This month I have something very special for you: a free branding webinar. You are invited to hear my presentation at the Virtual Women’s Economic Summit. It is entitled: “Branding, Logo, and Website, Oh My!” The Yellow Brick Roadmap to Develop Your Brand, Website and Marketing Materials. This is a FREE 60-minute audio recording in Q&A format. First I will describe how a branding assessment clarifies the fundamentals of your business. Then I’ll show you the most important key elements and why you definitely need a brand. Finally, I’ll explain how to leverage your time, effort and dollars by creating a solid…
It takes just a few vital seconds for an editor or reader to decide whether your self-published book is worth reading or not, so the design of the book cover is incredibly important. If the key opportunity for selling your book exists in one tiny glance, that glance had better be optimized by excellent design elements, wouldn’t you agree? Publishers want their book covers to be unique and memorable. An excellent cover design and compelling title makes that happen. An excellent book cover is like the striking pose of a model – stunning and creative. Shown below are 3 sample covers designed by our…
Once you’ve done all the hard work of writing your book manuscript, you’ll need expert assistance to create a stunning cover and for designing interior pages. You want to make sure the book’s interior marries well with the book’s cover, target market and purpose. I am a book lover in my heart and I have been since I was just learning how to read. I love to go into a book store. I am continuously delighted with the cleverness used in book design, an area where you might think there’s not a lot of room for innovation. In this post, I am going…
In our marketplace today, we spend hours and hours on a computer surfing the internet. According to research, it is estimated that many of us are exposed to over 200 logo designs or branding marks per hour. Your logo will be used on your business cards, your website, outdoor designs, various spots on the Internet, and on promotional items like T-shirts, mugs, key chains, etc. At that rate, in order to be memorable to your prospects and clients, that logo had better pop out and stick in someone’s memory, wouldn’t you say? Sprinkled below are my tips for logo design and several…
Are you writing a book? Are you designing your own book cover? Here’s a case study to improving a self-published book cover. If you are a consultant, speaker or coach, you may find that publishing a book may boost your credibility, open doors to more opportunities and help you land more gigs or clients. With the Internet at your fingertips and easy access to expert cover designers, editors, illustrators and page layout artists, it is much easier to self-publish a book than it was twenty years ago. You can take the role as general contractor and hire consultants to help assemble all…
Are you ready to create a marketing piece, but don’t know where to start? Regardless if you’re doing it yourself or getting professional design and writing help, there are some simple, yet essential steps to follow that will make the whole process go smoothly and prevent costly mistakes. Here are 10 questions to answer before you create a marketing piece: What is the purpose or objective of your piece — to entertain, inform or to persuade? What action do you want your prospects to take — request information, visit your website or call you? Keep your marketing purpose in mind when…
A book media kit can be a paper folder or a page on your website with the essential information and marketing materials about your book. The media kit should provide the media with all the information they need to write a story, or do an audio or video interview with the author. For a hard copy media kit you can gather the following items and arrange them in a classy folder (a solid color in gloss is good). Paste a color postcard of your book cover on the front of the folder. For an online media kit, add a page…
This month, my friend and teammate Mary Walewski of Buy The Book Marketing explains how to research your niche so you can tailor your book to your market. You can use free resources found in your library and online. Self-Publishers: Here are 7 Tips to Research Your Niche By Mary Walewski Copyright © 2009 Most authors working on a first book never really give any thought as to who their book is for. “It’s for everyone!” I’ve been told with a radiant smile. As a marketing person, this declaration makes my heart go into my shoes. If a book if for everyone, it’s…