A Shot In the Arm for Promotional Methods: Excerpt from ProScribd by the Promo Diva®

(Author: Traci Hayner Vanover | Article Views: 15 | Word Count: 445 | Published: Mar 27th 2008)

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Scribd is a Web 2.0 website; and has been referred to as the “YouTube of documents.” Scribd allows users to upload and share a wide assortment of documents.

As of this writing, Scribd is fairly new on the Web 2.0 landscape, and isn’t as widely known as some of its counterparts – yet, according to the website, it “serves” documents to over 10 million people monthly!

Scribd is positioned to be another great marketing venue for those who are savvy enough to take advantage of all it has to offer. The viral nature of Scribd makes it an attractive venue for marketers – especially those that are on a tight budget.

Unlike traditional advertising methods, viral marketing relies on the eagerness of one person to pass on the information to their family and friends. That said, viral marketing needs to go the extra mile to avoid being a “typical” ad message. Viral marketing campaigns often take the shape of sponsored games, utilities, software, photos, or short videos that have been branded to the sponsor.

You can upload all types of documents and Scribd accepts all major formats: MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Open Office, PDF, Rich Text Files, and HTML.

Now that we know what types of documents we can upload to Scribd, we need to determine what types of documents would serve as promotional tools. Here are a few that come to mind:

* Your monthly newsletter – great way to gain new subscribers

* Product spec sheets – for new releases, upgrades, etc.

* Press releases – adds another inbound link to your press room!

* “Leaked Chapters” of ebooks you are offering for sale

* Special reports that upsell other products or services

* E-courses that upsell your products or services, or affiliate products

* Flyers for upcoming special events

* Usable freebies – things like tip calculators, weight conversion charts, etc. that are branded to your company

* User guides for your products or services – if tagged properly, these can actually guide customers to you for purchase

* Powerpoint presentations, brochures and more

These are just a few examples to get you started. The possibilities are endless!

A Few Words of Caution:
Scribd has recently instituted tougher rules in an effort to prevent the "spamming" of their network. There were users who were uploading entire webpages and sales letters, and that
is no longer allowed. That said, use common sense to insure you are uploading content that is of value to others and not blatant sales material.

About the Author

Traci Hayner Vanover, aka The Promo Diva®, is a freelance writer, publicist and publisher. She is the publisher of Create the Dream! Magazine, and the owner of Market Outside the Box Trade Association. To obtain the full version of this ebook, visit her website, located at http://www.proscribd.com

Source: http://WhoisArticleDirectory.com

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