Is Having a Web Site Worth It?

After talking to a group of writers about setting up a Web site, and various ways to promote yourself and your site online, someone asked the $64,000 question: “So, is it worth it? After all of that, do you make sales online?”

Last night I gave a talk on online marketing at the Houston Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. After talking about setting up a Web site, and various ways to promote yourself and your site online, someone asked the $64,000 question: “So, is it worth it? After all of that, do you make sales online?”

The answer is absolutely, “Yes!” Not only do I make sales online, my sales continue to increase. And lots of other opportunities come to me, too. I am asked to do more client consultations all the time, and my media exposure has increased dramatically. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a writer with a major magazine who found me online and wants to include me in an article he is writing. Yesterday I was featured on a television news program in Tyler, Texas because they found me online.

There are two things to remember: You can do your promotion a little at a time. You do not have to get 1,000 links to your site the first week. (In fact, getting that many links at once might work against you.) Start slowly and keep up steady progress.

And, success begets success. The more prominent you are online, the more customers and media attention you will get. The more customers you get, the more referrals you will get. And the more media you get, the more online traffic, customers and other media you will get.


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