The numbers game

Week One of the August Blogging Challenge has passed. It's now time for the participants to check their traffic statistics and compare them to a prior period when their posting was low -- just to confirm that the effort put into regular posting will really reap some results.

All bloggers should have a hit counter of some sort. I use Sitemeter which unfortunately had some issues during their move to a new server. So I don't know how accurate my statistics will be for the entire week. But, one of our challengers reports that he had 500 hits this week, a first in his blogging history.

This is exactly the kind of confirmation an author needs to validate the effort of regular blogging. You might not post daily all through the year, but raising your blog's profile and making it more "sticky" prior to a blog book tour is a good way to prepare for a successful online book promotion.

Make the numbers work for you. Most definitely learn to read the reports. Poke around at your counter's website and see what kind of reports you can generate, and then really look at them. They're really not all that confusing, and you might be in for some pleasant surprises.

Tomorrow, another report that every author needs to pay attention to, before, during, and after a blog book tour.

We are all linked

Linking is one of the most important ways to raise the profile of your blog. Social marketing maven, Tiffany Dow, explains it on her blog. She also talks about keywords, and I'll discuss that a bit more in a later post. For now, pay attention to her advice about growing your blog traffic in a slow and organic way through linking to other sites. And always, always link related sites of your own to each other. Linking is so important, within each post, in your signature, and in your sidebars. Create a neat and tidy linked package.

So Who am I?

People often ask me why I'm promoting blog book tours for free. Because I'm a kept woman and have nothing better to do? Wrong.

I'm a writer, and I'm fully aware that in today's publishing world, authors must offer up a promotion package with their manuscript submissions that puts the load of the selling squarely on their shoulders. In the traditional paradigm, that means they will likely travel. And I hate to travel.

Even worse, I hate the hotels, the airports, the food, not sleeping in my own bed, and that's just to name a few details I can get disgruntled about. I just flat-out don't like being away from home to work, and I don't like conferences either.

Fortunately for me, there is an oil crisis and travel will soon be curtailed for all of us. That means we all get to find better ways to promote. I knew early on that blogs and other virtual world vehicles would be my ride. So here I am, happily blazing my own new road.

That isn't to say, some traveling won't be part of my life as I promote in the future. But I think it's smart to consider new options. What about you?

Maybe a live book tour will be shorter, more concentrated in a region, and you might take fellow authors along and make it a group project. Even better, look for accomodations that are "green" and different from the usual hotel scenario. Why not try planning a more unusual trip for your next live book tour and enjoy the journey a little more while you're touring? Here's a link to the Green Vacation Hub that might get your imagination flowing. If not for you, then maybe for a character in your next book?

So Sorry?

Picked up on Twitter and so true:

I must delete some of my rss feeds, so I just now decided, any blog that apologizes for not posting, they're out. One gone already!

Don't apologize for not posting. If you must, sneak back in and back-date some posts so it looks like you've been paying attention to your blog all along. Or commit to daily posts for a month so that your blog looks fresh. Then collapse your archives so previous months' don't tattletale about former bad habits.

There are ways and there are ways.

Are you pinging?

Pinging is a way to give your blog a little boost by notifying an online service that you've updated your blog. This technique is much more proactive than waiting for the web crawlers at Google to notice you. I use Pingoat and once you're there, it's easy peasy. Just fill in the blanks, and click on all the services you want notified. If you click on the header in each category, all the items within will be checked. Don't do this too often, but once or twice a week after you update your blog is a good idea. This takes less than 60 seconds. Do it!

"Bee" a perfect blogger

Pro-blogger and blogging guru, Chris Garrett explains how to "bee" a perfect blogger. Here's good advice for authors preparing their own blogs for an impending blog book tour. Be sure to read the comments, too, because there are plenty of good insights and tips there.

Be sure to bookmark Chris' site and stop by often for the very best blogging help available. He's also on Twitter, and the above-mentioned article was picked up there. If you're not tweeting yet, I recommend it for a quick and easy way to give and get valuable information and links.

A Smashing Idea

Picked up at Twitter, Smashing Magazine offers up fifteen tools purported to make your blogging life easier. Do any of them work? I haven't tried them since the actual act of blogging isn't that difficult for me. But, if you're a virtual gadget lover, this might offer you some tools you'll like, and the article is definitely worth a read. Clear overviews and a clean wrap-up make it worth your while. This eMagazine is definitely worth exploring further.

Thanks, aboutbooks, for the heads-up.