Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours by Nikki Leigh and Shri Henkel

Simply, a virtual blog tour is a cyber “tour” which includes various blogs, websites, radio shows, newsletters etc. These sites usually have themes, topics etc that coordinate with the product or service you want to promote on the tour. This “tour” gives authors the chance to reach many people as they travel the blog-o-sphere.

A tour contains a set of blog, website interviews, reviews or guest posts etc that are posted on a series of sites during a set amount of time. Various blog owners host you and many ask you interview questions about your product or service or they may request that you write a piece about a specific part or element of your product or service.

Virtual blog tours are a wonderful alternative to a “live” promotional tour. A tour can be very expensive, consume a lot of your time, take you away from your family and job and there is no guarantee that it will be successful. A blog tour can be done from home and in your pajamas if that’s what you prefer.

In these days with sky rocketing gas and travel charges, is there a better and more eco-friendly way to promote your products and services? Each day we hear the price of gas has hit an “all time high”. Those words don't seem to mean much anymore. Unfortunately, any “all time high” will be obsolete within a day or two. We each battle the cost of driving and traveling every day. So, what is a business person to do if they want to do a tour to promote their product or service? The environmentally conscious answer is - a virtual blog tour. There are many benefits to a virtual tour over a brick and mortar tour. These benefits include:

	· Conserve gas
	· Save money
	· Stay home with family
	· No need to leave job or business in order to tour

Benefits of a Blog Tour

Build credibility and increase visibility
One of the key things is to generate sales and exposure
Generate a buzz about your product or service
Reach your target audience
Get information about your products to many people in a short period of time
Create additional links to your site
Promote their product or service
Let potential customers learn more about you and your products
Help blog readers get to know the person behind the product or service
Search engines love blogs and your information gets to search engines immediately
Give people the opportunity to communicate with you
Comments can give you the chance to see what your blog readers are thinking

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Click Here For the Most Up To Date Tour Options and Prices

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Virtual Blog Tours – Not Just For Authors

By Nikki Leigh (Award Winning Author and Publicist)

Virtual book tours are gaining popularity with authors who want an alternative to traveling to city to promote their books. However, virtual tours are not just for authors. Virtual tours are becoming very prevalent in the real estate industry and offer great ways to show off properties for sale. In these tough economic times, people want to find more economical ways to get the word out to the masses about their products and services.

One of the first things that each business person should do is to determine which people make up their target market. In other words, who needs and/or wants the product or service you offer? The most effective promotion that I’ve found in my years of promotional work are when you get a targeted message to your target market. The most beautifully crafted promotional message has very little success when it is presented to the wrong people.

For people who are not familiar with a virtual tour, I’ll provide some details. There are many different ways to do a virtual tour, but I like to include a variety of media and print options. In the 21^st century, Web 2.0 offers many great ways to get in touch with your target audience and I like to use many of these possibilities. We can reach out to potential buyers and clients and interact with them through these Web 2.0 avenues.

In a virtual tour, I like to work with blog owners, newsletter and ezine owners or editors, and internet radio show hosts. We can use podcasts that are relevant to the product or service, articles which coordinate with product details, along with audio and video clips that promote these products. In the promotional books I’ve written, I always tell people that their promotion is only limited by the level of creativity that is used. The creativity in promotional work is one of the things that appeals to me.

With this targeted approach, just about any product or service that can be promoted on the internet, can be promoted through a virtual blog tour or a virtual tour. Ask yourself these questions:

	Do you use a website, a blog, social networks or any other online option to promote your product or service?
	Do you have a way for people to order your product or service on the internet?
	Do you want to reach people who need and want your product or service?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you could use a virtual tour for your promotion. If you aren’t currently using these options to promote your product or service, it would be beneficial to discuss the possibilities with a qualified publicist. The options listed above can be utilized by most business people and you could be astounded at the possibilities that are available with the click of a mouse. People who aren’t currently using the internet to promote their services can get a great start in future promotion and begin to create an online presence through a virtual tour. Imagine, for very reasonable prices, you can promote your product and service to a worldwide audience.

Nikki Leigh is an award winning author and a publicist. She brings over 24 years of business management experience and over 16 years of promotional experience to her work. This background has been very beneficial to her business and promotional clients over the years. Let her put that experience and creativity to work for you and your business. Her tour blog is www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com and her author and promotional website is www.sandcconsulting.com/virtual_blog_tours.htm. She can be reached at nikki@nikkileigh.com.

Contact Information:

Email - sandc_consulting@hotmail.com

Snail Mail - P O Box 711, Fishersville, VA 22939

How can I help you and your business? There are many ways to simplify your life and streamline your business. Let's set up a time to analyze your business and see how I can help make your life less complicated.