“We are family relationship experts who have developed an ebook, ‘Courage and Lessons Learned.’
“It’s full of practical tips that help you take the first steps toward a new goal—running a 5K, starting your own business, reconnecting with an old friend. By logging on to our blog, you can join the email list and download a complimentary ebook, in PDF format.
“We’re looking for some creative ways to let bloggers and organizations know about this free ebook. We already have an autoresponder on our blog and website at http://www.HerMentorCenter.com, but a broader reach would help us spread the word.”
HI, I would several things right away, I have no idea what your book is about, so I would put a picture of it right above the sign up box and a short text description right below. Make sure the picture is really clear, with oversize type because it will be just a thumbnail on the blog. You could even use a different picture for the blog than it is in reality so that the image really stands out. Also move the sign up box above your pictures, which is also above the fold, your goal is to get the email address, you can also add in a second line for the persons first name. I might also change that message to say something like “sign up and receive valuable info on Family Relationships” people don’t really want to sign up to be on a list, they sign up to receive some kind of information they need, the info is the hook not the list.
First, you want a better title for the e-book. Courage and Lessons Learned doesn’t tell me what I’m going to get from reading it, and doesn’t inspire me to go. I have a hard drive full of e-books I haven’t gotten around to reading.
Second, work once to get multiple exposures. Using either ping.fm or the automatic feeds in Twitter, Facebook, etc., you can have your social media profiles update every time you post something new. I routinely get more comments on the Facebook version of my blog than I do on the blog’s own page.
I agree with Joan. Get off Blogspot and get someone to set up WordPress on YOUR OWN server.
Then it’s just a matter of building readers and exposures (I give you ideas about building social media visibility in my latest book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet (co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson).
I would recommend that Dr. Lichtman and Dr. Goldberg put an additional link on their e-mail address line indicating that they are offering a free e-book. (It’s amazing how many e-mails we send out in just a day never mind in a week.)
Then when people decide to follow through they will register and bang, there you go! The word is out, people spread the word, and their goal to inspire courage is achieved.
Thanks to you all for the terrific feedback.
Bruce, your ideas about the logistics make a lot of sense. And since we think we are giving valuable information, why not say it upfront?!
Joan and Shel, having the security of knowing our material is safe and the opportunity for more options may be just the incentive we need to move over to WordPress. Once we learn more about ping and automatic feeds, we’re there!
Mary Jane, Rosemary and I were just talking about additional links. And thanks for your heartfelt comment on our blog – please let us know if you’d like to be featured on our monthly Virtual Book Tour.
That sounds really lovely. I’ll look forward to hearing the details!
Thank you so much, Phyllis and Rosemary.
thank you Phyllis, remember the old saying a picture is worth a thousand words. I would also look at doing some simple videos that talk about the book, what it offers and then put it on YouTube with some links back to your site
My suggestion is to set up a Virtual Book Tour. It’s an online tour of websites, blogs, radio shows, et cetera. Research the ones that are a good fit. Ask the blog owner if you can be a guest or stop by their site during your tour. Some will ask you to complete some interview questions about your book or write a short piece. During a set amount of time, such as two weeks, your information will appear on a series of websites/blogs. Don’t forget to mention your free e-book and to include the link to your blog.
That’s funny, Rekaya. We actually have regular Virtual Book Tours on our blog with authors whose work interests our cohort, but we hadn’t thought of putting that strategy to work for us. Thanks for pointing out what’s staring us in ths face!
Thanks, Joan – once again you’ve helped us with great ideas to move our work onto the information highway (an antiquated term, I’m sure!) We may have a lot of solutions for the problems in family relationships but without your readers’ feedback we’d still be parked on the merge lane.
Hello and congrats on being so proactive. That’s the most important thing in PR IMHO. Ok, first off, you are writing for women, right? So immediately attack the mommy networks. There are a number of major online communities that target mothers and that includes grandmothers and older mothers. There are also a large number of online networks targeting the mommy blogosphere. Because you write a blog and e-books, you qualify as writers. Join the free new group I recently co-founded,
http://xrl.us/MomWriters, and post discussions about your free ebook, blog, services, etc. Although this group is small and new, it is a convenient entry point into the Gannett-owned MomsLikeMe network, a national online community with thousands of consumer mothers on it. Ok, last suggestion, there is a real proliferation of mother newspapers and magazines out there. In my own area, there are two, and we’re not such a big place. There must be a trade group for those. Make up a PR list and target those publications. Often, they are run on a shoestring. Offer ready-to-print articles (both “authored” by you and maybe 3rd person/staff report type things), and include free legit art/photos whenever possible. Good luck!