Microsoft Secrets Book
Microsoft Secrets Book
7 Secrets for Success with Pay per Click Book Promotion
"Pay-for-Performance" or "Pay-per-Click" Internet advertising is
making big waves lately, and the two biggest players are Google
and Overture, which was recently purchased by Yahoo. Microsoft
has since joined the fray with MSN Search and there are numerous
other fish (albeit tadpoles) in the pond.
When it comes to promoting a book, the advantages of internet
advertising over traditional print advertising can be summed up
with the following acronym-rich equation: CPC - CPM = PPC.
That's CMO-speak for expressing how much more cost effective
cost-per-conversion analysis is to cost-per-thousand analysis.
With Pay Per Click advertising via Google and Overture, the cost
of the ad is based upon the performance of the ad; however, the
effectiveness of the ad is gauged by its conversion ratio.
Thanks to tools provided by both Google and Overture, these
conversion ratios can be calculated automatically.
Traditional print media, on the other hand, provides a CPM (cost
per thousand) to demonstrate cost (value) of an ad. A certain
number of people will see the ad (and believe me, this number is
pie-in-the-sky, based upon circulation times "readership").
Therefore, the cost is X.
It's easy to recognize the advantages of pay per click
advertising, especially when promoting a relatively small-ticket
item such as a book, but before jumping head first into the PPC
arena, review the following tips:
1) Be aware of the differences between Google and Overture
Google is the leading search engine at the moment, but their
reach never exceeds their grasp. Overture technology, on the
other hand, currently extends to Yahoo, AltaVista, CNN,
Infospace, and others. Overture requires you to deposit money
into an account in advance. Said account is then depleted based
upon your campaign selection. Meanwhile, Google simply bills
your credit card based upon your expenditures. Overture provides
more intuitive and complete reporting functionality that enables
you to analyze the effectiveness of keywords, but Google allows
you to enter a maximum expenditure-per-day. This daily cap
provides more control over your monthly spending while
Overture's system simply draws money from the online account
until depleted. This daily draw can vary substantially from one
day to the next. Also, Overture requires you to keep 3 days of
"extra cash" on hand. Do you earn interest on the money you're
loaning to Overture? Forget about it.
2) Be aware of the similarities
Both Google and Overture differentiate their paid clicks from
their free, contextual algorithms, usually by featuring the
"sponsored" searches on a different part of the page and by
highlighting them in a color box. Recently, Overture launched a
new product, or search mechanism, whereby an advertiser can
choose to be listed among the contextual content, also. That's
kind of like paying for a meal after you've already eaten it.
Both services also experience infrequent, yet unexplained,
"spikes" that decimate your daily or monthly budget in a matter
of minutes or hours. It's a little unnerving knowing that you
could blow through $500 or $1000 in a matter of minutes with
absolutely no recourse. Staffed to handle these anomalies, both
services feature barely adequate customer service with
representatives who often reply to such technical idiosyncrasies
with hostile ambivalence. Sounds like an oxymoron, but it's not.
3) Start conservatively
That said, realize that pay-per-click campaigns are not an exact
science and contain the potential to be ridiculously expensive
if you're not careful. Start a campaign on either Google or
Overture, but not both. Become familiar with the mechanics
before launching full scale advertising campaigns on the other
service.
4) Understand the mechanics
The way pay-for-performance works is simple. You bid on search
terms, either words or phrases or a combination of both. Your
webpage link then appears in search engine results relative to
the price of the bid. If you're the highest bidder, your webpage
appears at the absolute top of many search engines. Remember the
frustration of typing in a search for your webpage and never
finding your link? No longer!
5) Understand the advantages
Perhaps the best part of pay-for-performance advertising is the
"pay for performance" part. Unlike traditional advertising where
you pay based upon the number of impressions, here, you only pay
if people click on your link. In essence, they are pre-sold.
6) Select the appropriate keywords
Let's look at an example. Say you have published a mystery novel
about the death of a land baron in Louisiana. Not exactly a new
plot and yet millions of "whodunit" readers may be interested in
reading it. Your solution? Open a pay-for-performance account
and bid on search terms like "Louisiana Mystery Novel" and
"Mystery Book Plantation" and other similar search terms.
Counter-intuitively, the more specific the term, the better your
campaign will perform, since very specific searches deliver very
motivated buyers to your page. Since you're paying for each
click, you want those browsers to buy! That's where "conversion"
comes in to play.
7) Understand the disadvantages
You have to be very careful managing your bids and selecting
your keywords, or pay-for-performance advertising can become
ineffective. Do not bid on ridiculously vague and popular words
like "book" or "fiction" because you will never recoup your
money. Instead, focus your search terms as specifically as
possible.
It's only a matter of time before traditional print media finds
some way to adopt this new method of cost-per-conversion and
pay-for-performance advertising. Those who don't will die
trying. Viva la digital revolution!
About the Author
Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press
publishing at http://www.outskirtspress.com . He is the author
of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing
Writer (http://outskirtspress.com/publishinggems) and
Self-Publishing Simplified (free ebook edition available at
http://outskirtspress.com/publishing)
What do you think about the new Microsoft booklet Courier?
Microsoft's secret project booklet Courier (dual screen multi-touch tablet - opens and closes like a book) is revealed. This is something revolutionary people have been waiting for. Thoughts?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10359328-1.html
Looks amazing, yes.
I'm sure it made people at apple shudder a little...I doubt they can top that. I use a mac laptop, yea', but the Courier? wow. I hope MSFT does the hardware aspect too, not JUST do the software and outsource the hardware to the likes of HP and Dell....If they do, at least set standards.
Cool product.
Microsoft Secrets Book
Microsoft "Courier" secret tablet
The Business World and Microsoft SharePoint
In the world of business, constant update to the rising pattern of technology is necessary. Not just does to makes the company adaptable to change, it also improves a lot of processes or provides a way for the employees to work on their respective tasks effectively.
For a enterprise that employs a lot of people, the need to have a medium to communicate within the organization in the fastest way possible helps the employee carry out the assigned task on time. Microsoft has observed this need and developed a method to connect individuals within the organization in spite of their physical distance, via the use of Microsoft SharePoint.
For a organization that employs a lot of people, the need to have a medium to communicate within the organization in the fastest way possible helps the employee carry out the assigned task on time. Microsoft has observed this need and develops a way to connect people with the organization despite their physical distance, through the use of Microsoft SharePoint.
Companies and other businesses that have used and seen what SharePoint can do usually ends up recommending it to other companies.
For starters, SharePoint makes it easier for people to communicate within the business premise, share work-related information and data, manage documents including corporate templates and files, and publish reports making it available to all the decision makers to make better decision in a timely manner.
To start setting up SharePoint, a person who has extensive knowledge on how SharePoint works must be consulted. These SharePoint consultants can aid companies in their strategy, style and implementation stage. Sadly, not all consultants will share information that is beneficial towards the company. Others would require an additional fee for additional information they will supply.
Luckily, there is can e-book available in the website that was constructed by SharePoint expert Christian Dalsgaard which can aid people with all their SharePoint Problems. This e-book entitled: "7 Secrets that a SharePoint Guy will never tell you" contains details and related information of what a company needs to know but will not be shared by their SharePoint Consultant. This e-book can be downloaded for FREE upon signing up in the website.
About the Author
Christian V. Dalsgaard is a Senior SharePoint Consultant helping enterprise companies in Denmark to launch SharePoint solutions. He has helped 1.000.000+ users the last 5-6 years.More info: SPGuy.com
Microsoft Secrets Book
