Best Seller Authors

Book Marketing, Publishing, Author Resources

How To Write the Perfect Article

Guest Post by Dr. Daisy Sutherland

I chose Dr. Sutherland from the authors visiting this blog as my Blog Reader of the Day. After visiting her web site, YouTube channel and Facebook page, I just had to share some of her writing with you.

Dr. Daisy Sutherland - EzineArticles Expert Author

Now that I have your attention, I must confess that a PERFECT article does not exist, but I will share tips that will make your articles more enticing and enjoyable.

If the articles you are developing are meant for marketing of your business it is important that they are informative and of the highest quality.  Remember the articles you produce will be a reflection of your business and service or product that you provide, so let’s keep the following tips in mind:

  • Share your knowledge: Write about what you know, the article will flow nicely and will be easier to write.  If you are writing on a topic you are unfamiliar with, be sure to research, and write the article when you are confident on the topic.
  • Make an outline: When developing an article it is important to plan, and write an outline first.  Doing this will ensure that your article flows nicely and will keep the reader enticed and motivated to continue reading. Nothing is more annoying than reading an article that is scattered without a flow that is necessary, it is not only confusing, but it will more than likely not get read and your goal is to have your articles read, right?
  • Be informative: Many articles are meant to share information whether it is teaching, how-to or inspiration. When sharing information, share examples that the reader can associate with. This can be in the form of stories.  Think back to the text books you read in school; sure they were informative, but they were also very BORING.  Be witty in your articles and your readers will crave more.
  • Avoid sales pitches: No one wants to read an article that has a sales pitch through out its content.  If you must add a link, add it to the end or add a resource box or area.  The resource area can include your name, title, as well as website information.

Writing a perfect article will not be difficult if you put some effort into it, and simply let it flow.

Dr. Daisy Sutherland is the Founder/CEO of Dr. Mommy, LLC. Her passion for helping others succeed in life has turned into her mission. With her writing services, development /management of web-sites as well as marketing she is helping individuals discover the mastermind within themselves. Helping the online and offline business person succeed. For more information visit: http://drmommywrites.com

The Magic Bullet For Getting Publicity

One question that comes up over and over in the hundreds of interviews I did last year.

“How can a author get known when nobody knows about them?”

June 09 028 I thought you might like to know the answer.. quite simply, it’s the one thing that successful best selling authors do that most others miss…

I use this story of my friend Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Hold, on.. Did you see what I did there? … Mark has sold many millions of copies of his book series yet insists that I introduce him as “co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series”. Why? Because, believe it or not, there are many people who don’t know who he is.

Mark and partner Jack Canfield did many things to boost their book from “a cute pile of stories” to the record breaking success it is today. You could say that the one thing was persistence on multiple fronts.

And then there is that Magic Bullet I promised you…

You have to keep doing this one thing for as long as you want to sell a lot of books. I know it’s the key to separating yourself from all other authors and media competing for your reader’s attention.

Keep doing publicity interviews everyday… every single day

Don’t dismiss this with a “yeah, I know that and I try to…”

How Many Interviews Have You Done This Month?

Let’s get serious for just a moment. This is your career we’re talking about.

Do you have a daily habit of booking more interviews?

Mark and Jack do 5 interviews each and every day to promote a book… and they started this back when we didn’t have tens of thousands of online radio talk shows, teleseminars and millions of blogs looking (sometime begging) for content.

I asked Mark how he booked so many interviews.  He explained that they paid retainers to multiple booking agencies and spent heavily to get started. He still retains a publicist today.

Howver, there now are some low cost and FREE resources that will get you started.

Just follow this plan.

How to Get a Ton of FREE Publicity.

I’ve taught this system to hundreds of authors. The ones who follow these simple steps get free publicity. It will take a little while to get results, but once you do this, you’ll be well on your way to continued publicity.

  1. Start with the mindset that you must do this. Only you can be you
  2. Sign up for Author Media Connection. A FREE resource will get you tons of leads
  3. Contact reporters as soon as you receive the daily email
  4. Follow up on email, phone, etc. No excuse that you are too busy.. This has to be done
  5. Ask for referrals from everyone in your network

Once you get started, you’ll want to add more resources and get some help to filter all the leads or book your schedule. If you have an assistant, you can speed up the process, however you can get started yourself. I’ve booked myself on hundreds of shows, speaking gigs and press just by following the steps above.

Don’t wait till your book is done, or till it comes out, or till you have more time… that will not happen.

Make a decision. You want the world to get your message, this is the magic bullet that will propel you to the reach more readers, boost your book to best seller status, and leverage your career success.

Author Media Connection is a FREE service from my friends Steve and Bill Harrison. They know author publicity and have the connections to accelerate everything you do.

The one thing you must to do use this magic bullet.. Click now and start getting more media leads.

Is This the Worst Business Letter Ever?

I know I’ve said it before.. calling a inane letter or email the worst ever.. so I won’t proclaim that here.

Then again, this one is certainly a candidate:

Hi, Warren.

GuiltyInc has been talking with your company intermittently about helping address your company’s vague requirements.  I am currently planning a trip to your area in March. Is it possible for us to meet to talk about your vague strategy?

GuiltyInc is the largest vague firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. Since we are very familiar with your company’s products and technology, I think we might be able to contribute meaningfully to your vague program.

If you feel it would be better for me to talk with one of your colleagues, I would appreciate your letting me know the name of the appropriate person to contact and forwarding this email.

Thank you for your help and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

GuiltyInc Rep

letter_writing[1]I’ve changed the company name to GuiltyInc and their vague description of what they do to vague.. not to protect them, just to keep us from discussing that technology. But trust me when I tell you that there is no way that they know anything about my “products and technology” as I don’t have such things!

I imagine that you could look through your standard business letter books and find this letter as a template. The sender likely spent as little time putting in their company name as I did changing it to post here.

Don’t Be a Dull Salesperson When You Talk About Your Book

I’m a firm believer in sending cover letter, introductory emails and any other means of getting you and your book in front of prospects for publicity or sales. Just remember, we all get tons of spam, bad letter and inane requests. It take just a moment to be real and open a dialog with people.

Just use my marketing mantra .. listen and love

1) Find out something unique about your prospects. They have a web site or blog, read it first.

2) Comment to let them know you read up on them.

We all know that people approaching us have business interests and selling desires. We accept that if you have just a modicum of personality. If you can approach the media, book distributors, prospects yourself, do this and you’ll get better results. If you have someone helping you, teach this to them.

Whatever you do, don’t put this off because you think there is more important things to do. You are asking for a human being to allot some of their time to listen to you. They deserve this much attention.

Best of all, the return on investment here is immense. Spending a few extra seconds yourself, or paying your help to add real person al contact will pay off 100x

Journalists Are Looking for You Online

Poll Finds 89% Use Blogs, 65% Use Social Networking Sites, and 52% Use Microblogging Sites — but Reliability is a Major Concern

CHICAGO, IL, January 20, 2010 – A national survey conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories. Among the journalists surveyed, 89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter. The survey also found that 61% use Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia.

While the results demonstrate the fast growth of social media as a well-used source of information for mainstream journalists, the survey also made it clear that reporters and editors are acutely aware of the need to verify information they get from social media. Eighty-four percent said social media sources were “slightly less” or “much less” reliable than traditional media, with 49% saying social media suffers from “lack of fact checking, verification and reporting standards.”

Are your social media profiles up to date?

An Author’s Voice Can Be Worth Millions in Promotion Value

I’m getting ready for a special class for authors called

“Best Book Marketing Strategies for 2010”

You can attend this Teleseminar Nation event FREE by calling in at 11:59AM Pacific Time (3:00PM Eastern) on 1/28

To Listen Live by Phone:
Phone # to Dial: 323-476-3672
Use Conf ID: 921346#

I suggest you head over to the Teleseminar Nation web site now… at the site, you can scroll down to 1) Submit a question before or during the class or 2) Use the Web Player to listen online

While at Teleseminar Nation, be sure to sign up for an account (FREE) which will allow you:

  1. Updates about teleseminars, classes, radio show of interest
  2. Free promotion for your own teleseminar or radio show
  3. Directories of authors and businesses using teleseminar (great networking tool)

Using Teleseminars and Radio Shows to Promote Your Book

Teleseminars and Radio are wonderful tools to build momentum in your book marketing. There is little or no cost, you can reach anyone with a phone and it’s the easist way to establish a additional channel of communication with your readers.

We all like to hear a voice behind the words we read.. I have had dozens of experiences where I meet someone that I only knew through a teleseminar or radio appearance and it really breaks through to a new dimension when you have had this experience.

Have you used teleseminars to teach the material in your book? Leave a comment below and include links to any free playbacks you offer.

Do you have a Radio Show?

Every author should host their own radio show. There is no cost, and no commitment to length or number of shows.

We’ve seen authors get additional search engine rank and web site readers with just a single BlogTalkRadio show. Each show is submitted to directories, indexed by the search engines and can be found as a podcast on iTunes. Sign up takes just a few minutes.

You can see my show page at http://BlogTalkRadio.com/warren

Be sure to click “Add Friend” and make a connection so we can network and build audiences there.

Secret to Entertaining Author Radio Shows

Most authors can speak on their topic for hours, but it gets lonely speaking into a phone as the only voice (and not much fun for the listeners either).

The cure is easy… just add one or more guests.

You’ll find that it’s much easier to book a guest than to get booked as a guest (which is fairly easy anyway). When you are a show host, you add another creditial to your resume, and you will be amazed at the authors and experts that will set aside time to be on any radio show.

Find guests by browsing through your keywords at BlogTalkRadio, connecting with the other members of Teleseminar Nation or visiting the leading bloggers in your niche. You will find that most of them are open to reciprocating to use you are a guest blogger, show guest or joint venture partners once you have had them as a guest (NOTE: Don’t make reciprocity a demand.. do the favor or having someone as your guest.. waiting to ask until after they have had a pleasant experience on your show.

Need a Social Media, Twitter, or Book Marketing Expert?

I would love to say yes if I am not booked or on a plane… contact my staff at j@BestSellerAuthors.com for availability.