Friday, September 01, 2006

ArticleBlaster The Art Of Shameless Self-Promotion


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Article Title:
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The Art Of Shameless Self-Promotion

Article Description:
====================

When it comes to really growing your online business without
having a multi-million dollar budget, free publicity is
essential. If you can master "the art of shameless
self-promotion" you can literally get millions of dollars worth
of free publicity.

Additional Article Information:
===============================

1150 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-09-01 11:36:00

Written By: Willie Crawford
Copyright: 2006
Contact Email: mailto:willie@williecrawford.com

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The Art Of Shameless Self-Promotion
Copyright � 2006 Willie Crawford
Willie Crawford Incorporated
http://WillieCrawford.com/ezine.html

When it comes to really growing your online business without
having a multi-million dollar budget, free publicity is
essential. If you can master "the art of shameless
self-promotion" you can literally get millions of dollars worth
of free publicity.

While I call it "the art of shameless self-promotion," that in
no way implies that you do anything dishonest or unethical. It
just means that you actively seek opportunities to promote
yourself � ideally for free.

I've been online since late-1996, and a major part of my massive
success is directly due to me actively seeking and taking
advantage of free publicity. Let's look briefly at some of the
things I do, that you can also easily do.

1) Seek interviews on radio, and in magazines, ezines, and
newspapers. I haven't personally done television yet although I
do have a cooking show coming out shortly.

This generally means writing press releases and pushing those out
to the media so that they know what your expertise is. Add a
"media" page to your website where you offer a downloadable
bio, and tell the media how to easily contact you.

If you're uncomfortable with writing press releases, here's an
inexpensive membership site that not only steps you through the
process of writing press releases but also steps you through the
process of doing most of the other things that I'll mention
here: http://NewbiesStartHere.com The last press release that I
wrote (in under 5 minutes), and then submitted through PRWeb.com,
was created using the Press Release Generator on this site!

Comb the Internet looking for radio shows and websites that
feature experts in your niche. Contact the people who select
guest for these shows, or to feature on these websites, and point
out to them why you'd make the perfect guest. Read some of the
interviews on the sites first, or listen to recordings of the
shows, so that you confirm that they are a match for you, and
that you are a match for them.

This is one of the secrets as to how I've done well over 100
media interview over the past few years.

2) Seek to be featured in ebooks and ezines as an expert.
People writing ebooks, or regularly publishing ezines on topics
for which you are a subject matter expert, need you! They need
to interview you and share your expertise with their audience.
Your job is to be visible enough that they find you. That often
means having a website that ranks high for your primary keywords,
and that showcases your expertise. Do this and you'll soon be
getting more request for interviews than you care to do.

Do as many of these interviews as practical. They all promote
you, and provide "signposts" pointing to your site.

3) Write articles on your area of expertise and submit them to
article directories and appropriate ezines. This is an excellent
way to get your name out into cyberspace as an expert on a given
topic. A great article PROVES your expertise. Having someone
publish your article serves as an indirect endorsement and is
usually MUCH more effective than running a paid ad in the same
ezine. The publisher is hinting to his or her readers that they
consider you someone worth listening too... and that's why they
gave you some of the limited space in their publication.

4) Write a physical book. If you can write ezine articles, you
can compile a few of them that are related, expand upon them, and
you have the makings of an ebook or a physical book. Have as few
or as many copies as you want printed up. Just having a physical
book instantly adds to your credibility, and elevates you above
your contemporaries/competitors who haven't written a physical
book.

Think of that physical book as a glorified business card. People
tend to throw away or ignore business cards. It's harder to
ignore a book sitting on the corner of their desk. In the "about
the author" section include information on your projects, and
how to best contact you. Also offer some type of free
downloadable gift to drive them to your website where you can
add them to your mailing list.

I have an inspirational biography that I wrote and use just for
that purpose. It tells of how a poor farm kid, who spent most of
his youth on welfare, eventually rose to become one of the
Internet's "superstars." It tells of how I made the decision to
do this, made a plan, and then made it happen. More importantly,
that book, available at http://GitOffThePorch.com (or at
http://Amazon.com) tells the reader what pet projects I'm
involved in, and how to contact me if they need my products or
services.

I have this book printed up by my print-on-demand publisher in
small batches so that I CAN change the "about the author"
section to target whatever project I want to focus attention on
at the time. While I think it is a great book, and so does every
reader who has provided me with feedback, it's a great example
of effective shameless self-promotion.

5) Seek positions of authority. An example of how I did this is
that I volunteered to be a moderator at one of Internet
marketing's busiest forums. By becoming an authority figure at
the forum, I gained instant credibility.

6) Leverage the "success by association" principle. An
excellent way to gain credibility is to be seen, and
photographed, with people considered experts and admired by
others. This is why I teach subscribers and clients to always
take a digital camera to seminars and workshops that they attend.
Just by taking photos with famous people, and then posting those
photos on their websites or blogs, those who listen to my advice
often elevate themselves in the eyes of their audience. People
see you hanging out with (or hugging) someone famous, and they
subconsciously put you into the same category as that celebrity.

In addition to taking a still camera to seminars, take a video
camera or portable MP3 player, and look for opportunities to
interview celebrities and up-and-coming marketers. Use these
recordings as unique bonuses in your product packages. The
speakers and other marketers will often agree to do these
interviews because they know that when you spread these
recordings, you are also promoting them.

These are just a few of dozens of ways that I've used shameless
self-promotion to grow my business to a point that it's
virtually unstoppable. To discover even more ways that I use
shameless self-promotion, drop by my blog and join the thread
discussing this very topic. That thread is at:
http://TheMostTrustedGuyOnTheInternet.com/blog/

I'll share a few more techniques on my blog that I couldn't fit
in here, without making this article too long.

More importantly than discussing these techniques though - just
get out an apply a few of them! They've been proven to work.

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Willie Crawford has been teaching Internet marketing for over
9 years. Take advantage of his uncanny insights and unusual
candor by subscribing to his free, information- packed
newsletter. Also visit his top-rated blog. Do both at:
http://WillieCrawford.com/blog/

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