One-Week Schedule for Promoting Your Lead Magnet…

The following excerpt is from Kim Walsh Phillips’s book Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Follow the instructions for each day, and complete all the tasks listed to see maximum results from your lead magnet promotions.

Related: Harness the Power of Stardom With Instagram

Sunday

Sunday night, as the weekend is winding down, take some time to do a little research. This will set you up for success for the rest of the week. Make a list of the following:

1. Ten of the most popular blogs in your niche (use www.BuzzSumo.com to help you find that).
2. Ten of the most popular podcasts in your niche that are ranked 75 to 100 in popularity. You don’t want to focus on the top ten as they are hit up for requests all day long. Start with the super strong but less popular shows to get your feet wet. (Visit iTunes, then Podcast, to get these.)
3. Make a list of all the people in your industry who you personally know who have a blog, podcast, or other platform.
4. Create an easy-to-give domain name for your lead magnet with www.GoDaddy.com  (buy a domain), or use www.TinyURL.com to create one for free.
5. Now get to sleep: You have a busy week ahead!

Note: If you have a teeny-tiny list right now, some of these strategies might seem pointless, but don’t use that as an excuse not to do them. Even if you only have 12 people on your email list and eight Twitter followers (and some of them are family members and yourself), start with those 12 and run through these strategies. The more you do this step, the more your audience will grow and the more comfortable you’ll grow with self-promotion.

Monday

It’s time to do your own self-promotion of your funnel to drive traffic and comments before you reach out to others to promote it.

1. Use Facebook’s Live Video and Instagram Stories to share with your audience three bullet points or one main tip from your blog. At the end of the video, send them to the lead magnet web page to get more information. Also include a link to that video in the video settings and post description.
2. Download the MP4 from the Facebook Live Video and upload it to YouTube. In the description, first place a link to your lead magnet.
3. Share the YouTube link on LinkedIn. Include a link to your lead magnet as well.
4. In preparation for tasks later in the week, read the blogs of your top bloggers and make any notes about their blogging style that you can use later in the week.

Related: How to Make the Power of the Hashtag Work for You

Tuesday

If you’re a newbie, this step can be S-C-A-R-Y when you’re just starting out, but rip off the Band-Aid® and email them. I promise it gets easier and eventually even fun. Yes, I’m serious.

1. Send an email to your list with a link to your blog post. In the P.S. of the email and at the end of your blog post, include a link to your lead magnet.
2. Share a link to your blog post on all of your social media channels.
3. Listen to three of the podcasters you plan to reach out to later in the week and make notes about their podcasting style (so you can remember them when you reach out later).

Wednesday

Use this day to contact the people you know who have networks you can tap into by doing one (or both) of the following:

1. Send them a personal email to ask if they’d be willing to share a link to your blog post to their social media followers.
2. Share a link to your blog post and ask if there might be an opportunity to guest post on their site or write for their newsletter about a similar topic.
3. Listen to four of the podcasters you plan to reach out to later in the week and make notes about their podcasting style (so you can remember them when you reach out later).

Thursday

Now it’s time to venture out into the podcasting world to people you don’t know and try to get booked on their shows.

1. Listen to the remaining podcasters you haven’t heard yet and make notes about their shows.
2. Send an email request to be a guest on one of the podcaster’s shows. Follow this formula for getting heard:

a. Use a unique subject line to grab their attention.

•  I’ll promote our episode like my life depended on it.
• You’ll wonder what just happened but then smile.
• No, seriously . . . let me tell you why.

b. Write a short but sweet email telling them how having you as a guest will benefit them. Do NOT make it all about you.

c. Set a task reminder to follow up by “replying all” to your message, but change the subject line, trying something unique again, perhaps offering five reasons why they should book you as a guest. Make this again about them and not about you.

Friday

Repeat the podcast step, but this time ask bloggers if you can guest blog on their platform.

Related: Make the Most of Instagram’s ‘Vanity’ Features

Saturday

A quick cleanup in the morning and you’re done:

1. Thank anyone who shared your link or promoted your work in any way. (I like to send gifts as a thank you. It helps to show how much you appreciate their help.)
2. Post a link to your blog post again on all of your social media channels.

And you’re done! Take a deep breath and get some rest because next week we are on to getting paid traffic.