Do You Still Need a Website as the Core of Your Online Platform?

By Karen Cioffi

A few years ago I wrote an article about the need for home business websites. I explained the reasons a website was an absolute must and gave a couple of statistics proving that need.

Since then, social media has exploded. It’s become more powerful than ever, and more and more people and businesses are using it as an integral part of their marketing strategy.

In fact, the social engines are now an essential element of brand visibility, website traffic, and building authority to all size businesses. It’s gotten to the point where some are questioning the need for a website.

Are websites for marketing really a thing of the past?

Here are three reasons for that question:

1. Some might reason that you can blog on venues like LinkedIn. You can also publish articles on EzineArticles and other article directories to generate visibility and authority.

2. If you’re selling a product or service, you can use social networks to do so by linking to your Amazon or other sales page.

3. Want to let people know about you and what you do? You can do that on your social network pages. You can even build your subscriber list through social media.

So, it’s not unreasonable for some to wonder about the necessity of a website.

But, if you decide to forgo the website or get rid of an existing one, think twice and even three times about it.

The benefits of a website

While the social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow for just about everything you need to market you and your product/service, you’re at the mercy of these sites.

Pro internet marketer and entrepreneur Sandi Krakowski has over 1 million Likes on her Facebook page. And, she has over 1 million clients, which allows her to produce millions in revenue. She knows what she’s talking

In a recent email from Sandi, she said, “If you don't have a website, listen to me very carefully, you own NOTHING online. You're homeless. You have no real estate, you are under the control of someone else's property and when push comes to shove, you my friend are in a big pickle!”

Did you notice she said you don’t have control with social media sites?

Think of it as renting space in a building. Or, better yet, buying within a condominium development. You’re not in control. You’re at the mercy of their rules and regulations, their changes, their agendas, basically, their whims.

Want to change the exterior color of the building? Want to do major construction inside?

You’re at the mercy of the owner’s permission.

In other words, you’re not in control.

This is the same as using sites like Facebook and GooglePlus. You never know when or if changes will come that will render your social media page useless.

This is why you still need your own website.

If you use paid website hosting through sites like Bluehost, you own the site. It’s yours. You are in control of what you publish, how you publish, and so on. You can choose your own theme with the header dimensions and design you want. You can put ads and affiliate links on it with no problem. You can sell from it.

Along with this, people trust bloggers. This gives bloggers influence and authority. It’s good marketing to have that authority, that influence, go to your own site.

Bottom line, as an author / writer, you still absolutely need your own website!


Knowing what to do and ‘not do’ is an important aspect of online marketing. Karen Cioffi’s new CREATE YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE TODAY (no code, no technical stuff, no fuss ) e-class through WOW! Women on Writing shows you how to build your online foundation.
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS!

4 Basic Website Questions Every Landing Page Must Answer and Answer Quickly

By Karen Cioffi

The internet is teeming with information on everything you can possibly think of. This includes information on your business platform. But, with all this information available, there are still many who aren’t aware of the basics, the dos and don’ts of an online platform.

I recently came across a website on ‘article submissions.’ Finding it on Twitter and being interested, I clicked on the link and it brought me to a site with articles on unrelated topics. There wasn’t an About page, or any information on what the site was about. And, there wasn’t a Contact or Services page. This marketer/business owner was leading people back to his site, apparently for the purpose of selling something, but the site was completely ineffective. It was one of the most puzzling sites I’ve ever seen.

So, the question to ask is: If someone lands on your website, by accident, through a search, or through a social link, is it effective? Is it ‘visitor optimized?’

To answer these questions, you first need to know the fundamentals of a business website. And, a business website could be an author’s site, a home business site, or a small business site. The basics are the same for all websites that are trying to sell something.

To guide you in the right direction to creating a ‘visitor optimized’ website, let’s go over the very basics.

Online marketing 101 is to create a website that works, a website that converts visitors into clients/customer or a subscriber. This is the foundation of your online empire. And, an effective website needs to answer these four basic questions:

1. Who are you?
2. What are you offering?
3. Why is what you’re offering worthy of the visitor’s time, money, or email address?
4. Is the path to what you’re offering, the path to the YES, simple? (The YES is the potential customer’s positive action, whether it’s opting into your mailing list or buying what you’re offering, or other call-to-action)

Here are the four elements:

1. Who You Are

Make sure your website has an About Me page. In addition, your landing page should make it clear who you are. Don’t let the visitor have to hunt you down – don’t let her have to search through your site, just to find some information on you.

Tip: Keep the About Me content conversational, like you’re talking to a friend.

2. What You Have to Offer

Your landing page needs to quickly convey what you have to offer. To do this, you can use an image with content or a video. Video is highly effective – it is proven to increase conversion.

Tip: Keep the ‘key’ information above the fold. This means it must be visible upon landing on the page. The visitor shouldn’t have to scroll down the page to find it.

3. Why What You’re Offering is Worthy of the Visitor’s Time/Money/Email

Let the visitor know the value of what you have to offer. And, if possible, make it seem exclusive. Figure out a way to make the visitor think he can’t get what you’re offering anywhere else.

Tip: The visitor must perceive the value of your offer as higher than its cost.

4. Is the Path to What You’re Offering (the Path to the YES) Simple?
Marketers use the acronym KISS (Keep it Simple Silly) to emphasis the importance of simplicity. Your website should be easy to navigate, focused and clear, have a simple design, and it should have an easy path to saying YES.

Tip: To keep it simple, have only one or two steps to opt-in or to take some other call-to-action.

To further cement the ‘tell it all and tell it quickly’ website strategy, MarketingExperiments.com explains that you have only seven seconds to do what’s needed. That’s the length of time you have to grab the visitor, let him know who you are and what you have to offer.

Ready, set, go!

Original article source: http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2013/06/4-basic-website-questions-every-landing.html 

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 Image copyright 2012 Karen Cioffi
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Websites That Work - 7 Key Factors (Part 2)

Last week, in Part 1 of this article, we discussed the first three key factors to an effective website: (1) the name of your site, (2) the subheading, and (3) the opt-in box. In this part, we’re on to key factors numbers four through seven.

While the first three elements are the most important, the following elements help to make your website visitor friendly.

An Effective Website - Key Factors Four through Seven

4. The ‘About Me’ or ‘About Us’ Page

Let the visitors know who you are with an About Me Page. This is especially important on sites that do not use the site owner’s name as the title. There are so many sites where a visitor needs to search to see who the site belongs to – it can be a bit frustrating, as well as a waste of the visitor’s time. There are even some sites that do not offer this information.

Along with the names of the site’s contributors, you should let the visitors know what the site is about, what they can expect from the site, what information will provided.

The About Me Page should include a bio along with any pertinent schooling and/or training. Most visitors want to know who is posting the content and what qualifies them to offer that particular information.

Providing this information allows the reader to develop a relationship with you.

5. The Media Page

You do need to create a Media Page. This page will tell visitors what you’ve written and other qualifications that make you an expert in your field. You should also include your books, reviews of your work, brief synopses and possibly excerpts, links to the sales pages, testimonials and awards, links to interviews others have written on you, events/workshops you’ve presented, your appearances, and links to all your other sites.

6. The Contact Page
Your contact information needs to be available. This means having a Contact Page that offers a contact form, or your email address. A visitor may have a question, comment, or request for your services; you want that visitor to be able to know how to reach you.

7. The Resource Page

Probably the second most important factor that will make visitors find your site valuable is providing a Resource Page. This page should provide links to pertinent books, sites, and tools related to your niche. Visitor will appreciate the effort and information, thereby making your site of value to them. It will also prompt them to link to your site, and recommend it to others.

And remember, when creating a website, simple is usually best.

Want to create or optimize your author platform? Need to boost visibility and traffic to your site? Check out WOW! Women on Writing’s 6 week e-class: Create and Build Your Author Online Platform.

Websites That Work - 7 Key Factors (Part 1)

By Karen Cioffi

Whether you’re an author or a freelance writer, marketing is going to be an essential part of your process. And, marketing in an over-saturated market can be a very difficult journey. Whether you’re promoting a book, services, or other product, you will have tons of competition. And, if you don’t have a website, you won’t be able to get in the marketing game.

No matter what product or service you’re offering, having a website is an absolutely must.

While it’s not that difficult to create a website or blogsite using services, such as WordPress (http://wordpress.com) or Blogger (http://blogger.com), there are essential steps you will need to take in order to create an EFFECTIVE site.

Here is a list of 7 of the most essential and bare-bottom basics that are needed for an effective website (the first three are in this post):

1. The Name of Your Site

Create a site with your name as the domain name. Even if you already have one or more sites with different names, take the time to create one with your name. This can be your central site that leads to your other specific platforms. Think of it as the Sun to your other orbiting web planets.

If you have multiple sites, include them on your Media Page and on your About You page.

2. The Subheading

When including a site subheading, think of your platform. In your subheading add keywords you want associated with your site. These are words that should quickly inform the search engines what your site is about and allow them to use your site’s URL to meet a searcher’s query.

The subheading elaborates on your website title and further emphases your site’s focus.

3. The Opt-in Box

Provide a readily visible opt-in box. This is one of the only ways you will be able to create a mailing list. A useful way to entice visitors to sign up for your info emails or newsletter is to offer a free gift, also called and ‘ethical bribe.’ Usually an ebook related to your site’s focus is a practical gift.

The opt-in box should be placed in the top portion of your sidebar, and must be immediately visible upon landing on the page – this means it needs to be above the fold line.

Think copywriting when creating the text for your opt-in. Marketing studies have shown that words like “sign-up” and “join” may make the reader feel there is a commitment involved. The current, more appealing opt-in words include “access” and “find out more.” I’m thinking of testing “give it a try.”

Stop by November 17th for Part 2 of Online Marketing – 7 Key Factors to an Effective Website. It explains key factors numbers four through seven.

For more on writing and marketing, join Karen Cioffi and The Writing World for free weekly tips and guidance, plus updates on free instructional webinars. Get access today and you’ll receive “How to Create an Optimized Website – 3 Essential Author Website Elements and 9 Must-Have Pages:”
 

Your fans want to reach you, but can't meet you at a signing. Now what?

by Aidana WillowRaven

As I posted last week, keeping your website clutter free, and your portfolio, even your online portfolio clean, concise, and compartmentalized is very important when you rely on it for business or promotion.

But there are a few handy gadgets you may want to include on your website (there are many free website platforms out there), that make it easier for your fans or customers to reach you. Contact forms are good. Guestbooks. Social network widgets (like to your FaceBook or Twitter pages). Even blogs can be a means of contact.

You want the gadget to be easy to find, yet not obstructive or overpowering, so as not to detract from your site's main purpose.

One gadget I use is Live Help or Live Chat. It allows your site visitor to see if you are available to chat, and if not, to leave you a message that goes to your email. See:

If you notice, at the bottom of my main page, I have a couple network buttons, a membership button, the PayPal verified seal, and the little grey Live Help box (which shows that I am online right now). There is a copy of this button on my bio page, and the contact page (logical places for a browsing fan to look for ways to reach you).

Imagine you're just working on your computer, illustrating or writing, and the cyber phone rings (the chat window on your end rings like a phone). You accept the chat, and it's a fan!

Maybe it's a question about your book or characters, maybe it's a prospective buyer, or maybe it's someone wanting to hire you. You can use it as a 'meet the author/illustrator' tool, or whatever. And here comes the best part ...

IT'S FREE. 

Yes, free, folks. If you can place code on your site or blog, then you can have a free, private chat with up to five different people at once. 

It's not a forum window, though those can be fun and useful, too. And there is a pay upgrade available, but for your average needs, the free one fits right into a writer or illustrator's marketing budget.

If you think it may help your illustration or writing career, get one for yourself. Visit http://www.volusion.com, and sign up. Oh, and they offer a lot more for websites than just chat windows. Look around. If you find it hard to find, here is the direct link: http://www.volusion.com/live-chat/software/. You'll see both the free Basic option, and the Premium option (which includes a fee).

If you wish to try mine first, give me a ring on my website. It's really fun. I think your fans will like it, too.

Aidana WillowRaven

Art Director & VP of Operations
4RV Publishing

Is Your Online Portfolio Overwhelming?

by Aidana WillowRaven

Back in art school (I won't be going into how long ago THAT was ... lol), it was repeatedly drilled into our impressionable minds to keep our portfolio neat, clean, and ready to show off at a moment's notice. We were taught that too many images, especially if we worked in various genres and mediums, vs. a set 'look' or style, could confuse the viewer. And the last thing you want to do, when showing your work to a prospective employer or client, is to confuse them. You want them to know, without a doubt, that you are the artist that they just have to have doing their project.

The trick is enticing them with enough to convince them without going overboard. So where do you draw the line?

Well, in the olden days ... we used a physical portfolio. The came in various sizes and had the option of holding anywhere from 6 to 100 pages. We were coached to keep portfolios between 12-24 images of any one genre or style, and to also consider having different folios for different styles. That way, if the potential client is a clothing designer, you don't waste her time and yours by flipping through children's book illustrations, but you show her a full portfolio of your best fashion illustrations.

With the accessibility of the internet, the opportunities for artists have skyrocketed. We no longer need to mail in our portfolios, requiring that we have several copies on hand of each. We no longer need to request our work to be hopefully returned after review, and pray they use our prepaid postage and honorably send it back. An artist without an online portfolio these days does not really want to have his/her work seen. Having an online portfolio is essential.

But we run into a new dilemma. It's so easy to upload images when there is no consideration of space or consciousness of physical 'pages,' to over 'fill' a portfolio.

I recently noticed I had fallen into that trap. I had a gallery page on my site that held almost all of my professional work. Almost everything I had in print. 

Problem ... I've got over 100 books, not counting magazines and websites, with my work in them in print.

I am one of those artists who works in several genres, in several styles, and in several mediums. I pride myself in my diversity. But when I started getting comments like 'You're such a prolific artist,' and 'Wow, I don't know where to start,' I knew I had to go old school and tidy up my portfolio ... my online portfolio. I had to look at my work objectively and select only key pieces -- not all of them -- regardless of how much I had a personal attachment to them. Check out how my gallery page used to look:

I only should showcase my best work (we all have those old works where we go, 'Boy, I've improved' ... lol) and the styles I want my potential clients to see, not everything I've done.  If you notice, the left column was kid's books and illos, the second column was originals and promo pieces, the third column was novels, and the right column was logos and banners. All on one page. What you don't see is how long this stretched on ... lol. I just kept adding to the top of the pile. Here's the link so you can get the real idea of just how congested this got (I kept the link active just for ya'll to see): http://willowravenback-up.weebly.com/gallery.html

I also had to evaluate who would be looking at what. Since I work in so many genres, am I wasting someone's time or misleading them into thinking I can't deliver what they want, because they are overwhelmed with children's art when they are seeking high fantasy or graphic art? I had to compartmentalize my portfolio. Effectively create several folios, just like back in the day, but on my website. That way, when clients pop in, they know just where to go for the type of genre they may want to hire me to do. 

Here's a screen shot of my new main page:

 My old main page was full of quotes, links, a video folio, and widgets (http://willowravenback-up.weebly.com/). I moved my 'follow me' widgets and other non-art stuff to the bottom and kept the page minimal and neat. It's not what I want people to see first. The art had to come first. You see above that there are five clear categories, or portfolios, to choose from. That's it. I deliberately made myself stick to as few a number as possible. I had to really evaluate 'what I do.'

I made each image that represents a portfolio a link to the pages that hold that genre. I also included the links in the drop down menu for those pages. As one follows to the genre of choice, he will find either small to medium sized examples of the work, with links to full sized examples, or find a subcategory page (let's look at the Children's - YA Illustration page, where you'd find such a page):

As you can see, I sub-divided this category into three parts. That way, if the client or publisher is looking for a picture book artist, they know where to look and are not distracted by my middle grade line art. This also allows me to show 24-24 images of just that type of art, rather than trying to show 12-24 images of all three types together.

Say we choose to go to the Tween - Young Adult page and we see:

Right now, I only have eight images, but they are solid works, and the viewer isn't distracted by everything else I've done. I still end up showing off a lot of my work this way. But now it's much more targeted to the audience.

The sub pages and enlarged example pages are not listed in the navigation bar. Again, I don't want to overwhelm the viewer with choices. I want to herd them, gently, to the areas I want them to travel. As I've often seen editors tell authors, less is more.

Lastly, I wanted to create a sense of my work, as a whole, and wanted something to introduce people to my art, a welcome page of sorts. So, I linked my URL, to a 'portal' page, which I have opening up with my latest piece.

So in conclusion ...

Your online portfolio needs to be treated like your physical portfolio. You don't want too little, too much, or work that just isn't up to your current standard. You don't want to muddy the waters with too many quotes, link, or bells and whistles. Make sure your audience know how and where to reach you, and can be able to communicate their wants by your showing them what you have to offer in the best possible way.

For those that wish to check out the new site in action, follow my link: http://willowraven.weebly.com/.

Aidana WillowRaven

Art Director & VP of Operations
4RV Publishing

A Writer's Platform: Why is it important? How to Create One with Websites and/or Blogs

By Joan Y. Edwards

Publishers want to know your Writer’s Platform (Marketing Platform) – They want to know: “Who is going to buy your book? Who is going to entrust their money to purchase what you have written?”

What Readers Are You Bringing to the Selling/Buying Table?

The following are articles that tell a little more about the Writer's Platform (Marketing Platform):

1. Rebekah Sabek http://savvy-writer.com/2010/12/writers-must-have-a-marketing-platform-for-their-books/

2. Book Marketing Experts http://workingwritersandbloggers.com/2011/02/28/what-is-a-platform-and-how-can-you-identify-it/

3. Joel Friedlander http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/03/author-platform-what-are-you-waiting-for/

4. Bill Henderson http://writeabetternovel.net/a-writer%E2%80%99s-platform-want-to-publish-start-building-yours

Who Knows You?

In other words, publishers want to know how many people have heard or seen your name in person, in books, or on the internet. The number of people who know you increases your chances of selling your book.

Jonathan Fields http://tribalauthor.com/author-platform/ says publishers want to know the answers to the following questions:

How many people are on your email list or subscribers to your blog?

How many followers do you have on Twitter? (You want thousands.)

How many Facebook friends or fans do you have? (You want hundreds.)

How many monthly visitors do you get? (I think you want to have a steadily increasing number.)

Blog or Website

• A blog is a website.

• A website does not necessarily have a blog.

• A website is not necessarily a blog.

• A website has static pages that look the same and have few changes.

• A blog is technically, a guest book with posts and comments.

• A blog is not static; it changes with new posts and/or new comments.

Websites and Blogs Are Part of a Writer’s Platform

Read Jenny B's article, "Why All Writers Should Have Their Own Website:" http://www.bukisa.com/articles/321187_why-all-writers-should-have-their-own-website

Makes them known by more people.

Gives a place to market the writer’s books or products thus making a plus for publishers to publish their works.

Web Presence Is Part of a Writer’s Platform

Search on the internet for your name. It’ll show webpages, blogs, comments on blogs, facebook, twitter, and other links.

Each time you create a blog, website page, or leave a comment, you create a listing for Google’s Search. You are increasing your web presence.

My Web Presence-Website and Blogs

A search on the internet for Joan Y. Edwards today gives you thousands of possible links. It didn’t start out that way. In 2001, I started out with one link on our church’s website. I wrote devotionals and puzzles for children’s liturgy for children who might not be able to get to church.

In 2002 I took an online course at CPCC to learn how to create my own website. Because I had a website, I got a job writing and consulting for Liturgical Publications for four years. My website and my writing got the editor’s attention. He liked my style of writing.

Because I started my Never Give Up blog, writers joined me in submitting their work to publishers and/or agents on a monthly basis in a group called PubSub3rdFri. Submitting more often, increased our chances of getting published. I’ve been a guest blogger on other blogs. My ideas have appeared in the SCBWI-Carolinas Pen & Palette. A college writing instructor shares my blogposts with her students. I was chosen to interview Jeff Herman, author of Jeff Herman’s Guide to Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents 2011. The number of visitors has grown from 1 to 8,316. All of these things increased my web presence. Now more people know me or about me.

Why am I telling you this? I want you to know it doesn’t happen all at once. It all happens one click at a time. One word at a time. One learning venture at a time. Believe in yourself. Begin that website. Start that blog. Take a step to increase your web presence and make your writing platform stronger today.

Joan Y. Edwards