After working exclusively in online business marketing for seven years now, I have come to the realization that it’s time for a change in one of my basic marketing strategies in regards to my two main blogs. Instead of doing more than ninety percent of the writing, I am now going to actively search for others to write articles that can be posted here.

Why am I doing this? There are a number of reasons, but first I’ll share the thinking that got me to the place I am currently in my business. When I began blogging in 2006, writing each post was a struggle and a challenge. I was not a writer, and that was blatantly obvious from the very beginning. I could write coherently, with no spelling or major grammar errors, but my focus was on the mechanics of writing rather than the creative aspect. The result was posts that were not very interesting and not read regularly by my followers.

Over the years this changed, primarily because I persevered. I wrote something every single day, whether it was a blog post, an article, an email to my list, a short report, or the books I began to publish in 2010. Practice makes perfect, as the old adage goes, and though I was not even striving for perfection (I prefer to think of it as excellence) the writing did improve significantly.

I now have more than a thousand posts on one of my blogs and four hundred on the other. Less than five percent of these are guest posts or rewritten PLR, and they average about four hundred words in length, so you can see that I followed through with my marketing strategy when it came to blogging. I’ve also learned much about SEO (search engine optimization) and keywords over the years, so the impact has been excellent for my business.

Also, I felt a sense of ownership when it came to these two main blogs, and that kept me from actively pursuing others to write for my sites. This is typical of new online entrepreneurs, and is a natural part of the learning and growing process.

Now I am approaching my business very differently and taking it to a whole new level, and including additional writers and points of view is an integral part of my strategy. Having access to those with a different expertise is vital, and there are many people who are extremely knowledgeable in areas where I have only scratched the surface.

What do you think? Would you still read my blogs if you knew I was featuring other authors more regularly? Which topics would you like to see included here?

 

 

I thought this was a great question because it shows the difference in mentality between people trying to make money online versus people trying to build a business online. People who want to make money online typically want to pluck the lowest hanging fruit with the least effort. People who want to build a business online look to harness processes that don’t fade with time. What does this have to do with the question at hand? Everything!

SIDE NOTE: For those of you who can’t wait for the answer to the question, the answer is “Both!” You should use your Kindle books to both make money and build your list.

By the way…

Amazon’s Kindle is now the Web’s #1 active marketplace for ebooks. Not only is it a great place to get readers, make sales, and build up your credibility, but it’s also a great way to take a real-time pulse of what’s popular, hot, and trending in hundreds (if not thousands) of niches.

So if you want to use Kindle books to leverage your business, here are “10 Specific Ways To Make Money and Build Your List With Kindle Books!”

1. Sell the book! (make money)

Your #1 way to make money with your Kindle book is to sell it! All the other 9 strategies will fall right in line if you just concentrate on methodically making sales.

2. Include link(s) to a free video in the book (opt in)

Any time you can offer a video that either gives people a shortcut or a visual representation of what you teach, a significant percentage of them will jump at the chance to watch the video. Just ask them to sign up with name and email before viewing it.

3. Upsell a course or coaching based on the book (make money)

Whenever you teach anything, a certain number of people will want to have you teach them how to do it personally. They enjoy the contact with you and the accountability a course or coaching creates.

4. Include links to your other products / books in the book (make money)

This sounds like a no-brainer, but most authors LEAVE OUT links that can make them money. Put “add links to my other products” on your checklist of things to do before publishing your Kindle book.

BIG TIP: you can always go BACK to books you’ve already published and ADD links to new books as you create them. There’s no rule that says you can’t add those links to an already published book.

5. Included affiliate links to relevant products and services in the book (make money)

If you don’t have your own products, services, or other books, you can still make money with links in your own book. You simply include links to relevant products that make sense in the context of the book.

AVOID BIG MISTAKE: Do NOT just include a bunch of links for the sake of including them. The affiliate links you share should make sense and be extremely relevant.

6. Offer free updates / free revisions of the book (opt in)

If your Kindle book will require some periodic updates, why not offer to give free updates to those who’ve already purchased it. Make the offer at the end of your book and have them opt-in, or even send a copy of their receipt so you can send them copies when you update the book. Most will NOT buy the updates, so this is a great way to hook people into your list.

7. Include a link to your affiliate program (opt in + make money)

If you operate an affiliate program for your other products or services, telling people about it in your Kindle book can be an excellent way to build your affiliate list and have them make sales for you. Though obviously not appropriate in all cases, it works great in the right circumstances.

8. Include a chapter from another book with a link to buy (make money)

This is pretty self-explanatory. Include a bonus chapter to the “next” book at the end of your current book with a link to buy it. If you don’t have another book yet, go back and update your current book when you do come out with the next one.

9. Offer a free subscription to your newsletter / blog updates (opt in)

Some of the people who like your book would like to keep up with you. If you don’t want to do a regular newsletter, then offer people the option of following you on Twitter or Facebook.

10. Create another book and promote it to your opt-in list (make money)

The real leverage with Kindle in terms of money and subscribers comes from publishing MULTIPLE books. Very few people make significant income with a single book. The old saying of “publish or perish” holds doubly true on Kindle.

The bottom line is that making money and building your list with Kindle books are inextricably linked. You can’t really do one without the other and, frankly, why would you?! And when you consider the sheer magnitude and marketing power of Amazon and Kindle, there’s never been a better time to start.

Jim Edwards

Selling online since 1997, Jim is an Internet Marketing Expert, Author, Elite Mentor and Coach

He specializes in helping individual entrepreneurs, small business owners and authors to understand how to use technology to build your online business.

Jim is the author of dozens of ebooks, hundreds of webinars, over 1,000 blog posts and articles.

His flagship ebook “How To Write and Publish Your Own eBook… in as little as 7 Days” – newly revised and updated with V2.0 – has been helping book and ebook authors create their own best-selling ebooks since 2001! Get more information about Jim and how he can help you get more readers, make more sales, and skyrocket your credibility here => http://eBookWritingProfits.com

 

 

Marlon Sanders has a brand new Dashboard available. It’s the WP Leads and Sales Dashboard and I’ve created a three minute video to tell you more about it.

Watch the video, think about your own goals for creating an online business, and then decide whether or not this is right for you. Becoming an entrepreneur is not for everyone, but if you have the entrepreneurial spirit this could be exactly what you need to take you to the next level quickly.

 

You can find out more by going to my link for this program and getting started today with Marlon Sanders’ WP Leads and Sales Dashboard

Finding keywords for SEO (search engine optimization) in your business is crucial. Learning how to find the right keywords takes some time and effort. I have been able to grow my business exponentially over these past few years through the use of keywords. Using the right keywords on the Internet will help you to grow your business, but learning exactly what those are and how to use them can be a challenge.

First of all, what are keywords?

Keywords are the words and phrases we all use when we are searching for something we need. When you go to Google or Bing or Amazon, or any other search engine, you type in the words that best describe what you’re looking for on that day. For example, when I have friends over and we want to have a pizza, one of us will typically Google ‘pizza delivery in santa monica’. But how can this make a difference in your business?

When you set up a site for your business, whether it’s a traditional website or WordPress site, use your keywords in the domain name (such as HandymanSantaMonica.com), in the site’s header, and in the titles and subtitles found throughout your site. I won’t confuse my explanation here by using HTML (hyper text markup language) references, but suffice it to say that you must use your keywords on every page, in a natural and flowing manner. Overusing them is referred to as ‘keyword stuffing’ and will not be tolerated by the search engines.

How do you find your keywords?

If your business is a brick and mortar one, start out by using the name of your city and your industry, such as ‘Santa Monica pet grooming’ or ‘auto body shop in santa monica’. That’s the first level of keywords. Next, use phrases that describe more specifically what you have to offer, such as ‘grooming toy breeds santa monica’ or ‘smog emission testing santa monica’. If you aren’t certain which keywords might be best for your particular business, take a look at your competitor’s websites to see which keyword phrases they are using.

This can easily be accomplished by visiting their website, right-clicking to go to ‘view page source’, and then reading through the HTML code to see their keyword description, titles, and meta tags. By doing this with the example above, you may find something you had not previously thought of, such as ‘window tinting santa monica’ or ‘dog show styles and cuts santa monica’.

The use of keyword phrases in your business is an art, not a science. This means that you must take some time to experiment with what works best in your industry. Start by making a list of everything your business has to offer. Also, list the zip codes you serve, as many people use that as their search criteria, instead of the city name, when they need to find someone to help them.

The last thing I will discuss here is what is referred to as a ‘long tail keyword’. These are keyword phrases that consist of five words or more and are extremely specific to what the person is looking for. If someone uses a long tail phrase they are most likely ready to make a purchase.

An example of this would be if someone went to Google and typed in ‘need to repair broken windshield in santa monica’ or ‘who does the best dog grooming for yorkshire terriers’. Questions are very common when it comes to long tail searches.

Also, someone may not use a city or community location name at all when typing in their search, such as if they put ‘file an irs tax extension for my small business’. If you are a CPA, this search could be perfect for your business.

I recommend that you learn as much as you can about keywords, and see how beneficial they can be for growing your business with the right clients for what you have to offer.