Writers are some of the worst self-promoters I know.
“I’m a writer, not a marketer” is the familiar lament.
Writers suffer from the all-too-familiar “if you build it they will come” syndrome. If I write something, publishers should leap out of their chair, shouting that their lifelong search is over, and take the private jet to my house and sign me to a huge book deal. Problem is, it just doesn’t work that way.
Show me a writer who’s not a marketer, and I’ll show you a failed writer.
Fellow humor writer Bruce “8 Simple Rules” Cameron (yeah, those 8 Simple Rules) recently said in an email, “So, despite the fact that nobody can prove to me that a writer needs a dedicated web site, I re-designed and re-launched my writer website last month.”
There are any number of reasons why writers need their own website. First and foremost, it’s a marketing tool. You build awareness with your website, you give this increasingly-online world a place to find you. Before it was easy to build a website, Bruce built an email subscription list of 40,000 people in 52 countries in the late 1990s. That was his marketing tool, and one he used to great effect, but it wasn’t easy to find or join.
Secondly, it’s a publishing tool. If you’re just starting out as a writer, there’s no better way to start publishing and finding readers. Set up a blog, write stuff, and gather readers. Then, keep writing stuff and gathering more readers. Eventually, your writing will be seen by influential people, and you’ll find newer and bigger opportunities.
So to answer Bruce’s question, and in keeping with his writings, I give you…
8 Simple Rules Why Writers Need Their Own Dedicated Website:
- Readers and editors can find you.
- Your readers become big fans. Big fans tell their friends, who also become big fans. Big fans buy your books, that you were asked to write by the editors.
- You hotlink to your book on Amazon, and drive your big fans to it so you can sell your book. Your big fans buy your book from your Amazon affiliate link so you make a couple bucks more with each sale.
- People who pay speakers a few thousand bucks to speak at corporate gigs can find you.
- People who see you speak at their national corporate event become big fans.
- You remember what big fans do, right?
- You need a place to tell people to go when you’re on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.
- What do you mean, you’re a writer, not a social media geek?
You don’t need a dedicated website that cost $5,000 though. Maybe if you want some funky graphics or an ecommerce site, you can spend that much. (I can even put you in touch with the people who can help you.)
Instead you can just get by with a simple WordPress.com or Blogger.com website. Or if you want to get really complex, lease some server space, download WordPress.org to it, and you can have your own look and design, and even add your own plugins. (Our Pro Blog site is made with WordPress.org.)
The great thing about WordPress and Blogger is that they all allow you to add pages. You don’t have to deal with the typical blog look of only having one page. Not only will you have your blog page, you can create additional pages for your bio, contact information, videos of you doing book readings, and useful links.
While you don’t have to sell your soul and become a dedicated marketer, it won’t hurt to start thinking that way. (We’ll give you a good price for it.) If you still don’t want to, don’t worry. There are still thousands of writers — many of whom are worse than you — who are out promoting and marketing themselves online, being found by editors, and having important meetings about special projects. But you can console yourself with the thought that you didn’t resort to marketing (eww!) to promote your work.
You’ll need to when you see their books in the bookstore.
Photo credit: Djuliet (Flickr)
About the Author: Erik Deckers
Erik is the VP of Operations & Creative Services for Pro Blog Service. He has been blogging since 1998, and has been a published writer for more than 22 years. He has written humor newspaper columns, business articles, radio and stage plays, and is currently working on a novel. He helped write Twitter Marketing for Dummies, and is writing two other books on social media and networking. Erik frequently speaks on blogging and social media.
Tags: blog, Blogger, humor writing, WordPress, writing
Posted in Business Blogging, Communication, Marketing, Tools, Writing | 1 Comment »
Monday, December 14th, 2009
This post was originally published on February 10, 2009 on the DeckersMarketing.com blog, which will soon be closed down.
Neal “Taffy” Taflinger, of Indy.com posted a blogging question on my Facebook page a few days ago:
Question for you, Mr. Blogger Man – is it better to blog frequently so people know there is something to read or only as often as you have something valuable to say?
By an incredible coincidence, my good friend Doug Karr wrote an article about the very same subject on his Compendium Blogware work blog.
Rather than saying it’s one or the other, I would say post frequently and make sure you have something valuable to say.
Business blogs should post at least once a day (once a weekday is fine, and skip the weekends). Personal blogs like Neal’s or my humor blog can be once a week. However, once a week is the bare minimum. But I wouldn’t sacrifice either or choose one over the other. You need valuable content, and you need to post it with some frequency. The more you post, the more the search engines will find you (and love you!). This makes it easier to be found in the search engines for your particular search terms.
More importantly, you need to post consistently. If you post once a week, post it on the same day. If you post it daily, post it at the same time.
Plus, if you post regularly, your readers will know when and how to find you, and your readership will build more quickly and reliably than if you were to post every 7 – 15 days, without rhyme or reason, or any regular schedule.
Bottom line is this isn’t an either/or answer. There are those who say you can sacrifice quality for quantity, but since Neal’s blog is based on readership more than it is search engines, he should focus on quality, and don’t forget the quantity.
About the Author: Erik Deckers
Erik is the VP of Operations & Creative Services for Pro Blog Service. He has been blogging since 1998, and has been a published writer for more than 22 years. He has written humor newspaper columns, business articles, radio and stage plays, and is currently working on a novel. He helped write Twitter Marketing for Dummies, and is writing two other books on social media and networking. Erik frequently speaks on blogging and social media.
Tags: blog, blog writing, blogging, writing
Posted in Business Blogging, Business Blogging Content, Communication, Writing | No Comments »
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
In marketing there are only really two rules:
- Do something (legal).
- Do it better next time.
Since only about 20% of companies have a blog, the vast majority of companies are breaking rule one. Of the 20% that do have a blog, rule 2 is a problem, probably because it’s hard to get posts online with a full business schedule. One key to getting long term ROI from your blog is to focus on continuous improvement. Here are a few places you can look to improve:
Repeat Visitors: Is the number of repeat visitors going up or is it stuck? Repeat visits are key to building traffic, and with traffic comes leads and sales.
Engagement: What percentage of your visitors make a comment, email you or share an article? Are they just reading or are they participating?
Links: How often are your articles referenced by other bloggers and mentioned on social networks and forums? Links are critical to getting traffic and higher rank on Google because they show your site is a trusted authority.
Quality: What grade would an English professor give your posts? Are you getting straight A’s or not?
Conversions: Are you consistently getting leads from every article you post? Is that number trending up or down?
Topic Effectiveness: Look at how well your blog performs based on the topic you write about. Eliminate under performers.
What do you think the most important metrics are to help drive continuous improvement on your blog?
About the Author: Mike Seidle
Mike Seidle is a leading Internet marketing strategist and has been helping companies with search engine optimization and developing cost effective Internet marketing strategies since 1998. Mike is a one of the founders of Professional Blog Service and currently serves on Professional Blog Service's board of directors.
Tags: blog, blogging, businessblog
Posted in Business Blogging, Business Blogging Content | 1 Comment »
