Adding More Links to Your Marketing Chain

David Teten and Scott Allen, www.thevirtualhandshake.com

“If becoming an expert in your field is part of your marketing strategy, online networks give you a much more accessible outlet than the media,” suggest David Teten and Scott Allen, authors of The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online. “You can speak up in a mailing list, discussion forum, or blog, and reach hundreds or thousands of people. Say something useful, original, and profound, and your online comments will get quoted and linked to, reaching even more people.” According to Teten and Allen,

Every signature on a post and every online profile is an opportunity to reinforce your brand. Link to your website in your e-mail signature. Link to the communities you belong to from your website. Link to your personal profile page from your community page. Link, link, link. Focus on awareness, not persuasion. Your participation, your signatures, and your profiles will create awareness. Those who are interested will be attracted to you and will come to you for information and assistance.

A common mistake many marketers make when dealing with online communication is in thinking that it can be turned on and off like an advertising campaign. Online networks are generally not very receptive to marketing messages from brand new members. You must earn the right to talk about your product through participation in and contribution to the community. Long gaps in your participation will be noticed, and if your participation conveniently peaks for the two weeks before your marketing campaign, people will see it as manipulative.