Small Business Blog

Archive for January, 2010

The six-figure book advance, like the New York Times bestseller, is the object of many a writer’s fantasy. Whether it’s also a realistic goal is something else again.

*Can you really get a six-figure book advance?*

When Susan Page wrote *The Shortest Distance Between You and a Published Book* in 1997, she included the following list of the qualities that you and your book have to have if you’re going to get a six-figure advance.

1. Your book is on a topic of wide general interest that could excite a large number of readers.

2. Your book has a distinctive angle and makes an original contribution to its field.

3. You have substantial credentials to write on this topic OR you have a co-author who does, OR you can get an extremely famous, well-credentialed person to write a foreword for you.

4. You have prepared an extraordinary proposal and are working with a competent editor already.

5. You have a show-stopping title.

6. You secure the services of a well-known, experienced agent who believes the book can earn such an advance.

7. You are both willing and able to promote your book on radio and TV and in print.

This is not a mix-and-match list. You have to have *all* of those things to get the big advance, unless you are an international celebrity or a best-selling author.

Page’s aim was to deflate unrealistic expectations. Her book aims to get you into print, not necessarily to get you rich. Most authors do not get rich from their books. Most publishers don’t get rich either. Book publishing is an industry in which there is very little profit. If authors get rich, it’s usually because having a book lets them sell expensive services and book high-paying speaking gigs.

*You can get a six-figure advance, but it will cost you.*

And I don’t mean the $197 price tag on Susan Harrow’s new e-book, Get a Six-Figure Book Advance. A $200 investment is nothing if it gets you a $200,000 return. Using the proposal template/software included with her $197 e-book, you’ll be able to produce the kind of proposal that will have publishers in hot pursuit—but getting the advance requires a whole lot more than just buying the book or even having all the right elements in your proposal.

*If you want a six-figure book advance, you’re going to have to work for it.*

Susan Harrow, jokingly known as a “de-motivational coach,” doesn’t try to pretend otherwise. In her August 4th teleclass, co-hosted by ghostwriter Mahesh Grossman of the Authors Team, she made it clear just how much work goes into getting a six-figure advance, and how long and hard you have to keep working *after* you get the money.

*How advances work*

In order to persuade publishers to pay you $100,000 or more before your book is published, you have to convince them that your book will sell at least 100,000 copies. (Your royalty will be about $1/book for a trade paperback, possibly as much as $3/book for a hardcover, so you do the math.) And since books don’t sell themselves, what you’re really saying to the publisher is that *you* can sell those 100,000 copies.

Yes, a publisher that invests that much money in you will also invest more in the production and marketing of your book than in someone who gets a smaller advance, but when you get right down to it, no one really buys a book because of its publisher. And your book won’t sell just because it’s a good book. People rarely buy non-fiction books for the quality of the writing. They buy for the quality of the information—and in the mind of the public, that depends on the expertise and reputation of the author. It all comes back to you.

*How do you get readers to think of you as an expert?*

First, they have to know you exist. If you’re not already a celebrity, you’re going to have to become one, or at least put up a convincing show. If you don’t have legions of fans, you should at least have thousands of subscribers to your e-zine or blog, or a syndicated column in a newspaper. If you haven’t been on Oprah or The Today Show yet, radio interviews and local TV news programs are a good start.

*Getting into the public eye*

To get visible enough fast enough, you probably need a publicist, which means shelling out several thousand dollars. In order for media attention to do you any good, you have to look good and sound good every time you appear. That means getting professional media coaching before you start lining up interviews to make up for not being a celebrity. You need to arm yourself with a repertoire of sound bites for all occasions and rehearse until you can spout them in your sleep.

That doesn’t just take money, it takes time. It takes *work*. And no one can do it for you, either, because you, as the author, have to be the one in the limelight.

*Editing is essential for a killer proposal.*

Media coaches and publicists aren’t the only team members you’ll have to enlist if you want a six-figure advance and a book that justifies it. The services of a professional editor are essential for both your proposal and your finished book. In fact, you might just want to hire a ghostwriter and get it over with, because you’re probably going to be too busy marketing to write.

That’s more money spent in advance of getting your advance.

*Post-publication publicity*

You’re not through yet, either. Now that you’ve gotten enough media attention for yourself to impress a publisher, you have to do it over again for your book. You’re going to have to shell out a good-sized chunk of that advance on your own publicity efforts. More and more publishing houses assume that your advance *is* the marketing budget for the book, so they expect you to spend your own money on getting the book sold. (Tip: when mentioning this in your proposal, always make the offer contingent on the publisher matching the amount.) This expectation actually holds true regardless of the size of your advance, but the more money you want to get, the more money you have to spend.

*Six-figure advances are not for the faint of heart*

Writing a good book is the least of the challenges facing you when you set out to get a six-figure advance. Moreover, if you *don’t* earn out your advance by actually selling 100,000+ books, your chance of getting such a large advance again are nil. To succeed when the stakes are this high, you need to become an Olympic athlete of a book marketer. That can be hard to do if you have a day job or a family, never mind both. And it’s almost impossible if you don’t have a substantial chunk of starting capital.

*Do you really need a six-figure book advance?*

For many authors, five figures are plenty, especially for a first book. Even if it loses money, that book will create the leverage the author needs to succeed in other aspects of her business. (That’s one reason self-publishing can be such a good option for business book authors.) Getting a smaller advance still takes work and costs money, but it’s a much more manageable goal for a first time author without fifty grand to invest in getting into the bookstores.

Online business ideas have brought career control and lots of rewards to people who took interest in Internet opportunities. Most of the online jobs gravitate around freelance writing, website design, affiliate promotions, sales and even surveys. Thus, some people make money from writing e-guides and e-books they afterwards promote online, others develop a personal product or offer consultancy for a variety of problems and last but not least some people make a living from moderating forums.

Online business ideas become more and more appealing with the deepening of the world financial crisis. With the bleak picture of thousands of jobs lost, it is only natural that people will focus on home-based opportunities that can help the entire family escape the risk from corporate working. Getting serious about the possible online business ideas you’ve felt tempted to try is the best advice that you can get. Some modifications have appeared on the Internet too with Google discarding more and more sites considered spammy.

According to this new policy put into practice by search engines, older sites are preferred to newer ones. Statistics actually indicate that nine out of ten sites that are shown by search engines in the first pages have a few years of activity online. One can check the site history according to the record domain, and don’t be surprised if some of the sites are actually a few years old. Nevertheless, getting discouraged is not the point here, what specialists stress out is the fact that age could affect the evolution of the online business ideas into profit making machines.

While disadvantages come from some directions, the good news is that the cost for some services required for online business ideas are getting lower. The creation of a web site requires web hosting and domain registration, well these will be available for much lower fees. Moreover, the tendency with new online business ideas is to create blogs rather than large sites since they are more specialized in content and thus to the liking of search engines.

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If you are looking for alternative incomes from jobs other than your usual white collar, 9-5 job, then it’s time to get net savvy. Online business ideas and opportunities offers you a wide range of options for smart and easy money but first, it is important to check whether or not the business you are getting into is legitimate otherwise you may land in a complete soup!!

Blogging is perhaps the most popular and effective way when it comes to listing online business guides, more, because there are limited complications. To start with, you do not have to invest your money in any software. You can use free blogging spaces to put forth your ideas. Since, a blog is a very free flowing platform; you need not always be technically correct. Just present your views and earn money but blogging might not be devoid of controversies. You might receive a lot of flak or ruffling feathers.

Giving online tuition has come up as a recent trend and picked up as a popular online business idea. Enrolling in sites which offers the facility helps you keep track of your pupils, their requirements, documents, schedules etc. Again, there is no software to be installed.

According to most online business guides, article writing is another way to earn a wealth but contrary to blogging, it is enriched with ideas and thoughts. There are many who are unable to present their ideas via books and cannot get hold of a proper publisher. Online article writing might just be your outlet.

Freelancing is another option which you can use to substitute your income. Freelancers in computer graphics designing, article writing and copyrighting focus on their specializations and go ringing all the way to the bank.

What might be completely worthless to your friend might be worth a fortune to you. Online auctioning cashes in on this idea. Your old, used and antiquated items can now be sold for a lump sum on the net. Another trend is to buy items on e-bay before their value increases and selling them for twice the amount.

Affiliate marketing has also been in practice for quite some while now on the online business guide charts. It is completely Internet based and provides rewards for each customer brought in by the program’s marketing strategies.

With such a wide range of online business ideas to choose from substituting you income or simply pursuing your hobby should not be a problem.

The most important online marketing strategies that can help you be successful with optimizing your business on the web include building a plan, blogging, an email list, press releases, and much more. Be sure to have these items on your checklist and you will have an excellent and productive website for your business.

The first and most important strategy for optimizing your search engine for your website is to create a plan for your site and your business. You should determine all of the most important things. What are your goals for accomplishments with your site and who is your audience going to be? That is, what types of people do you believe will be interested in your products and what people do you believe you need to target that will continue to come back for more. You need to make a decision how you are going to make your website better than others, how it will stand out from the rest and grab the attention. All of these answers to these questions should be the base of your web plan to optimizing your website and they should be at the top of your checklist.

The next thing that you need to do for optimization of your website is to create a marketing plan that will work and get the word out about your business and your site. This includes writing press releases and getting them out to every contact that you have in the media. You should also post the press releases online to every place that will allow you to. In addition to writing press releases for your website, you should write extensive articles about your website, your company, your products, and more. These articles should contain important keywords that will take people back to your site. You should also include your website and company information in all of the articles including contact information if people have questions.

Creating a blog should also be on your checklist for total optimization. This is the one way you can have the keywords that you need for your site to be pulled up in search engines and remain at the top. You should start relevant conversations, add posts, and useful data to your blog and keep people coming back for more. If you are talking about a subject that is important to people they will discuss issues with you, in return, adding more keywords to your site. You should also get on other blogs across the Internet and talk about your website and your products in other blogs. This is good advertising for you also.

You should build a mailing list for optimizing your site. This can be done by determining who your audience is. Your email list may be created over time as people enter in their information and if they request to be on the list. It is important to respond to requests through email and to let the people that do come back know that you care about them as a customer. The best thing about email is that it is free and extremely helpful for your business.

Another way you can optimize your site is by offering incentives to people who visit your site. You can offer free stuff, discounts, and more. People often search the web just for free items and by doing this you are generating more traffic to your website.

There are many points you should add to your checklist when you are concerned about optimizing your website on the Internet for your business.

WHAT IS ECOMMERCE?

According to Wikipedia, electronic commerce or ecommerce, as it is more commonly referred to now, is defined in the following excerpt:

“Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily since the spread of the Internet.”

From small businesses to major corporations, ecommerce has been the buzz word on everyone’s lips for the last few years. Although it’s been a hot topic whose benefits have been heavily written about and reviewed by a myriad of different resources, there still remains a lot of misconception in the minds of companies who want implement an ecommerce system within their business strategy. Many contemporary businessmen think of ecommerce as merely setting up their website and selling the products online. The reality is that ecommerce is not simply a website selling online products – in fact, ecommerce is a complete drift of your business strategy from conventional to online.

In order to be successful, businesses must realize that ecommerce requires a complete business model – just as you operate your businesses, similarly, you need to form a model for ecommerce business. And since this is different from conventional business, the model also needs to be different. However, although they may be aware of the importance of ecommerce from a business standpoint, most of us need to turn to the experts in order to properly facilitate ecommerce strategies so that our online presence is maximized.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ECOMMERCE INTERNET SOLUTION

In today’s increasingly competitive online merchandising methodologies, ecommerce-enabled web sites have become a must-have for nearly everyone with an online presence. At Ecommerce Partners, for example, they specialize in custom enterprise level ecommerce solutions, in other words an ecommerce solution provider that empower some of the country’s most recognized brands by giving them the ability to simplify their businesses, manage product offerings and provide their consumers with unparalleled service on the web.

DID YOU KNOW…Approximately 60% of all ecommerce shopping carts are abandoned before checkout because of confusion, impatience or mistrust? Avoid this common mishap and consult one of our team experts to find an ecommerce solution to fit your company’s needs, budget and goals. We’ve streamlined our web designs to make each shopping experience not only easy, but memorable, even for the least-experienced user. Don’t forget to ask us about ECP eShop (cart functionality checklist), an innovative custom shopping-cart solution that will provide your company with the service, expertise, and tools to build a successful Web business. E-Shop will enable your business to reach new markets while increasing your bottom line – without the need for experienced technical staff!

They offer the following benefits:

• Flexibility – Our team will customize ECP E-Shop to support your unique business requirements.

• Business Focus – Our software puts the manager in control of your Web business, eliminating the need for technical staff to run a powerful e-commerce system – all through an intuitive Web interface.

• Scalability – ECP E-Shop works as well for 10,000 products as it does for 10, without additional performance or service issues.

• Integration – Our solutions work with your existing site, our suite of e-business solutions, and leading third-party transaction and fulfillment technologies.

• Best-of-Breed Features – ECP E-Shop goes beyond transactions, offering the best tools available to build and grow your business successfully.

With nearly a decade of experience in custom ecommerce, EcommercePartners.net, understand the importance of your company’s unique identity – they will tailor your website to meet your specific needs, each and every time.

The growing popularity of the iPod has led to a number of innovations in several fields. It has truly become the most portable symbol of the mass media and how information can be disseminated through it. When the concept of the audio book was introduced it was challenged on the grounds that it was not mobile enough. But with the popularity of iPod, and with the fact that every other person now owns one, it has become possible to use it as a medium through which audio books can be played and made mobile.

With the growth of the iPod sales from 8.53 million  in the first quarter of the year 2006 to a whooping 10 million in the year 2007, there is no doubt about the wide reach that this small and simple device has among the people. Interestingly, this can be related to the topic we are now discussing – the popularity of audio books. The year 2005 saw a whooping fifty percent rise in the number of audio books sold than the previous year. There is indeed no doubt that this has happened because of more and more people finding out how their audio books can easily be carried around on their iPod, dispelling their concerns about being able to access them only from the comforts of their homes where they have a computer.

Apart form the iPod, mp3 players and other portable players that play audio files, the digital music system in the cars is another medium which has made the use of audio books extremely popular. It is a known fact that a large number of people spend a lot of time on travel each day commuting to and from their workplace. This has increased the time that they spend ‘on the go’, which means that a large number of people spend a lot of time in their cars. Therefore, the music system of the car becomes an ideal way to popularize audio books. Stuck in the traffic jam, there is nothing as relaxing as listening to your favorite author being read out to you as an audio book on your iPod. This helps a great deal in dispelling the gloom that one faces because of the number of hours one spends caught up in the middle of traffic on all sides.

One advantage that audio books have over their predecessors in hard copy, is that one can most easily multi task while listening to a favorite book being read out to them. They can be cooking or cleaning while the audio book is playing on your iPod. This is particularly useful for those who have very little time to spare to sit and read a book cover to cover. The beauty about this whole concept is that not only fiction and classic can be heard in the audio format, but also learning books, business books and even lectures can be heard as audio files.