Instant Screenshots And Screencasts With Jing

A picture is worth a thousand words. How many times have you heard that?! But it’s true.

Jing is a free tool you can use to share an image or ‘how to’ video with a client, colleague, friend or family member. Jing calls this ‘taking a capture’ and it’s the fastest way to show something on your screen to others show-and-tell style.

Using Jing, I made a short (2 minute) video for you here demonstrating another free tool. Resize Your Image gives you the ability to resize, crop and rotate your image or use to decrease the size of a large file for emailing purposes.

Want to give Jing a try? Download and install Jing and sign up for Screencast.com (a hosting service from TechSmith). You get 2 GB of storage and 2 GB of bandwidth/month for free. Your content is private and you choose who can see it.

How does Jing work? After installation Jing launches as a yellow sun image at the top of your computer screen. Hover over the sun image for options: Capture, History or More. Then select only the area of your screen that you want captured. From the menu choose to capture your image or record your video (there is a 5 minute time limit). Then save, copy or share your captured image or video. Simple to follow instructions in pdf format are available to download

You’ll find that Jing does nice recordings and works great for quick videos and demos for your smaller projects when you don’t need the ability to edit or enhance. Check out Jing’s free version here.

Networking With A Twist

If you’re an active networker, you know the drill. At meetings each member gets their turn in the spotlight for 30 or 60 seconds, time to mingle and exchange business cards with others, an opportunity to display marketing materials, provide a door prize and have a space on the website to advertise their business. Networking in the traditional sense usually involves both membership and meeting fees. Often the commitments required of members are quite demanding such as attendance at early morning meetings every single week and referral quotas to meet.

Business owners are getting tired of the traditional networking events and some savvy business owners have come up with a few twists to spice up the experience. These innovative new groups are generally more flexible, less formal and either have no meeting fees or are affordably priced (under $20).

Here are 3 networking events with a twist that I have attended. They are a little less intimidating for those who don’t enjoy being in the spotlight and who prefer one-on-one communication to get their message across. They also tend to be more fun!

1. Crazy Networking: The main idea is that you promote each other’s businesses letting other people do your marketing for you. Attendees are assembled into small groups and each person in the group has their opportunity to be the Star. The Star explains their business to the others and relays a specific request. The group in turn speaks to as many of the other attendees as possible to find people to fulfill the Star’s request in a specified amount of time. It’s a great concept but for this one to work you have to be an effective communicator and listener as the Star only has about 2 minutes to convey their information. At $20/meeting I found it a little pricey.

2. Kitchen Table Networking: It has that homey feel for those intimidated by speaking in front of large groups and in that it usually takes place in the home of the organizer of the group. And often, yes, around a kitchen table. In this very relaxed environment of about 6 or 8 business owners, each attendee gets 10 minutes to present their business to the others in any format they prefer with an additional 5 minutes of Q and A. This is much more effective than a 30 or 60 second elevator pitch. I have developed solid long term business relationships through the events I have attended. There is no fee to join.

3. Speed Networking: In this setting you get to have one-on-one time with each guest which is rare for a networking event. It works well with about 20 attendees. Each networking session is 2-3 minutes in which the pair share information about their business. Participants alternate their seating until everyone has interacted with each other. There isn’t a lot of time to convey your message but when attendees don’t adhere to the time limits, it interrupts the flow of the meeting and doesn’t look good on the business owner. It is speed networking after all. These meetings are free to attend.

Do any of these unique events appeal to you? I find the more non-traditional types of networking groups are a better fit for me and you might want to consider one too. Check your local Meetup groups, ask around amongst your fellow business owners or better yet organize your own.

The traditional type of networking events can still be effective but there are other options out there that you might find suit you better and give you good or even better results.

How To Keyword Optimize Your Articles For Better Search Engine Positioning

If you find the terms Keyword Research and Search Engine Optimization baffling, then check out the following resource that simplifies and systemizes the whole process.

First, go to IdeaMarketers.com IdeaMarketers is a highly recommended article directory where you can submit your articles and other content as a cost-effective marketing strategy for your business.

Part way down the page you will see two embedded videos. In the first video, Owner and President of IdeaMarketers, Marnie Pehrson demonstrates how to methodically do keyword research and track the results. Then Marnie further explains how to integrate keywords to optimize an article.

Here are step by step instructions of the keyword research portion of the video to keep for future reference. These point form notes will make sense once you have viewed the video:

1. Go to Google AdWords Keyword Tool

2. Click ‘Include Terms +’.

3. Under Match Types check ‘Exact’.

4. Type your keywords into the ‘Word or phrase’ box. For example type “Email list building”. Click ‘Search’.

5. Document the Keyword Phrases (what keywords best relate to the phrase you searched on) in the first column of a table you have created in Excel.

6. Add the number of global searches in the next column of your table under the heading ‘Searches’.

7. Next, Google search the exact keywords you have collected using “quotation marks” and type the number of results in the third column of your table under the heading ‘Competition’.

8. When you have collected all your information in your table, sort by ‘Searches’ descending and ‘Competition’ descending.

9. Compare results of ‘Searches’ vs. ‘Competition’.

10. Select keyword phrases to use that are high in ‘Searches’ and low in ‘Competition’ and highlight these as being optimal for use in your article.

Now when you create an article for submission to the directories or to post on your blog, use a catchy title and use a couple of the keyword phrases you have found to be optimal, but don’t overdo it. You want your article to make sense and read well. As a general rule your keyword can appear about 25 times maximum in a 500 word article (about 5%). And remember, for best results use the most searched for keywords with the least competition.

Make The Time To Invest In You

Continuous learning is essential for small business owners and it is easier than ever to learn something new, often without having to leave the comfort of your home office. Although some may think that learning is only for schoolchildren, it is actually a lifelong practice. Developing new skills builds confidence and increases our value to customers and clients.

If you think you don’t have time for learning, think again. All it takes is a commitment of an hour each day. If you examine your schedule you will likely find an hour a day that you have been spending doing non-essential things. An hour isn’t much but it does add up. If you’re dedicated to learning something and you are consistent, you will have invested 20 hours to your education within a month.

Here are 5 simple ways to productively spend an hour of your time to learn and absorb new knowledge:

1. Read a Book: There is an unlimited supply of highly rated books available to help you succeed in business. Visit your local library, book store or shop online for books on marketing, branding, networking and more. Did you know that the average person can read about 60 pages in 60 minutes? Take an hour each day to learn how to be more productive and successful or learn a new skill and apply this new expertise in your business.

2. Attend a Teleclass: Teleclasses are typically an hour in length, conducted via a telephone conference call. Many are no cost; you only pay the long distance charges if any. You will gain valuable information, get new ideas, and/or learn new skills. Attend live if you can as most are very interactive. There are often networking opportunities in a teleclass setting. I have gained new subscribers just by sharing my url and business description with other attendees. Did you miss the last teleclass you signed up for? Take the time now to listen to the recording and make a few notes.

3. Invest in an E-Course: Most e-courses are a number of weeks in length. Each lesson complete with homework arrives in your inbox once a week. Set aside an hour each day to review the current lesson and complete the homework. Learn some new skills that will help you to better support your clients or manage and grow your business.

4. Attend Local Events: These events are typically low cost and some are free of charge. Interact with other small business owners and align yourself with industry experts. You can even find quality affiliates and joint venture partners by attending conferences, trade shows and local meetups. Guest speakers entertain, educate and inspire their business event audiences through motivational presentations.

5. Learn through Trial and Error: Is learning by experience your personal learning style? This method is used widely in many fields but can be time-consuming and tedious. As long as you have resources to refer to for help, this problem solving style of learning is a valid option.

Remember, you don’t have to know it all. Specializing in one area and getting really good at it is preferable to being a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. It’s motivating to know that using the one hour a day plan, how good you will be in 6 months with over 100 hours invested in continuously improving yourself.

WordPress Live Support

Have you ever wished you had someone you could call on who could answer any and all of your WordPress website questions and walk you through the answers, live and on screen? That’s just what you’ll get with WP Live Support!

Join Kelly & Lynette at WP Live Support for their LIVE weekly sessions. Each week you’ll have access to these two experts who together have over ten years of WordPress experience. Kelly has helped me out extensively in the past with specific issues on my own WordPress site.

With live demos in a web conference room you’ll be able to see what’s happening on your screen in real time, hear the lecture, and ask all the questions you want. If you’re not absolutely clear about something, they’ll go over it until you are. You can even give them your log in info and they can demo the process right on your website.

Monthly Memberships are $5/month or choose Lifetime Access for $37. I have found this to be a very worthwhile investment, saving me the time and frustration of figuring everything out on my own.

If you think this might be for you, check it out here!

The Three Golden Rules of Social Networking And Email Marketing

If you are looking to build rewarding relationships with your prospects there are 3 things you must do well in your Social Networking and Email Marketing. It takes some time and energy to build a responsive list and one where you provide value to each other but you will both enjoy the benefits if you remember the 3 Golden Rules:

1. Quality – When growing your list of contacts it’s about quality first and foremost, not quantity. Sure you want to have a good sized list but it is not all about the numbers. More importantly you want to attract the people who want and need the products and services you have to offer. Invite those who you have met at an in-person networking event to connect with you on your online social networks. Make sure it is someone who expressed an interest in what you do, someone who you will be able to provide value to. You’ll notice on Facebook when you are about to send a friend request there is a note that reads “Please only send this request if you know him/her personally.”

2. Consistency – If you plan to use social networking and email marketing as strategies, then you must be consistent. Maintain your online presence on the social networks by making relevant posts that serve to educate your target market. Respond to any questions or comments you receive. If you are using email marketing by way of putting out a regular ezine, then ensure you have a publishing schedule that you follow. People will come to expect to see your newsletter in their inbox on a regular basis. If they don’t hear from you for a couple months or you email them a lot at once and then nothing at all for awhile, your readers will start to wonder what’s going on. Are you still in business? Is everything okay?

3. Permission – Seth Godin who coined the phrase Permission Marketing, also known as Permission Based Marketing says: “Just because you somehow get my email address doesn’t mean you have permission.” A big pet peeve of mine is when you exchange business cards at a networking event and the next thing you know you’re receiving emails from this person. Has this happened to you? No one appreciates your unsolicited messages. More often than not I will end up unsubscribing if I receive something I am not interested in or did not ask for. Remember that permission-based marketing is just that – you are sending your marketing messages to a person based on the fact that you have received their permission to do so. It is best if you have had some sort of interaction with this person, that they know who you are and what your business is all about prior to asking them to join your list. Then invite them to sign up to receive your newsletter or other updates you might send out from time to time. Always give the option to easily unsubscribe.

I found some interesting statistics on open rates based on an actual test of e-mail newsletters sent by Selling Communications Inc. to a permission-based audience versus a targeted list of individuals. (An ‘open rate’ is a measure of how many people on an email list open a particular email.) The statistics speak for themselves:

E-mail Newsletter With Permission 43% viewed

E-mail Newsletter Without Permission 17% viewed

As business owners we’ve all heard about the know, like and trust factor. By following the above rules you can ensure that your market of targeted prospects will get to know you, like you and trust you helping to build long-lasting and profitable business relationships.

Generating Traffic With Blog Carnivals

What is a Blog Carnival? It is a collection of blog posts on a specific topic. Editions of carnivals typically come out on a regular basis. You can either read and contribute to a blog carnival or you can organize and/or host a blog carnival on your own blog/website.

Contributing to a blog carnival is a great way to get more readers to your blog via a link from the carnival back to your site and the article you submitted.

By hosting a blog carnival you will attract visitors to your blog/website by providing a high quality and quantity of related content.

Here’s what to do to contribute a blog post to a blog carnival:

1. Choose a blog article to share, and note its Permalink URL

2. Browse through the carnivals here and choose a carnival you’d like to submit to (sort by ‘Latest Edition’ to find current active blog carnivals relevant to your topic)

3. Click on the name of the carnival to see its profile page, description and guidelines

4. Click on the ’submit an article’ link for your chosen carnival, complete the form and submit for inclusion in the next edition

5. Record blog carnival submission site info within a spreadsheet to track blog titles submitted and submission dates just as you would when submitting your articles to the article marketing directories

You will receive an email thanking you for your submission and another announcing when your submission has been included.

After you have participated in a few blog carnivals, you might like to trying organizing and/or hosting your own. Read all about carnival administration here.

Blog carnivals are always looking for great blog articles, and there is a carnival for almost every topic. It drives traffic to your site and the best part – it’s f’ree!

How Social Networking And Email Marketing Work Hand In Hand

There are many online marketing strategies that small business owners can utilize. With so many options it can be confusing as to the best investment of your time. Two strategies that are closely tied together and work well together are Social Networking and Email Marketing. These two strategies work hand in hand to grow your list and grow your business. All it takes is 30 to 60 minutes of your time, once a day or every other day to engage with your contacts via Social Networking. If you publish an ezine or online newsletter you can connect this way as often as once a week or as little as once a month via Email Marketing. Either way, consistency is key.

First let’s define these two terms. Social Networking is the use of a website, such as FaceBook to connect with people who share personal or professional interests. Email Marketing is the use of email messages, such as in the form of an ezine, to contact existing and potential customers.

How can you make these strategies work for you? Here are some suggestions you can try using one strategy or a combination of both.

Example 1: You’ve just attended an in person networking event and collected a number of business cards. What to do with all those cards? Connect with those you have had conversations with (you can jot notes on business cards right after an event to help with your follow-up). Was someone interested in your services but not quite ready to work with you? You can request their friendship via social media and keep in touch that way. And/or you can invite those you’ve connected with to sign up for your newsletter.

Example 2: Your upcoming ezine is complete and scheduled to send next week. Post a series of invitations to your social networks to sign up to receive your ezine. Include a teaser of the next issue describing what useful information or special offers they will receive as a subscriber.

Example 3: You have a number of ‘friend requests’ in your social networks. Be selective. Research who is requesting to connect with you. If this person is in your target market then respond with a personal note thanking them for the connection. If it is someone you have connected with previously who is not already on your mailing list and who you feel would benefit from your ezine, then you may also want to invite them to sign up.

With each of these strategies remember, it’s about quality not quantity. Only friend those that you can provide value to. You want to grow your list and connect via social media with people that are in your target market. Be consistent by posting relevant content and educating your mailing list with informative articles via your ezine regularly. And make sure you get permission to connect. With the volume of information we get through social networks and email, no one appreciates your unsolicited messages.

If you are not yet using one or both of these complementary strategies, give them a try. You can attract new and repeat customers, while building loyalty and there are little or no costs associated with either method. (You may incur a small monthly fee for your email marketing, depending on which provider you use.)

Whether you are offering services or products, doing business online is crucial to the success of any business today. Practice these techniques regularly and watch your list of prospects and your business grow.

RadioGuestList.com

Are you looking to position yourself as an expert via guest interviews on internet radio programs? It is certainly a great marketing strategy to promote your services and products while being informative and entertaining.

There are a number of ways to find radio shows looking for guests. Most of these include doing your own research on sites like BlogTalkRadio and browsing the categories for suitable shows. There are thousands of shows out there looking to interview experts on every imaginable topic. You’ll be sure to find several in your industry.

However, if you don’t have time to do the research and submit requests, consider outsourcing this task to a Virtual Assistant. And make sure you (or your assistant) sign up for RadioGuestList.com It’s a f’ree service that will email you automatically each day they have a talk show looking for guests (and this is most days). You will be provided with contact information so you can get in touch with the shows for which your area of expertise would be a great match.

Make sure you take advantage of this powerful marketing tool and the opportunities that will arise from the ‘on air’ exposure.

7 Steps To Creating An Information Product That Can Make You Money While You Sleep

If you write on a regular basis or even have lists of FAQ’s (frequently asked questions), you have enough content to create an information product to give away or sell. Set aside an afternoon to gather and arrange your content and piece your product (free giveaway/pink spoon, e-report, e-book, e-course) together. Once you have done the groundwork and added your final details the rest of the process can simply be outsourced in order to automate the sale and delivery of your product.

Here’s how:

1. Create a spreadsheet with 3 columns using these headings:

*Title – the title of your content or topic of the article

*Summary – a short description of the content

*Category – specific to your content. For example, I categorize my content as Home Office Organization, Marketing, Time Management etc.

2. Gather all your content together and fill your spreadsheet with the above information for each piece of content you have. Use your blog posts, articles and FAQ’s.

3. Sort your spreadsheet by the ‘Category’ heading. This will group together all the content within the same category giving you a good overall picture of the quantity of content you have for each category.

4. Determine how you will package this content. Your options are to:

*create a short e-report as a free giveaway to build your list

*create an e-book to sell (generally priced between $10 – $47)

*create an e-course complete with assignments and set up the information to be delivered over a 4 – 6 week period or even longer (generally priced higher than an e-book)

5. Create a new document in a program like Word. Build your product by laying out the content you have chosen to use by copying and pasting it into your document. Play with the order and formatting.

6. Proofread your document. Add content to connect pieces where needed or subtract content to ensure your material flows and is easy to follow.

7. Congratulations! You now have the foundation of your info product. Finishing touches include the addition of:

-headings

-subheadings

-images

-table of contents

-cover page

-conversion of file to PDF format

Note:

* You may also want to add a headshot and your bio written in third person on the last page. This can include a call to action consisting of an invitation to check out one of your related products, programs or services.

* After your product has been created it is time to launch. You will need to have a sales page and a plan for ongoing marketing and promotion of your product to encourage sales or sign ups in the case of a free giveaway.

* Decide how you want to accept payment. You can use a shopping cart system or PayPal.

Tools you will need:

a. A program like Word and/or Excel to organize your content and piece it together into a product.

b. A website to announce your product for sale or invite visitors to sign up for your free offering.

c. A shopping cart program to set up, deliver and sell your product and communicate using autoresponders.

Remember, once you have assembled your product you can outsource the technical aspects of the process. A Virtual Assistant can create your sales page and automate the process by adding “buy now” buttons or a sign up form doing all the back end work on your site and in the shopping cart. This will ensure that sign up, purchase and delivery of your product operate seamlessly.

Whether the goal is to grow your list or make more sales or both, product creation is a great way to boost business. It is a one-time creation and set up process that is fully automated. Once you have invested the initial time and effort it will work for you over and over again. It is a very real possibility that while you’re in dreamland at 2:00 am a visitor to your site will make a purchase proving that, yes, you really can make money while you sleep!

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