Whether you’re an author or business owner, you probably are looking to the Internet to expand your reader or client base. That means, of course, you’re using email to connect with prospects.

If you’re considering creating a blog or even a static website, you’ve got to have it hosted someplace. With so many free resources, you may be thinking of saving your money for other marketing efforts and taking advantage of the freebies. Here are a couple things you need to consider.

* There’s power in the right URL (that’s Uniform Resource Locator, and quite simply it’s your web address).
* You want to build your OWN brand, not someone else’s.
* The right URL builds your brand.

The free services are terrific. They enable you to do so much to get the word out about your products, services, even books. And in future blogs we’ll help you put these to work. But you need your own base of operations. And that’s your URL. Free social network sites can help you build a following, but eventually you’ll want to drive these followers back to your own blog or website.

So start your online efforts by securing a meaningful URL. The first thing you have to consider is what you are marketing and branding…yourself or your product. If you have (or plan to have) multiple products, books or services, you may want to promote yourself as the common denominator in all these. In that case, you should buy your name, such as www.yourname.com. If you want to push your book, you can lock in the title, such as www.booktitle.com.

It’ll cost you less than $10 to get most URLs. GoDaddy is a cost-effective source for buying URLs. And hosting should cost you something between $5 and $20 a month, depending on the services you select. Get your blog or website up and then be sure to create your email. Only a few years ago, it was acceptable to have an AOL, Yahoo! or similar free email account. NOT TODAY. Now it just labels you as a small player. Not something you want to broadcast to your customer or prospect base.

Start right. Be a pro. Create the brand that will impress readers, clients and prospects…YOUR brand.

You’ll find this and more in our eCourse “Write Your Way to More Book Sales.”

Unless you don’t use Amazon at all, you probably are aware of the Kindle digital book. It’s very cool. The basic unit:

* weighs just 10.3 ounces with a 6? screen capable of 600×800 pixels and gray scale images
* holds more than 200 titles (more memory available)
* has a library of more than 160,000 books, blogs, newspapers, magazines and ebooks available for download
* charges just $9.99 for most books
* handles audiobooks and music as well as text
* uses cell phone technology to link (so you don’t have to find a wi-fi hot spot
* lets you read for about a week on a single charge
* charges you only for what you download, no monthly wireless bills, contracts or service plans
* allows you to annotate text
* makes available free samples and first chapters for your review before buying

But even with all this to commend the Kindle, you may be thinking the price is still too high for you (at $359). Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device Are You Thinking Kindle? But did you know you can get a $100 rebate if you buy with your Visa card? And conventional wisdom suggests the price will continue to fall. Still some readers think it best to wait for Kindle 2.0 to come out before they buy.
.
But as writers, you should know that about 250,000 Kindles have been sold. This is a platform you should probably be considering for your book or ebook. Amazon now has a section for authors to go to learn more. So check out the Digital Text Platform and start preparing to publish for Kindle.