Communication is key during a blog tour to ensure everyone is on the same page. Participants in Mary DeMuth’s blog tour felt like the communication was “just right” so I’ve outlined our communication plan for you below.
1) Invitation email from author: Mary sent out an email to her various networks asking people if they wanted to participate in her upcoming tour.2) Welcome email from author: I created an email list from all the people who were interested in participating and we sent a welcome email from Mary. This email stated the goals for the tour and introduced me as the Blog Tour Director.
3) Instructional email from director: This email announced the blog tour website, provided general instructions, gave an overview of the options for posting and requested answers to the following questionnaire:
1) Does your assigned week work for you? If not, please let me know which week you’d prefer.
2) Please verify for me which blog(s) you’ll be posting on and what day(s).
3) Please let me know what buzz post option you selected.
4) Any other questions or issues?
In the future, I will only ask participants to verify the schedule, verify the blogs on which they will post and ask for any additional questions.
4) Reminder email from director: A few days before the participants’ assigned weeks, I sent out an email reminding them of the goals for the tour, some key points, any updates and an overview of what they could find on the website.
5) Summary email from director: After the participants’ weeks, I sent out an email thanking them for their participation and summarizing the postings on each blog during their specific week. (I made all of these summaries available on the centralized website as well.)
6) Follow up email from director: At the end of the entire tour, I sent out a final email to all participants that included a thank you note from Mary, a thank you from myself, and a short questionnaire to solicit feedback on the tour itself.
A few final pointers about your communication: Make it quick and concise. People skim over long emails, and if you’ve included important information they may miss it. Along those same lines, place important information at the top of the email. Use short paragraphs and highlight key dates or actions with bolding or underlining.
Hope that helps get you started!
Posted under Tours, communication, consulting
This post was written by admin on October 13, 2007
