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Animoto’s 2015 Video Marketing Cheat Sheet [Infographic]

May 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment

According to a recent study by Animoto, more than 7 billion videos watched each and every day on Facebook and YouTube.

You can read the press release about the Animoto Online and Social Video Marketing Study to learn more.

However, one thing is clear…

If video content isn’t part of your marketing strategy, you’re missing out! And Animoto is a great way to get started…

Consider this:

  • 4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
  • Customers are nearly 50% more likely to read email newsletters that include links to video.
  • 4 in 5 consumers say a video showing how a product or service works (or what it’s about) is important.

Remember, your book is your product. Your name is your brand. You are your company.

So, how are you going to use video to promote your topic? Share in the comments below!

”2015

Filed Under: Marketing, Publicity, Resources, YouTube

Taking the Mystery Out of Image File Types

March 25, 2015 By Leave a Comment

We all know the benefits of using images and video in our social content. And then there’s the question of what to use in eBooks, presentations, on our websites, in blog posts and more.

I’ve recently begun teaching myself how to use Pixlr to do some of my own image editing and save my graphic designer’s time for things that absolutely require his talent.

So the question kept coming up for me. Which image file type should I be saving things as?

I tried asking my designer, but I have to admit… This is something that gets those guys jacked up, and I was lost after just a few sentences…

However, when you need it, the answer comes, right? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Pinterest, Resources, Social Media, Speaking, Website

An Interview with Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer

March 19, 2015 By Leave a Comment

This month’s Featured Author in our continuing interview series is Joel Friedlander (@JFBookman) from TheBookDesigner.com, a popular blog on book design, book marketing and the future of the book. If you haven’t spent any time on his site, I highly recommend checking it out. But I will warn you… Set a timer! Otherwise, you’ll find you’ve spent hours reading all of his great material and advice, without even knowing it.

Joel Friedlander - The Book DesignerSo, let me tell you a little bit about Joel. While I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet, it’s clear that he knows his stuff! He is an award-winning book designer, a blogger, the author of A Self-Publisher’s Companion: Expert Advice for Authors Who Want to Publish and the recently published The Self-Publisher’s Ultimate Resource Guide.

Joel has been launching the careers of self-publishers since 1994. He is also the founder of the online training course, The Self-Publishing Roadmap and provides pre-designed book templates and other tools for authors at BookDesignTemplates.

With all of that experience, you’re in for a real treat as he shares his knowledge and insights into the publishing (and marketing) world. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Interviews, Publishing, Twitter

Is Your Website Ready for Mobilegeddon?

March 14, 2015 By 2 Comments

Typically, when Google makes a change to its algorithm, website developers are left in the dark. We don’t know when they’re coming or what the change is. If we did, then it might allow us to “game the system” to ensure that our websites have just the right bells and whistles to rank the best in search results…

Google webmasters logoSo, website developers around the world snapped to attention when Google announced last month that “As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns.”

This prefaced their announcement that:

“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.“

As Chuck Price from Search Engine Watch put it “In the world of SEO, hummingbirds, pandas, and penguins are akin to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

It’s this prevailing opinion that has led developers to refer to this impending algorithm change as “Mobilegeddon.”

So what does that mean for you? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Website

5 Tools to Manage Your Social Media Content

March 12, 2015 By 1 Comment

Part of building your online presence, whether you’re an author, business owner, consultant, speaker or even an astronaut, is to keep it flowing with interesting content.

It’s all well and good to set up your profiles on each of the hot social networks out there, but then what do you do with them?

This topic came up recently in a Facebook group I’m part of, so I thought I’d share with my readers some of the tools and techniques I use to keep content flowing smoothly, even when my schedule is choppy.

Keep in mind that every social network has a different posting etiquette. Twitter, with its speed, requires more posts in a day to remain visible and relevant than, say, Facebook (although there are some studies that show that’s beginning to change to combat Facebook’s reticence to share page posts).

So, the tools I use are configured in such a way to ensure that I’m posting to the appropriate network at a pace and on a schedule that suits that social network.

That said, here are 5 tools and techniques I use for maintaining a flow of content for my followers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Facebook, LinkedIn, Resources, Social Media, Twitter

Want to Master LinkedIn? Now’s Your Chance!

March 3, 2015 By Leave a Comment

As I mentioned in my book, The Plan that Launched a Thousand Books, LinkedIn is a great resource no matter what profession you are in. The groups provide a wealth of information and collaboration opportunities. The blogs expose you to a wide variety of topics and interests.

And the people? As with any networking opportunity, there’s a wide array of personalities and professions.

As a speaker, I love connecting with event planners and audience members there.

As an author and publisher, I enjoy sharing ideas with others who are going through the same trial and error to learn how to market their books in the best ways possible.

I’ve taught thousands of people how to get the most out of LinkedIn over the years, and now I’d like to teach you.

Whatever your professional objective (to find a new job, advance your career, or sell more books), my LinkedIn Mastery courses will get you headed in the right direction. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, LinkedIn

The Best Uses for a Book Trailer Video

January 22, 2015 By Leave a Comment

I recently came across a discussion on LinkedIn where Ambalika Bhattacharyya, an author and marketing associate, posted the following question:

I would very much like to hear from authors on how they use the video trailer of a book to take it to its readers. Do share.

The issue here isn’t what to do with a book trailer, it’s what to do with videos in general. Most video creators don’t pay attention to how video actually works. So, they spend the time, effort and possibly money to have a video made, but then don’t use it properly.

LightbulbHere are just a few thoughts for you on how you can get the most out of any video that you create.

Create Your YouTube Channel

First of all, make sure you have your own YouTube channel. I’m assuming if you have videos created, you’ve got one.

In the channel settings, make sure that you populate the About information, including a good profile image and cover art to make the channel engaging. That includes making sure that there are links to your website as well as to your book listing. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing, Publicity, Social Media, YouTube

An Interview with Brian Jud, Executive Director of the Association of Publishers for Special Sales

November 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment

This month’s Featured Author interview is with Brian Jud, an incredibly resourceful author who is extremely active in the publishing world. As an industry expert, he conducts monthly Book Marketing 201® webinars for the Association of Publishers for Special Sales, an organization that he is the Executive Director of, as well as conducting the Book Marketing Monthly® webinars for CreateSpace. He also is co-owner of the Premium Book Company and owner of Book Marketing Works.

Brian Jud - Association of Publishers for Special SalesSuffice it to say, Brian eats, sleeps and breathes publishing and book marketing. I have often been amazed when in conversation with him at how his mind works, and all of the valuable insights and resources he has at his disposal.

I had the pleasure of meeting Brian in a social setting a couple of years ago, where we enjoyed talking about books, writing and the publishing industry in general. At that time, he was still very active in an organization that he’d started, the Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. As a newbie in the midst of writing my first book, I aspired to be at that level someday and Brian was gracious with his knowledge and advice.

That’s no less true today. Brian regularly speaks at writers’ conferences and other industry events, as well as providing consulting services, and focusing his efforts on more lucrative and “out of the box” sales activities related to book marketing and promotion. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Interviews, LinkedIn, Marketing, Publishing, Sales

An Interview with Mark Wayne Adams, Award-Winning Children’s Book Illustrator

September 18, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Mark Wayne Adams, Award-Winning Children's Book IllustratorThis month’s Featured Author interview is with Mark Wayne Adams, an amazing children’s book illustrator whose work has won more than 50 awards over the past 6 years.

I’ve seen his work and heard him speak about book marketing, and can highly recommend him as both an illustrator and a children’s book publisher if you’re in the market for one. He was also recently installed as the President of the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mark at The Business of Writing International Summit and absolutely love the enthusiasm and energy he brings to everything that he does. Mark was inspired to chase his entrepreneurial dream in the 3rd grade, selling drawings to classmates. To hear him tell the story, you had to admire his gumption!

Here we are now years later, and 3rd grade is far behind him. In this interview, he shares a bit about how he got his start as an author (not simply an illustrator), and some of the techniques that have worked well for him in marketing his books. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Interviews, Marketing, Twitter, Writing

What Inspires You to Create a Breakthrough Mindset?

August 11, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Woman Holding the Sun in the Palm of Her Hand - Photographer unknownNo matter what you do or who you are, there are times in our lives where our own weaknesses and inabilities can limit what we accomplish. To achieve more, we need to learn something new or overcome a limiting mindset.

And it’s not just one area of our life we need to focus on. Every day, we fill multiple roles. We’re in business. We’re a friend or family member. We’re a parent. We’re a colleague. We’re a role model or we’re being mentored.

There are so many different facets to a life that it can be hard to be intentional about all of them all of the time. But it’s important to be aware of what we do well and where we can use some improvement.

I think that’s one of the reasons that I enjoy the wisdom of people like Zig Ziglar and Les Brown so much. They are very real individuals, who understand what it means to be human and to overcome challenges. Their inspiration can yield better business partners as well as better parents. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Comfort Zone, Podcasting, Resources Tagged With: ,
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