Archive for November, 2009
I use and love WavePad software. It’s perfect for simple editing like deleting sections of audio, or linking multiple audios together. It also converts files from WAV to MP3 or 4 and a whole bunch more tasks I don’t even understand.
Yet it’s so easy and intuitive I’ve never even had to look in the help file.
Try the free trial and see what you think…
http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/masters.html
Do have other ideas for audio and podcast editing? Please share by leaving a comment below…
Has your business slowed because of the economy? If so, you’ve got a few options. Keep doing what you’ve always done and hope it turns around on its own…Or, do something different.
Clearly, it makes more sense to try doing something different versus doing the same thing and hoping to get different results (Because that’s the definition of insanity, right?!?). The first way you’re in control of your destiny and the other you’re future success or failure is largely out of your
control.
If, like me, you’d rather take control and make things happen good for you! Because there is quite a lot you can do, in any economy, to make your business more successful. Below I list a number of different ideas you can use to change your business for the better.
However, before you make any major changes, you might want to know why people aren’t buying from you right now…
> Is it because what you offer is now too expensive?
> Are you selling something that is perceived as a luxury instead of a necessity?
> Do people simply not know you exist, or not understand what it is you’re selling and why they would want to buy? (Hint: If you do very little marketing and rely mostly on word of mouth and referrals, this is likely one of your problems).
Once you know the answer to this question, it’s much easier to make good decisions moving forward. Because the last thing you want to do is come out with something new that no one wants or buys either for one of these reasons.
Okay, now that you have an idea of why your prospects aren’t buying from you right now, it’s time to come up with some new ways to grow your business.
1) Diversify.
Change what you offer. And be sure you’re offering products and/or services at different price points. Often, the person who buys an inexpensive item from you—and likes it—will come back later ready and willing to spend more.
If you only do consulting, consider launching a group coaching program, or doing a workshop. These let you charge less and help more people at the same time. Plus, you can actually make more money with less effort once you have your new program up and running.
Or try offering a membership program where clients pre-purchase services at a discount, or pay a monthly fee for access to you. These reduce the up front costs to your clients, again making you more affordable. They also help you even out your cash flow since you’re not always doing the work then waiting to get paid on the back end.
If you sell products, maybe there are multiple products you can bundle into packages. Or packages you can split into single items.
2) Niche.
If you’re trying to go after too large a market, you are likely missing out on a lot of sales. These days especially people want a specialist or expert and are willing to pay more for them.
Would you buy a book on Internet marketing from your bookkeeper? Probably not. If you were a bookkeeper, would you pay more for a seminar on how to use Internet marketing to grow your bookkeeping business, or one on marketing in general?
Find yourself a niche or two to focus on so you can speak directly to them in a way that really resonates. Often you can repurpose products or services you already have to speak to a specific idea or target market (Chicken Soup for the Soul now has books for everyone from Mom’s to fishermen).
3) Reformat.
Everyone is different—especially when it comes to learning styles. Some people like to read, others want to listen, or watch, or participate. So it’s best to offer your products or services in as many different formats as possible. Never assume your audience only wants your materials delivered one way.
For example, you can take an article you’ve written, record it as an audio podcast, shoot a short video about it, and offer a workshop on the subject too. Or combine a workshop with a product.
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While I know this can sound like a lot of work up front, if business is slow you have time. And it’s much easier to do this than launch a new business from scratch if your current one goes under.
Besides, once you start doing this it’s actually a lot of fun. And it’s even more fun when you realize you’re helping more people and your business—and bank account—is growing as a result!
Got questions, thoughts or suggestions on this topic? Please do share by leaving a comment below…
If not, you might want to consider it. Below is what Web designer Anita Wong has to say on the subject...
In order to get more focused results from search engines, more people are using longer search phrases to search for what they want. One way to use this to your advantage is by putting more text on your website in the form of "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs), targeted at answering real user questions about your product or service.
The detailed question/answer text will give the search engines more content that can be used to increase relevancy of those longer search phrases to your website. It will also allow your potential clients to get to know you better, to learn about what and/or how you do business and help lighten the load on your support staff by allowing the users to help themselves.
Provide your potential clients with a better web experience and put your website to work for you.
Source: Anita Wong at
www.wsdnw.com
Do you ever have to write your own marketing materials (brochures, Websites, bios, ads etc.)? How about emails to potential clients? Or sales letters?
How does it go?
Do you dread it, or is it fun and easy?
If you're like most people, you've probably had one of two experiences: You either ended up sitting in the front of a blank computer wondering where to start. Or, you struggle, agonize and finally write something you are happy with, but it generates little or no response.
If either of these scenarios hits home for you, then you are in for a treat. Today I'm going to show you a way to avoid both of those horrible fates.
How? By sharing one of the best kept secrets for easily writing copy that really sells.
And believe it or not, it has far less to do with your writing ability than you would think. In fact, all you need to be able to do is write clear, easy to understand sentences and this secret will vault all your copywriting into the stratosphere.
Are you ready? Good.
Here's the real secret to crafting compelling copy quickly and easily: Preparation.
Yeah, I know. You probably wanted to hear that about as much as you want a root canal. But trust me, it really works.
Abraham Lincoln once said "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." The same holds true when it comes to writing marketing materials, ads and even sales presentations.
So before I start writing, I do quite a bit of work "sharpening my writing axe". And by the time I'm done, whatever I'm working on is already 75% written.
Now I'm going to show you exactly what I do to get ready to write knock-out killer content. To make it even easier, I've broken the process down into 10 simple steps...
1) List all the features and benefits of your product or service.
2) Make a note of what makes your company, product or service different from competitors. Marketers call this your USP or Unique Selling Proposition.
3) List of all the pains or problems your product or service solves.
4) Describe your primary customer or ideal target market. Include all possible details such as sex, age, race, education, geographic location, socioeconomic demographics, etc.
5) List any pains or problems your target customer is likely to have (whether or not they relate to what you are offering). Try thinking about their goals and dreams, and what could be stopping them from achieving those.
6) Write down what your ideal client stands to gain by purchasing your product or service, and what they stand to lose if they don't.
7) List every excuse or objection you can think of that might cause customers to resist or delay making the purchase, then write down answers or rebuttals for each?
8) Write down any details that need to be included like price, location, details etc.
9) Note the purpose of the piece. In other words, what do you want folks to do after they read it (buy something, click here, call to request a free sample, give me their name and email, etc.). This will become your call to action.
10) Decide on the specifics of your offer. How much is it? What is the guarantee? Is there a payment plan? Rebates? Free extras? Bonuses? Up sells? Once you've done all this, it's just a matter of reorganizing the information, adding a few transition phrases, and creating a really juicy headline. That's it. Not sure how to arrange all the information?
Here's a good rule of thumb you can use that works amazingly well no matter what you are writing...
1) Start with the pain or problem.
2) Explain the solution and benefits.
3) Address any potential objections or questions.
4) State what they stand to lose by not buying your product or service.
5) Finally, include the offer, a call to action, and your contact info.
Simple as that. So next time you get ready to write anything that is supposed to make customers take notice, and take action, just grab this handy guide. It is sure to make your writing less difficult, and more effective. Who knows...you might even start enjoying it! :-)
Do you have any other writing tips, ideas or examples? Please do share by leaving a comment below…
In a recent survey, 83.8 percent of respondents said that they would trust user reviews over a critic. Yelp (
yelp.com) is one of the largest and most influential user review and rating sites on the Internet today.
Take a few minutes to set up a profile for your business. Invite your best customers to post a review of your company. Then, place a link to your reviews prominently on your home page. These reviews make it easier for your ideal customers to “get to yes” faster, while lending you credibility as the search engines spread the good news.
Source: Nancy Juetten
http://www.mainstreetmediasavvy.com
Want more terrific tips like this one? Join me this Friday (tomorrow) at Nancy’s info-packed Publici-tea event. Regularly $49, if you put my name in the comments section of the order form you qualilfy for a VIP rate of just $25!!
http://www.publici-teaexpress.com
Do have other ideas for building your reputation with online customers? Please share by leaving a comment below…
A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a terrific conference in San Diego put on by Lisa Sasevich of The Invisible Close. While she shared a lot of powerful information specific to building my type of business, and to making sales without being salesy, the tips that really hit home were a bit more general. However they still packed a powerful punch.
All of these I already knew to some extent, but something Lisa said, or a part of my own experiences in the last few weeks, has really crystallized these ideas for me.
So today I want to share four of the most powerful ones with you...
1) Just do it!
Most things are better done than perfect. Really. Here’s why... Money likes action. And taking massive action—even though it might be imperfect—is critical to growing a successful small business. I’ve seen this work in my own business as well as other people’s more than once. And you can’t take action if you’re always waiting for something to be just perfect.
Lisa took it one step further with an analogy that made so much sense I just had to share it with you...
“It’s impossible to correct your course if you’re standing still.”
Much like a ship, there’s no way to change course if you haven’t even left the dock. In other words, you need to take some kind of action now. And don’t worry so much about whether or not it’s the be-all-end-all thing that’s going to get you where you want to go.
Just get your ship out of port. Then if later you decide you’re not headed in the quite the right direction you can always make a change. But you’d never know that if you didn’t start the journey.
2) You have to invest in yourself, or no one is going to invest with you.
Sure, you can get a lot of terrific info at no charge on the Internet. This weekly e-newsletter is a prime example. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But at some point you need to step up to the plate and make a serious investment in yourself and your business...Whether that means buying a product, taking a teleclass, attending a seminar or conference, hiring a consultant or coach, or something else.
If you find lots of your prospects just want to pick your brain for free, this could be your own freebie mindset coming back to haunt you. Plus, I know from my own experience that every time I’ve bit the bullet and invested in myself I’ve made that money back almost immediately—even when it seemed like something I couldn’t afford at the time.
Now you can’t just start spending money willy-nilly, or buying all kinds of products and not taking action, and expect to have it come back to you. But if it’s something you clearly can’t afford NOT to do, then find a way to do it.
3) Decide and commit.
Again on the subject of action...Don’t spend forever debating whether or not to do, buy or try something new. Make a decision. Then commit and either do it with gusto, or don’t.
The thing you don’t want to do is sit on the fence waffling and wavering. That just adds more to your mental plate and doesn’t get you anywhere.
I learned this lesson in my first year of kayaking. We were standing on the river scouting what was to me a big, scary rapid. I wasn’t sure whether to run it or walk around it. So I just stood there staring at the whitewater rushing by as all the saliva dried up in mouth and I developed an abnormally urgent need for a bathroom break.
My friend, seeing I was stuck in analysis paralysis mode, shared these sage words of advice, “It doesn’t matter whether you walk the rapid or run it. The key is to make a decision then commit to and go.” Turns out these words of advice are just as useful in life and business as they are on the river.
4) Set specific goals.
This is one I’ve long known and preached (and it’s how I’ve built my business and bought all my real estate), but Lisa shared a perfect example of why this is so important...
You’ve probably heard people talk about things like the Law of Attraction, or how you tend to get more of whatever you’re focused on. Bearing that in mind, it makes perfect sense that if you’re not focused on anything in particular you probably won’t get it.
As Lisa put it, you wouldn’t call a clothing company’s catalog sales department and say, “Send me a couple shirts and a pair of pants.” Because who knows what you’d get. Instead you’d know the exact sizes and colors of every item you wanted when you picked up the phone.
That’s what you need to do in your business and your life. Only then can you make decisions and take advantage of opportunities that will lead you closer to your goals. So if you don’t have a detailed vision of what you want your business—and life—to look like 1, 2 and even 10 years down the road there’s no time like the present to figure that out and write it down.
Do have other lessons for creating the small business you really want? Please share by leaving a comment below…
If you play on Twitter at all, you’ve probably seen people retweeting other’s tweets. Usually because they start with #RT and the original writers Twitter name. Retweets are great because they help your information spread farther. Viral marketing at its best.
Here’s a great tip on how to do this better…
Shéa Bennett, who writes the blog http://Twittercism.com has come up with an obvious, but no so obvious equation for retweet
optimization. The concept itself is obvious, the equation itself - not as much. The concept is this: consider Twitter's 140-character limit, consider your user name, and consider how many characters you need to leave free.
"When sharing links and content, I always ensure I leave a minimum of 12 characters at the end of each and every tweet," says Bennett. "This is a great habit to adopt. Otherwise, those wanting to retweet you are forced to edit your submissions so that they can give the proper credit. Because of this extra work, many times, they simply won’t bother retweeting you at all."
Source: WebProNews
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/09/29/an-equation-for-getting-retweets-and-traffic
My hubby just returned from a big industry conference down in San Diego that was packed with speakers on social networking and Internet marketing. One of them made the statement that social networking is a terrific and powerful way to market a business, but it’s not something you do once or twice and forget about.
Instead, he said it’s more like getting a puppy…You have to make a commitment to feed it, and play with it, and take it out for walks every day. And I couldn’t agree more.
Social networking is not at all like placing an ad then sitting back and waiting for the phone to ring or people to walk in the door. It’s about creating conversations, establishing deeper relationships, and building a community of like-minded folks.
Yet every time you turn around it seems someone is shouting about all the wonders of social networking and how easy it is to use it market your business…Especially if you pay them hundreds or thousands of dollars to show you how.
On the flip side, a quick online search will turn up plenty of articles wondering how, or if, you can actually make any money from Twitter or Facebook.
I know for a fact that you can grow your business using social networking because I’ve done it with mine. But it takes time and a well-thought out strategy to get great results.
If you’ve already started using social networking to market your small business, or are even just thinking about it, here are a few things you really ought to know.
1) All the marketing basics still apply.
If you don’t know your target market, you can’t define your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), and you don’t have an offer they can’t refuse and a way to build your list, all your social networking efforts won’t do you any good.
2) Nobody makes money off of Twitter alone.
You have to use it, and most other social networking tools, as part of a bigger strategy. Think of all these social networking tools as your front porch. They’re a place where you can step outside and invite others in. But then you need somewhere to invite them to, and a reason for them to stick around. This is where your Website or blog comes into play.
3) It’s not about what happens now, it’s about what happens next.
Most people are not going to whip out their credit card just because you sent them a message about your latest product, service or event. So stop worrying about whether each specific action you take generates a sale or client and instead worry about driving traffic to your site.
4) You gotta build your list.
People have been saying “The money is in the list” since long before the Internet existed. Yet most small business owners ignore this truth completely, both online and off. The thing is, once someone arrives on your site they may still not be ready to buy. So offer them something useful in exchange for their name and email address. Then stay in touch regularly via email so they can get to know, like and trust you.
5) An e-newsletter is key.
Once you get their contact info you have to stay in touch. That means sending regular e-newsletters. These can be long or short. You can write them yourself, have them written, or use other people’s articles for content. But you absolutely have to send them out a minimum of once a month. Bi-weekly is better. Weekly is best.
6) You’ve got to participate actively and regularly.
Even if you have all the various backend pieces in place, social networking won’t work if you don’t work at it. Much like in-person networking, you need to show up regularly, reach out to others, and offer value (whatever you do, don’t just sell). Back to the earlier dog analogy, you’ve got to play with it and feed it regularly…At least a few times a week at a minimum.
7) Most social networking experts, aren’t.
While there are some very good people out there, a lot of the so-called experts are just folks who know how to set up and use the tools. They aren’t marketers and don’t know how to develop a large marketing strategy. So if you want to hire one, ask about specific results (like increased Website traffic, leads or sales) and check references.
Keep these seven truths in mind, and you’re likely to find social networking is one of the best, and least expensive, small business marketing options out there today!
