Happy New Year and Promotion Success Tips

Happy 2013, good people of the blogosphere! Oh my... seems doomsday wasn't doomsday after all. That's very good news because I'm starting off the new year with a post about promotions and how to run an effective freebie. Get out your pens and notebooks because here we go!

We all know we want to run an effective freebie promotion. But the question is how to get our freebie in the hands of as many readers as humanly possible? I'm going to share what I've done and how it's helped my own sales and visibility. This is in no way a hard and fast rule post. If you feel like you can add to it, by all means, post a comment below and share!

Without further ado, here's the checklist!
6 weeks ahead:

1. Plan your freebie date. Be sure to include at least one weekday in your schedule.
2. Create an excel spreadsheet for people or companies that do freebie listings with the following columns: Twitter name, website URL, Submission guidelines, benefit (what they'll do for you), and time to submit.
3. Start building your freebie submission database.
4. Plan a promo leading up to your freebie for your blog.
5. Reach out to your network and schedule guest posts and/or giveaway promotions via rafflecopter or your choice of sites that will go live on various days of your freebie.
6. Send out some copies of your book for reviews that might go live around the time of your freebie. Be respectful of the reviewers you send your book to and ask politely if they would mind posting around those dates.
7. Set up some author interviews to go live around your freebie dates. Be sure and tell the interviewer about your freebie because it's added value for their readers.

4 weeks ahead:

1. Start submitting your freebie to the relevant sites if you haven't already.
2. Double check with your reviewers, network, and buddies to be sure all is on track.
3. Keep a folder with your freebie submissions in your e-mail so you can be sure to check back with those folks during your giveaway so you can promote their services as well.

2 weeks ahead:

1. Submit to the freebie sites that require a shorter notice.
2. Set up your rafflecopter if you're doing one.
3. Plan and pre-write posts for your promotion on your blog.

1 week ahead:

1. Schedule a Goodreads and Facebook event for your promotional posts.
2. Start your promotions.
3. Double check your network to be sure all is in order.
4. Consider a new rafflecopter to start day of that encourages folks to share the details of your freebie.

Day of:

1. Get the word out about your promotion. Schedule tweets, Facebook posts, and LinkedIN posts to let folks know you're live.
2. If you did a rafflecopter, it should end on this date and the winners announced. If you're doing a new one just for the freebie with relevant tasks, launch it on this day.
3. Make sure you promote those blogs and services that are promoting your freebie.
4. Tweet your freebie @ those that require it.
5. Make a list of the above and check it every day during your promotion

The number one most important thing to remember during your freebie: DON'T BE HUMBLE!! Tout your work with your review ratings, number of copies downloaded, and blurbs from your reviews! Let people know what a great product they're getting for FREE!

Speaking of free, have you entered the Goodreads giveaway at a chance to win a copy of Mystic~Shelia, the third book in the six book series! LINK IS HERE! Or, you can enter via the widget on the top right of the blog. Good luck to you all! Four books are up for grabs! Giveaway is good in the US, UK, and Canada!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo