| The more I work with authors to help them | | | | the way people interact online. |
| understand the ins and outs of online book | | | | Gone is the top-down approach of "yesterday's" |
| marketing, the more I realize that there are five | | | | media, which is quickly being replaced by a bottom-up |
| basic and fundamental mistakes that 9 out of 10 | | | | system where real people, not editors, decide what's |
| authors consistently make. | | | | hot and what's not. |
| If you don't fall victim to these five book marketing | | | | If you're not using the sites mentioned above, along |
| fiascoes, you'll be ahead of the pack...way ahead. So, | | | | with about 100 others that can help you sell more |
| here are five things to avoid when marketing your | | | | books, you're missing the biggest sea change in online |
| books online: | | | | marketing that you've ever seen. (See the links |
| 1. Inadequate Keyword Research | | | | below for resources that will help you identify dozens |
| This is the #1 big kahuna and the place where 99% | | | | of sites where you should be marketing your books.) |
| of authors quite simply stuff it up. Most of the | | | | 4. Failing to Build a Base of Support |
| authors I work with have had little to no success | | | | It's amazing how many authors don't take advantage |
| marketing themselves and their books online because | | | | of the most powerful online marketing tool there is -- |
| they're not thinking the way Internet marketers think | | | | the ability to build a base of support and loyal fans |
| -- they have no systematic plan for finding, targeting | | | | through things like mailing lists, or "followers" on |
| and ultimately dominating a list of keywords and | | | | Twitter, or subscribers to an RSS feed, or any |
| phrases related to their book or expertise. | | | | number of other methods that traditional Internet |
| In order to have success online, you need to | | | | marketers simply take for granted. |
| familiarize yourself with the concept of long-tail | | | | Here's why this is so important: it's infinitely easier to |
| keywords; to understand how to analyze your | | | | sell to people who already know, like and trust you |
| competition; and how to know, with almost certainty, | | | | than it is to sell to people who have no idea who you |
| how much traffic a particular keyword gets. | | | | are. |
| Thankfully there are tools out there that do all three. | | | | If someone buys one of your books, they're an ideal |
| You can find them at the links at the end of this | | | | customer for your second, third, and fourth books. |
| article. Be sure to check them out. | | | | But if you have no way to reach the people who |
| 2. Thin Content | | | | bought your first book, you're going to have to go |
| Surprisingly, even prolific authors with many books to | | | | through the entire "customer-acquisition" process |
| their credit -- gifted writers who can write volumes | | | | each and every time for every new book. |
| on their area of expertise -- somehow think that | | | | Wouldn't it be easier to write a couple emails and |
| they can skate by online with just a couple pages (or | | | | send them to your fans? Or to simply put a post up |
| even paragraphs!) of content. | | | | on your blog with a new book announcement? This is |
| Not true. | | | | the way authors build empires. |
| Here's the deal: Google and the other search engines | | | | 5. Trying to Sell Your Book |
| LOVE content-rich sites. This is why behemoths like | | | | What? That's a mistake? But isn't that the point? Yes |
| Wikipedia get so much traffic. They have millions of | | | | and no. I'd argue that by focusing on selling your |
| pages in Google's index. How many pages from your | | | | book to the exclusion of everything else (see point |
| site does Google know or care about? My guess is | | | | #4 above), too many authors actually miss out on |
| it's probably between two and five. | | | | the long-term benefits of generating a loyal following |
| You'll never rank well for anything other than your | | | | online -- the kind of following that buys hundreds of |
| name with that kind of site. Bottom line: don't think | | | | thousands of books. |
| you can shortchange people online. If you want your | | | | What's better, selling one or two books a day now, |
| site found, and you want potential readers to care | | | | or selling thousands of books a day a year from |
| about your book, demonstrate why they should by | | | | now? Stop struggling. Start building information |
| providing great free content upfront. | | | | empires the way the most successful Internet |
| 3. Ignoring Social Marketing and Web 2.0 | | | | marketers do. Stop trying to sell a book or two here |
| If you haven't noticed, the Internet is changing. In | | | | and there. Start focusing on getting great content |
| just the past couple of years, sites like Facebook, | | | | out to the people who need your book. |
| Digg, YouTube, and EzineArticles.com, along with | | | | Sales (like you've never experienced before!) will |
| services such as Twitter, have completely changed | | | | inevitably follow. |