In this issue . . .
-- teleseminars this week: The Gift Market / Getting Corporate Sponsors
-- Brix Wine Spot
-- getting people to your website
-- Open Air magazine update
-- doing seminars in hotels: contract issues

teleseminars this week of interest to you . . .
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John Kremer will interview Amy Bates Stumpf, president of Gift List Media,
on How to Promote to the Gift Market as well as gaining the branding
spotlight. This seminar is free. This will be a great one-hour seminar!

Time: Wednesday, February 13th, 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 p.m. Pacific

Call: 218-486-3696, Conference ID: 2092800#
To listen free online: http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=1929405

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Linda Hollander, the Wealthy Bag Lady, is teaching a free one-hour
teleclass on the Top 5 Ways to Attract Corporate Sponsors -- and
who among us wouldn't like to have that!

Time: Tuesday, February 12th, 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 8:00 p.m. Eastern
For more information, go to http://www.wealthybaglady.com/classes

Brix Wine Spot
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Nancy Franks is opening a new wine store and is very interested in
finding out about wine books, cookbooks, vineyard-set novels, etc.
If you have such a book, send info to Nancy Franks, Brix Wine Spot,
Stagecoach Village, 7100 E Cave Creek Road #144, Cave Creek AZ
85050; 602-717-8048. Email: nancyfranks@cox.net.

Getting people to your website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reader question: Your article about giving away your book on the
Internet was certainly intriguing (and valid), but how do you get people
to your website? That is the $60,000 question! P.S. Do memoirs sell?

John's answer: There are dozens of ways to build traffic to your
website. I outline many of them in 1001 Ways to Market Your Books,
Chapter 12. Please read that for the complete answer. The short
answer is simple: Build relationships with the top 30 websites for your
key search term.

In your case, you wrote to tell me that your book is a memoir about
your two years on an aircraft carrier in World War II. You keywords
could be: aircraft carriers, World War II memoirs, war memoirs, etc.
Anyone who loves aircraft carriers, which from my experience means
almost anyone who has ever served on one, should want to know more
about your book and probably want to read it. Also anyone interested
in personal war memoirs or World War II naval history would be potential
readers of your book.

To create relationships with those top websites, offer them some great
content, which as a book author you have. Give them a book to review,
offer them a free PDF version of your book to give to their website
visitors, offer them sample chapters, do a Q&A with their visitors, do an
interview via written text or teleseminar or Internet radio show, write
an article about life on board a carrier, etc. Lots of content you can
offer them that would help them to bring in more visitors to their sites.
They will love you for the content and will provide a link back to your
website as a thank you.

That's the short answer. There is much more you can do, but that is
the most important for online marketing -- and the core of what any
book author should do for their book in today's marketplace.

You can Google your keyword phrases to find the top websites and
use Technorati or another blog search engine to find the top blogs.
For blog search engines, go to http://www.bookmarket.com/blogging.htm.

Open Air magazine update
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Send story ideas to Alexa Yablonski, USA Today, 7950 Jones Branch
Drive, McLean VA 22108; 703-854-3400; Fax: 703-854-2122.
Email: ayablonski@gmail.com. Web: http://www.usatoday.com or
http://www.openair.usatoday.com.

Kenneth Paulson is not the editor. I tried checking the USA Today
website to confirm this but was unable to. Here is the correct info
on the editor. Note, however, that story ideas go to Alexa above.

Jack Curry, Open Air Editor. Email: jcurry@usaweekend.com.

More Seattle Post-Intelligencer blogs . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Craig Campana is now also blogging with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
with the Career Diverted Survivors blog at:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/careersurvivors.

Jim Jaillet also has a blog also about RVing called Ramblin Man:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/ramblinman.

Diane Owens, author of Overcome Fear of Flying, is doing a blog on
baby boomers: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/bloomingboomer.

doing seminars in hotels: contract issues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following is an article on how to get the most out of your hotel
contracts by Emma Ocampo, Regional Director, HelmsBrisco, the global
leader in hotel site selection. In one negotiation, she was able to save
her client $75,000 via post-event negotiations. For more information,
call 713-266-2062. Web: http://www.helmsbriscoe.com. When you use
their planning services, there is no charge. The hotel venue pays them.

Negotiating hotel contracts is not about winning or losing. It is about
making sure that your contract meets your needs, provides benefits
and is fair. When negotiating a contract, first be fully aware of what is
most important to that particular meeting.

During the last few years, hotel room rates are on the rise and good
contracts are harder to negotiate. But, a little flexibility and creativity
can go a long way.

Consider History -- You need to show the value of your meeting so
the hotel will want to win your business. It is a good idea to outline
in your Request for Proposal (RFP) background information on your
company and an attendee profile. Including these details will leave
no doubt in the hotel manager's mind of the value you bring to their
property, and they will be more willing to work within your budget.

Maintain Flexibility -- Hotels calculate your worth based on a room-
space ratio. If your group falls short in this evaluation, consider using
hotels that have holes in their calendar. A hotel looking to grow its group
business or that recognizes your flexibility to help them is more willing to
provide value-added services to your group.

Know Your Hot Buttons -- Approach the hotel with a priority list of
items that you must have or concessions that benefit the bottom line
of your meeting. It is important to know which ones you are willing to
concede on and which ones are mandatory. Prioritizing accordingly will
help you keep the savings where it's most efficient.

Negotiating the following 10 items in your contract will enable you to
minimize the amount you spend on the meeting:

1. Guest Room Rates
2. Attrition Allotments
3. Cancellation Clauses
4. Cut-off Dates
5. VIP Requirements
6. Upgrades/Suites
7. Parking, AV, Amenities, etc.
8. Non-Compete Clauses
9. Construction Clauses
10. Walk Policies

Again, if you need help in booking your hotel space for seminars, a
HelmsBriscoe site specialist can help you save time and money. They
work with groups as small as 10 sleeping rooms on up to major conventions.

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Express everything you like. No word can hurt you. None. No idea can
hurt you. Not being able to express an idea or a word will hurt you much
more. As much as a bullet. — Jamaica Kincaid

More great quotes at http://www.quotablebooks.com