Category: tuesday tip

Registration of the domain name and building a brand

You know those long addresses that go something like this http://yahoosites/user/mynameismud.htm

Not so long ago it was expensive to register a domain name and there was only one Registrar, but not anymore. There are lots of domain name registrars out there and the prices can be as low as $8.99. Be sure when you get that great price that it doesn’t include some kind of advertisement requirement for the registrar.

Also, since you have to have someone host your website (in non-geek speak – the company who has the web server that will hold the files for your website), they may offer a deal where they will purchase and set-up your domain name as part of the hosting package.

But back to the domain name. What should it be? Something fun and sexy?

Sexyromanticsuspensefromcaridadpineiro.com?

Keep the domain name manageable in terms of length for starters. If you’re going to use a pen name, google it and see what pops up to make sure there aren’t a lot of other people with the same name. Also go to the WHO IS and make sure it’s not registered yet before you not only try to register the domain name, but before you start designing your site. The last thing you want is to find out the name is taken and you have to redo your graphics, etc. You can do the WHO IS at this link:
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp

Another thing to consider is whether you are going to be a .com, .net, .tv, .us or some other dot extension. The most common extension – and the one most people expect to see – is .com so lean towards going with that.

Back to the naming issue, which goes hand in hand with the branding issue.

I’ve learned over the many years I’ve been publishing that the one thing that keeps changing in my career are the genres in which I write. The one thing that remains steady (for the most part) is my name. When my first books came out under Caridad Scordato (an error which could not be corrected), I opted to go with caridad.com as my website because I knew (1) that I would be changing my last name and (2) that Caridad was unique enough that most readers would associate that name with me regardless of that last name that was being used.

So build your name and not some idea of the writer you are now because the latter will change while the former will likely not change.

If there is some other message you want to get across to readers, go with using a tag line/slogan. Check out Rayna Vause’s: When you need a little paranormal in your romance

Tag lines/slogans are a good way to reinforce what you do, but again, the emphasis should always be on you.

We’ll go into how to get people to visit your site next Tuesday, but as I mentioned last week, you may wish to design banners for when you start getting word out about yourself and your work. The banners should have the same look and feel of the site if at all possible and again, should stress your name so that people will start recognizing that name.

Hope this Tuesday Tip was helpful!

My mother instilled in me a thirst for knowledge. I firmly believe that a day in which I do not learn something is a day wasted.

I know I’m not the only person who believes this since the world is full of libraries, schools, universities and of course, information on the Internet.

That thirst presents a wonderful opportunity for writers in many ways, including using that thirst to create website traffic by submitting articles on topics of interests to a number of sites on the Internet.

You’re probably asking yourself about what could I possibly write an article?

If you’re a writer, the most obvious answer is that you share information which you’ve learned about your craft with others. Explain about the basics, such as dialogue; goal, motivation and conflict; how to use a semi-colon (LOL! and I hope I’m doing it right); plots, etc. You get the picture. As with any article writing, try not to make it too dry by not just offering blah facts, but personalize it with your experience and what worked for you. Oftentimes that hands on advice is just what someone needs to get over their own hurdle.

If you’ve got expertise in some field, for example, you’re an ER nurse or an attorney, offer up facts that someone might find useful for a particular activity. As an example, if you know about forensics, write an article on the reality of forensic investigations versus fictional TV forensics so that writers might understand what would be correct in that romantic suspense novel they are writing.

Have you visited somewhere interesting? Take the time to write an article on your experience in that city or country. Provide details of restaurants, events, interesting sites, etc.

Have you recently had a life-altering experience? How did you cope with it and what advice could you offer others that might be of benefit.

These are just a few of the possible ideas you can consider for an article to be submitted to the various Internet sites. Once submitted, the articles will be available for viewing by others and the Internet article sites generally provide a link to your website. Someone who reads an article that they find interesting or useful may then choose to come visit your website, thereby creating traffic to your website.

In addition to the benefit of increased traffic, there’s the benefit in practicing your craft by writing. Practice does make perfect (or at least better!).

One difference with Internet-based articles versus print articles is that you will also be asked to provide keywords for the search engines so that they may categorize your article for the future. Make sure you have identified the key issues in your article and list keywords related to those issues in the appropriate keywords field on the article submission site.

So are you ready? Here are some sites where you can submit your articles:

articlecity.com
goarticles.com
submityourarticles.com
ezinearticles.com
articledashboard.com
searchwarp.com
articlesbase.com
amazines.com

These are just a few of the dozens of article submission sites available. As with anything else, please make sure you read the fine print and that you remain the owner of the copyright in the article and that there are no hidden fees for submission. Also, some sites require that the article either be original or not be posted to any other sites.

Good luck with your article submissions!

When other writers ask me what’s the single most important thing they can do to grow a career, I always say, “Have a web presence.” Dollar for dollar, being on the Internet is one of the most effective forms of advertising that you can do.

You can accomplish that in a number of ways. A website. Blog. Social Networking page. I always tell people to keep those Internet sites as current as you can.

I also tell them to balance the work involved in all of these things with the singlemost important thing — writing a good book.

But once you’re on the web, what can you do that will help grow that web presence. Lots of things that we’ve discussed before and one that we haven’t — using Google and Yahoo alerts.

“Huh?” you may say as you shake your head in wonder.

It’s simple really. Both Google and Yahoo (as well as other search engines) have what are known as “alerts”. Plug in the keywords of interest and ask them to notify you whenever one of those keywords is found by one of the search engine spiders.

I do it at work all the time to keep track of what clients are doing.

Authors can do it to see who is talkingabout/blogging about/reviewing them. More importantly, it’s always good to acknowledge when someone has done so and leave a comment or message for them to say “Thanks!”

Call it Politeness on the Web. Politeness is always a good virtue to foster.

So with that in mind — thank you all for dropping by today and remember — GO VOTE!!