How to Promote Yourself Online
By Jim Magwood
You’ve written a book. You got an agent and they got you a publisher. Or maybe you did it all yourself through the self-publishing route. Now you want to let people know about you and your book and, hopefully, make some sales. How? Let’s talk about just two items for now, blogging and writing articles.
Blogging is simple “talking” online. Whether it’s how many times you brushed your teeth this morning or about having solved the world peace problem last night, you want to tell people about it. So you find a blogging service or set one up on your own Website and start talking. Now you wonder just what the rules are for blogging. What works and what doesn’t?
First and foremost: Remember you are talking with people and what you say needs to work for them. It’s not all about you. If you want to get noticed and keep on being noticed, talk about the things that interest others, and not about what interests you. You can talk about those things that interest you and you will become the “expert,” but be sure those things are of interest to others – or they won’t follow you. Don’t just pitch yourself or your book. Yes, bring your book content into the message and share experiences you’ve had in the subject area, but be sure it is leading to what your readers what to know about, not just what you know.
Be fun; be outrageous; be educational and newsy; whatever you want. But, keep in mind your reader. Think of all the hot buttons out in the world right now. Israel; actors; popular books; earthquakes; on and on. What are people reading and writing? What'’ in the news? What are other authors asking questions about? What’s the latest word from the publishing industry? These are things people want to talk about or learn, so write about them.
A blog is a great way to reach your readers and get them involved with you, and search engines love to keep up with sites that are updated regularly, so make the best of both. Blog once or twice a week with good, lively, relevant content and keep both the search engines and your readers around. Here are just a few ideas to consider blogging about:
- Books you’ve read
- Chapter summaries from your own books
- What you’ve heard taking place in your own industry
- Comment on other blogs. It will build great relationships with other bloggers.
- Interview other authors
- Post your thoughts on the latest political doings
And a couple of don’ts:
- Don’t post useless things like feeding your pet. Will your readers care?
- Don’t talk about your dinner with your family. Will your readers care?
- Don’t’ just repeat the latest news. Your readers already have it.
- Don’t fill your blog with garbage. You are talking to real people.
- Don’t blog 40 times per day. Are you really that important?
Whatever you do in the blogging realm, try to get people commenting back to you. Be sure you have a response form on your blog so they can growl or laugh back at you. Make it a two-way conversation and get people linking to you.
Let’s turn to writing articles. Another of the best ways there is to get your name out there in the world. Write articles about things you know (much the same as blogging) and get them published. Blogging, generally, is done in sites that are close to you and blogs are generally more on quick, catchy subjects. Articles generally are more educational or instructive or analytic and are generally longer than blogs.
“Syndication” is simply writing something that you then share out into the Internet that other people them turn around and use in some way. They might use it as a filler article in a site or blog they are doing. It might become information a reporter uses to fill in a story. It might be taken by someone building a widget because you gave great information that helped him finish his project. You won’t likely get paid for these articles, but the name recognition alone can be worth its weight in book royalties.
Your articles should not be all about you or your book. They need to be helpful to others. Whether it’s about news or a how-to, you need to remember the WIIFM formula: What’s In It For Me? That’s what your readers are about, so satisfy them. They will satisfy you later. Give others what they want and need and they will promote you from their end.
An important thing to keep in mind is the title of your article. It needs to be very catchy and describe what the article is about. Or it must at least be so stand-outish that people simply have to open it and read it. There are literally millions of articles out there and people have to be caught by your title so they will stop and look.
Very important: Be sure you create a simple two or three line information piece about yourself that you can tag on to the end of every article you post. Just the facts; short and sweet; about you and your book, what you do, where to find you. Write this carefully so you get all you need but nothing superfluous. Whoever will be hosting your article won’t want a lot of extra words.
Articles should usually be kept between 500 and perhaps 2,000 words, average around 1,000. Be sure you look them over very carefully for errors in punctuation and so on, and especially for the exact content you want to impart. Did you say everything you wanted in the right way? Once it goes out into the ‘net, it is almost impossible to retrieve and fix, and it will always sit there showing you off – good or otherwise.
The last important point would be to participate in what you do. Don’t just send messages and wait for gold to fall from the sky. If people comment to you, talk to them. Get conversations going. Find other bloggers or article writers and respond to them about their work. Add comments about news articles. Make friends. Communication is a two-way street, and friends are made by being friendly. Don’t just eat and run. Stick around and participate. Your name will become better known by being part of the action instead of just being on one side of it.
Blogging and article syndication are great ways to make yourself known on the Internet and that can only make it a better chance that sales will come your way. Give it a try.
About the Author: Jim Magwood is the author of the international mystery novel, SANCTION. Visit him and SANCTION at his website, http://www.JimMagwood.com. Jim is also the webmaster of the site, The Author’s Inn, dedicated to showcasing author’s works and connecting them with the book reading public. You can visit The Author’s Inn at http://www.the-authors-inn.com.
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