I was just reviewing sites from partners who take a few seconds and leave a comment here.

The partners who do are the ones that “get it” and I would suggest that you connect with them to add real power to your own promotions.

1. Find a link to their blog or community site
2. Skim through and find what is interesting about them.
3. Read a post, and think how you could add to the discussion
4. Leave a thoughtful comment

This works. I’ve been connecting with more players in the past two weeks that I would have thought possible. Most read the comments you leave, and really appreciate knowing what readers think, and several new partnerships opportunities have opened up for new joint ventures, cross promotions, book deals and best seller campaigns.

Meeting Best Selling Author Seth Godin 

I’ve been following Seth Godin (author of Permission Marketing, All Marketers Are Liars, Purple Cow and many other great marketing books) for many years. I really like the concept of his Squidoo.com and suggtest that every author and entrepreneur have at least one lens (page) there

Squidoo added a new feature this week called MonkeyBrain. When I saw it, I immediatly clilcked to see what it was about.

I set up a lens in minutes, with my thoughts on the value of arguments and posted about it on my Best Seller Authors Blog. Within the first 48 hours, there were hundreds of viewers, several comments, including one from Seth himself. Then he notcied a typo on my blog post and left a acomment there… calling me a “monkey brain”

Since then, we’ve traded private emails. I have a new valuable connection and friend.

Total investment in time.. about 20 minutes.

Best of all, I have fun surfing the web, reading as much or more than I did before, while using the time to get multiple goals at the same time.. News, networking connections, relationships built and maintained and new sales to profitable clients that come looking for me.

When you read a post, profile (say on MySpace, Facebook, or LinkedIN) and see some that you know or what to know better, use this to make a brief connection.

Remember to think in terms of what is helpful to them and their projects, not a blatent promotion for yourself. The Law of Reciprocity will kick in and good will come

Read this post from my friend Azlan Hussain  for more perspective on these digital relationships

Our giant cross promotions to promote new books to best seller status is just one part of the effort you need to grow your network, sales and profits.

If you aren’t already on several socail network web site, try these easy tips

I was just asked to comment on a blog post

Seems some PR people object to us creating best seller books with our best seller blasts.

My guess is that they don’t want us doing something that can be done without them.

Do you like the free leads you get from cross promotions?

Have you followed up with all the new subscribers you get? (Sure, some will instantly unsubscribe and find that your offers are not for them.. but those that are following up get a target new lead.. how’s it working for you?)

Please post a comment here. Tell me what you think about cross promotions, free leads and joint ventures. As always, put in any URL to your own stuff as long as it’s not just a blatant ad.  You may also want to comment on the orignal post, and my reaction on the Best Seller Blog

RE: Authors JV.. help your list and earn easy commissions

Do you have an email list of authors, entrepreneurs or others who might be
interested in getting major national publicity?

If so, my friend Steve Harrison has an affiliate opportunity you might want
to check out. He’s offering a free telephone seminar next Thursday,
January 31st with a former Oprah guest booker on how to get booked as a
guest on top national TV shows. You’ll make a commission on a publicity
how-to product and conference he’s offering.

Last year, publicity how-to product converted at 7.4% which means the
average affiliate made $5.02 in commissions for each and every person they
got registered for the free teleseminar. This year, Steve has sweetened
the offer for affiliates by also agreeing to pay them on the conference as
well.

In any event, to get all the details and sign up, go here now:

http://www.freepublicity.com/TeleseminarAffiliatePgm.html

I’ve been doing a lot of tracking and research to find what people on my online mailing list are most interested.

The results have been very helpful in planning my business and promotions for the next year.

I have a several mailing lists. Primarily, there is my list of authors. I’ve discovered that when I talk a about writing and selling books, or at least something related to that , the response is 2-300% higher than general offers.

My success oriented list lover to hear about new products, but the message must have the right keywords for them.

One odd finding. Many mailing lists do not respond as well to “here’s how to make a lot of money” offers. The authors like to make money. The success seekers like to make money.. they just don’t like anything that comes off as a scheme.

I’ve also found that readers respond best to “the real me”.. messages from the heart. So when I talk about my own discoveries, products I’m using and especially books I’m reading, the click through rate on offers goes up.

How about you?

Readers of my Partner News page are usually on my “Partners” list. When I talked about getting new leads for your business, attracting new readers for your mailing list, and getting the word out about your own book (many are also on my “authors” list) I get great response.

Do you want to make money?

Yes, but my research shows that as a group, you are savvy enough to know that you aren’t going to find one magic pill, a new web tool, or secret handshake that unlocks all the wealth.

And what about your list?

Have you asked your mailing list what they want to hear about?  What issue are troubling them? What help they are looking for? and most of all what would the like to read about in your next newsletter?

Tracking is nice. Real comments from real people even better. Please leave a comment. Let’s talk about what you want to see here on the PARTNER NEWS page and what kind of joint ventures and cross promotions we should feature.

Would you like more money making offers?

More “best seller book” campaigns

Do you appreciate our focus on qualified leads? 

I follow what Tinu says. She knows how to get free traffic.

Joint Ventures, whether there is an affiliate commission or not, get you targeted traffic and social proof (a strong recommendation that isn’t viewed with cynicism like most ads).

Check out this post:

http://freetraffictip.com/joint-ventures-and-why-they-should-be-your-first-source-of-visitors-traffic-method-4.php#comment-53907

I just added a new “lens” (page) at Squidoo (you do use Squidoo for free promotion, right?)

Another “lens” will be for “Talking With Giants”, a part of the next Mega Success Day we’re planning for January.

While there, I got thinking.. why not give away a bunch of stuff on Squidoo.. and so my FREE BOOK MARKETING lens was born.

If you market to authors, or those that want to be authors, give me something to give away and I’ll promote it. Or if you have an interesting promotion idea for authors, books, publishers or webmasters leave a comment here and we’ll pick several to feature on the “lens”

It’s FREE to get started on Squidoo.. I suggest you grab a lens URL while there are still great names available.

Only take a few seconds to sign up. You can build the page later.

Get the year started right… plan to join me here

Going into the last month of the year.. time to make sure we have our promotion calander full up for the coming new year.

We’ll be making improvements to the ZeroCostPromotions program, giving you more ways to get new readers targeted for your mailing list.

If you have a new book coming out, send us a note if you want to get on the schedule. The BestSellerAuthors.com team has options for any sized budget, and can refer you to professional services that will further leverage your results.