Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, February 18, 2010
How is your Website Working For Ya'?
A couple of weeks ago, I set up a new web site for our bookstore. At the same time, I set up Google Analytics. The tool, which is very easy to use, is also FREE. Now, I can measure how well I am doing in meeting my objectives (read Tips to Establish Your Blog). Among many other things, the tool tells me how long a user stays on a particular page and even which city most of my viewers are coming from.
**Even though we are located in Apex, most of my web visitors are in Cary! How is that for reaching a broader market!**
Using the tool, I can tell you that since republishing the site, I have had 220 visitors, of which 166 of them were unique. During these visits, there were 812 page views. Visitors stayed on the site for an average of 5 minutes and clicked through 3.6 pages per visit. Half of my visitors came through from the Google searching and various others came directly to http://www.allbookedupsalemstreet.com/ or via Facebook.
Now, these may not be great numbers (yet), but they are telling me more than what I knew a few weeks ago!
If you have a web site, sign up for Google Analytics! You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to obtain data (which is not so revealing that it would be considered “lurking” as my teenage son would called it) to market your product (books, self, cheesecake, etc.)
By the way, one of my objectives is to increase followers by 50 by September. My data is telling me that 25% of my visitors have come to my site more than once!
**Even though we are located in Apex, most of my web visitors are in Cary! How is that for reaching a broader market!**
Using the tool, I can tell you that since republishing the site, I have had 220 visitors, of which 166 of them were unique. During these visits, there were 812 page views. Visitors stayed on the site for an average of 5 minutes and clicked through 3.6 pages per visit. Half of my visitors came through from the Google searching and various others came directly to http://www.allbookedupsalemstreet.com/ or via Facebook.
Now, these may not be great numbers (yet), but they are telling me more than what I knew a few weeks ago!
If you have a web site, sign up for Google Analytics! You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to obtain data (which is not so revealing that it would be considered “lurking” as my teenage son would called it) to market your product (books, self, cheesecake, etc.)
By the way, one of my objectives is to increase followers by 50 by September. My data is telling me that 25% of my visitors have come to my site more than once!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tips for a Successful Book Event
•Provide the store with a brief biography, picture and target market to help them sell the book to the right customers
•Advertise the event on your web site, blog and social media sites – don’t let the message get lost – keep building up the excitement all the way up to the day of your event!
•Engage in “conversation” with the store’s customers through their social media sites and blogs – offer teasers from the book to capture interest and build a relationship (albeit electronic)
•Stop selling/giving away books at least three weeks prior to the event and refer customers to the event location for purchase
•Look for opportunities to create news and issue a press release to the media in the area (town, city, etc.)
•Register the event on www.booktour.com which will feed the information to electronic calendars in the area
•Post flyers in the general vicinity of the area a week prior to the event
•Help the store by bringing in new customers...your friends, fans and customers
•Attend another event the store is hosting to get a feel for how it will go and to support other new authors!
.Visit the store a week early to see the traffic flow during the time your event will take place
.Be EARLY!!
•Advertise the event on your web site, blog and social media sites – don’t let the message get lost – keep building up the excitement all the way up to the day of your event!
•Engage in “conversation” with the store’s customers through their social media sites and blogs – offer teasers from the book to capture interest and build a relationship (albeit electronic)
•Stop selling/giving away books at least three weeks prior to the event and refer customers to the event location for purchase
•Look for opportunities to create news and issue a press release to the media in the area (town, city, etc.)
•Register the event on www.booktour.com which will feed the information to electronic calendars in the area
•Post flyers in the general vicinity of the area a week prior to the event
•Help the store by bringing in new customers...your friends, fans and customers
•Attend another event the store is hosting to get a feel for how it will go and to support other new authors!
.Visit the store a week early to see the traffic flow during the time your event will take place
.Be EARLY!!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
All Booked Up Won Best Book Store in Apex
The Apex Herald ran a contest for "the best of" and we won! We beat Borders as Best Book Store in Apex!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tips to Establish Your Blog
This is Part 2 to “Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blogging.” In this blog entry, I have outlined a few practical tips to starting and maintaining a blog presence. To get you started, read on…
Define the Purpose of your Blog
Before establishing your blog, you’ll need to define a purpose. Ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish with my blog?” With the All Booked Up blog, I want to use it to sell books on-line and in the store. So, I developed a purpose statement which factors in the strategy we used when launching the retail store.
The purpose of my blog is to:
· To gain exposure online
· To build relationships with a wider audience
· To connect with my customer needs and desires
Establish Objectives
Next, you will need to define WHAT you want to accomplish by establishing objectives for your blog. From my experience in the corporate world, setting S.M.A.R.T. objectives will bring you closer to achieving your vision of success.
SMART objectives are:
-
Specific
-
Measurable
-
Attainable
-
Realistic
-
Time Bound
My SMART objectives for this blog are to:
- Use the blog to increase All Booked Up exposure on the Web by attracting 50 followers by September, 2010.
- Use the blog to increase online sales by 100% by June, 2010.
Use the blog to increase number of customer sales per day by 50% by June, 2010
Develop a Strategy
Your strategy should define HOW you are going to meet your objectives.
To increase All Booked Up exposure on the web, I am going to:
- Select 2-3 blogs related to my line of business to consistently follow and comment
- Use Keywords and website optimization tools to increase my visibility in popular search engines
- Select pictures to increase the amount of time my followers spend on my blog and website
- Write articles and provide tip sheets related to my line of business and share my knowledge of the book industry
- Advertise and post my blog to social media sites like Linked In and Facebook
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blogging
I have been doing some serious research on the value of blogging and where it adds value and where it just takes space. For an author, blogging is an immediate contact with a worldwide audience, it is a platform by which you can assert your expertise, and a place where you can collect feedback from interested parties, after all, you are writing for them, not for you! They are following you not the other way around.
I have outlined a few tips for beginning a blog and keeping it active.
1. Find a free or inexpensive place to blog. Google offers Blogger for free. The templates are easy to use and can be customized to meet your audience needs. Facebook also provides a blog-like option, using NOTES. You can automatically upload an external blog to your FACEBOOK.
2. Blog for at least 10 minutes, everyday! Just like excercise - to keep you fit and active!
3. Blog with a purpose! Don’t just blog with random thoughts – choose a topic related to your subject matter.
4. Offer “prizes” for feedback and/or participation. Often times, authors run contests to collect information they need for a new book, ideas, comments, etc. and then present a free book to a random winner.
5. Subscribe to other bloggers in your genre! See what they’re blogging about and try it out on your own site.
6. Invite guests to your blog! Bring in experts who can speak to a situation or a circumstance and take immediate feedback or Q&A.
Check out this local author’s blog
http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-write-novel-from-start-to-finish.html
I have outlined a few tips for beginning a blog and keeping it active.
1. Find a free or inexpensive place to blog. Google offers Blogger for free. The templates are easy to use and can be customized to meet your audience needs. Facebook also provides a blog-like option, using NOTES. You can automatically upload an external blog to your FACEBOOK.
2. Blog for at least 10 minutes, everyday! Just like excercise - to keep you fit and active!
3. Blog with a purpose! Don’t just blog with random thoughts – choose a topic related to your subject matter.
4. Offer “prizes” for feedback and/or participation. Often times, authors run contests to collect information they need for a new book, ideas, comments, etc. and then present a free book to a random winner.
5. Subscribe to other bloggers in your genre! See what they’re blogging about and try it out on your own site.
6. Invite guests to your blog! Bring in experts who can speak to a situation or a circumstance and take immediate feedback or Q&A.
Check out this local author’s blog
http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-write-novel-from-start-to-finish.html
Monday, February 8, 2010
Why do you write?
Join the discussion and let us know how to build a publishing business that meets your needs!
Authors, the simple question to ask, but hard to answer, is why do you write? Are you looking for fame and fortune? Are you writing for pleasure? Do you aspire to be published by a big trade publisher or are you looking for "Do it Yourself" publishing?
Let us know as your feedback is critical to building the Peak City Publishing, LLC business.
Authors, the simple question to ask, but hard to answer, is why do you write? Are you looking for fame and fortune? Are you writing for pleasure? Do you aspire to be published by a big trade publisher or are you looking for "Do it Yourself" publishing?
Let us know as your feedback is critical to building the Peak City Publishing, LLC business.
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