work

Qwiki at TechCrunch Disrupt from Qwiki on Vimeo.

Today’s special post is from Rebel Brown, author of Defy Gravity. To receive a free workbook with your copy of Defy Gravity, click on the book cover now.

How Big is that Dinosaur?

Publishing has to be one of the largest Gravity markets I’ve seen in years. By hanging on tightly to the way they’ve always done it – publishing status quos can make it really difficult for innovative authors to do their thing. Talk about dinosaurs!

In my own personal journey toward the publication of Defy Gravity, I’ve learned a lot about avoiding the publishing tar pits where the dinosaurs exist. Here are some tips I’d like to share with you.

1. Independent is a good thing. Publishing is the only industry I can think of where being an independent entrepreneur is viewed by some as a negative. In technology, financial services, small businesses and more – being innovative, striking out on your own and choosing to be different gives rise to resounding applause. In publishing – if you choose to independently publish your book – some of the old guard will say you’re not a real author. What rubbish!

As an independent author I had the chance to make my own decisions about everything from content to book cover design to promotion. I had the opportunity to do things differently, to stand out above the noise – and most of all to stay true to myself and to my vision for the book. Those are all things I would have lost at the hands of a traditional publisher. They’d own the book – not me. They’d make all the decisions – not me. And they would do it exactly the way they’d always done it. Where’s the innovation in that?

2. Dare to be different. I’ve been a consultant for twenty something years, yet I’ve never heard so many rules about what you can and can’t do when it comes to a book. All based on the way it’s been done in the past, all designed to have you conform to those who came before you – all designed to make you a follower and not a leader. I’ve never heard a business want to make their products conform to what everyone else is doing – where’s the value in that?

Maybe that’s why so many people tell me I’m an original voice in this market. I chose to ignore the rules and do what I thought was best –based on my own experiences and knowledge, which after all is what my book Defy Gravity is all about. I wrote the book the way I thought it needed to be written, zany humor, commentary and all. I focused on my own voice and I didn’t listen to what others were writing about. Write your own book, not everyone else’s.

3. Stick to your guns. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “That isn’t done in this business.” My response was, “Well, maybe it should be!” Then there was the time when one of the retail chains told my publisher they wouldn’t carry Defy Gravity unless I changed the cover art. The reason? It didn’t look like every other business cover out there. Here we go with the status quo again. Well, I’d just returned from a conference where some 500 people showed me how much they loved the cover on the Advance Review Copy. So I wasn’t about to back down. And I didn’t. I decided to keep the cover – because I knew it was the right cover for my book. If that retailer didn’t carry the book, so be it. There was a lot of consternation in certain quarters about my decision, but I stuck to my guns because my readers had spoken.

Today, that cover gets more positive comments than I would have ever imagined. It’s the thing that gets people to pay attention to the book – and isn’t that what a cover is all about? It wasn’t very easy to follow my intuition and stick with the design I believed in. As an author, I want every retailer to carry my book and get the word out there. But, I’m happy to say that despite their initial reluctance, the retailer in question wound up coming around and placing a substantial order. When you stick to your guns, dinosaurs either evolve, like they did in this case, or they go away and become extinct.

4. You don’t need millions. The first three publicists I spoke with asked the same first question. “How much money do you have?” The story was that I needed 5-6 full time people, a million dollars and a corporate backer, and of course a nice big retainer with a big fat publicist to launch my book if I wanted any attention.

More Gravity! That’s like saying you have to advertise and do mega email blasts to communicate with your customers. That’s such OLD news. Thanks to social media and the internet – you can create a groundswell of momentum behind your book without breaking your bank. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Darned near every person who supported my book with endorsements, promotions, interviews and more – I met on Social Media! Not my clients, of course, but everyone else.

Social media gives us the opportunity to form relationships, share ideas, get to know one another – all in a down to earth, truth on the table fashion. What better way to create momentum for your book than through the people who appreciate your messages and story. Forget the big dollars – be yourself, make friends, share your views and let social media build the momentum for you.

Most of all – write the book you want to write. Believe in yourself and be unique. That’s the best way to ditch Gravity, dump the dinosaurs and power your success.

Read Fast Company Article “13 Business Books That Will Blow Your Mind” here

Rich Brooks

President, flyte new media
Portland, ME

Rich listed some of the best books any business person could read. I’ve listed the titles here that are clients or friends (Dale Carnegie and Ayn Rand are the exceptions.. two people I wish I had met)

• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip & Dan Heath
• Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers by Seth Godin
• Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presenting Design and Delivery 
• Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
• The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas L. Friedman
• Crush It! Why NOW is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
• The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I’ve been commenting on the supposed “game changer” iPad device that getting so much press this year. My quip is that it’s not going to be that significant.. that we’ve been seeing dozens of reports of other devices to read book on, some replace laptops, others upgrade the Kindle, and a few we’ve reviewed will do totally new things.

Here’s a current page from Borders. None of these are from Apple, B&N or Amazon. All we soon be available where you used to shop for old school books.

Is your book out in ebook format?

Velocity^® Micro Cruz^TM Reader

Velocity^® Micro Cruz^TM Tablet

Kobo e-Reader

Aluratek Libre

Sony^® Touch

Sony^® Pocket

Authors need to have a tribe to read what they write.

Publishers don’t build tribes, they print and distribute books.  This business model has served them well in the past when there were limits on ways authors could reach readers.  All authors and publishers would do well to study Tribes

Seth announced his intentions on his blog

Authors need publishers because they need a customer. Readers have been separated from authors by many levels–stores, distributors, media outlets, printers, publishers–there were lots of layers for many generations, and the editor with a checkbook made the process palatable to the writer. For ten years, I had a publisher as a client (with some fun self-published adventures along the way). Twelve bestsellers later, I’ve thought hard about what it means to have a traditional publisher.

Traditional book publishers use techniques perfected a hundred years ago to help authors reach unknown readers, using a stable technology (books) and an antique and expensive distribution system.

The thing is–now I know who my readers are. Adding layers or faux scarcity doesn’t help me or you. As the medium changes, publishers are on the defensive…. I honestly can’t think of a single traditional book publisher who has led the development of a successful marketplace/marketing innovation in the last decade. The question asked by the corporate suits always seems to be, “how is this change in the marketplace going to hurt our core business?” To be succinct: I’m not sure that I serve my audience (you) by worrying about how a new approach is going to help or hurt Barnes & Noble.

We know that publisher can still serve an author. If you have build a two way dialog with your tribe (say, you are on TV but have never blogged) then a large check from someone betting on your title to click with their distribution is a no-brainer.

Seth has been teaching us to build a tribe for years. Now he’s broke ties with the old model that used to serve him. No doubt he’ll do well.

What’s your strategy to build a two way dialog with your readers?

In almost every field, there are people who are extremely good at getting publicity.

The media loves them and they’re regularly on radio/TV shows and written-up in print publications.

They not only know how to get a ton of free coverage, but also how to profit from the coverage in the form of increased sales, name recognition, speaking engagements and more.

To discover how these "publicity superstars" do it and how you too can use their strategies, join Steve Harrison this FREE WEBINAR

Here’s just some of what you’ll learn on Thursday:

• Advice from a former NBC producer who booked guests for the Today Show and Dateline NBC on how to become a regular guest on national TV and/or even get offered your own show (think Dr. Phil).
• How to brand yourself for the media in a way that celebrates your uniqueness while also separating you from all the other experts in your field.
• Three things Donald Trump does to speak in compelling sound bites.
• How Jennifer became a regularly-featured lifestyle expert on Fox News Channel and the Early Show as well as scoring coverage in hundreds of print media outlets including O the Oprah Magazine, Redbook, US Weekly, Success and Entrepreneur.
• Why most authors and experts fail to make the leap from just getting local publicity to scoring big-time national media coverage.
• Why your credentials don’t matter as much as you might think, but what DOES matter when the media is deciding whether or not to feature you.
• "The Book Plus Strategy" and how an unknown self-published author used it to become a regular on radio, making a six-figure income doing phone interviews.
• The hook that helped a nutritionist score so much media coverage it generated over $60 million in sales of his books and information products.

Click to register for this FREE WEBINAR

I’ve worked with Steve Harrison for years and can endorse the programs he recommends because I have seen the results.

You will see that Steve’s free training such as this seminar give you a ton of actionable information… regardless of whether you sign up for his paid programs. (Imagine how much more you get when you do though :)

Don’t miss out on this chance to learn some of Steve’s secrets

I help authors sell books, build a business and take their messages to the world.

We do that in two ways here.. a lot of free information on the web, and high paid clients. Unless I get a crazy idea to test new software and give away the paid consulting.

I am trying out a new webinar system for my private coaching sessions. So you get this same ME, hopefully a great show, and the fun of watching me bumble through with new technology (OK.. you can get that anytime)

The only catch.. I’m just doing this ONCE.. it will NOT BE RECORDED (no evidence if I screw up) and it is on SHORT NOTICE.

Friday at Noon Eastern (9am Pacific) on July 16th (yes, that is tomorrow.. I did say SHORT NOTICE)

Grab a slot here –> Warren’s free coaching session

I’m going to share some new tests from what is working on FACEBOOK, how partners are getting 10x the publicity on the MEGA SUCCESS DAY promo for next week and other freebinarific advice. I may talk about Twitter if you twist my arm.

I will answer ANY question… show any secret site.

You can still ask your question in a comment, on Twitter or whatever.. but you won’t get the real live me with a mouse in my hand showing you exactly what YOU need to succeed unless you register here

The other day, we had Peter Winick on the Profitable Social Media radio show.

Peter is the brains behind so huge best selling books, and specializes in strategies to sell lots of book and turn your content into a substantial income.

Here’s a clip from the show where I Peter talks about what he does. If you listen for a few minutes, you’ll also hear another guest, Pat Obryan, volunteer to have us talk about expanding his platform.

Peter and I want to help more authors and combined our talent to put on a series to you authors make a lot more money from your content, without a huge start up cost.

If you are an author looking to leverage your content into new revenue streams, I invite you to apply at http://PlatformRoadmap.com