Put out the firestorm before it starts! When do you need a website? How do you get started if your book hasn’t been published yet.
In this podcast with Judith Briles on the Your Guide to BOOK PUBLISHINGwe discuss a common occurrence with new authors who wait until their book is published before they start thinking about a website. Waiting too long … starts the firestorm and panic – stop it before it starts!
Make-overs, new websites, specialized websites, blogging and getting started on all of it. Your business begins well before you have everything in place. This is not putting the cart before the horse! It’s planning with intention and creates trust with your audience and builds your tribe – who in turn, become your greatest fans and the starting place for your best viral marketing.
It’s the subtle things that make up the background of your content that affect your reader and potential customers the most. If there’s a ton of text without much white space, readers move into a subconscious level of irritation or criticism which can backfire on you. Inserting a graph, an image or keeping your sentences short and breaking up your paragraphs, help to move the reader to a more relaxed state of mind to digest and comprehend your content. Bullet points are another way to get to the point quickly, and with a web-based platform, you can add more content and link it to the bullet so the reader has the option to read more, or just skim. Colors play another big role in whether or not trust or value is perceived in the correct way. If your site is about massage therapy and whole healing, the last thing you want to do is to create a red site. Red is an aggressive color and speaks of authority, not safety or calm as blue and green does. In a recent interview with Judith Briles for Author U (niversity) we discuss a few more areas for consideration.
Branding is NOT about the appearance of your product, nor is it your logo. Branding is how people feel or think about your product or services. The appearance of your marketing material, products and other visual elements are what create that feeling or thought towards your business.
I felt that they were a trust worthy company and I loved your sense of humor and simplicity.
I think you know what you are doing. Everything was laid out well and was easy to find.
Both comments are from customers who have developed an opinion based upon how they felt when they were introduced to a company website. This is what they will tell others who want to know what it was like to work with that company.
Are you considering creating a WordPress website and you need a little bit more information about what to focus on?
In this podcast with Judith Briles on the Your Guide to BOOK PUBLISHINGwe discuss the basics of what you need to know in building your WordPress site and how to identify your branding and manage expectations of visitors.
Do you know what branding really is? (it’s not your logo) How do you get visitors to linger on your website? What is the number one thing you need to know to avoid confusing your visitors?
Many of my clients, whether for websites or illustrations, will wrestle with the issue of financing their dreams. We are limited in our thinking when we get stuck on “How” rather than “Why”.
When you know why you have written your book, started your business or engaged in a new change in your life, you must know WHY.
