Social Persona to Social Pariah at the Click of a Mouse
February 23rd, 2011
By Guest Blogger Bree Ogden, Literary Agent at Martin Literary Management
http://www.martinliterarymanagement.com
http://agentbree.wordpress.com
So you’ve landed an agent! Whew. Work’s done. Time to sit back with your Mojito and let the agent take over the reins. ::Bubble:: POP! Let’s talk reality.
True: your agent is there to get you published (hopefully). True: your agent is there to give you sound advice on your current manuscript and future works-in-progress. True: your agent is there to hold your hand when you are lost in this crazy world called publishing. False: (you knew it was coming) your agent cannot be your social persona. And unfortunately, a negative social persona can make you a publishing pariah.
As authors and potential authors, you have the world waiting to hear from you via the Internet. Twitter feeds, Facebook pages (both fan pages and personal pages), blogs, Tumblr, Web sites, even just a simple Google search could have someone reading every bit of material about you at the click of a button.
Hint: Use this to your advantage. Second hint: It’s harder than it seems. While it’s just plain common sense not to post naughty pictures of yourself on the Web, it might not be as intuitive to watch what you say. For example: Publisher X just released a book about reality television star Y, but Publisher X won’t give your “rousing book on the problem in Country Z” a second glance. So naturally you are angry and you post on Twitter: “Publisher X only cares about money and they produce total crap. I cannot believe they release this kind of trash.”
Hmmm…
Unfortunately for you, Publisher X was actually looking at your manuscript as you wrote those angry words, and you just blew it.
You might think you are invisible on the Web. If you can’t see them, they can’t see you, right? Wrong. With tools such as Google Alerts, anyone can see anything posted about them on the Internet. And it will come back to bite you. I promise.
For an agent, the client who breaches etiquette over the Internet is terrifying. They are a loose cannon and it’s hard for an agent to trust them on their own. By saying inappropriate things over Twitter/Facebook/blogs etc, they not only ruin their own reputation and chances of getting published, but they hurt their agent’s reputation as well.
True story time: An editor once told me regarding Twitter, “Once, I clicked through and saw it was your standard, unpublished (but agented) author—complaining about how long it took editors to consider her manuscript and how this would be ‘unacceptable’ in any other industry and what a bunch of bums editors were. I was considering her manuscript at the time.”
This Internet business is hard work. But worth it if you play your cards right.
Putting Your Memoir to Good Use
January 18th, 2011
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about putting your memoir to good use.
During our lives, we either read about or in some cases experience a natural disaster, catastrophe or other real life situation that is of interest nationally or globally. We find ourselves in unimaginable circumstances that are often outside of our control. Earthquakes, mine collapses, terrorist attacks and other accidents that we witness become stories of interest to others who want to know how each individual survived the sudden onslaught of something so frightening and how they managed to move forward from the rubble.
Oftentimes, these stories occupy the news media for a week or so and then fade out as other news occurs and pushes the old news out of the spotlight. But the wake of the natural disaster continues and so does the human experience.
It is the books from those who are willing to share what they saw, heard and did that then memorialize and inspire us to do more to help the victims of the tragedy and make a difference in our world.
Whether it’s the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans where they are still rebuilding, or the terrorist attack on 9/11 that brought down the Twin Towers in New York, or the “Miracle on the Hudson” when a U.S. Airways flight crashed into the Hudson River in New York City in 2009 nearly 2 years ago this past weekend after both engines blew, there are usually plenty of stories that can be collected from the survivors about the real human experience of each incident.
Books have been written about these unlikely situations including Miracle on the Hudson: The Extraordinary Real-Life Story Behind Flight 1549, by the Survivors by The Survivors of Flight 1549, William Prochnau, and Laura Parker, 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, and The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas G. Brinkley.
It’s important to note that these books can’t be produced right away. Care and encouragement goes into collecting the stories from the survivors and then crafting the book and sending it off for publication and distribution. The “aftermath” goes on for awhile after the initial crisis situation hits. In fact, the book about 9/11/2001 wasn’t published until 2003; the book about Katrina wasn’t published until nearly 2 years after the hurricane hit New Orleans, and the book about the Miracle on the Hudson wasn’t published until the end of last year, nearly 2 years after the incident.
After the books have been published and the media interviews are completed, the books often fade in the consciousness of society, much like the crisis itself does in the media.
But memoirs like these don’t have to fade at all and can become a force for something good.
Susan Magnuson Walsh was present when the earthquake hit Haiti with force last year, just 1 year ago, on January 12, 2010. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and a clinical instructor of graduate nursing at the University of Illinois in Chicago by day. She separately started a non-profit organization with her husband Brian called Little By Little which ministers to those who need improved health and well-being, specifically in Haiti, following the loss of her own son to a motor vehicle accident. Beginning in 2006, she and her team started traveling to Haiti on medical missions to make a difference in the health and lives of the Haitian people. Never could she have imagined that 4 years later, she would be right at the epicenter of the earthquake that devastated the very lives she was doing everything she could to support.
When Sue and her team returned from Haiti, recovered and then continued their efforts to support the Haitian people they cared so deeply for, she and her team set about writing down their experiences. It takes more than a moment to capture the essence of a literally earth-shattering experience like Sue’s.
One year later, her book entitled Walking In Broken Shoes: A Nurse’s Story about Haiti and the Earthquake shares what she and her team saw, heard and did in the wake of this intense natural disaster. Because she created Little By Little prior to this devastating occurrence, the book now helps to demonstrate even more why what Sue does makes a difference in the lives of so many who wouldn’t otherwise have access to medical care.
Sue’s book IS her hook to share her story with the world about what it’s really like to find yourself at the center of the storm with no means to anticipate it or fight it… but rather to survive it and make a contribution to the planet and its people in the wake of the devastation created.
Too often I hear people say, “Oh, a memoir is just all about the author and I only want to read about somebody famous.” Not every agent wants to work with this genre either.
But Susan Magnuson Walsh’s book, Walking in Broken Shoes, is more than a memoir or a story about her experience. It is a message and demonstration of what can be done beyond the book and the crisis itself to shed light on a part of the planet that really does need greater attention and support.
Together with Sue, her book is her hook to so much more for humanity.
So when you write your memoir, keep in mind that although the story may be about you and your experiences, there is a whole lot more that can shine through your story and inspire the human race to do and be more for each other.
Jennifer’s show can be heard every week on Tuesday mornings at 9am when it is broadcast on WomensRadio.com and syndicated on Google News and Live365.com. Each show is archived for replay listeners in different time zones and countries.
For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.
Why 2011 Is Your Year to Write
January 11th, 2011
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about why 2011 is your year to write.
Every year there are millions of people who say to themselves, this is my year to pursue my writing.
According to a Gallup Poll and quoted in the book, So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance by Gabriel Zaid and Natasha Wimmer, 81% of Americans want to write and publish a book.
Whether it is writing a book, starting a blog, joining a writing class or a discussion group, making plans to attend a writer’s conference or another form of kick-starting their efforts, somehow the goal of writing pops to the top for many – especially at the beginning of each year.
Funny though, seldom few grab onto this goal with gusto and really sink their teeth into it all year long. Their momentum somehow sputters and the flame that holds their passion and desire for writing burns out.
There are so many resources available to keep your writing spark alive all year. From magazines to blogs to in-person events and online teleseminars, there are a plethora of opportunities for you to find the support you need.
In fact, a quick search on Google for “writing resources” reveals 180,000,000 results including dictionaries, instructors, seminars, conferences, magazines, blogs and more.
When searching for “writing” by itself, 287,000,000 results return – providing so many opportunities for you to locate the information, instruction or reference you feel will best support you with your own writing ambitions.
So what’s holding you back?
Is it time? If this is your hiccup in your writing career, take 30 – 60 minutes of your television time 3 – 4 times a week and write instead.
Got a hectic schedule during the week? As noted in my post last year, The Humble Beginnings of Bestselling Authors & Encouragement for Your Writing Dreams, adopt a schedule similar to the one Nicholas Sparks kept when he wrote The Notebook where over a six-month period, from June of 1994 until January of 1995, he was writing in the evenings from nine until midnight, and working on it one day on the weekends.
If you choose to do this, you’ll certainly make progress on your project.
Is it money? Not sure how to get access to the resources you need? Nowadays, it’s easy to acquire so much information by simply searching the Internet! Articles, blogs, podcasts, and shows like “Your Book Is Your Hook!” all offer resources and interviews with experts where you can glean the insight and inspiration you need to keep on writing.
If you want to travel to a writer’s conference, take a peek at the ShawGuides Writers Conferences & Workshops website to find the event and location that fits within your budget, needs and focus.
For example, if you are looking for an opportunity to travel to New York to pitch your book to literary agents, combine your focus with an opportunity to expand your writing resources by attending the Writer’s Digest Conference and PitchSlam later this month.
Is it the subject matter and topic? Pick something you’re passionate about when you’re writing. Set yourself up for success so you can really sink your teeth into whatever you’re researching and writing about. This will make it so much more fun and interesting.
Take Marci Shimoff as a good example: she wanted to discover more about unconditional love so for her next book following her smash hit NY Times Bestseller Happy For No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, she set out to write Love For No Reason: 7 Steps to Creating a Life of Unconditional Love.
Marci didn’t write it because she HAD to…she wrote it because she wanted to. She felt a compelling curiosity that tends to strike many successful writers and followed it. She did the research and found such amazing insights that she wanted to share with others.
If 2011 is your year to be a writer, you’ve got everything going for you. All you have to do is commit to writing what you love and what you’re passionate about, carve out the time you’re willing to dedicate to develop your craft and project, and GO! Do it! And not a second too soon!
For as I always like to say – and you know it’s true – you can’t use your book as your hook until you write a book.
So start today and let 2011 be the year you write yours.
Jennifer’s show can be heard every week on Tuesday mornings at 9am when it is broadcast on WomensRadio.com and syndicated on Google News and Live365.com. Each show is archived for replay listeners in different time zones and countries.
For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.
How Freelance Writers Can Easily Make The Transition to Author & Vice-Versa
January 3rd, 2011
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about how freelance writers can easily make the transition to author and vice-versa.
In the writing world, freelance writers today are faced with plenty of obstacles in their quest to make a living. With consolidations occurring on the staffs of many newspapers, magazines and print publications, freelancing has taken on a whole new challenge for the professional who wants to continue to write and get paid for it.
The skill set of a freelance writer is similar to that of an author in that the freelance writer must craft the hook for their short piece and a strong pitch that captures the attention of the editorial staff member. They must then identify the appropriate editors and publishers for their material and make the proper submission for their work. For many, it often may feel like finding a needle in a haystack when determining where to pitch your piece these days – often similar to an author who is looking for literary agent representation.
Of course, the dedicated writer writes a solid piece, much as the author writes a book that is relevant, of great quality and that renews interest in its subject matter and category.
To make the transition from freelance writer to author is simple: write about what you love and research it. You can also interview others for your book, similar to what Mike Sacks did in his great book, And Here’s The Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers About Their Craft. You can also string together a series of the pieces you have already written and published in a variety of publications.
The challenge faced by many freelance writers is the need to expand your writing length to fill up the pages of a complete manuscript for a book..
As for the author who wants to become a freelance writer, the opposite is true. Condensing your writing and focusing on a simple article comprised of anywhere from 1,500 – 2,500 words can be confusing for some and frustrating for others. I know, you want to say more to complete your thought and communicate your idea and story. However, a magazine article can be cut significantly due to the inclusion of pictures in the layout of the piece published. As the pictures take up space, so the number of words in your piece shrinks to accommodate them…and there’s nothing you can do about it. Parts of the story will end up on the proverbial cutting room floor.
Whether you have been published with the representation of a literary agent or not, your ability to identify the right place for your book is similar to determining what publications will be more apt to publish your piece. Stick to the same rules: focus on the folks who work with your genre, category, subject matter and topic. Be smart. Send the humor writing piece to the folks who publish humor, not cold, hard news or product highlights for the magazine.
Oftentimes, freelance writers believe that they just weren’t cut out to become authors, Funny enough, authors sometimes feel that they are not cut out to be freelancers.
At the end of the day, you can freelance, write and get published and perhaps capture the attention of a literary agent’s eye with your piece.
However, you can’t use your book as your hook – and as a credential for your freelance writing – until you have a book.
So make the leap and write yours today.
Jennifer’s show can be heard every week on Tuesday mornings at 9am when it is broadcast on WomensRadio.com and syndicated on Google News and Live365.com. Each show is archived for replay listeners in different time zones and countries.
For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.
Five Ways Authors Can Make Google Their Publicist
December 14th, 2010
By Guest Blogger, Rusty Shelton, Shelton Interactive
www.SheltonInteractive.com
The media environment has changed dramatically over the past four years. According to Forrester Research, between the years 2000-2008 one in four media jobs disappeared. As startling as that statistic is, when you consider that the time period surveyed is before our current recession really got underway, you can start to appreciate why media members aren’t responding to your pitches.
There are fewer of them covering more stories than ever before and the last thing they have is time. They are so deluged with pitches and phone calls, that often the best way to reach them is not by chasing them—it’s by giving them a reason to chase you.
As counter-intuitive as that sounds, based on a variety of factors, media members are increasing taking a “don’t call us…we’ll call you” approach to selecting those they will cover.
A recent Cision/George Washington University study backs up this trend, finding in a survey of journalists that when researching stories:
- 89% look to blogs
- 65% turn to social networking sites
- 52% use Twitter as a resource
This shift in the way that media members operate has the potential to play right into the hands of authors who understand it and widen their net to catch those queries. When journalists hit Google or Technorati looking for a “Cardiologist” or “Grieving Expert,” those credentialed authors who have developed unique and interesting content surrounding the topics journalists are searching for have a great opportunity to not only provide their readers with great value—but also position themselves for more traditional coverage.
Here are five ways to make Google your publicist:
- Push out timely blog posts. Every author should have Google Alerts set on at least five keywords related to their topic area. Each morning, review the stories that are running in your topic area and consider how you can add to the discussion. Odds are the media members are searching for resources and insight on those timely topics and when you create a blog with your take and tag it correctly, you widen your net to attract attention from journalists looking for experts just like you.
Extra tip: host your blog on your website and make sure one of the main links will take media members to a “press room” where they can find links to previous media coverage, press materials and contact information for you or your publicist.
- Conduct an online brand audit. If I am a radio host and someone has told me what a perfect guest you would be for my show and I Google your name to book you, what will I find? If you don’t currently have a website or any online platform, do I have any way of getting in touch with you? If I can’t find you quickly, I’m moving on to the next guest. If you do have a website or blog, is what I find when I arrive there going to reinforce my decision to have you on my program or make me wonder about your credibility? Also, think about those media members who may not know your name, but are searching for someone with your exact credentials…does your website or any of your blog posts come up in even the most specific search?
Extra tip: Watch every single video that comes up in a simple search for your name on both Google and YouTube. Put yourself in the shoes of a producer at a top morning show and ask whether or not the video would encourage or discourage them booking you. Take down any videos that detract from your brand.
- Pay it forward to journalists doing a good job in your topic area. When you read articles or hear stories in your topic area that you believe are well done, pay attention to the name of the media member responsible and find a way to help them drive traffic to the story. The best way to do this is to search for the journalist’s Twitter handle and drive your followers to the story with an encouraging tweet: “Love this story by @JohnSmith in the Wall Street Journal today (link) Really smart take on this, John.” While most journalists get hundreds, if not thousands of emails a day, they get far fewer @ replies and often pay attention to those talking about them on Twitter. One key point is to never pitch with an @ reply on Twitter…all of your journalist-related content should add value and contribute to the discussion.
Extra tip: Use MuckRack.com to sort and find journalists on Twitter by category and media outlet.
- Consider your social media infrastructure as an online press kit. In today’s changing media environment, the first place that readers, media members, colleagues and others are likely to interact with you and your book won’t be at Barnes & Noble or even Amazon – it will be on your website, or perhaps more likely, via your various social media extensions. In many ways, these online extensions make up your virtual press kit, and you must make sure that your branding is consistent and you are providing value across each.
Extra tip: Nothing looks worse to media members or readers than a social media extension that hasn’t been updated in months. Don’t set up a Facebook page or Twitter account unless you intend on engaging and providing consistent, valuable content there. If you have social media accounts that you don’t update, cancel the accounts.
- Be interesting. Your odds of getting your content in front of a journalist within social media are dramatically improved if you are writing pieces that your readers want to share with their networks. People don’t engage with those who stay in the middle of the road—so be interesting and thought-provoking with your content and make sure you give people a reason to share your insight.
Extra tip: Blog titles often make all the difference in the world. Consider ways to spice up your headlines to attract more attention from journalists online.
If you have any questions or want to bounce an idea off of someone related to any of the insight above, don’t hesitate to email me or connect with me on Twitter. You can also visit our website to learn more about additional ways to build better relationships with colleagues, readers and media members online.
Marketing Your Book with Penny Sansevieri & Kimberlie Dykeman’s “Pure Soapbox”
August 23rd, 2010
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
This week on the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show, Penny Sansevieri, CEO and Founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., will talk with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov about effective book marketing tips and techniques as well as how authors should be using their books as their hook.
Ms Sansevieri will share best practices for marketing your book including where authors should begin, how to best work with the book marketing expert you hire and whether the self-published author really has to work that much harder than a traditionally published author to get the same kind of exposure. An industry expert for more than 10 years, she will also share her perspective of the future of the book publishing industry.
Kimberlie Dykeman, author of Pure Soapbox: A Cleansing Jolt of Perspective, Motivation and Humor, will discuss with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov the evolution of how her book and brand came about, how she got published, and how she is using her book as her hook.
Spanning the dynamic platform of the SOAPBOX® brand, Ms. Dykeman will talk about her rise in the ranks of two of the most challenging fields: publishing and entertainment. As an on-camera personality, executive producer and international spokesperson as well as a motivation expert, she will reveal not only how her book continues to expand her brand but also how she has engaged and enrolled a well-known charity, LIVESTRONG™, as a beneficiary of her book’s success.
In the Education Corner, host Jennifer S. Wilkov will be talking about using your book as your hook for your brand.
Using Your Book As Your Hook For Your Brand
August 23rd, 2010
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
As authors and writers, we’re always learning about resources and industry tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about using your book as your hook to make your brand bigger.
A book can be the genesis of a whole big brand or it can enhance one that’s already established.
Books bring a means of “hooking” your audience and market by providing insight into your business, system, creativity, imagination and ultimately – your brand. Even you!
On the credibility front, there is no question that books create instant credibility for you in your area of expertise. It also gives you the opportunity to be a little bit more transparent and a lot more accessible to your book reading audience. When they read your books, they feel more connected to you and why you do what you do.
Take a look at bigger, more established brands that have used books to tell their branding stories and how they got to be the big brands and businesses they are. Whether they’ve written them themselves or not, the brand benefits as a result of the books:
STARBUCKS – When you do a search in Amazon in just books, there are more than 1,000 results! Everything from The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary to Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built A Company One Cup At A Time to It’s Not About the Coffee: Leadership Principles From a Life At Starbucks to even Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks and Finding the Next Starbucks: How to Identify and Invest in the Hot Stocks of Tomorrow.
GOOGLE – There are more than 3,000 results alone when you type the word “Google” into Amazon. A company that grew up on the premise that people would use their search engine over others to find what they are looking for on the Internet has turned into so much more. Books include for example
The Google Way: How One Company Is Revolutionizing Management as We Know It; Planet Google: One Company’s Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know; The Google Story: For Google’s 10th Birthday; and even What Would Google Do? and Google Speaks: Secrets of the World’s Greatest Billionaire Entrepreneurs, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
TOYOTA – More than 4,000 results show up for “Toyota” when you search for it in Amazon. Here’s a company in a very different competitive space than a $5 cup of coffee or a free search engine. This is a brand that wants you to spend thousands of dollars on a vehicle that is going to require even more money after you buy it in order to maintain it. Yet books have been used to expand the visibility, credibility and confidence in their products and methods in the marketplace. Some of the books written about Toyota include The Toyota Way; Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results; Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way and even The Toyota Leaders: An Executive Guide among others.
There are even people who are their own brands who use their books as their hooks. Take a look:
MARTHA STEWART – From cookbooks to craft books to cupcake books to housekeeping and organizational books, not to mention a leadership book or two, Martha Stewart has successfully used her books as her hook to continue to deepen her connection with her loyal following who just can’t wait to find out what secrets she’ll reveal next to improve the lives of her reading and viewing audience. Her brand extends to linens, paints, cooking products and even her own magazine – and her books do too. In fact, Martha has been producing and publishing books around her brand for more than 20 years. Here’s a smattering of them as a tasty sample: Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: Basic Techniques for Sewing, Applique, Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing, and Printing, plus 150 Inspired Projects from A to Z; Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home; Martha Stewart’s Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook; Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook; Martha Stewart’s Gardening: Month by Month; all these and more topped off by The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business.
LARRY KING – Since the 1980’s, Larry King has not only been one of the best known faces of CNN, he has also been a prolific writer. Establishing his own brand through his books, he has commented on everything from his own life, health, even his love of baseball as well as what he’s learned from pundits, politicians and Presidents. Here are some samples beginning with one of his earlier books from 1989 entitled Tell It to The King to a more recent book published 20 years later in 2009 entitled My Remarkable Journey. Then there are others before, in between and after these books including Remember Me When I’m Gone: The Rich and Famous Write Their Own Epitaphs and Obituaries; Love Stories of World War II; Powerful Prayers: Conversations on Faith, Hope and The Human Spirit with Today’s Most Provocative People; Anything Goes: What I’ve Learned from Pundits, Politicians and Presidents; Beyond a Reasonable Doubt; Taking On Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed Over the Nation’s #1 Killer and How You Can Too; to even Why I Love Baseball and Daddy Day, Daughter Day, a children’s book he wrote with his daughter, Chaia.
Books have been used to brand people, systems, methods, philosophies and businesses for years.
When you start seeing your book as your hook for your brand, you’ll find it is so much more than just a book.
For more information on this Education Corner topic and others, please refer to www.YourBookIsYourHook.com/blog for more articles and resources to help you with your books.
How to Use Google AdWords with the Google AdWords Evangelist Frederick Vallaeys & Author Brad Geddes
August 2nd, 2010
By Jennifer S. Wilkov, host of the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show on WomensRadio
www.yourbookisyourhook.com
This week on the “Your Book Is Your Hook!” Show, Frederick Vallaeys, Google’s AdWords Evangelist, will talk with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov about what Google AdWords is and how to work effectively with this targeted advertising tool.
Mr. Vallaeys will also share best practices for running a successful campaign using Google AdWords along with specific tips, techniques and resources that Google provides to advertisers so they can capitalize on their use of the service. He will also discuss why Google AdWords is particularly beneficial for authors when using their book as their hook and how to optimize their campaigns by leveraging the nature of Google AdWords to target your desired advertising audience.
Brad Geddes, author of Advanced Google AdWords, will discuss with radio personality and host Jennifer S. Wilkov how an advertiser can maximize their use of Google’s AdWords program.
As the author of the most advanced book ever written about Google’s advertising program and as the first advanced AdWords Seminar Leader and a trainer who works directly with Google, Mr. Geddes will reveal why he wrote this book, how he connected with Google while he wrote it, how he enrolled Frederick Vallaeys, Google’s AdWords Evangelist, to write the foreword for the book and how he got published. He’ll also talk about how he is using his book as his hook to reach more advertisers who are seeking to use more advanced strategies with Google AdWords.
A no holds barred trainer at heart, Mr. Geddes will share with listeners how to write an effective ad that is conducive to the limited number of characters allowed by Google’s AdWords program. He’ll also provide suggestions for how to properly set up your AdWords account and reveal why testing your campaign is essential for your advertising success.
3 Tips to Jumpstart Your Google AdWords Campaign For Your Book
August 2nd, 2010
By Guest Blogger Frederick Vallaeys, Google’s AdWords Evangelist
www.google.com/adwords
If you are you an author looking for new fans, search marketing can help you connect with potential readers at the exact moment they are searching for information about your area of expertise. With Google AdWords, your ads can appear on the Google search results pages when a user types in one of the keywords you’ve selected. Because you only pay when someone clicks your ad, you control your budget, and since there is no minimum term, this is a low-risk method to give yourself and your books more exposure, hopefully leading to increased sales.
Here are a few tips to get your campaigns started off on the right foot:
1. Pick relevant keywords
When a user does a search, their query tells you exactly what they’re looking for and if you have a great solution or answer for them, it’s an opportunity to pitch your book. AdWords lets you choose which keywords should trigger your ads, but keep in mind that some keywords are better than others. Pick good keywords by putting yourself in the shoes of a user who might be looking for your type of book and imagine what they might search for. Those are the types of keywords you should select.
Don’t waste money on keywords that are too broad and could have multiple meanings because those are less likely to lead to sales. For example, the keyword “floral arrangements” could come from a user who wants to buy a floral arrangement whereas the keyword “floral arrangement ideas” is more likely to be from a user who wants to do it themselves and who might consider buying a book on the topic.
2. Write compelling ads that highlight the relevance of your keywords
When a user sees ads on Google, they make very quick decisions about which sites to visit. If it’s not immediately obvious why your ad could solve their problem or fulfill their need, it’s likely to be passed over. Make sure you use the keyword in your title and ad text so that the user knows immediately that you can help them.
A common pitfall is to use your name or the title of your book as the headline. But, unless you or your book are very famous, that’s unlikely to get the user’s attention. Instead, give the user a compelling reason to click your ad; for example, you could include a discount, a free shipping offer or recognition your book has received. Also take advantage of the fact that you can write multiple ads and let Google choose the one that gets the best response.
3. Measure results and bid sensibly
AdWords is a low-risk way to advertise because you only pay for clicks. Figuring out what a click is worth can be challenging though so you can start with the option to let Google figure out the best bids to drive the most clicks possible for your budget. After your ads have been running a few days, look at the detailed reports in AdWords to see which keywords are driving clicks to your site and at what cost. If you installed free conversion tracking from Google on your site, your reports will tell you how many conversions like sales and newsletter sign-ups you got from each keyword. With this data, you’ll be able to make smart decisions about how much each click is worth.
Stop by our help center for a more detailed AdWords Beginner’s Guide or check out the AdWords videos on YouTube.
Writing A Google Ad May Be Harder Than Writing Your Book – Advanced Tips & Strategies
August 2nd, 2010
By Guest Blogger Brad Geddes, Author of Advanced Google AdWords
www.bgTheory.com
One would think that writing a good ad would come naturally to writers. Rarely is it true. Most writers are too skilled at grammar and punctuation to write a good ad.
When you conduct a search on Google, you often see ads that line the right hand side of the page. These ads are a maximum of 140 characters. They are short and concise. Yet a good ad needs to perform these tasks to be successful:
- Call attention to itself
- Showcases a benefit
- Incorporate a call to action
Doing all of this in the space of an inch of text is possible, if you check your grammar and ego at the door.
Call Attention to Itself
Many search results contain up to twelve ads. When you combine that with ten natural results, and possibly other links from Google products, there can be more than thirty options on a search page. It is essential that ads stand out in this crowded page of links.
This is the first place where most writers get stuck. There is more to writing a catch headline than just choosing the correct words. Most writers naturally use sentence casing.
For many demographics, title casing is more effective than sentence casing. As a general rule, the younger the audience, the better title casing performs. The older the demographic, the better sentence casing performs.
Writers need to let go of their preference for proper casing to write a good headline when reaching younger demographics.
Showcases a Benefit
There are two items you need to know about when writing ads: features and benefits.
- A feature is a component of a product or service
- A benefit shows how that feature will improve your life
For instance, the statement “The Sony Z Vaio has a six hour battery” is a feature. It just tells a searcher that this laptop computer will last for six hours before the battery dies.
Features are easy to list, they are the bullet points you see listed on the side of a product’s packaging. They are simple to write, and outside of comparison shoppers, no one cares about the features.
Consumers spend money based upon how they perceive a product will improve their life. This is known as the benefit. A benefit shows someone how a feature will improve their life.
The statement, “The Sony Z Vaio has a six hour battery life so you can be productive on a cross country flight” is a benefit to business travelers.
Turning a feature into a benefit is simple. Take the benefit and finish the sentence.
Incorporating benefits into ad copy almost always increases its performance.
Incorporate a Call to Action
The best written Google AdWords ad is useless if it does not receive a click and send traffic to the advertiser’s website.
Many ads showcase benefits, but a benefit just highlights what a product will do for the searcher. A benefit is educational, not actionable.
Your ad should direct someone to take action. What would you like the searcher to do?
- Buy a new Plasma TV
- Subscribe to our newsletter
- Call us for a free consultation
These are calls to action.
However, they are boring calls to action that are taking up valuable ad copy space. You can combine benefits with a call to action.
- Bring the Cinema into your home by Buying a New Plasma TV.
- Signup for Powerful Marketing Tips
- Call us to Look Younger in just 10 Days
Did the capitalization of those ads annoy you?
Did you focus on the words: Buying New Plasma TV, Powerful Marketing, Look Younger?
By combining mixed casing, with benefits, with calls to action your ads can both stand out from the crowd and bring higher revenues to the advertiser.
You’re Never Always Right
A single sentence inside a 500 page book rarely matters if the words are not precise. As a writer, you are immersing the reader inside your world and have the other thousands of sentences to make up for one poorly written line.
When the ad only contains three lines, each line matters. The ad must move the searcher forward from glancing at the ad to clicking on the ad to visiting the website to performing the desired action (such as checkout, filling out a form, or calling a company).
However, there is no way to know what lines will resonate with the searchers if you only write a single ad.
In AdWords, it is simple to test different ads and messages. Instead of focusing on a single ad, you should write a few ads for each product. You do not have to know which is best, the searchers will tell you based upon what ads they are clicking that lead to sales.
This is where you can harvest the power of the internet and creative writing.
Creative writing gives you ideas.
The internet gives you statistics (such as sales, clicks, and revenue).
By combining these two together, you can be creative in your ad copy writing without having to worry about the end result. You have to give control to the searchers. Most writers hate this. When you write a book, you have control over the world. When writing ads, ‘best’ is generally based upon sales of the product, not how many people like the ad copy.
Just remember, no matter how good of a writer you are you will not always write ads that searchers like.
That is OK. If you can give up control, the statistics will tell you which is the best overall ad.
Writers can create excellent Google AdWords ads by following these simple guidelines.
The hardest part of writing AdWords ads for writers is giving up some creative control to statistics.
Brad Geddes is the author of Advanced Google AdWords, the founder of Certified Knowledge and bg Theory which are internet marketing training companies, and the only Advanced Google AdWords Seminar leader officially supported by Google.
