May 7, 2010
11 Creative Ways To Brand Your Name, Sell Lots of Books, and Become a Best-Selling Author
11 Creative Ways To Brand Your Name, Sell Lots of Books, and Become a Best-Selling Author By Randy Gilbert Author of the best-selling book "Success Bound" www.randygilbert.com Amazon.com is not just another place to sell books. The proactive author, speaker, coach, and consultant can use it creatively to brand their name, sell tons of products, and create a flood of traffic to their own Internet Web Sites. Yes, you can turn Amazon into your very own "River of Gold!" Don't believe me? Then just stand back for a moment and consider that Amazon is consistently rated in the top 15 websites for traffic and they have over 27 million customers annually (and its growing). The typical Amazon customer loves to buy books and products ONLINE, and, they are trained to USE THEIR CREDIT CARDS. They are the kind of people you want to have come to your own website and buy lots of things from you. By helping them to flow into your own sales funnel, they will become gold to you. Also think about this for a moment. Since Amazon is the largest bookstore in the world, they have every book that is related to your subject area. Therefore, all of your perfect customers, who love the books and products, are already being filtered into your niche by Amazon. You can get these people to your website if you take advantage of the opportunities that Amazon is giving you. If you are not introducing yourself to your potential customers every time they are logging onto Amazon, you are making a really big mistake (HUGE!). ** Your Perfect Customers Are Visiting Amazon! ** How do I know your "perfect customers" are visiting Amazon? Well, simply because they are buying every type of book on Amazon that is in your specialty area, genre, and niche. If you don't believe me, then who do you think are buying all those books? How do I know people who shop on Amazon use their credit card online? Because that is how you buy things on Amazon. Additionally consider this, Amazon knows they are a proven source of people who buy on the Internet, because they have branched out and are now selling just about everything else under the sun. I'll say it again, Amazon has trained millions of your potential "perfect customers" to use their credit cards online (impulsively), and you can attract them to your websites by branding your name in front of them every time they shop there. ** Amazon Is Ten Times Better Than Walmart! ** Amazon is fast becoming the Walmart of the Internet; however, size is not the issue. What makes Amazon far superior to Walmart is that Amazon is willing to share its customer traffic with you!! Can you imagine being able to duplicate yourself and being allowed to stand in every Walmart store in the country, holding out your book and introducing yourself? And even better, can you imagine having a display of your books and products next to every other complimentary product that is sold in every Walmart? Well, that is what you CAN DO virtually on Amazon. ** Here Are 11 Golden Tips You Can Start Using Right Away ** Below are listed 11 creative ideas for turning the people who visit Amazon into your own "perfect customers." Follow these 'Golden Tips' and you will see your book sales on Amazon increase dramatically and you will lots of perfect customers to your other websites. You will literally be turning Amazon into your own river of Gold. [Author's Side Note: I almost hate to share these, because I feel some of them have been my own little money making secrets. However, I know that if I give good things away, eventually I'll get good things in return. So here they are...please use them for your own benefit and feel free to share them with others.] Golden Tip #1 - Tell People 'Who You Are and What You Sell' Amazon has given you a very special place called "Your About You Area," that is a goldmine in itself. This is your own area that you have complete control over. You can post a flattering picture of yourself, and if you want, include your family or even your book. You should use your "About Me" area to its maximum extent allowed. You can post who you are, what books you've written, how you can help people, and most importantly, which of your websites they can go visit to get your help. This description of yourself can go on and on for up to 4000 characters (~650 to 700 words). But here's a note to the wise; be sincere, be personal, don't include any hype, and stay within Amazon's guidelines. Amazon's guidelines say no domain names, URLs, or hyperlinks. Also, no commercial advertising, promotion, or solicitation. Therefore, you only promote yourself and describe your websites and their addresses with words. I also describe what I will give to people who contact me and so far Amazon says that's OK. To find "Your About You Area," click on your store tab. For example, if your name is Jan, then the tab will most likely say "Jan's Store." Then click on the sub-tab "Friends Favorites." Next, look down on the left of the page and click on "Your About You Area." Please, don't let this vein of gold go untouched. To see a sample of mine, I've set up a link that will take you there directly: http://AmazonBestSellerSecrets.com/about-me-area Golden Tip #2 - Use Your Branded Name or Web Address as Your 'Amazon Name' In "Your About You Area" there is a place for you to type in 'Your Name.' It may sound like a simpleton idea, but I recommend you enter the name that you want people to know you by. Here are some possibilities. Use your branded name (ex. Randy Gilbert, Host, The Inside Success Show). You can also make it easy for people to get in touch with you if you use your branded name email address (ex. RandyGilbert@RandyGilbert.com , or your vanity toll free telephone number (ex. Randy Gilbert, call 866-MAUI-BOY). Check out this vein of gold. If you have more than one specialty or branded website, you can open an Amazon account for each. All you have to do is create a separate account using another email and purchase something from that Amazon account. I have three accounts. One for my "Dr. Proactive" niche, one for my Host of "The Inside Success Show" niche, and one for my "Amazon Best Seller Secrets" niche. There's no cost, so why not? Gold Tip #3 - Don't Be Shy, Recommend Your Book! As you view a book that you like and it is even remotely related to your book, you should recommend your book on that page. This is a great opportunity for you to get the name of your book all over Amazon. The only caution is, don't do this in any sort of SPAM fashion. Just do it at the same pace as you normally use Amazon. The Amazon sales page only shows one recommended book title for each category, which is the one with the most number of recommendations. So, if you have a mailing list of loyal readers and customers, you should by bold and ask them to recommend your book too. Gold Tip #4 - Review Other Books and Let People Know You Are The Expert If you're like me, you have just about every other book in your subject area and you have read them all (that's another reason why you are an expert). Use your expertise to review other books and review them in such a way as to give yourself credibility. In addition to becoming known as the person people can trust (which in itself is a sufficient reason to write reviews), people will find out what books you've written because you are going to close each review with "Your Name, author of YOUR BOOK." This is a legitimate credential that Amazon wants you to use (because they like it when you sell lots of your books and they wish everybody did). And, if you're a speaker, consultant, or coach, you can also use your other legitimate credentials. For example, I often use, "Randy Gilbert, Host of The Inside Success Show" on my radio show account. On my Dr. Proactive account I end with, "Randy Gilbert, Proactive Success Coach." You need to be cautioned on a couple of points. You cannot sell yourself in the review or it will not be posted. It should definitely be an honest review of the book. Also, never, ever use a demeaning tone in your review. You will quickly brand yourself as vindictive and nobody will read any more of your reviews or your book. If you always have the highest respect for other people's thoughts, and you write objectively, you will earn the trust of the people who read your review and they will want to read your book too. Gold Tip #5 - Post A Review Of Your Competitor's Book and Sell Your Book Too In addition to reviewing all of the other books in your subject area, you should post a review of the books that might be considered your competition. For those of you who are unfamiliar with writing book proposals, these are the books you identify as being available to people who are looking for information in your subject or specialty area. Since you're going to put your name and book title at the bottom of a very well written review that makes you look like the true expert in your field, people will take the time to search for your book and buy it too. The thing I like most about doing this is, whenever your competitor is receiving a boost in sales, perhaps due to some good PR they've received, your name and book will be seem more often too and your own book sales will inevitably rise. Golden Tip #6 - Use Listmania and Become THE EXPERT In Your Subject Area On every sales page and "Your About You Area" there is an opportunity to create a list of books for whatever reason you choose - it's called "Listmania. This is one of easiest and most effective things you can do on Amazon to brand your name and become known everywhere as THE EXPERT in your subject area. Some people create really corny lists, but not you. You are going to create lists of books in your subject area and write short (200 character) reviews that will create the picture in other people's minds of you being the top expert in your field. I love Listmania, because it allows you to put your branded contact information (see Golden Tip 2) on every sales page for the books in your subject area (or any other area you choose). Another great thing about Listmania is that it will show up almost instantaneously, where as a review can take several days. Golden Tip #7 - Become The "Answer-Man" on Amazon If you are an authority in a field (which you are as an author) there is a wonderful feature on Amazon that has your name written all over it (or it should have your name all over it). It's called "So You'd Like To..." and it's the place where you can post your 'how to' articles. Use this to show the world you can help them find the answers to difficult questions and solver their pressing problems. In your articles you will list all of the books that are appropriate to the topic, which then does a magical job of posting your articles everywhere in your subject area. So, when your perfect customer is out looking for an answer, they will quickly be introduced to you. This is the ultimate article publishing phenomenon and Amazon has brought it to you free of charge. A word to the wise, don't pitch your book, just write interesting articles and people will want more of what you write. They will eventually want to buy your book because you are the one answering their questions and meeting their needs. Golden Tip #8 - Look Like a Prolific Author and a Big Publisher In addition to paper books, you can sell ebooks and other products online on Amazon. Your ebooks by the same title will be shown with the same type of page. The reviews for your ebook will even show up on your paper book. It's a fine way to get more exposure. Under the Amazon Advantage program and you cannot list a book for sale that isn't ready for sale. However, if the e-book is ready (and the paper book has not been printed,) you can begin to sell your ebook and begin getting reviews. If you have them, you can also sell lots of low cost ebooks (that might otherwise be booklets or reports) and by doing so make yourself look like a prolific writer. I'm discovering that you are not limited to just written ebooks either, because you can sell audio and video pdf file ebooks (the kind with links in them for listening or viewing online). This is a feature of Amazon that is still being explored, but by the looks of things, it is going to turn out to be another area of pure gold for 'infopreneurs' like us. Another good reason to sell as much as possible on Amazon, is that your titles will automatically be available on a range of other major web sites: Borders.com, CDnow.com, Target.com, VirginMega.com and Waldenbooks.com. Golden Tip #9 - Use Google Adwords To Put Your Domain URL All Over Amazon Amazon is a joint venture (JV) Partner with Google Adwords and they post the top selling Google Adword ads on every book sales page that has the same keywords, which includes the words in the title and author's names. When you select the title or authors name as your keywords, your ad will show up under "Customers interested in this title may also be interested in..." on that book's page. Although advertising on Google Adwords isn't free (you set the amount it will cost you), the payback can be enormous, especially if your product is pulling in more money than it costs to advertise. Even if it costs you money, the exposure on Amazon is worth every penny, especially when you combine it with the next Golden Tip. Golden Tip #10 - Link Your Main Website to Each of Your Book (orproduct) Reviews. (This tip is a 'two-fer,' so pay attention) By linking your main website page to each book's sales page that you've posted a review for, you can make your review show up on Google. I noticed this happening a short while ago when I was studying how to use the new strategy called "Link Meshing" to improve my own site's ranking on Google. And, if you use this tip in conjunction with the Golden Tip #9, it will turbo-charge your own websites ranking, because it is very likely that your website's URL link will show up when Amazon's sales page is indexed. And, because Amazon is so popular, it will make your own website jump up; maybe even to the third, second, or (cross your fingers) first place listing. (Isn't that cool?) I can't tell you any more right now because I'm still testing it, but don't forget to sign up for getting information about the guide when it is completed. Just send a blank email to: Branding@AmazonBestSellerSecrets.com Golden Tip #11 - Get your book onto Amazon's Top 100 Bestseller List I've saved the best for last -- YOU can proactively control your sales rankings on Amazon. Therefore, by intentionally driving up the sales of your book, you can earn yourself the lifetime credential, "Best-Selling Author." Amazon rankings are completely systematized, so when you get people to buy more of your books on Amazon, your ranking will increase accordingly. The more books you sell, the higher your book's ranking will go. Your goal should be to sell enough in one day, for your book's ranking to go all the way up to the #1 position on Amazon's Top 100 Bestseller List. After you have followed all of the first 10, this will be a lot easier, but the others are not a pre-requisite. There is now a proven Internet marketing strategy that you can use to deliberately drive up the sales of your book. You don't need to be an online expert (you don't even need to have previous experience), you don't need to have a large mailing list (in fact, you don't need a list at all), and best of all you don't need a fortune in cash (believe it or not, it can be done with ZERO COST). What you DO need, is a proven strategy and someone who has done it for himself (and others) and who can explain it in terms you can follow. For more tips on how to do this send a blank email to: tips@amazonbestsellersecrets.com There You Have It! Now you have 11 Golden Tips, each of which will help to increase sales of your books and other products and will help brand your name as an expert in your subject area. Amazon is rich with resources, so you can be sure more gold is going to be found by me as time goes on. If you would like to be kept up to date with future explorations of how to brand yourself as an export and sell more of your info products, send a blank email to branding@amazonbestsellersecrets.com Randy Gilbert is the best-selling author of "Success Bound: Breaking Free of Mediocrity" ( www.Success-Bound.com ) and the creator of "AmazonBestSellerSecrets: How To Quickly and Easily Make Your Book a Bestseller on Amazon in Only 28 Days. www.AmazonBestSellerSecrets.com P: 540-856-3318, F: 540-856-2698, E: randy@randygilbert.com He can show you how to be a Best-Selling Author on Amazon! Fast, Easy, Powerful. Randy is also the host of "The Inside Success Show," the most talked aboutradio talk show www.TheInsideSuccessShow.com Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com

Posted by Staff at 1:44 AM