Archives: April 2004
Self Publishing Success
I have received a rash of inquiries from subscribers, readers and visitors to Knowledge Download asking for tips and advice on ebook self-publishing.
Many have their texts written and often send them to me. Some even send them with press releases. But then they ask me how and what to do next.
It's a bit frustrating to me.
That is what the entire Knowledge Download website, free articles and this blog are about.
I can assure you that at $14 per month for our ebook website builder & hosting service, and the time cost of supporting our authors using the system, there isn't a lot of extra time to personally instruct people in what to do.
More or less, what order or steps to do them in.
That's what all the free info is for.
It has come to me that probably they are just finding our website and not taking time to review the offerings. It is a rather large site these days.
However, perhaps people need a single, simple source to turn to for a specific roadmap of what and how to go about getting their ebook or print book self-published.
I have never held myself out as an expert on the topic. I'm learning and improving and been freely sharing my experiences with readers in this blog.
Your expert is Dan Poynter. He offers books and book coaching at his website.
parapublishing.com
Another expert and coach is Judy Cullins. You've probably seen her articles all over the Internet. You'll also find them in the Writing section of Knowledge Download.
bookcoaching.com
So buy one of their books or some of their coaching time. Then when you are ready to build and promote your works on the Internet with a ebook website, be sure to come back to us!
Closing note: As I am not a professional writer (I've written on that ad nauseum), I am proud to point out that I wrote an article or blog piece every day of April except for 2 days.
I wanted to do so on every day. Oh well. Missing only 2 days, for me, is great progress. What this rather grueling process has done is give me great practice and confidence. It has helped me understand my limits, find my "voice" and feel that I am helping people.
For my own selfish reasons, it's been a great journey so far!
Google IPO
It's off topic and yet on almost everyone's tongue.
Google filed for their US Initial Public Offering.
The Financial Times of the UK has done a very nice piece discussing some of the language/text in the Google SEC Filing docs.
It seems Google is going to do a "Dutch Auction" and try to give us little guys a swing at their IPO stock.
However, as the article says, there are hints that the Google founders want and hope to conduct their public company, post-IPO, differently than other companies.
This is just one humble man's opinion - but I don't think so.
The Securities & Exchange Commission has extensive rules and regulations that, post dot-com bust, are tighter and more stringent than ever. Add in Sarbanes-Oxley regs and once public, your hands are pretty much tied.
Good luck to Google. They are already in the sights of Bill Gates and company and others.
Print on Demand
Many of our ebook authors who self-publish are building their websites and starting their marketing campaigns.
Congratulations!
Many of our ebook authors have had their websites live and in some stage of marketing for quite a while.
If you haven't considered it yet, you may want to add a print version of your ebook. It's easier than you think.
The Globe and Mail piece on print on demand gives an in-depth look at print on demand and identifies some excellent resources for you. (sorry, URL removed due to the Globe and Mail removing the URL)
Like with electronic books, print books demand that YOU do your marketing and promotions. There is no easy lunch and there are very few Bob Woodward's among us who can instantly gain sell-through in the retail bookstores.
No matter. Getting your ebook into print is probably a smart move, especially if you are moving toward becoming a speaker, coach or giving teleseminars. There is still something magic about print books.
After all, whoever finished a keynote speach with an ebook giveaway?
;-)
eBook Website URL Choices
Well, I've finally come across something that I never in my wildest imagination would have thought of.
This article from news.com tells of how Google and other search engines are applying filters that may harm your chance of gaining search engine referred visitors.
The idea is that Google's filter is designed to exclude websites who have the letter combinations that represent porn, gambling or other illicit trades.
The first example is PartsExpress.com. Contained in their domain name are the letters "sex".
Apparently that is cause enough for Google to exclude PartsExpress.com from the Google database entirely.
That's pretty harsh, but one must understand how / why something like this can happen.
Simply put, computer software is nothing but a set of "rules". Meaning, a line of code in Google's filter may say:
If "letters" = "sex"
Then *exclude*
Well, you can pretty quickly see how your choice of a domain name could possibly eliminate your prospects of ever getting traffic from search engines for your ebook website.
If you haven't selected your domain name yet, be careful. If you have a domain, be sure to examine it in light of that article. You may need to buy a new domain and start over.
But I can tell you that such an effort is worthwhile. Nearly 80% of our business comes from search engine referrals.
Blatent Promotional Request
Every now and then I ask you, my reader, for a favor.
Since this blog displays no advertising and charges nothing for the free ideas, tips, articles and more, I'd like to ask if you would be so kind as to put a link to this blog on your site.
It would mean a lot to me and cost you only a few moments of your time.
The description in the above left corner would be welcomed, but feel free to use any description and anchor text that you like.
That description is: Blog for eBook Self-Publishers
The URL is: http://www.knowledge-download.com/blog/weblog.php
I would be more than willing to entertain referrals to link my blog to sites you may refer to me. You can Contact us here.
In fact, more than simply linking, if the product, service or website is good, I'll write a piece on it.
Thanks for your support.
Blog Tools
A couple of days ago, I opined on how I think blogs may fit with ebook and self-publishing.
Obviously, blogs are a form of self-publishing. What I was referring to was how blogs as tools will be used to help self-published authors of ebooks and print books.
As promised, I told you that I would post some links to blogging tools, software and systems so that you can experiment with them.
Movable Type - software to install on your server
Type Pad - a hosted version of Movable Type
Userland - Manilla software or Radio hosted
Pmachine - software to install on your server
Live Journal - hosted service
Blogger - hosted service
One additional resource for you is Open Source CMS, which provides hosted trials of lots of software, including blog tools.
So you don't get confused, sroll down and look on the left nav bar for "CMS - Blogs". The fellows who run this site have done an awesome job of installing and configuring open source content management systems, including blogs. There are live demo versions you can run right from their site.
Do some research, pick one and get busy with your blog. Make sure you choose your theme as similar to your ebook or print book theme or topic.
Good luck!
Fiction eBooks
As most of my regular readers know, the primary goal of this site is to help non-fiction authors and writers of ebooks. That is likely due to my single dimension mind, but it is what it is. It was an early decision as to who I was going to focus on.
However, we do have our share of fiction authors using the KD system to produce ebook websites.
I don't often find much valuable info for fiction writers and simply don't understand how they are able to conjure up the ideas and concepts of their works.
None the less, from time to time I do come across some good info that I like to post so as to be helpful.
Here is a good article about fiction and a new fiction publisher that may be of interest to you fiction ebook writers and authors.
I'm not going to quote anything out of that article (on Fox News of all places), but if you are interested in getting visibility of your work into the print publishing world, that article points you to a publisher who sounds willing to take a look.
Best of luck!
Web Logging (Blogging), eBooks & Self-Publishing
The culture of blogging, which is short for web logging has emerged as a force for freedom of speech, among myriads of other purposes and benefits.
This article by Nico Macdonald in The Register is an excellent piece discussing the rise and reason of blogging.
You are reading a blog.
How do blogs, ebooks and self-publishing fit together?
Well from what I see, they don't; yet.
I feel somewhat alone and perhaps early in the coupling of blogs, ebooks and self-publishing and take some regular "hits" as a result. There are more compliments than critisisms, and that helps.
I moved away from doing an email based ezine to this blog about 6 months ago. My motives have been explained previously, but largely, I do this because it gives me a purpose to write, practice at writing, giving a voice to and for first time authors and capture ideas, thoughts, analysis and tips for future reference (for both you and myself).
I see blogs replacing ezines in the future. Whereas in the past, authors who excelled at copywriting and self-promotions could use email to build their "brand" and a following and to generate sales.
Today, that is near impossible due to the growing spam problems on all fronts.
To add to the spam problem, the use of affiliates to market your products online is diminishing for partly the same reason, and partly due to the penalties that search engines like Google and Yahoo place on affiliate link laden sites.
My belief is that blogs and RSS feeds are the future of building your brand, your expertise and a following. Promoters won't be able to get away with only crafty headlines and body copy or clever use of email and web pages.
I feel that successful ebook and self-published authors in the very near future will have to have a blog and write in it regularly, as a key strategy to generate sales, consulting work, speaking and teleseminar fees.
The requirement that end users are placing on their trusted experts to "prove themselves" as worthy, knowledgeable and valuable is growing. The maturity of buyers and consumers of info products are now wise to the tricks and are only interested in substance.
My tip to you is this: if you haven't investigated blogging, get busy. In future articles, I will post several resources to help you get started.
eBook Readers
One of the most challenging aspects of self-publishing your own ebook is deciding on what format(s) to publish your ebook on.
The options abound.
As written previously in this blog, the dominant format today is Adobe's PDF.
For reasons that are waaay beyond me, the Mobipocket format is gaining steam.
This article discloses how the Cleveland, OH Public Library has added the Mobipocket format to their digital ebook library.
This MUST be a classic example of why you are not your own best judge of a market.
Why?
Because I have a hard enough time reading small print with my reading glasses on. Never in my life can I imagine using a cell phone or PDA to read an ebook or even parts of an ebook.
The movement of ebooks on portable devices, as I've previously reported, is very prevalent in Europe.
However, I believe the Cleveland Library, and others like them who are adding or expanding their digital ebook libraries are simply taking advantage of production and licensing deals they already have with Overdrive Systems, who has emerged as the dominant digital rights management platform and delivery vendor.
At any rate, good for them all! And their customers who may want such a tool.
I don't begrudge any of these organizations at all. I wish them best of luck. Just because I wouldn't personally use something doesn't make it unworthy.
The fact is: the more platforms, tools and systems to get our ebooks to market, the better.
Let this article be a possible warning to you, that you may want to consider adding a Mobipocket format of your ebook(s) to your offerings.
sp
Non-Fiction Self-Publishing
As most of my readers know, the main theme of my writings, help, tips and advice lean largely to subject matter experts who are self-publishing an ebook on a non-fiction topic.
On somewhat irregular basis, I post some comments and analysis on success stories in the self-published world.
This story about a Flagstaff, AZ Doctor is just such an example of real world expertise and experience reduced to writing.
Dr. Shrader isn't likely to get rich, nor make the NY Times Bestseller list. But....who knows? Stranger things have happened.
I don't know Dr. Shrader, nor am affiliated with him or his website How To Be Your Own Doctor, but I'm sure he is genuine in his mission of trying to share his experience to help people, help themselves.
Since his medical work is his life, he clearly has passion, which I wrote about the other day. That passion will sustain him regardless of the volume of his book sales. His endurance with regards to his book will likely be long, as the book is merely an "add-on" to his life's work.
Most likely, Dr. Schrader isn't expecting to get rich with this book.
Relative to my article the other day, if you are a person of lifelong expertise and experience in your subject matter, you have passion for that subject and want to help people, then you are a great candidate to self-publish an ebook or print book.
I applaud Dr. Schrader. My only tip to him would be to make an ebook and add that to his website for those people who may want his valuable info right now.
sp
Test, Test, Test
Many first-time ebook authors are not very technical, which is what attracts them to the Knowledge Download software system and hosting.
Since most authors are not technically oriented, they often overlook some very basic fundamentals in the "pre-launch" phase of building their websites. Namely:
Test everything!
I'm not going to take time here to outline each and every thing you should be testing and checking, but among the more basic testing tasks are:
- test your page titles and meta info
- test each and every link on your site manually
- test each email link
- test each form
- test every email address round trip
- test your site in Netscape and Internet Explorer
- test your ecommerce mechanisms
- test your autoresponders
Take nothing for granted. Why?
When visitors start rushing to your site due to your promotions efforts, the first thing you want them to notice is that everything works. Period.
If a visitor cannot see a graphic in their browser, you're done. Click. Off to another website or search engine they go.
Today's web user has very, very little patience or tolerance.
Be bold and go forth confidently. Do not let fear grab you and prevent you from launching and promoting (I've seen authors terrified nearing their first site launch and never get it done).
But be smart and test everything so your user has a quality experience.
sp
eBook & Self-Publishing Motives
As my reader mentioned in the email he sent me yesterday, he's having trouble staying motivated.
It is not unusual for any of us to remain motivated, never mind excited, when our endeavours don't seem to bear fruit. This is true whether you are an author, consultant, employee, government employee; whatever it is that we do.
Some measure of success is needed to sustain our efforts.
However, in my experience with the hundred of authors using Knowledge Download, I see a very short window of opportunity that a prospective author permits themselves. I'm talking usually less than 6 months.
This is certainly not long enough, especially with ebooks and websistes. It is very normal for it to take one to two years before your ebook may catch fire. I won't go into all the reasons here today, as my message has to do more with motivation than means.
As an author, whether in print or ebook, one of the very first questions you should ask yourself before you even get started is: why am I writing this?
1. Are you writing and producing your ebook to make money or to help your reader?
2. Are you writing to educate and inform or to raise your status in your market?
3. Are you writing to help solve problems or to show off how smart you are?
4. Do you love your subject material or is it a passing fancy?
These questions and more will help you determine your potential for success.
If your motive is selfish or for personal glory, you are likely doomed to fail.
But if your motive is to help your readers, educate and inform them and help them solve problems (or entertain them), you have a much higher chance of success.
There are two reasons for this:
1. Your love of the subject and an honest motive to help solve problems will give you "staying power" in times of "trouble".
2. People see through selfish acts and motives. This transparency yields little in sustained sales or support.
The solution is simple: select a topic you love and are passionate about.
This by itself won't guarentee you success, as you still have the need to have your topic in a market where there are willing and needful buyers, conduct the necessary marketing activities, have a website and perhaps more.
Keep your chin up!
sp
Self-Publishing Challenges
I received an email from one of my readers today.
He is very dejected about how his self-published book sales are going.
He outlined some of his challenges, problems and concerns to me. I thought I would take each one over the course of the next several days and do my best to offer some tips and advice.
One of his statements was "I've prepared a "media package" according to given guidelines,
the media simply does not seem to be very interested."
One thing I've learned from my experiences is in general, the media and reporters aren't interested. Unless your topic and expertise happen to be in areas of current events.
Also, simply having a "media package" and perhaps sending that out to different outlets isn't going to get you anywhere.
My friends in the media and public relations markets have taught me the best approach to gaining recognition as an expert in your field will likely come from your local, neighborhood news, radio and television media.
For every "event" you have to announce, there are at least three press releases you can create and send to your local media:
1. An announcement of the upcoming event
2. The completion of the event
3. An announcement that you did the event and what the results were
It's sort of like the old saw about writing sales proposals:
- tell them what you are going to tell them
- tell them
- tell them what you told them
The point is: use repetition.
The challenge for an author / expert is you don't know if and when a reporter, editor or producer of a particular media outlet may have need for your expertise and commentary.
In addition, if your PR is of a general nature and not solving real world problems for your readers and clients, your PR will likely end up in the trash bin.
Again, I don't hold myself out as any expert in public or media relations, so you may find or have a different experience. I do have my own experience and I can certainly verify how hard it is to gain national media attention, even with local media recognition.
In regards to my readers' comment about the media not being very interested: make them interested OR spend time finding out what stories they are writing and find a way to spin your topic to help them. Again, very challenging, as most reporters aren't looking around for new "friends".
Lastly, an author should try to focus on media who report and produce in the field of work where your expertise lays. Get in front of the parade. Find the existing stream of media reporting and writing stories where you can simply plug in.
And most of all, keep at it. Don't give up. You haven't failed.
It simply hasn't been time for your success: YET!
Here are some resources of publicity experts and web sites that I read, subscribe to their ezines and trust:
Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound
Dan Janal's PR Leads
Tom Murphy's PR Opinions
O'Dwyer's PR
John Kremer's Book Marketing Update
I'll leave it up to you to determine the usefulness of those resources to your own judgement, however I highly recommend them!
;-)
sp
Beware Downloads
I used to have an ezine for Knowledge Download entitled Author Tips.
In October 2003 I had my partner install this blog software to test it out. I became tired of spam complaints, readers emailing me asking where the latest issue of Author Tips was, when I had just recently sent it out.
Spam filters.
Spam rules in email reader systems
Federal CAN-SPAM law (enacted since starting this blog)
More and more issues
Now readers can determine for themselves if they want to bookmark and return to my writing, tips and advice. But....
Now we all face growth of email spam, viruses, worms, spyware and adware.
I used to be a big fan of shareware, which permits you to download good software - a try before you buy sales method.
I rarely do that any more. I also don't buy ebooks in .exe format.
I simply can't trust the vendors, merchants or their partners. My time is too valuable to have my security compromised, my identity stolen or my computer hard disk blown up.
It's a shame because all the hucksters and bad guys are ruining it for us.
I'm not trying to spread fear or the chicken little syndrome. I still use the Internet extensively.
My message to you this Saturday is simply: beware of what you download.
sp
Self-Publishing
I love it when someone tells me I can't do something that I think I can do.
It's like a challenge. A slap in the face. An insult.
Oh yea (goes the thinking in my head)? Who says so?
So it goes today with this article. At least that's how my initial response was.
The article's title - "It’s tougher than ever to be a beginning writer" led me to agree. But in the first paragraph where he says "...the most difficult time in history...".
Now granted, I'm not a professional writer, nor a NY print published author.
However, I'm not sure where this fellow has been, but this thing called the Internet and technology that is widely available called Print on Demand pretty much makes this "time in history" the easiest to get published, in my humble opinion.
The author makes some excellent points. The most significant being his cconclusion of a self-published writer needing "patience, perseverance and perspiration."
Those words are true.
However, given the target market, your willingness to learn Internet marketing, search engine optimization and joint ventures, you can be selling meaningful volumes of your work by the end of your first quarter online to thirsty audiences.
Again, depending on your target market.
So don't let articles like that get you down. Likewise, don't allow yourself to get too hyped up by so-called Internet marketing guru's. Being realistic with a LONG view of your commitment (years), and you will achieve notariety and build a good reputation if your text is in demand.
Keep at it!
sp
Turn Failure Into A Successful eBook
Do you have aspirations of writing and selling your own ebook? Most people who visit and read this blog are aspiring writers or first time authors.
While on the main Knowledge Download site there are tutorials and articles on how to write and what to write on, recently it crossed my mind that many people don't have a lot of successful topics to write about.
It's not that these type of people are not successful. It's just that their topic or area of subject matter expertise may not be sellable.
Recently, my wife and I had a miserable failure at a retail business startup. Ever since the startup, we spent cycles trying to get my wife positioned as an expert in that business. One of the ways to do that is write a book, become a speaker and do consulting work.
However, the business bled money and we exited it recently.
Months prior to the decision to shut down the business, I came across the Psycho Tactics website, owned and run by Seah D'Souza. I signed up for his ezine, which is awesome. Be sure to sign up for it. You will learn a lot and get great ideas.
One of Sean's recent ideas was to turn failure into its own success.
Write an ebook entitled "How to Avoid these 26 Mistakes in the XXXXX business".
It made total sense relative to the business we just shut down, because we hired expensive consultants and spoke with lots of "experts" in that industry before we jumped in.
Most of them lied to us or told us half-truths, or they were complete idiots bilking money from us ignorant folk.
At any rate, we're over the emotional and financial drain that business put on us, largely on my wife.
We're recording an audio ebook using the "avoid my mistakes" approach. And we plan on selling it for a nice sum, since the knowledge is real, practical and worth over 1,000 times what a buyer will spend on it.
Give some thought to using this angle if you are having trouble coming up with your own "success" topics!
sp
eBook Cover Graphics
I am often contacted by software developers and marketers who want me to promote their product or service. Usually the offerings have, at best, tangential benefits to my readers.
Recently I was approached by Jason Bradley, owner of Cover Software Pro.
I was very impressed by the graphics he sent me, and I have such a steady stream of requests from our authors that I decided to examine this one. What follows is a brief product review and analysis for your consideration.
Upon landing on the download page, I was presented with a welcome message, list of instructions and list of downloads. Upon reviewing all the information, in spite of the direction to view the video tutorials, I jumped straight to the written instructions.
After all, the value of a tool like Cover Software Pro must lay in the accuracy of written docs as well as the ease of use.
Before I go any further with the review, I should tell you that this product is a set of templates and Photoshop Action Scripts. Also, you must have Photoshop 6.0 or higher on your computer (PC or Mac). Lastly, I am, at best, a Photoshop novice. I have used it to create simple graphics. I find Photoshop itself a very complicated piece of software and not by any imagination, intuitive.
However, I have had some graphics professional friends of mine teach me to the point where my skill is today.
Jason's instructions were clear and easy to follow. He has nice screenshots that helped me find the exact button, link or action necessary to install and run his program.
The short version of my results? In 20 minutes, I created this sample eBook cover.
There is nothing like results to make a point.
Once you have entered your text, chosen your colors and images, you press one single button in Photoshop, and in less than a minute, your cover is completed.
After creating that simple ebook cover graphic, I went back and reviewed Jason's online video tutorials. These tutorials are fabulous. There is soooo much that Photoshop can do, but even the native Help files are pretty useless to a guy like me, because I have no idea what the names of imagery or effects are to search for in the PS Help file.
Jason's tutorials however, gave me quite a valuable step-by-step education and taught me far more than I would have expected. His tutorials utilize the popular Camtasia screen capture / audio recording and teaching toolset. I have used Camtasia in other projects myself, and find it a solid tool for delivering hands-on teaching exercises.
Cover Software Pro provides a basic template set of covers for eBooks, software box, CD/DVD box, spirial report, and a newsletter template. Additionally, there is an add-on pack of about 50 templates included, among other bonus tools.
I have tested and used about a dozen of ebook and software box cover creation tools in the last three years. Not in my experience have I come across a set of tools that is so easy to use, includes comprehensive audio and video tutorials and produces such eye catching graphics as I have with Cover Software Pro.
It has my full recommendation.
One word of caution however: if you don't yet own Adobe Photoshop 6.0 or higher, beware, it is rather pricey software, currently listed for $649 at the Adobe Photoshop site. The current version is now known as Photoshop CS.
sp
Be An Author Without Writing
My goal, and what my readers look for at this site, is how to write, produce, publish and market / sell ebooks.
Aside from my own experiences, you often get great resources that I have either used or discovered through my professional research.
Most people think that they have to do their own writing. Many have never written an ebook or print book and often end up with writer's block (read: fear or terror!) and never get anywhere.
This article from the Santa Cruz Sentinel reveals secrets of ghostwriting and publishing.
If you fear writing or feel inadequate about writing, you should read that article, then visit The Authors Team website, owned by Mahesh Grossman.
I've never used Mahesh's services, but do know two ghostwriters. And while I have not personally used a ghostwriter, I've often thought seriously of it.
Give him a try and let him know that Skip at Knowledge Download sent you. I don't get a dime for it and am not affiliated with any of the above sites. I just feel they are great resources for people with great expertise who don't have time or don't want to write their own ebook.
Once your text is written, come back to Knowledge Download to build your ebook website and start selling!
sp
Switch From AOL
This article is directly related to ebook authors and self-publishers.
It's been nice reading this week that AOL lost 800,000 subscribers last week. That's about average since their peak in 2002.
I've never been a fan of AOL, their service or proprietary systems and software. There are lots of reasons for my opinions, but mainly because I have always perferred open standards, not proprietary tools.
And with the implementation of AOL Version 9.0, I can reconfirm my status as one who has no good wishes for AOL.
AOL has now implemented software and systems that permit a user to hit one button and label a piece of email as spam. Not a bad idea in concept, however, the impact on legitimate emailers, including myself, is waaaay too harsh.
Once an emailer has been labeled as spam, AOL's backend systems then go to work to eliminate that email sender from reaching other AOL subscribers.
If you are an AOL user / subscriber, you are losing out. Your email subscriptions that you requested are NOT getting through to you because in all liklihood some other unknown user labeled your favorite ezine, newsletter or email marketer as a spammer.
Not good. Switch from AOL and save yourself! 800,000 others did it last month.
While this article on an AOL subscriber study conducted by Aweber is mainly focused on the value of double opt-in subscription process for ezine publishers, it carries a much larger meaning.
And that meaning is for the end user subscribers. Due to the simple fact that you use AOL, you very well may never receive the confirmation or the second confirmation of YOUR choice to receive a particular ezine or newsletter publisher's subscription via email.
You could miss valuable info that teaches you very helpful and insightful information relative to your main or side business.
Why am I so passionate about this?
Because I publish two ezines and AOL users are not getting them. We give valuable info, advice and tips for free. And our AOL users are not getting them.
So if you are using ezines or newsletters to promote your expertise, ebook and web site AND you are an AOL user, you are really experiencing AND contributing to the problems!
;-)
The only solution to this problem is for the existing massive migration of AOL users to leave that company and their internet service. It's a shame that AOL continues to play big brother with their users by trying to control what you can and cannot see with their proprietary software and systems.
There are thousands of Internet Service Providers, anti-spam software vendors and others who all use industry standard tools, systems and methods that give you complete choice of your options.
Send AOL the only message they will understand: cancel your AOL service and switch to a better, open vendor.
sp
eBook Web Site Optimization
In the continuing effort to help authors grow their ebook website traffic, I have attempted to teach and share articles on various aspects of optimizing your ebook web site so you move up search engine results and thereby gain more targeted traffic.
This article on Anchor Text Optimization by Jagdeep.S. Pannu does a fabulous job of explaining the need to have anchor text that overlays the links to and from your site.
The short version: the search engines like Google usually take into account the words in anchor text to factor in what words to index your site for.
When you requests other sites to link to your site, make sure you take your most targeted keywords to use in the anchor text for maximum value.
Best of luck - and good selling!
sp
Info Publishing Business
As I sit here watching the Diamondbacks game and thinking of what to share with you today, I remembered there is a web site and the owner who is in the info publishing and consulting business I've been meaning to tell you about.
Juiced Consulting and it's owner, Jennifer Tribe, offers a tremendous amount of very, very solid information, advice, tips and more.
juicedconsulting.com
I don't remember how I came to learn of Jennifer, but I have become acquainted with her via email.
Jennifer has an awesome free ezine that you should subscribe to.
She focuses on the broader market of info publishing, whereas Knowledge Download is focused mainly on ebooks and self-publishing.
I have learned quite a bit from her, to tell the truth, and plan on offering some of my experiences of re-use of my published information and tips as I move along using new media and tools.
sp
Habits
Many of my readers are over 40 years old, so this article may only be a reminder. But for some of my younger readers, it may be quite helpful.
As we age, we tend to settle into certain habits. Routines that we follow, mostly because they work and provide us a sense of comfort with the "familiar".
I've noticed in the last few years that my habits are tending to get more and more mechanical.
In one respect, that is good. In another, it is not so good.
And when I refer to habits, there are good ones and bad ones. Even bad habits can render us with a sense of comfort, only because there is no risk associated.
This topic sprung into my mind this morning as I was going about my usual morning routines. I awake at a certain time, I eat some fruit while checking email, then have 2 cups of coffee (note: no more and no less. It's 2 cups - period). I then do what we used to call in the Marine Corps my SSS routine (Sh*t, Shower & Shave)....er..hmm...
Is that more than you needed to know?
;-)
Anyway, my morning, late morning, lunch, afternoon, evening and nights all pretty much have the same pattern. Day after day, week after week.
What jolted me today is the sheer increase in volume of SPAM I'm now receiving at one particular email address. The volume has grown over 4X in the last week. I got angry and sidetracked by trying to figure out how to transfer my legitimate email subscriptions, alerts and notices to an email address other than my primary one. Then I could just delete the one email address and move on.
Long story short: I went on a huge email deletion run to clean out my inbox.
I deleted some legitimate emails that turned out to be embarrasing this afternoon. It shook my routine by over an hour. It turned out to be a great thing however.
At any rate, the matter is now handled and I am calm. But the whole thing got me out of my habit / patterns.
And made me think.
My resistance to change has grown in parallel with my age. I used to be quite adventurous and risk oriented. Not nearly as much any more. I used to be, once upon a time, more politically liberal, but since my son was shot twice last year in the assault on Baghdad (he's in the USArmy), and I've reinspected the politics of our country (USA), I'm now much more conservative.
Habits can be good or bad.
As an author, or aspiring author what habits do you have?
What things do you do each day, over and over, day after day, that prevent you from writing or finishing your ebook or print book?
What risks do you take? How are you pushing yourself to grow? The answers will give you insight into your future prospects.
What have I done?
Three years ago I began a committed serious effort to learn to build my own websites and online businesses. I was terrified when I launched the first one. I had been managing web developers and programmers for 5 years at that point, launched over 100 commercial websites and helped with internet marketing as a consultant for 7 years.
I developed an ezine and a subscriber base. I wrote articles. I built a web hosting business. And late last year, I started this blog.
For almost 2 months now, I've had a personal commitment - yea - HABIT - of writing in this blog near daily. It is now firmly part of my afternoon routine. From time to time, I miss a day. And I try to write about current, on-topic issues, ideas, sites, concepts and trends so the info is valuable to you, my dear reader.
I have a long way to go, certainly. My online businesses are profitable and growing. In some quarters, I now have an online reputation (hopefully good!) and I try to add more good habits and eliminate the bad ones.
Folks, don't be affraid to shake your tree, shake up your habits and routines.
I don't know who said it, but it is some of the best advice I've ever received:
If you like what you're getting, keep doing what you are doing. If you want change, then change what you are doing.
sp
More Gmail Issues
Well, it appears that I wasn't the only one who had some concerns over Google's "beta" test of it's new Gmail, their proposed free email service to compete with Hotmail and Yahoo.
You can read the article here dated 4/2/04 or click the April 4th date on the left navigation.
Wired News reports on 28 Privacy and Civil Liberties groups filing a joint letter to Google on the major concerns over Google's proposed scanning of emails to insert relevant text ads.
While I was 5 days ahead of the Wired News story, some things are just too obvious when you read about them. That was the case when I read the Reuters story on Gmail.
The issues I posted on 3 days ago with regards to our "regular" POP3 and other free email privacy still hold. But Google's idea has really caught the nasty hair of the Privacy groups dog.
I don't mind my ISP scanning my email for viruses; in fact, I rather like that.
It does bother me a bit that the sys admins at the ISP may read some of my emails while checking and testing their systems. However, having run these operations in the past, I know for a fact they are short-handed and aren't reading my email for kicks.
And if you use ANY free email service, expect the messages to be read by someone and don't use those accounts for sensitive info.
At any rate, I don't see a Gmail account in my future. I do hope they work out the ideas so they aren't invading a users' privacy, because much of what Google puts out is often very high quality and fast.
sp
eBook & Digital Goods Security
One of the most common questions we receive at Knowledge Download has to do with protecting ebooks from theft.
In the enterprise space, the software, security and systems are known as Digital Rights Management, or DRM. It's expensive and has a steep learning curve. DRM is not for the individual author, or should I say, DRM from the current software community is not for the individual author.
However, there are other solutions.
Recently, I was contacted by the owner of eBook Security.com. His company is what I call a "micro" business, just like KD. A micro business is one with less than 10 employees and typically works from a home or executive office.
At any rate, the eBook Security service is a form of DRM for the rest of us.
I haven't had time to conduct any testing or trials. They offer a trial for $2.95 which seems reasonable.
Given the list of features and functions, I can tell you that if I had an ebook or digital download that I felt had a lot of value and might be worth thieves' time to pass around or sell, I would take on a trial.
To remove the risk to you, eBook Security offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so you have nothing to lose.
Also from my discussions with the owner, I can also say that it appears the eBook Security service is totally compatible with the Knowledge Download software system.
So from the early appearances, it looks like a winner to me.
sp
Announcement
I've been using a friend's online forum tracking service for 2 years now. What a major help it has been.
He has invited me to partner with him in a joint venture, which I've agreed to.
The Forum Tracker online forum tracking and monitoring service is a custom built system complete with email alerts and secure private reporting.
The site and service have been entirely revamped to provide the fee based services to businesses and individuals who need to keep up with online message boards, forums and chat board posts, issues and keywords.
There is a free trial which in and of itself is a highly valuable, free service to learn how the email alerts work. The free trial tracks some of the more popular experts in affiliate marketing and search engine optimization.
If you are overwhelmed trying to keep up with tracking people, issues and topics in online message boards, be sure to give it a try. And please pass it along to your friends, especially those friends or colleagues happen to be public relations, private investigators or political professionals.
sp
eBook Pricing
One of the issues that is rarely talked about in this industry is pricing of your eBook or info product.
I won't get into a long diatribe of my opinion on pricing, but I will share a few insights and a resource I've recently learned about.
Since the self-publishing of ebooks is entirely in your control, you can set whatever price point you darned well like. That's one cool aspect of this business.
However, if you price too high, you will limit your market.
If you price too low, you will limit your market. Pricing too low may also give the impression that your content is not valuable.
The notion of examining your competitors pricing and adopting some nearby range is also a dangerous practice, unless you KNOW for a fact what their sales are.
Pricing your ebook product is subjective yet important.
Another angle on pricing has to do with volume and post-sale support (read: headache). Also, product returns may factor into the post-sale equation, depending on the true value of the content.
Pricing Psychology offers info and a special report from a pricing expert, Marlene Jensen. Just her website alone has some clever and simple ideas that could help convert more sales.
Lastly, make sure you totally understand your target market. Someone buying an expert book on Quality processes and methodologies is much more likely to pay north of $300 for a solid ebook, while a housewife probably won't pay more than $20 for an ebook with 200 dinner recipes featuring low carbs.
In closing, you should, in all cases, test, test and test again. Change your pricing and examine your web logs and sales orders. Assuming you have similar streams of targeted traffic during your test periods, the results of your own tests will reveal more than any outsider could possibly tell you.
Good luck!
sp
Google's Gmail
Sometimes I just have to comment on issues of the day. And sometimes those issues are off topic from ebooks or self-publishing.
Today is one of those days.
Google has announced it's entry into web based email, Gmail.
The service isn't live yet. However it will launch one day.
Here is a Reuters article on the April 1 announcement.
An interesting fact of this new service, whenever it arrives, is the computer software scanning that Google will use in all Gmail messages. That technology will scan in and outbound messages and insert "relevant" text ads.
The Gmail FAQ, specifically FAQ #8 talks about how their technology "reads" your email content to insert it's advertisements.
Obviously, the goal being to drive up Google ad revenues.
The compelling size of the Gmail box at 1GB is astonishing. That is larger than any web-based email service like Hotmail or Yahoo allows for the FEE services!
Obviously, there is a tradeoff to be made for a large capacity free email service:
your privacy
Now for anyone who has a Hotmail or Yahoo free or fee email account, or for that matter, any webmail based service, prying eyes and electronic sniffers have always been a threat to your privacy. Heck, even regular POP3 emails are subject to the same snooping.
And while Hotmail and Yahoo toss in their own ads in your free email accounts, they are fixed campaign type of advertisements.
With Gmail, you very well may have competitive ads displayed to your partners, suppliers, prospects and clients. This is not a trivial matter.
If you are one of the likely millions to go GoGo over Gmail, just know what and how to use it wisely!
sp
Beware of Lost Revenue
Many eBook authors also participate in the selling of other authors' ebooks. In addition, as Knowledge Download does, many also participate in the Google AdSense advertising system to help generate additional revenue.
If you promote other author or company products or services via affiliate programs or participate in Google Adsense program, you may very well be losing revenue - perhaps considerable revenue - due to your visitors using Norton Internet Security 2004.
Suffice it to say, the blocking of AdSense ads and affiliate links and banner ads may be desireable to the casual user. On the contrary, the case can be made that ads and links have value and benefit to a casual user.
If you use the Norton product, you may want to turn off the feature.
If you are promoting ads and affiliate programs to offset your costs of running an online website or ebook website, you may want to consider switching to another product.
Both Google and Yahoo offer toolbars that, among many other features, offer pop up blockers. These toolbars work exceptionally well for that purpose.
I've been successfully using Zone Alarm for my personal firewall since it debuted and am very happy with the free version.
If you run an ezine, website, blog or newsletter, you may want to alert your visitors of this situation just to help educate them. Obviously people need to make their own choices, but at this stage of the game, AdSense pays the bills for Knowledge Download. Due to that, I must cast a "no" vote to the Norton software product as it is costing me money, and prohibiting my visitors (who have that feature turned on) from seeing very relevant ads of interest to them.
Symantec, the developer of Norton products, has drawn a firm line in the sand by having it's install program default the popup and ad blocker in the 'on' position.
Until they default that to 'off' and allow casual users to decide for themselves, I'm going to continue recomending users to get the Yahoo or Google toolbar and the Zone Alarm firewall.
And you might want to suggest to your readers and visitors to do the same. Perhaps if we all cast our collective voice, Symantec may change.
sp