A Marketing Tool for Your Online Marketing Strategy

Recently I went on a virtual e-book tour to promote my newly released e-book, "Online Marketing Tools for Today's Small Business." For us entrepreneurs and small business owners, writing can be an inexpensive way of marketing our small businesses. This can involve writing articles, blog posts, and/or e-books. It is not necessary to be a well-known author in order to write or have virtual book tours. If you choose to write e-books, you can go on virtual e-book tours to promote your e-book. As a result, your services and/or products, and your business will be promoted at the same time. If you are an author, you, too, can do virtual book tours to promote your books.

Because of today's technology and blogs, book tours can be done virtually, and it is an inexpensive, creative tactic to advertise your e-books or books. However, coordinating virtual book tours can be time-consuming. If you don't have time to arrange the tour, outsource this task to a Virtual Assistant. The process consists of you (or your Virtual Assistant) and blog owners coordinating dates for when you will stop by their blogs. On the date of your tour stop, the blog owner can interview you or you can participate in a question and answer session with the blog owners' readers. If you choose to do an interview, you supply the blog owners with the questions and answers for them to post on their blogs, which is the standard procedure in the current media world. Periodically, you check in to see if there are any questions or comments from the blog readers you need to address regarding your interview.

To encourage the blog readers to get involved, hold some type of random drawing for anyone who submits a comment or question. At http://random.org/, you enter the e-mail addresses of the participants in a list randomizer and a random e-mail address is selected. This would be your random winner. On my tour, I gave away free copies of my e-book to random winners who participated, as well as to the blog owners as a way of expressing my gratitude for them hosting my tour stops.

In my e-book, I discuss various online marketing tools and strategies, which include virtual book tours. If you would like to learn about additional marketing tools that you can use in your online marketing plan, click here to purchase my e-book, as well as find out more about it.

My Coast to Coast Virtual E-book Tour

I finished my first virtual e-book tour on Tuesday, and I met some interesting readers along the way. I virtually traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast, spending the day at various bookstores (blogs) promoting my new e-book, "Online Marketing Tools for Today's Small Business." I also held interview sessions with the blog owners. My plans are to do another virtual e-book tour early next year. So, be on the lookout for that.

On Wednesday, it was my turn to host a virtual book tour stop for Karen M. Pina, author of "Is it the job, the boss, you . . . or are you an entrepreneur? Find your career stressors and the success that God intends." Karen is also a coach for Christian leaders and entrepreneurs.

With the cost of airfare and gas, traveling from blog to blog is more practical. It saves time, money, and you reach a larger audience. If you don't have time to coordinate a virtual book tour, outsource this task to your Virtual Assistant. Hope to see you on my next tour!

Karen M. Pina’s Virtual Book Tour

RC:    Why did you write this book?

KP:    Rita, I wrote this book to see Christians arrive at the career destination God intends sooner rather than later. It took me 20 plus years of fumbling around in Corporate America. God knows I don't want the same for my Christian brothers and sisters. If I can help them get there with less stress in half the time with the right tools and attitude, then allowing God to use me to write this book was worth it. Accomplishing this will fill me with unspeakable joy!

RC:     Tell me about yourself.

KP:    You know every time I'm asked this question I reflect deeply on how to answer. First, I am a handmaiden of God who is madly in love and totally surrendered to Him as a vessel fit for noble and honorable purposes. Second, I'm a virtuous leader in my home as a wife to my husband Stanley and a mother to our two beautiful girls.

RC:    What is the book about?

KP:    It is guidebook for those who are looking for career answers. It is for Christians who are sick and tired of being sick and tired of switching jobs every one to three years, tired of the annual slap in the face performance appraisal, and tired of not knowing what they don't know to attain the career success they were created for.

    This is accomplished through assessments, exercises, conducting research, and answering coaching questions. As you can see, Rita, it is a pragmatic hands-on career and business resource. It is definitely not a read from cover to cover and place on the shelf book. It requires the reader's active participation in order to find their career stressors and the success God intends.

    "Anyone who picks up this book, no matter what circumstances they're going through on the job front, will automatically identify with it because it hits home, right where you are."

RC:    What is the one take-away you want the readers to leave with?

KP:    My prayer and desire for all who read this book is a successful transition over the bridge into the enormous sea of discovery and realization of the power of God within them as the wind beneath their sails guiding them into their proper sphere of career influence.

RC:    How long have you been writing?

KP:    You know I have been writing in some capacity for over 15 years. At the same time, I have been writing creatively for only the past eight to 10 years. Over the last 5 years, God has taken me to new heights as the Holy Spirit has birthed articles, newsletters, e-books, e-courses, and paperback books. I have most recently discovered that I'm a scribe after the order of Ezra in the Bible.

RC:    What is next on the writing horizon?

KP:    A scribe is one who completes divine writing assignments as given by God. So, there are several things on God's radar right now that He desires to release through me. Some of the upcoming assignments are completing a musical project of all the poems He's given me, a character development book titled The Making and, as you know, the book we are working on together to help Christian coaches find virtual assistants who are best equipped to support the vision God has given them.

RC:    Karen, tell the readers how they can contact you if they have any questions?

KP:    Sure, if anyone has any questions, they can post them as a response to this interview. I will stop by periodically to answer questions. Additionally, my contact information is: www.findcareeranswers.com or kpina@godscoach.com.

RC:    How much is the book?

KP:    There are two delivery methods for the book. The printed copy is for those who do not mind waiting for delivery via snail mail and is specially priced at $19.99. The electronic version is for those who want to start receiving answers immediately and is specially priced at $10.99.

RC:    Tell my blog readers where they can buy the book.

KP:    We are accepting all pre-orders right on the findcareeranswers.com website. All orders will be shipped hot off the heavenly press within 4-6 weeks . . . just in time to give as a Christmas gift.

RC:    Karen, thank you so much for stopping my blog.

KP:    You are most welcome, thanks for having me.

My Last Virtual E-book Tour Stop

Today, my virtual tour stop was at Sue Canfield's bookstores (blogs) located here in California. Sue has two locations, http://suecanfield.wordpress.com/ and http://awesomeassistant.blogspot.com/. Everyone who came by her blogs thought a virtual e-book tour was creative and cool. They also enjoyed Sue's interview of me. Click here to read it.

My last tour stop will be Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at Karen Pina's blog. Her address is http://www.gemnewsletter.blogspot.com/in Connecticut. She will also interview me. If you have any questions for me, come on by and ask. Anyone who makes a comment or ask me a question will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a free copy of my e-book. Click here to read more about my e-book. Read what others are saying, plus an excerpt. Hope to see you on the tour.

Continuing My Virtual E-book Tour

On Thursday, I spent the day with Paula Quick, owner of The Bible, Marketplace Spirituality & Business bookstore (blog). Her blog is located in Virginia at http://marketplacespirituality.blogspot.com/. I enjoyed the theme of Paula's bookstore, which focuses on enhancing your business through the Bible and Marketplace Spirituality.

On Monday, November 3, my e-book signing will be in California at Sue Canfield's bookstores. Sue has two locations, one is located at http://awesomeassistant.blogspot.com/, and the address of her other bookstore (blog) is http://suecanfield.wordpress.com/. Sue has been hard at work promoting my upcoming tour stop, and I look forward to visiting with her and her readers. Sue is also going to interview me on Monday. So, stop by to check it out. In addition, I am giving away a free copy of my very informative e-book to a randomly selected reader. To qualify, simply post a comment or question addressed to me on one or both of Sue's blogs. Click here to learn more about my e-book, including an excerpt, as well as testimonials. To purchase your copy now for only $3.98, click here. Hope to see you on the tour!