Mood:
a-okTopic: On Marketing
In the space of three weeks, I have had three visitors who used my website http://gentlecloud.tripod.com to reach me.
First, a writer acquaintance I have met on the web pinged me with information about his new website and asking for an exchange of links so as to help get eyeballs for both. (Uhmm, for the uninitiated, eyeballs here refer to web viewership, but of course).
Second, someone who has joined my e-chat session went through my website to get a copy of the free short story I posted there.
And third, just three days ago, a bibliograph specialist at Singapore Integrated Library Automation Services reached me via the same route to get more details so as to create a name authority record in Library of Congress authority file and will be used in libraries around the
world.
What is amazing about the three recent contacts is that I have not marketed my website for ... at least a year!
Reflecting on the coincidence of three contacts made so close to each other made me realise a few things about what I did right and what I would have done differently.
Choosing the right service provider to host your website is very important. Remember this. Your website address will be featured in your book backflap, for instance, or at Amazon.com if you list your book there, or some other sites you haunt. This URL needs to be permanent enough for anyone wanting to reach you to do so without hitting a blank wall. I, for one, visit the websites of some of the authors whose books I have enjoyed. One such author, Julie Beard, featured her website which was not only not maintained but did not provide an avenue to contact her. What a shame!
So, what are the key things to look out for in a good web service provider? I have experimented with three so far, namely, Bravenet, Tripod and Googlepages. And here are the things I noted are important:
1) find one that is easy to use and maintain
The creation of each webpage must be intuitive, allowing basic features such as text creation, addition of images and weblinks. There must be sufficient choices of layout to play around with in order to create that special mood and sublimal message you want projected on your website. It must allow changes easily, even for a novice. This will save you quite a bit in the long run, for believe me, you will make MANY changes as you go along. And you wouldn't want to keep paying someone to make these changes.
2) it would be good to have great plug-ins or widgets
By this, I mean those web tools which allow you to do the little extras. These are far-ranging and include things like adding audio, viewership counters, date last updated, background music, templates for useful pages such as "Contact me" or "Place an order" with Paypal and other payment vehicles, online messaging functions, 'Joke of the Day', or 'Today's Bible verses" and so on. In this area, I find Tripod to be quite good whereas Googlepages is still in the process of 'getting there'
3) If you're serious about what you're offering, get a 'paid' site.
A lot of these good web hosting sites have a free and a fee model. The free model has advertisements which are not within your control. And these ads can clash with the theme or mood of your website. So, having a paid website seems a fair thing to do to provide yourself with a professional looking homepage. As one friend had put it, it makes the viewer feel that you are serious about your writing when your website does not look cheap, i.e. flickering and popping with advertisements.
4) choose one that allow yearly subscription instead of only monthly subcription
The few sites I've used charge in US$. Everytime you pay in US$, there is a flat service charge or conversion fee the credit card company will slap on your transaction, regardless of how large or small a transaction. Imagine paying, say, $5 service charge, over and above your transaction amount and you'll see how much you save if you pay in lumpsum as opposed to instalments. In the case of Tripod, their one main inflexibility is the refusal to entertain yearly subscription. They charge a monthly fee of US$4.95 for the lowest plan without ads. It would cost me an additional $5 x 11 months to service the US$ monthly payment. So, lesson learnt: Choose a web service provider that accepts yearly subscription. It is a small point which a lot of people overlook until too late. Imagine trying to change your website address after thousands of copies of your book are published.
5) Finally, use a website name that is easy to remember
Gentlecloud as opposed to TanSuYin is self-explanatory. You would have thought that it is common sense to use an easily remembered name. Well, some have common sense and some don't. *grin* I was reminded of how easy to remember Gentle Cloud was when I went to collect my latest namecards. I told the girl at the service counter, "I'm here to collect my namecard. It's Tan Su Yin." She gave me a blank stare. Then, she exclaimed, "Oh, Gentle Cloud, right?" Her sentence hit home. Gentle Cloud, yeah!
6) Final, final point. Choose one with a more dignified domain name
See for yourself. Gentlecloud.tripod.com vs Gentlecloud.bravenet.com vs Gentlecloud.googlepages.com. For me at least, I feel that the domain name "googlepages" seems a bit off. Tripod sounds more solid (in more ways than one). Bravenet ... hmm, I leave that to you to decide.
Just for the record, the first web service provider I chose was Bravenet. After one year of paid subscription amounting to S$100+, I was unsuccessful in getting my website up. It is not that user-friendly. Needless to say, I terminated the account and that, in itself, was also a hassle, as they did automatic renewal of your subscription and charge to your credit card without any confirmation from you.
For Tripod, I built my site in roughly one work week of two hours each day. It is simple and powerful to use. Only problem is, when I wanted to pay for subscription, all they offer was monthly ones and did not heed a customer's request to reconsider yearly subscription. How obtuse! They lost one customer in the process. Me.
As for Googlepages, only time will tell. They are still building their capabilities. It is very easy to use too but the widgets are not so refined, though they have some quite fun widgets such as tuning in to the radio, messaging and so on. And for now, the blessed thing is that it is free of advertisement, being still in the trial period. Let's see what happens further down the road ...
Su Yin
http://gentlecloud.googlepages.com
