virtualDavis

“Publishers can complain and wistfully wish for the good old days of blog links and Google juice, or they can adapt to the new reality Twitter represents. Getting your content “ReTweeted” on Twitter (i.e. getting people to repeat what you’ve said, usually along with a link) can drive significant quality traffic to your site, which in turn can boost your subscriber numbers… So, how does ReTweeting happen, anyway? Well, here are the 5 factors you need to take into account when trying to get your content to spread virally on Twitter”:

1. Call to Action
2. Timing
3. Links
4. Social Proof
5. Value

Read the post at Copyblogger.

A killer proposal isn’t good enough for wannabe nonfiction authors. Lay the groundwork and build your credibility through these strategic efforts.

via writersdigest.com

According to Dianne Jacob, here’s how to build your reputation most effectively:

#1. GET ARTICLES ON THE SUBJECT PUBLISHED
#2. INTERVIEW EXPERTS
#3. CO-AUTHOR A BOOK WITH AN EXPERT
#4. SPEAK ON THE SUBJECT
#5. FIND RELEVANT BACKGROUND FOR YOUR BIO

Read the article here…

I heard Brad Inman give a speech at O’Reilly’s Tools of Change conference, and he said trying to get stuff done in book publishing is like trying to swim through a jar of peanut butter. I nearly stood up and screamed “EXACTLY!” I have had the good fortune to work with a lot of entrepreneurs and tech people, and they are doing circles around my publishing colleagues because they don’t put up the roadblocks and draw the lines in the sand. If I had to guess, the peanut butter people have no idea what that means.

Here are 10 signs you might be……….The Peanut Butter:

1) You can’t think of anything to show for your work in the last six months.

2) You think your job is to prevent mistakes from being made.

3) You believe that the more people invited to a meeting, the more successful the meeting will be.

4) Meetings take months to schedule.

5) You would rather be “politically correct” and “cc everyone” than make something great happen.

6) You’re paralyzed by the concept of “scalable.”

7) You think you have the upper hand in nearly all business dealings , but deep down inside, in those quiet moments late at night, you know you’re losing “control.”

8 ) You resort to bullying tactics to get your way without ever considering what might benefit everyone.

9) You spend your days trying to figure out how to gain control.

10) You’re an information hoarder.

via theharperstudio.com

This is a great posting by Debbie over at HarperStudio. I’m especially drawn to numbers 8 and 10. Tip: Consider what benefits everyone, and share (don’t hoard) information. Win-win!

Google graphic via OPEN Forum

If you’re a Twitter “power user” (i.e. you update your status frequently; monitor your brand, business, etc. on Twitter; and/or leverage Twitter’s massive userbase to search for prospects) you should read John Jantsch’s article at OPEN Forum. Here are the highlights:

1) Target by occupation: “you can create a search that plows through Twitter and gives you a list of all the users” that include your specific keyword (attorney, quarterback, etc.) for their username and/or real name in their Twitter profile pages.
2) Target by biographical information: If you want to scan more than just usernames and real names, Google can hep you search for key phrases in Twitter users’ intext attributes.
3) Target by location using http://search.twitter.com
4) Use Google Alerts to track new Twitter sign ups

Learn more about these smart Twitter search techniques and three more at OPEN Forum.