Like the Internet itself, online marketing resources such as
blogs, chat rooms, and user groups are vast and puzzling. On one
hand they offer that elusive ?promise land? of free and
effective marketing. On the other, they embody a ?time sink? of
astronomical proportions. They have addictive qualities and
their effectiveness is measured only by your own self-control.
That said, let?s briefly describe each opportunity and explore
their potential.
?Blog? is short for ?web log? ? an online diary of sorts that is
relatively user-friendly, at least by Internet standards.
Through free services such as Blogger.com, an author (or
?blogger? as they have come to be known) can compose content and
then, with the click of a button, become ?published? online
within a matter of seconds for the world to see.
Whether or not the world actually does see it, however, is a
matter of distribution (just like a published book!). The topic
of distributing blogs is outside the scope of this article, but
may be one I tackle in an upcoming newsletter. Suffice it to
say, it?s a little more technical, requiring techno-babble
references to jargon-esque acronyms and geek-speak like .xml,
atom, and RSS.
In the meantime, let?s discuss the other two Internet venues.
Online chat rooms and user groups also provide a forum for the
online promoter. While they share similarities with blogs they
lack some of the distribution possibilities. Yahoo offers both
chat rooms and use groups/bulletin boards organized by subject,
and you can find similarly themed groups on Google.
I briefly discuss blogs, chat rooms, and user groups in my book
Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing
Writer when I discuss ways in which to establish yourself as an
expert.
Become an expert in your field and book sales will follow. It?s
true that promoting a book requires a great amount of resolve,
but it is also true that working smarter, rather than harder,
can help reap those rewards. By projecting yourself as an expert
in the genre in which you write, you can open new doors for
networking, doors that often remain shut without that expertise
status.
1 Write a book
You?ve done this already, right? If you haven?t, consider it.
You may find yourself closer to a finished manuscript than you
realize. Writing a publishable book from your knowledge or
experience is often a matter of simply putting your expertise on
paper.
2 Publish your book
A published book becomes a calling card to line-up speaking
engagements, freelance writing gigs, and other opportunities.
Don?t become a victim of ?Catch-22 Paralysis? where you can?t
promote because no one knows about you, but no one knows about
you since you can?t promote. Instead, become a ?Catch-all front
runner? where you?re an expert because you have published a
book, and your published book proves your expertise.
3 Promote your expertise
Two good places to begin are AOL and ABOUT.COM. Both have
category-specific forums in which you can participate. By
mentioning that you are the ?author of such-and-such? within the
scope of your communication, you begin to label yourself as an
expert.
Web-logs, or ?blogs? are also a cost effective, efficient way to
promote your expertise. Blogs utilize .xml and RSS feeds to
provide dynamic, up-to-the minute publication across a variety
of searchable platforms. The integration between blogs and
contextual search engines becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
toward recognition. If you write about something, people
searching for the topic will invariably find you, and that makes
you an expert!
4 Overcome the fiction hurdle
Being recognized as an expert in a technical or non-fiction
category is admittedly easier than the largely subjective
category of a fiction expert. Even so, if you have written a
work of fiction, becoming a recognized expert is not only
possible, but necessary. Just look at Clancy, Rowling, and
Robbins.
5 Explore the possibilities
Whether you?ve penned a techno-thriller, children?s fantasy, or
romance, there is a forum in which to voice your expertise. The
Internet is full of chat rooms, writing groups, genre-sites, and
more. They?re all thirsty for content from published writers.
You just have to know where to look. Conducting a Google search
is a good place to start.
6 Join, participate, schmooze
Seek out conferences, associations, and other experts to help
you. Outskirts Press is a member of PMA, SPAN, CIPA, SPAWN, and
the BBB, just to name a few. This leads to professional
relationships with experts (Dan Poynter), mentors (Dr. Judith
Briles), and editors (Writer?s Digest).
About the author:
Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press
Publishing at http://www.outskirtspress.com . He is the author
of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing
Writer (http://outskirtspress.com/publishinggems) and
Self-Publishing Simplified (free ebook edition available at
http://outskirtspress.com/publishing)
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