By Guest Blogger, Liora Mendeloff, CEO & Founder, InstantMediaKit
www.GetInstantMediaKit.com

Click Here to listen to Liora’s interview with Jennifer at 9:00 am EST on the WomensRadio

Did you know that having an online media kit is an essential part of your business as an author? Bottom line, in this digital age, if you’re not set up with an online media kit, you could be leaving thousands of dollars on the table.

In case you haven’t noticed, business isn’t what it used to be. Things are moving much faster today than ever before so speed to market is critical. Giving people access to your marketing materials with the simple click of a button is the name of the game.

Unfortunately, this need for a quick response is a huge challenge for authors who are looking to market themselves in today’s electronic age. Whether you’re promoting yourself through speaking or positioning yourself as an expert in the media, prospective clients and those looking to feature you in the media must have your content available at their fingertips in a matter of minutes or else they’re bound to move on to their next prospect.

Imagine tomorrow morning your phone rings. You’re shocked to discover Oprah’s producer on the other end of the phone. They explain that their featured author for tomorrow’s show has gotten sick, won’t be able to make it, has read your book and asks if you could send over a press kit right away. Would you be ready to get them what they need in order to feature you on their show?  Would you be able to provide a way for them to get what they need that’s right there at their fingertips?

Even if a local radio show host or a prospective client were to reach out to you, are you prepared to direct them to one place online where they can instantly access everything they need to hire you or interview you for their show?

I recently heard a story from a client of mine that demonstrates just how fast-paced the world is today and how producers, publishers, event planners, etc. want what they want when they want it…which is usually right now!

There she was sitting in a restaurant with a colleague having lunch when in walked a big time event promoter who happened to be friends with her colleague. The event promoter sits down to join them and shares his frustration that a speaker he had lined up for his event that weekend just bailed on him and although he’s put out calls to all of his contacts, no one has come through to fill the slot yet. My client, who is an author and speaker, jumps at the chance to share her work with him and watches as he starts to perk up with excitement. He asks her if there’s any way she can get her media kit over to him immediately and fortunately, because she’s up to speed on the new industry standard, she says to him, “I can do better than that.” She pulls out her phone, gets online, goes straight to her online media kit and proceeds to show him everything he needs to know about her in order to make a “buying” decision. Needless to say, he hires her on the spot and the gig is hers!

Clearly, the boy scouts knew what they were talking about when they chose their motto, “always be prepared.” They probably weren’t thinking about marketing when they came up with that slogan, but they sure were on the mark about the secret to successfully getting yourself greater visibility.

The truth is, if my client had left that lunch to head back to her office to do what many people do who aren’t up to speed with the new industry standard, which is to send out her content via email piecemeal, there’s no guarantee that the event producer would have received her marketing materials fast enough. There’s no telling what would have happened between 1:00 and 3:00, the time it would have taken her to send out that email. Who’s to say that the event promoter wouldn’t have received a call back from the perfect person to fill that slot in those two hours?

The moral of the story is, be prepared! Being prepared as an author means having your marketing materials organized, up to date and easy to distribute. In today’s world, that means having an online media kit that’s clean and professional, easy to use & media-ready (meaning, easy to download).

So, don’t get left behind. Make 2010 the year that you get up to speed on the new industry standard and make it easy for others to hire you and feature you in the media!

Click Here to listen to Liora’s interview with Jennifer at 9:00 am EST on the WomensRadio

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