Take the Controls, Own Your Website

 Who Owns Your Website? 

Wouldn’t you rather be the owner and manager of a website for your business?

After growth and stability were established on my artist’s blog, and my skills had developed for managing multiple blogs, I wanted a static website.  A website would present my Bio and Resume of accomplishments as well as display my art for sale.  As I considered the design, I visited many artists’ websites.  I considered ease of layout and available access to information a priority.  My intent was to showcase my art to encourage interest, but I wanted an uncluttered, straightforward appearance.

An artist’s blog is fun and lively with lots of inspiring areas of “discovery”.  But my website required sophistication and structure. 

My husband and several friends worked with website designers to set up their websites.  These designers became the managers of the website with certain controlling actions that only they could execute; thus, multiple headaches for the customer. The business owner couldn’t update or make changes for a majority of strategic items.

With my technical skills, I considered that I was able to design, manage and control my website directly.  I studied the opportunities available, bought books on website design and took an HTML & CSS code computer class.  I evaluated many template setups and talked to a couple of my tech savvy artist friends that had chosen a similar direction for recommendations.

With, my homework done it was time to dive into selecting my host network, ULR name and address, and the template to begin!  I chose a WordPress template and spent several intense days getting my website designed, loaded, and running.  The nerve-racking part was the site is live to the public as soon as you begin–scary thought–so you want the site to look as good as possible right away!  Some may choose to lock the website screen to read “Under Construction”, but I didn’t want to take the risk of locking up any part of my website.  I followed YouTube tutorials to guide me through the process and to cover all the hidden steps efficiently and effectively.
 
So, who owns my website?  I do!  And you can too!

Resource List:
Content Management Systems
• http://www.toptenreviews.com/business/internet/best-content-management-system-software/
• Top 10 Most Usable CMS by Glen Stansberry.  This post is from 2009 but still helpful.https://code.tutsplus.com/articles/top-10-most-usable-content-management-systems--net-6493
• WordPress  https://wordpress.org/
• Drupal  https://www.drupal.org/
• Joomla  https://www.joomla.org/
• Expression Engine https://ellislab.com/expressionengine
• Tyler Moore  https://www.youtube.com/user/Conutant

Deborah Lyn Stanley is a writer, editor and artist.  She is a retired project manager who now devotes her time to writing, art and caregiving mentally impaired seniors. 

She has independently published a collection of 24 artists’ interviews entitled the Artists Interview Series.  The series was also published as articles for an online news network and on her website: Deborah Lyn Stanley - Writers Blog.  Deborah is published in magazines.  She is a blogger who has managed several group sites including ones she founded.

“Write your best, in your voice, your way!”

Writing the Middle Grade Novel - From Start to Finish - Podcast

Every week I have a new podcast for my series, Writing Tips from the Working Writer's Coach at www.workingwriterscoach.com.

But this week, I thought it might be fun to post the podcast here, so people who aren't familiar with my podcast could sample it.

This week’s episode is Part Three of a three-part series, Writing the Middle Grade Novel – From Start to Finish - it's JUST 6 minutes.

Click to listen to Part One and Part Two first.

In this week’s episode, I offer some tips and tricks for plotting and writing your novel.

Download the study guide here first, so you can take a few notes as you’re listening.

 

 

As the Working Writer's Coach, Suzanne Lieurance helps people turn their passion for writing into a lucrative career.

Let her teach you everything you need to know to build your writing career.

A Writer's Inventory

As the year winds down, many people - I think writers, especially - recount the things they have not yet accomplished, rather than celebrate what they have done. 

So many things influence your life and productivity that are out of your control. It's really easy to be accelerating toward the end of the year and wonder what you got done, and get frustrated for not doing enough.

I say, don't be so hard on yourself. If you are on track to accomplish all of your annual goals by the end of the year, that's fabulous. If life got in the way a little too much, take an inventory of all you have accomplished. You will see you have done way more than you think.

1. Make a list of all of your wins for the year off the top of your head. This can include articles, promotions, completed works.

2. Now, give it some thought and come up with more. If you get stuck, ask peers and loved ones ... people who have your back. They'll know.

3. Make a list of all the new people you met this year. Be sure to include a memorable, personal detail.

4. Look through your connections on LinkedIn or Facebook to add to your list.

5. Make a list of all the events you attended this year. Make notes about the ones you liked and the ones you did not, so you have a reference for the future.

6. Look through your calendar to add to your list.

7. Make a list of everything you have written in the last year. Stories, articles, posts, novels, screenplays, non-fiction books. You can even include false starts. Be sure to include a note on your progress or where and when something was published.

8. Look through your computer files to add to your list.

9. Make a list of every adventure you had this year - the good and the bad. This is great fodder for fiction and non-fiction in the future.

10. Look through the list of all you accomplished. And be proud. I am sure you've done some amazing things, even if there are not all you set out to do.

Remember, you have six weeks left to check things off your list and get a few more wins. Don't be discouraged that time goes to fast. Be encouraged byy all you accomplished. And set yourself up to succeed even more.


What do you think? What is your favorite win this year? What do you hope to accomplish by the end of 2016? Please share your thoughts in the comments, so we can celebrate your wins and cheer you on. 

* * *

Debra Eckerling is a writer, editor and project catalyst, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. 

She is the host of the Guided Goals Podcast and author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. 

Debra is an editor at Social Media Examiner and a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting, and social media.

The Power of Video in It's Simplest Form

This is a simple 46 second video, taken on an iPhone. While it's a bit crude, it's hysterical. It makes you feel. This is what marketing is all about - you want to hold that reader's attention. You want to make her smile, maybe even laugh-out-loud.



Think about it. 

If you had a children's picture book about superheroes, wouldn't this be a cute lead-in? Or, some other short, funny or moving video relevant to your book. Videos are powerful and they don't have to be elaborate to be effective.

And, a bonus of video is it will hold the visitor on your site longer. This is great for your website ranking. 


So, next time your planning your book marketing blogging schedule and coming up with blogging ideas, keep these video statistic in mind:

- Video in an email produces a 200-300% increase in click-through rate.
- Including video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80%.
- After watching a video, 64% of people are more likely to buy an product.

Start using video in your blog post today!

For lots more video statistics, go to: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics

MORE ON WRITING AND MARKETING

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The Perfect Gift for Authors is Free!

By Carolyn Howard Johnson     The Perfect (Very Frugal!) Gift for Authors Books. Or course you knew I’d say that. We all owe a debt to the publishing industry and its sidekick, the indies. And probably most of us single out at least a couple of people on our holiday lists to give a book to. But how many of us have an author on our holiday list? Isn’t there something you could give an author—even one you don’t know personally? Even if you have a serious holiday budget you must stick to. The holidays are a time to let your spirit of giving overcome any reticence you may have about contacting a favorite author. I promise you, there is no gift greater for authors than hearing from a reader. Well, OK. There is one. That is when a reader writes a review for a book without being prompted to do so. So drop a note to an author, or write a review of that author’s book and post it on a blog or on one of the online bookstores. It’s free and it’s a full-of-love gift. And here are the easy to do steps to make sure your author gets full benefit of your generous (yes, it is!) gift! Write your review. Write your review. Google your author’s name and go to his or her Web site. You should find a contact feature, perhaps on the About the Author page. Copy your review and then paste it into an e-mail with a quick personal message to the author. Alternatively, you could post your review on your blog. If you do, let your author know with a thank you note and then use that same link to promote your post on Twitter, Facebook, and any other social networks you belong to. Once you have done this, it becomes easy. If you can, do it one more time with another author, preferably one who writes in a different genre. You have plenty of time before the big December rush! If giving a review doesn’t get you into the holiday spirit, maybe this will: You are contributing to an industry that provides you with something you love—books! ------ Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Now in its second edition,  Bookbaby calls her The Frugal Book Promoter a classic.  She is also the author of a novel and several books of poetry including her most recent, Imperfect Echoes. Her agent is shopping her memoir and second novel.  She admits to carrying a pen and notebook wherever she goes and to preferring reading a good newspaper to watching the news.

Book Marketing- Knowledge is Power

No matter what you're into, what niche or industry you're in, knowledge is power.

As a writer, author, and online marketer, I'm always reading, taking courses, and joining pros in their membership groups.

The reason?

Book marketing and content marketing are part of the turbulent marketing waters. 

Keeping up takes work, time, and it can be expensive.

But, what's the alternative?

If you don’t keep your eye on the ball, you’ll fall behind. Your marketing efforts will lose their effectiveness. This will mean less visibility, less authority, less subscribers to your email list, and less sales.

As a business owner (if you’re an author or freelance writer, you’re a business owner), you MUST keep up with what's going on in your industry.

Granted some industries stay steadfast, but even those businesses must market themselves. This means keeping up with changed or new marketing strategies.

Thus, we go back to the title of this post: Knowledge is power.

So, where did this quote originate?

The 'knowledge is power' quote is attributed to Francis Bacon, in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597).

But, Thomas Jefferson is known to have used it at least twice:

Thomas Jefferson to George Ticknor, 25 November 1817
Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Cabell, 22 January 1820

Other interesting quotes on knowledge:

"Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement."
-Peter Drucker

"There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge . . . observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination."
-Denis Diderot

So, keep learning things that will help you move your business forward.

Sources:
(1) http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/knowledge-power-quotation
(2) http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_knowledge.html

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and author/writer online platform instructor. Get must-know writing and marketing tips at http://thewritingworld.com 

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3 Marketing Strategies Geared to Motivate People to Buy

The buying process produces potential customer anxiety. This is a fact.

Just about all CTAs (call-to-actions) generate stress.

Something as simple as the wording in your CTA, can increase that stress and it’s your job to take steps to reduce the potential customer’s anxiety. This in turn will increase your conversions.

Conversions in this case relates to getting visitors to actually buy what you’re offering, getting visitors to say YES to your CTA.

Here are 3 Powerful Strategies to Reduce Buyer Anxiety:

1. The CTA Wording

As mentioned, the wording you use in your CTA can increase or decrease buyer anxiety. According to Marketing Experiments, it’s all about the expectation of what your wording produces.

In testing conducted by the marketing group, two CTAs were put to the test. The first was “Start Free Trial.” The second was “Get Started Now.”

Which do you think converted better?

It was “Get Started Now” and the reason is it produced less anxiety because there is NO implied cost. To many, ‘starting a free trial’ conveys an implied cost.

2. Timing of the CTA

Timing is when and where to introduce the CTA on the sales page. In other words, do you put the CTA at the beginning of the conversation, in the middle, or at the end?

For the average marketer, it’s usually a good idea to provide the visitor with focused and persuasive content (information) before introducing the CTA. This will help develop interest and motivation. The information explaining how the product or service will solve the visitor’s problem will encourage him to buy what’s being offered.

3. Offering a Guarantee

For the buyer, one of the most stressful things in the buying process is to think he’ll lose money.

Questions your visitor may think of:

- Is the product high quality?
- Is the cost reasonable for what’s being offered?
- Will the product meet the promises made?
- Will the perceived value meet expectations?
- Is the money I’m going to spend worth it?
- What if it doesn’t help me or I don't like it?

One of the best ways to reduce most of the anxiety related to the buying process is to offer a money-back guarantee, a risk-free guarantee.

The guarantee must be clearly worded. The visitor will need to know exactly what he has to do to get the refund, when he’ll receive the refund, and any other information that will make him feel more comfortable in his decision.

There are five primary elements to a knock-it-out-of-the-park guarantee:

1. The length – you can offer a 5 day, a 7 day, a 30 day, or other refund time limit.

2. The conditions – the refund policy can be conditional. For example, “If you complete Lesson One, including the assignment, and decide this course isn’t for you, I’ll give you a complete refund.”

3. The coverage – you need to make it clear as to exactly what’s covered in the refund. For example, is it just the cost of the product or does it include shipping, handling, and/or other fees.

4. The placement – place the guarantee just below the price and then again after more persuasive content. You might head the additional motivation as, “Still Not Sure?”

5. The process – make it very clear what the customer needs to do to initiate the refund process. For example, she may need to contact your support team or you directly by email.

The article, “How to Craft a Guarantee,” at Digital Marketer provides more information on the first four elements mentioned above.

Using these tips will help you create powerful CTAs that will reduce buyer anxiety.

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NEED HELP WITH YOUR BLOGGING?

I have 2 classes through WOW! Women on Writing that will get you results:

Blogging Made Easy (for beginners)
Simple Steps to Building Your Online Platform and Authority

Become a Power-Blogger and Content Writer in Just 4 Weeks
More Visibility, More Authority, More Sales