Biz Tips Blog: Online Marketing, Visibility and Business Blogging Tips

iTunes now offers podcasts

As promised Apple's iTunes is now offering access to podcasts.  An article in yesterday's New York Times announced the upgrade to iTunes software (it's free to download).

SAN FRANCISCO, June 28 - Apple Computer added new utility on Tuesday to the device that gave podcasts their name. It made available a version of its iTunes software designed for subscribing to podcasts, audio recordings that can be downloaded to an iPod or other music player for portable listening.

Since I purchased my iPod mini a few months ago, I've been downloading books, a subscription to the New Yorker, and other podcasts from business experts.  I don't have any music on my iPod.  I have a subscription with Audible.com for $14.95 a month which allows me to get one book and one subscription per month. I'm way behind in my listening, and I can listen anywhere, anytime when I want to.

Currently on my playlist:  Freakonomics, My Life by Bill Clinton, and Saturday by Ian McEwen.

Listen to books on your Apple iPod

Meet Terri Levine of ComprehensiveCoachingU.com

Coaching for An EXTRAordinary Life:  "Is this your time to earn an extra $100,000 (or more) by adding life coaching to what you do?"   

Wednesday, June 29, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET - FREE
Guest Expert:  Terri Levine of ComprehensiveCoachingU.com, featured in the Build a Better Blog System

Whether you are thinking of adding a coaching service to your existing business or you decide to become a professional coach working part-time with full time pay, find out why now is the best time in history to get started.

Terri will show you how you can get started from scratch, with no experience or clients, in the “best home-based business to start” as rated by Entrepreneur Magazine and start earning the equivalent salary of doctors and lawyers - without the hefty university bill!  You can even start generating a substantial monthly income within the next 30 days – without quitting your current job.

Do you want to know how YOU can make even more money faster with less stress, working only the hours and days you choose?

Terri Levine MCC, PCC, is CEO of ComprehensiveCoachingU.Com and The Coaching Institute, a Master Certified Coach, Public Speaker, and Bestselling Author of "Stop Managing, Start Coaching", "Work Yourself Happy",  "Coaching for an Extraordinary Life", and "Create Your Ideal Body. Contact via the website http://www.terrilevine.com

Register:  www.ConversationsWithExperts.com

Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.

Professional Website for $299

A couple of months ago I recommended Bestcommercetools.com if you were looking for a website designer.  They create professional websites for only $299 US.  It's true!

Yesterday I received an email from Marc Beneteau, the owner, that the price of their websites are going up on July 1 -- to $399.  Ecommerce packages will be $499.  Even with the $100 increase it's a steal.

Here are a few sites they are currently working on so you can see the scope of their work:

www.coachche.com
www.shopnirvanna.com
http://www.bestcommercetools.com/mockup/five/
http://www.bestcommercetools.com/mockup/dvd_backup
http://server1.winner3.com/~yourtrue/mockup_may25.html

If you're in the market for a website, to complement your blog or to sell your products and/or services, don't let this deal pass you by.  Even if you're not ready yet, you can purchase now and create the site later.

P.S.  I only recommend products and services that meet my quality standards.

Are you podcasting yet? 35 million iPods sold in 2005

A headline today on Forbes.com states

Apple IPod Sales Set To Reaccelerate In 2nd Half

Indirectly, we expect iPod to continue to be a foundation for growth in other parts of Apple's business, and we expect that by the end of calendar 2005 more than 35 million iPods will have shipped, providing Apple with a greater scope of awareness for various products.

Creating a podcast is much easier than you may think and it's a great alternative for delivering content to your prospects and clients. With 35 million iPod owners (and that doesn't include the millions who own other mp3 players) you can expect that podcasting is going to get BIG.  The big benefit is that a listener can download and listen to your content when s/he wants and where s/he wants.  It's called "time shifting" and "place shifting".   

My fellow blogger, Jim Logan, has a Layman's Guide to Podcasting, that's definitely worth reviewing.  Also, blogger Andy Wibbels is offering his Podcasting Bootcamp again in July.  Andy really knows his stuff. I took the Bootcamp this past month and it's worth the investment to get access to Andy's experience, resources and guidance.

Blog to Book 7 Step Mini-course (free!)

One of the ways I recommend for attracting people to your product or service is to write a free report or a multi-step mini-course that is delivered automatically (by autoresponder) over a period of time, to your prospect's email box.  I have to practice what I preach so over the last two days Patsi and I have developed a 7 Step mini-course for our new Blog to Book Project.

This will help people get an idea of the content we offer.  It's created from excerpts from our online, self-study program and is designed to deliver valuable, useable content while at the same time building a relationship with the reader who will eventually decide to enroll in the program.  All you really need is an autoresponder system to deliver the email (or you could use RSS, and that's another story -- one that I have to figure out before I can pass the tactic on to you!).

Check out the Blog to Book 7 Step Mini-course to see how it works.