Welcome

Incentives. Give people an opportunity to connect with you based on how many of your products they buy or what they are willing to do to promote them.

7. Fan Resources. It?s great to have fans. It is even better to turn fans into evangelists. But in order to do this, you have to equip them to work on your behalf.

Product summary. Ninety-five percent of interviewers have probably not used your product or read your book or heard you speak. They?re not familiar with your offering. But they want to sound like they are. Summarize it for them. It is an opportunity for you to make the interviewer look smart, which will translate into a good interview and, potentially, more interviews down the road.

Media appearances. Provide a list of your upcoming media appearances so that producers, event planners, and fans can tune in. You might also include highlights from previous appearances.

Product trailers. First there were movie trailers. Then there were music videos. Now there are great trailers for speakers, product demos, books, and more.

Product specs. List the simple product or technical specs. For example, for a Coleman Sundome® 4 tent,3 this would include: Weight: 10.2 lbs Floor: Polyethylene 1000D-140g/sqm floor Limited 1 year warranty Made in China

2. Navigation. Provide a table of contents. This provides an overview of the page and a quick way for your visitor to navigate to the parts of the page that are most relevant to him or her.

One of the first things you need to create is a great online media kit. This is a page on your website or blog where you will want to send strategic partners, media producers, product reviewers, event planners, public relations people, superfans, and anyone else who might want to talk about you or your product. Make it easy! Your media kit is a resource page designed to equip people with all the tools they need to help you get the word out.

6. Look into the lens. You want to make a personal connection. This is really no different than meeting people for the first time?look directly into their eyes. The eyes truly are ?the window to the soul.?

2. Negotiate for all rights. Make sure you do this on the front end and get it in writing. You don?t want to pay a licensing fee every time you use the photo in a different context. Some high-end photographers will not agree to this.

As you build your own platform, you will need photos of yourself. Why? Because people want to connect with people, not merely brands, products, or causes.

3. Leverage one endorsement for more. It?s always difficult to go first. Sometimes prospective endorsers need an endorsement themselves in order to get comfortable with your product.

how do you get endorsements? Here are the five steps I recommend: 1. Create a great product.

A selection of endorsements of you and/or your product or service is absolutely essential for a strong platform. Endorsements are used extensively in all forms of marketing?and for good reason. They provide third-party validation and social authority. They make it easier for potential gatekeepers and customers to say yes.

Booking Agent. This is a must-have for speakers or other entertainers. A good booking agent can give you access to event planners you wouldn?t have otherwise.

Personal Management. The most successful creatives hire a personal manager to oversee their career. The good news is you typically pay a percentage of your income (or, better for you, gross profit), so the manager only makes more money if you make more money.

Administrative help frees you to focus on what you do best: create. At some point, you may need to hire one or more of the following: 49 ? Assistant. Is it really a good use of your time to process e-mail, make travel arrangements, and respond to meeting requests? This doesn?t have to be a full-time position. I hired a virtual assistant through EAHelp.com for fifteen hours per week.

Although you are the one who must be responsible for building your platform, you still need a team. You can?t go it alone.

4. Website. This is undoubtedly the single most important branding tool you can have. It is the first way in which most people will encounter you. It will shape their opinion of you. That?s why you must get it right.

2. E-mail Signature. Your e-mail signature is an opportunity to create another branding impression. But be careful. If you include too much information, it just becomes a big, gnarly ad. If you include too little, you miss a great opportunity.