How does a medical facility in the middle of nowhere become so well known and respected that world leaders want to be consumers of it? According to Lee Aase (@LeeAase), director, Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, word-of-mouth (WOM) fueled by social media is the driving force. Watch (1 and 2) his relaxed case-study presentation from a few years ago and adapt his success principles (see the above pyramid) to advance your brand.
Let Somersault help you achieve success.
Landing Page Infographic by KISSmetrics (@KISSmetrics).
Search Engine marketing agency Trada (@Trada) held a webinar today explaining "Landing Page Psychology:"
Visitors are likely to have a certain amount of wariness as they're asked to part with money or personal information. Use the following elements to work toward removing this friction from the buying or decision-making cycles.
On his blog Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner (@smexaminer) explains that authors today have “an amazing advantage” from pre-Internet days, when they’d have to depend on traditional media, long lead times, and mercurial reporters as their only hope for book publicity. Now, he says, “not only are there millions of bloggers whose collective audience is larger and more engaged than that of the traditional press, there are also millions of consumers who are one click away from sharing your work with their friends on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.”
If you can make it easy for people to share and get excited about your book, you won’t need to spend big bucks or hope you make the list of some old newspaper that no-one really reads anymore.
Here are his 9 suggestions:
Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you use social media to launch your book. Be sure to use the free SomersaultNOW dashboard for publishers and marketers; especially the Social Media tab.
Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt), shares advice on how to make the most of any interview opportunity:
1. Prepare thoroughly for the interview.
2. Remember that the show is not about you.
3. Understand the audience.
4. Don’t expect the interviewer to have read your book.
5. Be able to explain what your book is about in a few sentences.
6. Listen carefully to the questions.
7. Keep your answers brief and to-the-point.
8. Be energetic and authentic.
9. Don’t become defensive.
10. Refer listeners back to your book.
Another set of good tips are described in this article, "Five Ways Media Training Can Improve Your Marriage" at Mr. Media Training (@MrMediaTraining).
Let Somersault (@smrsault) help train you or your authors in ways to make your media appearances more effective.
In an article on Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld), Fauzia Burke (@FauziaBurke) writes,
When authors come to me and say, “I want to reach book bloggers or mommy bloggers,” I often have to tell them that bloggers have very specific tastes. More specific than you probably realize. For example, when reaching out to mommy bloggers, it is really important to know the age of their kids. Pitching a YA novel to a mommy blogger with a baby won’t get you far. Pitching a Sci-Fi novel to a blogger that loves historical romance won’t work either. Sending a WWII book to a blogger that covers the Civil War will make for a cranky blogger, and sending a press release to the wrong person may actually get you black listed.
She lists 8 tips in reaching bloggers:
In under 3 minutes, Derek Sivers (@sivers) dissects lessons from a candid video and explains how leaders (and followers) start movements:
This is a great video to show at your next staff meeting!
Shelf Awareness (@ShelfAwareness) reports that attendance at BookExpo America (@BookExpoAmerica) (#BEA, #BEA11, #BookExpo) last week, including Blog World Expo NY (@blogworld) (#BWENY), was 23,067.
Excluding BlogWorld, whose participants were not included in last year's attendance figures, attendance was 21,664, down just 255, or 1.2%, from 21,919 in 2010. BEA emphasized that this year’s slightly lower number reflected higher standards: the show “strategically vetted more attendee groups to improve the quality of those participating in BEA.” One resulting major change: there were 500 fewer attendee authors this year, authors distinct from those appearing for signings, panels and other events.
Also in Shelf Awareness, Ron Hogan (@ronhogan) recaps the Book Blogger Convention (@bookbloggercon) (#BookBloggerCon) where a blogger speaker is quoted saying: “authenticity, consistency, and generosity [are] crucial to any successful blog.”
More BBC recaps at The Reading Ape (@readingape), write meg! (@writemeg), and As I Turn the Pages (@bookangel224).
And watch the Book Business video "Voices From BookExpo America 2011."
A story in the Los Angeles Times (@latimestech) features Robert Kiyosaki, who’s written more than a dozen titles under his "Rich Dad" brand of financial education books, which together have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. His new book Unfair Advantage released in stores April 12. It’s also available as an ebook. But the signed ebook version will only be available May 26 during a live chat streamed on the author's Facebook page. The special edition of the book will be available only for Amazon Kindle ereaders and will sell for $9.99.
The new version differs from the standard copy by offering a new page with a digital copy of the author's autograph, as well as a bonus chapter about the "corruption of capitalism" and extra photos.
As soon as the streamed chat is done, the special edition of the book will no longer be available for sale, says Shane Caniglia, vice president of the Rich Dad Operating Co., which hosts financial education seminars focused on the advice published in the "Rich Dad" books.
Also see our April 28 blog post, “How Authors Can Autograph Their eBooks.”
What are your thoughts about digitally autographing ebook editions?
An article in The New York Times (@NYTimes) describes the solution for authors who want to sign their book on someone’s ereader. Autography LLC is a media technology firm in St Petersburg, Florida with a patent-pending method for inserting an autograph or other salutation into an ebook. This personalization can take place at the time of purchase or any time afterwards.
Here’s how an Autography eBook “signing” will work: a reader poses with the author for a photograph, which can be taken with an iPad camera or an external camera. The image immediately appears on the author’s iPad (if it’s shot with an external camera, it’s sent to the iPad via Bluetooth). Then the author uses a stylus to scrawl a digital message below the photo. When finished, the author taps a button on the iPad that sends the fan an email with a link to the image, which can then be downloaded into the ebook....
[W]ithin the year consumers should expect to see a variety of advances in digital signing, including ebooks that are sold with blank pages for that purpose. Some devices already have their own solutions, like Sony’s Reader, which enables authors to use a stylus to sign a page on its screen.
Religion News Service (@ReligionNewsNow) reminds us that Handel's oratorio Messiah was first performed on this day in 1742. Back then, the Dublin Journal wrote a review (originating social buzz), saying, "Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring crouded Audience.”
If you’ll recall last Christmas season, as a way to promote Alphabet Photography, Inc., a flash mob performed the Hallelujah Chorus at Seaway Mall in Welland, ON. The video of that event has now enjoyed more than 32 million views on YouTube.
Remember what elements comprise a successful viral video? What viral video can Somersault help you produce?
By the way, be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard created especially for publishing and marketing professionals.