1st VA » internet marketing

Seven Easy Ways to Promote Your New Product or Program Online

1st VA — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:15:38 +0000

So you have an exciting new product or program. You’ve surveyed your target market and you know it’s something they want and need. So, you hire a copywriter to create a great sales page for it and then you expect quick sales (and lots of them!). Yet – no one is buying. You announce it to your list. You add it to your ezine and website. Still… no one is buying. What is going on?

There could be many reasons, but chances are it isn’t being promoted enough or consistently.

Here is a list of ways to promote your new offering online.

Website and Blog: These are the most obvious. Your target market is visiting your website and blog, so, of course, you’ll want to be sure to highlight it on your home page as something new, and in a way that will catch the reader’s eye.

Ezine: Another “given,” but including your new offering in each ezine as a “recommended product” or service will give folks several chances to view the offering. I also suggest doing a solo promotion as an official “product launch.”

Tweets and Posts: If you’re not sure what this means, then it’s time you get a lesson in social media. You should be tweeting about your new product regularly (as much as 3 times/day) on twitter and posting regularly on Facebook. Now – know this will only work if you are also including valuable information/communication in your tweets and posts. Solely announcing something you’re selling will seem “spammy,” and only turn people off.

Affiliates: Give a great commission, and have your affiliates sell your offering for you. Make sure you are giving them plenty of sample emails, tweets, blog posts and graphics for their marketing materials, and offer sales tips and suggestions — don’t expect or ask them to come up with materials and a sales pitch on their own.

Article Writing and Submission: Write articles relating to your new offering that would appeal to your target market, and submit them to online directories, such as ezinearticles.com. Include an appropriate bio with a call to action that takes readers directly to your sales page.

Free teleseminar: It’s important to leave no question unanswered, especially for a higher-priced offering. Host a free teleseminar (or several) that will give people a chance to call in to ask questions about your product/service.

Joint Venture: Perhaps a colleague has a non-competing product, but a similar target market. Figure out a way to offer something together that will promote each other’s product at the same time, and to each other’s lists.

Remember that it takes anywhere from five to nine times for someone to look at something before they’ll become buyers. So, promoting in as many ways as are available to you, and consistently, is the key.

Good luck!

Donna Toothaker is CEO and founder of 1st VA the highly sought-after online marketing and consulting company. 1st VA specializes in providing online marketing support and services to entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who wish to effectively build or improve their online presence. To discover how 1st VA can help your business – visit http://www.1stva.com.

Ezine Basics

1st VA — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:48:03 +0000

“Why do I need an ezine?”

Everyone and their brother has an ezine. You probably receive several of them every day. You know you should have one for your own business, but you’re wondering WHY, and if it’s really worth the time and effort. The answer is YES, — it most definitely is!

Building a list of past and previous clients, colleagues and others who are interested in your services, and staying in touch with them on a regular basis, is crucial for the long term positioning as you roll out new offerings, host events, or make news.

So now you know you need an ezine. Now you ask, “Where do I start?”

First: choose a service to publish your ezine. Deciding on a newsletter service may be as simple as just factoring the cost. There are several good services; some offer monthly rates as low as $15/month. Aweber and Constant Contact are two such ezine services, and are widely used. A service such as 1 Shopping Cart can handle other functions as well, such as autoresponders, e-commerce, and more.

Next: decide how often you want to publish it. You need to take a realistic approach as you decide how often you wish to publish, and then stick to that schedule. If you set up an expectation to publish a weekly ezine, and then barely send it out every other week, you’ll lose credibility with your readers. If you know that you just won’t have the time for a weekly ezine, send it bi-weekly. Monthly ezines just aren’t cutting it anymore. They end up far too long and it’s proven that people are more apt to read short weekly ones than long monthly ones. On the flip side, sending e-mail blasts more than once, or perhaps twice a week, unless absolutely necessary (”breaking news”), may annoy your readers and shower you with spam reports.

Now, choose your content. There are three main pieces that are all you really need. 1. A personal opening, 2. A relevant article that provides value to your target market and list, and 3. A special offer, your newest product – whatever it is that you’re selling or want to promote that week.

Simple enough? Don’t get caught in the “where to start” overwhelm. Follow the steps above and within minutes you can be on the way to publishing your ezine.

Why Just BE-ing Online isn’t Enough

1st VA — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:55:46 +0000

It wasn’t too long ago that small business owners could put up a website, maybe add a blog, submit an article or two to online directories, do a little search engine optimization and they would do fine getting website activity and making sales. That process just doesn’t work anymore. You can no longer BE online without being ACTIVE online. And here’s why – you need to build relationships now, not just show your “brochure” and wait for sales to come to you. These days, when people are cautious about spending, they want to feel more comfortable about what they are purchasing. They want to “know, like, and trust” before they’ll purchase a product or service.

Here are three things you can do immediately to start building relationships, become known as the expert in your field, and create the “know, like, trust” factor.

1. Ezine: Most businesses already have an ezine. BUT – many are not utilizing it to its fullest potential. If you’re not in front of your readers on a weekly basis at MINIMUM – you’re missing the boat. Monthly ezines don’t work like they used to. You MUST stay in front of your audience more regularly.

Your weekly ezine should be brief. A personal introduction, an article of relevance on your area of expertise, an “about you” section and a recommendation are all you need.

You need to show your personal side in your ezine. People want to know YOU and get a sense of your personality and values. Often I talk about my family in my ezine because family is my number one value. People will resonate with that, or they won’t, but the point is, I’m sharing what’s important to me and people want to buy from people with similar values.

2. Blog regularly: Sure, most business owners have a blog, too. But it’s important to be blogging regularly. People won’t subscribe to ezines quite as much anymore due to email overload so it’s important to blog. Posting three times per week is ideal – but at a minimum you should be posting once per week. There are other benefits such as SEO (search engines LOVE updated content) but for the scope of this article the primary benefit is relationship building. Blogging is another avenue of building “community.” Having comments open will allow people to ask questions, and share their own opinions. Blogging is another way to show your personality.

3. Social media: This is one tool that is not so regularly utilized yet, but should be. Every business owner MUST be on Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter. If you’re not – you are missing out in a big way. Social media marketing is so important for building new relationships. From these new relationships you’re able to generate activity to your website, create interest in your products, and become known as the expert in your field. Not only might you generate new business, but you may create some joint venture opportunities. Social media isn’t what “the kids are doing,” it’s what serious business owners are using now to build important relationships.

Don’t wait for people to find your website – get active online, build new relationships and watch the sales and new opportunities come rolling in.

Announcing: Online in a Month (.com)

1st VA — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:16:00 +0000

We quietly launched an exciting new program back in April – Online in a Month. And with all the kinks and bugs worked out, we’re ready to announce it loudly and in a BIG way! This program is very unique and (might I say?) incredible! We’re taking folks who aren’t online, yet know they need to be but don’t know where to start, and we’re creating for them a complete online presence and in 30 days! This includes a blog site, ezine, 1 Shopping Cart set up, custom headers, – the works! There are several awesome bonuses included and we’re not just sending folks away with an online presence – we’re giving them instructions on how to maintain it themselves for the long haul.

You can read more about this exciting program here at www.onlineinamonth.com!

To help us spread the word on this extremely needed program – we’re offering a ridiculous (good ridiculous!) affiliate commission of 20% for any referring sales. That’s almost $1000 just for telling someone about this program who then signs up!

Think about your friends and colleagues who have been saying they need to get online, or need to improve their online presence and then sign up for our affiliate program. You’ll be helping them out and making some good money, too!

You can sign up for our affiliate program here.
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Learn more about Online in a Month!