Publicity On The Internet

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Use social networking to market your product, service 10 ways

eriches20-2 Thousands of people who are being downsized, right-sized and capsized during this bad economy aren’t waiting around for a job offer. They’re looking to the Web for their next career—and maybe even riches.

Enter e-Riches 2.0–Next-Generation Marketing Strategies for Making Millions Online, a new book by Internet success coach Scott Fox.

If you’re one of the victims of this economy and you want to start selling online, or you’re new to Internet marketing, you can learn all about the basics of what it takes to create a successful business online. If you’ve been selling online for several years, the book will bring you up to speed quickly on how to add social media to your marketing mix.

Here are Scott’s 10 recommendations on how to use social networking as a marketing tool.

Invite a half-dozen or more friends to get your network started. Practice using the tools of the social network to communicate with them. For example, you can “add” friends on MySpace, “poke” or “write on the walls” of Facebook connections, or respond to some questions in the LinkedIn “Answers” section. (See Social networking ROI: A testimonial more valuable than an ad.)
Start engaging, publishing, and interacting. Get to know some people—that’s why you’re here.
Be authentic. A big part of being authentic is letting the “real you” out to play. Nobody wants to play with a “suit,” so don’t be afraid to be yourself (within professional and legal limits, of course). Mixing the personal and business sides of your life is more common than it used to be.
Only try to connect with others with whom you really do have common ground. Indiscriminate friend requests are “friend spam.” They are no more appreciated than email spam or junk mail in the real world. (And if people you don’t know starting linking with you, your own network will soon be less valuable, too.)
Ask for help. Most social network users are online to be social, and most are happy to help by sharing their knowledge about how the systems work.
Use feeds to keep up with your friends’ activities and broadcast your own. Posting your own status constantly and cleverly is a great distributed engagement marketing tactic. This is one of the “missed opportunities” I discussed during the teleseminar I hosted this month on 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.
If you have a blog, feed its posts into your profile page. This will automatically help keep your pages fresh and share your writings with a new audience, too.
Join some groups—learn the lingo and the tools of the network by using them and observing how others use them, too. Joining groups will also begin to create a natural dialogue with other users that will grow over time.
Be a good and involved citizen in those groups to cultivate new friends. There’s no better way to gain the respect of any community than adding value by sharing info, support, or companionship—and these tools will amplify the effect. If you are an expert, social networks are a great way to spread your reputation cloud for that expertise.
Create your own group. Once you are comfortable, start a group around your product or brand. Position yourself as an expert resource and offer to help and facilitate community. Members usually proudly display the names of the groups to which they belong on their profile pages. This can lead to lots more clicks (and members) as others see your group’s name or logo on friends’ pages and in their feeds.

Scott’s book includes more than a dozen examples of real-life Internet marketing success stories, from a North Carolina furniture store that profitably captures high-end customers using pay-per-click search engine text ads on Google, Yahoo! andMSN (Chapter 21), to the article syndication strategy that has helped a Christian stay-at-home mom to attract lots of profitable traffic for her blog (Chapter 16).

The book is $25 and published by AMACOM, the American Management Association.

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Blogs, Business Promotion, General, LinkedIn, Publicity on the Internet, Social media marketing, Social networking, Writing Articles, YouTube
posted On: 6/30/2009: 7:59 am: By Joan
Comments: 3 Comments

Online press releases: 8 powerful reasons to keep using them

newspaperboy2 With all the focus on social media, you’re probably scampering to create new content for sites like EzineArticles.com, Facebook and Twitter.

You may be writing articles, creating tips lists, and offering quizzes.

That’s great. But don’t make the mistake of abandoning online press releases, which is all too easy to do when you’re consumed with posting every day to Facebook and Twitter.

Here are eight reasons why you should continue posting them to your website:

Optimized press releases pull in traffic.
Make sure you use relevant keywords in the headline and throughout the body copy. But don’t stuff the release with keywords, or that will be a red flag to the search engines. Take advantage of StomperNet’s excellent seven-day free email course on search engine optimization. Each lesson in “7 Deadly SEO Mistakes” takes just a few minutes to review.
They save time for visitors.
It’s a great way to show journalists, bloggers and others what’s new and important, without making them spend a lot of time investigating your site. New product launch? They’ll find it in a press release. New CEO? There should be a release at your site that announces that. Special promotion under way at your company? Write a release that explains it. Put a link to all your releases in your online pressroom.
You can use them to reach consumers directly–and promote.
Years ago, we had to write printed press releases and cleanse them of anything that sounded like hype or promotion before sending them to journalists. Gone are the days, thankfully, when we had to genuflect at the altar of traditional media, say a prayer and hope they covered our story. Online press releases let us reach consumers directly without relying on the media gatekeepers.
Video and audio links.
Video and audio links can lead visitors to content that goes into more depth on a particular topic. It’s a convenient way to get that information in front of visitors instead of making them wade through page after page at your website.
They help bloggers.
Online press releases make it easy for bloggers to provide more information for their readers. All they have to do is link to the release from within their posts.
Links to landing pages.
From an online release, you can link to specific landing pages at your website where readers can find more information. Yes, you can even link to sales pages where you list all the benefits of the product you’re selling, and then ask readers to hit the “Buy Now” button. How cool is that?
They keep your site looking fresh and updated.
This is assuming that you post them regularly. It just dawned on me that it’s been several months since I’ve posted a new release, and I’ve just added that to my “to-do” list for today.
They can help you build your tribe on social networking sites.
From the releases, you can provide links so readers can connect with you at social networking sites. Why not include a link to your Facebook Fan Page, like I have here?

Two tips that will help anyone who wants to post online releases:

From the press room at my website, I link to my at ExpertClick.com: The Online Yearbook of Experts. This subscription service lets me post up to 52 press releases a year with no additional per-release fee. It also gives me a page in their online database of experts, which journalists search frequently when looking for sources for articles. If you subscribe, tell them I sent you and they’ll knock $100 off the subscription.

If you want to learn more about how to write and distribute online press releases, you can opt into the free 12-week tutorial I created on “89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases.” More than 6,000 people have taken the course.

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion, Facebook, Press Releases/News Releases, Publicity on the Internet, Search engine optimization, Social media marketing, Twitter, Video
posted On: 6/26/2009: 9:44 am: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

How can author market her book to interior design students?

frominteriordesign Jeanette Simpson of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., writes:

“I have just published my first book, From Interior Design Intern to Employee: How to be a Keeper (Including Tips from Those Who Hire.)”

“It’s written specifically to help interior design interns transition from college to career.

“Aside from social networking, contacting university design departments and all vendors, reps, designers and architects I know, how can I reach my target audience—college students?

“Any advice from your Publicity Hounds would be greatly appreciated.”

Posted In: Authors & Publishers, Facebook, Publicity for Niche Markets, Publicity on the Internet, Social media marketing, Social networking, Video
posted On: 6/23/2009: 9:25 am: By Joan
Comments: 5 Comments

Social media tips for restaurants, bars and nightclubs

restaurantchefgarnishing If you own a restaurant, bar or nightclub, don’t miss the fabulous tips from Restaurants & Institutions on how to participate in social media.

Senior editor Alison Perlik offers sound advice on how to do more than just create a presence on Facebook and Twitter.

Her tips are so valuable that they can be used by the owners of almost any business, not just restaurants.

She got me thinking about other ways restaurants can participate in social media. Some of my ideas also apply to owners of bars and nightclubs.

Go ‘behind the scenes’

Use your Facebook Fan Pages to offer a few recipes from your kitchen. You don’t have to give away all your trade secrets, but your Fans would appreciate knowing that you’re passing along a recipe for your popular Sour Cream Apple Pie just to them. This is a great way to create Fan loyalty. And it’s a super way to start accumulating lots of Fans. (See 11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook.)
Ditto with mixed drinks. If your bartenders notice that customers are wild about your ice tea-based cocktails, for example, offer a recipe.
You can also use your Facebook Fan pages to offer customers special coupons.
Share trends. Let people know what trends you’re seeing in your business. This article in New York magazine is a good example of cocktail trends that customers might want to know about.
Share with your customers and others what your chefs eat at home. Do they plop in front of the TV with a big bag of Doritos after a long shift? Or do they have a special healthy snack they can whip up in five minutes? If so, provide the recipe!
Interview customers about what they like about your food and drinks, and upload those videos to your Facebook Fan Pages.
Upload photos of people having a good time (with their permission, of course) to photo-sharing sites like Flickr and PhotoBucket.

Make it easy for customers to find you

Let customers know where they can follow you on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other social networking sites where they congregate. Print this information on your menu, in your paid ads, on flyers they can take with them, on direct-mail advertising, on coasters at your bar, and on signs in your window.
Offer this information online, too—at your website, at your blog, in your email signature, and in videos.

Connect with journalists and bloggers

Many journalists are now on the social networking sites, particularly Twitter and Facebook. If you’re dying to get in front of a particular journalist, Google their name and see if you can find them on a social media site. I Googled ”Allison Perlik” and found her on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Check out Harry Hoover’s wiki of media people using Twitter and media outlets using Twitter.

Ask your customers for suggestions

Your customers might have some great ideas for ways you can interact with them on the social media sites. But you’ll never know unless you ask them.

For more ideas on how to generate publicity in traditional media, see Publicity Tips for Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Facebook, LinkedIn, Photos & Graphics, Publicity on the Internet, Social media marketing, Social networking, Video
posted On: 6/9/2009: 4:34 pm: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments

‘Feed Me Bubbe,’ a kosher cooking show, wants publicity ideas

Avrom Honig writes:

“My three-year-old web TV show Feed Me Bubbe, which features my Bubbe (Yiddish for grandmother) demonstrating how to cook a variety of kosher food, has received national media attention.

“Of course, we’d like to receive more. Can your Hounds recommend the best ways to pitch a story about the show to the big food magazines? We’ve already been on ABC News and PBS’s “Frontline,” and in the Wall Street Journal. But we’re always interested in any other media attention we can generate, including blogs.

“We’d love to hear ideas from your Hounds on other media outlets or bloggers that might be interested in covering Feed Me Bubbe.”

You can watch this segment, in which Bubbe makes “Jewish penicillin,” or chicken soup.