UPDATE



Hi. This is an old, unmaintained blog. You may find these sites more to your liking:

Carson Brackney: This is my primary site.

Ad Astra Traffic: Content production/article writing service.

Ad Astra Traffic Team: For those who'd like to get writing gigs with Ad Astra.


Thursday, May 11, 2006

Inadvertent marketing...My press release story...

A few weeks ago, I mentioned completion of a new ebook ("Front Page News") about how to write effective press releases. Through a combination of routes, I was able to quickly sell enough copies to make the venture tolerably successful. Sales have slowed, but I am still logging an occasional customer--even after offering it free to all Content Done Better Blog readers on "100th Post Day."

This ebook is unlike many others in that it doesn't contain any advertisements or affiliate links. It's just a handy little straight guide to writing press releases that work.

When the idea for the ebook first crossed my mind, I commented that I might be better off spending my time aggressively marketing my ability to write press releases instead of showing others the process and directives I use. It's beginning to look like I killed two birds with one stone.

In the last week, I have completed several paying press release gigs and have booked more. The volume of press release work snagged during the last week exceeds usual levels by a huge margin. Only one of the buyers is a previous client. The ebook has seemingly positioned me as a reliable and trustworthy source for quality press releases.

I know that some of the clients came to me as a byproduct of having read the ebook's sales page, although they didn't buy a copy of the ebook (even at it's low introductory price of $14.95). At least one other came via word of mouth thanks to someone who knew about "Front Page News." I am not sure about the others, but the change in press release work volume leads me to believe that something more than strange coincidence is at play.

I mention this because I think it clearly demonstrates the value of developing "name recognition" and an expert standing in one's field as a means by which to garner additional business. In my case, I had a goal of selling enough ebooks to justify the time invested. I have basically managed that, but I have also reaped a nice reward by virtue of having written the book in the first place.

It's "inadvertent marketing," I guess, but it sure does seem to be working.