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The 5 Hottest Ways to Market Your Book Using A Website

The Internet is by far the most powerful sales tool you have. If you do not have a website to advertise your book to the world 24 hours a day 7 days a week you are losing hundreds if not thousands of possible leads each month. There is absolutely no reason why you should not have a website, even if it is a simple one. SelfPublishing.com offers a simple template based website builder for only $10.00 (if this is the price)per month, and E-Moxie Data Solutions, Inc. offers custom website solutions for as little as $300.00. Start your website experience off right; download E-Moxie's free website starter kit by clicking here.
Here are the 5 hottest ways to market your book with a website:

  1. PODcast
    Definition: "Podcasting is a method of publishing files via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed to receive new files automatically. It became popular in late 2004, largely for downloading audio files onto a portable audio player or personal computer."

    Many major companies are taking advantage of the PODcast craze, the largest of which is Apple Computers.  With the latest release of iTunes 4.9, Apple has integrated PODcasts into the iTunes Music Store making your PODcast available to a global audience.  There are many ways to start up your own PODcast whether you do it yourself and record audio from your computer and upload to your website, or a more professional approach such as Reader Radio With Errol Smith.  An example of a great PODcast is WBJBradio.com which is sponsored by SelfPublishing.com. Their latest series is  "The Truth Behind POD Printing"

    For more information on how to start your own PODcast please Click Here


  2. RSS Feed
    Definition: "RSS provides short descriptions of web content together with links to the full versions of the content. This information is delivered as an XML file called RSS feed, webfeed, RSS stream, or RSS channel. In addition to facilitating syndication, RSS allows a website's frequent readers to track updates on the site using a news aggregator."

    An RSS Feed is similar to a newspaper distributing articles about your site every time you update it.  An example of how an RSS Feed works is this:  You publish a series of books and as each book is released, you add that event or item to your RSS Feed by using a program such as FeedForAll or a custom solution, and publish your XML file to your website.  News directories such as news.google.com pick up your latest news and make it available to anyone using news aggregator software like newsgator.

    For more information on how to start your own custom RSS Feed please Click Here


  3. Blogs
    Definition: "A weblog (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log or weblog) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging"."

    A blog is your own personal online journal.  Not like the journal you kept when you were 13 and didn't want anyone to read it, but  more of a journal of collected thoughts, happenings, events, or anything you want to be publicly known.  Blog software gives the viewer the ability to post comments themselves thus making the blog more interactive and increases the buzz about your entry.   For example, if you have a self help book which you are trying to promote and it has a chapter on how to reduce clutter in your office space; you post an entry with some of the solutions that are in the book, and have readers post comments and add their success stories.

    For more information on how to start your own custom Blog please Click Here.


  4. Website Auto Responders
    Definition: "A Website Auto Responder is most commonly a script that automatically sends an email based on certain events the viewer experiences on a website.  An auto responder can be very simple or quite complex."

    This is great addition to any website because it reconnects a visitor to your site without them having been back to the site.  The Website Auto Responder can be attached to any area of your site where the viewer fills out his or her email address.  An example of this would be: You offer a free e-book or free sample chapter of your book.  When the viewer fills in their email address they receive the e-book or free chapter.  You set up an automated email to be sent to them after 30 minutes, 1 day, 5 days, or any suitable length of time, Automated email responses encourage users and potential customers to return to your site and purchase your offerings.

    For more information on how to receive your own Custom Auto Responder please Click Here.


  5. HTML Email Newsletter
    Definition: "A newsletter is a publication generally about one main subject or topic that is of interest to its subscribers. This publication is sent out at different periods of time, to inform the subscriber about the requested topic. Many popular websites and businesses have online newsletters which are sent to their email list subscribers. The purpose is to inform readers of updates to the site and/or provide information relating to the site's topic. Newsletters are also a factor in building and maintaining a relationship with the subscribers by reminding them of the site, urging them to return.

    Even though the HTML Email Newsletter is listed last does not mean it is less important nor as effective as the other four marketing tools.  On the contrary, it may be the most successful means of marketing your website; solely because it has been around the longest.  A newsletter is a fantastic way to keep in touch with people who have visited your site.  The newsletter gives you the ability to keep them up to date with your new books, press releases, promotions, etc.  Companies such as Constant Contact offer newsletter services for a monthly fee. 

    For more information on how to start your own custom HTML Newsletter please Click Here.