For a couple of years my blog here has toddled along with a slowly growing audience, until recently averaging about 50 visits per day. Suddenly, last week, I had 5,000, then 12,000 visits. They were all coming from StumbleUpon. No spam, just real visitors. Needless to say, I was thrilled! But then I was perplexed. [...]
January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
How to lose your reader’s attention–quickly
Whether it’s a blog post, an article, or a book you’re writing, your challenge is get the reader’s attention and hold it until you’ve delivered your message. It’s not always easy, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. Just: Know your audience Understand their pain Address their pain with real help They will stick with [...]
December 30, 2011 By 23 Comments
Do you make these 3 disastrous book-writing mistakes?
I’ll say it again: Most people think that writing a book is incredibly difficult, time-consuming, and of questionable value. But actually, if you just follow my program, it can be doable (if not easy), quick, and a really good use of your time. I’ll save the value part for another blog post; what I want [...]
December 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
7 qualities of an engaging book title
Your book’s title is important to its impact. If the title is not a grabber, the prospective reader will not open the book. So–how to name your book? As I’ve mentioned, a lot of the advice that applies to copy writing applies to book titles. Here are 7 characteristics of a successful title; make sure [...]
December 16, 2011 By 1 Comment
Amazon and Copyblogger: Great for title research
Go to Amazon.com and click on the “Bestsellers” tab at the top of the Amazon.com home page. Seek out your category; they are listed on the left. Note books that are in your topic area; for each one that strikes your interest, make a note of its title and its rank. Collect 10 or 15 titles [...]
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Free software and services from Mark Hendricks!
I’m giving away my $97 course as part of Mark Hendricks’ “12 Days of Xmas” give-away. There’s a ton of high-quality free stuff, with more every day–and a group that helps homeless people gets all the money (which comes from the people who are donating their products). Check it out: http://bit.ly/t7JfQP