Written by 
The first rung on your marketing ladder is to create a quality product, in the case of an author, that would be a book. You need to create an engaging story, be part of a critique group, make sure the manuscript gets edited, and have a knock-out cover.
Creating the book might be considered Research and Development under the Marketing umbrella, and the foundation of a marketing strategy.
The second step or rung on the marketing ladder is the actual book promotion: creating a platform and brand for you and your book. This is accomplished through visibility. A platform is a means to let readers know what your area of expertise is.
You may be shaking your head and thinking you don’t have an area of expertise, well the very first step to establish yourself as an expert is to create a website or blog.
Your Website’s Domain Name
Choose your domain name carefully and think ahead. Marketing experts always advise using ‘your name’ for your domain name. While you can have multiple sites, your name should be your main or central site.
On the other hand, if you write in a specific genre, you should include that in your domain name. If you’re a children’s writer, maybe: Children’s Books by Your Name, or Picture Books by Your Name. The more specific you make your domain name the more likely those searching online for that genre will find you.
Why is it so important to have your name in your central site’s title?
The answer is for those searching by your name to find you. Maybe Reader A doesn’t know the name of your book, but does remember your author name.
Why if you write in a specific genre is it important to include that in your site’s title?
Simply put: If you sell shoes and your domain name is John Smith, how will those searching online for shoes ever find you?
Using Keywords in Your Website Name
The idea is to make multiple avenues of search that lead to your site. In other words, you need multiple keywords that are relevant to your site. Keywords that will allow the search engines to index your site and allow readers doing online searches to find your site. Again, the more specific the better.
And, be sure to use appropriate keywords in the subtitle of your site.
As mentioned, you can create multiple sites. You might have ‘your name.com’ as your central site and then create other sites and choose other domain names for the titles of your books, or possible for a particular niche or genre.
For example, I have a blogsite specifically for my books: Walking Through Walls (http://walkingthroughwalls-kcioffi.blogspot.com), and another specifically for Day’s End Lullaby (http://daysendlullaby). These sites offer information related to the books.
With the number of ‘free’ websites and blogsites available, you can have a site that’s unique for each of your books and/or niches that you write in.
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos: Photographer: jscreationzs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Articles:
Keep Your Website Focused
Websites that Work: 7 Key Factors Part 1
Websites that Work: 7 Key Factors Part 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please share this article and YOU may also want to sign-up for my Free monthly newsletter, A Writer’s World. You’ll get two Free e-books if you do!
And, to be sure you don’t miss any posts here, simply subscribe to my blog (RSS feed).
~~~~~~~~~~~
If you’d like to check out my books pages, go to Karen’s Books Page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ghostwriting and Editing for Businesses and Marketers
Do you need an e-book or white paper to offer for instruction, platform visibility, or a gift? Do you need blog, article, white paper, or other form of content visibility for your business? We’re professional and experienced with keywords and SEO. So, please stop by and check us out. Go to: http://DKVWriting4U.com
~~~~~~~~~~~
Until next time,
Karen Cioffi
Author, Ghostwriter, Freelance writer, and
Editor for 4RV Publishing
Member of the Professional Writers Alliance, the International Association of Professional Ghostwriters, and the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors.
http://KarenCioffi.com
http://DKVWriting4U.com
Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice
Twitter: http://twitter.com/KarenCV
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kcioffiventrice
FB Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Cioffi-Ventrice/157731977630305?sk=wall
The Muse Online Writers Conference
It’s a long road, as most authors can probably tell you, from first starting your story to the day it’s actually available for sale. A road filled with writing, outlines, revisions, critiquing, self-editing, some doubts and frustration (maybe a lot of doubts and frustration), more revisions, critiquing, and editing, and so on.
On Friday, July 1st, I will begin my Walking Through Walls Virtual Book Tour. I’d like everyone to know though, that there will be some informational articles on writing and marketing along with an interview and book reviews, please follow along and leave comments to be entered in the contest/drawing.
Recently, a writer/marketer who always has valuable information recommended outsourcing as a means of effectively and quickly getting a number of articles written. He was using a particular service to create a niche site for affiliate marketing, but it can be used just as effectively to create visibility and traffic to your own sites and products. 
I am the founder and manager of Writers on the Move, a group of experienced and new writers/authors of multiple genres who strive to share their combined wealth of writing and marketing knowledge with all, as well as use cross-promotional strategies to increase visibility.
Along with being an author and ghostwriter, I am the creator and manager of Writer on the Move, a group of authors and writers who use cross-promotion to increase visibility. And each month we have an author/writer tour filled with writing and marketing information from our talented writers and authors.
