Increasing the Number of Subscribers to Your Blog

In your effort to continually share valuable, educational, exciting content, one of the motivating factors is that other people will read what you are sharing and benefit from your expertise. Once you get people to read your blog (and, hopefully, continue to read your blog), your next goal is to start to develop a relationship with them and eventually convert them to clients and get them to share your content with other people.

Understanding the value of your target audience members
When it comes to your business, there are many things that you shouldn't take for granted. One of those things is the importance of other people not only reading your blog but sharing it as well. With blog writing (or writing any content), your blog subscribers are extremely important. In fact, it is safe to say that they are critical to the success of your business. Without them, you wouldn't get anywhere at all.

If your content is what it should be and it engages your target audience, the people will read many blogs and you will know about it. A positive result of that is the increase in traffic.

Of course, when you think about traffic, you don't just want random people to read your blog, you want qualified, appropriate people to read it and share it. The key is to get the people who start reading your blog to continue to read all of the blogs that you share and to tell other people about your blog as well. The question that you may be asking right now is, "How do I do that?" Well, there are some different ways that you can accomplish that.

• Make sure that your blogs are optimized: If your blogs are optimized, they will appear at the top of the page when a person is searching for what you are offering. It will not require a great deal of effort for you to optimize your blogs and it will be well worth any effort that you make. Another important thing that you will definitely want to include is an effective call-to-action (CTA). You will soon notice that the CTA makes a big difference in how people respond to you and interact with you.
• Make sure that you give your target audience members the opportunity to opt-in: If you put a box in your website's landing page, you may be surprised at how much you can increase the number of subscribers you get (or increase). If people like what they are reading, it is not a big leap for them to opt-in to receiving other information that you have to offer on a continuing basis. Many people will be willing to give you a way to contact them. If you happen to have multiple landing pages, you should add the box to each one of them.
• Offer an incentive for new people: There are many possible incentives that you can offer, such as an eBook, white paper, discount of some sort on your offerings, etc. In general, people love to feel that they are getting something for nothing. It makes them feel special and everyone loves that.
• Your blog is a stepping stone for the rest of your content: If you do it right, people will be excited about your blog, and they will want to keep reading. The next, logical step after that is that they will want to read other content that you have shared. That is exactly what you want to happen. The more they read, the more they will understand how much valuable knowledge you possess. That is also another wonderful thing to be able to share with other people whom they know and trust.
• Allow them to subscribe to your blog through your homepage: Since increasing your list of subscribers is so important and website visitors are also vitally important, why not make it really easy and combine the two? If you give your website visitors (and potential subscribers) the opportunity to subscribe to your blog right on your homepage, the chances are that a large number of those visitors will be willing to do just that.

Conclusion
The truth is that you want to increase the number of subscribers of your blog because that benefits your brand/business. Ask your target audience members to give you what you need; however, ask in a very polite way. It is also effective to share other content and offer valuable comments on that content. People will appreciate your insight. As always, it is all in the approach. You should never assume that other people have a responsibility to sign up. They certainly do not. It is their choice, not their obligation.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10159389

Marketing Your Book Using Videos

Once you have written a book, no matter which genre you have written in, you will need to publish that book and you will need to promote that book. Of course, there are several different ways in which you can accomplish this; however, you may want to think outside of the box a little and choose an approach that is not so traditional (or conventional).

Using visual stimuli to promote your book
One really effective approach to promoting your book is by creating a book trailer (just like you see trailers for new movies that have either just been released or that are about to be released). Considering that what you are trying to promote is the written word, a trailer can be a profound, stunning contrast to the book and it will capture the hearts and the interest of so many people, including people who respond so well to visual stimuli.

When it comes to promoting your book with a trailer, if you don't have the expertise or experience to do it yourself, you will want to make sure that whoever you ask to work on it is the right fit for you and for the book that you want to promote. You will want to connect (or hire) with someone who has a significant amount of relevant, good-quality experience. After all, you certainly do not want to be a Guinea pig in that sort of situation. If at all possible, you will want to choose someone who has experience with shooting, producing (and directing, if possible), editing, and, finally, optimizing the content so that you get the biggest bang for your buck.

The reasons why creating a trailer is so smart
At this point, you may be wondering why video is such a good idea when it comes to promoting your book.

Well, there are several reasons why it is a really good idea to create a trailer for your book.

• Exposure: Because videos are so popular, effective, and relevant nowadays, it will enable you to gain exposure to a great extent and numerous other people will be able to hear and see what you have to say and tell their friends and relatives about your book as well.
• Sharability: You definitely want to create a buzz about your book whenever possible. It is entirely possible (and most likely probable) that you will be able to do just that with a video trailer because it is a type of content that can be shared easily. If your trailer goes viral, you will be golden. The more people see the trailer, the more they will have a desire to read the book.
• Connectivity: Your trailer can help you to establish meaningful connections, which also means that you can build trust, credibility, and the perception that you are the subject matter expert to whom they should turn. In fact, with some effort and a little luck, you will be the first (and hopefully, only) person they will need.
• Good for the wallet: Trailers (and videos in general) are really cost-effective. Also, they are not on any sort of a delivery schedule. They are being delivered to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Do trailers really have a positive effect?
If you have made a video that positively promotes and matches your book, there is a great likelihood that other people will want to read the book. Your trailer can really promote your book and your brand as well. However, it isn't enough to simply post your trailer on one or two sites. You need to be strategic in the way that you go about promoting your book. You need to determine exactly where the people who will potentially buy your book are hanging out and you need to make it as easy as possible for them to become aware of what you are offering. Once you have done that, hopefully, the rest will happen. The chances are that the interest is already there. Now, all you need to do is to make them aware of how great your book is and how they will benefit from reading it.

Good versus bad
There are trailers and then there are trailers. First of all, if you want to create a good-quality trailer, you will need a good-quality script. Also, it must be visually appealing and it must demonstrate a clever, creative connection between the book and the trailer. That connection is critical to your book's success. Of course, the music selection is just as critical to the trailer's success. The more professional your trailer appears, the better off you will be. Finally, the trailer must be well edited so that the finished product flows and is confluent. When it comes to the script, make sure that you write it specifically for the trailer. It probably won't work well if you have a script that was intended for something else and then you adapt it for your trailer. Make sure that your music choice is as perfect as possible (and appropriate, at the very least). The music and the story should have a solid synergy.

Conclusion
A trailer is a great tool when it comes to promoting your book but it is really important to remember that all of the different stages and aspects of the trailer are important and all of them contribute to you successfully promoting your book. It is also a great idea because so many people are connected online to all sorts of great things. As much as content is king, video is definitely queen and it would serve you well to keep that in mind.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10017026

Using Social Media Creatively to Tell Your Story

When it comes to marketing for your business, telling your story (even if it is one of many) is critical to your success in business. You must always have a story to tell and not only is how you tell the story important but where you tell your story is often just as important when it comes to achieving the desired results.

Why your story is so important
You may not be sure why telling your story is such a necessity when it comes to writing content and marketing that content for your business. Well, your story is absolutely critical to your brand's and your business' success because it is how you are able to connect with the other person as two human beings and it is also how you demonstrate who you are and the values that you hold dear.

When it comes to sharing your story, your chosen social media channels are a wonderful vehicle to do just that and to do it extremely successfully. Here is how you go about accomplishing that.

• Tell your story on Facebook: Your Facebook fans enjoy a good story very much. If your story is well written and compelling, your fans will have no problem reading your posts all the way to the end. That all depends on how you present the information. With Facebook, you have the opportunity to tell a really beautiful story and you can tell that story as elaborately or as succinctly as you wish. It just depends on your writing style and on your target audience members. If you feel that you have a lot to share with your fans, you may want to choose to write a longer post. Just remember to keep it compelling and engaging. If you do that, other people will want to read your story and they will want to keep on reading other stories that you share in the future.
• Tell your story with images: In many cases, a picture is worth a thousand words. Using images to tell your story is a wonderfully creative way to grab the attention of your target audience members. If you have experienced an event that you would like to share with other people online, images will probably work extremely well. You can post the photo album and it can be shared in its entirety subsequently many times and in many places. That will also make it easy for other people to share your story with other people whom they know (if they feel that your story is worth sharing). Your album should encompass the whole experience, including other people who attended who you fee had some significance, as well as any other photos (or other images) that were also worth sharing in your opinion.
• Tell your story with a video: Videos can be an extremely effective way to tell your story. Just as is the case with the written word, a video can be shorter or it can be longer. Don't be afraid to tell your story at length, if you feel that what you have to say will be of interest to other people. Of course, if you don't have a lot to say, there is no point in just dragging out your video just to take up minutes. Make sure that the amount of time that you take to tell your story is the most appropriate amount of time for what you have to say.
• Tell your story using storyboards: Another way to share your story is with a combination of words and images. It can be a very effective way to tell your story because it will appeal to many different people. Some people react more positively to the written word and others react more positively to images because they are visual people. The storyboard luckily satisfies both types of people.
• Tell your story with a combination of original and curated content: You can take some concepts from curated content and combine those with your own story and experiences. It is a creative and effective way to tell your story and other people will be able to relate to what you are saying.

Conclusion
Telling your story is essential for your brand and for your business and using your chosen social media channels to tell your story is an intelligent, effective way to do just that. It helps you to establish a solid connection with your readers. The reality is that each and every time that you post content, you are sharing a story with your intended target audience. You are involved with social media on a regular basis for your business anyway so you may as well take full advantage of all that it has to offer you.

Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company's Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing various collaboration technologies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10000358