Notes
from Tim Bete’s presentation at the
Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop
March
9, 2002
University
of Dayton
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Eight ways to promote your writing onlineby Tim Bete, co-director, Erma Bombeck
Writers’ Workshop; award-winning humor columnist and University of Dayton
e-marketing manager
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Today I’ll talk about the concept of online branding — how to set yourself apart from other writers and help you to sell your work and become seen as a top producer in your field. The
online promotion techniques I’ll share with you today work – and they’re not
complicated, although they do take some time on your part. I’ve
used these techniques to help a national nonprofit sell more than 5,000 copies
of a book it published — in only three months. We used
these online PR techniques to sell out this workshop more than two months ahead
of time -- growing it from a regional event to a national one with attendees
from 28 states and Canada. I’ve
used online PR to promote my own humor column, gaining an international
readership as well as a paying job as a weekly columnist – until the Web site
where it was published went broke at least. Regardless
of whether you’re just starting out or you are an experienced writer, you
compete with other writers. You compete for the attention of editors. You
compete for paying jobs. Using the Internet to promote your work won’t make you
the next Dave Barry or Erma Bombeck, but it will help your work get noticed, so
that when you’re competing against other writers, you’ll have the edge. Writing
great material is up to you. I won’t get into a lot of technical details today, because we don’t have the time, although I’d be glad to take your technical questions afterwards. When it
comes to the details of online publicity and marketing, I highly recommend
Steve O’Keefe’s book, Complete Guide to Internet Publicity. Steve
provides all the technical know-how to do all the things I’ll talk about today.
You can find his book at Amazon.com. 1. Brand your name by creating a Web site The first step to branding your name is to create your own Web site. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Most of the online publicity you do will drive people to your Web site. Whether your trying to attract readers, editors or potential buyers of a book you’ve written, your Web site will be the focus of your online marketing. Having your own Web site is the easiest, cheapest way to create a national and even international image for yourself – without being published in national and international print publications. Tip: Since
you are your product, use your name as your Web site address. Many of the speakers here today do this. Some writers use their topic specialty as their Web address. For instance, www.thehumorwriter.com. The problem with this is that, if you write anything else besides humor, editors may not visit your site because they think you’re a specialist. You’ll invest a lot of time getting your Web site address placed all around the Internet. If you change your Web address in the future, it’s a pain to recreate that work. Some writers use free Internet services to host their Web sites. There are many places that will provide free Web site space. For instance, because I work at UD, I’m given my own home page. If you’re using free Web space, purchase a domain name and have it redirect users to your free space. Which
looks more professional: homepages.udayton.edu/~bete or www.timbete.com? I purchased the www.timbete.com and have it redirect people to my free site. Total cost: $35/year. Then you get the best of both worlds — a good Web site name and cheap Web hosting. 2. Design your site so it appeals to readers and
editors. I used to be a magazine editor. When a writer I wasn’t
familiar with approached me with a story idea, I looked for confirmation that
the writer was up to the task. In addition to reading samples of his or her
writing, I asked myself these questions: 1)Who was the writer? What was his or her background? 2)Where else had the writer been published? 3)What did other editors think of his or her work? 4)What had the writer written on the topics I was
looking for? Everything
on your site should help answer these questions and set you apart from other
writers. Your Web site should showcase your work in such a way that if you and
another writer – who writes just as well as you do – are vying for the same
job, your work will win out. Keep
your site as simple as possible. Need to include your bio, reader comments,
where you’ve been published, editor comments, writing samples, contact
information and the ability for readers and editors to subscribe to your column
– if you write a column. Together, the content of your Web site paints the
picture that you’re an experienced writer who can get the job done. Now, you
may say, “Tim, I’m not an experienced writer and don’t have a lot to fill those
areas of my Web site. What should I do?” Use the Internet to fill in the gaps.
When I began writing a humor column two years ago, my Web site was empty. Today
it’s packed with information, almost all of which came about because I had a
Web site to begin with. Let me
walk through each area. I’ll use my Web site as an example. Your bio Writing
samples Posting
new columns allows editors to read your work and get in touch with you. If you
sell reprint rights, your Web site is a good place to showcase what you’re
selling. Posting
your work also gives readers a reason to come back to your Web site. You can’t
get reader testimonials without readers — and reader testimonials are
important. Reader
testimonials Also,
readers can say things about you that you can’t. For instance, if you say you
write like Erma Bombeck, it seems egotistical. If someone else says it about
you, it appears much more genuine. Readers
often include information about themselves that provides demographic
information. For instance: "I'm
a pastor..." ""I
am a mother of a 3-year-old little boy..." "I
am a father of five..." "Being
a stay at home mom of five children..." Since I
write a parenting humor column, reader testimonials from parents are key. As
long as you don’t use the reader’s name, you don’t need to ask permission. Because
reader testimonials are important, make sure that it is easy for readers to
contact you by e-mail. Once you have a few reader testimonials, create a page
on your site for them. List where
you’ve been published Why on
the Web? First,
it’s easier and quicker to get published on the Web than in print. I hadn’t
been published before – but I had great experience getting rejected in print. I
found many Web sites that fit my niche and were looking for content. It
didn’t matter to me whether the sites were large or small but I paid close
attention to the names of the sites and their logos. Since many editors won’t
have heard of the sites, I wanted the Web site names to tell the story. I
wanted editors to know what I wrote simply by seeing where I was published. So, I
got my column published on Web sites simply by pitching them with e-mail
messages with links to my Web site and sample columns. I got published on: CatholicExchange.com CatholicMom.com ChildFun.com iParenting.com ParentingHumor.com FathersWorld.com ParentToParent.com RaisingADaughter.com and
RaisingASon.com among
other Web sites. I think
you can see that where I’ve been published paints a picture of what I write
about. If I got published on a Web site that didn’t fit the image I was trying
to portrait, I simply didn’t include it on my Web site. There’s
always a debate about giving away your material for free in return for
“exposure.” Some people will tell you to never give away your work. Others say
to give away as much as you can to gain exposure quickly. For
about six months, I had a paying job at a major Web site –
CatholicExchange.com. I was their top story every Friday and they were paying
me $50 per column, which wasn’t bad money. They ran my column each week but I
retained all subsequent rights. So, once I had sold the column, I gave the same
column to other Web sites to publish – especially when those sites fit my
image. That way, I got paid for the columns but also quickly built a list of
sites on which I’d been published. I think that’s a good middle-of-the-road
strategy that balances income with exposure. Unfortunately, the weekly, paid
column, turned into stock options, which turned into worthless paper. Now I’m
in the process of self-syndicating my column to Catholic newspapers. But, now
when an editor visits my site or I pitch work to an editor, I can say that my
work has been published on more than a dozen Web sites including ________. If
I’m pitching to a Catholic publication, I mention CatholicExchange.com and
CatholicMom.com. If I’m pitching to a secular publication, I mention
ParentingHumor.com and iParenting.com. You get the idea. Editor
testimonials Editor
testimonials are easier to get then you’d think. In some instances, I’ve
received unsolicited praise from editors. In other cases, I’ve actively
solicited it. If an editor has paid for your work, obviously he or she thinks
it’s good. They’re likely to give a testimonial if you ask. If
you’ve allowed a Web site to run your work for free, they owe you. The least
they can do is provide a testimonial. If
you’re looking for a specific type of testimonial, ask for it. Editors won’t be
offended if you say, “I’m trying to show that my writing appeals to senior citizens.
Would you consider providing a testimonial to that effect?” Awards If you
had two pitches in front of you, one which said: “I’ve
written for several parenting publications.” And one
that said: “My
award-winning work has appeared in several parenting publications.” Which
would you read first? It’s not
a big thing, but it one more way to brand yourself — to set yourself apart from
other writers. The quickest way to find awards to win is to visit other
columnists’ Web sites and see what they’ve won. Once you’ve won a few awards,
there’s little value in winning more unless they’re well recognized. You can
find a good directory of Web site awards at: http://awardsubmit.com/directory.html When
applying for awards and contests, try to find those that help reinforce your
image. For instance, I tried to get parenting Web site and writing awards,
since that was my niche. Get readers to
subscribe Why get
subscribers? A few reasons. If
you’re just starting out, self-publishing your column may be the only way to
get started. You don’t need to wait for an editor, you just need a handful of
family and friends with e-mail accounts. The more
subscribers you have, the more reader comments you’ll get to post on your site.
As I said before, reader testimonials are important. If you
get enough subscribers, it becomes a selling point with editors. Bruce Cameron
has more than 40,000 e-mail subscribers to his column. That’s a lot of
leverage. It helped him get his column into a major metro newspaper. Also,
when you’re pitching an editor to write a print piece, you can throw in that
you’ll mention the piece to your subscribers. That’s free promotion that can
help you get jobs. A
subscriber base can also help you if you’re trying to show an editor that
readers want to read your writing in their publication. This works especially
well if you’re trying to get a publication to pick you up as a regular
columnist. Ask your subscribers to e-mail the editor and request your column.
WARNING: The editor probably won’t be happy at first. Would you be if hundreds
of e-mail messages clogged your e-mail box? I tried this with one publication
that wasn’t returning my calls. After the editor received 200+ e-mails within
four days, he said he had to seriously consider my column since I had “a
built-in readership.” I didn’t close the deal but I did get a good hearing. You
can’t ask your subscribers to do this too often, so be judicious. I’ve also had several editors subscribe to my column.
When they see a column they are interested in, they call. Allowing them to
subscribe is an easy way to keep them up-to-date. One
final reason to get subscribers. At the bottom of my Web site I have a banner
ad. It’s part of a banner exchange program that places my advertising banner on
other Web sites for every time a banner appears on mine. There are many free
programs like this. I don’t get a lot of readers to my site this way, but it’s
free advertising and helps brand my column.Every time my subscribers come to my site to read my column, more of my
banners appear on other Web sites. It’s a great one/two punch. The bottom line: Put a link to subscribe on every page of your Web site. 3. Use Web Trends Live One of the reasons I know so much about who uses my
Web site, is that I use Web Trends Live –Web site statistics software. It’s free for personal Web sites and
provides great Web site stats. You can find it at http://www.webtrendslive.com. Based on
the information I get from Web Trends Live, I can tell that I get about 1,300
visitors per month to my site — more than 13,500 in less than a year. Ninety
percent are from the Unites States but I also have readers from Canada,
Australia, the UK and even the Netherlands and the Philippines. Web Trends
tells also shows me how readers get to my site — for instance, which Web sites
they came from. All of this information can be useful when talking with
editors. It can help demonstrate — even before you’re published — that you have
a solid audience. 4. Drive people to your Web site. Your main purpose for readers is to get them to
subscribe to your work, assuming that you write a regular column. Your
main purpose for editors and Web site owners is to get them to promote
your site by linking to it and mentioning it in e-mail newsletters as well as
get them to buy your material. What are
the best ways to promote your Web site? First,
put your Web site address everywhere.Promote
your Web site on your business card; the signature line of your e-mail, in your
article byline, in letters and especially on articles you write for other Web
sites. Then, use the power of the Internet to drive people to your Web site. Promoting your Web site takes some time but its fairly easy. There are many places on the Internet where you can post notices for free. There are thousands of e-mail newsletters looking for content. There are discussion groups and message boards. This assumes that you’ve found a niche for yourself. Erma Bombeck became famous because she filled a niche that no one else was in. Today, there are hundreds of writers trying to fill her niche. It’s much easier to promote your Web site if you have a specific niche. Do you write a humor column for golfers? cooks? gardeners? Does your column appeal most to teens? senior citizens? parents? Once
you’ve defined your niche, it’s easy to surf the Net and find groups within the
same niche. Here are a few areas to start. Usenet newsgroups Usenet is an informal news service. It contains more
than 40,000 individual news groups on every topic from aviation to yoga. Some
groups are moderated, others aren’t. If one is moderated, a person has to
approve anything posted to the group. Many of these groups have thousands of
readers, who are dying to read your material. In most cases, anyone can post
messages in these groups. You can tell thousands of people about your column or
a book you wrote. Internet
mailing lists and e-newsletters With Usenet, you have to go to the Web site to read
posts. With mailing lists, posts are e-mailed to users. There are thousands of
different newsletters. If you’ve subscribed to the e-newsletter for this
writers’ workshop, you’re familiar with them. We have more than 1,500
subscribers at this point. There are several places you can search for newsletter. Yahoo! Groups is
a free newsletter service with nearly one million lists that can be searched by
topic. If you join a group, you can post to it or at least submit information
to the editor. New-List is a series of mailing lists segmented by category
that you with notification when new email lists are created. It has more than
15,000 subscribers and hundreds of topic areas. It’s a great place to find
newsletters within your niche. When you
come across a list that looks appropriate, shoot off a quick e-mail to the
editor or moderator, telling them about your column and how to subscribe to it.
If you’re willing to allow them to reprint your column, tell them that, too.
When I’ve done this in the past, I typically get a 30 to 50 percent response
rate — editors who are willing to mention my column. I
recently got my column mentioned in an e-newsletter that has 100,000
subscribers. The visitors to my Web site went through the roof! Request that
your Web site be included in online directories. At this
point, my Web site is listed in 124 places on the Internet. But, only a few of
these drive the majority of readers to my Web site. The best ones seem to be
smaller sites that have a targeted readership. For instance, 4 of the top 5
sites that referred readers to my site were smaller Catholic Web sites – even
though my site is listed in most of the major search engines. The reason is
simple: Catholic Web sites have more of my target audience and I don’t have
much competition there, so my column stands out. If you’d
like to see who links to your Web site, a good, free tool is: http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop.
It’s a link popularity analyzer. One
directory that you definitely want to get listed in is the Open Directory Project:
http://dmoz.org/If your link is accepted, it will
automatically be included on some larger search engines — Google.com, for
instance. The Open Directory Project has a category for humor columnists. You
can find it at: http://dmoz.org/News/Columnists/Humor. In
addition to using your Web site, there are several other ways you can use the
Internet to help your writing career. 5. Find paying jobs on the Internet Up-to-date paying jobs are listed in many places on
the Internet. Here are a few places to look: WritersMarket.com
6. Research syndicates on the Web If you want to get your column syndicated, the
Internet is a great place to do your homework. Most major syndicates have Web
sites with guidelines and submission instructions. You can order
the Editor & Publisher Syndicate Directory online. Google.com
has a good list of the major
syndicates. 7. Research your market There
is a lot of free information on the Internet about newspaper and magazine
readership. This can help you position your column. If you’re pitching to a
specific publication, go online and read their advertising information. There
is usually a link at the bottom of the page. It will often provide detailed
demographics about their readers. What publications tell advertisers is what
you need to tell editors about your work. For instance, iParenting.com says
that 90 percent of its readers are women. That’s useful information when
pitching the editors. If you’re
looking for newspaper readership information, try The Newspaper Association of America. Their
Web site includes the latest readership polls — what’s hot and what’s not. The Readership Institute
Web site has similar data. If you’ve
targeting a specific industry, trade association Web sites often provide
demographic data. Here’s how I use demographic
data from the Catholic Advertising Network to help sell my column. I often use
this in pitches to editors.
Here are some
other places to do demographic research and find information on specific
publications. Where to do research:
Advertising and marketing Where to do research:
News media sites Newspapers.com— more than 10,000 links to U.S., international, college and
business newspapers. ACQWEB'S Directory
of Publishers— Publisher Web site directory by
subject. Also includes a publisher e-mail address directory. 8. Network online The eighth way to use the Internet to promote your
writing is to network online. Many of the tips I’ve shared today, I Iearned
from other writers. Bruce Cameron, who is speaking here today, is in one of the
online writers groups I belong to. The Internet allows you to connect with
writers who you otherwise wouldn’t meet. It a great way to find people to
critique your work as well as help you make contacts to get published. Yahoo! is a great place to look for
writing groups. There are thousands of groups for writers there, on every topic
imaginable. There
are some advantages to joining online writing groups. * Allows
you to participate at your leisure. No travel time. * Rather
than meeting once per month, online groups are always open. * Gives
you the ability to join many groups and see which ones are best for you. * Since
geography isn't an issue, online groups allow you to network with writers you
wouldn't ordinarily meet. A few
writing groups I would recommend are: The
NetWits
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