ONLINE MARKETING | Planning a Virtual or Blog Tour

Virtual or blog tours consists of a number of online stops (usually bloggers), all committed to posting about the same topic. The purpose of a blog or virtual tour is to generate “good old-fashion word of mouth” about your book. An author will ultimately increase their book sales, but a commitment to promote online is required.

Authors who want to do virtual tours should:

ONLINE MARKETING | Online Advertising Options

There are two main forms of online marketing, either via email or a Web site (or blog).

Online Marketing VIA EMAIL

In the age of text-messaging, email is still the dominant form of online communication for adults. You know you can’t wait to boot up your email in the morning with a cup of coffee! LOL!

NEWSLETTERS (HTML EMAIL): If you have the time, definitely consider starting a newsletter or mailing list. You can keep readers updated with your new book releases, speaking or book signing events. Here are a few popular newsletter companies to explore: Read more

ONLINE MARKETING | Start with a Web site

The first thing you need for online marketing, which I hope you should know by now, is a Web site. On his blog, literary agent Terry Whalin mentioned, “Several years ago, it was OK for an author not to have a website. In fact, there was a great deal of skepticism about anything online and whether it was true or not … in today’s publishing climate, the Internet is often the first place that people turn for information about anything and anyone.” Read the full article Why Author’s Need a Web Presence

It doesn’t matter how you obtain a Web site. You can design it yourself (if you have the creative and graphic skills) or choose to hire someone. If you choose to do it yourself, keep it professional. In the next section, I will share some no, no’s when it comes to building a Web site. If you hire someone, compare prices. I purposely keep my prices at Tywebbin Creations for people on a budget.

ONLINE MARKETING | Traditional Marketing Methods

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting an online marketing workshop. Feel free to subscribe to this series via email.

Now let me be clear, while I work from the online part of an author’s brand, I must emphasize traditional marketing methods should still be a part of your budget. Many of the Web 2.0 platforms introduced on this blog are FREE, but DO NOT solely depend on these platforms to market your book.

Learn Online Marketing Basics – A Free 12 Week Course

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the SORMAG Online Conference. I never seem quite to know how much information to present, so I put together a rather hefty document of information. Over the next 12 weeks, I will break-down the content from the workshop into bite size blog posts. The post and emails will be on Monday’s ONLY.

Feel free to stop by to add your two cents or ask questions.

If you are interested in receiving the FREE Online Marketing Basic course via email, SIGN-UP HERE.

– Ty