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Posts from the ‘Web PR and Publicity’ Category

Dec 15

5 Things You Can Do Today to Market Yourself Better in 2011

It’s that time of year again—when we evaluate our business accomplishments and goals and decide what we can do better in the New Year. If you’re an author: what will you do differently in 2011 to market yourself and your books?

Here are 5 easy items you won’t want to overlook. In fact, you can implement all of them this week (though I recommend you refill your coffee mug first).

  1. Sign up for Amazon Author Central. In the last week, Amazon announced that it’s granting registered authors access to Nielsen Bookscan geographical data. Finally, you can see where in the world your customers are located, and when they’ve been buying. This is invaluable data for anyone running special promotions, appearing on regional TV or radio, or doing book signings or meetups. All you have to do to access this data is sign up for a free Author Central account. Click here for the FAQ.

    2. Read more

Sep 17

Facebook Tips: Status Updates

Are you just getting started with a Page on Facebook, for your business or book? A quick tip. When you’re writing a Status Update, if you tag (refer to) a Friend or Fan in your Update, it can show up on his or her Wall—putting your Update (and therefore, you) in front of that person’s Friends or Fans.

How do you do this?

1. Type the @ sign in front of the person’s name. (e.g., @kristenhavens, as you would on Twitter)Update, 2012: You no longer need to type the @ sign. Simply start typing the person’s name.
2. Be patient. Wait a moment until Facebook’s Smart Type function shows you a pull-down list of options.
3. Select from this list the person you mean to “tag,” then complete writing your Status Update.

Voila! Your Status Update will have a live link in it, to the person you tagged. Your tagged update will also show up on that person’s Wall (how exactly this looks may vary, depending on your Friend’s privacy settings.)

The same tagging principle holds true for many Business Pages on Facebook. Some even appear to aggregate (collect) any Facebook Updates that mention them by name. You may not necessarily need to tag a business in order to appear on its Page, in front of its Fans.

How does this relate to your publicity and networking activities?

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Aug 26

Fake Product and Book Reviews: Avoid the Temptation (or Go to Court!)

The New York Times just posted this piece about a marketing and P.R. firm that was busted by the FTC for posting fake, glowing reviews of apps in the iTunes store.

Fake reviews have always struck me as wasteful attempts to influence buyers. The people hired to write them have tin ears for how real people engage with products and summarize their experiences.

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