Monthly Archives: June 2013

Measuring Book Marketing ROI

Posted on by

By Denise Turney

Staff at book marketing companies aren’t shy about telling self-published authors that they have the skills and experience to help increase, perhaps significantly, a book’s sales. In fact, if you’re a self-published author who has been publishing your own books for five years or more, you’ve probably crossed paths with book marketing staff members who tried to sell you on the idea that, by working with them, you could sell enough books to afford to write full-time.

Measuring Book Marketing Companies Work

If you believe the hype, you could end up plunking down several hundred or several thousand dollars for press releases, newsletters, brochures, websites and social media book marketing campaigns that don’t yield results. This is just one of the reasons why it’s good to do your homework (before you contract with book marketing companies) as a self-published author, to get references and check page rankings for websites and press releases book marketing companies have worked on.

To avoid throwing money away on book marketing campaigns, you can also start measuring book marketing return on investment (ROI). In fact, it’s a good practice to measure ROI on all marketing steps you take. Some tools you can use to measure book marketing ROI include:

  • Customer Surveys (be willing to accept feedback you receive from customers)
  • Statistics (i.e. website stats, email marketing stats)
  • Google Analytics (track where visitors coming into your website from, how long they are staying at your website, your website pages visitors click over to most, etc.)
  • Number of interviews you land following the publication of press releases, etc.
  • Google Feed Burner (use to monitor the impact of your blog and website feeds)

Tools to Measure Book Marketing Efforts With

Perhaps most importantly, you can measure changes in your book sales. For example, you could check your BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com book sales rankings. If you have an account with Ingram Books (a major book distributor), you could also check your monthly sales processed through Ingram.

In addition, if staff at book marketing companies run social media marketing campaigns for you, consider checking the increases in followers and social media comments and questions you receive. Dragon Search offers a free tool to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns. The tool measures factors like the cost per employee, social media marketing training employees have received and the amount of time employees spend on social media marketing.

Not only could measuring book marketing ROI save you money, it could also help you to spot opportunities for improvement and growth. It could alert you to areas of your book marketing campaigns that you should tweak, stop or focus on more. Measuring book marketing ROI could also keep you from deceiving yourself into believing that, just because you are working hard, you’re yielding good results.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/marketing-sales/2012/07/09/7-tools-for-measuring-your-marketing-roi/ (Fox Business: 7 Tools for Measuring Your Marketing ROI)

http://www.smbceo.com/2010/12/16/social-media-marketing-roi/ (SMBCEO: 7 Tools for Measuring Social Media Marketing ROI)

It’s Time You Became Great, The Real You

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
Have you ever been told that you look just like another person? Not only does hearing this raise your curiosity, it may also cause you to question how unique you really are. After all, why is someone else walking around looking just like you if you’re genuinely unique?

Well. There’s another way to look at the fact that you might not be the only person who looks like you. This fact could introduce you to the thought that it’s your thoughts that help to make you unique. It’s not your eyes, nose, hands, etc., but what you think about all day that makes you unique, and this you have complete control over.

You started forming thoughts when you were a child. Some thoughts you formed came as you listened to and observed what your parents, caretakers and teachers said and did. It’s these people you more than likely tried to satisfy, gain approval from and impress. You needed these people to show you that they loved you, that you were worthy of being loved, that it was safe to give and receive love.

Because large numbers of us grew up in a dysfunctional home, there’s a good chance that all your thoughts, formed from childhood onward, about love and safety aren’t serving you well. Add to that, thoughts you have around success, receiving massive amounts of money (feel any guilt, as if receiving massive wealth is wrong or non-spiritual as soon as you read those words; no hiding from the truth – admit how you really felt the first time you read the words to yourself. It could give you clues as to why you don’t have the money you want right now). These and other thoughts are shaping your life. It’s why, if you want lasting change, you have to do it from the inside.

In addition to forming early thoughts and beliefs (a belief is a thought you’ve been thinking over and over and over and . . . until it seems true) based on experiences you had with your parents or caretakers and teachers, you also formed/form thoughts and beliefs based on what you hear on television, read in newspapers, ads you see, conversations you overhear while walking down a street, what friends tell you about men/women, their relationships, etc. These thoughts, many which may have gone into your subconscious mind, are driving your behavior, feelings, willingness to take risks, meet new people, try new things, receive wealth, etc.

Which is why it’s important to focus on YOU and start removing beliefs that are keeping you from receiving the good you want. And, you should receive the good you want. As John 16:24 records, you should, “Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

In other words, if you don’t receive (only you can do the receiving) the good you want, your joy will not be full. And you’ll probably start to believe that you’re small, limited, not great, even while the truth remains unchanged – YOU ARE GREAT!!!!

Brain games, brain sync tapes, audio and video tapes (http://www.recreateyourlife.com), books that focus on removing limiting beliefs, meditation, etc. are tools you can use to remove negative beliefs so you can start receiving the good you want. Doing the work to receive the good you want (it’s exactly what Abraham and Sarah did in the Bible) is necessary.

You don’t want to feel stuck or small. That’s not who you are. YOU ARE GREAT!!!!  Do the work to start stepping into your greatness. Love Pour Over Me‘s Raymond Clarke made this choice after he experienced a life changing injury. Although his was a troubled childhood, he knew he was great. Life supported Raymond’s belief, leading him to wonderful, rewarding relationships, even as he struggled with inner conflicts, until he got completely free. I encourage you to do the same.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Appreciating the greatness in men who father

Posted on by

Some have quirky habits. Others are social butterflies, always good for a laugh, ready to share a hilarious joke. Then there are serious fathers, men who look at nearly everything as if it’s a critical piece in life’s puzzle. Fathers come in as many styles, personalities, sizes and temperaments as hues in a vast field of wild flowers.

There are also men who father children who aren’t their biological offspring. These men step in and fill a leadership and guidance role so splendidly that the children they care for respect, admire and honor them for the rest of their lives. It’s these fathers we also honor, acknowledging and thanking them for their many contributions to their families and society as a whole.

And for those fathers, like Malcolm (Raymond Clarke’s father in my new book, Love Pour Over Me) who need support raising their children, who need to heal from childhood hurts of their own, take the steps to get the help you deserve. Don’t let pride stop you from realizing your full strength.

If you have an awesome father, regularly tell him that you love him. Express to him how much you appreciate and value him. He might not always show it, but he’ll be thankful for the love you share with him.

Get your copy of “Love Pour Over Me” Now at –

http://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001582/Love-Pour-Over-Me.html

 

This Father’s Day Mom Is a Man: Men Who are Raising Their Children Alone

Posted on by

By Denise Turney
The United States Census Bureau’s April 21, 2009 Facts for Features press release reports that there are 64.3 million fathers in the United States.  Nearly two million of these men are single parents.

Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June.  The holiday was founded by a woman named Sonora Dodd.  The idea to create a national day to acknowledge fathers came after Dodd listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in church in her hometown of Spokane, Washington.

Dodd’s mother was deceased; it was her father, a farmer and a Civil War veteran, who exercised courage and filled the duo role of mother and father in her life as well as in the lives of her five siblings.  Initially, Sonora Dodd – after years of watching her father complete chores once deemed “women’s work” in order to care for his children – started the holiday as a way to honor her father, William Smart.  In time, the holiday spread from Spokane throughout the entire country.

Father’s Day Becomes a National Holiday

Father’s Day was first celebrated in Spokane, Washington on June 10, 1910.  President Lyndon Johnson signed the first presidential proclamation acknowledging the holiday in 1966.  The day was signed into law as a national holiday by President Richard Nixon in 1972.

While millions of men across the United States take a less than active role in the lives of their children, some disappearing from their children’s lives altogether, millions of other men do the work of both mother and father.  These men’s voices often go unheard.  They work hard on the job whether they are self-employed or work for another business; they work harder at home and this often absent support or understanding from a larger society.

Single Parenthood on the Rise

The April 21, 2009 United States Census Bureau press release also reports that the number of children growing up in a single parent home has consistently increased over the last three decades.   Of the 1.8 million single parent fathers, eight percent are raising children under the age of 18, the difficult teen and pre-teen years when children typically require the most emotional, psychological and financial support.

Over half of the single parent fathers are divorced while a quarter of them have never been married.  Widowers, the type of single parent Sorona Dodd’s father was, make up the smallest number of single men who are custodial parents.  In fact, widowers make up only five percent of the total number of single parent fathers.

Unique Challenges Single Parent Fathers Face

The National Center for Fathering reports that seeking support from other single parent custodial fathers is a leading challenge facing these men.  There is a strong likelihood that many single parent fathers, including men who are successful entrepreneurs or self-employed workers, add undue stress and anxiety to their lives because they avoid discussing and sharing fears and concerns they may have regarding disciplining, nurturing and openly communicating with their children with other single parents.

Single fathers must play a key role in the life of their sons.  By example and through taking the time to connect with and guide their sons, fathers without partners have tremendous influence when it comes to raising their sons to be responsible young men who treat themselves, their friends and the women in their lives with respect.

More Challenges Single Fathers Face

Other challenges that single parent fathers face include the art of actively listening to and nurturing their children while they provide a spirit of protection and bravery in their home.  If these men are self-employed they must also manage employees and do what it takes to increase their small business customer sales. At home, in addition to guiding their sons, single parent fathers must also help their daughters establish healthy self-esteem.

Unlike mothers who raise their children alone, single parent fathers may not know another man in the neighborhood or community who is filling the same role that they are.  This can cause single parent fathers to feel isolated.  To offset these challenges, organizations like American Coalition for Father’s and Children, The Fatherhood Coalition, Fathers and Families, National Center for Fathering and Father’s Network sponsor programs to help fathers meet the challenges of raising their children alone.

These men are heroes to their children just as William Smart was to his daughter, Sonora Dodd.  On Father’s Day and beyond, single parent fathers will have a lasting positive impact on their children, especially if they allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to afford their children the chance to truly get to know them.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond (a man who is raised by a single father), Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.

Sources:

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013535.html (US Census Bureau Press Release)

http://www.fathers.com (National Center for Fathering)

The Magic You’ve Been Waiting for Has Always Been Yours

Posted on by

By Denise Turney

Book writers aren’t the only people who eagerly wait for the muse to arrive before they sit down and start creating. Musicians, songwriters, painters and . . . dare I say it . . . entrepreneurs also wait for the muse to strike before they make a decision or take action.

Waiting for the muse to strike, for magic to happen, might increase the likelihood that you’ll be successful at something. When the muse hits, your confidence might soar, causing you to feel as if you can’t fail.

However, waiting for magic to happen, could also put you behind the eight ball. In fact, it could paralyze you, leave you stuck between the best choice and the worst choice.

The good news is that the magic you might have been waiting for has always been yours. The muse you’ve been waiting to strike has always come from within you.

The challenge, at times, is figuring out how to tap into this muse. Some ways you can access the magic that’s inside of you are:

  • Trust the source of all life
  • Meditate (quiet your ego, so you can finally start hearing from your core, your authentic self)
  • Enjoy being outdoors for at least one uninterrupted hour a day (i.e. a walk, swimming, bike riding)
  • Soak in a bubble bath
  • Sit in a comfortable sauna
  • Brainstorm (sit down and start writing about things you want to appear in your life now, paying attention to what surfaces)
  • Engage in a relaxing conversation with family or friends (relaxation does wonders)
  • Keep a dream journal (dreams reveal a lot about what’s going on in our subconscious minds)
  • Get a good night’s sleep
  • Pay bills before you sit down to create, so your mind will be clear (the less you have on your mind, the better)

Get ready to do some exploring! Test various choices and actions, seeing how your subconscious responds to the stimuli. Be open to change. Be willing to continue trying new things until your core starts breaking through all the junk the ego has been shouting for days, perhaps years. The better you get at breaking through, the more magical your life may feel, not to mention the improvements you’ll see in your creative work.

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com, or any other online or offline bookseller and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You! Consider Love.