How To Use Internet Radio To Promote Your Book

Authors. What if I told you there was a way you could

promote your books without paying plane fare, hotel fare,

and exorbitant car rentals prices? Or, what if there was a

place where you could sit in your pajamas, feet up on your

desk, sipping your coffee, while you talk? Well, there is a

way and a place-Internet radio in Cyberspace.

As an Internet radio host of "On The Same Page" on

www.voiceamerica.com over the past 3 years and 3 months,

I've learned that this new medium is a very valuable tool

for promoting your books. Why? Because this medium has the

ability to reach a global, worldwide audience.

When I started hosting on www.voiceamerica.com on March 5,

2002, this was considered to be the wave of the future.

Well guess what? The future is now.

I currently host a show on www.voiceamerica.com (Maxine

Thompson's On The Same Page at 6:00 a.m. PST, re-aired 6:00

p.m. PST, and Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PST.). The shows are

archived both on www.voiceamerica.com and on my website at

http://www.maxinethompson.com . I also host shows on

www.artistfirst.com and www.maxineshow.com where I

interview authors in order to provide a platform to promote

their books.

On March 1, 2005, I launched a literary show at my

website,www.maxineshow.com, which will be

information-driven in terms of teaching how-to-writing

techniques and Internet marketing secrets.

A study by Arbitron, an Edison Media Research agency,

reports that, in the past 4 years, the audience for video

and audio broadcasting has doubled from 10% to 21% of all

Americans. As of January 2004, on a monthly basis 51

million people use Internet broadcasting as background

music/talk shows/soundtrack while shopping on line. Four in

ten Americans have listened to Internet Radio. The

estimated weekly broadcast audience for Americans is 30

million listeners, which is approximately 13% of the

population.

Studies show that 80% of listeners listen to the archives

or the tapes of the show, which I now have 30 months worth

of shows archived on my website.

So how does that translate for you as a writer? You can use

technology as one of the many tools available to get your

name out among the reading public. People who have Internet

access in other countries are able to hear about your book,

gaining you international exposure and readers. This can

help with word-of-mouth buzz, as well as media exposure.

Most of all, many of these shows are picked up on search

engines such as google, which is another way to drive

traffic to your site and to promote your titles.

So why be left behind in terms of making money on the

Internet?

Why not use on-line, as well as offline promotion? Why not

use inter-mercials? So you say, what is an intermercial?

According to www.worldwidewords.org , in origin, the word

seems to be a blend of interactive and commercial, after

the model of infomercial. You've heard of

infomercials-those insidious paid-for commercials that have

you whipping out your credit card in the middle of the

night, buying diet products that you know you'll never use?

(I've been guilty of that.) Just think of an intermercial

as an Internet commercial which is a savvy way to advertise

your products and services over the Internet. On on-line

radio, audiostreaming is used to send your message to a

global audience.

What are the benefits of an intermercial for you as an

author?

1.You get to discuss your book, as well as tell who you are

as a human being. Many readers like to get inside of a

writer's heads.

2. You can read excerpts from your book and answer call-ins

or emails.

3. You get to give out your websites, or places your books

can be purchased and you get experience with being

interviewed by the media.

4. You get to build a larger fan base through the archives

and through search engines such as google.

5. You get to connect emotionally with your readers.

6. Your interview is not limited to one geographical area

such as in off-line radio.

Why is Internet radio Cost-Effective?

For a small fee, you get exposure to a worldwide audience

of avid readers. The conversion rate on a large number of

listeners who get repeated exposure to your book can be

astronomical in the long run. In off-line radio, the show

generally has a limited amount of wattage as to the area

they will cover. It's generally a one-shot deal. In

Internet radio, the sky is the limit. Measurements of

listeners in terms of one-minute segments are now reaching

the millions.

Moreover, in addition to interviewing authors, in listening

to these shows, one can stay abreast of trends in the

publishing industry.

To conclude, I have had the privilege of interviewing many

celebrities and upcoming authors. Past authors interviewed

include Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Jack Canfield,

Robert Kiyosaki and many others. Self-published authors

interviewed include Denise Turney, Delores Thornton, Baba

Evans, to name a few.

So where am I going with this line of reasoning?

Bottom-line, who can better tell our story but us?

Likewise, who can better sell our books but us? In order to

compete on a global scale, writers must make use of this

new technology. This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_3408_3.html