4 Book Marketing Strategies That Are Guaranteed to Keep Your Online Platform Moving Forward

By Karen Cioffi

Your author or writer online platform is all about numbers and reach. It’s about how many people are aware of you within your niche and how many of those people think you have authority within your niche. In other words, it’s about how many connections you have. You might equate it to a popularity contest.

Unfortunately, there are millions of contestants in the online platform arena trying, as you are, to get the golden subscriber email address and get the emails they send opened.

Because of the sheer number of marketers, people are bombarded with marketing emails on a daily basis. This in turn has caused a drop in email opt-ins and a drop in marketing email open rates.

So, what can you do to fight the odds and keep moving forward to reach your goals?

There are four strategies you can use to keep you connected to people and keep you on the visibility radar.

1. Connection frequency

You need to connect with your subscribers and target market on a regular basis.

This doesn’t mean adding to the email inbox bombardment, it means to be visible in multiple places. How many times a week are you connecting with your subscribers and your target market?

This matters.

Are you taking advantage of the different venues you can reach people? Are you being active in groups? How about social media, such as Facebook, Linkedin, GooglePlus, Twitter, and Pinterest? Are you offering valuable information on a regular basis?

Each of these connection venues is another layer of visibility and familiarity. This frequency helps establish a relationship and helps it grow.

2. Consistency

Everyone when first starting a platform is determined and motivated. You diligently keep on top of social networks, blogging, article marketing, sending out a newsletter on a regular basis, and so on. But, then, when results aren’t what was expected or don’t come quick enough, the motivation and effort slows down.

Well, being consistent is what will help you reach your goals. In fact, without being consistent you most likely will never reach your goals.

Coleman Cox says it best: "Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts."

Create a plan of action steps and stick to them. Be consistent.

3. Authority and Usefulness

According to pro-marketer Travis Greenlee, statistics show that published authors have a 300% higher credibility rating than non-published authors.

That’s quite a difference and gives the published author a big advantage in authority. If you’re not published yet, a quick remedy is to create an ebook and get it out there. With that said, your ebook needs to be a quality product.

But, having an ebook isn’t the cure-all. In addition to this, you need to deliver quality (useful) information to your target market on a regular basis.

The point here is that you need to be perceived as a person of value to your target market. Your actions and offerings need to demonstrate that you can help them with their problem, need, or want.

If you are perceived as having high authority (knowledge and experience) and value (capability and usefulness), people will want to be connected with you.

4. Visibility

Visibility and frequency go hand-in-hand. While you need to make frequent connections, you need to know where and how to make those connections. That’s where visibility comes in.

How many different formats are you using to be visible to your connections and make new connections?

There are a number of marketing formats you can use to generate visibility, including:

•    Blog posting
•   Guest blogging
•    Creating podcasts
•    Creating videos
•    Creating e/books, reports, etc.
•    Sending out newsletters or ezines
•    Offering webinars, teleseminars, or workshops
•    Staying current on social networks, such as Facebook, Linkedin, GooglePlus, and Pinterest

You get the idea. Keep it fresh. Don’t use the same formats to bring information to your subscribers, readers, and visitors.

You need to use all four of these strategies to keep your online platform moving forward.

Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, and online marketing instructor for authors and writers. Get her weekly newsletter with must-know writing and marketing tips at: http://thewritingworld.com

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Creating, Promoting, and Selling in the Writing World

I recently attended a teleconference presented by David Riklan, a well-known marketing expert and the founder of SelfGrowth.com. The focus of the topic was creating a successful online business from scratch.

According to Riklan, the first two ‘core’ ways to establish a successful online business, one that generates income is to:

1.Create your own product to sell.
2.Create a service to sell.

Please understand that when you create a product or service, it should be a quality product or service. It needs to address the potential customer’s problem, need, or want.

What are some of the products and services you can create and sell online?

1. Books
2. eBooks
3. Podcasts
4. Workshops
5. Teleclasses
6. Webinars
7. White papers
8. Your writing skills as a ghostwriter, freelance writer, or copywriter
9. Speaking engagements
10. Coaching

You can see there are a number of things you can create and sell. And, when you create one product, you can always turn it into a number of others.

For example, if you present a live chat workshop be sure to have it copied. You can later create a report from the transcript and/or create a podcast. You can also create an e-book from the content you prepared for the workshop.

The same can be done for any of the products or services mentioned above. Rework the original content into as many other products you want.

But, take note that just having a business or a product to sell won’t necessarily generate an income. You need to attract potential clients and/or customers to your website and opt-in box, kind of like a magnet.

Why is it so important to attract visitors/potential clients to your site?

The answer is simple: Attracting visitors to your site gives you the opportunity to turn that visitor into a subscriber on your mailing list. This in turn helps you develop a relationship with the individual.

Statistics show that a first time visitor will not buy what you’re offering. But, if you have that person on your mailing list, you will be able to try again, and to promote other products or services you have for sale.

Along with your products and services, you can become an affiliate marketer to other products and/or services you feel are of value. This creates a win-win-win situation. The product creator gets a sale, you get an affiliate fee, and the customer gets what he wants or needs.

So, the key is to offer something the visitor will feel is worth his valuable email address.

What is the most effective strategy to use to motivate someone to give their email address, thereby increasing your subscriber list?

The number one way to do this is by offering a FREEBIE. The visitor subscribes to your mailing list and then gets the freebie. This is known as an ethical bribe.

Obviously, the freebie must be something people want or need. If you have a health site focused on allergies, visitors will want information on allergies, maybe a report on the latest allergy statistics or alternative strategies for alleviating allergy symptoms will prompt visitors to click on your opt-in.

You need to provide a freebie that is geared toward your target market, something that offers a solution to their problem or need, or provides something they want, and one that will help establish you as an expert in that niche and trustworthy.

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Image courtesy of Free Digital Photos - Photographer: Salvatore Vuono

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Related Articles:

How to Create an Ebook: 5 Simple Steps
How to Drive Traffic With Informational Content
Book Promotion: The Foundation

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Until next time,

Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter, Freelance Writer

http://KarenCioffi.com
http://DKVWriting4U.com
Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing

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