Do Your Promotion Efforts Match Your Product Output

How many products do you have available at this very minute that could be a part of your income stream? What does your product tree look like? Is it ready to be harvested and enjoyed?

I ask these questions because I watch many people pump out product after product and grow branches that are ripe for the picking. However their promotional efforts still need a lot of nourishing.

I have had clients approach me and ask why they aren’t making money. The first thing I ask them is how are they marketing and promoting so that their market knows what they offer. The answers often throw me for a loop:

• I have a few buttons placed on some sites.
• I don’t enjoy writing.
• I am not good with talking to people.
• I have a website. Isn’t that enough?
• Well you are my social media/marketing VA! What are you doing to promote me?
• What exactly is promoting?

Trust me the list goes on.

If you are pushing out report after report, e-book after e-book, internet marketing product after internet marketing product, but you are not going forth with your promotional efforts; then you are going nowhere fast. Been there, done that, wrote the book… wanna read it?

This was one of the many reasons I decided to start my VA business. I was watching too many people make the same mistakes I did when it comes to marketing and promoting- a lot of production but very little return due to poor promotional efforts.

Think of where companies like Coca-Cola or McDonald’s would be if all they did was push out products and did no promoting.

It makes little sense to pump out all the products if you have no marketing plan. Marketing includes the promotional part as well and  it is not as hard as it seems. It just takes time. If you invest and your product is good, then the money will come. It may trickle at first but then you will start to watch it grow and grow.

Promoting is a very important part of marketing and there are many ways to promote yourself.

• Content marketing: Content is King
• Video marketing…GOT FLIP!
• Teleseminars/Webinars: People love to hear you talk if you know what you are talking about
• Virtual Blog Tour/Guest Blogging: Strategic guest blogging is a great way to find your market and share your message
• Your own blog with great SEO in place and regular quality posting will keep your market coming back for more
• Podcasting: There is likely an audience who needs your expertise
• Talk it up: Using your social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Ning is a great way to share your message. Just don’t be spammy and remember to offer your help where you can. Be a value and not a nag
• Business cards: Every business needs them because you need to promote online and off.
• Speaking engagements: Trust me the more you do them the easier they get.
• Freebies: Are you giving away stuff to entice your market to want more
• A List: Opt-in lists are a great way to promote because the people who sign up are usually interested in what you have to say

These are only a few ways that you can promote yourself and your products. There are many more creative ways to get your message to the masses.

Have a good support team is a great way to outsource some of your promoting efforts. It saves you time and helps you to spread the word in a more efficient manner.

It makes not sense to have a full branch if no one is around to taste the fruit of your labor. It will just get old and rot!