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Whether you are an entrepreneur, intrapreneur, or just thinking about starting a business, this is the place to find out about resources, financial help, support, marketing, public relations and more.
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Resources
Networking for Introverts
So you want to market yourself or your business, but you're not the outgoing type? No worries, the marketing of today was made just for you. You can market yourself in the comfort of your living room. But you will have to use a computer. If you are an introvert AND you don't know how to use a computer, then I hope you've got some extra cash because you'll need to hire an online marketing specialist to help you with this.
1. Your Website
- First, make sure that you know how to create a successful website. I suggest reading my article called How to Make Money on the Web (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
- Have a professional web designer who understands online marketing, web content writing and search engine optimization techniques to create your site for you.
- Make sure your website clearly reflects who you are and what you do
- Create your site with your customers in mind - what would they want from your site?
- Offer free goodies and info:
- eBooks
- White Papers
- Tips and Tricks of your industry
2. Social Networking Sites (like Facebook and MySpace)
- Social networking is a great way to connect to your friends and to people interested in your work without actually having to talk to them face to face (unless you want to, of course)
- You can even create a fan site for yourself
- Almost all major writers have a presence in Facebook and/or MySpace.
- You can create events and contests through social networking sites.
3. Blogging
- A blog is a #1 consideration for networking for most writers, teachers, experts and small business owners.
- It is the best way to get feedback from your customers and interact with them by asking questions and answering questions.
- It creates a buzz about you or your business.
- You can start a free blog online through many avenues, most notably through Google who owns Blogger.
4. Send Your Own Media Releases
Remember when you would send a press release to your local newspaper and pray they picked it up and printed it on their paper? That is still happening, of course, but there is another way.
- Free media releases (no need to call them "press releases" if we're eliminating the press altogether) through pr.com, but I recommend their gold ($199/yr) or platinum plan ($499/yr) to get better visibility.
- How media releases differ from traditional press releases
- No middle man
- No need to find press contacts
- You write it
- You can send out as many as you want
- You control the categories it is listed under
- NOTE: All press releases must relate to you in some way
- Write releases in a journalistic style. | sample release |
- Releases can be short or long, but I recommend 3-6 short, well-written paragraphs filled with keywords that can be found by search engines. For example, if I'm writing a psychological thriller set in Miami, then I'll make sure to have keywords like serial killer, Miami, beach, book, psychological thriller, novel, South Florida, FBI.
- What to write a release about:
- Anything new (service, event, product)
- Teach something- Media releases can be educational
- Comment on something or someone in your field
- New partner or employee
- Send as many releases as you want. Some writers went as far as one release a week for 1-2 years before the book was published. A handful of writers that send that many releases were able to create enough buzz for a bestseller. Other writers are more conservative and only do one release a month or every other month.
- Media releases are sent to hundreds or thousands of websites that are related to the subject matter of your release and the industry category you choose.
- Your media release will be seen by your target audience and by people in the industry.
- Since media releases are categorized as "news" they are ranked very high on the search engines (but only for the first couple of days). Example: I sent out a media release for my husband's workshop in Greensboro. The day the release came out if you searched the word "Greensboro" under Google News, his media release came up first on the search engines. That's powerful.
5. Email Marketing ( Newsletters, announcements, invitations)
How to use it correctly:
- Include a postal address
- Unsubscribe option
- Information on how the recipient joined the list in each email newsletter
- Do not use false or misleading headers and subject lines.
- Play with different email subject titles
- Use html to create beautiful emails
Email marketing services
These services all have strict anti-spam policies. That means no sending e-mails or newsletters without first having permission from the email receiver to do so.
My recommendation: Constant Contact ($15/month for 500 e-mails with a free 30-day trial)
Other email marketing services:
- Vertical Response : $10 / 1000
- StreamSend : $20 / 2000
- iContact : $10 / 500
- Campaigner : $25 / 2,500
- MailChimp : $10 / 500
Free plan: 100 subscribers/ 6 newsletters per month
- Bronto : $84 / 20,000
No monthly option available - annual only
- Benchmark : $10 / 600
- MyEmma : $30 / 1000 (plus a $100 setup fee)
- Boomerang : $10 / 500
- Stream Send : $20 / 2000 (emails per subscriber)
- JangoMail $30 / 1000
- Big Hip : $20 / 2,500
Free plan: 25 subscribers/ 1,500 emails per month
- mUrgent : full service outfit / prices vary depending on service
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Recommended Links
- Quick Start Business Plan from SCORE
- Free Business Advice from SCORE mentors
- Inc. Magazine Online
- Update All Your Social Networks with Ping
- U.S. Small Businesss Administration
- Finance Primer: A Guide to SBA's Loan Guaranty Programs (you must register first)
- Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center
- HP Eco Ideas
Marketing for Artists CD
Based on Susan Lee's successful Marketing for Artists presentation, this highly informative CD can be viewed on your pc or printed. It includes the following sections:
- Marketing for Visual Artists
- Public Relations for Visual Artists
- Marketing & PR for Writers (information for published and non-published writers)
- Photoshop Tutorials
- How to Photograph Your Artwork
- Portfolio Creation and Organization (hard copies and online galleries)
- Complete clickable links to recommended instructional videos, marketing books and software
- Clickable links to artists resources on the web including grants, mailing lists, benefits for artists & more
Order your Marketing for Artists CD now for only $15 (+$5 S&H)
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