Facebook | Deborah H Bateman

Some people may ask, why would you give your book away?

I guess it depends on how good your book is doing otherwise. For me being a fairly new author it was a way to promote myself for future books as well as The Book of Ruth-A Story of Love and Redemption. Doing the free promotion also helps get your book higher in the rankings. I went through some of the same thoughts you might, thinking about it as losing money. If I actually sold the 12,000 books I gave away in the two days of my giveaway that would be a lot of money. I would love to get that check. But, if your book is sitting there with very few sales then, what have you got to lose?

For one thing you get a lot of exposure. There are now more people who know my name and have my book on their computer. From a Christian standpoint there are more people who I have shared the gospel with, which is my ultimate goal. I hope one day my ministry will be self-supportive and I would love to have a nice income from my books. But for now I have to abide where I am in the process. I keep reminding myself I shared the gospel with all those people and God will bless me for doing it in whatever way He sees fit.

If you have a message you want to get out and you are not already selling a lot of books, what do you have to lose? Or, if you are like me and you are a new author who needs to let people know about the message of your book, then I think it is a good promotional tool to get your name out and let people have a sample of your writing. If they like it, they may tell other people about your book or they may buy future books. They may subscribe to your website or become a follower of yours. Think of it as advertising.

It is a personal decision everybody has to make for themselves. Don’t feel pressured to do it if you aren’t comfortable with it. I thought about it for a while before I took the plunge. But, in the previous six weeks I had not sold as many books as I would like so I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by doing it.

Some of the things I did to promote my FREE Kindle days are:

I sent out emails to my entire email list letting them know about the promotion. I also asked them to send out messages and emails to their friends, family, and email list. Then, I promoted as if no one else was helping me. Anything they did was a bonus. I wasn’t going to ask them to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself.

I scheduled posts for Twitter and Facebook throughout the day. I also posted on LinkedIn and Google+. I also posted messages on my blogs about the free giveaway.

Tags I used on my posts included #Free #FreeKindle #KindleFree #FreeEbook #KindleFreebie. I used anything I could think of and anything I saw others using to get recognition for the free eBook.

I sent out messages to these sites and asked them to post my book on the free days, also:

eReaderiq.com

EReaderNewsToday.com

ereader-freebies.blogspot.com

Once I scheduled all my messages and put up my other posts I watched the rankings go up and checked periodically to see how many books were downloaded. I was very well pleased with the results.

I went to #1 in two categories and up to #12 free in kindle store during the two days of m free book promotion.

Another thing is to keep promoting your book after the free days. Once you go up in the rankings you want to try to keep them up as long as possible. So, do what you can to keep promoting and hopefully it will help keep the rankings up.

Remember out of site, out of mind. If people don’t see your book being promoted they are going to forget about it. Also, nobody cares about your book like you do so you can’t depend on other people to promote it for you. I hope this article has given you some insight into why some of us choose to do the free giveaways and help you decide if you would like to do it too. I wish you much success with your book.

If you would like coaching on Self-Publishing or Marketing your book contact Deborah H. Bateman via the contact form on this site. She will be glad to discuss her coaching package with you.

**This is an article I received in a newsletter and found it to be interesting and thought you might like to read it also.

Social tools have become an integral part of our personal and business lives. An estimated 80 percent of all Americans use social networks, and 54 percent of social networkers follow a brand via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Consumers follow brands online for specific reasons:

They want to research a product or service before purchasing it.
They want to peruse customer reviews.
They want discounts.

Whether you are a one-person show or part of a large corporation, it’s smart to include social tools in your marketing mix.

In the next two issues of Bright Ideas Blogzine, I’ll acquaint you with two relationship marketing strategies that will help you grow a loyal community around your brand.

In this issue, we’ll look at how to craft compelling messages for your online outposts.
In the February issue, we’ll explore how to promote those messages.

Relevance

You’ve likely heard, ad nauseam, that online content must be relevant.

But what constitutes relevant content?

Perhaps a better way of defining “relevant” content is to identify irrelevant content.

Let’s examine three Twitter updates posted by business professionals. My reactions are in parentheses.

“GREAT NEWS!!!” (Unless I know and love you personally, shouting a phrase in all caps with triple exclamation points does not entice me to click your link. In fact, your update is so irritating that I’m unfollowing you.)

“Just woke up.” (Really? I tweet while I’m sleeping.)

“Just ate supper. For some reason I feel like I’m going to get sick.” (Visualizing you getting sick nauseates me. Unfollow.)

To test whether an update is relevant, remember one key fact:

Your prospects and customers don’t care about you.

…Unless you’re a chef, they don’t care what you’re cooking for dinner.

…Unless you’re a celebrity, they don’t care who your latest love interest is.

Stop subjecting your audience to pointless updates about your personal life.

A second sad fact of life for online marketers:

Your customers are not on Facebook and Twitter to do business with you.

They’re there to jaw with friends and relatives, to look at pictures and watch videos.

Meet your customers where they’re at by crafting content that focuses on them. Ask them questions. Find out their challenges (related to your niche) and help them solve problems.

A mix of useful tips, interesting news and entertaining tidbits keeps your audience engaged. Don’t be afraid to inject humor into your updates.

“Retweet if you think men in kilts are sexy” is entertaining and relevant… if you work for a travel agency that books trips to Scotland.

Love/Hate Relationship

People who follow brands on social networks love getting exclusive deals. They love posting reviews and testimonials about items they’ve purchased. But they hate – with a passion – “buy, buy, buy” messages.

Real estate agent, Joni Kerley (a Blogging Bistro client), limits direct promotions to about 10 percent of her online content. She posted the following “soft-sell” message to her Everett Area Real Estate Facebook page:

“Congrats to Laura and Chris Bohannan on the purchase of their first home. You were a lot of fun to work with. Enjoy your home!”

The update included a photo of the happy homeowners standing in front of their new abode, holding a “Sold by Joni Kerley” sign.

My friend Judy Gann, a librarian who trains publishers and authors how to sell their books to libraries, posted this soft-sell message to the Library Insider Facebook page:

“Drooling over the gorgeous library promotional brochure Library Insider client Ann Shorey’s publisher created for her. Wow! Can’t wait to hear the response from librarians.”

Joni’s and Judy’s updates are personable, allowing prospects to get to know them in a no-pressure environment. Rather than shouting, “Buy my stuff!” their messages subtly focus on the benefits customers receive from using their services.

Your Assignment

During the next 30 days, craft 12 relevant, entertaining social updates that focus on your customer and use the soft-sell approach.

Laura Christianson founded BloggingBistro.com, a company that serves a full menu of social media services to businesses and individuals.