When facing the choice between
a 15 second ad
and a 30 second ad,
go short.
Why?
Because,
according to ARS Group,
although 15 second ads
are traditionally just over 1/2 the cost
of a 30 second ad,
they are 3/4’s as effective.
And, of course,
now is the time to negotiate those costs
down even more.
During a recession,
all advertising goes on sale.
If you’re going to break the rules
on the internet
and piss off gatekeepers,
be very, very careful about it.
Or they will block you.
Forever.
A site owner was setting up
reader’s choice voting
for her Best of 2008 contest.
She asked folks not to vote until a specific time.
I can understand regular readers not following rules
but many of the nominated authors also didn’t.
They voted.
While logged in.
So they angered the person
deciding which books got reviewed
and because books had to be reviewed on site
to be nominated,
what award nominations they’ll receive next year.
Dumbness.
As awards and bestseller status still matter,
your new product or company
may benefit from having it.
And you’re in luck.
It is now ‘Best Of 2008’ award season.
There are two main types of awards,
awards that are committee or expert driven
and
awards that are ‘reader choice.’
The latter is the easiest to influence.
How?
By recruiting your fan base.
Typically you choose a few
of your most loyal fans
to nominate your product
(by nominating you,
this will give them ownership of your potential win).
Then you announce the nomination to your full mailing list
(you could offer a discount to celebrate your nomination)
and tactfully ask for votes.
When you win,
of course you’ll want to contact this list,
letting them know
and offering them a ‘thank you’ gift.
Some people call this bribery.
I like to think of it as rewarding loyalty.
I receive at least one email a day
from a ‘reader’ asking to place a text link ad
on one of my sites.
This ‘reader’ never mentions
what site he or she is representing.
I ignore these emails.
I don’t do blind negotiations.
I don’t know many serious businesspeople who do.
If you’re serious about
a business relationship,
introduce yourself.
Yes, get the prospect intrigued first
(talking about how you can help her)
but end it with an explanation
of who you are.
There are no negotiations
without trust.
I was a Katy Perry fan.
I loved ‘I Kissed A Girl’
and ‘Hot N Cold.’
Then I watched her live…
ouch, NOT her strength
and so unnecessary.
With the almost unlimited mediums
available for artists to reach fans,
there’s no reason to use one
you’re uncomfortable with.
If you’re not comfortable live,
pretape, edit,
and put the piece on YouTube.
Or
focus on the dancing or entertainment
rather than the singing.
If you’re unattractive (NOT Katy’s problem),
don’t put your face on the back of books.
If you stutter (again NOT Katy’s problem),
use text rather than speech.
If you must use speech, hire an actor.
And please,
don’t go on tour,
simply because everyone else is.
One of my author buddies
sent an email to a Yahoo Loop,
complaining about his publisher.
He wanted to send it to a marketing loop.
He, instead, sent it to the publisher’s loop.
Every single author, editor, admin
and yes, the owner
received this email.
He has spent the last week
doing damage control.
Email is dangerous.
Yahoo Loops are that danger multiplied.
As a result,
I try to keep all messages on Loops
positive and upbeat.
I keep hearing
TV is dying.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
According to
The Boomer Century 1946-2046,
the average retiree watches
43 hours of tv a week.
That’s over 6 hours a DAY.
What does that mean?
If that trend holds
with the boomers approaching retirement,
we’ll be looking at a boom
in viewership.
That is,
if the networks produce content
this demographic wants to watch.
This week,
I finished up my 11th full revision
of Invisible,
my February release.
I’ll have 2 or more sets of edits to do
before the book is published.
And I can guarantee there will be errors
in the final copy.
So it doesn’t surprise me
that proof reading errors pop up
again and again
on The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’s list
of the top 31 Entrepreneurial Mistakes.
If a professional writer requires 3 sets of editors,
entrepreneurs certainly need at least one.
If you skip this step,
you will pay for it
(eventually).
I have a monthly contest on my writing site.
Every month,
I email my list about the contest.
This month,
I helped organize a contest on another site.
When talking about promotion,
a co-author told me
she didn’t want to ‘spam’ her list
to talk about the contest.
I ‘spammed’ my list.
I told my readers
that I knew they loved contests
and I loved this specific contest
I helped organize
so I thought they might love it too.
I got emails THANKING me for the heads up.
It is not spam
if your list wants the information.
I have an email list of 1,500 readers
for my romance novels.
I contact them monthly.
1,300 of these readers
get a fairly standard form letter.
It is chatty and friendly
but still standard.
200 receive a personalized email.
I add one or two personal tweaks
to the form letter
(information tracked on their profiles
like Bella loves redheaded heroines or
Sue is a Margaret Moore fan)
so they know I’m writing directly to them.
The 200 recipients change every month.
What does this accomplish?
It makes the one on one contact
so necessary for small businesses
manageable.