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Monday, March 6
Mon, Mar 6 Morning Featured Article
by
tecHead
on Mon 06 Mar 2006 07:59 AM EST
Hollywood, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author Mark Jeffrey Unveils Free MP3 Audio Book Downloads at New Hampshire Signings for "The
Pocket & The Pendant"
By PRWEB
(http://pdfserver.prweb.com/pdfdownload/203531/pr.pdf) Download this press
release as an Adobe PDF document. (http://pdfserver.prweb.com/pdfdownload/203531/pr.pdf>Download)
Hollywood author Mark Jeffrey, a new Hampshire native goes back "home" for book signings at regional Barnes & Noble
stores. His book "The Pocket & The Pendant" is available for preview at www.pocketandpendant.com (http://www.
pocketandpendant.com) where readers can download free chapters or download MP3 audio reading of two chapters.
(PRWEB) January 31, 2005 -- WHO: Mark Jeffrey, New Hampshire, native and University of New Hampshire alum. now a noted
Hollywood new media producer and author of the newly published Sci-Fi and Fantasy novel "The Pocket And The Pendant"
(http://www.pocketandpendant.com (http://www.pocketandpendant.com)) (Lulu Press, 220 pages, October 2004).
WHAT: Readings and Book Signings at area Barnes & Noble stores. Author Mark Jeffrey, a featured reader at the 30th
Annual World Fantasy Convention will conduct readings from his new highly acclaimed Sci-Fi Fantasy novel, "The Pocket
and The Pendant" which reviewers online are comparing to the Harry Potter.
WHEN: Friday, February 4, 2005: Manchester, NH, Barnes & Noble, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: February 5, 2005: Portsmouth, N.H. Barnes & Noble, 2:00 p.m. and Manchester, BH, Barnes & Noble, 7:30 p.m.
(Note teens and adults are welcome at the signing since the book is aimed at both audiences.)
ABOUT "The Pocket and the Pendant" by Mark Jeffrey- ISBN- 1-4116-1323-6
(from the back cover) Max Quick was a very strange little boy indeed…but even he didn’t suspect how strange –until
time itself stops the world over. Now, he must unravel an ancient mystery drenched in magic books, the lost Sumerian
civilization, a curious rogue planet in our own solar system, and a bizarre slushy nether-time called ‘the Pocket"
About Author:
Mark Jeffrey has spent most of his life as an entrepreneur, "The Pocket and the Pendant" released in fall, 2004 is his
first novel. Jeffrey has co-founded three online media companies, the most recent of which was sold to Barry DillerÂ’s
IAC in 2004. His first project, The Palace was backed by Time Warner and attracted an audience of more than 10
million users and was selected as one of "The Best of 1996" by Entertainment Weekly. Mark has been named as one of
HollywoodÂ’s "50 Creatives to Watch" by VARIETY magazine. Mark loves riding his Harley, working out at the gym and
writing about cool things. Although he grew up in the northern wildwoods of New Hampshire, he now lives in sunny
Santa Monica, California.
Free Preview:
A free preview, including the first two chapters of the book, is available in .pdf format for immediate download at
http://www.pocketandpendant.com (http://www.pocketandpendant.com). The website also features cover art, news and
updates about the book, reviews and a blog. Note the newest addition to the site is free MP3 digital downloads of the
audio version of these chapters. The novel is also available online at http://www.lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com) and
at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.
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Sun, Mar 5 Evening Featured Article
by
tecHead
on Sun 05 Mar 2006 12:59 PM EST
How A Change in Perspective Can Help You Make More Holiday Season Sales: Pt. One
By Tinu AbayomiPaul
Some sites are perfect for the Christmas season - their products fit easily into the idea of gift-giving. But what if
the products and services you offer are for small business owners?
Or, as many of my clients ask, how do I survive the holiday season if I sell intangibles?
When a couple of people brought this question up to me in early fall, my answer was that I'd probably make enough
money in October not to have to worry about November and December at all. Prevention made sense to me at the time as
being the best cure, but it also doesn't mean that I've resigned myself to slow sales during the holidays.
On the contrary, I think that most people who have businesses that offer intangibles such as ebooks, downloadable
software, or marketing services can just as much, or more money as the rest of the year by changing tactics slightly.
In other words, just because much of the world is more focused elsewhere doesnÂ’t automatically mean that there is a
smaller pool of available customers.
True, part-time small business owners may be more mindful of gift-giving and planning family gatherings right now, and
anyone with family may sacrifice a new widget for themselves to get that special someone the gift of their dreams.
However, itÂ’s important to remember that this doesnÂ’t mean no one wants or needs your services right now. It may just
mean that you need to think a little differently to make sales this time of year. There's a number of ways that a few
subtle changes in your thinking can bring you into a solution-oriented perspective.
For example, IÂ’m an American. This constantly leads me to a tendency to forget that this isnÂ’t the only nation on the
planet.
If, like me, you are constantly forgetting that you can market to people worldwide, one small way you can attract more
business is to think bigger. Instead of falling prey to the thinking that there isnÂ’t any money to be made again
until January, think about how your site can serve a wider audience.
For example, maybe you can make your site easier for people to translate into other languages using Alta VistaÂ’s free
Babelfish tool at http://babelfish.altavista.com/ (http://babelfish.altavista.com/), or a link to GoogleÂ’s Language
Tools page at http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en (http://www.google.com/language_tools?hlen) - check your
server logs and see if you have a significant amount of traffic that originates in a country other than yours.
This is just one of many ways you can widen your audience.
If you have a news or content feed, maybe you need to add a newsletter for the portion of your audience who has not
yet started to use news readers. Or if you blog, maybe you need to promote your feed as much as your blog. If your
site is mainly text, it could be time to add audio. Or maybe all the flash you put on your site for hi-speed users
makes you miss out on dial-up visitors.
Just one small change can put you in front of an cross-section of potential clients you may not have had access to
previously.
You can also use a study of the demographics of your current audience to get ideas for affiliate products that might
help them. If you're not studying who your audience is from afar through surveys, or even better, getting up close
and personal and talking to them directly, you should be. Knowing what their needs are is invaluable information in
helping you to help them.
An example: If you mostly cater to women who are small business owners, with a little more investigating, you might
find that they have a common need.
Many of them may be newly successful in their endeavors, and might be thinking about making a large purchase, like a
house. You could join an affiliate program of a mortgage loan company and bring the two groups together. You've done
your audience a favor, the loan company is happy with the feedback, they pay you per lead, everyone is happy
Another way you might want to think differently is to use this time of year to focus in on one earlier step in the
process of making a sale, instead of focusing more attention towards the later steps that are closer to a purchase.
While most merchants worry a little too much that advertising and marketing in the last few months of the year is a
waste of time, there are some people who see this as true from experience. Although past experiences donÂ’t
necessarily have to translate into present expectations, IÂ’ll agree that maybe if you sell one ebook about painting
Easter eggs, that Christmas season sales really are a foregone conclusion.
However, even in cases like these, you can still isolate one step in the sales process and just say hello. Even if you
make most of your sales from on-the-spot buyers, communicating with new arrivals at your site several times can help
you increase the number of people who end up purchasing down the road.
Some studies show that most online sales, particularly of ebooks and software, are not impulse buys, and may take up
to seven contacts before a purchase is made. So why not make those repeat visits occur as informatively - and as
quickly - as possible?
You may find that simple well wishes, and the show of a sincere desire to help builds rapport between a you and your
potential client. Touching base during the holiday season doesnÂ’t need to be a formal or long communication either.
For instance, you can send a quick email out to your list, just saying hello, or offering them a coupon against future
sales. Perhaps youÂ’ve been on the receiving end of such a gesture. I know I have, and I always appreciated it.
A lawyer I used to work for sends Thanksgiving cards. He doesn't ask for any business, he just updates us on how his
family is. As a result, he is hard-coded into my brain every Thanksgiving, and I look forward to his letters.
HeÂ’s also always at the top of my mind when people ask me to refer them to a good attorney. Sure itÂ’s because heÂ’s
great at what he does - but his effort to keep his name at the top of my mind didnÂ’t hurt either.
In Part Two, IÂ’ll tell you about what I noticed about the subscription site model that helped me triple my income in
one month, and how you can use what I learned to help you make more money this holiday season.
Copyright 2004 Tinu AbayomiPaul
Tinu AbayomiPaul
Read part two of this article at http://www.freetraffictip.com/perspective2.php (http://www.freetraffictip.com/
perspective2.php) or visit the Free Traffic Tips Blog for search engine news and more cost-effective ways to bring
targeted visitors to your site.
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