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!

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

Author Assistance Needed in the Publishing Business

Peak City Publishing, LLC is a new company founded by co-owners, Janice Monaco and Shiloh Burnam of All Booked Up, in Apex, North Carolina. The company will provide professional publishing services for new and aspiring authors and will be co-located with the retail store at 104-B North Salem Street, Apex, NC 27502.

The company’s vision is to become the premier publisher of choice for new authors by working together to develop and sell world-class products and services. The foundation by which these products will delivered is built on integrity, teamwork, community and innovation.

Shiloh Burnam, President of Peak City Publishing, LLC, said the company was formed to assist authors with the business side of writing by offering professional services, such as production support, marketing and sales. “We aim to facilitate these processes for the author, expand the audience and increase earning potential.”

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As we turn our attention to how we are going to make this vision a reality, we know we must first focus on the author, the book and then the reader. So, as an author, published or aspiring to be published, tell us a little about what you are looking for in a publisher.