Are you accomplishing your marketing, online promotion goals for 2009?

So, January 2009 just passed. Did you begin 2009 successfully with your marketing, pr, and/or online promotion goals for this new year?

It can be a bit overwhelming to get to your these components of your business, however, it is an important area to take the time to solidify.

Here are a few things to remember when thinking about your online promotional/marketing efforts:

1) If you are new online, be sure to take your time. Do not try and do all of it all at once. This can happen kind of easy because there are so many neat things you can do online and you will have others telling you, “Oh, you should do this, or you “have” to do this”. Each person means well, however, if you start doing all of these things, it is very easy to get overwhelmed, very fast. I know because it happens to me sometimes. Yes, there is alot of things out there however, take your time and do it a little bit at a time. Put together one marketing or promotion plan in its completion before tackling another.

2) Remember to think about your audience and target market when you are putting your plans into place. What does your target market need from you? Have you seen discussions online about a certain subject in your industry? If so, find a way to give the solution to your clients and be sure they are aware you can provide the solution.

3) Ask questions about what others may be doing successful for them. For some, online ads still work well. For others, joint ventures work better. Don’t be shy about asking others for help. Sometimes, we get stuck in the mode of “I don’t want to ask, because…” (you feel it the blank). You may be surprised at how often people are willing to help you. But if you don’t ask for help, the answer is always, no.

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For me, January was pretty good. There were some things that worked well and others that I still need to work on.

I did my first local event (1st Annual Book Fair Blitz). Now, that was a lot of work but I feel it was worth the time, effort and money to put on this event. I was looking for a way to support authors and allow the community to know these authors lived near them. By putting this event on, I succeeded at this objective. And since I was putting on the event (with the help of another co sponsor), it gave me the opportunity to get my name out there to my local community as well. I also included a charity which made the event even more special.

Now, I tried to get my own radio show off to a start…this proved to be a bit more cumbersome for me. I am not sure yet why this is…however, it did occur. I choose to do this because I have questions about writing a book, various writing skills, publishing options, editing, and other topics to due with the writing and publishing industry. I figured if I still have questions, other people might have questions and I would like to offer the opportunity for others to learn from authors and writers who have been there and listen to their experiences.

***Here is another thing to remember be sure you know your objective with each marketing or promotion project you venture to complete. ***


So are you happy with the results of your marketing, pr and online promotional efforts so far in 2009? Are there other avenues you wish to try but don’t know where to start? Or don’t think it will work for you?