Red Hot Internet Publicity
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Red Hot Internet Publicity An Insider’s Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet Red Hot Internet Publicity An Insider’s Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet BY PENNY C. SANSEVIERI Foreword by Laurence J. Kirshbaum New York Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider’s Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet Copyright © 2009 by Penny C. Sansevieri Red Hot Internet Publicity was originally published by Morgan James Publishing in 2007. Current edition published by Cosimo Books, 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage, and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address: Cosimo, Inc. P.O, Box 416, Old Chelsea Station New York, NY 10011 or visit our website at: www.cosimobooks.com Ordering Information: Cosimo publications are available at online bookstores. They may also be purchased for educational, business or promotional use: - Bulk orders: special discounts are available on bulk orders for reading groups, organizations, businesses, and others. For details contact Cosimo Special Sales at the address above or at [email protected]. - Custom-label orders: we can prepare selected books with your cover or logo of choice. For more information, please contact Cosimo at [email protected]. ISBN: 978-1-60520-724-7 To everyone who’s ever been called an Internet geek, your time has come Table of Contents Acknowledgements...xiii Foreword by Laurence J. Kirshbaum...xv Introduction: The Microniching of American Publishing: Why virtual promotion makes sense...xviii Understanding Social Media and Internet Marketing...xxvi Understanding Social Media Different Ways to Promote Yourself Touring Your Book on the Net...xxxiii Your Red Hot Internet Publicity Toolkit Building a Billboard Instead of a Web Site...3 Building Billboards Think of Your Site as a Billboard Avoiding Surf Shock Creating a Web 2.0 Web Site What Does a Web 2.0 Site Look Like? Is It Right for You? Your Home Page: The Most Valuable Real Estate You’ll Ever Own...17 How People Surf Web Site Copy: Save the Small Talk for Your Next Cocktail Party...21 Writing Great Web Site Sales Copy Size Does Matter: Picking the Perfect Font...25 The Right Font for Every Occasion Converting Surfers into Customers...28 Living on Nimrod Lane: Picking a Good URL...31 Creating Your Web Site...34 Defining Your Goals Goals: Getting to Know Your Reader Who’s My Audience? Getting the Most Out of Your Reader Profile Your Target Audience Doing Research: Go See What Your Competition Is Doing Getting (and Understanding) Your Internet Real Estate...39 How Much Will All of This Cost Me? What Exactly Does “Building a Site” Mean? Things No Good Web Site Can Be Without Your Rockin’ Red Hot Media Room Making Money with Linking and Affiliate Programs...48 Unraveling the Mystery of Keywords...51 What the Heck Is ALT Text? The Key to Doing Keyword Research Winning the Popularity Contest: Getting Your Site Listed in Search Engines...56 Research Trends! A Final Note on Site Submissions 20 Simple Ways to Get Massive Traffic to Your Web Site...59 E-Commerce: How to Give Your Customers a Nordstrom Shopping Experience...64 Success Secrets of Online Selling Credibility Builders Savvy Secrets to Getting People to Buy The Final Stage of the Nordstrom Experience People Don’t Buy Books, They Buy Benefits How Internet Shopping Is Like Dating The Blog Factor...77 Red Hot Blog Tips: It’s All About You Posts, Blogrolls, Comments, and Other Techie Terms Why Blogs Matter What Would You Talk About? How to Start a Blog How to Blog Effectively Promoting Your Blog Blog Feeds RSS Feed Services Keeping the Blog Wheels Turning Another Great Blog Secret How to Get Massive Traffic to Your Blog: Tag! You’re It!...91 Secrets of Striking Media Gold with Blogs...95 The Biggest Mistakes Bloggers Make...100 Ten Tips for Successfully Pitching Bloggers...103 Powerful Podcasting...106 Going Virtual with Video Ten Ways to Use Video to Promote Your Book...119 Social Networks...122 The Right Way to Approach Social Networking Sites Tips for Social Networking Sites Exploring Social Networking Sites What Is Squidoo? A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Part of the Squidoo Community Facebook Microblogging on Twitter...139 Why on Earth Would You Want to Twitter? Tips for Using Twitter More on Twitter Fun Twitter Stuff Get a Second Life...149 Getting a Second Life Getting Set Up on Second Life Other Fun Stuff to Do in Second Life Virtual Book Events...157 Types of Events Why Teleseminars Are a Good Thing One-Nighters Educational Teleseminars Pricing, Timing, and Other Tricks to Make Your Seminar Successful Preparing Your Event Promoting Yourself on the Call The End of the Event Is Just the Beginning A Few Final Ideas to Make Your Event Sing Virtual Networking...170 Becoming an Online Syndicated Sensation...173 Submitting Articles and Content Where Oh Where Are Your Articles? Automating Your Marketing...177 What Are Autoresponders? The Many Uses of Autoresponders Marketing with Electronic Minicourses Permission Marketing Signatures Aren’t Just for Book Signings Super Creative Ways to Use Your E-mail Signature Exceptional E-mail Newsletters...184 Cashing In on E-books...190 When E-books Make Sense Exploding Your E-book Niche Red Hot Bonus Material: More Red Hot Jewels for Your Journey...195 Simple Ways to Market Yourself for Red Hot Success...197 Press Releases Are Useless: Internet Press Releases and Beyond...201 Five Things You Must Know About Web Marketing...207 Red Hot Book Sales on the Internet...209 Don’t Be an Expert, Be a Filter (Secrets to Selling More Books)...213 Bah, Humbug: Ignore Christmas—Long Live Chinese New Year...217 Red Hot Tips...219 Afterword: Web 4.0 Predictions...232 To Market!...234 Red Hot Resources...238 Books You’ll Love Web Site Designers We Love! Search Optimization Tools Blog Directories and Analytics Tools Security Sites Great Places to List Your Event Social Bookmarking Sites Just for Fun Other Helpful Stuff Big Media Blogs Book Blogs We Love Mom Blogs Publishing and Author Sites Social Networking Bonanza Special Offer Appendix A: Blog Worksheet...269 Appendix B: Planning Worksheet...271 Appendix C: Virtual Author Tour™ Touring Guide...273 Index...277 Acknowledgments It would take an entire book to thank everyone involved in the process of creating Red Hot Internet Publicity. Of all the sections in this book, this is the most difficult to write. There are scores of people who contribute both in their support and the willingness to share their own creativity, and there are several “behind the scenes” people who brought their own amazing level of support, information, and creativity to this book: AME’s very own (AKP) Paula Krapf, who shared in her wisdom, insight, creativity and who keeps me sane. We’ve been through many trials together; I couldn’t have made it through them without you. She is more valuable to me than she will ever know. To Internet Queen Susan Gilbert, who can run circles around Google, and who is a “whiz” at everything she does. The talent, insight, creativity and wisdom she’s brought to AME can’t be overstated. Susan came into my life years ago and together we’ve had many wonderful adventures. This journey is but one of them. To Jeniffer Thompson who, besides being a great friend, made my Web site beautiful despite my efforts to screw it up. Lauren Hidden, who I value and respect more than she’ll know, thank you for being in my life. I am wildly fortunate to surround myself with super smart and savvy women. For Alex Hawley, our first AME-male (we know you’re not a girl), you are bright, insightful, thoughtful and a true visionary. Thank you for your humor, insight and for your patience when I send you my xiii xiv Red Hot Internet Publicity usual tsunami of e-mails. To Nancy who, while new to us, has found her place at AME and has become an incredibly valuable part of our Team. I am blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people. To Larry Kirshbaum for not only being a friend and supporter but for always believing in me. I hope you wear your AME Team uniform with pride. And finally to Mac, for the lessons, both good and bad, that you taught me and for helping me steer this ship, if only for a little while. To Alexander Dake and the Team at Cosimo, it’s been fabulous working with you all and now that my book has found a home there I am excited to be a part of your publishing list. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. There are many more people that I need to thank, and thankfully too many to list here. I am fortunate to not only be in this industry, but to be surrounded by many amazing people who always make me look so good. To them I say: Thank you. This journey wouldn’t be possible without you. To my friends and family who always love and support me even when my schedule doesn’t always permit me to spend as much time with them as I’d like. I have many blessings in my life. To list them all here would be endless. I continue to have a grateful heart for my work and my mission and I am enormously fortunate to be able to do what I love. I wish you the same kind of happiness.