Get Your Feet Wet By Hosting Someone on a Tour

Have you heard about virtual blog tours? If you read the Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tour blog - then you are familiar with the idea, but you might not really understand what happens "behind the scenes". There are several ways to learn more. I have a FREE e-book available for download. The link to download the e-book is in the top left corner of each page of my website - www.nikkileigh.com. There is also a download link on www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com in the top right corner of each page.

Anyone who is curious about how a virtual book tour works can be a host for other tours. I’m always looking for tour hosts. If you know anyone who would should be added to the notification mailing list about new tours, email nikki_leigh22939 at yahoo.com.

Being a tour host provides promotion for the blog host. If you are looking for a free and easy way to generate some additional traffic to your blog, you should consider being a virtual tour host. Participating will also give people an idea of how part of the tour works. People who are interested, are welcome to contact me for more information.

These are some of the questions I would ask a person who wants to be a blog host. There are always other options, but these ideas will give you some examples of ways a person can host a person during their tour.

• Name and email for the blog contact
• Website or blog address
• E-mail address to send a PDF of the book for the host to read if needed
• How many visitors does the blog get weekly or monthly and their Google page rank
• How many members are on your forum or message board (if using a forum)
• What sort of books or topics does the person want to host – fiction, non-fiction, specific genres or topics?
• Are there are sort of books, products or services would you prefer not to host? If so, what types.
• Do they want to do an interview, a review or something else? (I encourage creativity.)
• Would you prefer a guest host about a specific type of information
• Do you have a place to host a chat and would that be productive for the person who is touring

This is very important -----

I am always hunting for blogs that are not writing oriented. For example, right now, I'm working on tours that focus on:
marketing
promotion
networking
business leadership
coaching
Vietnam air rescue
military family
faith in a battle zone

and much more. For these tours, I'm looking for blogs and blog owners or newsletters etc that discuss these topics. So, if you're interested, but your blog doesn't focus on books - we should still talk. (This list changes monthly, so stay in touch.)

Each blog, newsletter, radio show, forum, website etc that participates in a virtual tour is promoted in the online schedule and in daily promotional posts that are posted on many sites online. This is a free, fun and easy way to meet new people and to promote your site.


Nikki Leigh
Award Winning Author & Publicist
Owner Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours
www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com
www.nikkileigh.com

Eco-Friendly Book Tour Options

Eco - Friendly Book Tour Options

By Nikki Leigh

Each day we hear that the price of gas has hit an “all time high.” Those words don’t seem to mean much anymore. Unfortunately, any “all time high” will be obsolete within a day or two. We each battle the cost of driving and traveling every day. So, what is an author to do if they want to do a book tour to promote their book?

An Environmentally Friendly Book Tour
The environmentally conscious answer is - a virtual book tour. There are many benefits to a virtual book tour over a brick and mortar store tour. These benefits include:

· Conserve gas
· Save money
· Stay home with family
· No need to leave job in order to tour

We've all had book signings where very few people attended. Sadly, book signings aren't the big attraction they used to be – unless it is a big name author. It can be very expensive and disheartening to plan to book signing and have only a handful of people attend. Does that mean that mid list or small press authors can’t have a successful tour? There is another option. I suggest a virtual book tour or a virtual blog tours.

Define a Virtual Book Tour
A virtual book tour is held on the internet and it includes a series of guest appearances over a certain period of time. These appearances can be on blogs, chats, newsletters, radio shows and Web sites. Each online appearance can include: author information, book excerpts, book summary, book synopsis, a guest post about a topic that relates to the book topic or genre, a guest post about writing, author interviews, character interviews, radio show interviews and much more.

Any author can do a book tour from the comfort of their home. Weather has no effect on a virtual tour. Whether you have two feet of snow in your driveway or sweltering heat, you can still have a virtual book tour. It is critical that you have a computer, an internet connection and electricity - but it can definitely be done.

Find Your Target Audience

I highly recommend that the tour of blogs, radio shows, Web sites, etc are held on sites that have themes which are relevant to the book topic or genre. Writing and reader sites are good choices for part of the virtual tour. Any site that attracts the target audience for the book would be a great place to schedule a tour appearance. I explain this in much more detail when I work with an author to coordinate their tour. The virtual “tour” allows authors to reach many people as they travel through the blogosphere. Many people claim to find the target audience in their tours, but look for proof. Getting in front of the people who are interested in the content and who need your book can be very effective.

What’s holding you back? Do you have a book that you would like to promote? It would be great to get more information about how the tour works and what it could do for you. For more information, feel free to visit the Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tour blog - http://www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/. It can be very beneficial to take time to discuss your book promotional goals to see how a virtual book tour can work for you.

Nikki Leigh – Award Winning and Best Selling Author & Publicist (www.nikkileigh.com) is the owner of Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours – www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com