Market Your Poetry and Promote Your Poems

SQUIDOO MARKETING TOOL

For poets marketing their work, there are many options that they don't consider. As the president of the Canadian Federation of Poets, I have spent much time on educating them on alternative routes to maximize exposure. This one was particularly easy, so I wanted to mention it.

Squidoo, is that a funny name or what? Who would have thought this peculiar name would become an easy to create tool for marketing online.

Mastering Squidoo can make a huge difference in the promotion of your books or your endeavours.

Squidoo is like a baby blog, only you create what is called a lens - which really just means a one page site that targets a specific keyword, including your name.

1. Go to: www.Squidoo.com

As an example - to get a feel for the elements, here is a look at a Squidoo Lens I created. Tracy Repchuk on Internet Marketing

Squidoo
It is effective, easy to do, and really helps with your web traffic and rankings. Many new users are raving about rankings they are getting in Google, because of their Squidoo Lens.

So here is a bit about the background, now that you have seen what one looks like:

1. They are as easy to create as a Blog

2. They allow you to focus (hence the term lens) on a specific topic

3. You create a page by 'Adding Modules'. Add a title for the module, just like a blog post, and then type in the body. Modules are like sections.

4. Popular modules are Amazon, RSS (your blog), Pictures, Guestbook, YouTube, and a generic post area.

5. Like a blog, you can earn money with Adsense. In the case of Squidoo, they add it for you, but you split the income. But, they know how to do it probably better than you do.

6. Tighter more adhesive community. Has the feel of a YouTube.

Try it - it can't hurt, and you can't screw up anything if the lens doesn't work, plus they have a full SquidooU - University if you really want to go for it. Sites like this make the difference between selling books, and having a book.

Have fun, and try it. Promote your poems, your books, your organizations, or poetry in general - help to spread the word about one of the most powerful mediums.

Tracy Repchuk
President and Founder of the Canadian Federation of Poets

PS - Join the Federation of Poets an organization dedicated to uniting poetry and organizations around the world in the global promtion of poets and poetry.

Canadian Federation of Poets February Newsletter

The Canadian Federation of Poets is dedicated to uniting people and organizations around the world in the global promotion of poets and poetry by educating people on the importance of Poetry in their lives.

February Newsletter is ready for your viewing.

It is in HTML so can't be displayed here, so go to Canadian Federation of Poets Feb 2008 Newsletter

Enjoy the news.

Tracy Repchuk
President and Founder of the Canadian Federation of Poets

PS - There is a 10-book anthology call on right now! Free to submit.
Get published in 2008!

The 3 Rules for Being a Poet on the Stage

Tracy Repchuk, host and poet at the Artists for a Better World Poetry event. Over 20 poets participated in this spectacular event, and anyone is welcome.

I have 3 rules for an event that I am giving, and they are:

1. When a poet is on the stage - they're perfect, and we're going to treat them that way

Find out the others right now.



Have a great day, and join the Canadian Federation of Poets.

Be a part of this world-wide organization of caring poets for a better world.


Tracy Repchuk

President and Founder of the www.FederationofPoets.com

How to Ensure your Book Cover is Ready

AIDA - YOUR BOOK COVER

You have possibly heard all about this before, but just in case you haven't - I wanted to bring it to your attention.

The reason I do right now is three-fold:
1. When I took my first book through this process (31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracles) - the cover page difference was amazing and effective.

2. In looking at many existing poetry books, trust me when I say - you didn't follow AIDA. If possible, review what you have and update it for 2008.

3. I am in the design of my new book cover, and this cycle gets tighter and more aggressive once you accept it, and you become a powerful critic that looks at your own cover with the eyes of your worst enemy - who STILL ends up buying it by time you are done.

ATTENTION - You have 4 seconds to impress them. The front cover must have a title that can be read across a bookstore. Be attractive and fit the theme.

INTEREST - Then the purchaser will quickly flip to the back. You have 7 seconds to sell them. This is NOT a place for your bio or what inspired you to write the book. Tell them the benefits they will get from reading it, include testimonials if you have them, and leave them needing that book. Appeal to their "What's in it for me" attitude.

DESIRE - Once they've done with your back cover, they will open up the book and look at the table of contents - and this had better be organized and compelling. A book is no place for 'untitled' or lame titles for your work. You have fractions of seconds for them to STOP and want to know what the poem from that title would look like. Because then - you've got...

ACTION - They need to know, and will now take the action required to walk out of the bookstore, or hit ORDER on Amazon. Last mention here, make this process very easy - stamps, mailing a cheque, they will forget and you won't sell a book after all of your effort. Get paypal on a blog if you have to - but make it easy to buy your book!

I have spent $12,000 this past year getting educated on book production and marketing from #1 International Bestselling authors, and 14-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans and Robert G. Allen, so I am passing a small but critical piece that I learned. Richard Paul Evans was the first person in history to make the New York Times #1 spot in both soft and hard-cover simultaneously, sold the most books in history as a self-published author, and got the largest advance in history for their first book (7-figure advance, yes-including JK Rowling.)

Examine the books on the bestseller list in your category, pull the book up from Amazon, look at the front, back, inside table of contents, and see how your book rates against it. Would it generate the way it is right now, enough INTEREST for someone to take ACTION and buy it?

My real improvements also came on the back cover, where it became less about 'me' and more about what the book would do for them.

Have your cover reviewed by friends, use your writing or critique group to give you feedback, and go to the bookstore and see what other people have in your genre, and then design something better.

Tracy Repchuk
President and Founder of the Canadian Federation of Poets
Dedicated to uniting people and organizations from around the world in the global promotion of poetry and poets.

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