Meet Agents & Editors
These days it’s common knowledge that it’s hard to meet an agent or an editor through an unsolicited mailing. They are more likely to pay attention to a submission coming from someone they have met in person. To that end, writers flock to conferences so they can get some face time with real live agents and editors. And that’s great. I believe writers should get out and network. But those conferences can be pricey. It’s best to combine attending conferences with a few other strategies that are easier on your wallet. Here are 3 you may find useful.
1.) Attend Author Readings
Make a point of keeping track of writers who do work similar to yours. When they’re in the vicinity go hear them read. Sometimes–not all the time–but sometimes the author’s agent and editor will be in the audience. If they aren’t, see if you can steal a few moments with the writer and ask with whom he or she works and whether they have been pleased with the experience. You can either ask for an introduction or contact the people on your own. If you’re going to do the former, first develop a rapport with the writer and stay in touch. They may not feel comfortable referring you to their agent or editor right off the bat, but in time as they get to know you and your work, an introduction may be a possibility.
2.) Attend Classes Offered by Continuing Education Groups Such As The Learning Annex
Agents and editors are in the business of looking for the next hot writer and making a name for themselves in the publishing world. That’s why you’ll often find agents and editors teaching classes related to their work at places such as The Learning Annex, which has locations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston (http://www.learningannex.com). Recent instructors include literary agent Katharine Sands, editor Marcela Landres (formerly of Simon & Schuster) and Vickie M. Stringer, founder and CEO of Triple Crown Publications. The courses can cost as little as $30 or $40 and last about three hours so you have some time to find out if the instructor can help you or point you in the direction of someone who can.
Remember the agent or editor probably has aspiring authors handing them manuscripts all the time, so make sure you stand out from the pack. Have a killer query letter and synopsis (if your book is a novel) or book proposal (for non-fiction works) at the ready. You’ll make a great impression simply because you’re not making them lug a 500-page behemoth home in their briefcase!
3.) Look for Agents and Editors Who Have Their Own Personal Websites
When you come across the name of an agent or editor who may be appropriate for you, Google them to see if they have their own websites with email addresses that may be different from their corporate mailboxes. Some are authors themselves (like literary agent Donald Maass, author of Writing the Breakout Novel) and have books of their own to promote. Email them and, again, try to develop a rapport and get a sense of what they’re working on and what they’re looking for. It’s best to know as specifically as possible before going through the trouble of making a submission. I recently heard about a writer who submitted to an agent looking for African American authors, but in fact the agent was looking for African American authors who wrote urban romance–which was not the writer’s genre at all.
One Last Note: These ideas should get you started and I hope they’ll inspire you to try other creative routes. It does get easier because you will find that as you go to more events and tell more people what you’re doing, the more likely you will be to find the connector that will build the path between you and your future agent or editor.
© 2005 Sophfronia Scott
About The Author
Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is “The Book Sistah” TM. Get her FREE REPORT, “The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published” and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com The Book Sistah, 230 South Main St. Ste. 319, Newtown, CT 06470 203-426-2036, Info@TheBookSistah.com
Are You Branding?
Are You Branding Yourself?
by: Tom Falco
Are you placing your email address and URL on all correspondence?
Many people forget to add this to important mailings and even their business cards.
Today, most people prefer to email messages than make phone calls, so it is very important to have your email address on all letters, invoices and business cards.
Make sure your URL (web address) is on everything that you send out. Keep “branding” your business. Keep that URL out where it can be seen.
It’s not enough to have your phone number and fax number on your business cards or letterheads. Add your email address and URL if you have one.
It’s important also to have a signature on all emails that go out. There is a cool free “signature writing” service at: http://www.TheDiscountPrinter.com/freeads.htm check it out.
Don’t be left behind. Promote and brand your business every chance you get. It’s the professional thing to do.
Some say it takes up to nine times for people to see your name before they will do business with you. If that is true, then it’s very important to have your name and email address out there.
Try to encourage email exchanges. The more emails you have going back and forth, the more credibility you will build in your potential clien’t head.
Offer something free. Make people email you for information. This way you are opening the door to email correspondence without spamming. Your goal should be to have the person email you first asking for information or just a simple question. Once the ball starts rolling, your various emaile xchanges can easily turn into sales.
It’s important to have a pop account or an account that reflects your company or website.
Using generic @aol.com or @hotmail.com really puts a damperon your look and makes you appear unprofessional. Plus, when you email a person with your own private “branded” email address, you are actually advertising your company just by the mere action of sending a message.
Joe@bikeseller.com sounds better than joe@aol.com Or Mary@thegiftstore.com is much better than mary@hotmail.com. Isn’t it?
Brand yourself. Brand your business. Do it today.
About the Author
Tom Falco is moderator of “The Swap-O-Rama” List where you can swap anything from ezine ads to hotel rooms and more! For info, visit: http://www.XpectMore.com/Swap.htm or to subscribe mailto:TheSwap-o-rama-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Also “American Pop Trivia List” visit: http://www.XpectMore.com/pop.htm
Network Marketing
How To Guarantee Your Success In Network Marketing
by: Tal Fighel
Copyright 2004 Tal Fighel
All our life, we have been taught by our parents, friends, and the media the same thing. Go to school. Get good grades so that you can get into the best colleges or universities around. If you follow that then you can get a ‘good’ job. You will be set for life.
Not really true….
With Job cuts, corporate restructuring, and layoffs still being reported in the news almost every single day, it is not surprising that this concept of life isn’t really true any more.
A lot of people are now looking to start their own business so that they can have more financial security, more freedom, more choices, and more time to be with their family.
As the economy continues to plummet and layoffs and bankruptcies fill the news, isn’t it your time to take the bull by the horns and secure your and your family’s financial future?
Here are 6 steps that you need to follow in order for you to be a successful network marketer:
1. You got to have patience.
They don’t say 2-5 years for nothing. Many new people who do get involved in network marketing think that they will make a nice comfortable full time income in just a few months. Very few do that, but it will take you some time. So make sure that you give your business at least 2 years to succeed. If you don’t, you are on the right track to FAILURE.
2. They have the persistence of a bulldog.
The lack of persistence and consistency is one of the major causes of failure. Many people are good “starters” but very poor “finishers” of everything they start. They tend to give up at the first sign of defeat. Successful network marketers know that it is important to be persistent and consistent even though they work hard and don’t see any results for a while.
3. They set goals.
Athletes, successful business-people, lawyers, doctors, and great achievers in all fields use goal setting. Statistics show people who write down their goals have over an 80% higher success rate of achieving them.
4. They set short-term goals.
Short-term goals are usually simpler and easier than long-term goals.
Why? Well, writing them can help you have more frequent victories, and building momentum with each one you complete. If you do that, you can have more excitement and more motivation as you reach those goals on time. When you do reach you short-term goals, don’t forget to reward yourself and celebrate.
5. They write down their WHY.
Why did they really get into network marketing for? What made them start their own business? Is it because they wanted to be their own boss? Is it because they wanted more freedom and time to spend with their family? More money? What ever their WHY is, they always know it so that it keeps them going when things are not going well for them.
6. They replace their negative self-talk.
They know that they are the creator of their thoughts and beliefs. Successful network marketers know how to replace negative self-talk and change it to positive self-talk. People, especially friends and family, try to brain wash them along the way. They tell them that they will not succeed. They laugh at them. They tease them that it won’t work. But they don’t listen. They work their business and make it work. At the end they become so successful that family and friend evantually join them too.
Here are some more insider secrets to how the average person like you and me make it big in network marketing:
*They market daily. In other words, they contact more people and they
advertise more on a daily basis. They don’t do this once a week or once a month. They work their business everyday.
*They believe that they will succeed, without a
shadow of a doubt.
*They read motivational books on a daily basis.
*They train their first level downline members to
duplicate their efforts. They show them how to use the products. They show them how to advertise. They show them what books to read and what tapes to listen to.
*They listen and learn from others, especially from their upline.
* They follow up on their leads at least six times. Don’t forget, the fortune is in the follow up.
*They are willing to step out of their comfort zone. Many people don’t like to step out of their comfort zone and that is why they never succeed in network marketing.
*A successful network marketer is no MLM junkie. An MLM junkie is someone who jumps from one network marketing company to another. These people never make it in network marketing.
The clock is ticking. Get into network marketing now and stick with it no matter what so that your future
and the future of those you love is more secured.
About the author
Network marketing and the Internet were made for each
other. Record-breaking growth has driven us to the top of Internet marketing businesses. You can build a profitable home-based business working part-time from your home computer! Training, support, Websites, and products all provided!
http://www.talfighel.com
Page Rank Myth
Breaking the Myth about Page Rank (PR)
by: Christopher Smith
The most difficult challenge most web designers face is getting traffic to your site. There are plenty of companies who promise to send traffic your way. Sadly, most of this traffic is not qualified. Yes, your hit counter will move higher, however, if its not qualified, you may find you have unhappy visitors to your site. Unhappy visitors will not click on your ads or purchase your products.
Once you have optimized your site, consider submitting it to every search engine. If you want to get spidered quicker in Google, have a web page with a PR of 4 or higher point to your site. Your site will be spidered within a couple of days!
One myth I would like to bust is that PR is a measure of a web site. Its not. I receive countless emails offering a reciprocal link with their PR5 or PR6 site. Unless my link is appearing on the main page, or a page that has PR6, I am not getting a share of PR6. Most likely, my link will appear on a page that has a PR2!
Page rank is Google’s ranking of that specific page’s relevance. Just because the main page has a PR of 4, does not make every page on the site a PR4. Beware of sites who claim that they will exchange links with you and its to your benefit since they have a PR5 or PR6. Where is your link appearing? If its on a page that has a PR of 4 or 5 or 6, great!
Reciprocal linking, if done properly, will ensure that your keywords are at the top of the search engine. If you have a popular keyword, youll need to have more back links. Pick your link partners properly, and ensure that they are linking to your keyword.
For example: if your site is www.joesdinner.com, consider sending out requests to relevant higher ranking pages to start with, followed by lower ranking pages and ask web designers to link back in a manner so that your url is a hyperlink for your keyword, not your site url or site name.
Presuming their keyword is “best dining in new york”, having links pointing to your site with an anchor tag incorporating your keywords will improve your search engine rankings dramatically.
Once you have established a collection of sites pointing to your site using your keywords, you will start receiving reciprocal link exchanges from other sites. This is where you can start to be particular.
If you want to maintain an effective PR and attract better sites for linking, follow these tips:
a) Is it indexed?
While their site may be indexed, the page where they are placing your link, is it at least indexed by google? If you type in allinurl:www.sitename.com/links/right_here.html and there are no results, consider declining their offer. If the page your link appears on has not been indexed, there is no benefit whatsoever to you. If your pages have PR, they may consider placing your link on another page. If the page your link appears on is indexed, but does not have PR, consider accepting their offer. While the page today may not have PR, it will in time.
b) How many neighbours?
The value of the page rank is shared with each of the links on that page. If you are splitting that PR with several other sites, your share of PR will be small, which doesnt help you. Reconsider accepting any link exchanges if your site is 1 of more than 30 - 40 sites that will appear on that page, unless its a very high PR. Further, if there are too many links on that page, Google may consider the page to be part of a link farm, which may end up penalizing your site.
c) Is it relevant?
Google is big on relavancy. Ensure your links pages are relevant. If you operate a site about golf, having links from cooking sites will not help you establish your page rank. It may cost you more than you get in return.
How to Find Good PR sites:
a) Do a search for them by typing in your keyword and start asking for reciprocal link exchanges. Take a look at their PR and go from there. Remember, its the number of sites that backlink to you that matters, not strictly the PR of the page. I would rather have 50 pages that have a PR1 pointing to my site, than to have 5 sites that have a PR5. Of course, if you can get 50 pages that have a PR5 pointing to your site, you are laughing!
b) Take a look at your existing link partners and check out their links pages. Its clear the people appearing on those links pages are interested in reciprocating.
c) Purchase software that will help find quality link partners.
It is important to attract higher PR sites when you are on a reciprocal link campaign. However, its not the most important thing when it comes to search engine rankings. Its the backlinks that point back at you that are key. The more of those, the better off you will be for your keyword.
Remember: every page starts off as a PR0. Just because its new doesnt mean it wont get a higher PR once google gets around to assessing a score. If the page your site appears on is indexed, and its a relevant site of quality, consider exchanging links. You’ll grow a large list of link partners in a short period of time, and increase your search engine rankings in the process.
About the author:
Christopher Smith has been helping people make money through Google Adsense by providing them with the Top Paying Adsense Keywords for his visitors to Adsense Heaven. http://www.adsenseheaven.com
Choosing A Web Designer
A Plan To Guide You Through The Minefield
by: Robin Porter
Choosing a web designer can seem like a daunting task. They come in all shapes and sizes – from freelancers working at home to glossy new media agencies, and there is as much variation in prices and service as there is in size.
So how do you choose the right one for your business?
Select Your Marketplace
Firstly, decide what market your would like to select from: local , national or overseas.
If you would feel more comfortable meeting your designer, and running through your project face to face (maybe it’s the kind of project that needs to “evolve”) ,and your ethos is “quality of service” rather than “Pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap” then a local web designer is for you. They can usually provide better back up, and be able to meet face to face to discuss your project and iron out any problems should they occur.
If you are a bit more budget conscious, then it makes sense to select from a “wider pool”. Getting quotes from designers across your country will usually obtain a more competitive quote. What you lose in face-to-face service is made up for in cost savings, and all but the largest web projects can usually be sorted out via telephone and email these days.
For the extremely cost conscious and value for money orientated (some would even say “brave”!) there is the overseas market. If you know exactly what you are looking for and can explain your project thoroughly and clearly in writing, then there are huge savings to be made. But what you save in price is invariably countered by having to do a little more work on your side – particularly when it comes to communication!
Finding Web Designers
To find a list of local web designers consult your Yellow Pages (or equivalent) or do a web search for “web designer “ “your area”.
Draw up a shortlist
Draw up a shortlist of 3 or 4 designers to speak to. You can do this by visiting their websites, getting a feel for the type and size of business they are and looking at their online portfolio. Then call them – ask them questions about the type of clients they work for, timeframes and any other technical questions you have. Get a feel for how they communicate – whether they are on the same wavelength as you.
If you opted to go overseas, the websites already mentioned have ratings systems which can help you decide, and you can also send and receive private messages to ask questions.
Get Quotes
Once you have your shortlist, you can get quotes. For a straightforward website this can be a simple fixed price – for a more complicated project that is likely to evolve, you may just want to get a budget price at this stage, and then pin down details and a fixed price with your preferred bidder later. Always specify your expected timeframe for completion when obtaining quotes as this can affect prices.
Get References
Once you have your preferred bidder, get references. Any established web designer will be able to provide details of satisfied clients. Email them and ask if they were happy with the service received, if the job was completed on time, how unforeseen problems were dealt with etc.
Remember to trust your instincts: If you are not entirely happy with the references you obtain, walk away and select another designer.
Appoint your web designer
You now have a fixed price, references, and confirmed timescale for your project. Now appoint your designer!
Most have standard agreements –read them carefully, and if in doubt get your legal adviser to look them over. Make sure timescales and project milestones are specified, as well as payment terms. Find out how alterations to your project are dealt with – in terms of cost and delays – and how disputes if they arise would be settled.
Finally, when you are completely happy, sign on the dotted line and look forward to a productive working relationship with your web designer!
© 2005 Robin Porter.
About the author:
Robin Porter has been CEO of of London based web designer Arpey Internet (http://www.arpey.co.uk) for over six years.
