Content marketing - creating content that serves the dual purpose of providing valuable information while at the same time making a company or individual more visible - is a tool many authors overlook. However, content marketing can be an author's best friend, leading to better eBook sales and more opportunities for you as an author. The trick is remembering that for content marketing to work for you, it needs to truly be information of value.
What Kind of Content Should Indie Authors Provide?
If you write travel eBooks, for example, you could write blogs with travel tips for different locations or demographics. If you are a parenting expert writing eBooks on motherhood, you can write blogs that offer free advice to new moms. The key is to make it relevant and useful information - not just a "please buy my book" nag with a pop-up screen that appears every 10 seconds to further irritate the reader.
Especially now that Google has changed the way they rank websites, the quality of the content you provide is even more important. Having a website or blog platform that is very mobile-responsive - meaning that anyone can read what you write on any cell phone or tablet without a lot of scrolling - is also crucial.
How Does Content Marketing Help Me Sell eBooks?
Even though you don't want to nag your readers to buy your eBooks, you can end every blog or article with a short bio and a link to your eBook on your website so that they have the opportunity to buy it and know you're an author. You can also include a link to your author bio and have other pages on your website if the reader chooses to explore more deeply.
If you're providing high-value content on your blog, then you may also be able to use it to encourage readers to sign up for a newsletter. A monthly newsletter is simple (and can be free) to send while still allowing you the ability to promote your eBooks. And, you can encourage readers to connect with you on social media.
Every effort you make to engage with readers and let them get to know you will pay off. Content marketing - creating content that serves the dual purpose of providing valuable information while at the same time making a company or individual more visible - is a tool many authors overlook. However, content marketing can be an author's best friend, leading to better eBook sales and more opportunities for you as an author. The trick is remembering that for content marketing to work for you, it needs to truly be information of value.
What Kind of Content Should Indie Authors Provide?
If you write travel eBooks, for example, you could write blogs with travel tips for different locations or demographics. If you are a parenting expert writing eBooks on motherhood, you can write blogs that offer free advice to new moms. The key is to make it relevant and useful information - not just a "please buy my book" nag with a pop-up screen that appears every 10 seconds to further irritate the reader.
Especially now that Google has changed the way they rank websites, the quality of the content you provide is even more important. Having a website or blog platform that is very mobile-responsive - meaning that anyone can read what you write on any cell phone or tablet without a lot of scrolling - is also crucial.
How Does Content Marketing Help Me Sell eBooks?
Even though you don't want to nag your readers to buy your eBooks, you can end every blog or article with a short bio and a link to your eBook on your website so that they have the opportunity to buy it and know you're an author. You can also include a link to your author bio and have other pages on your website if the reader chooses to explore more deeply.
If you're providing high-value content on your blog, then you may also be able to use it to encourage readers to sign up for a newsletter. A monthly newsletter is simple (and can be free) to send while still allowing you the ability to promote your eBooks. And, you can encourage readers to connect with you on social media.
Every effort you make to engage with readers and let them get to know you will pay off. 