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August 30, 2006

The Art Of Shameless Self-Promotion

The Art Of Shameless Self-Promotion
Copyright 2006 by Willie Crawford

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.
------------------------------------

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/

Posted by Willie Crawford at August 30, 2006 06:36 PM

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