Both Authors and Speakers currently sell such products on their website as books. Many times they also sell add-ons such as audio cd’s, journals, video dvd’s and more. Speakers are experts on a specific topic and are selling their services, access to membership sites, and training videos.

Many times both are currently selling passive income products on their site and are looking for more opportunities to build more traffic and add more passive income products on their website.  Having advertisers on your website can be an easy way to generate more income. Finding economical ways to advertise your business can also provide you with a fruitful return on investment.

How do I start?

Place advertise banners on your site. Let potential advertisers know that you want advertisers on your site by placing an “advertise with us” banner on your site. Put up house ads, affiliate banners, or partner ads so that you can encourage similar ads.

Keep the ads on your site specific to the theme of your site. If your target market is women business owners, make sure the ads interest women business owners; that the ads complement your mission statement; that the ads are attracting the right demographics.

Show your site stats. Monthly unique visitors and total number of impressions are important. Having such demographics as age, location, and sex is also useful.  You can get this information through polls or having google analytics placed on your site. From this you can create a report or place the information on your site for potential advertisers. If your monthly visitors are not yet a large audience, sell advertisers on the fact that you attract a specific niche and that you are different.

Draw traffic by participating in virtual book tours or product tours.  Becoming a reviewer or posting articles can be an effective and free way of not only advertising authors and other products but advertising your blog as well.  These tours use such advertising media as press releases, videos, and email campaigns. Your site is advertised on their website or tour page and benefits from traffic that visits that page. Your site will also be included in social media advertising and email marketing advertising of the tour.

Backlink to sites that complement your business. A great free way to build your rating on the web search engines which makes it easier for advertisers to find you. This is mutually beneficial for both sites because both sites draw new visitors who are interested in the same subject matter.

Why would you not want advertisers on your site? Some sites do not allow advertisers on their site because they feel that it makes their site to spammy or that it takes the visitor away from the content of their site.  But advertisements that cater to your sites demographics and are placed to enhance the look of the site or current product offering is always beneficial.

Are you interested in becoming a Virtual Book Tour or Product Tour Host? Learn more here

Download a Preview Copy of the Book Here!

Blogging for Smarties: Blogging for Authors and Speakers

Syndicating your blog through an RSS feed, allows your readership quick access all of your blog posts without requiring them to visit your blog.

When you syndicate your blog, you are listing your blog or RSS feed to various blog directories and forums. You are allowing readers to subscribe to your blog in offline newsreaders. Other websites display your latest posts. 

 Readers can read your latest blog entry without visiting your website.

Why syndicate your blog?

Syndication is an effective, cheap way of advertising your blog and content on your blog. Syndication has become a highly effective strategy for link building. Links are embedded within the syndicated content. When you write about a specific topic, eg. creating a blog, you generate keywords that when typed into search engines by readers may result in your website being listed, increasing traffic, and improving your search engine rankings.

Most people do not have the time to visit your blog to view latest posts, so viewing your posts through an RSS feed allows them to keep up with your syndicated content, and other content.

They can still click through to visit your blog, especially for the purpose of leaving comments, viewing other content, or participating in the conversation.

How and where do you Syndicate your blog?

You will need to list your blog or RSS feed on online directories, various forums, and social media, as well as having your RSS feed address available on your site. Here are some examples:

Syndicate to social media. Syndicating to social media means sharing your latest blog posts on your social media profiles. Some sites that have automatic syndication are Networked Blogs, Linkedin, Facebook and Twitterfeed .

Syndicate to blog directories and forums. Browse around to see how the directories share other blogs’ latest content. Many online Forums, such as Ning, allow you to list your recent posts from your RSS feed on your profile.

Syndicate full content. Some sites allow you to sign up and add your RSS feed to their network. They will then review your latest posts, and if they like the post, they will publish it in full on their own site. One example is Social Media Today.

To view your WordPress blog RSS feed, you simply need to navigate to your domain name and add /feed to the end. Example http://www.yourdomainname.com/feed depending on the name of your blog.

You should always include internal links within your blog post that link to other posts and pages in your website, so that readers will read other articles and view related products and services you offer.

The YP Publishing offers website services including web maintenance, membership sites and syndicating your blog services.

Learn More Here

Download a Preview Copy of the Book Here!

Blogging for Smarties: Blogging for Authors and Speakers

Thanks to the increased use of tablets and smartphones access, increased popularity of the internet has increased exposure for bloggers. Technoratii  State of the Blogosphere reports, in 2010, significant growth of mobile blogging is a key trend this year.

One  of the reasons I am so in love with WordPress is not only is this website easy to maintain but you can upgrade your site by using WordPress Plugins. Must have WordPress plugins for Authors and Speakers are:

All in One SEO Pack

This plugin lets you focus on writing good content for your website. Attract a specific audience who reads your book’s genre.  The XML Sitemaps is an essential part of current day SEO Plugin. This allows you to be indexed in such search engines as Google.  Many speakers and authors develop various products  (cd’s, dvd’s, ebooks, books, video downloads) that they sell on their website. All in One SEO Pack is the  ONLY plugin to provide SEO Integration for WP e-Commerce sites. (Read more: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/)

Display Scheduled Posts

Speakers spend a large amount of time traveling to the venues that they will speak at. Many times Authors have their website centered around their book but may also have other employment. This plugin lets a user create a page or a post and schedule this post to be published at a specific date and time.
(Read more: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/display-scheduled-posts/)

W3 Total Cache
Speakers and Authors have media pages on their website that contain video and audio interviews. Total Cache improves the user experience of your site by reducing the download times and providing transparent content delivery network integration.
(Read more: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/)

Sociable Plugin

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are popular social sharing websites, with Digg, following not far behind. This plugin will promote your social media profiles and encourage visitors to share your content with their friends and followers.
(Read more: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sociable/)

eShop
eShop is a great full e-commerce system for WordPress. Products have multiple options so adding products, reviewing products, and checking stats, is easy. You can even download sales data. Also, eShop can be used with different merchant gateways.
(Read more: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/eshop/)

NextGEN Gallery

The plugin allows you to upload a large number of photos onto your WordPress site and create an attractive slideshow. This plugin creates a visual appeal when advertising products, or creating a media portfolio.
(Read more: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nextgen-gallery/)

The YP Publishing provides these plugins and more when creating Professional Websites for Authors and Speakers. Learn More Here.

Download a Preview Copy of the Book Here!

Blogging for Smarties: Blogging for Authors and Speakers

Cynthia Kocialski is the founder of three tech companies. What makes her unique is that she has experienced many start-ups and seen them from the inside out, including the day-to-day trials and tribulations, not just the milestones and status presented to passive investors and outsiders. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups and has served on various advisory boards. These companies have collectively returned billions of dollars to investors. Cynthia has held various technical, marketing, and management positions at IBM and Matrox Electronics. Cynthia has engineering and mathematics degrees from the University of Rochester and the University of Virginia.

You can read more about Cynthia Kocialski book by visiting www.cynthiakocialski.com or
www.startupfromthegroundup.com

Yvonne Wu – What is the first sign that a startup will be a failure?

Cynthia Kocialski – When I speak with the founders and there is a sense of arrogance. It’s the attitude that we’re planning this great product and company, and no one is going to tell us what to do because we know what to do. They don’t want to listen to anyone. But I know that whatever they are planning, won’t unfold as they expect and if they hold to their grand plans, the company will fail.

Yvonne Wu – How do I create the life I want?
Cynthia Kocialski – It’s all about intent. Fate isn’t going to suddenly surprise you one day and drop you perfect, ideal life on your doorstep. No one is that lucky. In a start-up, there’s always something that needs to get done. The rule of thumb is if what you are doing now isn’t moving you closer to the goal, then stop doing it. The same is true for creating your dream. Life is busy. It’s full of request from people around us. You can’t do it all. You have to pick how you spend your time wisely. Time is everything. It’s a non-renewal resource, you can’t check the balance, or get a refund.

Yvonne Wu – The title of your book what does it mean?

Cynthia Kocialski -  Being a success isn’t about what you learn in school. At best, school opens the first door for you to land your first job. That’s it! It doesn’t make you successful. How many people ask their doctors if they can see their transcripts from medical school? Did your cardiologist really get an ‘A’ in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Organ Systems? Success is what you learn outside the classroom and then apply to your future profession. Grades in school are not indicative of success. I see too many people who think it’s all about grades – our youths are encouraged to study hard and study all day long – but that’s not the path to success. There’s more to it. This is why just average students and those with non-academic talents can succeed.

Yvonne Wu –  Who is your intended audience?

Cynthia Kocialski -Parents raising kids and wanting to give them that edge to be successful later in life. Young adults starting off in their careers.

Yvonne Wu – Tell us where “Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success” is available.

Cynthia Kocialski – The book is available from amazon.com and from www.cynthiakocialski.com or
www.startupfromthegroundup.com.

View Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success Podcast in iTunes  Here

Listen to Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success Podcast

Author insert a music with WS Audio Player.
(Download) this music.

Cynthia Kocialski is the founder of three tech companies. What makes her unique is that she has experienced many start-ups and seen them from the inside out, including the day-to-day trials and tribulations, not just the milestones and status presented to passive investors and outsiders. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups and has served on various advisory boards. These companies have collectively returned billions of dollars to investors. Cynthia has held various technical, marketing, and management positions at IBM and Matrox Electronics. Cynthia has engineering and mathematics degrees from the University of Rochester and the University of Virginia.

You can read more about Cynthia Kocialski book by visiting www.cynthiakocialski.com or
www.startupfromthegroundup.com.

Yvonne Wu – What is the first sign that a startup will be a failure?

Cynthia Kocialski – When I speak with the founders and there is a sense of arrogance. It’s the attitude that we’re planning this great product and company, and no one is going to tell us what to do because we know what to do. They don’t want to listen to anyone. But I know that whatever they are planning, won’t unfold as they expect and if they hold to their grand plans, the company will fail.

Yvonne Wu – What marketing advice do you give new business owners?
Cynthia Kocialski – Marketing should be started as soon as possible, even before the product is ready for customers.  Marketing creates demand for the product or service. Marketing builds awareness for your company and product. Like it or not, products don’t sell themselves. Customers always prefer to buy the familiar. In the customer’s mind, that which is familiar is less risk.

Yvonne Wu – The title of your book what does it mean?

Cynthia Kocialski – The title is meant to imply the seed stage or early stage start-up company, those new businesses just opening up. The subtitle shows that it is a how-to business book, and was chosen to embrace target keywords for search engines.
The book title itself was crowd sourced. I conducted surveys and asked recipients to name the book.  I selected the best ones and conducted another survey to see which title was the best choice. My original title was Start-Up In The Sky, a variant of pie in the sky. I thought it was clever, but nobody liked it.

Yvonne Wu – Describe your book in 3 words.

Cynthia Kocialski – Practical Business Creation

Yvonne Wu – Tell us where “Startup From The Ground Up” is available.

Cynthia Kocialski – The book is available from amazon.com and from www.cynthiakocialski.com or
www.startupfromthegroundup.com.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-business-report/id302459315

Learn more about Cynthia, download Cynthia Kocialski’s podcast in iTunes

Paige Agnew is the author of “ Seven”. Seven talks about seven strangers who are thrown together to be pawns in a psycho’s mind game, they realize that they have to work together to reach their true potential or it could very well mean their death.

Seven strangers. Seven stories. One chance to not only save their lives, but to change them in ways they’d never even imagined possible.

Visit Paige Agnew’s website at http://paigeagnew.com

Yvonne Wu –What age group would enjoy reading Seven?

Paige – While I target young adults like myself, I think that adults could enjoy this just as much. Some of the main characters are adults and the themes within it are universal.

Yvonne Wu –What was the most difficult chapter to write?

Paige – I can’t say that there was one specific chapter that was hard, but I definitely struggled with the middle of the book. I struggled with it so much, that I stopped. Writers block hit me and it hit me hard and I moved on to other projects, leaving Seven unfinished. I think what made it difficult is that there’s the transition from getting to know the characters to the sudden whirlwind of them being captured and thrown in this experiment. So that transition was the hardest for me.

Yvonne Wu – Where can we purchase Seven?

Paige – Seven is available for purchase at:

Amazon.com
paigeagnew.com
barnesandnoble.com

Paula Renaye is the author of “The Hardline Self Help Handbook: What Are You Willing to Do to Get What You Really Want?” Paula shares with her readers a cut-to-the-chase approach towards personal development and self-improvement.

Paula Renaye is a certified professional coach, motivational speaker, regression hypnosis practitioner and award-winning author. She has been a consultant for 18 years and is a member of the International Association of Coaches. She presents classes, seminars, hands-on workshops and events on self-development and self-healing, as well as writing and publishing. Her passion is helping people face reality and take personal responsibility for their choices in order to reclaim their own power and live the life they really want.

Yvonne Wu – The title of your book is “Hardline Self Help” what does the title mean?

Paula Renaye – Hardline Self Help means that you stop letting yourself off the hook—stop giving yourself excuses for why you don’t or can’t have what you want—and you hold your own feet to the fire, face reality, take responsibility for your life right now and get busy

doing what you know you need to do.

Yvonne Wu – What do you mean by “What Are You Willing to Do to Get What You Really Want?”

Paula Renaye – When we are in tough spots in our lives and are in a loop of pain we just can’t seem to find a way out of, we may say that we’re willing to do anything to make things better. But is it really true? Many times, what we’re really saying is, “I‘ll do anything not to hurt anymore as long as I can keep things the way I want them.” For example, if what you want is a loving, peaceful and trusting relationship, but you’re in constant turmoil and upset over the situation you’re living in, what are you willing to do about it? Personally, I was willing to do absolutely anything except the one thing that I had to do—get a different partner. When I became willing to let go of my limitations—my attachment to that particular partner—I opened the door to being able to have what I really wanted.

Here’s another example. A lot of people tell me they’re going to write a book. Great! When? How? What are you willing to sacrifice to make it happen? Are you willing to watch less television to make time for writing? Are you willing to give up golfing on weekends? How bad do you really want it? I asked myself the “what are you willing to do” question repeatedly throughout the process of writing and launching this book. Every time the answer was the same—whatever it takes, which meant working 12 to 16 hours a day for months straight. Sure, I got tired, but I loved what I was doing, and getting this book in print was that important to me. I was willing.

Yvonne Wu – Where is Hardline Self Help available?

Paula Renaye – The book is available at http://www.amazon.com , Barnes&Noble ,

http://www.hardlineselfhelp.com and on Kindle.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-business-report/id302459315

Learn more about Paula Renaye, download  Paula Renaye’s podcast in iTunes

Listen to Paula Renaye’s podcast live

Author insert a music with WS Audio Player.
(Download) this music.

This business primer makes it easy to understand how to do business online. How? “Boost Your Revenues by Turning People Away”. Part 1 identifies who your company’s ideal client is, and how that ideal client becomes an ideal online visitor when searching the Internet or looking at your company website. Part 1 also includes links to various worksheets to help a businessperson identify the ideal client. Part 2 outlines three simple ways to put together a website, so your ideal visitor feels confident about your ability to identify and solve problems. Part 3 tells your ideal visitor how to find your site. Alison’s aim is to help clients reach their online marketing potential. She wants customers to understand how to leverage the Internet to build their businesses. Most of the book’s content comes from real dealings with clients and providing answers to commonly asked questions.

Visit Alison’s website at http://idealvisitor.com/idealsite/book-2/

Yvonne Wu – How do you determine your ideal client?

Alison Silbert – “I” determine my ideal client by asking myself “who do I want to help?”, “what characteristics are included in my definition of an ideal client?”, and “what are the top 3 problems my ideal client has that I can solve quickly and easily for him/her?”

Yvonne Wu –Who is your intended audience?

Alison Silbert – Anyone interested in learning for himself/herself how to put together an effective website that starts the sales cycle for them.

Yvonne Wu – Tell us where “BOOST YOUR REVENUES BY TURNING PEOPLE” is available.

Alison Silbert – The book is available from amazon.com,  Barnes & Nobile and from. http://idealvisitor.com/idealsite/book-2/.

Rocsanne is the pen name of Raluca Popov, born in Romania many years ago, when communism was still the way of life in her country. She desired to escape communism and find more about a freer way of life in the West. For this, she left Romania as a tourist, and never looked back. Her education includes Geological Engineering and Construction Estimating, thus being able to find work wherever she went. During all these years she wrote short stories, mostly about the people she met, finding them extremely interesting. But always she was sure she would write a novel someday.

After she retired, she finally found the time to transform her dream into reality, and four novels in the Historical Romance genre were written, one connected to the next through their common heroes and heroines. And here she found herself in a quandary — where to send the banished sorcerer — the solution to her fourth novel, in which Edmund, the bad sorcerer is banished by his enemies, and disappears in thin air.

She says that inspiration comes from the most extraordinary places. In this case it was the TV, watching an animated movie for children. Forgotten was the romance, and children, together with their parents, became the new heroes. When you read the book, please do not forget to give her your opinion of it. Rocsanne/Raluca would love to hear what you have to say.

Visit Rocsanne website at www.rocsanneshield.com

Yvonne Wu – Tell us about “Save Magic City.”

Rocsanne Shield – When I retired, it was not because I wanted, but because the company went through a very dramatic restructuring — 20% of all the International complex had to be shed, to keep the company profitable. So, when I started writing this book, I did not have a name in mind, I simply put on paper ideas as they came. But after the entire population voted to change the name into Magic City, saving it was of the utmost importance! Hence the name.

Yvonne Wu – Why did you write this book?

Rocsanne Shield – At first, because I wanted to give Edmund a chance to rehabilitate himself of all the bad deeds in his past, but once I had Leo and Leona, I wanted to help them save their
beloved city.

Yvonne Wu – Where is “Save Magic City” available?

Rocsanne Shield – Save Magic City is available at

http://www.rocsanneshield.com/

http://www.amazon.com/

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/

And other retailers.

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-business-report/id302459315

Learn more about Rocsanne, download Rocsanne Shield’s podcast in iTunes

Twitter

Twitter is a great way to expand your online reach.   Twitter.com is a great site to use for expanding your online reach.  Twitter is like a online business card. You can use twitter to advertise new services that your company may have, advertise your blogs and create awareness of services you offer. Twitter is also very resourceful in assisting you in targeting your target market. Your followers can be individuals that you can learn from. Your profile can be customized with various backgrounds and you can summarize your available services on your profile. This is definitely a modern word of mouth tool.

Have you tried Twitterbeep? Twitterbeep will track conversations, Plug in a keyword about your book if you are a Author or about the type of service you provide. Twitterbeep will match you with perspective customers who may be looking or talking about that service or product.

There is not much that I would like to see changed when using Twitter except that when typing a message you are limited in the amount of words you can use. This sometimes prevents communication via Twitter. If you are a Twitter fan checkout Bubbletweet,  Twitxr, TwitPic, Twtqpon, Tweepler, TwitterFox,Tweetburner, Twit This, HelloTxt and FutureTweets .

MySpace

MySpace is a great place to meet and business network. If your target market is people working in Creative industries such as Entertainers and Authors MySpace.com is the place to be. Finding friends seems to be the main way to connect with people who work in industries that may need your services now or in the future and make them aware of your service offering. Your Myspace profile is a advertisement of your business.  Compared to other social media, MySpace allows for more creative control of the design elements of there profile. MySpace also has some great online job advertisements. Unfortunately MySpace group selection is limited and so is its blog utility.

Linked In

The biggest disadvantage of Linkedin is the profile. You are very limited in the information that you can provide in your profile. The template offered is very plain. Linked in’s security restrictions make it very hard to network with new people who could share a common interest. Many times the security settings want you to know the potential contacts email address. The opportunity to comment in Linkedin groups is a great way to build relationships with other business owners. There are some wonderful groups to join. This makes it simple to meet your specific target market. Once you comment the chance to connect with this person and add them as a contact becomes greater.

Facebook

Facebook.com started out as a social networking website for students. Facebook is a entrepreneurs dream. Facebook is an excellent place to post your blog. Your blog can quickly be picked up by the search engines and be listed under your company name. Facebook is a great way of advertising events. This allows the opportunity of meeting individuals in your target market face to face. This feature replaces the old fashion joining of business networking groups in your area.  Facebook groups are not as interactive as Linkedin groups. Facebook has added recent changes to their Fan Pages. You can now view insights. Insights are statistics about how your page and posts are doing. You can now track page activity. The removal of the left hand sidebar makes it  difficult to let your viewer know what your company does without the viewer flipping pages.

The newsfeed reminds me of a newspaper. There is constantly new activity to read. Best of all there are ways to interact.
Building relationships offline and online is still paramount to your business success.  Social media helps you to gain an insight to know various individuals  business, learn about their struggles, and through these observations  you can learn their needs and therefore provide them with a much needed product or service. There has been some changes to the newsfeed that is limiting the ability to read all your friends posts. This should change.

The main thing that you need to remember is that there is no point in collecting a huge amount of friends or connections if you are not going to communicate with them. Most importantly these connections should communicate with you. You need to be available to answer questions. The best method of communication is leaving a private message.
Please provide feedback about your favorite Social Forum.