Online Marketing, Visibility and Business Blogging Tips from Denise Wakeman

How to Sell Your Ebooks and Reports in Amazon's Kindle Store

Until I bought a Kindle last month, I had not paid much attention to the amazing content that's available for digital download. Then, I discovered that I could promote my blogs on Amazon for download to the Kindle. Next, I found out I could publish my own ebooks and reports and sell them in the Kindle store. Even if no one ever buys a single digital copy, I now have a presence on Amazon.com that I didn't have before.

Of course if you're a published author then this is no big deal. But for those of us with ebooks, whitepapers and reports, this is a great opportunity to reach new markets. This week the New York Times reported that Ebooks Top Hardcovers at Amazon.

I had my tech wiz Traci Knoppe check out the process to publish one of my reports in the Kindle store. It took under an hour to convert the word doc to the proper format, complete the online form, upload the file and an image, preview and publish. In less than 48 hours the report was in the store.

I had Traci record a 5:45 minute video for you so you can see how easy it is to add your own ebooks and reports.

Online Video for Branding and Visibility - Interview with Lou Bortone

Recently I had the pleasure of talking with my friend and colleague Lou Bortone, also known as the Online Video Guy. He talks about branding and online visibility about as much as I do, only in the context of video. So I snagged about 20 minutes of Lou's time and asked him to clarify how video can be used to boost your visibility on the Web.

Interview with Lou Bortone

(20:29 min)

Denise: Hi. I'm Denise Wakeman, founder of The Blog Squad and today I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to my friend and colleague, Lou Bortone. Lou and I have known each other for a few years and have partnered on a couple of projects most notably, our self study course "Online Video Made Easy."

Lou is an online branding specialist, a video pro, and a visibility expert. A man after my own heart. He's also known for his wacky LouTube videos. I'm not sure if he's making these any more, I'll have to check on that. Also, he's well known for the montage videos that he frequently creates to celebrate people he knows.

The purpose of talking with Lou today is to learn about his perspective on creating visibility with video and why it's so important. Welcome Lou.

3 Tips to Get More Out of the Videos You Post on YouTube (video)

As a follow up to my last post about using video testimonials, I have to get something off my chest. I check out a lot of videos from my clients and colleagues and I frequently see the same problems that are getting in the way of these smart, talented people getting the best results from YouTube (and other video platforms).

In this 5 minute video I cover three ways you can get better results from the videos you post on YouTube. This applies to any other video distribution platform you use as well. [Click here if you can't see the video.]

This video doesn't cover every single aspect of how to set up your YouTube channel or how best to leverage it. Rather these are few things I see over and over that get in the way of using online video successfully.

I'd love to hear your tips for leveraging YouTube. Please post them in the comments or post a video comment on YouTube.

If online video intimidates you, then I invite you to check out Online Video Made Easy, a self-study course I created with the online video guy, Lou Bortone. It really is easy!

Links:
TubeMogul

My YouTube Channel: DeniseWakeman.tv

Online Visibility Tip - Create and Use Video Testimonials

You are probably well aware that to enhance your credibility when selling products and services, it's helps to have third party endorsements in the form of testimonials. But are you actually following through and not only asking for testimonials, but also providing testimonials for the vendors, coaches, mentors, service providers you love and appreciate?

I actually thought I had written a blog post about this but if I did, cannot find it. I did write an entire lesson on boosting visibility with testimonials for Online Visibility Secrets. Maybe that's why I'm confused. :-)

At any rate, I was reminded of this again last week. I interviewed a long-time student, Connie Ragen Green, about blog challenges she hosts. We chatted a bit after the interview and she was raving about Online Visibility Secrets. I know she refers a lot of people to the course as well. But...

How You Can Win One of Two Social Media Marketing Books

A spate of books about marketing your business with social media have been released in the last few months. I usually end up with a copy of most of them.

I realized I have two copies of two brand new books: Facebook Marketing An Hour a Day by my friend Mari Smith and Chris Treadaway, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Social Media Marketing by Jennifer Abernethy (I really dislike titles that imply you're a dummy or an idiot!). Jennifer interviewed me about blogging for her book and gave me a shout out in the acknowledgments which was very kind.

I want to give my extra copies away as a gift to my community. I was thinking about how to do this and figured I'd keep it super simple and model how you can boost your visibility with social media too!

Here's how to enter to win one of these excellent marketing books: