Can Authors Get Effective Online Marketing for Free?

by Phyllis Zimbler Miller

I spoke to yet another prospective book author who thought her idea for a book could be very successful. At the same time she explained that, in order to save money, she had built her professional website from a template and had only hosted blogs.

Now the truth is that an author can get effective marketing online for free — if that author is willing to put in the time and effort learning as much as possible about effective websites, blogging and social media sites.

Here is part of the email I wrote to this prospective book author:

I was going to start off this email by saying that today anyone who wants a book published — whether traditionally or self-published — has to be truly committed to the success of the project — there’s no way to dip only one toe into the process.

Then on Twitter, BookBuzzr.com just retweeted the link to a blog post I wrote for that site — http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/book-authors-need-a-dedicated-website-for-their-books/ — and this is a good post for you to read rather than my explaining this to you now.

The same “truth” holds true for any business owner using online marketing to promote his or her products and services. You must be truly committed – dipping only one toe into the world of online marketing is not a realistic test.

Recently at a Los Angeles networking event, a publicist told me she was pleased to meet someone who worked with book authors. She said book authors often called her about publicity campaigns although they usually did not want to spend any money on those campaigns.

While it is true that there are many things you can get for nothing, you often get nothing without the investment of money and time into projects in which you believe. (Remember the cautionary saying “you get what you pay”?)

The question remains for everyone standing on the brink of utilizing online marketing tools to promote products and services:

Are you truly committed to taking the plunge, learning as much as possible, putting in the effort, and staying with strategic online marketing over the long haul?

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Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com, which is now WBENC certified and helps clients effectively use social media and other online marketing strategies. Check out Phyllis’ books and other projects at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com

Published by Judy Cullins

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(C) 2013 Judy Cullins. Skills Unlimited Publishing.