Are You a Small Business in Start up Mode?

As I travel the net talking about my new Twitter book, I meet many new people.

There is no doubt that you should be usin social media to form more meaningful connections. You can join them all, so you have to pick.

Here's some criteria that will help

1. How easy is it to join? If it just takes a minute, join as soon as you see it. At the very least, you have another URL, profile and photo up on the web
   
   
2. Do they have a following? Major social media networks have 10 or 100's of millions of users. Makes sense to have a profile on the largest
   
   
3. Are they targeted to your niche? Some groups are better because they are small. You won't get the wide reach, but you will have access to people just like you.

For instance, I like This Small Biz Startup network If you have a small business in start up mode, you will get a good sized group of people like you to network with


View my page on Sta.rtUp.Biz - The Small Business Social Network

business startup, small business help, business network

YouTube Adds Book Marketing Features for Authors

We've be posting some of our videos and video clips with book marketing tips on YouTube and other video sharing services.

Great promotion for our books, such as my new Twitter Revolution book on social media, plus interviews, tips, etc that I like to share.

Now YouTube is offering a "click to buy" feature that will allow you to talk share a book, and a link for those that want to buy.

While reading the news, I noticed this cool feature.. allow you to put your videos, or videos on a top (like "book marketing" here) right on any web site or blog.

What do you think? Take a look at these videos, then comment below.

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youtube for authors, authors video, book marketing tips

Mama Taught You How To Use Social Media

You mom said it best

"You have 2 ears and 1 mouth.. use them in that proportion"

Ross Goldberg wrote that "the only thing that matters in social media is the first word social." He give some good advice for being social.

I'll add a bit by asking you -- Do you like it when someone is "socializing you"

Yes, be sociable. Just don't forget that Mom had the right ratio. If you really listen, and never force yourself on others, you'll be liked more and get more done.

Dale Carnegie taught in "How to Win Friend and Influence People" that the key to being social was to listen. Instead of hitting people over the head with your socialness, he suggested listening. In one story, he related how he quietly listened to a man for over an hour, paying attention and offering nothing more than a nod and agreement at times.

Later, the man was heard to say that Dale was the best conversationalist he had ever met.

Translating this to online technologies... You can't lurk (just read quietly). You have to do a nod from time to time. I suggest that you read blog posts and web sites with the idea that your acknowledgment and praise is the price you pay for reading.

Leaving a positive comment wherever appropriate is a great bargain. It let's the writer know you appreciate his work, it let's other readers know you are there and can build your reputation as someone who is up to date and expert on the subject.

Today I read Ross's post and wanted and thought "good job my friend." I'd usually post such a comment on his blog. Instead, I decided to tweet about it on Twitter so my followers could learn from Ross and write here to elaborate. I've placed a trackback (a link back the original post) to give some juice to the post.

When I link to Ross, people who read my post may hop over there, and the search engines all will follow the link and associate our posts for increase crediblity for both of us.

OK.. I've rambled a bit more than needed to say "good job Ross" .. I do hope you see that I was aiming to pass on some tricks of the trade.

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment or trackback so I know you've been here

Getting Started.. Expert Help Over The Next 30 Days.. FREE Online.

I've been watching Ed Dales 30 day Challenge over the last 3 years. I've heard from many of the participants who tell me this got them started in finally making money online.

Frankly, I have tried to ignore it. Good as it is, I didn't see an angle for me. Nothing against Ed, but why promote someone else's program?

Well, things have changed over the past year. Social media and networking have revolutionized all aspect or online marketing (and life) and I've had many experiences where I just did good, helped others and seen results come back in unexpected ways.

Then Lynn Terry announced she was accepting the challenge and joining. That really got me thinking.

If Lynn is recommending it, it must be a great idea... and not just for newbies.

I just signed up. It's FREE. and I'll be sharing my thoughts about the 30 days here.

Join us, and start making money (or more money) online

Ed Dales 30 Day Challenge FREE signup

Add to Onlywire

Getting More Buzz for the Twitter Handbook

Our Twitter Handbook now has hundreds of contributors and thousands of fans.

The blog at http://TwitterHandook.bom is buzzing. If you have Twitter Success Story, add it there.

Friday night, we held another TwitCast as reported by TwitterMaven, I think it went well

Twitcast Fun - We're Writing and Promoting Our Book on Twitter

Deb Micek and I are writing a book on Twitter.com call Twitter Handbook

We decided from the start that the book would be open source, we want to do whatever we can in public, using Twitter and social media to connect with Twitter users and those who want to know more about social media.

This week will be our 3rd Twitcast (a broadcast on Twitter). It's actually just the two of us working in public. After a few minutes, Deb and I hardly get anything directly back and forth, there are so many more people involved.

Last time, we tried to get Twitter users to post comments to our blog, most just wanted to add their 140 characters right on Twitter. So this time we are using BlogTalkRadio where Deb and I will chat with those that want to call in, while reading and responding to Tweets.

Not the quickest way to write, but a lot of fun.

Read Deb's blog post and join us Friday live on Twitter.

Follow @BookWarren and @CoachDeb

How To Get Rid of That Song Stuck in Your Head

Blogs, Social Networks and the Internet in general are great for spreading a meme

While reading the history of mememtic theory, I found a link to a Mark Twain story.

If you have ever had a song stuck in your head, you'll like his cure found in this post that includes the entire story.

A Game for Authors Who Want to Sell Books Online

There are two reasons you should see this site:

http://www.webasagame.com/

1) The topic.. You get just what you need to get up and running on Digg, YouTube, and Facebook (and every author should have account on each)

2) The book is a free ebook from posted using Lulu.com.

The book won't win any award for writing or presentation.. but it's a quick read, and exactly what you need if you aren't using all three of the above.

I came up with 3 new ideas while reading and will soon post a video, tell my friends on Facebook, and hope they DIGG it.

Post a comment here (you can DIGG too) and tell me how you are using social networking to promote your book.

How effective are the ads on social networks?

As it stands, Facebook does not know all that much about us, and the ads that we are shown are not relevant as a result. The jury is still out on whether social networks can get big via highly targeted advertising. Early trials have shown that CPC is not a likely route and CPM plays are just not as interesting. Yet, Facebook is certainly very aggressively pushing for monetization, likely in preparation for a future IPO. Will they be able to turn it all around and re-invent contextual advertising? The company is full of brilliant people so it's certainly possible, but so far it does not look impressive.

Which Social Network Should I Use To Promote My Book?

Many authors have tried one or more of the social networks and felt it was a waste of time.

Maybe it was the wrong network?:

Social Networks Study Released - MySpace & Facebook Are Different After All!

Whichever you choose, you need to plan on spending a little time building a base to your following.. inviting friends and participating as much as you can to learn the system and make the initial connections.

Which is best?

Depends on your book/topic. However, I look at it like any marketing problem.. I go where the readers are.. test the promising ones and keep the ones that work.

One things is certain. Moving forward, you should have a presence on at least some of these networks

Encouraging the Conversation

Funny how things converge in your mind while you read a book.

This evening, I sat down to finish reading The New Influencers by Paul Gillin.

I met Paul a few weeks ago and realised I hadn't finished his book. I've been picking it up once every couple of days and find I get so many ideas that I only get through a few pages at a sitting.
My kind of book!

Part of this effect is in the multitude of new areas I've been researching. We have projects going to put a lot of reworked content up on the web, I'm uploading videos every chance I get (have you seen the $1 trial at http://authorsvideo.com/?) and at the same time I'm trying 47 new social networking sites.

Add one more factoid to the mix. I just went through an overhaul on our author database and identified those authors that communicate with us most actively. I was certain that an email target only to these subscribers would be opened by twice normal open rate we get for mailings to the full list... instead, the response to emails to this section of the list.. and all the list is off by more that 50% this week.

I heard it was a busy week.. but 50% less readership?

How does this all relate?

Like the major corporate advertisers, my direct marketing friends, the media themselves.. we're all seeing less results when we attempt to "communicate at" our readers with a one way stream of messages.

Every day, it becomes more an more important to have a two way conversation with your readers. This group will be smaller.. not everyone will respond at the same time and they won't respond in any way you can predict.

The opinion leader of today may be gone tomorrow. The next blog swarm may come from a post in a 3 reader blog that posted something just interesting enough to get one of those readers to hit DIGG with keywords that got picked up by another reader who tells a friend, etc. etc.

We have some systems in place to get the word out about new books, generate publicity, and start a buzz in the marketplace. When we keep at it, a good book gets noticed and the buzz grows.

I compare it to kicking over a beehive. You know there will be a lot of buzzing.. but you can't predict exactly where the swarm will go.

Cinny Little, EVP at Digital Influence Group said what I've been feeling for some time..

"The biggest misconception a lot of companies have is that some engine will provide you with one definitive "ranking" of a blogger, a community site, or an area of a social network.

At the end of the day, you have to consider both quantitative and qualitative measures, and you still have to build relationships. You have to learn who the influencer are and understand what's relevant to them"

I laugh when I talk to some people about Facebook and they ask "can I make any money on it?" like their mailing list or existing business is too successful to bother.

What will they do when the market stops responding?

The social networking sites are still in their infancy. Reminds of 10 years back when people wondered why I was recommending the ugly new search engine called Google.

Still a lot to learn. Just don't try too hard. You can't know for sure and likely you'll never again "control" what goes out about you. But if you encourage the conversation, become as transparent as you can and remain "genuine" you'll do fine.

Use My Network To Promote Your Book

I have thousands of connections I can share with authors.
Using LinkedIn.com, you can join me and connect our networks. People you know may want to learn more about becoming a best selling author. People I know can open doors to get you want you need.

And all of them read!

If you are a LinkedIn user, just click on the logo to see my book marketing profile on LinkedIn.com.

In you have not yet joined LinkedIn.. you will shown an easy sign up form.

It's FREE!. So do it today.