Pinterest is turning into one of my favorite places to visit when it comes to sharing knowledge and tidbits surrounding my business and my industry. I think the things I like most about it are that it is visual and it is quick. Well, relatively quick! You can get sucked into foodie posts and cute pet posts just as you would with any other social network, but if you go in with a goal in mind, I find it’s still a much more enjoyable place to spend some solid business marketing time.

It will help to keep you on track and focused if you go onto Pinterest a few times a week (daily, if you can) with a plan. For example, you could plan to spend 5-10 minutes pinning items of your own creation related to your business and industry. Then spend 5-10 minutes pinning items from others that are related to your business and industry. And finally, spend 5-10 minutes pinning fun items and information that will feed your downtime and fun-time needs.

This is totally doable if you get into a rhythm and are comfortable with what you’re doing.

When you’re pinning your own content, have a plan and a goal. You’ll want to include these 5 items every time in your description:

• Give lots of detail in your description. You have 500 characters to use. Fill it up to enhance the interest!
• Use one or more of your keywords in the description. If your keywords sound awkward in the description text, use hashtags at the end of your description (#mykeyword). These are great to help searchers and for SEO boosters.
• Be sure to include a URL link to your website, web page, or your specific blog post. These become live back links to your website and are great for traffic increasers and SEO boosters.
• Make sure you use a Call to Action.
• Examples could be >Read the full information on my website<, >Please repin this pin<, >Sign Up on my site to receive the free ebook<.  It’s perfectly OK to guide readers on what you would like them to do next.

If you have a service or product you want to pin, include the price for it by using the $dollar sign in front. It will automatically place a price banner across the pin corner and it will automatically be included in Pinterest’s Virtual Gift Catalog. Cool, huh?!

If you are actively blogging and creating valuable and helpful posts, then you’ll want to pin those particular posts onto Pinterest.

Remember though, that not every blog post may be “pinnable” content, so save your pins for content that is information-rich. It also helps if you have an image in your post, but you don’t have to.

Read the rest of this article by subscribing to Book Marketing Magazine, available on the Apple iTunes Newsstand.

Here are five keys to planning for successful book marketing:

1. Educate yourself about book marketing. It’s important to understand the principles of book marketing.

2.  Understand your market. To successfully sell any product, you need to understand your market. Who is your ideal customer? What are your secondary markets? What are their characteristics, interests, fears, and motivations?

3.  Have a written marketing and promotion plan. Some people tend to jump from one promotional activity to another, without any clear strategy. A written book marketing and promotion plan will give you a blueprint for promoting your book and keep you focused on what’s important.

4.  Get organized. You’ll save time and be more effective if you have a convenient way to keep track of everything you need to execute your marketing plan and track results.

5.  Budget your time and money wisely. With so many book promotion options available, and a limited number of hours in the day, it’s important to prioritize your promotional ideas and focus your time and money on those tasks that are most likely to produce results.

Click here to subscribe to Book Marketing Magazine and read the entire 5 Keys to Successful Book Marketing article.

Each of these goals can be achieved through the use of popular social marketing and digital publishing platforms.  The key is choosing the correct, most popular platforms that generate the desired return.

• Blogs
• Social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
• Media and Content Sharing Sites such as Flickr, Slideshare, Pinterest, Vimeo, YouTube, etc.
• Reader Communities such as Author Central, GoodReads, Shelfari, Author’s Den, etc.
• Expert sites such as EHow, Hubpages, Squiddo, etc.
• Digital Magazines such as Issuu, Paperli, and Scoopit, etc.
• Social Monitoring Tools such as Buffer, Klout, and SocialMention, etc.

An author’s success can be measured by implementing the correct strategies and possessing a clear understanding of the desired end results. By knowing the preferred final outcomes, authors can effectively and efficiently develop a successful social media and digital marketing campaign.

To read the entire social marketing platform article, subscribe to BMM today.

On sale now, new Book Marketing Magazine provides creative ideas,technical support and
resources to authors, speakers, and writers toward achieving writing, marketing and bestseller success

 Baltimore, Maryland.  Finally, a magazine that offers easy-to-follow advice, social media. marketing, training, support, and resources required for writing, marketing and bestseller success. Book Marketing Magazine (BMM) is published on the Apple iTunes Newsstand and provides insightful articles, videos, tips and training for aspiring, novice and even the most “seasoned” authors, speakers and writers —from the front cover and the very first page to the back cover!

This magazine isn’t just another “pretty magazine, with a bit of fluff”, although there are 70 “colorful” pages. Inaugural issue contributions from book marketing industry trainers, consultants, professional virtual assistants and award-winning authors range from such topics as Social Marketing Platforms; Pinterest;, Successful Book Marketing; Facebook Tools; and Google, to name a few. And five very specific topic areas, in fact: Cover Stories, Features, The Fundamentals, Tips & Secrets and Marketplace.  Each area alone is designed to give the reader a detailed look at how that specific topic leads the reader to a proper conclusion.

Interviews with literary industry leaders are also presented monthly in the magazine, as well as a section on how you can ‘Ask a Question’ of the Experts.

With this publication, Publisher Sharon Williams fulfilled a long-time dream to “help authors and speakers achieve writing, marketing and bestseller success”. Williams said, “It’s the perfect magazine for the author, speaker and writer ready to enhance his or her education and skills to become a pro at book production, distribution and marketing.”

For more information, contact: info [at] bookmarketingmag [dot] com.  Subscribe at http:// bit.ly / TBDF96, and to contribute to the magazine complete the Contributors form located at http:// bookmarketingmag. com / contributors. Find BMM on Twitter and Facebook and give us a “Tweet” and a “Like”.

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The answer truly depends on you, what your goals are and how you prefer to communicate with your audience. In order to choose the one(s) that fit your style the best, it helps to know the benefits and weaknesses that each network has. So let’s take a look at the top six.

Continue reading this article by subscribing to Book Marketing Magazine, available on the iTunes Newsstand today at http:// bit.ly/ TBDF96.

The Publishing Quadrant outlines the 4 main options for authors.

• Digital – Kindle, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Ebooks, Mobile
• Traditional – Kudos, Professionals, Expert team, Distribution, Contacts
• Self-Publishing – Fast, Control, Small niche markets, Low costs, Great starting point
• Print-on-Demand – Green technology, Global, Available to all, Low cost, No stock holding costs

Subscribe to BMM to learn how each publishing option can impact your promotions and sales.