An article mentioned in this weeks Bloomberg BusinessWeek Tech Insider caught my eye. Working on the Waterfront outlined how technology (and self-employment) enables a growing number of people to actually work from the beach. Not much new here for veteran road warriors, other that how to get bargain access to Malibu beach from the Las Costa Beach Club.
The real gem in this article came from the posted comments. The best was posted by Sherry Paprocki. It simply said, 'Hey, part of the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Branding Yourselfwas written at the beach!' So who is Sherry Beck Paprocki? She's the author, of course. And not just any author. She's published over a dozen biographys on celebrities including Katie Couric, Martha Stewart, Vincente Fox, and Bob Marley. Quite a group to be associated with.
Which was Sherry's goal in the first place. By adding a comment to the post she created an association linking:
- Business News- Bloomberg BusinessWeek
- Working on the Beach - alternative office environments
- Entrepreneurs - interested in alternative environments and personal branding
- Sherry's book - The Complete Idiot's Guide to Branding Yourself
I agree that not everyone would have searched for the book from the comment. Only Sherry's target prospects would have invested the effort, but it only took a 17 word comment on her part. Hey, it was just like a day at the beach!
Let's Go Fishing
Ready to try you hand at it? It's easy, it's kind of like fishing:
- What are you trying to catch?
- Where are they hiding?
- Which bait should you use?
The bait is your book, product or service. The fish is your prospect. Where are they hiding? Online of course. Identify online news outlets catering to your prospects. Use Google Alerts or set up a feed to keep track of the topics associated with your area of expertise. When you get a nibble identifying a likely article or blog, post a comment and see if you get a bite.
Posting comments to business blogs is a easy, low cost tactic to put your marketing two cents worth in front of likely prospects. Go ahead, post one here.
