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Leveraging Your Business with Podcasting

Debra Simpson teaches PodcastingWith all these new social media technologies you have the opportunity, like never before, to dramatically increase your online visibility. With increased visibility comes increased leverage for your business.

You’ve heard content is King, and it still is! But how do you keep up with all of it. The first step is a WordPress based website. The second step is content.

What is a Podcast?

Wikipedia defines a podcast as a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of files (either audio or video) subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication. The word is a neologism derived from “broadcast” and “pod” from the success of the iPod, as podcasts are often listened to on portable media players

Podcasting can be a very easy, enjoyable way to get more content for your site and give your business, and message a much wider reach. Podcasting can increase your online visibility and brand you as an expert in your field. Did I mention it was easy?

In this workshop you’ll

  • set up and optimize your Blog Talk Radio account.
  • integrate your Facebook and Twitter account.
  • learn how easy it is to schedule your show.
  • learn strategies for finding guests.
  • learn how to find show you can be a guest on.
  • learn how to work in the studio and chat room.
  • walk away with a very valuable tool for sharing your business online!
  • and much more.

What do you need for this workshop?

You’ll need your laptop and a credit/debit card (just in case you want to purchase/upgrade something).

Friday, March 15th
9:30am to noon
QLN Conference Center
Friday, March 30th
9:30am to noon
Hera Hub

Name:

Business Name:

Phone Number:

Locations/Dates

Only $49 dollars to learn podcasting!

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Interview with Lynn Serafinn, Author of 7 Graces of Marketing

7 Graces of Marketing by Lynn SerafinnSyndicating Your Content Online
Show Notes: December 1, 2011

To celebrate the launch of The 7 Graces of Marketing, an illustrious panel of 24 of the world’s leading minds are coming together to discuss how we can bring back ethics and values into business and marketing, so we can start the change the world together. Register for The 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit, beginning December 6, 2011.

In February 2008, at the start of the global economic recession, Lynn Serafinn’s television blew up. Six months after she made the decision not to replace it, as she watched everyone around her become more and more stressed about their finances, she suddenly realized she shared none of their anxieties.

At the same time she noticed her spending had gone down, and that her financial situation had actually improved. She began to wonder if there was a connection between this and the fact that she was no longer consuming a daily dose of the nightly news and television advertising.

It was then that Lynn started asking the question, “Is marketing making us ILL?” And by marketing, she included anything that was in the business of “selling ideas,” including politics and the nightly news.

This began a two-year journey for Lynn, as she researched and wrote her new book, The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell. She wanted to discover the unspoken marketing mechanisms that were making our society, our economy and our environment ill. But most of all, she wanted to discover how we human beings could create a new paradigm for marketing, business and living that could heal both humanity and the planet.

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Three Tips to Getting That Article Started

tips on starting your articleOne of the toughest obstacles in article writing is actually starting the article writing process. No matter how many articles we write, it is something we want to avoid because we sometimes don’t know where to start. Since article writing has become a form of marketing that almost anyone can do and afford, now is the time to take on this challenge head on.

Creating an outline is one of the best methods to use when writing an article. Having an outline provides a foundation of your article. In other words and outline gives you a starting point from which you can build into a story. An outline will make the article writing process easier and faster.

Brainstorm Your Ideas

To start off your outline, brainstorm and jot down your ideas. I love using the mindmap method of brainstorming. Set up about a 15 minute time frame and write freely. Try not to over think when you are writing down your ideas. This process does not have to be formal so write freely. Think of some ideas you would like to cover and supporting points for that idea. Review your notes and now organize your outline.

Organize the Outline

When you organize your outline, identify and ensure the purpose of the article. The purpose of the article should help you figure out the introduction of your article. Then identify key points of your article. Now that you have a frame for that article, you need to come up with ideas supporting those key points. As you come up with more supporting material your outline will build and you’ll have an expectation of the length of the article.

After this process you should have an outline of all of your paragraphs (i.e. the body of the article). You now need to outline a conclusion. The conclusion outline should be similar to the introduction of the outline and supportive of all the main points of the outline.

Create the First Draft

Now you should have enough material for a first draft of the article. Your draft should be a similar process to your brainstorm. Just write. Don’t worry about being perfect. Think of it this way, no one will read your first draft. Plus, you will be refining the draft into an article. As you move through this process, you will see the article form.

Always refer to your outline and let it serve as the central point to your article. From my experience it is very easy to move away from the purpose of your article. Your outline will keep you on track to the purpose of the article (is you use it).

An outline does not only provide a plan for your article it serves as a way to get started with writing the article. Your outline skills will be something you will refine with practice. You’ll build momentum to creating the first draft of your article. You will eventually trust your self and become a very productive tool in writing articles quickly and effectively.

Why don’t you share your ideas on how to get started writing an article? Do you have a method that would work for others? Please comment and share.

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Why Write Articles to Market Your Business

article and blog writingYou have a business; you are new and want to build a client list. However, the public doesn’t know much about you.

One of the best ways to build relationships, credibility and to help get people to know more about you and your area of expertise is to write articles. People are always looking for good articles for their websites, blogs and newsletters. The important words here are good content.

Good articles are content rich. They help the reader understand that which you are writing about. It gives them insight, whether it is about business, communication, health or any number of subjects.

When you provide an article for your reader, whether you wrote it or published it, you are doing your clients a service by educating them in the areas that they wish to learn. Moreover, your credibility can be built or diminished by the article.

Articles also help to keep your website updated and helped to increase your search engine ratings. Stagnate websites that never change get a much lower rating with Google.  Plus nothing new doesn’t encourage your readers to come back.

Some of the benefits of writing articles are:

  • Increased Exposure
  • Give Credibility (You show your expertise)
  • Develop Relations (People get to know you better)
  • Create links to your site
  • Give you free Publicity

There are also benefits for the Publisher or Website Owner who uses your articles. They get:

  • Content
  • Related Articles that you don’t have to write
  • Reference and information that you don’t have to write
  • A vast resource of free information

However, it is important to remember that there can be a downside.

There is nothing worse than reading an article that is nothing more than a sales letter, a news release or an inflated glorified piece on how wonderful you are. You need to give the public something that they can use. Then they are much more likely to follow your link in your resource box, back to your site to find out more about you.

Remember that in each article, you are communicating something about you. You want the message to be one that encourages people to want to get to know you better, to learn more about you know and to become one of your clients or subscribers.

In your resource box, make sure you are clear, stating who you are and where they can find out more about you. Most article directories and magazines have set limits on the size and amount of information you can place so it is important to ensure it is accurate and inviting. You are not writing articles just for praise and admiration. You do have a business to run and bills to pay. Even if you are a millionaire and want to write just for the shear joy of it and love to teach for free, your resource box is still important, as you would want the readers to know that the information came from a credible source.

So go ahead and get started. Start an account at EzineArticles.com. Don’t stop at one article, it can easily become buried. Make it a habit and write them regularly whether it is once a week or once a month. And remember, have fun doing them.

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QR Codes, What are they?

QR Codes offer small business owners a great way to stand out. QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, are just that, quick response.

If you have a QR Scanning application on your smart phone, just fire it up and scan the QR Code to the left. It will take you to a profile I have at MyUrls.com, letting you connect to my blogs or social media profiles.

You can create a variety of QR Codes, taking your potential customer to a website, a text message, a phone number and a variety of other options.  Here’s a great article by the Wall Street Journal’s Emily Glazer on how valuable these codes can be to your business.

So, are you using them yet? If so, how? Share your point of view by commenting below!

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