Well, a fantastic new book recently came across my desk…
…and I suddenly realized, wow this is unprecedented. This is new. This is groundbreaking.
What is it?
It’s a brand new book (and teleseminar series…more on that in a moment) by my friend and colleague, Dr. Larina Kase, called:
The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go from Effective to Exceptional
We – The Blog Squad – would love to meet you in Los Angeles next week at two events where we’ll be speaking about how to
accelerate the growth of your business.
Take a look at these two stellar events and take action. Register for one or both and we’ll see you there.
Our presentations are specifically about how to use blogs and social media to gain massive visibility on the Web so you can attract more leads, more prospects, and make the money you deserve, doing what you love.
Tom Antion’s Fusion
A 3-Day Event Focusing on Internet Marketing,
Professional Speaking and Success Principles
October 17 – 19 in Los Angeles
http://www.theblogsquad.net/
The Blog Squad is featured on Friday, October 17 speaking on…
Branding and Blogging: The "New" Success Secret for Attracting More Clients and More Money
Other speakers include:
Tom Antion
Alex Mandossian
Jeff Herring
James Malinchak
Mike Stewart
Brendon Burchard
Dr. Jeff Hockings
This is going to be an amazing event where you’ll learn more usable
tools to accelerate the growth of your business than anything you’ve
done so far!
Bring a friend and split the registration fee.
Check it out and you’ll also get access to 5.5 hours of free training via mp3 or streaming online.
Donna Maria Cole Johnson writes a terrific blog called the Indie Business Blog, and never runs out of ideas for what to write. She says,
“…it’s not about me. It’s about my audience, my listeners. I love them
and I am here to serve them. I think they sense that and it keeps them
coming back.”
Featuring stories about the people in her network, her readers say “…it reminds them that they are not alone and lets them see real
life details of how other Indies handle the same problems they have.”
What a terrific way to develop content that attracts like minded people and to build a huge community of fans. I recently interviewed Donna Maria about her use of content for marketing, and her responses are enlightening. She maintains an active participation online through Twitter and Facebook besides her blog and radio show. Here’s her interview:
Denise and I recently ran a contest for people to submit their biggest blogging challenges. We did this blogging challenge contest both on our Build a Better Blog and our Blog Squad Facebook fan page. Lisa Braithwaite was picked as the winning entry.
She says her biggest challenge is getting readers to leave comments. Which is why we presented this week on how to include a ‘call to action’ in your blog posts with the Master Business Building Class teleseminar series this week.
This is the most common of blog challenges that we hear our clients mention. There are things you can do to encourage audience involvement and participation. I write about how to get readers to act here.
What other ways have you found are effective in getting people ‘out there’ to come ‘into’ your blog and participate? (I don’t recommend a megaphone and shouting at them like the person in the photo!)
How does writing content shape the course of your professional evolution? We’ve seen many entrepreneurs start off in one direction and discover new strengths and talents through writing online content. I think regular blogging where you document and share your daily journey helps shape the trip.
Des Walsh comes to my mind. His entrepreneurial journey has been visible online through his blogs and social networking participation. He’s been a pioneer in online content publication.
We met Des Walsh back in 2004 when we first started blogging and we’ve watched him evolve and gain massive visibility on the Web. At the time I think he had recently retired from a government/public service position and focused on helping others with home-based businesses. My memory’s a bit foggy on this, but what really counts is what he’s done since then.
He’s often speaking at big conferences and generously shares his knowledge and networking talents with everyone. Read his responses to this interview about content marketing for more insights.
Content marketing isn’t just for people who like to write.
"If you can speak, you can write," says David Bullock, business development specialist.
"Do
not think that writing is the only way to connect to your audience on the web."
David is an amazing professional, highly intelligent, and personable. He has a lot to offer someone who wants to learn how to leverage the Web for marketing. Read his interview that follows:
1. Tell us what your profession is, and who your typical clients are.
I am a business development consultant and business process engineer.
Clients are those who use their website as a media for connecting with
and communicating with prospects. Typically these are not startups.
These are businesses that are looking to improve their profitability
and reduce costs.
2. What marketing tools do you use on the Web?
Twitter.com – twitter.com/davidbullock
Blog – www.Davidbullock.com/index.php
Communication Portal – www.DavidBullockOnline.com
Kevin Eikenberry says more content equals more income:
"I truly believe that more time spent in content creation (both writing
and video) will have a direct positive impact on our bottom line –
which is why I am trying to write more, and make what I write have more
impact."Kevin is a dynamic speaker, author, consultant we met up with at Blog World Expo 08. He’s active on Facebook and Twitter. His Eikenberry Group consults with organizations about Remarkable Leadership, which is also the name of his recent book.
Read his interview for insights on how savvy professionals are using content to market their services by writing on the web…
"There is too much BS content on the web already. Don’t add to it! Make it good, and make it uber-easy to share!" Shama Hyder advises businesses who want to market on the Web to post content consistently but with quality.
She should know. Shama heads up the company After the Launch.com. This young entrepreneur and web wizard gets 80% of her business through writing Web content that only takes about 2 hours a week to write and post. I’d say that’s a pretty good investment of time and energy, (and low cost to boot.)
Shama Hyder is a dynamic professional who met with Denise and I last week in Las Vegas. She was one of the presenters at Blog World Expo 08. I asked her a few questions about content marketing. Shama has become very visible on the Web in a short period of time due to her active participation on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
She is a "young star to watch." You’ll be seeing a lot of success from Shama all over social media sites in the coming year. Here are her interview responses…
Top 10 writing blogs? Not an easy task, because there are so many different kinds of writing blogs as there are so many different kinds of writers.
But here’s what readers of Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers blog voted for. Check these resources out, you’ll find good inspiration no matter what, how, or why you write.
Stories sell. It’s not really a secret. Read the best sales and landing pages and you’ll be captured by personal stories. Ask any of the online copywriting gurus and they will tell you: Stories sell.
Our brains are hardwired to be receptive to stories. Once engaged, we find ways to relate, to trust, to enjoy the experience the storyteller is sharing with us. And it’s quite easy to sell something after that.
As a psychologist, I am tempted to explain the neural background for all this, but that’s not the story I want to share here with you today. This post will be short, because I’m going to simply tell you about a master of storytelling who will reveal how to use stories for selling. You can listen and learn from him for free this Thursday.
Craig Valentine is teaching these important concepts. Craig is the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking and 3-time Mid-Atlantic Salesperson of the Year for Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. He knows a few things about storytelling and selling. Here are the details:
When: Date: September 25, 2008 Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST (10:00 am – 11:00 am Pacific)
