« Remembering Auschwitz | Main | Sex? What's that? »

January 31, 2005

Comments

Doesn't Amazon allow you to post comments using a name? Why not use your blog's name while posting reviews on Amazon.

Begin every review with the words with something like,
"Book Buds is a blog dedicated to reviewing the best chidren's books and sifting out the best from the rest." Then proceed to offer a review with the same content you post on your site. If you hit on the right key words (best children books or something like that), when google spiders Amazon, it will pick up this phrase and give you high placement in its rankings because Amazon book reviews can score well.

Also, why not approach every mommy, daddy and parenting blog out there. Explain what you do and its value to families and ask for a link and recommend a visit. Offer them a link in return.


As Tip O'Neill said (in a book, no less!), All Politics is Local. Perhaps you could put flyers in the Barnes & Noble and Borders outlets in Montclair. You might even get a reviewer or two out of the deal; one of the stores (I can't remember which) encourages their employees to tell customers what their favorite books are.

Another advertising opportunity might be in the local libraries. Again, you may get a reviewer or two out of the deal.

You could ask DotMoms for a link - and ask all your mama-blog friends to give you a link. Maybe you can submit your URL to some directories - Yahoo, etc.

Anne - this site is destined for greatness. Why else would I be forcing myself on you and it?! Seriously, I think this is a great and noble endeavor. And a site I would visit often even if I wasn't reviewing. I like the ideas listed above. I will do my part by visiting parenting sites and offering enthusiastic praise of Book Blogs. Thank you for letting me be a part of it.

This is exactly what I was looking for: thanks everyone! Alas, DotMoms' Julie Moos had already rejected me (I should've mentioned that), but I didn't think of asking Mom and Dad blogs directly.

The Amazon thing will start asap, and promoting myself around town will obviously take time and some strategy. I'll be donating some books to the Upland library soon, so that's as good a place to start as any.

And it's good to know I haven't worked you to death yet, Dawn, though we're just getting started. Heh. Will contact you offline to brainstorm some more.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Other ideas always welcome.

For whatever good it will do you, I'll stick a link on my site (do you have a graphic you'd like associated with the site?) I don't get much traffic but I suppose every little bit helps.

And Anne, I think everything you do will eventually turn to gold.

Try searching out and joining some mom/kid/homeschool/literary rings out there.

BlogExplosion and all its copycat traffic building sites.

Host a contest, get all your blog friends to link to it, and give away the books you don't want. People love to win free stuff.

Get listed on every directory and review site you some across. Go to my blog and scroll down to the lower left hand corner to "My Kind Sponsors," click away and join 'em.

BUST magazie (yes the feminist punk rock rag) has a bloglisting site. Punk rock moms love to read to their kids and are very pro-education. Go their and list both your blogs. I did.

And then make sure you keep it current. Give yourself a goal of maybe one new review a week or whatever.

The Denver Post has a "Blog House" listing on their website that links to Colorado blogs. Anything like that in LA?

Go begging. Contact the Zero Boss and see if you can get him to mention you. Heck you were a BoB finalist so you have an in and he's very nice and loves mentioning blogs he likes.

Make sure your listed with Yahoo's and Google's search engines. It's free.

Join Amazon's Associates Central. You can link their books to their site and make some money off it. I haven't made much, but it's sweet getting $20 from them now and again. (You can always get your relatives and friends to click on your site, and order whatever they normally get on Amazon. You still get a commisson even if they don't order what you show on your site.)

Faith: Once again, thanks for your kindness and, uh, well, faith in me.

Anne-Marie: Am already an Amazon associate and have yet to earn a penny. My family isn't as web savvy, I'm afraid. I was thinking of holding a contest but then I have to pay for postage to mail the darn things. Maybe I'll rethink that.

I'm also on BlogExplosion, thanks to you too! You referred me, remember?

Thanks for the other suggestions, which all make sense. You wouldn't know I used to be a journalist -- I suck at publicity!

The comments to this entry are closed.

about me

  • It is good to be the Empress
    ... but, y'know, it's kinda hectic. I blog when I can. Right now, my day's divided this way: keep kids from screaming (8 hrs); keep son from killing daughter (6 hrs); avoid diet (4 hrs); sleep (2 hrs); lay awake fretting (2 hrs); give up and Web surf for a while (1 hr); think about waking hubby for sex (1/2 hr); ponder my career options (15 mins); shudder, begin blog post (15 mins); resume efforts to keep kids from screaming ...
  • My Domain
    Where the heck am I?
  • My Life
    How did I get here?
  • Write Me
    email(at)inlandempress.com

Courtiers & courtesans

  • Milkula, the Lacto-Vampire
    My daughter. Alternately known as Mugwort, for a beneficial herb.
  • Minitaur
    My son, a diminutive version of the monster in Greek mythology, aka the Monsterling.
  • Plosh

hire me

  • I'm cheap ...
    ... and desperate. Available for freelance writing, copy editing and creating cool blog toppers. Order now and I'll throw in some sarcasm at no extra charge. Contact anne (at) inlandempress (dot) com.

Fit for a king

  • DadTalk
    An estrogen-free zone for Dads so they can sound off about their roles as parents and protectors. It's run by that handsome genius I married.

Kiddie Litter

  • Book Buds Kidlit Reviews
    A good story grows on a kid; a bad one stinks like a weed. Come see which new children's titles might be worth repeated readings or which ones you can safely shelve.

Nice Jewish blogs

Moms & Dads

Writing Blogs

Writing Sites

This n' that

  • This Mama Cooks
    Anne-Marie of "A mama's rant" tickles our taste buds with recipes and food talk. Yum.
  • Veritas et Venustas
    "Hello, my name is John. I'm a recovering architect."
Blog powered by Typepad