Last December The Blog Squad was
invited to be on the Leading Experts talk show. We headed to Palm
Springs to the CBS studios where host Dr. Jeff Hockings shoots the 28
minute show.
It’s taken awhile, but we finally have the video online for the world to see. Check us out on Leading Experts TV!
Today Denise and I interviewed Debra Simpson, MagicInWords.com about podcasts and other media to reach and pull visitors to your online business. (I’ll post notes about our Blogging and Beyond radio show on podcasting and multi-media marketing over on our Build a Better Blog site.)
One idea I hadn’t heard of before is to post audio articles and audio tips on your website and blog. Take an article you’ve written for your ezine or for article directory syndication, and revise it for recording purposes. A 500-700 word article should translate to a 3-5 minute mp3 file.
Why would you want to do this? Because there are 63 million owners of mp3 players in the world, who want to download files and listen to them in the car and in the gym.
Now, I’m not a big fan of listening to podcasts on the treadmill – I need a little rock n roll to motivate my feet! My favorite is Jock Jams – those tunes really get me going!
I am, however, a big fan of getting the maximum juice out of everything I write. And just because I love to write and read my information, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give other options to readers. Some people just prefer to listen to information. Give visitors to your site a choice.
Audio files can be serialized, so that visitors come back to your site for tip #2, etc. A special report or article can be recorded and given away as a bonus for signing up for your ezine.
It is becoming clear that even writers must be prepared for the new interactive Web, what the geeks call Web 2.0, and be able to record information in audio and video files when possible. It that too much to ask of us writers? I think not. After all, 10 years ago, hardly anyone was using email, and we all learned how to do that, didn’t we?
For more tips on audio and creating informational products, visit Debra’s site, www.MagicinWords.com.
Blogging and Beyond
March 22, 2007
8:00 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET)
Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: Ellen Britt of Marketing Qi Intensive and author of Teleseminar Jumpstart
Low-Tech Promotion: Using TeleSeminars to Build Your Business
TeleSeminars are an easy, affordable way to attract interested prospects into your sphere of influence and grow your business. You provide valuable information, for a fee or free. You deliver the program on the telephone, record the event, get it transcribed and turn a one-time program into a profitable info product that generates income long after it’s over.
The Blog Squad interviews Ellen Britt who started with a few fans last year, increased her database by 2000 and made $9000 within two weeks of launching her teleseminar series Marketing Qi.
In the second half, we check in with Ideal Client Erik Feder and brainstorm how he can implement this marketing strategy for his business.
I hadn’t heard the term "presale closing phrase" before I read it on Mitch Harpz’ blog this morning. It’s when you get an email or call from someone asking questions about a product or program. Sometimes I get the feeling that people pick up the phone and call just to see if a real person will pick up the phone. Their questions aren’t often that complicated, but it’s sort of like they are just checking to see if someone’s there that really cares.
Here are 5 ways to end the conversation or email that can help increase sales:
"Does that help? If not let me know which part doesn’t make sense."
"If you have any more questions please let me know. I’ll be more than happy to help in any way I can."
"I hope I’ve answered your question for you. If not just let me know and I’ll be happy to address any outstanding concerns."
"If I haven’t answered your question just let me know and I’ll do my best to clarify."
"Does that make sense?"
When you think about it, these are great phrases to use at anytime and make for good customer relationships.
Blogging and Beyond: Episode 10
"Promoting Your Business with Information Products"
with guest expert Paulette Ensign of Tips Booklets International.
I got an email this morning from marketer Bob Serling. He says that a survey of people who have taken info product development courses reveals a surprising fact on why people fail.
I would have guessed inadequate marketing, a badly put together product, inability to set up a merchant account or shopping cart system, or a number of other reasons. It turns out that while those are important, they aren’t what really stops people from being successful.
What is really the number one reason why so many people fail, according to Bob? Quite simply, it’s:
The failure to ever create their information product.
Ouch! You can’t get to first base unless you pick up the bat and swing.
We’ll be discussing info products Thursday morning on the Blogging and Beyond radio show, www.VoiceAmerica.com, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT with Paulette Ensign. For info on the show, visit www.BloggingandBeyond.com.
How to Write an Internet Press Release to Attract Media, Customers, and Google Juice
©2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. & Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad
To leverage the Internet effectively for your business, you must learn to write press releases. Submitting frequent press releases to the online distribution services will get you exposure to media, customers, and improve your search engine rankings.
Press releases are relatively simple, but not easy to write. They take some time to craft because you must tell your story in a compelling way, and deliver the facts in the fewest words possible. In addition, like a news story, they should follow basic journalism standards. Oh, and did I mention, they need a clever hook to really work? All that in only 350-500 words.
The following is what I do when I write a press release for The Blog Squad. I trained as a journalist years ago. However, standards for writing press releases are evolving for the Internet.
I just finished posting about Joan Stewart’s "New Rules" for press releases when my feed reader let me know that Lee Odden also posted similar news about the way press releases play into your marketing mix.
His great post goes into more details and gives 10 tips on how to write a release for search optimization, so you won’t want to miss it.
Joan Stewart is affectionately known around the Internet as The Publicity Hound. And there’s a reason…Joan has a nose for news and she sniffs out trends for evolving Internet marketing strategies.
You won’t want to miss our interview with her Thursday March 8 at 11 a.m. EST on Blogging and Beyond, our Internet radio show. She’ll reveal the new rules for writing press releases for posting on the Web.
Here are a few tips she’ll explain:
• Press releases no longer have to announce legitimate news
• They no longer have to be only one page
• We can distribute them online as often as we want.
• They can include links so that consumers can click through to a landing page or a sales page.
• We no longer have to use the "who, what, when, where and why" formula high in the press release.
• No longer do we have to consider a press release a failure if it gets no media attention. If it brings people into our sales funnel, we can proclaim the release a success.
• Under the new rules, we don’t measure the success of our releases by the number of clippings it has generated but by whether the press release has been able to change people’s behavior
I came down with a raging head cold over the weekend, so bad I missed my tennis games. Which got me to thinking about "sneezers" and how they can spread the word about your products or services.
We have a teleseminar Tuesday March 6 about Viral Marketing, or how Greg Pincus went from 30 to 32,000 blog visits in two months and landed on Slashdot, the NYTimes, and got a 2-book contract.
That’s "sneezing" at its finest. Greg knew that to get the word out he’d need a little help from his friends on other blogs and in the media. First he had to find a "hook" or something that people would want to pass around to their friends. (Would you believe that poems were what he used to capture people’s imaginations?) To register for the teleseminar, click here: www.blogsquadteleseminars.com/viral.
I got curious about where the whole viral marketing thing got started and did some research on Wikipedia. Read my post over at BizTipsBlog for a brief history.
The point is… what king of viral hook can you think up? A game, a video, a puzzle…what will capture the imaginations of the sneezers in your database? Go on, don’t be afraid…infect a loved one and spread the word.
