How to Market a Product By Blogging

How to Market a Product By Blogging

Blogging is a great way to connect with your audience and prospects on a different level.  Blogs offer you a more personal interaction with your audience.  An interaction that lets you ask questions, provide answers and even debate online. Blogs enable you to offer an opinion, good or bad, and to simply rant or rave about something should you choose to do so.  By offering a myriad of communication options unrivaled by other content forms, blogs make it easy to market a product.  Here's how:

Reviews.  One of the most powerful forms of marketing is to write a simple review as a blog post. This works particularly well if you're an affiliate marketer because a review of a product comes across as unbiased, as it should, while at the same time demonstrates the benefits of a product.  It presells a product or service, which is the primary responsibility of an affiliate marketer.  However, you can also ask outside parties, guest bloggers, to review your products or services and then either post their reviews on your website or link to them in a blog post written by you.

Lists.  People love lists, whether they're lists of useful products, resources or even steps to take to accomplish something.  You can market your product by blogging a list and including it in your list.  For example, if you sell a book on how to start a business, you could blog a list of valuable resources for aspiring entrepreneurs, including of course your book as a final bullet on your list.  Include a short blurb about your product and include a link to your sales page.

Success Stories.  People enjoy reading success stories and they're a wonderful attribute to your products or services.  Using the above example of a business that sells a book on how to start your own business, you could blog about a success story or case study from a client.  If possible, include a link to your success story's website so it works as a credible testimonial and include a link to your sales page so others can purchase and experience the same success.

Share a controversy or start a debate.  Blogs are often used to incite conversation, this of course drives traffic because people are able to communicate their opinions and participate in the conversation.  Tap into a current controversy or debate and share your opinion and expertise.  If your product or service is a solution to a problem related to the controversy then you can give it a quick plug with a link to your sales page.

Blogging to promote your product or service is an excellent way to communicate with your audience in an honest and open venue.  You can provide them with valuable and interesting information, leave room for conversation and comments, and link to your sales page or the product or service you're affiliated with.

How to Integrate Social Networking Into Your Website

Social networking is the process of participating in organized community building websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and so on. There are several hundred social networking websites running today, some more popular than others depending on the country and industry.
It's a powerful medium to connect with like-minded people and potential prospects and as competition grows for online businesses, social networking is a great way to build brand awareness, value, and community.

However, with more and more people getting in on the action, it's becoming harder and harder for people to connect with you on these social networking sites. Here's how to let them know you're out there socializing online.

Add a button. Many social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have developers working overtime to make it as user friendly as possible. That means logos and follow me buttons are readily available. To find a button for your chosen social networking site, visit their home page and search for find me or follow me buttons. Generally, the code is provided and all you have to do is add it to your website code. If the social networking site doesn't offer this type of logo or button then do a quick search online. Chances are developers have created the code you need.

Once you have the code, add the find me follow me button in a prominent place on your website. Many of your prospects and customers already have accounts with the same social networking sites you participate in and by connecting with them you'll be able to share with them, learn from them, and be your truly authentic and transparent self.

Add it to your signature. Do you have an email signature? Do you send newsletters, autoresponders, and promotions? Add your social networking link or name to your signature.

For example,

Joe Smith
joesmith@joesmithmarketing.com
follow me on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/JoeSmith

Blog about it. Many marketers are using things they learn or post on social networking sites as fuel for blog posts.

For example, book editors recently had a promotion called QueryFail where they posted messages on Twitter about tips and what not to do when you query an editor. Many editors learned that the promotion was a mistake because they received several emails from people who were offended or put off by the campaign. They published their thoughts and lessons from the experience online.

Of course, you don't have to blog about mistakes you made, you can instead offer your audience valuable resources and information you learn while networking.
Social networking is a key element to sharing who you are and what you're about. When prospects and customers get to know you, they'll become part of your community and today, that is the key to building a profitable and growing business.