So if it is between a blog or a website, which do you recommend if you are selling your book on it? Can a blog have pay pal associated with it for instance? Also, what are the advantages of a blog over an e-zine?
Willow
Blogs, web sites, and ezines are all really just variations of Internet publishing. They all use text and HTML code to do their things. So there is a lot of cross-over in functionality. But you need some idea of what you want to accomplish before you decide which one to do because one format may be better than another.
I personally push blogs to authors because most authors are not experienced in the technical side of the Internet. And blogs hide a lot of that technology from them while still giving them the benefits of a web site. But a blog is designed to be a format where you crank out short, pithy commentary on a regular basis. If you can’t sustain that, then a blog will do you no good.
A straight web site, on the other hand, is typically the opposite of a blog – lots of static, unchanging pages. Now that might be fine if your purpose is to sell a product, where the information on the page never really changes over time. But if you are trying to build an audience, that is not a good way to go. You want changing content. You aren’t going to get repeat readers if you don’t give them new stuff to read on a regular basis. The blog format just makes it easier to create new stuff.
An ezine typically means an electronic magazine or newsletter. It has columns and features and formally written articles. This is obviously designed to build readership because by definition the content is always changing. But again, it is a complicated endevor for an author. Blogs can acheive a similar effect for less effort.
See, I think this is where unknown authors get confused. The major purpose of their web sites should be to build readership, not sell books. Selling books is really an after-effect of building readership. If you have an audience, then everything else will follow.
To answer your specific PayPal question – yes, certainly you can add PayPal or some sort of shopping cart system to your blog.
I loved this post. A lot of times we pick up glimses of what is best and we go for it, but after a while, along the road, we lose sight of those early glimses and we begin to question. This post sort of re-sold the whole notion that writer’s are building audiences and that blogs are a great way to do that.
I guess I’m waiting for the various blogging formates (Typepad, Blogger, etc) to include PayPal as part of their templates. I’m assuming that you need to have Wordpress or Moveable type (or another free form blogging plateform) to add a Paypal account.
One last thing: I’ve seen a few writers go with both blog and site and have their blog warm up the cold market/selling and the web site be there when the sale is hot and ready.
Thank you for this excellent reminder: “The major purpose of their websites should be to build readership, not sell books.”
I started out using typepad, but wanted to nest the blog within my own website, so I now use WordPress. It’s not as difficult as it may first appear to a newbie. They have templates, and good instructions at WordPress Codex, plus active forum support. I haven’t tried to include PayPal yet or any other merchant add on, but I like the control of hosting my own blog, and the static home page.
What I like best about blogs is their less formal communication. Granted, a newsletter can be somewhat conversational with the editor’s intro or closing, but the articles are still traditionally formal in nature.
With blogs, the author can pretty mucb create a short post and have it out there in seconds. Also, some blog programs allow you to set the date for your posts to be published. That does well for those who have bursts of inspiration and motivation and are on a roll with posting. You can write several posts for several days ahead if you wished, and no one is the wiser of it.
But blogs in and of themselves are not the end all to anything. Just like with a web site, promotion is still vital. It you build it, they will (roam around the web finding so many other sites to invest their time in and just may trip over your welcome mat to your site)…. maybe. But you do need a place on the web. It is truly worth it.
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Losing Weight Made Fast and Easy With Proper Goals
Getting started with weight loss is never the easiest thing in the world. Not only are there numerous challenges that you’ll have to face, both psychologically and physically, but the fact of the matter is that there are also so many options around that it could be troublesome figuring out where to start.
Truth is: The best place to start is by deciding what exactly you desire.
To put it in a way that is easier for you to appreciate, when you first start out you’re undoubtedly going to have a thousand different things to think about all at once. As such, what you need to do before thinking about anything else is really sit down and ask yourself what you’re trying to achieve.
This would be your very first step towards developing some proper goals, but when you start out, you might only have a very rough idea of what you want. Definitely, you want to lose some weight, but how much? Do you have an idea in terms of weight itself, i.e. 30 pounds or would you rather go by waistline in inches?
Really, your goal can be in almost any terms you desire it to be, but the important thing is that you try to put figures to it if possible. Reason being, if you do put figures to it, you’ll have an easy way of measuring your progress, and determining how effective the methods you use are.
Apart from that one ‘main’ goal though, that is your ultimate target, it would also be helpful for you to set numerous other ‘mini goals’ along the way, and put a time period to each of them.
For example, if you wanted to lose 30 pounds within 6 months, you could set yourself the fairly undemanding target of losing 5 pounds per month. That way, you’ll have something to work against each and every month, rather than simply one final target that could seem to be a long way off.
By doing this, you’ll find that you’re less likely to procrastinate, and more likely to achieve that one final goal too.
Of course, the only real prerequisite that your goals need to fill is the fact that they should be challenging, but at the same time realistic. Goals that aren’t challenging are likely to get you no where, as you’ll constantly be putting them off knowing that you could achieve them with ease.
Similarly, goals that are unrealistic are going to be impossible for you to achieve and will likely just discourage you.
If you can find the balance between the two though, you’ll have exactly the type of goals that will keep you motivated, as well as give you a rewarding sense of achievement when you complete them.
End of the day, losing weight is definitely a battle, but by setting up goals the way we’ve outlined, it’s going to be one th
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Nice post regarding “What Is The Best Type Of Site For Selling Books”. The major purpose of their websites should be to build readership, not sell books. Thanks for sharing.
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