Hello Deerlings! Voting poll for the Must-Be-Pink! contest is now open (look on the sidebar to the right –>). Poll closes the night of August 17th.

Photo: Mark Raddatz

So you’ve taken the picture and submitted it to the contest. Now what? How do you get all these people to come out and vote for you? The answer is online promotion, a.k.a. ‘internet marketing’ – except instead of selling a product or a service you are enticing people to come vote for you.

Many dislike the idea of internet promotions for the fear of coming off too pushy and annoying others. And how can we not think like that with dozens of messages hitting our in-boxes daily, demanding to listen to some band we never heard of or vote for some chick in some contest we know nothing about? But every once in a while you’ll get a message that’s actually kinda fun to read and exposes you to a cool product you wouldn’t have known about otherwise – and to our own surprise, instead of the usual anger, we feel like reaching inside the computer screen and kissing the author!

I have successfully conducted a number of marketing campaigns (make-up tutorials, a clothing line, events) and would love to share some tips on how you can create that golden pitch – and feel good about sending it out!

Cooking up a pitch
A pitch is a short introduction that tells people about your idea – and the most important part of your campaign. A weak pitch will not generate much response even if sent to thousands of people; a great pitch, on the other hand, can convert a total stranger into a loyal customer, or even a friend! Read on to learn how you can cook up the most awesome, irresistible pitch!

• Aim to provoke an emotional response.
  Make them wonder, laugh, or cry – but don’t leave them indifferent! There is nothing worse than an uninspired statement written in stale language asking you for a favor (how dare they?!). By the same token, everyone loves 30 seconds of free entertainment wrapped up in a paragraph or two of funny, heart-felt narration! So give it to them!

• Be enthusiastic.
  The rule of thumb: if you care, they will care. In this particular case, I would tell them a little about the blogazine, the idea behind the contest, why you entered it, and what it means for you to win. Tell them about the picture you submitted – or flat out refuse to, and make their curiosity do all the work! :)

• Make it visually appealing.
  People like illustrations to go along with the text. In a word, they like pictures – a LOT. (Just look at me! I won’t even read a book if it has no pictures.) So include some sort of a graphic, like the one I made especially for the contest participants. :)

Using Social networking sites
Once you have a good pitch, it’s time to hit the social networking websites - Facebook, MySpace and LiveJournal are some of my favorites. Join communities (selectively), send out bulletins (in moderation), post a blog with your pitch. Get loose and do your thang, baby!

Sending out mass emails
As long as your pitch is inoffensive (I’m not saying it should be; it really all depends on the type of campaign), it’s safe to send it to most everyone in your address book – but I do advise excluding people who are not very likely (or too busy at this stage in their life) to care, to avoid annoying them. It’s really the best you can do.

Putting together a Street Team
A Street Team is a group of volunteers who believe in your idea so much, they want to help you out of sheer enthusiasm! I loved working with the Sky Salt Street Team and really miss it. I don’t suggest you put one together for this contest by the way, that might be a tad too much, haha. :) But if and when you do put one together, don’t forget to reward your helpers with freebies or words of encouragement!

I am sure there are lots more ways to promote yourself online. How do you do it?

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