Just popping in to share a hilarious YouTube video about the “Perfect Publishing World” .

Hope this brings you a chuckle.

As always, remember:

Sell your work, not your soul!

I’m popping out of my cave of insanities (otherwise known as 5 web site launches and 2 book trailer launches in the next two weeks) for a quick note about multidimensionality in marketing.

Recently I read a post on Publisher’s Weekly, about the interactive, multidimensional, two-year marketing plan Scholastic has created for their upcoming book series, The 39 Clues.

Scholastic hopes to position this 10 book series as a blockbuster successor to the Harry Potter series, and they’ve left no dimension neglected in their preparation for the first book’s release this September.

The corresponding web site will launch September 9th, and, according to a report in the New York Times:

“An online game will allow readers to search for the 39 clues themselves, while solving puzzles and playing mini-games that will be refreshed daily. Mr. Levithan said the site would include blogs written from the points of view of characters, and maps, treasure hunts and videos, many with historical and geographical content.

Each book will come with six collectors’ cards that can be used to find further clues in the online game. Players can also win cash and other prizes. “

The marketing efforts, and buzz generated pre-release, have paid off.

Dreamworks studio has acquired the film rights for all ten books, with Steven Spielberg signed on to direct.   The print run for the first book, The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, has doubled from 250,000 to 500,000.

And publishing industry gurus are heralding the interactivity and multidimensionality of the plan as the next gen in book marketing.

Thoughts for the Overwhelmed:

I know many authors who already feel overwhelmed by the demands on their time and creativity.  Maybe you’re one of them.  Maybe you feel you’re already at your limit, multi-tasking like crazy…and now, you have to be multidimensional too?

For some of us, our only claim to multidimensionality is that our favorite jeans don’t button like they used to because we’re too busy to exercise:)

In a world full of unexpected illnesses, carpooling, computer glitches, financial struggles, and a pace of life generated by our culture that borders on insane, sometimes its a victory just finishing that book or proposal, or having any kind of web presence at all.  Much less a two-year web strategy complete with targeted demographic studies, and Spielberg producing movies to go with your books and web launch.

So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t lose heart.  Ultimately, we must let God pour us out when, and where, and how He chooses.   There are a million marketing possibilities, a million choices for our time and our energy.  But in the end, there are only 24 hours in a day, only so many days in a year, and only so much energy in our reserves.  He chooses our goals.  He decides when we’ve achieved greatness.  Our job is to not run ourselves dry (and believe me, I’m preaching to myself here) but to simply do and give our best.  That’s all He requires.

Thoughts on marketing in a digital age:

Our world is changing.  Or more to the point, our technology is changing us.  Changing the way we live, the way we think, what we expect.

It’s changing the way we work and play.  Everyone from children to baby boomers are using the Internet for news, entertainment, search, and social networking.  First we unhooked from our desktops, and enjoyed mobile computing from our laptops.  Now accessing the Web via cell phones and PDAs is the new norm.

It’s changing the way we read.  It started with skipping the local bookstore for the convenience of online sites.  Now people are skipping the online sites and buying books with digital readers through on-demand access.  The popularity of this system is not a fad.  It’s the future.  Which is why the Amazon Kindle sold out in 5.5 hours at its release.  And why many publishers are exploring e-book formats.

It’s changing the way we connect.  We started sending each other silly messages via e-mail.  Then instant messenger came around.  Then blogging.  Then we invited friends to keep up with us on Facebook or Shoutlife or MySpace.  Then that wasn’t immediate enough, so we switched to Twitter.

And through it all, marketers have been watching.  Customizing our internet experiences because they see the truth:  God wired humans with curiosity, multiple senses, and an escalating desire for more.

Authors can use this same understanding of human wiring, and use today’s technology - video, audio, crazy contests (Ted Dekker’s Books of History challenge comes to mind), web interactivity, etc - to engage readers before, and beyond, the book.

Looking Deeper:

The bottom line is this:

1.)  We live in a hectic, noisy world.  Readers, especially in the US, are over stimulated already.  With so many things competing for their attention, we’ll need to be savvy to draw them back to the simple pleasure of reading.  But with that said…

2.)  God is a master strategist, and a master at wooing the hearts of listeners.  He knows exactly how to draw your audience to the message He’s given you for them.   As far as He’s concerned, there’s nothing new under Heaven, even if some of this technology is new or even frightening to us!  So fear not.  Do your best.  He’s on your side.

Just For Fun:

If you’d like to be multidimensional while doing something fun, create an avatar, grab a couple friends, and go hunt for treasure at Puzzle Pirates, a virtual world filled with treasures and sea battles.

Then be sure to stop back soon for samples from my marketing and internet classes at the Mt. Hermon Writing Conference, and in the meantime remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

They’re out there…flashing, teasing, intriguing, beguiling, scrolling, thundering, and occasionally boring us comatose. Have you seen them?

Whatever name you use, whether it’s: Book Trailer, Book Preview, Book Video, Book Teaser, Book Clip, Book Short, or Book Flick, these products of the Internet Generation are becoming more common every day.

But are they worth the investment? Do they influence sales? Are current trends moving to or away from Internet video?

If you’re wondering what all the hype is about, and whether this is something you should pursue, read on! This article is written with you in mind.

What Are These Book Video Things?

Wikipedia defines a book trailer/video/teaser as:

“A video advertisement for a book which employs techniques similar to those of movie trailers. They are circulated on television and online in most common digital video formats.”

Basically, a book video is a brief, (hopefully) entertaining teaser that presents intriguing bits of the plot to readers, or features clips of the author interspersed with plot points, while using a contemporary visual medium to draw new audiences to the book.

A quality book trailer, like well-written back cover copy, will intrigue while maintaining the mystique and promise of the story.

Do People Actually Watch Online Video?

Consider this: Google recently modified its search engine results to include video in the main search pages, not just in the video sub tab.

The writers strike last November that robbed us all of new episodes of LOST (sob!) was staged primarily because writers felt they were being deprived of the major profits studios gained from online and digital media consumption.

And there’s more:

• According to comScore estimates 73% of U.S. Internet users viewed video online in February, 2008.
• eMarketer estimates that one in two Americans, or 154 million people, will watch an online video at least once a month in 2008, and that audience size for online video will hit 190 million by 2012.
• A study by Nielson Online shows traffic to online video sharing sites has more than doubled since November of 2007. YouTube claims an 18% increase in traffic, while video start-up Crackle, has seen traffic double to 2.4 million users.
• A new study from the Solutions Research Group shows a MAJOR increase in people viewing primetime programming on the internet in the past year. SRG says that almost 80 million Americans — 43% of the online population — have watched one of their favorite shows on the internet. That’s up significantly from 25% a year ago.
• Pew Internet & American Life recently released a study showing that 53% of men and 43% of women watch online video, and over 70% of Internet users under the age of thirty actively visit video-sharing sites.
• Simmons, a unit of Experian Research Services, suggests that consumers are 47% more engaged in television commercials online than on television. The study also found that people are 18% more engaged in ads online, as opposed to print versions in magazines.
• A new report from the Convergence Consulting Group suggests that by the end of the decade, “about one out of every four times somebody sits down to watch a show, they’ll be facing a computer monitor or a television connected to a computer.”
• And according to the “Streaming Media, IPTV, and Broadband Transport: Telecommunications Carriers and Entertainment Services 2008-2013″ report from Insight Research, streaming online video and music revenue is expected to increase at an annual growth rate of 29% over the next five years.

What Does This Mean For Authors?

It means that television viewers are migrating to the Internet for their entertainment. It means that more users than ever are sharing and watching online video. And it means that if you want to meet them when they arrive at your cyberdoor, a book video or trailer could be a solid addition to your book promotion arsenal.

Videos are sharable, promotable long after your book’s release date, and they capture the attention of potential readers in a way back cover copy cannot.

ABA Publishers Turn to Video:

A recent article from the Christian Science Monitor entitled “Why Book Tours are Passé” confirms the move toward book trailers and online video by ABA publishing houses, saying

“Author readings and signing sessions, once the staple of publishing publicity, are being usurped by virtual encounters and promotional videos.”

And a quick search on Google confirms this:

Hyperion, Bantam Dell, Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins and Penguin all offer book trailers.

Penguin’s UK branch recently ran a world-wide competition for creation of a book video for author Chris Mooney’s The Missing. (See the winner of the competition on Penguin’s web site.)

Author Dean Koontz, in partnership with Random House, recently ran a competition for a book trailer for his latest book, The Good Guy.

Smaller presses such as Kunati and Mercat Press of Scotland are also featuring book trailers.

Technology Savvy CBA Publishing Houses Pursue Video:

In the CBA, publishers such as B & H, Harvest House, and Thomas Nelson have all commissioned book trailers.

According to a press release from Thomas Nelson’s Publisher, Allan Arnold, the reason for their choice is simple:

“Movie companies have discovered how to promote story in the most emotive, memorable way possible. Books are entertainment. The power of the story is what draws people. We are creating mini-movie trailers to engage readers in the story.”

Trailers & Online Video in Bookstores:

Publishing houses aren’t the only ones capitalizing on reader interest in video promotion of books.

Out of the Book Productions - a branch of Powell books, now offers book trailers featuring author voiceovers.

Christian bookseller Christianbook.com has begun featuring book trailers for novels, including the trailer for BJ Hoff’s new release, Song of Erin (Scroll down to the section entitled: Video Featuring this Product)

Barnes and Noble has dedicated an entire section of their web site to book trailers and author videos.

Amazon now accepts reader-generated video reviews of books, as well as book trailers, in their Add A Review section.

Borders has a dedicated section on their web site, as well.

Awards and Bold New Frontiers:

I’m wrapping up here, but I should mention just a quick word about the awards and new frontiers in book promotion that have sprung up in response to this fresh art form.

The Moving Stories Film Festival was created specifically to highlight book video excellence, and the well-known review magazine, Kirkus Reviews in partnership with Random House, has sponsored the Teen Book Video Awards several years in a row. And the Telly Awards known for their awards of excellence in the Television industry, have recently expanded to include online videos and book trailers as well.

Besides the dedicated sections on Barnes and Noble and Borders sites, readers can now view entire web sites dedicated to book trailers and book videos, including BookVideos.tv, ExpandedBooks.com, WatchtheBook.com (viewer discretion advised), BookWrapCentral.com, and PreviewtheBook.com

Looking Deeper:

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” ” Isaiah 30:21

Here at PulsePoint Design, we’re strong advocates of trailers and online video. Not because we believe in chasing trends, or even in setting them (although we do lean toward that second one:). We advocate the use of this medium because it’s another way to use today’s technology to love and uplift your readers. To reach out to them, and to share your heart and the beauty of your story.

With that said, I hope very much that NO ONE will go away from this post feeling terrified that they must get their own online video or else. The reality is that God can do marvelous things with the work of your hands, whether you have some fancy online trailer or not.

Online video is a useful tool for spreading the word about books in a new way. But like every other promotional medium, it is not one-size-fits-all. Not all authors are comfortable in front of a camera. Not all books lend themselves to trailers.

Ultimately, you must listen to the Coach in your heart, and invest where God directs you to invest. This is true of your time, your energy, and your technology!

Just For Fun:

If you’d like to create a silly video online, check out Dvolver

To create your own book video for free online, try One True Media’s site.

And to watch a book video that is GUARANTEED to make you want to read the book, and is the video that, in our opinion, puts all others to shame, check out Frank Beddor’s trailer for The Looking Glass Wars.

Then be sure to stop back soon for samples from my marketing and internet classes at the Mt. Hermon Writing Conference, and in the meantime remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

We’re back with the conclusion of our four part online bookstore series. In this installment, we talk about a genius substitute for selling your own books.

Conclusions… and The Perfect Alternative To Selling Your Own Books:
The four lessons we’ve featured are the main reasons we’re convinced selling books on your own site can work against you. Not only because these sales erode your time, money, and word of mouth exposure opportunities, but because they may put you in conflict with your local bookstores, and may even be a violation of your contract with your publishing house.

But is there an alternative? A way to garner higher profits from your books, get the contact information for every customer who purchases, and avoid the hassle of payment processing, etc?

The answer is yes.

This week, I talked with Tracey Higley of SignedbytheAuthor.com, and asked her to put together some information about her revolutionary company and the support they provide to authors.

Here’s what Tracey had to say:

Signed by the Author.com allows you to list your book through a simple submission form, and then refer your readers to the site to purchase autographed copies of your books. When a reader orders a signed copy, Signed by the Author.com forwards the order, along with a postage-paid shipping label, to you. You sign a copy, attach the label and send the book. The labels have Signed by the Author’s return address, so there are no privacy issues. And each quarter, Signed by the Author pays you 75% of the retail price of all books sold.

Signed by the Author.com provides the benefits of selling books yourself, without the hassle. You receive your reader’s contact information for future follow-up, and a much higher profit margin on the sale. Your reader receives a personally signed copy. But you are saved the time and aggravation of setting up a shopping cart and dealing with the credit card transaction and shipping fees. You also benefit from Signed by the Author’s extra marketing on your behalf, like home page features of your books, and our monthly newsletter to our customers which can feature your news, contests, and giveaways. There are also opportunities for cross-selling. Readers shopping for other author’s books will see your books on our site.

Signed by the Author.com is a great alternative to setting up online sales yourself, and gives you much more in return than other sites where you would refer readers.

Here at PulsePoint Design, we encourage all our clients to offer Signed by the Author links on their books pages. Not only for all the reasons Tracey listed above, but also because the human touch of a signed book is a wonderful way to develop customer loyalty.

We also suggest that clients include affiliate links to Amazon and/or Christianbook. Because, to paraphrase what Steve Weber said earlier, “People are going to buy there any way.” So make purchasing your book on these sites easy for your visitor through providing links, and get a little of the profit in the meantime. Don’t make them fight to buy your book from their vendor of choice!

Stop back soon for our in-depth article on Book Video Trailers.

And, in the meantime, remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

We’re back with the final segment in our four part online bookstore series. In this installment, we talk about how to avoid the instant gratification trap selling books from your web site presents, and how to create a smart strategy that will serve you long-term instead.

Lesson 4: Smart Strategy Goes Beyond the Latte Fund

The marketing expert I mentioned in my first post claims that selling books from your own site will garner you more money, more contacts, and better market positioning. But is that really the case?

Let’s talk about this, and the bottom line issue, which, with book sales, is money:

1.) Time is money. How much of your time will you invest in setting up a credit card processing account, handling bounced checks, keeping your books stocked, buying or locating boxes for shipping, printing out or purchasing postage, tracking down wrong zip codes or mistyped addresses, transporting packages to the post office, and dealing with undeliverable mail? How much is all that time worth? Can you put a price on it? Or a price on hiring an assistant to do it for you?

2.) Money is money. Let’s say that once you get your PayPal code, or e-commerce cart set up, and all your items listed, you receive two book orders in a week. You’re one of the few authors whose contract allows you to purchase your books from your publisher and re-sell them on your site. You buy your books at a discount rate of $6 and you’re selling them (in order to be competitive with ‘evil’ online monoliths like Amazon and Christianbook) at $12/book. You’ve just made a whopping $12 in profit. Congratulations!

But wait.

What about the credit card or PayPal processing fees? Gotta deduct those. And the shipping and handling charges you paid the publisher to get those books in the first place? You have to deduct that from your profit. too. You also have to pay postage to ship these books to the customer. And set aside the sales tax for your state (you have been tracking that, haven’t you?) and sometimes your city, as well.

And you’ve just spent an hour fulfilling the orders, when you could have been writing. That’s one hour less you have to meet that big deadline. Was selling those two books yourself worth it?

3.) Sales Numbers are money. The books you purchase at a discount from your publisher do not count towards your sales numbers. Your re-sale of these books do not count towards your sales numbers. Every book you sell from your own site is one less book sale your agent can count when pitching your next project (if you’ve ever been turned down by a publisher for a new project because your last book sale numbers weren’t high enough, you know what this means.) And it’s one less book sale you can count toward your arrival at the blissful otherworld known as book-royalty-land.

4.) Word-of-Mouth is money. The more books you sell on Amazon or Christianbook or Barnes and Noble, the more credence these sites give your book. Which means they will display your book more frequently, and raise your book’s position in search results, which increases your book’s exposure. Every book you sell yourself subtracts from this. What is that subtraction going to cost you in the long term?

Amazon sends out New Product e-mails to past customers. I’ve received many of these. In these e-mails they tell me about new titles that might interest me based on my past purchasing history. I can’t count the number of times Amazon has suggested a new title or author to me in this way. Titles and authors I would not have known about otherwise. Free word of mouth marketing from the biggest bookseller in the universe. What’s that worth?

5.) More buyers are money. Steve Weber, of Plug Your Book, says,

“Many, perhaps most, online book buyers prefer purchasing at Amazon. So if they’re going to go there anyway, why not post an affiliate link so you can earn an additional 6 percent from the sale?”

I can’t help but agree. Amazon received 56 million visitors last month. More people know about, and are comfortable with Amazon purchases than with purchases made from an author site.  Christianbook received over 2 million visitors last month.  These are visitors looking specifically for Christian books.  An extremely specific target audience.

Amazon also offers the Customers Who Bought This Also Bought… feature to its visitors. This feature indexes your book’s key content, compares it to other books, and suggests it as an option to readers who wouldn’t know of it otherwise. These suggestions are offered to all of their 56 million visitors per month. How many of those 56 million people would know to look for your online store?

And Amazon gives authors a free Amazon Connect blog, right on the site. They promote this blog on every one of your book pages, and on the Amazon start pages of every person who’s purchased one of your books in the past. Direct marketing to your book buyers. And you didn’t even have to get them to sign up for your mailing list. To me, this is invaluable.

Click here to read our concluding remarks about the reasons selling books from your web site could work against you, and a great alternative to market your books.

And, in the meantime, remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

We’re back with the third segment in our four part online bookstore series. In this installment, we talk about how to determine which hats you’re supposed to wear as an author…and which hats will crush you.

Lesson 3: Author or Stock Clerk, You Make the Call

I’ll never forget a conversation I had with an author several years ago. She was exhausted. As a type-A doer, she’d taken major responsibility for promoting her books, and was doing everything she could to build her readership. Book signings, appearances, interviews, newsletters, the list went on.

Then the marketing team at her publishing house told her she also needed to start a blog. And not just a simple blog, but a high-octane, high-maintenance, high-reader-interactivity blog that would require hours of her time each week.

Panic filled her voice as she told me about this new task. “I’m doing so much already I can’t find any time to write! I’m so tired! I have manuscript deadlines pressing, responsibilities as a wife and mom, and now this!” She was nearly in tears.

If , at that point, I had told her she also needed to be responsible for book sales on her site, I think she would have had a psychotic break right then and there. So would many authors.

Which is why the “expert” advice I mentioned in Part 1 troubles me so much.

Authors wear many hats: writer, self-editor, parent, spouse, friend, speaker, church member, coach, marketer, researcher, boss, radio personality, house cleaner, grandparent, chauffeur, mentor, the list goes on.

Finding the time to create thoughtful, quality prose is already a battle. So authors must choose very, very carefully where they invest their time and stamina.

Unless adding a sales clerk hat to your pile is a God-given mandate, it will simply become one more distraction. One more obligation. One more thing leeching away your energy, and thereby robbing your readers of a better book.

If you’d like more information about the reasons selling books from your web site could work against you, click here to read part 4 of our series!

And, in the meantime, remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

We’re back with our second installment in our four part online bookstore series. In this installment, we talk about your contract with your publishing house and how this applies to your book re-sales.

Lesson 2: Don’t Violate Your Contract

As part of their contract with an author, most publishing houses provide a limited number of free book copies. The publisher also allows authors to purchase books directly from them at discounted rates, specifically for use as giveaways and for re-sale at speaking events.

According to literary agent Janet Grant, most contracts have restrictions about where and when you can re-sell these books. If you’re selling them directly on your web site, you could be competing with your publisher’s sales, and could be considered in breach of contract.

Here’s what Janet has to say:

“Authors need to check their publishing contracts before rushing to sell books on their web sites. A standard contract is likely to place restrictions on where you have permission to sell your book. For example, this statement appears in a contract that’s on my desk right now to be reviewed: “The Author shall have the right to purchase, on a nonreturnable basis, additional copies of the Work at 50% off the catalog price plus any shipping or freight charges, for personal use only and not for resale…[italics mine].”

Now, in the past with this publisher, I’ve negotiated an addendum to give the author an opportunity to do some selling of the book. This is what the publisher has agreed to: “The Author may purchase quantities of the Work if available from the Publisher’s inventory, to sell and promote at the venue of Author’s speaking engagements and conferences only, at the following discounts off the cover price: [discounts are listed]. These copies shall be sold under the following conditions: Copies are non-returnable. No royalties shall be paid for such copies. The Author may not sell the Work to any account serviced by the Publisher or any of its distributors or which competes with any such account or distributor…” [italics mine].

What is the publisher saying? That it doesn’t want its authors to compete with any venues through which the publisher might want to sell the book. So, when you sell your book on your web site, you’re competing with Amazon, Christian bookstores, CBD, etc. The publisher isn’t putting this qualifier into the contract because it’s trying to grab every book sale from authors, but because the publisher wants authors to support the avenues by driving business to the avenues that are selling significant copies so those avenues succeed and can sell more books for more authors.

Bottom line: You need to keep your word, which you gave when you signed your contract.

So check your contract. If you don’t understand the restrictions placed on your ability to sell your book, have a conversation with your publisher. Some publishers might not mind web site sales, but others care a great deal–their contracts say so.”

If you’d like more information about the reasons selling books from your web site could work against you, click here to read Part 3!

And, in the meantime, remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

First of all, please accept my apologies for the down time on this blog. As many of you know, I had emergency spine surgery two weeks ago, after 2.5 years of severe, debilitating pain. Now that I’m back on my feet, you can expect more frequency in these blog posts.

And now, for a question: What do James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, Sara Gruen, Elizabeth Gilbert, Khaled Hosseini, Mitch Albom, Jacqueline Mitchard, Patricia Cornwall, Terry Goodkind, John Krakauer, Jan Karon, Seth Godin, and Danielle Steel have in common?

Yes, every one of these authors are featured in the prestigious New York Times Bestseller List. But they have something else in common. Not one of them sells books from their web site. Not even Seth Godin, the world-renowned Web marketer.

Recently, I read an article in which a marketing expert said smart authors should stop sending their visitors to Amazon or other online booksellers, and instead handle book order fulfillment themselves.

And yet, all these bestselling authors I’ve listed, with their personal assistants, dedicated marketing teams, and savvy web advisors, have chosen not to sell books on their sites. Why?

Surely they’re smart authors, right? Or at least, smart enough to be featured on Oprah, develop worldwide audiences, sell many, many, many books, and make a very good living practicing their craft.

And what about the author sites run by publishing houses such as Hachette and Random House? Surely these publishing houses would want to capture buyer data through built-in site shopping carts, rather than sending these buyers to an external purchase site, right?

And yet, they don’t. Check James Patterson’s site, and John Krakauer’s site. In fact, some publishing house web sites themselves send book buyers to Amazon and other online retailers. See HarperCollins as an example.

So do all these authors and publishers know something this marketing expert does not?

I think they do. I think they understand the long-term pitfalls that come with selling books on your own site. Pitfalls we at PulsePoint Design have discovered as we’ve worked to support our authors.

Here are some of the lessons we’ve personally learned:

Lesson 1: Don’t Alienate Your Local Bookstore

Several years ago we planned to promote an online contest for one of our clients. As part of our promotion plan, we created professionally designed fliers to distribute to a number of local bookstores. We thought this was a great plan. We were promoting a local author, the books were featured in all the local bookstores we visited, and what reader doesn’t love a contest?

We were in for quite a surprise. Not one, but four out of the five bookstore managers I spoke to asked the same question:

Did our client sell books directly on their site? These managers told me that if my answer was yes, then the site was considered a competitor, and we couldn’t leave our fliers in their stores.

On the list of things you don’t want to do as an author, alienating your local bookstores ranks right up there. At the least, directly competing with your local bookstore’s sales won’t endear you to them. Our client learned that first hand…

If you’d like more information about the reasons selling books from your web site could work against you, click here to read Part 2!

And, in the meantime, remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

Happy Tuesday! In honor of Labor Day, and the hard work we all do to keep our web sites running safely and smoothly, I’d like to talk to you about how to protect your hard work from domain deception and Internet trickery.

Today our focus is on domain scams.
Nasty Domain Scammers - Exhibit A:

Meet Domain Registry Central. This past week, one of our clients received a very official looking e-mail from a company calling themselves Domain Registry Central.

The good folk at Domain Registry Central (a.k.a. Domain Notification Central, a.k.a. who knows what else) harvested our client’s private contact details from a WHOIS search before our client came to us and we initiated privacy protection. They then sent them an e-mail, and included enough official sounding wording to strike terror into any web owner’s heart. Here’s just a sample:

FINAL NOTICE

Sounds pretty scary, right? But the reality is, this is a SCAM. This company sends e-mails and faxes to people all over the country. They make it appear that your domain is about to expire, when, in reality, they have no control over your domain and are actually selling you an additional domain with a .us extension.

Nasty Domain Scammers - Exhibit B:

Meet Domain Registrars of America. Don’t be fooled by the classy little American flag on the envelop of the “official” invoice they send you. This company is even worse than Domain Notification Central, because they try to trick you into renewing your domain through them.

Here’s a copy of the sort of “invoice” you may receive from them (image found on EasyDNS.com):

What’s appalling about this, is what happens to you if you fall for it.

1. They pull your domain from whatever registrar you originally chose.
2. You’re forced to pay their extremely high prices (no domain should cost more than $8/year)
3. Your web site will stop working
4. Your e-mail will stop working

Of course, they don’t tell you those things. And unless you read their verbiage carefully, you don’t even realize they’re not your regular domain name registrar.

Last, you should know about Domain Availability Vultures.

These web sites are actual domain name registrar sites. Places where you can search to see whether a domain name is available or not.

What you don’t know is that they’re logging your search.

As an example: One of our clients went to a domain registration site, and entered a search for her domain. She was pleased to find that it was available, and returned the following week to purchase it.

But when she entered the domain name again that next week, she was shocked to discover that not only the .com, but also the .org and .net versions of the domain were no longer available!

The good news, she was told, was that she could now own one of these domains for the discount price of $1,000.

How generous!

Action Steps:

Scam Letters - If you receive a letter like the ones mentioned above, you can forward it to the legal department at ICANN at icann@icann.org . And if you ever get a questionable letter about your domain name from another company, something that elicits fear and is compelling you to do something you’re not sure about, check the ICANN directory of accredited registrars to see whether the company is legit or not. Then talk to your web manager, and your current web host for advice about what next steps to take.

Domain Availability Searches - Although we don’t have a comprehensive list of the sites that are tracking domain searches, we do know of several registrars that are (to the best of our knowledge) safe:

www.1and1.com

www.godaddy.com

www.bluehost.com

In the interest of full disclosure, both 1and1.com and bluehost.com are PulsePoint affiliates and we get credit for referring you. But there is a REASON they’re our affiliates. They don’t abuse our clients!

Looking Deeper:

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” Colossians 3:9

The companies listed above have made millions through reprehensible and deceptive practices, choosing lies and trickery as their way to advance themselves.

Though the concept of being a millionaire sounds great, making those millions at the expense of people you’ve deceived will garner you a whole bucketload of guilt - or worse- a numbed conscience- along with your millions.

Earning a good income fairly comes with joy and honor. And that’s the kind of income we can be proud of!

So. How can we be sure we’re not using trickery to advance our careers?

1.) By committing in our hearts to be truthful. No matter what.

2.) By checking ourselves regularly to make sure we’re staying true to our vow.

That means no deceptive PR about our latest service or product. No false statements about our expertise. No dishonesty about our intentions.

Someone once told me, “The truth needs no defense.” If we love the truth, more than our own opinion, more than the windfalls or false security deception could bring us, we will not only establish a reputation of integrity. We will find ourselves supported by the truth when we need it most.

Just For Fun:

Click the following link to see a list of funny and often mispronounced domain names. These are domains that perhaps shouldn’t have been registered at all!

Mispronounced Domain Names
Disclaimer 1: Some of these domains, when mispronounced, can be PG-13 to R rated. If this would cause you offense, please don’t view the link.

Disclaimer 2: PulsePoint Design is in no way affiliated with Slurls.com

thanks for visiting, and in the meantime remember:

Sell your work…not your soul

Today I’d like to tell you a story about an opened pack of Pokemon cards and how an e-Bay listing for these cards changed one woman’s life forever.

Dawn, a mother of six, had two things available to her:

1. An unwanted, opened pack of Pokemon cards - snuck into her grocery cart by one of her children
2. A sense of humor and the ability to write

So Dawn posted the Pokemon cards for sale on e-Bay, and included a short story about why they were for sale.

As a result, Dawn garnered:

• $142.51 for the opened cards, plus…
• Several book deal offers
• Multiple job offers
• A request to be on a reality TV show
• Contacts from C-Span, Nickelodeon, Fox and a number of newspapers
• 95,000 hits to her blog… DAILY
• 10,000 e-mails from fans… DAILY

And the list goes on.

So how, you may ask, did Dawn accomplish all this? The answer is, she didn’t. She didn’t set out to be famous. She doesn’t have any books or ancillary products for sale. She wasn’t expecting more than a few dollars for the cards.

What happened to Dawn was the best possible kind of marketing result- her readers, viewers, and bidders did all the marketing for her.

Why? Because Dawn innocently - even accidentally - created a post that we, in the web marketing world, call “Link Bait”.

What is Link Bait?

A link bait article, post, or product, is anything that intrigues us. The sort of thing we read or see and instantly get on the phone to our Mom, co-worker, and three best friends about.

Link bait is something that speaks to an interest, need, or hunger in the human heart. It is often specific to a particular group - ie. single women, men who love golf, teen fans of a certain band.

In Dawn’s case, the group was mothers, but her post was so well-written (read gut-splittingly hilarious) that it appealed not just to that group, but to daughters of mothers, husbands of mothers, grandmothers, and on and on.

When Link Bait Goes “Viral”

A few people read Dawn’s e-Bay post, and told their friends and family about the story. Those friends and family told friends and family. And those friends and family told publishing houses, agents, people at the major television networks, and more friends and family in North America and many other countries.

Pretty soon people wanted more. Did she have a blog? Did she have a book for sale? Would she consider podcasting? Or a television appearance?

Her blog hits increased from a few each day to nearly a hundred thousand each day. People scrambled to subscribe to her blog feed. She received so many e-mails that she couldn’t begin to answer them all. And bids on her only other e-Bay auction, a sewing pattern worth about $10, exploded. At the time of this post, the bid is at $102.

This is a phenomenon we call “Viral Marketing”. When something catches on so quickly that it’s passed around faster than a contagious disease. When a post, concept, or service addresses such a need and longing in the human heart that its appeal expands beyond its initial target audience.

What’s So Special About Dawn:

As soon as I read her e-Bay post (many thanks to Mary Hampton for forwarding me the link) and browsed through her blog, I sent e-mails about her to the PulsePoint staff, to author friends, and to an agent and editor I know.

Why? Because Dawn is a star. I know a blockbuster when I see one, and Dawn is that in spades.

What makes Dawn special is not her new-found fame. It’s not the mega hits she’s getting to her blog. It’s not even her hilarious e-Bay post.

Dawn is just being herself. And that makes her special.

She’s using what she has available: Pokemon cards, humor, and a good command of the English language. And she’s doing a good job with those resources and talents.

Most important, this entire crazy situation is a simple outworking of Dawn’s daily life.

This isn’t forced, perma-grin marketing. This isn’t pre-packaged, plastic, buy from me because I’m desperate marketing. This is organic marketing at its finest. An overflow of Dawn’s personality, love for people, and giftings as a person, that just happened to catch on.

The thing is, Dawn has been posting items to e-Bay for years. She’s been raising her kids for years. She’s been faithfully being herself for years.

This is just her time to shine for a larger crowd.

And what makes her shine the most is her response. She hasn’t gotten proud or arrogant. She’s actually freaked out by all the attention. What has brought her to tears, is the fact that she’s been able to encourage people and make a difference in their lives.

Now that’s a person who should be famous.

Looking Deeper:

“Then the Lord asked Moses, “What do you have there in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.” Exodus 4:2

Like Dawn, we are each special and unique. We each have something in our hands to offer others. It may be a shepherd’s staff. It may be Pokemon cards and a riotous sense of humor. It may be kindness and wisdom and a glass of lemonade. It could be a lot of things.

The question is, what’s in YOUR hand? And what are you doing with it? Have you buried your talent? Are you using your talent, but bitter because your audience isn’t bigger?

As we pursue our callings and goals, we can learn four important things from Dawn’s story:

1. Be faithful with whatever you have in your hand
2. Let serving others and bringing them joy be your reward (in whatever size and capacity that may come)
3. Prepare your heart by doing well in the little things so that when and if your season of “fame” comes, you’ll be a great, humble, safe, outward-focused famous person
4. Amazing things are possible when you truly care about people and have a great idea

Just For Fun:

Don’t miss Dawn’s hilarious e-Bay description

And her delightful blog (my personal favorite is the “I Resign” post)

and in the meantime remember:

Sell your work…not your soul