Building online community

How to Use Clarity to Protect Your Time

April 2, 2013

Many of us strive for a bigger platform. We want to connect with more people and gain the trust of more readers. But what happens when BIGGER and MORE has side effects? As my community grows, I’m facing a problem I haven’t yet figured out how to deal with: emails. In addition to the dozens, […]

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Birthday Sale: 32% OFF Everything for Today Only

January 7, 2013

It’s my birthday! And you know how I like to celebrate milestones… By rewarding loyal readers! Since I’m turning 32 (crazy!), I’m offering 32 percent OFF all my guides and courses for TODAY ONLY. This sale ends at midnight EST. And yes, that includes Become a Twitter Power User, which begins Feb. 4. A third […]

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Q&A: Chuck Sambuchino on the Writer’s Platform

December 10, 2012

Whether you’re looking to self-publish or go the traditional publishing route, your writer’s platform — aka how you’ll sell the book — is more important than ever. So it was smart for Chuck Sambuchino, who has become an expert on the topic of platform, to write a book about it. Chuck was here a year […]

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The Best Content Strategy for Your Email Newsletter

April 16, 2012

When you’re building your own business, figuring out how to make money doing what you love, there’s always more to learn. That’s part of the reason why I love working for myself: I have the freedom to choose challenging projects, ones that give me opportunities to learn along the way. So for the last few […]

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When Your Online Presence is a Moving Target

April 2, 2012

I like how Penelope Trunk says you should learn something every time you write a blog post. That the process of writing a post should help you discover something you didn’t know before. So I’m hoping that writing this post — and maybe the insight I glean from your comments — will help me figure […]

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How to Write an Effective Email Pitch That People Will Actually Read

February 29, 2012

Press releases are so 1990. Whenever I get a press release that looks like it was sent out to a dozen or more people, I press delete. I might take five seconds to read the headline, but I almost never read the actual release. Why? Because I know it won’t be personalized for me. About […]

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Puh-Lease Don’t Ask Me to Check Out Your Blog

December 12, 2011

Whenever I get an email or auto-DM after following someone on Twitter (big no-no in itself) that asks me to check out their blog or Facebook page or whatever, I automatically delete. Yup, that’s right. A big, fat DELETE. Not only have I not checked out your blog, you’re now on my I’m-not-interested list. Which […]

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Introducing The Traveling Writer Newsletter

September 13, 2011

In my latest survey, many of you said you’d like to read more about how to take a Leap in life. So I’m giving you just that — in a newsletter that’s delivered right to your inbox! This isn’t one of those annoying newsletters that clog your inbox every day and repeat word-for-word what you’ve […]

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How Writers Can Use Amazon to Sell Books

March 25, 2011

I’m usually a fan of Writer’s Digest Webinars; I was glad I paid for their recent tutorial on e-books and listened in on their free teleconference about Borders. (Can’t find the link — Looks like it’s no longer available online.) But I didn’t learn much from the session yesterday on using Amazon to sell books. […]

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Another benefit of online promotion

March 15, 2011

An author friend and I were recently discussing the merits of promoting one’s book via traditional media verses online. As a journalist, she has lots of connections in the industry and often does television and radio interviews about her area of expertise, which helps promote her book. But she’s also savvy online, using Twitter, blogging […]

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