Author Archive for Patsi Krakoff – Page 162

Name Game: Boost Biz with Blogs?

By Patsi Krakoff
Thursday, August 25th, 2005

I need your feedback, please.

Denise and I, along with our colleague Adam Urbanski, the Marketing Mentor guy, are developing a new, hands-on class for setting up and using a blog to drive business.  We would like to get your feedback on some names for the class:

1. Boost Your Biz with Blogs

2. Biz Blog Starter

3. Biz Blog Builder

Please vote for one, by clicking on the comment link in the footer here, and let us know which name rings your bells.

P.S. This is a 6-week intensive ‘boot-camp’ where we will actually walk Adam through the initial set up of his blog, and then show him how to drive traffic in order to boost business.

Let us know your preference by clicking on the Comment link below and stating which name you feel works the best.  You can let me know if you’re interested in attending while you’re at it! Thanks!

Categories : Teleclasses & Seminars

Content is STILL King

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005

Here’s a good post about the state of blogging, post-revolution. Like any major technology that bursts on the scene, there is use, misuse, abuse, and boring. Jane Genova, Speechwriter-Ghostwriter, says this about the way blogs are going. (Please note the boldings and italics are mine, so that you will pay special attention to these concepts; also note that it doesn’t matter if you aren’t doing a blog yet. These comments apply to writing good newsletter too!)

Blogging – Post-Revolution, excerpts…
By Jan Genova, Sppechwriter-Ghostwriter

Blogging is morphing from a grassroots revolution to a mainstream commercial communications tool.  And that’s making all the difference in how the 80,000 who start a blog each day and all the rest of the14.2 million bloggers chat it up the blogosphere.

In fact, ecommerce expert Paul Chaney, President of Radiant Marketing Group, observes that even the term "blog" is being replaced by the more formal communications term "content management system." 

So, what does all this mean?  A total re-thinking of how to use this medium.

So, to be taken seriously, the postings will have to be clearly differentiated from all the other "stuff" out there. 

That now-must differentiation can come in almost an infinite number of ways: Really provocative/controversial content.  Information that can’t easily be obtained elsewhere.  Brilliant analysis of events, trends, personalities.  Authorship by a celebrity such as Donald Trump.  Dogged persistence in following a topic.  Passionate commitment to a cause or to a corporate function such as customer services, quality, design (e.g. GM’s Robert Lutz).  And so on.

Read More→

Categories : Getting Read, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog, Writing Better Ezines

A Conversation with Bob Bly

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, August 22nd, 2005

Using Direct Marketing Techniques to Sell Thousands of Copies of Your Book
Wednesday, August 24, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET
Guest Expert:  Bob Bly of bly.com

One out of three hardcover books distributed to bookstores is returned to the publisher unsold, but you can still make your book a best-seller by selling it through ads, direct mail, and the Internet. In this interview, author and direct response copywriter Bob Bly shows you marketing techniques that can boost your book sales.

Guest: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter specializing in direct marketing and the author of more than 60 books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Direct Marketing (Alpha Books)

Register:  www.ConversationsWithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff.

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

P.S. Don’t forget, if you’re still wondering whether to start blogging for your business yet or not, Denise & I are leading a class Tuesday 4 p.m. ET through the Business Building Center. For more info, go here, and Start Blogging Now!

Categories : Teleclasses & Seminars

4 Reasons To Start Blogging NOW

By Patsi Krakoff
Friday, August 19th, 2005

Denise Wakeman and I have been invited to teach an intro blogging class for the Business Building Center.  We just found out it’s open to EVERYONE so if you still haven’t started your blog or you know others who are interested, you’re invited to join us for an intro to business blogging.

4 Reasons to Start Blogging Now!
Brought to you by: www.BusinessBuildingCenter.com
With Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman

Date: Tuesday, August 23rd – FREE
Time: 4-5pm Eastern/NY (1-2pm Pacific/CA)

Blogs are the wave of the future on the Internet. Learn how you can use a blog to build your business with very little expense. Blogs are being used in big, small and micro businesses as a dynamic vehicle for communication between business and customers to build trust, credibility and awareness.  But not every blog gets results. Join us and learn:

    * What the heck is a blog!
    * 4 reasons you should have a blog
    * Why blogs are such an effective marketing strategy
    * How to start blogging quickly
    * The 3 deadly mistakes you must avoid

To reserve your spot and receive the telephone bridge number send a blank email to:
bbc2005-119451@autocontactor.com.

The Business Building Center is the most comprehensive, research-based online training and resource center for professional coaches.  Members of www.BusinesssBuildingCenter.com enjoy 24/7 access to:

    * Comprehensive training classes that walk you the proven, step-by-step Coach & Grow R.I.C.H. Practice-building system.
    * A large resource library of downloadable forms, checklists, templates, charts, models, marketing materials, sales letters, coaching proposals and much more that you can customize and immediately start using in your practice.
    * Easily accessible, coaching specific articles and special reports on marketing, sales, branding your business, pricing strategies, cash flow control, making guarantees, case studies, and a host of other topics written by the best minds in the business.
    * The opportunity to attend live teleclasses and monthly community calls at no additional charge.
    * And much more!

Want to learn more about the Business Building Center?  Take a test drive on us! Click here to activate a f’ree one month trial:
http://www.businessbuildingcenter.com/trial.htm

Categories : Teleclasses & Seminars

How Important Is Your Book Design?

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, August 16th, 2005

Brian Taylor of Pneuma Books will share his expertise about book design and formatting on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 at 8:30 p.m. ET. He is our featured guest on the Conversations with Experts teleseminar.

For details on this interesting Conversation, go here and register to get the call in number (no charge.)

Categories : E-Books, Teleclasses & Seminars

How to Ask for a Testimonial

By Patsi Krakoff
Tuesday, August 16th, 2005

There’s a great article about how to ask your clients for effective testimonials, ones that aren’t too sugary, ones that can speak to the real needs of your customers over on the Psychotactics site.

Ask the client three questions:
1) What were your perceptions before you bought our product/service and were you reluctant in any way?
2) How did you feel as a result of using the product/service?
3) What specific results did you get as a result of using the product/service?

For more information read the complete article, it explains how you can avoid getting testimonials that are ineffective and too flowery or vague.

The Psychotactic website says it "unlocks the mystery of the business brain"…good luck on that one.

Categories : How to...Tips, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog, Writing Better Ezines

How to Make a Quick Marketing Plan

By Patsi Krakoff
Monday, August 15th, 2005

Michael Levine is author of Guerilla PR and writes the Guerrilla PR Insights ezine with great tips for getting publicity. Here’s an outline of a quick marketing plan he recommends before taking action on PR.

15 Minute Guerrilla PR Marketing Plan
by Michael Levine
To subscribe to Guerilla PR Insights, go here.
Excerpted from the International Bestseller, Guerrilla PR.

When you need a "down and dirty" marketing plan, you can use the following outline. We use this plan at my company as a quick starting point. I’m sure you’ll find it useful as a starting point.

  • OBJECTIVE(S): What do you want to achieve?
  • AUDIENCE(S): Who can best help you reach that goal?
  • Definition of your product or service:
  • Message: Why your audience should want or could benefit by your product or service:
  • Why are you better than your competition?
  • What else do you want your audience to know?
  • Media: What vehicles should you use to get the message to your audience?
  • Summary/Results: How does the delivery of the above message to the targeted audiences via these media achieve your objectives?

    Once you have written out this plan, refine it, then put together an action plan. Good planning is the starting point for getting PR.

Answering these questions is also effective for clearly defining your newsletter goals. If you struggle with your newsletter, it may be you aren’t clear on who your audience is and what you want to achieve.

When’s the last time you sat and wrote out your marketing plan and objectives?

Categories : How to...Tips, Promoting Your Ezine +/or Blog, Writing Better Ezines

Tell a Story in Your Ezine or Blog

By Patsi Krakoff
Sunday, August 14th, 2005

Michael Pollack tells a good story, about his child’s birth. And we love stories, and can’t help but read the intimate details. He makes a good point. People expect to get to know you through your ezine, newsletters and blogs.

How personal do you get? I suppose it depends on your personality, the kind of business you’re in, and how comfortable you are about being transparent.

In some circles, I am an open book; but somehow I am reluctant to share too much of my story online. I guess I don’t want to take up your time unless there’s something in it for you.

Michael writes for the Savvy Solo-preneur, a term he’s coined that fits many of us in the online world who are leveraging the Internet to do business. Read his blog about stories here.

He’s excited about being part of the revolution that blogs play a major part of. (I know, I know, it’s a dangling participle. But hey, it’s my blog, it’s Sunday afternoon, the tennis finals just finished, and I’m too lazy to change that last sentence.)

I’m so grateful for being a part of that world too, in my own small way, and for being able to earn my living doing what I love: reading, writing and blogging. I love playing tennis too, but nobody’s going to pay me for the way I play… And that’s my story.

What’s yours? What do you notice about the world or your industry? Are you telling a story about that? What excites you about your work and how can you tell your readers your story?

Categories : Writing Better Ezines

Insights from Fred Gleek

By Patsi Krakoff
Saturday, August 13th, 2005

Fred Gleek writes a good newsletter, even if it is in plain text and a mile long. It’s enjoyable and, more importantly, full of valuable common sense on Internet marketing. To get on his ezine list, send a blank email to tips@seminarexpert.com.

Here’s what Fred has to say about visitors to your web site. Imagine that your site is really good, has valuable content, and some informational products for sale. It’s so good that 5% of them actually buy and download something from you. What about the 95% that don’t?

Remember, if you have a great site, it will close 5% or so.
This means that 95% of the people who come to your site
will leave without buying. What will you do with them? In fact,
the answer to that question is almost more important that
learning how to close a greater number of people.

How do you get them to stop and say: "OK, I’ll give you a
chance. If you claim that you have some good stuff I’ll give
you my email address, but don’t take advantage of me and start
sending me loads of crap."

If you can get 20% of those 95% who aren’t buying to let you
continue the conversation, you’re in good shape. They are
willing to give you another shot if you first prove yourself.

I believe strongly in giving visitors a chance. Not everybody’s ready to buy after one visit. But many want to sample you and your stuff a little more, they are willing to give you another chance.

Give them your newsletter to subscribe to, give them a valuable report ("6 secrets about X that they won’t tell you"), or, like Fred, give them 5 free books!

Also, please feel free to share the following link
with people to get 5 copies of my most popular
books for FREE!

http://www.FredGleeck.com/ebooks

People love free, especially when it’s packed with value. But remember, as Fred says, be respectful of your visitors’ time and intelligence: Don’t start sending them a load of crap! (That’s a quote from Fred, not my words!)

Categories : List Building Tips

Beware of Internet Marketing Gurus

By Patsi Krakoff
Friday, August 12th, 2005

There are some very clever expert Internet Marketing gurus on the Web. They are great copywriters. They send out compelling emails that draw you into their realms, promising you will get rich quick online.

Yesterday, we had the privelege of consulting with a smart woman who had invested a lot of money in learning online marketing strategies. She had bought the package of, let’s say, Gerry Guru, only it wasn’t working. She had her web site, her long sales/landing page, her opt-in form with free bonuses, an autoresponder system set up to ‘manage’ her database…only there wasn’t much to manage. She built it, only they didn’t come!

The problem was it was the wrong strategy for her. This system might have worked for Gerry Guru, after all, he was one of the first to implement these internet techniques. He got rich, so now you can too? All you have to do is copy his system, and you will be rich? I don’t think so.

Be sure you talk to the right people with a few years of Internet marketing experience before you invest your money. Not all systems work for all people, and the truth is, if your marketing plan looks like everybody else’s, you can’t expect the world to beat a path to you.

The same applies to blogs. While there is no doubt that just putting up a blog and posting 2-3 times a week will increease traffic to your web site, and more than likely bring in new clients, nothing is guaranteed. You have to post quality articles, link frequently to build up traffic, give away valuable information, and create a community of readers who love your stuff. Oh, and the technology must be up and running correctly so you can use trackbacks, record your traffic with a site meter, gather subscriber’s email addresses, etc.

There are very expensive lessons to be learned by throwing money at a problem. Make sure you invest wisely with people you can trust. Got questions? Ask.

P.S. Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership and BizTips Blog and I are teamed up to provide consulting for small businesses and professionals who want to leverage the Internet to grow business and get more clients. If you struggle with your newsletter, blog, autoresponders, e-commerce, or need to implement an Internet marketing strategy, give us an email.

Categories : Ethics & Writing
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