Client Questions Answered : Improving your Websites Exposure

In my previous post, I talked about Leading by Example, and the approach I am taking to running my business and this website. In an effort to lead by example, I have decided to publish the answers I provide to those that ask a question through the form on the main page of my site. By publishing these answers, I feel you can all learn from each other, and possibly gain some insight into your own marketing efforts.

The first question comes from author,Douglas J. Archambault.

Douglas writes, …“I started writing when I retired and I am having the time of my life. The only problem is I give more books away than are selling. I don’t have the volume on my web site that I think I need.” [What can I do?]

Douglas, I am going to give you 4 tips to improve your books exposure. These are things you should start doing immediately.

1. Your website needs some help.

Currently when I load the page, I am immediately greeted with search boxes prompting me to leave the page and look for something else. Those have got to go. I am there for a reason, and I should be instantly presented with what I am looking for. See if you can reorganize your site so there is more content on the front page. Things like the book reviews should be front and center, highlighting what people are saying. Those quotes are priceless, and will get people interested in your book. Oh ya, and lose the music. If you are trying to give some movement and emotion to the site, hire a professional to create a book intro[that we can view], that incorporates movement and music.

2. Reunite your blog and your website.

Your blog should be a part of your main site, and in reality, it should be that personal touch that makes people come to your site and hear your story, and want to read your book. Your blog is the free stuff that people want to find. Create compelling content and tease your potential buyers with excerpts and anecdotes about the book. Make them understand who Douglas Archambault is, and why they should care about you, and what you have to say.

3. Give more books away…

To the people that can help get you exposure. I don’t know who you are giving them away to now, but do some research on the internet, find other cancer survivors that blog, find some popular book review sites that can get you exposure, donate books to some hospitals and then issue a press release about it. Instead of giving away bookmarks on your site, give away the first chapter of your book, and get people interested in your story. Post a big link on the front page that says “Read the first chapter of my new book”…. Make people give you their name and email address when they download your first chapter, and allow them to recommend it to their friends. Once they recommend the book to their friends, give them the second chapter as a thank you. and at the end of the second chapter, present them with a link to buy the full book electronically, or in paper back.

4. Begin marketing yourself..

Once your website is fixed, start talking about it. Post stories on your blog, and link to them at digg.com, reddit.com , del.icio.us, and the other social media websites. Record yourself reading excerpts from your book and post them as a podcast. Ask people from the Book Marketing Network to read your free chapters and review it on their blogs. If you can get people talking, even just a little, you will start to see the traffic come to your site. Just make sure when those people come, there is a way for them to instantly place an order for your book. If you get the traffic, but you make it too difficult to buy, they will leave and never come back.

I hope this gives you some ideas Douglas. I really know you can make this happen, and I think with a bit of work, you will begin to see a jump in sales.

So, that’s was the first email I had received. They get better after this first one, as the frequency ramped up and I started writing more each day, but as it stands, what are your thoughts? Did I provide Douglas with sound advice? Do you have any recommendations for Douglas that I might not have covered? Let us know in the comments, and then send in your own question!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 8:13 pm and is filed under Questions Answered. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.