VAs: Learn to Rock the Blog Tour, Establishing You...

Once again — before I start writing this — I just have to say how much I love Erin Blaskie. There is a whole back story here. Some years ago, I joined Erin’s team as her transcriptionist. What happened was I listened to all her teleseminars and webinars on creating a multi-VA practice as I typed out the pages. Think about this – she actually paid me to do that, when I would have done it for free! The knowledge stuck. I became quite Internet marketing-savvy myself and branched out into the niche of assisting authors with their online publicity efforts. Buh-bye transcription!

A lot of you might think it is very glamorous and fun to work with bestselling authors. Guess what? It is! Collaborating with these creative and talented writers is truly a joy, and I’m grateful I had the foresight (and a loving push from a wonderful author friend) to enter the field of assisting authors. And just a note here. Not every author I work with is a bestselling author. But in coordinating their publicity efforts, it’s certainly a goal I aim for.

What is the best tool to use in obtaining online exposure for a new book that’s been released? In my experience, it’s the book blog tour. A blog tour, in a nutshell, consists of scheduling a predetermined number of blogs to feature that book for a period of – let’s just say – about a month with reviews, author guest posts or perhaps q&a with the author. Let’s not forget a book giveaway to the blog’s readers as well! Some studies have shown that online word-of-mouth (WOM) is more effective than even social networking. While you want your authors to be on Twitter and Facebook as well, you definitely want them taking advantage of the exposure a blog tour affords.

But how do you really rock the blog tour? Hint: it’s in your relationships with the bloggers. These relationships begin the moment you pitch them, i.e., send them an email query asking them to consider reviewing your author’s book. I’m going to give you one solid tip here for you to always remember when writing out that pitch. Never, ever address these busy book bloggers as the dreaded “Dear Blogger.” If you take out time to research the blog – as you should, including carefully reading the Review Policy to check that the book you’re pitching is indeed in the genre the blogger enjoys – believe me, you’ll find out the blogger’s first name. Personalizing the pitch goes a long way towards developing a pleasant professional dialogue with discerning bloggers.

If you enjoy reading and working with creative types, or just want to add to your skill set, consider adding author assistance services to your offerings. I’m so glad I did, and have never once looked back.

VAs: We’re Going to Have a CONTEST!

Diane is going to give away one copy of her e-book, “Best Practices: Pitching Book Bloggers” to someone who comments on this blog post!

Just leave a comment about how the content of this book would help you in your business by Friday, May 21, 2011 and Diane will pick one random winner from that list!  Not sure how it would help?  Click on over to her e-book page (link above) and find out more!

Be sure to leave your e-mail address along with your comment so we have a way to get in touch with you!

About the Author

Diane Saarinen can be found at the Saima Agency (http://saimaagency.com) which specializes in author services such as book blog tours, virtual assistance, copywriting and book trailers. Their ebook, BEST PRACTICES: PITCHING BOOK BLOGGERS is available at http://bit.ly/et5fWu.

Want to be a Project Management Superstar?!...

My good friends VA Classroom and Kristi Pavlik have partnered up to bring you an amazing program on Project Management!

This three-hour clinic will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 and is going to be jam-packed with information on becoming a project management superstar!

Every day businesses lose significant amounts of time and money at the hands of an ineffective project management system and leader.

In fact, Craig Cannings, owner of VA Classroom, firmly believe that your ability to hone and develop your Project Management Skills will equate to huge time and cost savings for your clients as well as a big boost to your client and income opportunities.

Project Management Skills is the #1 skill set to develop in your business, as you will utilize these skills every day in virtually any type of service you are providing!

In their upcoming “Project Management Superstar” Clinic, they will be teaching you a powerful and super easy-to-implement system for planning and managing all of your projects. Your clients will be simply amazed at how effectively you will be able to coordinate and execute their projects with great proficiency.

Now, to ensure that VA Classroom is providing the best Project Management Skills Training on the web, Craig has partnered with Kristi Pavlik (Also known as The Systems Chick), one of the most talented and effective project managers Craig has ever met!

You will want to make sure to check out this program and sign up immediately!

Details are here: http://bit.ly/f72j4Y

Radio Interview: Social Media & The Virtual A...

Last night I was interviewed on New Media Radio by Monique Terrell and Sam Weaver on the topic of: “Social Media and the Virtual Assistant.”

We had a great conversation around the virtual assistance industry and how social media has affected the industry both from a service standpoint and a user standpoint.  In the interview, I share my opinion on “social media assistants” and talk about incorporating these trendy new services into your business without pigeon-holing yourself.

You can listen in to the interview here.  I’ve also embedded the radio interview below.