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Syndicating Your Content Presents Social Networking Webinars

Friend Me At Facebook

Social Networking has become the buzz word in the small business community. Now is a great time to build your sphere of influence online. Facebook is one of the most active social networking sites for solopreneurs.

When it comes to syndicating your content, your blog and Facebook (along with Twitter) play very well together. Your blog gives you the RSS feed that’s so important to sharing your blog posts with the world. By importing your blog into Facebook, you can share your blog content with all your friends at Facebook.

Debra Simpson, One of 25 Women Bloggers to Watch in 2008

Wow, what an honor to be named one of 25 Women Bloggers To Watch In 2008. I can’t thank Heidi enough for this honor.

I’ve talked for three years now about blogging. It’s a great tool for any online business. I’ve created “how-to” videos for the folks using Blogger and WordPress blogs. You can find them at Magic In Blogging. Let me know if you want a particular task video to help you in your blogging!

Read the post here: Magic In Blogging

Are You Squidooing Yet?

Squidoo is a lot of fun and a great way to generate traffic to your website. It’s about creating lenses that focus attention on a particular topic. It’s about being able to go to one place and find a plethora of information about one topic. Could searching be any easier? That’s why we are called lensemasters.

Here is Squidoo’s ebook, Everyone Is An Expert. To learn more about utilizing Squidoo to it’s fullest, visit Teacher Bob’s Site, Squidoo Secrets.

Here are my Squidoo Lenses:
Magic In Words
North San Diego Business
Carlsbad Grows More Than Flowers and Strawberries!

Are you squidooing yet?

RSS Explained

Here’s a great video to explain RSS feeds. Enjoy!

Meetings With Speakers

I attended a large SCORE breakfast recently. I must admit, I attend way too many events with speakers. Is it just me, or are they getting more self-promoting?

Here’s my advice to speakers who want to "market their business" to the attendees, don’t! We attend to take back to our businesses, one or two action items we can put into place immediately for our business success.

I didn’t come to hear about your $1,000 SEO program, your Warm Spirit Multi-Level Marketing business or to watch you read out of your recently released book. I came for networking and information for my business. I know you’re selling your books, you don’t need to whack me over the head with it. I know you’re selling your products because I can see them on the huge table you build right behind the lecturn.

If I don’t attend the meetings because you don’t provide me with any concrete info, and cut into my networking time, then there won’t be a future meeting for you to speak at to market your business.

You and I would be much better served, if you followed the handout you gave us and provided useful tips and/or tools for our business success. Your credibility as an expert would be further enhanced by actually giving us info we can use.

To you speakers who like to speak to promote, which I highly advise as a good marketing strategy, I have a word-of-the-day for you, subtly!

Viral Marketing with You Tube

Here’s a great example of viral marketing using You Tube

This is a video of Diane Mandle, Sound and Energy Healing and her tibetan singing bowls.

Are you using You Tube yet?

Opt-In E-mail, What You Need To Know

One of the most important keys to success in online marketing is building your own opt-in list of prospective and previous customers. For those that are just starting out online, this process should start even before you start planning to publish your own ezine/newsletter.

As you initiate your business you can begin to build your opt-in list in order to follow-up with these prospects and customers. It doesn’t have to be a formal ezine initially, it can just be a once a month update on new products and services. When your list starts to increase to a good size then you can consider a formal ezine.

So how do you capture the addresses? There are several ways to do this, and it will take time to gather information and create the ultimate list.

A Web Site Sign Up Form is an ideal way to gather information. Place a sign up form on every page of your website. Or at a minimum have a "subscribe" link on every page that goes to a separate subscription page. Make sure that you just don’t put "subscribe to our ezine". That means nothing for a potential client. Just a short description will greatly increase your subscription rate. For instance. Using "Weekly Marketing Tips and Techniques emailed to you! Subscribe today" would be better than "Subscribe to Our Ezine".

Give something away free like a free white report with information that is geared to your site’s content. Make sure they have to request the information so you capture their email address. Using an autoresponder can help you automate this process by sending out the information to your subscribers. That way the information is available 24/7. With most good services you will receive an information copy as soon as someone requests the information and it will have their email address in it. But, and this is important, just don’t send them the free information. Make sure that at the end of your auto responder text that you send them, there is a short blurb about your website services/products and your ezine if you have one. But don’t over do it.

Another important item is that you do not just add the person’s email address to your opt-in list or ezine. You don’t want them filing a (CanSpam Act and CanSpam Legal Brief)SPAM complaint since they didn’t ask to be on your list. Offer them the ability to get future mailings from you as indicated above in the mailing itself. You want to create a true opt-in list.

An exception to this would be if you were offering them a free gift for subscribing to your list. Then they should be added to your list.

Many will ask – Is it all right to email someone that has requested some free information report from you? Yes if you do it the right way. By using an autoresponder, you can also send an invitation to your e-mail list.

Follow Up often, this way you are not forgotten. If a potential customer does not want your services, than they will ask to be un-subscribed.

To learn more about using autoresponders to build your e-mail list, sign up for GeekSpeak To English, 101 on Wednesday, June 27th, 6pm PT. And watch for the podcast next week at North San Diego Business@Large.

Debra Simpson, Speaking to San Diego Women, Inc. on June 28th

I’m Speaking To San Diego Women, Inc. on Thursday, June 28th.

I’ll be sharing no cost and low cost ways to market your business online. You’ll learn how to create passive income with your website and other strategies to raise your online visibility. This is your chance to get your Internet Marketing questions answered.

You’ll walk away with strategies you can implement immediately! Come and join me for networking fun in Mission Valley with other small business owners.

Register Here for an exciting evening of networking and learning at San Diego Women, Inc.’s monthly meeting.

Info Products Sell – Are You Creating Them?

If you have been dabbling with internet marketing for some time now, you’re most probably aware of the fact that information products are one of the easiest and most profitable things that your could sell online. Information products may be eBooks, special reports or articles which you could offer for a price.

Preparing information products is quite easy, at least in theory. All you need are two things:

• Information; and
• Writing skills

Information is the hottest commodity in the World Wide Web. This is why the Internet is called the information superhighway. If you’d be able to provide the right kind of information, you will never run out of potential customers. This is especially true if you manage to find a hungry market where the demand for such information would be immense.

Writing an eBook is very similar to writing a special report. An eBook is work composed of approximately 30 or more pages. Anything shorter would be considered as a special report. Here are some simple steps you could take to come up with an information product of this type:

• Select a topic from the niche you have previously chosen. This topic must correspond to a particular aspect of the niche, something that people would want to know about. For example, in our running example of dog grooming, supposing you choose the niche of shih tzu dog grooming, a good topic to write about is “how to select perfect grooming kits for your shih tzu.”
• Prepare an outline for your work. It should be as organized as possible. Start with the most basic concepts, and gradually proceed to the more advanced ones.
• Do your research! This is very important. If you’re offering something in exchange for your prospective customers’ hard-earned money, you should give them something valuable. A well-researched work is what they deserve.
• Fill up your outline with the necessary information. If you have a great outline, this shouldn’t be a problem. All you have to do is to write about what you have researched and include them in the specific portions allotted by the said outline.
• This is very important: avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism could ruin you. You need to learn how to respect intellectual property rights when you’re doing business online. There are no ifs and buts about it. You need to come up with an original work to sell.
• Once you have finished the draft of your eBook or special report, have it proofread for errors. Make corresponding corrections.
• Once you have your error-free manuscript, you would need to come up with an attractive and attention-grabbing eCover for your work. People always say that no one should judge a book by its cover. This is rarely practiced however. Many books, and many eBooks, are sold on the basis of their covers alone. Invest on a good eCover to boost your sales.
• Then you would have to convert your work into .pdf format. Being in .pdf format would allow more people to read your eBook, as a variety of computer platforms recognize this file type.

Once you have completed these steps, you’ll own an information product that is ready to be sold!

But what if you are not possessed of writing skills, or you simply don’t have the time to write? Does this mean that you can’t come up with your own information product? Most definitely not, of course, as there are many ways to skin the cat, in a manner of speaking. For starters, you could always try outsourcing, or contracting the services of an outside party to help you prepare the information products you have in mind. Another option is to make good use of private label rights, better known as PLR in the industry today. Products sold with PLR would allow the purchaser to alter their contents and even name themselves as the author of the works.

There is no excuse why you couldn’t come up with your own information product. If the internet promises to be your ride to a good life, then an information product, quite surely, is your ticket to hop aboard that freight train.