Online Marketing Symposium! Plus Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Movie Review, TV Trivia Answers, and Ninja News

Movie Review

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Staring Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh, and Keira Knightly
It’s a good start to a reboot of the franchise and takes place in current time. Ryan’s first mission as an operative is to go to Russia to analyze some accounts. He’s an ‘analyst out of water’ as he discovers a terrorist plot to destroy American’s economy and forced to go beyond his job description.
The actors all did a good job and I really like Kevin Costner in the film. Branagh pulls double-duty as both actor and director and does it well.
Not a great film, but a really good action-spy thriller. And certainly one of the best films I have ever seen in January. Shame it didn’t do better at the box office this weekend.(Shame what DID do well this weekend.)
Recommended

Ninja News

Yvonne Lewis has been having issues with commenting on certain blogs and with others finding her blog. So if you’ve missed Yvonne, hop over and follow her new blog.

In celebration of her upcoming release, 18 Truths, Jamie Ayres is hosting a special blogfest this week and it includes prizes:
Players tell two truths and one lie. The object of the game is to hop around the blogs and determine which statement that each blogger posted is the false one.Anyone who posts for the Can You Handle The TRUTH? blogfest between January 22nd-28th can enter to win a number of prizes donated by 18 terrific people.

Donna Weaver had a special release last week – Hope's Watch. This eBook-exclusive short story includes special excerpts from both A Change of Plans and Torn Canvas, coming April 2014.

Talli Roland revealed the print version of The Pollyanna Plan, coming March 11.


For those of you who are members of the IWSG Facebook Group - remember that promotions are to be posted on Saturday News & Promo Day only. (And I understand the group is over five hundred strong now!)

Jessica Therrien announced a great opportunity and giveaway:
To celebrate our new blog, the authors at Darkly Delicious YAalong with Book Nerd Tours are hosting a huge giveaway, and we’re looking for authors of Young Adult and New Adult (provided there are no graphic sex scenes) to submit their books for the giveaway. The grand prize will be a Kindle Fire HD loaded with all our books. Giveaway will start on March 1st and run through March 17th.

TV Trivia Answers

On The X-Files, what's Mulder's nickname? Spooky
What show starred Michael Landon as an angel? Highway to Heaven
On The Simpsons, who shot Mr. Burns? Maggie Simpson
What was the name of the charter boat that shipwrecked in the 1960s show "Gilligan's Island"? S.S. Minnow
What 80s show is Frasier a spinoff of? Cheers

What Works – Online Marketing Symposium

A blogfest with information you can use! Hosted by Arlee Bird, Yolanda Renee, Jeremy Hawkins, and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

We want you to tell us your stories of success (or not so successful) as we present a blogging event that will help us learn. Tell us about a marketing idea that you've used and what worked or didn't work. Your post could describe a campaign that succeeded in a big or small way or one that failed drastically. Tell us about a business campaign, an organizational event, a fundraiser – anything where a bit of promotion was necessary! The What Works.. Marketing Symposium is not limited to authors but also to anyone in a business that has a promotional aspect – online or otherwise!

I’ve seen a lot of blog tours in over four years of blogging (and conducted three of my own) and I think they are still very effective. Based on my experience and observations, here are my tips on how to get the most out of a blog tour:

One tour stop a day. If a blog was nice enough to host you, return the favor by making that the one and only, front and center stop. (It’s just being courteous.)

All guest posts and interviews should be unique. No duplicates.

Announcements aren’t tour stops.

If bloggers are announcing the release of your book (or whatever) try to send something a little different to each one.

Select high traffic stops with lots of followers. (Those with smaller followings can do an announcement for you.) You want to get in front of a lot of people, plus putting together a guest post takes time and effort – make it count.

Avoid weekend stops unless that is the blog’s prime traffic and post time.

Announce each stop the day it occurs on your blog, Twitter, etc. (And once you have the exact link, go back and edit it into your blog post.)

Keep your interview answers and guest posts short. (Just being real here.)

Offer a couple giveaways during your tour.

That’s what I’ve seen work best. And I didn’t mention the use of clones, but those also help!

Visit other participants:


Anyone else see Shadow Recruit? Signed up for those blogfests? Part of the IWSG Facebook Group? Get any of the television trivia right? And what online marketing tip would you offer?

Stop by on Wednesday for the announcement of one awesome contest!