Crissy Herron, the owner and founder of IndieBizChicks.com has recently released two new products: How to Get Great Press and How to Give Good Blog. Crissy describes her site as a place that provides information to women (and cool men too!) that will help them start and grow their own businesses.
Crissy is the person who created my blog header and designed some of my buttons. She’s great at what she does and her site is so full of great stuff for both small business owners and wannabe-biz owners alike. She’s asked me to review her new products here and I was more than happy to do so.
She really sweetened the pot when she said she’d like to give away a copy of each product to one of my lucky readers.
To be entered in the contest, simply leave me a comment here on what you think makes a great blog or something you have done to successfully get press. You will get a bonus entry if you tweet about the contest using the hashtag #ibcwin and let me know about it. I’ll pick a random winner a week from now on April 20th. Good luck!
How to Give Good Blog Review
This is a 17-page workbook that also comes with a bonus workbook entitled 50 Ways to Promote Your Blog. The price is $14.95 which is extremely reasonable for what you get.
Crissy also offers a discount on her one-hour business consultation for $45 when you purchase this product. (Regular price is $60.) As someone who has used Crissy’s service for this a few months ago, I can tell you first hand that this price is an outrageous steal.
The workbook is divided into 5 main sections: blogging basics, good design, good content, good promotion and making money with your blog. These topics are geared mainly toward newer, less experienced bloggers. However, there are a lot of good tips in here that a person who has been blogging a bit already can also benefit from.
Some of the strongest sections in this workbook are where Crissy explains the importance of narrowing your niche and gives examples, and the pages on ideas for content. In my opinion, these are two of the areas where new bloggers get stuck the most.
Overall, there are lots of good methods offered here on how to build a successful blog which consistently draws readers and subscribers.
The bonus report is a nice companion with its 50 different techniques for driving traffic to your blog. I was glad to see offline as well as online ideas included. Implementing a handful of these will definitely get people to your site and many of the methods are completely free.
How to Get Great Press Review
This product comes with an 11-page Guide to Writing Great Press Releases as well as 3 video segments you can watch right from your browser totaling approximately 24 minutes. As a bonus, you also get a 4-page workbook called 15 Tips for Building Buzz Around Your Business. The price for this product is also $14.95.
Again, incredibly reasonable considering the bonus and the fact that you are getting video content. This could have easily been priced 3 times what it is.
As with the blogging product, Crissy also offers a discount on her one-hour business consultation for $45 with your purchase.
The press release guide and videos walk you through exactly how to construct and write a great press release to generate interest in your business and reach potential clients and customers. Included are tips on formatting and style, building a list of media contacts, the best online distribution sites to use, responding to media queries and how to put together a press kit and electronic media room.
I found the guide and videos to be thorough and the steps easy to implement. I like the fact that video is included in case you enjoy learning visually in addition to reading. Crissy knows her stuff and it really comes through.
The first video discusses what a press release essentially does and how to tie it in with a news story. The second video is instructional regarding what exactly goes into a press release and an example is shown. My favorite part of this video are the tips that are given for making it easy for a reporter to write a story about your topic.
The last video addresses the process of sending out and submitting the press release, using the Help a Reporter Out service (HARO) and what to do if you are chosen to be featured.
The bonus on building buzz gave me ideas I hadn’t even considered and when used in conjunction with press releases, will really help boost the visibility of your business.
I would highly recommend both of Crissy’s products because they are “fluff-free” and contain so much information for such a small price. Here are the links if you’d like to purchase them:
Don’t forget to enter the contest by letting me know in the comments what YOU think makes a good blog or by sharing ways that you’ve gotten press in the past!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent write up.
I think the key components of a great blog are:
1. Focus – the focus needs to be useful.
2. Value – delivering value is what it’s all about.
3. Unique – the blog needs to be unique and easy to differentiate from the sea of blogs.
4. Voice – the blog needs a voice that connects
5. Passion – the passion of the author should shine through.
J.D. Meier’s last blog post..Bloom’s Taxonomy for Learning
Is this lawyer cool enough for indiebizchicks.com?
Anthony Verna’s last blog post..We’ve been busy
@J.D.–I love your choices! Great advice for anyone looking to start a blog or make their blog better.
@Anthony–But of course! (Now we need your tips!)
1) Be yourself.
2) Do it more often than I do.
Anthony Verna’s last blog post..We’ve been busy
And I got good press here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/090312
I originally interviewed the journalist about sports and trademarks, so he has used me as a source a few times in his own stories.
Anthony Verna’s last blog post..We’ve been busy
J.D.’s list is great. I would add that the ideal blog would provide motivation or help to get something done.
@Anthony–Funny guy.
And great example of press. (I just wish he’d linked to your website!)
@Lori–Yes, that’s always a nice side benefit of a great blog.
I agree with Lori, great list and we do need to add motivation because if people don’t take action then they won’t become engaged.
Karl Staib – Work Happy Now’s last blog post..Stressed Out and Loving It
@Karl–Yup, it’s good to get that nudge. In fact, in the free e-course I offer when people sign up for my list, at the end of each day’s lesson I give an “action step.” That way I am not just leaving them hanging–I am giving them a way to implement what it is I have taught them right away.
Everyone, wanted to let you know that the winner of the 2 products provided by Crissy at IndieBizChicks.com is Lori Gerring! Congrats Lori, I have sent you an email and Crissy should have been in touch as well! Thanks to everyone who entered.