Authors Access » Websites

Jamie Saloff – Six Rules That Will Kickstart Your Book Website into Full Gear

Victor Volkman — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:03:09 +0000

On Feb 4th 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with web media and book publicist expert Jamie Saloff on common pitfalls of author/book websites and simple, easy, and inexpensive ways to get more conversions from your web hits into book sales. Jamie is the site owner for www.PolkaDotBanner.com – an author-helping-author website designed to help authors gain visibility for their books. She also maintains several other sites she built and designed, including the site for Pennwriters, a regional multi-genre writer’s organization, where she is the Web Committee Chair. In this wide-ranging discussion, some key talking points included:

What are the high real estate values and high productivity areas of your website?
How does art direct the eye and how can I use it to my advantage?
Why are color and “lighting” important?
How is reading a website different from reading a magazine or book?
How does my website reflect who I am and why it is important?
How to use multi-media and flash cost effectively?
What other things can I offer or talk about besides the book, the book, the book…?

On a daily basis, Rev. Jamie L. Sailoff utilizes many facets of creation and design as an: author, web designer, book design and publishing consultant, jewelry designer, and art enthusiast For over a decade, Jamie has been a book designer and DIY publishing consultant (www.PODBookDesigns.com) for countless author-publishers, particularly professionals who are navigating the waters of self-publishing for the first time..Jamie is the author of Transformational Healing: Five Surprisingly Simple Keys Designed to Redirect Your Life Toward Wellness, Purpose, and Prosperity. She has also authored two other books, including The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Cowan Pottery, which she co-authored with her husband, Tim. Her other book, The Publishing Center, was based on her years of work heading an all-volunteer elementary school writing center, which produced on average, 1000 student-written books per year.

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Dana Lynn Smith – Twitter, Tweeting, and Re-tweeting: Twitter Book Marketing

Victor Volkman — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:10:44 +0000

On January 22nd, 2010 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with book marketing guru Dana Lynn Smith about exploiting the potential of Twitter for marketing your books. Dana Lynn Smith, owner of Texana Publishing Consultants, LLC, has 15 years of experience in publishing and 25 years of marketing experience. She specializes in developing marketing plans for nonfiction books and teaching authors how to promote their books online. She is the author of The Savvy Book Marketer Guides, a series of ebooks on book marketing topics. Talking points include:

How does Twitter work
Why do you think Twitter is a valuable tool for authors?
What common mistakes do you see authors making on Twitter?
Twitter profile for a minute – what suggestions can you offer?
Can you give us some tips for attracting followers on Twitter?
A lot of people who use Twitter wonder what they should be tweeting about. Can you give us some suggestions?
I know there are several different types of messages that can be sent on Twitter. Can you explain the difference between Replies, Mentions and Direct Messages?
How often should authors tweet?
How can Twitter work with FaceBook or MySpace?
How can I run a contest with Twitter?

Dana ‘s professional background includes:

Overseeing book production, marketing, fulfillment, and bottom-line profitability at Hoover’s Business Press, with distribution channels including direct sales, library sales, online bookstores, and retail bookstores.
Writing search engine optimization content for a group of travel web sites.
Managing and promoting conventions and tradeshows for the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Hospital Association, and other associations.

She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing, and is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Writers League of Texas. A fifth-generation Texan, Dana enjoys exploring Texas and the world, and she writes a Texas travel column for Examiner.com. She and her husband live on a small ranch near Austin, Texas, where they raise cattle and goats

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Michelle Howe – Turn Web Browsers into Book Buyers

Victor Volkman — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:59:49 +0000

On April 22nd, 2009 Victor R. Volkman and Tyler Tichelaar spoke with author and marketing guru Michelle Howe. A former university professor, Michelle consults with companies to assist them in effectively positioning their online marketing message to match their offline branding. Michelle clarified key points in our thinking including:

How website writing is different than offline (“brochure”) writing
How and why websites fail to gather leads, the importance of capture
How to make an impact in the first four seconds, before people click away and go elsewhere
Creating valuable content that keeps people coming back and builds rapport
New technologies for managing the conversation with your customers automatically

Michelle Howe, MBA, owner of Internet Word Magic, is an expert in search engine optimized copywriting for websites and the author of the award winning book, Turn Browsers into Buyers: Secrets for Turning an Internet Profit.

She consults with companies to assist them in effectively positioning their online marketing message to match their offline branding. Her E-Mail Productivity System training is a customized training program that covers the issues of business writing, e-mail etiquette, e-mail security and the liabilities of e-mail.

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Clay Campbell – Twelve Steps to a Better Website

Victor Volkman — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:03:46 +0000

On February 5TH, 2009 Irene Watson and Tyler Tichelaar spoke with Clay Campbell, an expert on business website design. He “helps small business owners make more money and have more fun.” He is the author of two books Get Big Results from Your Small Ad Budget and 12 Steps to a Better Website. Clay shared with us key concepts for success including how to choose a domain name, planning content, budgeting, naming the pages/sections of your site, design issues, customer relationships, ranking, maintenance, promotion, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and site submission.

In his autobiography, Guitars Bars and A Prodigal Son, Clay talks about living the life of a hobo. As a 16 year old he took a trip “off to see the world.” He hitchhiked to California from his daddy’s farm in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. He slept under bridges, hopped a rides on boxcars, “sang for his supper’ many times and “almost froze to death” in the Rocky Mountains.Clay began a career in advertising in 1983 in phone book advertising sales. In 1989 he started his own small shopper/coupon paper called the Ad Sheet in Paducah Kentucky. After five years and great success he sold it. In November 2000, he began a career in radio with Bristol Broadcasting which lead him to meeting The Wizard of Ads himself; Roy H. Williams.Clay found most small business owners were unsatisfied with the results of their advertising investment. They wanted and needed more bang for their marketing buck. Finding a need and filling it; Clay became a wordsmith and a professional writer of creative ad campaigns.

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