Archive for Online Marketing
Product Creation Advice – The 12 Free (or Very Low Cost!) Resources of Christmas…
Posted by: | Comments| It’s Christmas and I’m spending it in a beautiful 3 story cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains with Jeff, the boys and our dogs!It’s great (& necessary) to take some well-deserved time off to spend together and appreciate all the blessing we’ve created over the last years…
One of the things that have helped us both is the ability to create several online businesses, so I thought a great gift for my subscribers and readers would be… The 12 Free (or Very Low Cost) Product Creation Resources of Christmas! |
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12. My favorite place to get ecovers, ECoverArt.com has rolled out a brand new website called http://MyEcoverMaker.com You can make beautiful Ecovers for all kinds of products and ot’s 100% free! I played with it and the service later emailed me a brand new ecover I designed.
11. I’ve been using Photoshop for many years. I purchased it (expensive!) because I couldn’t afford a designer to create the labels for my bath & beauty products so I decided I would learn it and it has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. There’s a fabulous online service that allows you to do most of the same things to create and edit graphics… http://Pixlr.com <== What a resource! Have fun creating your own “add buttons like the ones I have on this site, or editing your photos to fit your website, or add your website name to your graphics!
10. In 2010, if you’re online… you MUST learn to use video. It is simply not an option any longer… AND there are several ways to do video at low cost. You can always use your computers webcam, the video option if you have one on your phone or buy a low cost flip video at http://TheFlip.com (or google/Ebay for a slightly used one. You don’t NEED the HD version to create great video infomercials or trainings.
9. A FABULOUS resource when you’re first beginning to use video is http://CuePrompter.com I was very nervous in the beginning when using video and I would always forget 1/2 of what I wanted to say, until I found this online teleprompter. Just tape it (yes, tape it) to the cover of your laptop, where the “eye” of the camera is directly above the screen, cut and paste your copy into this website, when you’re all ready, hit F11 on your keyboard for an “extra trick” to make it even easier (you have to try it to see what I mean) but this can make you go from looking like a video newbie to an online broadcast professional.
8. Once you’ve created your video, PC users can use Windows Movie Maker which is on most PCs free. Sometimes it’s a little hidden, just look carefully in all your Programs to find it. If you’re on a Mac, you can use iMovie to do editing! It’s free.
7. Once you’ve finished your awesome video, now what?! Well, you have to get it in front of people! Upload it to your You Tube channel AND use Tube Mogul to send it to even more video sharing sites. http://YouTube.com and http://TubeMogul.com
6. To create Audios or do Teleseminars there’s http://FreeConferenceCalling.com This is a free conference call service that allows you to record what you say. If you’re the only one on the call, it won’t record, but just use your cellphone to call in and allow recording or get a friend to call in. You can do group calls and create products with this service. I’ve got a course called Teleseminars Made Easy that shows you how to use Instant Teleseminar (a paid service) which gives tips on why & how to use Teleseminars AND shows you step by step video how to use FreeConferenceCalling.com Here’s my special page for the course at a Christmas price!
5. If you have an iPhone, you must get this fantastic (and Free!) app called Dragon Dictation. It lets you dictate and gives you the text to email. Great for sending messages easily and I even experimented last week dictating my “tweets”!
4. Wordpress. It’s amazing that you can get Wordpress allowing you to have a website, just like this one easily and without needing to know html, that super tech-geek language that can be scary and confusing to us regular folks… Get a low cost domain name, low cost hosting like Host Gator (that is my affiliate link!) and voila! You can have a website up in the few clicks of your mouse…
3. Wordpress plugins! A must have (that’s also Free!) is the WP Easy Uploader. I also love My Page Order, Backup to name a few! All you have to do is “google” those names and you’ll find them.
2. Once you have your website up… what else do you need? Well, against popular belief, simply putting up your website does not guarantee you’ll have traffic. Use services like http://EzineArticles.com http://ArticlesBase.com http://Twitter.com http://YouTube.com http://Facebook.com to send targeted traffic, people interested in what you have to offer to your site…
And the # 1 Free Resource you have to create your money-making products is… *drumroll*
1. YOU!
You creativity, your resourcefulness, your passion, drive, ability to learn AND your willingness to get out of your comfort zone and do whatever it takes…
and stop talking about what you will do and actually do it…
even when you feel the fear.
Courage is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more you have. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy 2010!
Twitter & Facebook Mistakes (& What to Do Instead)
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a great article from Jeff Herring: We all make mistakes in our marketing. It’s a big club and the only requirement for membership is to be have a business online.
At the same time, it’s seem easier to make mistakes in Social Marketing than in other forms of marketing. I think this is because Social Marketing is such a new frontier we are still making it up as we go along.
I’ve identified a few common mistakes on Twitter and Facebook and share them with you below. even more importantly, I’ve included what to do instead:
Twitter Marketing – Which of These 3 Avoidable Deadly Mistakes Are You Making in Social Marketing?
Do you make any of the top 3 deadly Twitter marketing mistakes? Read on to discover these mistakes and what to do instead so you can become a Twitter Rock Star.
Twitter is a great way to use Social Media Marketing to build visibility, grow your list and make profits. But you gotta know how to do it right.
I see newbies and even experienced marketers alike making the same three deadly yet avoidable mistakes. Let’s take a closer look at these mistakes and what to do instead. Click here to read the entire article.
Facebook Tips – Are You Making Any of These 3 Deadly Social Marketing Mistakes on Facebook?
Facebook is a great Social Marketing tool to use to build your connections and your brand. At the same time, I see so many beginners and even veterans making the same mistakes that sabotage their marketing on Facebook.
Let’s take a closer look at the top 3 biggest mistakes and what to do instead. Click here to read the entire article.
And to learn more about how to leverage the Social Networks for waves of traffic and more, get your FREE Instant Access to our Social Marketing Video Training Series when you visit http://SocialMarketingBlueprint.com/7laws
You’ll get a series of videos, audios and pdfs all about Social Media Traffic & Profits
One Way to Use Teleseminars in Your Business: Online Biz Show Episode 3
Posted by: | CommentsIn this video, we show you one of the many ways we’ve successfully used Teleseminars in our business for
- market research
- strategy Q & A sessions
- to create products
- as the basis for many products
- to create a community
Tomorrow is the big preview training call for Teleseminar Secrets, http://ThePreviewTeleseminar.com the course that helped our businesses and is one of the main reasons we found each other! Jeff has been a faculty member for Alex Mandossian’s course and this year, Maritza is also involved during TSS strategy sessions… If you decide to join the course through us at http://TeleseminarArticleMarketing.com , you’ll get a signing bonus of our Twitter Profits Video Module from our course Social Marketing Blueprint & Maritza’s 12 videos from Teleseminars Made Easy!
Any way you look at it… When you use what we outline in this video, you can :
- be sure you create a product people actually want
- Answer questions (& objections) using Free Teleseminars
- Get paid to create your product
- Repurpose that product into several other forms of media
And thank you for your comments & emails about the show! We’ve gotten lots of questions that will make fabulous webisode where we answer them so keep those questions (and comments!) coming!
Online Biz Show Thanksgiving Twitter Debut
Posted by: | CommentsWe’re so excited to be starting our show today Thanksgiving. We thought of “officially” starting it in the next couple of weeks, but as we were watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, we decided to fire up our flipvideo and start it today by saying Thank You to our teachers, subscribers, students and all the tweeple we’ve come into contact with over the last year… This show will be real, just like this episode… no editing stuff out, no scripts, no do-overs (no makeup even!) … You can even see one of our fancy “soft box” lights for videos in the background…
Some of what we’ll be bringing you 3 times a week starting Monday includes:
- online biz advice
- tech for non-tecchies (like us)
- motivation and inspiration to keep moving forward (even when you face pebbles in the road)
- cool tools that will make your life (& business) easier and better
- behind the scenes in two online businesses that work giving us both more freedom in so many ways
- how to balance life and your business
- and much more
We are so thankful today and everyday and we hope to help you with this show! We’d love to hear from you so leave a comment and we’ll “see” you in Webisode 2 on Monday! Happy Thanksgiving! Jeff & Maritza
Ideas to Help You Market Your Completed Ebook
Posted by: | CommentsSeveral weeks ago I got a comment from David Tomen about how to market his Ebook… Here’s his blog comment:
Hi Maritza: Wasn’t sure where to put this comment but the end of this article seems appropriate. I just wanted to thank you for the tutorials and inspiration in how to create an eBook. I was looking around for info on how-to articles and found you. I recently published the Used Boat Buying Guide which you can find here: http://oasisyachts.com/used-boat-buying-guide. It is by no means a best seller and I need some additional help on how to get the word out. It may never sell in the thousands (although it should considering that there are over 17 million registered boats in the USA). What I learned however during this process can now be easily duplicated. So thanks once again. DM me @DavidTomen on Twitter with your email address and I will be happy to send you a compimentary copy.
Warm regards,
David Tomen
I love seeing people take action so I sent him a DM (direct message via twitter) and told him I would make a blog post to help him out. I grabbed part of a video about how to market your Ebook after you’ve created it…
The video shows several ways to makret your Ebook once you complete it and now with the super-explosion of Social Marketing Tools, it’s even easier for you to connect with people looking for your information. Other ideas specifically for David:
- I can’t tell how often you post on your blog because the posts aren’t dated (great strategy because people think day old posts are “yesterday’s news”), but post often!
- You could start a weekly boat life video show – obviously you know how to do videos http://www.youtube.com/DavidTomen Just fire your video up and show people living the life with a yacht… if that doesn’t sound amazing I don’t know what does! Go interview your friends with yachts or customers – I just found out I’ll be interviewing Gary Vaynerchuk of Winelibrary tv soon and he’s inspired me to begin a daily video blog show about different aspects of online biz (unedited, unscripted and completely real!) You obviously have a great sense of humor with your “Spousal Conversion Kit”
- Went to your twitter accout, definitely find more people who are interested in boats, yachting etc. Go to http://search.twitter.com and enter the keywords to find them… and them follow them Also, tweet about your videos, your Ebook and stuff on your blog. Find nautical quotes http://quotegarden.com or just “google” it. Load quotes/tweets into http://Hootsuite.com so you can have them going while you’re on your yacht! Or use the search field on the right hand side of your twitter toolbar to enter boats near: Florida
- Engage with people! Let yourself go in your videos. The videos where I get the best response are the ones where I almost feel like a “used car salesman” (not that there’s anything wrong with that…) But I let go and get enthusiastic. Maybe listen to some loud inspiring music beforehand and just don’t care what people will think… some will like you, some will love you and some will be trolls (not my word, Seth Godin’s) and criticize you. I will applaud you!
- Think of Social Marketing with the 80/20 rule 80% social 20% marketing. And make offers… from time to time, make a direct offer for your Ebook.
Hope this helps! Love, Maritza
PS I’d love to hear other comments and /or ideas for David. As always please comment below (and check out my new “sexy toolbar” when you go to post your comment)
Tonight’s the Night! (and it’s gonna be much more more than alright…)
Posted by: | Comments
With apologies to Rod Stewart “Tonight’s the Night!” and it is gonna be much more than alright!
What the heck am I a talking about?
The Bridging Heart and Marketing Virtual Conference begins tonight at 9 pm ET and I really want you to be there with me!
Just a quick look at what you get:
- 15 cutting edge business building sessions
- Top Notch Speakers – Tracy Repchuk – Jeff Herring – Lisa Cherney – Mark Widawer – Jill Lubin – Adam Urbanski – Cathy Perkins – Andrew Colyer & Melanie Buzek – Bret Ridgeway – and Judith & Jim of course (please notice something about this speaker line-up that is rare and MUCH NEEDED – Do you see it? Half of the speakers are women - you should come on board just to support that feature alone!)
- Virtual Conference – Save on travel, hotel and food (the bathrooms are down the hall and all your favorite snacks are in the ‘fridge)
- 3 very affordable price points for registration – $67 – $197 – $297
- Get the full story here
Any one of the 15 sessions are worth the price of registration, and you won’t know which one will give you the “keys to the kingdom” until you have been a part of them all!
Go here now to come on board and join us tonight!
I’ll see you tonight!
Maritza
P.S. – Full disclosure nod to the FTC – No I do not get an affiliate commission for this conference, but I have taken a soft sell copywriting course from Judith & Jim who are great teachers who show you how to market with authenticity & integrity!
P.P.S. – And when you come on board thru me I’ll have Jeff Herring send you absolutely FREE his 2 Module Mini-TeleCourse on Resource Box Secrets complete with Resource Box Templates! This course helped me fix my “Resource Box Issues” so now I get a higher percentage of people clicking through my articles to my websites… invaluable stuff… so what are you waiting for?!
What to Do Once You’ve Created Your Audio Product: Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s the second half of my list to help you sell your product after you create it as quickly as possible so you can gain confidence and momentum in your marketing…
5. Choose How to Accept Money. You have many alternatives in shopping carts and there is always paypal. In the past, paypal was seen as unprofessional but those days are over. It’s a fabulous option today. You are up and running very quickly and when you do make a sale, the money you’ve earned is available instantly instead of days later as with a traditional shopping cart and merchant account. Don’t overlook this option, especially if you are being held up by the complexity of merchant accounts, payment gateways… **eyes glazing over**
6. Add Your Buy Now Button. If you choose to use paypal to accept payments, go to “Merchant Services” once you’ve created your account and you’ll see optins to create a “Buy Now” button and an “Add to Cart” button. Create your button with the price for your product. Copy the code for your button and place it in your sales page several times throughout the page. This is like asking people to buy several times. Don’t just ask once. If people get mad at you for selling your products (and services), they aren’t a match for you, your products and services… let them move on. And notice that the people who get mad when others offer their valuable products and services are also the people who cannot sell themselves.
7. Ask Your List to Buy Now. It doesn’t matter how “small” you feel your list community is… as soon as you have your sales page with your buy now button ready, ask your list community to buy your audio product! Give them a special incentive to do so immediately. For example, a subscriber appreciation gift of X dollars if they purchase within the next 3 days. Or, a special fast movers one-on-one or group coaching session. Email your list community each of these days to remind them of why they should buy your product (the benefit to them) and how many days or hours they have left to purchase your product at this special price or wiith this special bonus. This serves several purposes, you will get a burst of confidence and momentum from seeing your first sales in this product and the infusion of cash can help you continue to find new subscribers and customers.
8. Find New Subscribers and Customers. After you’ve created your product and put it online to sell, it isn’t over. Just like a “real” bricks and mortars business, you should always be looking for new potential customers and clients. Many times people think if I just get a website up or if I just get a product up…. “They will come.” This is not true. Just like a “real” physical business, this takes time, energy and effort. Though it’s a lot easier leveraging the power of the internet, selling 24/7 and being able to conduct business from anywhere in the world!
9. Keep Asking for the Sale. Do not “hide” your product once you’ve created it. Place a link to your sales page on your blog, recommend your new product as a subscriber resource in your newsletter or articles. Every once in a while, have another special limited time sales event to motivate buyers to act now.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think, how you use this & ask any questions below!
