Online Advocacy Services

What is Online Advocacy?

Online Advocacy is the act of creating higher visibility and buzz by contacting people that have audiences and inviting them to create some visibility for you in a win/win scenario.

This works best when your client has something of value, such as a free product sample or a book or white paper. However, many people with websites or blogs are happy to write about a new and interesting topic or interview someone that has something interesting to say.

Online Advocacy can be a steady source of income for you because the need to promote a website or blog (and the products they represent) never stops.

Why do people buy Online Advocacy?

Organizations buy Online Advocacy because they often do not have someone in-house to promote a website on a weekly basis. Far too often, a company will invest a lot in developing a great website and not realize that unless they promote it, it will not pay off for them. These people will often buy Online Advocacy to have someone continuously building visibility for that resource.

Another reason people buy online advocacy is to get a fast start on a start up company or new product launch. They may invest more money for a shorter period of time to contact as many people as possible about the product.

Sometimes people will start having a Virtual Buzz Assistant do online advocacy and they become a valued member of the team long term. We have seen people have the VBA following up on orders, checking back with leads, etc. They like the VBA because it is affordable and they can depend on them to communicate well and take care of key tasks.

Setting Goals for Online Advocacy

As with any service, goal setting is key to success. You should set goals with the client that you both agree upon. You should also set realistic goals for yourself that you can measure.

If you do not set clear goals and tasks that are included in this service, it can eventually lead to the client expecting many other services that you do not include in the pricing. For example, promoting a blog, to you this may seem like contacting other bloggers and inviting them to link or write about the site. To a client, that may include adding blog plug-ins, updating and editing images and video, etc.

So what are some examples of good goals?

Generate 20 links per month to blog or website.
Send out free samples of product to 10 people with serious blogs in the client industry.
Have your client interviewed at least three times per month on blogs or podcast shows.
Gain permission and promote product in 5 online groups per month.

You should be even more specific than this once you know what your client wants. What kinds of groups, blogs, etc. should be defined.

Your own personal goals are important to make sure you are keeping the client satisfied and making progress on your goal. The client only cares about reaching your results and achieving the benefits. You must set weekly goals to be sure you are providing the service effectively.

For example: Each week I will research and contact 20 bloggers. The client�s goal is 20 links per month.

After one or two months, you will know if your goal is achieving the client�s goal. If not, or if you are exceeding the goal, then you must make adjustments to your personal goal. This could include mean changing hours, outsourcing your research at a lower rate, changing the message, etc.

As you become more proficient at getting results for the client, you will become more profitable, being able to achieve the desired results in less time, but still deliver the results.

Client Benefits of Online Advocacy

The benefits of Online Advocacy are:

Links to blogs and websites usually increase search engine ranking.
Any time someone writes about the client, the client is gaining visibility with the entire audience.
Interviews increase expert status of key employees.
Website traffic from links on other sites.
General Higher Visibility.

Pricing Online Advocacy

As always, pricing is ultimately your decision. We have learned a few things about Online Advocacy that is very important for you to help you estimate your rate.

Anything under $500 per month for 6 month minimum is not likely to produce much in the way of results. It takes time to do the upfront research, to try multiple messages and often people do not respond to one contact, but will to a polite follow up.

Your rate should be higher if you already have significant contacts and familiarity with the industry.

You may want to charge a project launch fee and a higher amount the first few months, then drop to a monthly ongoing fee. We often charge $1,000 to $2,000 up front to do the research and writing necessary to prepare for the project. Then we may do more hours the first three months, then reduce the rate to continue the momentum and keep the opportunities coming in. This also increases the odds that you will keep them long terms.

We highly suggest you do not work on commission only. Lots of people contact us trying to get free buzz and promising money down the road. It is simply too much work. You�d be better off promoting your own business and your own products in most cases and keeping 100%.

Factors: You should factor into the cost your costs for project management (time and software) as well as assume that it will take longer than expected initially to achieve goals.

Hourly Rate: We prefer not to give an exact hourly rate because it will negate the profitability of your business as you get more efficient.

For example, if you are charging $40 an hour and working 10 hours per week to achieve the client�s goals, you are billing $1600 per month. If you then become very efficient at meeting the goals (better messages, better researching, bigger audience) then you can reduce those hours to 6 per week. Now you are billing $960 per month for the same results. Good for the client, but you are being penalized for becoming better at your job.

Instead, you could have charged $1,200 per month for an estimated 6-15 hours per week based on achieving specific goals and then you would benefit from your efficiency. The important point here is that you stress achieving goals and do not disclose exact hours to clients, unless you both agree to work under those terms.

How to deliver Online Advocacy effectively

Not surprisingly, keeping yourself profitable and your client happy comes down to just a few things: Identify clear goals and communicate with the client regularly to demonstrate that those goals are being achieved.

We suggest using a shared database, such as Zoho Creator, to create a workspace where the client can see your contacts, successes and progress in real time.

Managing the Online Advocacy Project

Managing an Advocacy project requires careful record keeping and success tracking. You do not want to accidentally contact the same person twice or miss a reply.

It is also always a good idea to create resources that can be transferred to the client later. For example, it is better if people can sign up for something directly on the client website instead of you needing to pass something to someone. You should plan on contacts coming in well after the project has ended.

How will these still reach the client?

Managing the project will depend on the goals. We suggest a monthly summary (Usually on one page) that shows contacts, successes and any other relevant details.

Lifecycle of Online Advocacy

The lifecycle of these projects depend on the initial goals. Some will be short, such as helping with a product launch, and others will be for a long time, as you become part of the team that generates long term publicity for a group.

To move a short term project to a long term project, complete the short term goals efficiently, and then propose a long term maintenance and continuity plan. You can let the client know that your familiarity with the industry, their organization and the goals make you an excellent ongoing advocate for the company. If you have been a big benefit to them, they will agree and continue with you in many cases.