These five words–I CAN DO IT MYSELF–are possibly, the most success sabotaging words for an author/writer in any language. They may sound like words of confidence and they very well may be—if they are spoken in reference to something within one’s core competency—a fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in a specific subject or skill set. If the context is not within a core competency—they are dangerous—possibly even condemning.
One area in which I find this damaging for authors and writers is in regard to website design. The hub of literary marketing is the website. When a visitor steps into your website, you have only seven seconds in which to capture their attention—keep them on the site.
Bounce Rate is a very important metric. In Google’s own words, “Bounce Rate is the percentage of single-page sessions (i.e. sessions in which the person left your site from the entrance page without interacting with the page).” If the author’s site Bounce Rate is too high, Google will take the position that there is not enough value to keep visitors on the site and will lower the site rankings in searches. Does this sound important to you? It is if you are trying to develop a platform (following) of readers.
Here are a few other things that may not be in your core competencies:
- Book Cover
- Book Editing
- Book Formatting
- Book publishing
- Book trailer production
- Branding
- Business Plan Development
- Contract negotiation
- Distribution Services
- Editing
- Email marketing
- Graphic design
- Lead capturing
- Market Strategy and Monitoring – on going
- Podcast Platform
- Press releases
- Printing Services
- Public Relations
- Publicity
- SEO Services – on going
- Social media marketing
- Social Media Services – on going
- Target marketing
- Web Site Development – to support the business plan
- Web Site Reconstruction on an on-going basis
- Webinar Capabilities
All of these, and more, are important to reaching success as an author.
There comes a time when admitting she can’t do it herself is the right thing to do.
Tony Marino and I discuss this in this video–Writing, Publishing, and Distributing Your Book in 10 Steps.
Change something today to make your tomorrow better.
Tom
Literary Strategist
417-812-6110
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References:
Google Analytics (2014). Learn what a bounce rate is and how to improve it. Retrieved April 20, 2014 from website: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1009409?hl=en