How to use this Page

By Nick Cross

Whether you’re traditionally published, self-published or still trying, the pressure to promote yourself has never been greater. We’re exhorted to “get out there and build a platform” via social media and word of mouth. But while some authors manage this transition gracefully, there are others who undergo a Jekyll and Hyde transformation, turning into publicity-hungry monsters.
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Today, everyone is pressed for time. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. You may be trying to squeeze writing and marketing time in while working full time and taking care of a family. You may be trying to s-t-r-e-c-h time to get as much done as possible. You may be trying to do it all. Well, before you take on too much and finally break the ‘camel’s back,’ take a step

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If you haven’t updated your website theme yet, you should do it today. Why, you ask? In an article over at Boost Blog Traffic (BBT), it noted that in January of 2014, “mobile Internet usage exceeded desktop usage for the first time in history.” And, that was a year ago! Here are a couple of other statistics from BBT: 65% of emails get opened first on a mobile device. 76% of Facebook’s

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OH, BOY. I’ve been hit by Google’s Penguin 3.0. I haven’t received a formal notification, but my Global and U.S. Alexa rankings are rising. The lower these number the better. As an ethical writer and marketer, I work hard to maintain my online presence and build a strong and reliable platform – a platform that helps others through high quality information. Well, what worked yesterday,

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Have you gotten emails from accounts that have been hacked? Has your email account been hacked? Has one of your social media accounts be hacked? Hacking is everywhere and in everything. Today, a lot of business is conducted via email, so it’s essential to do your best to prevent hackers from getting a hold of your account. Or, make it as difficult as possible for them to figure your password

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This is Part 2 of the three-part series on becoming a niche powerhouse and building a successful business. Part 1 discussed how to find a profitable niche and how to ‘work’ it. This article is about finding your audience and how to build your list. Find Your Audience (build your list) Finding your specific audience before you promote your service or product is a sure way to guarantee sales

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Think you don't have enough venues to post your content to? Well, LinkedIn added one more. The business oriented site allows ALL members to  to publish their content. According to a very interesting article at HubSpot.com: Once you publish, your post will appear on your profile and be shared with your network -- people who you're connected to and members who just follow your posts. You'll

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It’s a content marketing fact: Blogging is one of the most effective authority building, credibility building persuasive, and money-making marketing strategies. This being the case, it means you need to regularly post content to your blog. It may be multiple times a day, once a day, three-times a week, once a week, or once a month. No matter what, you need to post to your blog on a regular

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According to statistics by Digital Strategy Consulting, on January 21, 2013, there were 634 million active websites. That’s over half a billion. That’s a lot of noise . . . a lot of competition. I’ve used the analogy before, about being a spec in the sky, and it’s true. You need to find and use marketing strategies, specifically website optimization strategies, to give your site (or your

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Online press releases, through distribution services, are an excellent marketing tool to increase your visibility and bring traffic to your site. And, they bring major attention to what you want to promote, such as a new product, a special you’re offering, a workshop, a new book, new services, and so on. Press releases also broaden your reach. There are tons of subscribers, including

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Guest Post by Erik N. Bowman Google+ is a fantastic tool to use if you are an author and want a cheap and easy way to publicize yourself and your latest book. 1. When you set up an account, try to write your biography in such a way that best explains everything that your readers need to know about you, it should also be written in a way that it will give it maximum visibility when people

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I'm a regular guest blogger for Inkwell Editorial and since the articles I submit have lots of online marketing information that may benefit you, I'll be linking to them. The first one up is: Marketing Your Writing - Which Opt-in Offer Converts Best? It’s realistic to say that all writers today are also marketers. The internet has made marketing a necessity – it’s just jam-packed with

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Whether you’re an author, freelance writer, online marketer, or if you’re in another field, you need a plan. You need an action plan, a GPS to get you started, keep you going, and see that you achieve your goals.

I found a great video of Zig Ziggle on Setting Goals (it's only 5 minutes):



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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING TIPS

Author Website Blues – Simple Fixes, Huge Benefits
Use Social Media to Promote your Blog Posts
Book Marketing Overwhelm

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RECOMMENDED TOOL - BOOK MARKETING 101

Book Marketing 101 – The First Steps in Creating Your Online Platform
Creating a Quality Product, Editing, Creating an eBook, Your Own Virtual Book Tour, Writing a Press Release, and More

CLICK HERE to find out what's in this ebook!



~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author-Writer Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author-Writer Online Platform
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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According to Hubspot.com, “A landing page is a web page that allows you to capture a visitor's information through a lead form.”

Copyblogger.com says, “A landing page is any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically to prompt a certain action or result.”

So, landing pages are designed for specific purposes, such as a selling page for a product or service or for an email opt-in. But, no matter what the purpose is, it must be focused.

The page itself can be a separate website or a page on an existing website. But, since you want it completely focused, without distractions, a separate website usually works better.

It’s this landing page focus that allows for better conversion.

An effective landing page is designed and focused on a target market. This means if your site pertains to a specific cancer or illness, your content, opt-in, and any products you’re selling should focus on people dealing with this particular health issue. That’s your target market. And, your keywords should also reflect the page’s purpose.

If your site is about baseball, the same holds true. The landing page design, content, and any products or services being offered must pertain to baseball.

The landing page is kind of like a path on which there’s no way to stray off or be distracted. It’s intended for visitors to read exactly what you want them to, guiding them to say YES to your offer. There are no other pages for them to click on and hopefully no sidebar to be distracted by.

While inbound marketing strategies will get the visitor to your landing page, it’s the copy or content that will motivate him to follow the path and be responsive to saying YES.

Your content needs to be conversational, effective, and provide the WIIFM (what’s in it for me). People are overwhelmed with the amount of information being bombarded at them and with all the offers for books, ebook, and products. You need to write copy that (1) quickly lets the reader know what you’re offering, (2) lets the reader know exactly what the benefits are, and (3) lets the reader know what you want her to do.

Landing pages are no place for guessing games. They need to be fine-tuned, to the point, and simple. The more hectic you make the page, the more anxiety it will cause the reader. Anxiety isn’t good for conversion. Simple always works best.

You should also create separate landing pages for different offers or purposes. In other words, you don’t want to explain why a visitor should opt into your mailing list on your book selling landing page. And, you shouldn’t sell books on your subscriber opt-in page. Focus is a key element to motivating or leading a visitor to go through the necessary steps to saying YES to whatever it is you’re offering.

Bringing traffic to landing pages is done through inbound marketing strategies, such as email campaigns, special offers, guesting posting, and press releases. Other inbound marketing techniques include pay-per-click, ad banners, social networks, and affiliates.

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RECOMMENDED TOOL - SPEEDY WEB VIDEO

Another tool to boost conversion is marketing with video. If you have an information email or information product, or if you are selling a book or service, the most effective strategy for conversion is videos. Speedy Web Videos is an ecourse that teaches you, with step-by-step instructions, to create your own videos. Check it out today - CLICK HERE!

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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Do You Have an Online Marketing Focus?
7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing List P1
Text and Images – The Perfect Combination

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author/Writer/Home Business Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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I'm so glad you asked! :)

I have a 8 week ecourse on how to create and build an author-writer-home business online presence / platform.

CREATING AND BUILDING YOUR AUTHOR ONLINE PRESENCE  Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales



THE COURSE OUTLINE:

1. The Beginning – Creating a Quality Product

2. The Bare-Bottom Platform Basics: Creating an Author Website and Blog Content

3. Article Marketing: 10 Steps to Writing for Article Directories with Properly Formatted and Optimized Content

4. How to Create Ebooks for Freebies and for Sale, Including Creating a Cover with Microsoft Office 2010

5. How to Create PayPal ‘Buy Now’ Buttons for Your Site/s

6. How to Create a Product Line and Attracting Customers Through Information Marketing

7. How to Create Your Own PowerPoint Webinars

8. More Marketing Strategies

* And, the 8 week ecourse includes a 10 Point Website Critque!

To check out the full Table of Contents and testimonials go to:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/

But first, here's a quick tip: the first step for an author, after creating a quality product/book, is to create an effective website. Having an effective site means it needs to have the necessary optimization elements, pages, and content. The website is the foundation of your platform. And, simple works best.

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author/Writer/Home Business Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

~~~~~

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I first heard the term data marketing, in regard to email marketing, from Jermaine Griggs owner of hearandplay.com

Griggs is a self-made man. He created a music site that has become very successful and he offered advice on how he did it through a webinar offered by SherpaMarketing.com

First, let’s go over what email marketing is and then what data marketing is.

Email marketing is a strategy in which you send informational and promotional emails to people or companies that sign up for your mailing list. It’s a means of developing a relationship with your subscribers.

To get a subscriber, you would offer an ‘ethical bribe,’ such as an informative or entertaining ebook, video, or podcast.

Data marketing is the strategy in which you collect data on your subscribers and use that data to create targeted follow-up emails. The targeted emails allow for a more personalized connection to your subscribers.

A note here: This does not mean garnering highly personal information on your subscribers, it simply means gathering enough general information through their actions and responses to determine demographics, interests, needs, and online behavior.

So, how do you do data marketing?

You can think of data marketing as a ladder. The first step is getting ‘the visitor to your site’ to subscribe to your mailing list. Then, each follow-up email is geared to gathering a bit more targeted information on the subscriber. This information will allow you to create a segmented subscriber list.

The Purpose of a Segmented Mailing List
Knowledge is power. Knowing what types of products or services your subscribers like, need, and want is power. It allows you to send targeted emails to specific and receptive groups.

So, how might a segmented mailing list work as a book marketing strategy?

Well, unless you write in only one genre, you will be marketing to different markets. Suppose you’re an author of middle grade and young adult books and you also write picture books. The market, and therefore your marketing strategy, for these two genres is different.

You might be wondering, how so.

Well, to promote picture books, you need to target parents, grandparents, possibly teachers, and other adults who would buy for young children. The middle grade and especially the young adult market would be able to pick out and read their own books, so you’d be marketing to them, as well as teachers and other adults.

The marketing strategy for each genre needs to focus on the target market. Subscriber segmentation allows you to send targeted emails to each marketing group.

So, if you’re not data marketing yet, get started today.


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You should really check this out: CLICK HERE!



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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Online Membership Sites – Should You Join One?
10 Ways to Know if Your Internet Marketing is Paying Off
The Author Website – Keep it Simple and to the Point

~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author/Writer/Home Business Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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How to Make Money Marketing Articles

Guest Post by Evelyn Y. Vargas

Online entrepreneurs are using articles to generate leads and to increase their conversion rate. Writing is a very effective way to capture customers' attention. By distributing such write-ups in the internet, the chances of a business to get a bigger number of audience are high. Company owners are also hiring freelance writers to spread the word about them. The amount of compensation depends on the person's skills and years of experience. If you have a passion in writing, this could be your opportunity to make money online.

Education and experience

In truth, you don't have to be a professional writer to penetrate this industry. As a matter of fact, employers won't even require you to have a formal education in publishing or to attend a 4-year course for this particular job. As long as you can express your thoughts and opinion in English - with acceptable grammar - you can easily succeed in this endeavor. In addition, relevant experiences such as having a personal blog and contributions to online publications are also of huge help.

Writing style

When blogging for a specific company or product, you have to remember that simple words are much more appreciated than encyclopedia-type articles. Think about your audience. Most likely, they are ordinary people who want to understand your point immediately, Don't make them search a dictionary for word meanings because this will turn them off. Avoid also very long sentences that may confuse the reader. Create a unique writing style of your own and consider topics that would be interesting to readers.

Topic or niche

DIY (do it yourself) and other helpful information are much preferred today. People want to learn new things so share your knowledge about cooking, baking, gardening, blogging, web designing, etc. Informative articles and blog posts are very much in-demand because internet users are looking for reading materials with focus on a specific topic or niche. Submit your blog to major article directories, forums, blog networks and web magazines to drive visitors to your web page.

Tools and software

If you have a website, set up a plugin that will allow your followers to subscribe to your posts. In this way, they will automatically receive a notification every time you have a new published article. There are plenty of free tools out there but you can also buy a software or hire a programmer to customize one for you. Finally, don't forget to install FaceBook, Twitter and other social networking buttons to let your visitors share your articles fast and easy.

Make Money Check is designed to give you honest reviews straight from the mouth of people who have tried and made money online themselves. Every single post aims to give you insight about the proven methods and techniques to earn online. Learn more about how to make money online by writing articles and other recommendations by visiting this link http://makemoneycheck.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Evelyn_Y_Vargas

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RECOMMENDED TOOL: WRITE WHERE THE MONEY IS
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It's an inside-the-biz guide that steers you clear of the shark-infested waters that gobble up and spit out most wannabe writers. Howells shows you the shortcuts to earning good money quickly. His hard-learned secrets and stealth tactics will save you a ton of pain and frustration.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED TODAY!


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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Article Marketing – Reprint Strategies Pros and Cons
Email Marketing – Personalize Your Automated Emails
Online Membership Sites – Should You Join One?

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author/Writer/Small Business Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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One of your online marketing tools should be article marketing, and article marketing includes your blog posts.

Simply posting to your site isn't enough. You need to create a search engine optimized article that will bring traffic, increase your visit lengths, and enable the visitor to share your post.

Below is a SlideShare presentation that gives you simple instructions on creating effective Blogger posts. And, much of what's shown, is useful on WordPress and other management systems.

So, off we go:

OPTIMIZE YOUR BLOGGER BLOG POSTS



This is the first SlideShare presentation I've made and I'd really appreciate your input (comments):

1. Was it easy to understand?
2. Was it engaging?
3. Do you think it needed music or some kind of sound effect?
4. What's your impression of SlideShare presentations?

Thanks so much for your help!

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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

The Author Website – Keep it Simple and to the Point
Book Marketing – 9 Quick Tips for Being a Guest Blogger on Blogging Sites
Commenting on Blogs Still Works

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author/Writer/Home Business Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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I mentioned before that as I come across writer or author websites that need help, I'd briefly critique the site to give my readers some website pointers. But, I don't reveal the name or url of the site I'm critiquing.


These critiques are geared to help authors setup websites that are visitor and search engine appealing.

Here is a critique of a website I recently recently.

The first and most notable impression this website offers is its header:

Header image: Several book images taking up about half the header – from left to center

Title: NONE
Subtitle: Welcome to my blog (under books image in small text)

Three Pages:
Home page: Welcome to “Site owner’s” XXXX  XXX  XXX Blog
About “Author”
Published Works

Can you quickly notice what’s wrong with the top portion of the website?

No?

Okay, Let’s go over each element:

1. Header Image

The header doesn’t tell the visitor anything. There are several small images of book covers, but the visitor won’t know what they’re for. Are they the authors, is it an author’s site, are they cover design examples?

The header raises a number of questions. This is never a good thing from a marketing aspect. You have about 4 seconds to grab a visitor – that’s not a lot of time.

Along with this, the header image only covers half the header, and it’s not centered. This makes it look uneven and somewhat unappealing.

Fix: Go to fiverr.com and hire someone to create an appealing header.

2. Website Title 


There is none. Search engines (SEs) will have a difficult time finding, indexing, and categorizing this website because there isn’t any information in the title, let alone keyword information. There isn’t any search engine optimization for SE spiders to latch onto.

The same goes for the visitor - he'll be scratching his head, wondering what the site is about.

Fix: Create a site relevant keyword title. This is a must for any website.

3. Website Subtitle

“Welcome to my Blog” does offer the visitor or SE spiders any information. The site could be a real estate site, a sports site . . . it could be anything.

Fix: Create a site relevant keyword subtitle – one that supports the title, one that offers more information letting the visitor and SEs know what the site is about. You want relevant, but different keywords – don’t use the same ones as in the title.

4. The Pages

A. The Home page

This page title doesn’t offer any keyword information, although it does give the title of the site (I’m assuming). Also, it’s not a good idea to waste words on a page title. Make it simple and to the point.

Fix: The author could simply use the title of the site and omit “Welcome to “site owner’s.” Or, the author could simply keep it at “blog” if the title has no keyword value.

B. About “Author name”

This is okay to use. It quickly lets the visitor know what to expect on that page and lets the visitor know who owns the site.

Fix: None needed

C. Published Works

This page title should have keywords in it. Does the author write fantasy, nonfiction, history, children’s books?

You need to quickly let the visitor know what your site is about.

Fix: Change the page title to include the genre s/he works in.

These are simple fixes that will make a huge difference in this site’s ‘curb appeal,’ visitor engagement, and SEO.

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RECOMMENDED TOOL: Website Services (that gets your website working for you)

If you don't have a website set up yet, or you need help getting an existing one visitor and search engine optimized, check out my service http://www.karencioffi.com/website-services/

I offer website setups, website tuneups, and website critiques.


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MORE WEBSITE AND ONLINE MARKETING TIPS

Book Marketing – Website in Trouble
Commenting on Blogs Still Works
The Author Website – Keep it Simple and to the Point

~~~~~

To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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I had a hundred million other things to do the other day but then I came upon this piece in the New York Times about "Protecting Your Privacy on the New Facebook". The NEW Facebook? Again? Sigh. What with now being a quoted company, FB is adding new meaning to the word INSIDIOUS. Having said that, as someone who promotes stuff on Facebook, I have found the Facebook page very useful in

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Subscriber segmentation is the process of creating more targeted subscriber lists within your list. This process enables you to create a much more personalized subscriber experience.  And, the way you go about segmenting your list is through data collection.

In a webinar hosted by SherpaMarketing, Hear and Play owner Jermaine Griggs explained that personalized automated emails based on triggers are 43% effective.
That’s a great percentage.

Griggs went on to say that segmentation is the strategy of “using ‘data to segment prospects and customers to deliver personal experiences.” The process is to collect and analyze obtained data and use it to tweak your list for personalization. Grigg’s noted this as “message to market match.”

Okay, segmentation sounds reasonable, but, is this extra step in email marketing really necessary?

Why is Subscriber Segmentation Important?

You may be asking why subscriber segmentation is important. The reason is to streamline your process and to avoid bombarding your subscribers with content and offers they aren’t interested in.

Suppose you signed up to a music site to get information on playing the piano, but you continually get email offers for playing the clarinet, or the banjo, or the harmonica. How would you feel? Would you stop opening the emails or worse yet, unsubscribe?

Everyone in inundated with more emails than they can comfortably handle. Getting offers or information that isn’t requested or wanted is just annoying. Subscriber segmentation avoids this pitfall.

Another reason segmentation is effective is the personal aspect of it. The message to market match strategy allows for the building of a trusting and lasting relationship. Your subscriber will appreciate the focused information and offers. He will feel you are truly interested in him and want to help him move forward on his journey.

Taking it Up a Notch

To further cement your subscriber relationship with personalized emails and boost conversion, you might also offer perks, such as an Amazon gift card or other easy to send gift for saying YES to a certain number of offers, or for reaching a certain action level.

Or, you might provide daily or weekly tips in their area of interest. No promotion,  just targeted information to help them move forward.

American Writers & Artists (AWAI) offers credits for all purchases and subscriptions that can be applied to future purchases. This is a great incentive to say YES to offers.

Test out these and the many other marketing strategies available and find those that work best for you.

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MORE ON INTERNET MARKETING

Email Marketing - Personalize Your Automated Email for More Clicks and Better Conversion
NEED TO PROVIDE LINK
Ebooks are a Must
SEO and Website Ranking – Inside Website Visit Lengths

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RECOMMENDED TOOL

As part of your online marketing strategy, you'll need an 'enticing' ethical bribe to get that visitor to say YES to your opt-in. One of the most effective tools to do this is offering an ebook. To create an 'out of the ballpark'  ebook and cover check out:

Write That Ebook and Design Your Own Cover in 10 Easy Steps


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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Author Online Marketing eCourses and eBooks:
http://karencioffi.com

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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My next online marketing e-class for WOW! Women on Writing is scheduled for March 4, 2013.

CREATING AND BUILDING YOUR AUTHOR ONLINE PRESENCE:
Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales by Karen Cioffi

START DATE:  Monday, March 4, 2013
DURATION:  6 weeks

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

As an author or writer, it’s a certain bet that you have something to sell; it may be your book, your skills, or your experience and knowledge. In order to sell what you’re offering, you need to create and build your online presence.

Why is this absolutely necessary?

Well, imagine being a spec in the sky . . . so tiny and far away that you’re invisible to the human eye. That’s you in the Internet universe. So, how do you get a flickering light going and build it into a steady strong beam?

By creating and building your author online presence.

If you’re a first time author, the process should begin before your book will be available for sale. This course will take you from square one right on through to beyond book sales.

If you have one or more books under your belt and already have a website up and running, but want to extend your marketing reach and draw more traffic to your site, or you want to branch out with additional writing related products or services, weeks two through six of this class will help you achieve just that.

The class will also provide two live or replay screen-sharing webinars to further aide in understanding. Screen-sharing allows the presenter to share her screen, so students can see how each step is done.

Here’s an outline of the six lessons:

1. The Bare-Bottom Platform Basics: The Foundation and Creating an Author Website

2. Blogging for Success: Creating Effective Content

3. Article Marketing: 10 Steps to Writing for Article Directories with Properly Formatted and Optimized Content

4. How to Create Ebooks for Freebies and for Sale, Including Creating a Cover with Microsoft Office 2010

5. How to Create PayPal ‘Buy Now’ Buttons for Your Site/s

6. How to Create a Product Line and Attracting Customers Through Information Marketing

And, there are two bonus lessons!

For full details, with a breakdown of each lesson and testimonials, go to:
http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/WOWclasses.html#KarenCioffi_AuthorOnlinePresence1

Here are a few Testimonials (there are more on the WOW! page):

The last three weeks have been invaluable and this course has helped in so many amazing ways. Thanks for all the wisdom. I am learning a ton and feel so much more equipped to build my platform. Thank you so much.

~ Amy Crawford, PhD, LMFT
Psychotherapist & Writer Specializing in Military PTSD
www.amyleecrawford.com

~~~~~

Three months after starting my freelance editing business, I knew I needed a website and blog but was too overwhelmed to set them up. Karen Cioffi’s class, “Creating and Building Your Author Online Presence: Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales,” looked like the perfect nudge I needed. And was it ever! Karen provides even more information than I’d hoped for. She is approachable, helpful, and knowledgeable, and not only did I learn what I knew I needed to learn, I also came away with new marketing strategies I hadn’t even thought about—and that’s saying something, considering my background in publishing. If you’re even just thinking about writing a book someday, take this course now and start building your author platform!

~ Candace Johnson, Change It Up Editing and Writing Services

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Karen Cioffi knows her stuff! I sat in on her class and was extremely impressed by her course materials, website evaluations, and personal coaching with students. She knows a lot about making your website stand out from the pack—even an old pro like me learned a thing or two! She provided students with unique solutions personally tailored to their own websites that I would never have thought of. I highly recommend this course for those who are looking to build their online platform. Karen goes above and beyond for her students and is a fantastic mentor.

~ Angela Mackintosh, editor and publisher of WOW! Women On Writing

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Karen Cioffi is the go-to person for online marketing. She knows her stuff and does what she does with heart.

~ Carolyn Howard-Johnson, multi award-winning poet, writer of fiction, speaker and teacher

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Let me help you get your online light going - sign up today!

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Today, most authors and new business owners realize the need to create and build a subscriber list. And, where there’s a subscriber list, there will be email marketing.

As with any marketing strategy, you need to keep track of your email marketing efforts: Is your email strategy effective? How many of your subscribers actually open your emails?

These are questions you should pay attention to. While email marketing is a very effective marketing strategy, if most of your subscribers aren’t opening your emails or reading the content you’re providing, it’s a waste of time and effort.

According to Jermaine Griggs (hearandplay.com), in a webinar he presented through SherpaMarketing, personalized automated emails based on triggers are 43% effective. That’s a BIG percentage.

So, how do you personalize your emails in order to give them a boost and 'up' their effectiveness?

The answer: Through data collection.

Collecting all sorts of user data, such as demographic, behavioral, and even psychographic is the key to creating personalized emails.

Well, there is a bit more. Along with collecting that data, you need to use it to send targeted content and offers to specific subscribers. If warranted, you subscriber list should be segmented.

According to Griggs, it’s all about using “data to segment prospects and customers to deliver personal experiences a human could never manage.” In other words, “It’s all about data collection and using that data strategically.”

Collect and analyze data to use for personalization. This is considered ‘message to market match.’

While you do want to collect different bits of data on your subscribers to enhance your email marketing efforts, your initial intent is to get the visitor to sign up to your list. To get that initial sign up, be sure to keep it simple. If the visitor has to jump through hoops, he’s likely to move on without saying YES. But, once he’s on board, then, through various offers and invitations, you can build on that initial YES.

A simple method of beginning a segmentation process is to offer a particular option or offer. As an example, suppose you’re a ghostwriter and editor. You specialize in three areas: children’s stories, business content, and health content. To find out which categories each subscriber falls into you can ask questions and /or make offers. The responses will add another layer of detail to the subscribers.

In an initial email, you might offer a free critique of the first page of a children’s manuscript. Those who take you up on your offer will fall into the children’s writer category. You will follow the same process to construct a segmented subscriber list that you can send personalized emails to.

This process will enable you to send segmented follow-up emails to your users, rather than the one-email-fits-all type. One email response can easily trigger another targeted offer or information. And, each response or action taken by the subscriber can be added to his profile – this targeted information will allow for more dynamic follow-ups.


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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing List Part 1
4 Tips to an Effective Subscriber Opt-in Email Box
Do You Really Need an Author Website?

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Author Online Marketing eCourses and eBooks:
http://karencioffi.com

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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The Writers on the Move February 2013 FREE webinar is in place and here are the basic details:

Title: Article Marketing – Publishing and Optimizing a Blog Post Using Blogger
Day: Friday February 15, 2103
Time: 4PM EST

DESCRIPTION

Blogging is an essential part of creating and increasing your visibility. It helps put you on the internet’s radar. And, part of blogging is to create engaging, informative, and optimized content in the form of blog posts.

But, simply throwing up a blog post doesn’t ensure the search engine spiders will find and categorize your content. There’s more that has to be done to create search engine optimized content.

That’s what this free screen-sharing webinar is all about.

During the webinar I’ll post an article to the Writers on the Move’s blogsite and tweak it for search engine optimization – all in real time!

And, I’ll show how to find and implement SHARE buttons on Blogger.

While this webinar is focused on Blogger posts, much of the optimization is applicable to WordPress and other services.

So, if you want to make your blog posts more effective and get more ‘bang’ for your online marketing efforts, register today!

To register just click on the link below and fill out the form.
http://www.anymeeting.com/PIID=E952D681884C39

For the full details visit Writers on the Move

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You absolutely, positively need an author website and online presence . . . I can help you create it:

Create and Build Your Author Online Presence 
Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).
Karen Cioffi
Award-Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter
Author Online Presence Instructor

Create and Build Your Author Online Presence
http://www.karencioffi.com/author-online-presence-ecourse/

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/


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In a recent webinar hosted by Steven Harrison of Reporter Connection and presented by Stu McLaren, the details of creating and managing a membership site were discussed. And, it isn't for the faint of heart.

With a membership site, you need to determine a 'salable' focus, similar to information products. It needs to be a topic (problem) that people need a solution to or want to learn how to do. If you have the know-how to help these people (your target market), then you're in a position to do a number of things:

1. Create information products in the form of ebooks, DIY ecourses, webinars, podcasts, videos, and so on.
2. Offer interactive e-classes. 
3. Offer one-on-one coaching.
4. Create a membership site.

Of the four options listed, creating and managing a membership site will probably be the most work.

Wondering why?

Well, with information products, you create them, then market and sell them. With interaction e-classes there is a time limit. Sometimes the class may be two weeks, six weeks, or three months. The time span is whatever you decide upon - there's a beginning and an end and a set amount of content involved.

With one-on-one coaching, you're dealing with specific individuals. This creates kind of a 'contained' atmosphere. There's no hard-pressed pressure.

So, What’s Involved in Creating and Managing a Membership Site?

Well, the answer to that all depends on the type of site you intend to create. While there are lots of different formats, here are three of the basics:

The ‘Full Service’ Membership Site

This site is the most amount of work and is an ongoing project. You’ll need to:

•    Provide a 'kick start' with a valuable core information
•    Provide  'new' and valuable information on regular basis (usually weekly)
•    Create and manage a member forum (optional, but advised)
•    Provide your input on hot topics
•    Provide webinars, videos, and/or audio to accommodate the  different preferences of the members
•    Send regular emails reminding the members to stop by and take advantage of the site
•    Have a website that can act as a membership site
•    Have a payment format in place
•    AND, you need to market the site, garner members, and keep the members on board happy and satisfied.

While this type of site is involved, it does usually offer the members more value for the cost. This is always a good thing. And, if you take care to plan it out and have lots of structure, including using templates for weekly and monthly activities, it should run smoothly and be a win-win situation for you and your members.

The Updated Information Site
This type of site is much easier than the ‘full service’ one. Information is uploaded to the site in various formats. You can use audio tutorials, video, ebooks, screen-sharing webinars, and so on. You can also offer various formats.

After the ‘core’ modules are in place, new monthly lessons, instructions, of information is uploaded.

With this type of site:

•    There isn’t a member forum to take care of
•    There isn’t an ‘open’ questions and answers, although you should respond to questions if at all possible
•    There isn’t a need for a complicated management system, a regular WordPress site should suffice
•    It can actually be done through something like Yahoo Groups
•    Member payment is usually yearly.

This is a good option if you don’t want too much work. Members are happy with the ‘core’ content and satisfied to stay because of the monthly updates.

The Simple Membership Site

The ‘simple site’ is just that, simple. It’s based on the ‘updated information’ site, mentioned above, but doesn’t offer any updated information. With this type of site, unless you have a membership forum, members will buy in for the information and leave. This is definitely geared toward a yearly membership fee.

These sites can be a great marketing tool to boost your authority status, earn some money, and build your list.

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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Book Publicity – How to Create an Online Media Kit
Beyond Book Sales Income: Book Marketing and Diversification
Small Business Marketing – Know What Consumers Buy (1)

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Online Marketing Ebooks and Ecourses:
http://karencioffi.com

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

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