Getting yourself out there

[Carrie Sommer]

Reading the profiles of women entrepreneurs in this group, it seems the biggest hurdle is getting yourself out there and having people find you. I’m by no means an expert, but have been online since 1999. Maybe we can talk about what has worked for each of us. Keeping in mind that my business is product oriented, here are a few things that have helped me:

1. Start a blog to begin with, and then connect with other women business owners. Try to build relationships and start a blog link - make sure you have a link to your site/store on your blog. One of the important things to remember about blogging and linking is that it gets you more visibility and exposure via search engines and spiders. Remember that the more places and times your company name is listed or linked, the higher your search engine ranking. Also important is to use words and phrases (keywords) that are specific to your product or service on your website or blog. Also keep in mind that it is not always important to only talk about your business in your blog. That’s nice, but my experience has been that my customers and visitors want to know more about me and what goes on behind the scenes, in my life, and my inspirations. There are several blogging software sites – I use Typepad, which is fee based, but there is also Blogger and Wordpress.

2. Join other free & easy networking sites, such as Flickr, which is a photo sharing site. Then, join some of the crafty/creative groups and upload/post your pictures to those groups. Also, make sure you link your site/store in your profile.

3. Check out some of the other networking sites online, such as www.theswitchboards.com and www.ladieswholaunch.com.

4. Look into doing some shows: this is the perfect time of year, especially if you want to start slow. Many schools, churches, synagogues and charity groups have holiday boutiques where you can pay a small fee for a table (and sometimes a percentage donation – all tax deductible!) to sell. Give out your card to everyone who walks by, and have a clipboard to gather names and addresses (emails too) for a mailing list.

5. Include an email newsletter sign up on every page of your website. I use Vertical Response, but there are many other services. I send out email newsletters once a month with updates, new products, sales and upcoming events.

6. Send out Press Releases! Launched your website? Have a new product? Featured somewhere? Send out a release! Check into PR Web, which is an online press release distribution service. Also, take that same press release and email it to all the local newspapers and magazines in your immediate area. I did this and got a profile in our local magazine 4 years ago.

Marketing is almost as much work as producing! I know there’s more – but I’m drawing a blank and I have to get back to work!

Does anyone else have any ideas?

[Megan]

I need to sit down and write a press release. But it feels SO weird. I'm not a self conscious person and I have plenty of self confidence, but for some reason it feels so alien to promote myself. I love promoting other people (as you know!) but myself...*shudder* It's almost embaressing.

I do have a blog - I use blogger now and really like it. My website is brand new (redesigned) with a prominent newsletter sign up button. I use Mail Chimp as my newsletter program. It's MUCH cheaper and more flexible than Constant Contact.

I'll be in a magazine soon and am very excited about that. Make It Mine is a new magazine and they are featuring my Initially Yours necklaces. It'll be my first one!

It's a lot of workand hard to do with a full time job. :)

[Liz Fuller]

Hi Megan
Congratulations on the magazine feature!! That's fantastic.

I understand the hesitance in writing a press release or promoting yourself - would it help to do it in the third person? Think if you were your best friend or sister instead of yourself - what would you say? It's much harder to say "I did this" than "she did this" .

In my corporate career I advised a lot of people to do that when writing their own self-appraisals and they found it liberating.

Good Luck - and let us know when the magazine feature appears!
Liz
p.s. - wouldn't the magazine feature be a good subject for a press release?

[Barbara Swisher]

Liz, that a great idea. Having the magazine feature as a subject for the press release. After that, everything else should just flow.

Good luck, Megan. Great idea Liz!

Barbara

[Barbara Swisher]

Hi Megan,

Congratulations, for having your jewelry featured in Make It Mine. That is awesome. Let us know when it comes out. You create really beautiful jewelry.

Regarding writing your press release, PRWeb will write a release for you.

Thanks for the info on Mail Chimp. I will give it a try.

Cheers,
Barbara S.

[Cristina M Robeck]

Megan - that mag looks fantastic. I know it is a bit wierd at times to write about your self. Take a minute and forget that you are writing for other people to read adn just start writing. Once you are done leave it for a while and then come back to it. The only way to promote yourself is if you jsut do it. Think of how much it will help you out in the long run. !!!. www.RobeckDesign.com

[The Chocolate Lab]

This is such a great reference. Sometimes I forget that there are things that I can be doing to promote myself more. I feel like sometimes I take the lazy approach to self-promotion and let other people promote for me.. and while I'm extremely confident in the product I create, I forget that self-promotion isn't bad!

[greytdogz]

Self promotion is the most difficult thing to learn and practice. I have alot of confidence in myself and what I do however to actually come out and say that, I find it very difficult. Thankfully, my husband, who works with me at shows and events is very good at talking to people and "talking up" the business.
I am much better than 4 years ago when we started. The more confidence I gain, the better I get at sales and promotion.
Over the past 4 years, I have learned what works and what doesn't, mostly through trial and error.
My next step is to do a press release too but that will probably have to wait unti mid-October as am preparing for a big show that we are going to early October.

[Liz Fuller]

Hi Joanne
I like your comment that "the more confidence you gain, the better you get at sales and promotion". I think you're right - confidence is key. My natural inclination is to wait until I feel more confident - before I do somethig, but I have learned that I have that backwards - first take action - and the confidence will follow!

Liz
p.s. - wouldn't the "big show" be worthy of a press release?

[Liz Fuller]

Carrie
This is a great reference with a lot of good information that I am going to use and share with friends. Thanks for putting it together.

Additional ideas - write articles and publish them to article distributors such as ezine.com. They're free and enable you to publish a link to your site in the author's bio. This increases your targeted traffic..

Liz

[greytdogz]

Hi Judy,

Great advise! Now,please tell my husband about the "I've heard many successful business people say, if you want to start a business, put your shingle on your door and go! The "ready, fire, aim" approach". I would go ahead and do it in a minute but my husband is scared of loosing the steady salary that I bring in with my full-time job. I earn good money and it is difficult to think that that money won't be there every 2 weeks. He talks about "how would/could we do it...?" and then makes me nervous about the decrease of money coming in.

[Kimberly Porrazzo]

Megan - try writing your press release in the 3rd person. That's the way it should be written anyway, but it's like talking about someone else. For example, when I send out a press release I never say "I." It's always "Porrazzo will be featured in the next edition of...."

And hey! You're worth tooting your own horn. Get out there!

[greytdogz]

Thank you Kimberly,
I have been working on my press release for the past few days. I am not creating it for one specific event but as a general press release that I can use for promoting my business to boutiques, stores and to use as hand-outs.
I did some research and found out that it should be written in the 3rd person, so have been doing that.

Would you, or someone else, be willing to review it once I have it completed? It is the first press release that I have attempted so this is all new to me.