I’m heading to Blog World Expo again this year for some educational fun. Speakers this year include Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and Chad Vader.
OK, I admit I’m most excited about seeing Chad, the internet video sensation created by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda. Everyone’s favourite grocery store night manager, Chad has captured more than my own heart. (Even George Lucas gave it his thumbs up.) My main mission at the Expo this year is to go to sessions about podcasting, and the brains behind Chad Vader’s viral video success are two that I wish to pick, if only from a safe distance, down there, in the audience. Perhaps I can sit next to Chad’s girlfriend Clarissa.
What’s your own podcasting mission for your enterprise? Lately, I’ve become more bipolar in my own approach, as I created a more polished set of videos for TheBookBroads.com’s YouTube channel, and yet streamlining my “joie de le moment” approach for certain cell-phone generated video content. (Soon to be released.) There are advantages to each approach, and I enjoy doing both.
I’ll be happy to do my best to honour any special requests for specific blog or podcasting-related info from the show made via email, Twitter, or comments on this blog.
I’m being interviewed on July 2nd by Sheri Kaye Hoff, regarding eBooks and the video trailers to sell them. I’ve compiled a list of good and bad examples of video book trailers to make a few of my points clear.
Love, Stargirl
This one was the winner of the 2007 Teen Book Video Awards. (Like, if there’s an award, we should all make sure this is top on our priority list for book marketing, right?) Even though this example comes from a highly-niched fiction market, the comments still apply for business and non-fiction books.
Things I like about this one:
- extremely involving sequence, tone, etc. to draw in the watcher
- cool imagery appeals to the designated audience; in this case, teen girls
- a little weird and makes good use of “creepy” element
- it’s well-edited and looks very Hollywood-quality (essential here to foster the fantasy, but not essential in every case)
- kudos to them for finding an appropriate contest to enter and gain additional publicity
Things I think could be done better:
- more visibility of a URL or book title throughout production
- a clickable purchase link at the end (YouTube allows you to do a lot of custom stuff with a bit of research – see a future post about how to manipulate YouTube)
- I don’t see this in a lot of other locations, distributed on blogs, etc., which means somebody didn’t do the legwork
Duma Key
You may be surprised that this is my least favourite video of the bunch, and not just because this is a Stephen King cookie-cutter product: blood and gore, etc., etc. Loyal readers like my husband love this stuff, and the video gives them what they want. This is also the shortest – only just over 30 seconds.
Things I like about this one:
- short and to-the-point
- high-contrast graphic imagery makes it easy to see on the smallest of screens, like iPods, etc.
- the book graphic at the end makes it clear what’s being sold, as this is still new for many readers
- release date stated clearly at the end
Things I think could be done better:
- again, no direct link for ordering (Like, haven’t any of these people heard of affiliate programs?)
- perhaps this is too “corporate”, in the sense that it is rather predictable: a new author may consider taking bigger risks to gain an audience
- the imagery is somewhat disjointed, in that there is no “story” to this video – it’s just a bunch of scary stuff with a splash of blood, with nothing to involve the reader and link to something in their own lives (this is really about “features” vs. “benefits” again)
Nineteen Minutes
This video for popular Author Jodi Picoult was produced by AuthorBytes.com, a company that specializes in this type of media – and it shows. I’ve never read any of Picoult’s work because I thought it was something I wouldn’t be interested in. I think I may have been wrong.
Things I like about this one:
- the Author herself narrates the entire video, and there are photos of her periodically that help readers connect with her
- the shock value of the commentary is quite powerful, demonstrating contrast that I suspect will also be present in the Author’s work
- the commentary asks us to think of ourselves in perspective of the book’s subject matter
- the accompanying copy (“Details” in YouTube) is well-composed and easy for bloggers and others to use
- the narration and imagery reference other works by the same Author that have been highly successful and are easily recognized
- this doesn’t need full-motion video throughout to make the message work, and still images are used extremely well
- all the technical gunk is there at the end, such as ISBN number, cover format, page count, etc. which means this video is not just useful for consumers – it’s also very useful for booksellers and other markets
Things I think could be done better:
- again, no direct purchase link (How many times do I need to say this?)
- could be a lot shorter and still tell the story well
- the “clock” intro at the beginning drags a fair bit
- the music selection is not appropriate or powerful, and a better choice would make all the difference in the world
- this has 36k views and yet no comments, so perhaps a few “plants” would attract more viewers, and this may also signify a lack of effort to distribute and make use of this valuable resource
I’ve just updated my website with a new tab labeled “Speaking”, and there you’ll find my revised speaking topics for the rest of 2009.
Short Talks:
1) Using Online Marketing to Get Attention for Your Brick-and-Mortar Business
2) What is “Social Media Marketing” and How to Use it for Greatest Effectiveness
3) Tapping the Potential of Digital and Paper-Based Publishing for Small Business
Long Talks (1.5 hours or less)
1) eBooks – The Next Generation
2) You’ve Written an eBook – Now What?
I’ll be traveling quite a bit this summer, and offering these talks to various organizations in Canada and the USA. If you’d like to book me for a lecture or talk, please call me toll-free at 1-866-907-4084, please drop me a line at info@humanuspublishing.com.
I also really enjoy creating fresh material tailored to the needs of your organization. If you don’t see a topic listed that you’re interested in, just ask. I may already have it in my archives. Some of my additional topics include;
- PodCasting (What It Is, and How Anyone Can Do It)
- Affiliate Marketing for Authors
- Building Your (e)Book Business
- Market Research for Your Book in 1 Hour or Less
- How to Create Your (e)Book From Scratch
- Using You Tube to Market Your (e)Book with Video
- … and more
July 18 in San Francisco is going to be an interesting opportunity to examine the self-publishing industry. Click to http://www.instockconference.com for details about speakers and venues.
Information from the site:
Join us this July for INSTOCK, a conference for book self publishers. Panels will address:
- Marketing your book
- Selecting a POD or printing house
- Understanding rankings
- Finding your audience
- Publicity tactics
- Pricing your product
… and more.
Panelists will include successful self publishers, marketing pros, executives from the traditional publishing industry and others who will get you thinking strategically about your books.
Register by June 30th to get the early bird rate of $195! Tickets can be purchased via Ticketweb.
Publishing is fast-changing, and self publishing authors are inciting a re-examination of the industry. Meet other authors, learn how to improve your game, and be part of the movement at InStock.
…..
Sounds like I might see you there!
This extremely funny TED video is of a talk by Author Dr. Sir Ken Robinson, who delivers this moving talk about creativity and education.
Dr. Robinson is the author of the book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, which I’m dying to read. His stories here in this video are so encouraging, even as the points out the major flaws in our current educational system, and how creativity is as important as basic literacy. Yet, our educational system is designed specifically to destroy the natural creativity we are all born with – the challenge is to keep our creativity as we become adults.
Thanks to everyone who listened yesterday to our live call-in show on BlogTalkRadio.com. I promised you more before we got cutoff, and I will deliver shortly. Alexa and I recorded an additional 37 minutes of content immediately afterward, which I will post as soon as I overcome some small technical issues. (Hopefully today – Thursday, November 6th. Just subscribe to my feed if you don’t want to miss it.)
Thanks again to Alexa Clark of MiniBookExpo.com, and to Renee Shupe for producing the show for us. This worked so well that all three of us agreed that we’d like to do more. Much more! Stay tuned to the player here on this blog for a complete playlist of all past and future broadcasts.
Catherine DeVrye is a former IBM Executive who now tours worldwide offering speaking and corporate coaching. She is the author of several books, but most lately the author of Hope Happens: Words of enCOURAGEment for Tough Times, and her autobiography, Serendipity Road: A Memoir, which was nominated for the Australian National Biography Prize. Her books have had positive reviews from everyone from Jack Canfield (author of the Chicken Soup series) to Sir Edmund Hillary. Catherine was kind enough to give me some of her time this past Monday here in Las Vegas.
Catherine here talks about how small and micro businesses, like self-publishing authors, can use added value and good customer service to not only keep the customers they have, but add new ones. And all of this can be accomplished without spending a dime.
I met Catherine a year ago in Sydney Australia, where she has made her home since 1973. But she spent the early years of her life far from there, in an orphanage in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Catherine has a long and extremely interesting biography (click to her site at GreatMotivation.com if you’d like details) which is now told in her autobiography. She has dined with Princes and Prime Ministers, she has cycled over the Andes and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. But she is now best known as a corporate speaker on the topics of change management and customer service.
Catherine’s remarks about not being afraid of change are so important at all times, but especially now as many small businesses close their doors in light of the current worldwide economic slowdown. She makes some very interesting points and offers examples of how even a one-person operation can maintain a successful business philosophy.
Well, it’s a day of combined impressions. Firstly, this show is not nearly as big as I had anticipated. But secondly, it’s more meaningful for me than I had ever imagined.
Frankly, I can’t understand why a topic with an obvious application to almost every business on the planet can only book 62 booths into a trade show. However, the conference schedule and speaker roundup is 29 pages of the show schedule booklet. The sessions were what seemed to be more valuable to most of the attendees, including myself.
Of the three sessions that I attended today, the most valuable was the “Making Money with with Podcasts” session, which was a panel discussion with three hosts including JB Glossinger of MorningCoach.com.
Glossinger has much in common with my own finance guru, Mr. H, who is constantly telling me to “…just get it done now – stop thinking so hard.” Glossinger truthfully introduced himself as “different” after hearing the other two panelists speak about their own success by explaining that he’s “…not a marketing expert…”, nor does he want to “…make you think I know everything about business…” But, he’s got a very clear understanding of two key areas of online business: speed and guts.
In the early days of his business, Glossinger knew that he wasn’t doing everything right, but he knew that podcasting was a great vehicle, and that he needed to just keep doing it to gain an audience. He knew that he had to be consistent in his offerings, and he knew that he had to keep his promise to delivery a 15-minute daily morning podcast. When he started, nobody knew who he was, but he had the guts to keep going. Now, he’s a well-known speaker and trainer in not only the field of personal coaching, but also in the field of online business. He’s a bit confrontational, and I just loved that.
What’s equally interesting about Glossinger is that his income model is not based on what seems to feed most podcasters, which is banner ads, ClickBank, and (low-)paying content creation. Instead, Glossinger uses his free podcasts to build his profile, build his traffic and subscriber base, sell items off his site, increase his bookings for speaking, and fill his classes with people who already understand what they are there to learn. Yup, I’m on my way there.
More updates tomorrow, Sunday evening, plus some video that I shot today and will add to tomorrow.
I’m going to be out of my regular office from Tuesday, September 9th, through about November 10th, 2008. All of my regular phone numbers, email addresses, and instant message contact info will still work, but you may find that you will be asked to leave voice mail more often than reaching me in person.
Where am I going, you ask? I’ll be in Langley, BC until September 14th, and then on a working sabbatical in Las Vegas Nevada (not a vacation – I swear), with some side trips to visit family in SoCal. Don’t worry – all my regular clients will still be hearing from me regularly as per our appointments previously scheduled.
The most exciting part of this trip is that I’m going to have an opportunity to break out of some stale routines, refresh my own writing, and inject some energy into ongoing projects. All of this involves stuff that will benefit all my current and future clients and projects. I’m especially looking forward to attending BlogWorldExpo 2008 in Las Vegas, from September 19th to 21st. I promise to make some video podcasts from the show, so watch this space for interesting stuff!
Here’s the third telephone interview with Kim Plumley. This one focuses on how to find your media “hook” – that is, the thing that demonstrates why you and your book are relevant. This is key to getting the attention of the media, and of the public.
Kim is the CEO of Publicity Mavens, a literary publicity firm based in Western Canada. This is number 3 of 3 podcasts in this series, all of which are at HumanusPublishing.com.
I hope you enjoyed listening to these three podcasts as much as I’ve enjoyed making them. I promise we haven’t heard the last from KIMPOSSIBLE!
, which I’m dying to read. His stories here in this video are so encouraging, even as the points out the major flaws in our current educational system, and how creativity is as important as basic literacy. Yet, our educational system is designed specifically to destroy the natural creativity we are all born with – the challenge is to keep our creativity as we become adults.
, and her autobiography, 
, which was nominated for the Australian National Biography Prize. Her books have had positive reviews from everyone from Jack Canfield (author of the Chicken Soup series) to Sir Edmund Hillary. Catherine was kind enough to give me some of her time this past Monday here in Las Vegas.
