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

Business and The Blog (video)

Been prepping for my presentation at SOBCon09 Biz School for Bloggers. I'm co-presenting with Chris Cree on The Business and The Blog. We have a lot of latitude with the subject.

Some of the questions we'll be addressing are: how do you transition from hobby blogger to business blogger; what's the role of a blog in business; how do you extend your presence on the web.  Feel free to add your two cents (or 25 cents!) to the conversation.

I, and probably everyone else will be tweeting from the event so be sure to follow me if you want to get highlights from presentations by Chris Brogan, Brian Clark, Chris Garrett and many other blogging luminaries!

And remember, you can always get tons of great business blogging tips at Build a Better Blog.

Is your Google Profile Up to Date?

I may sound like I'm harping on the same things all the time, but it's because I love you! Nearly everyday I talk to a client or colleague who isn't aware of the myriad possibilities for maintaining and controlling your online brand and reputation.

An article in the New York Times on How to Manage Your Online Reputation gives excellent tips on how to dominate search results for your name by making sure you set up a profile on every social site there is (where have you heard that before?). You don't need to be active but make sure you have the minimum amount of bio details, a photo and links back to your blog or site. The bottom line is that you want the first 2-3 pages of search results to be content you WANT people to see, not embarrassing stuff.

Of of the main points of the article was to announce that Google is now displaying Google Profile results on name searches! This is huge. Make sure your Google profile is up to date and complete! You can check out my Google profile here. I've got a link to my Flickr account so photos I've posted show up; I've got links to all my social networking sites, my blogs, even a free audio program.

There's also a link so you can easily and immediately share your profile on Twitter.

Go set up your Google Profile now.

Related Posts:
Is Your Social Networking Profile Up to Date?
Are You Managing Your Online Reputation?
Consultants: Are you ready for a Google search on your name?

Animoto is a Super Easy Video Tool

Animoto finally got me. It's been on my list to experiment for some time, like ever since Lou Bortone and I put together our homestudy course, Online Video Made Easy. Lou talked about how easy Animoto is to create high quality video just from your images.

Then yesterday I saw a tweet from a client with a link to an animoto video she had just created. That moved me to give it a test drive.

In a nutshell, you upload some photos, add some text, choose a music track and click a button.  Within a few minutes of rendering, you have a really cool video. You can create 30 second videos for free. Longer videos cost $3 or you can spring for an annual pass for $30 which gives you unlimited access. That's what I did.

After you create your video, there options that allow you to simply upload your video to YouTube, post is on Facebook, your blog or any of 20 other sites. You can download your video and send a link by email. Sharing is easy.

OK, wanna see my video?

How to Use Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Business

Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are transforming businesses by providing amazing exposure, tons of traffic, partnership opportunities and quality leads. Do you know how to market your business with social media? 

The great news is you don't need to be a techno-geek or twenty-something to use and benefit from social media.  Discover precisely how to use social media to grow your business during this economic slump at Social Media Success Summit 2009 -a professional development conference for marketers and business owners. 

Leading experts Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library TV), Darren Rowse (Problogger), Mari Smith (Facebook guru), Jason Alba (wrote the book on LinkedIn), Ann Handley (MarketingProfs), Brian Clark (Copyblogger), Chris Garrett (Authority Blogger) and me have joined forces to share our closely guarded secrets to social media success at this LIVE online summit.

No travel required.  This online summit allows you to attend sessions, meet the experts and network with peers, all from the comfort of your home or office. This event is sure to sell out quickly. 

Learn how to qualify for a $200 savings (expires May 14th) and lock in your key to success.  Visit and get an immediate gift valued at $39 entitled "Achieving Social Media Marketing Success (Secrets From Three Successful Marketers)."

What's Standing in the Way of Your Business Success?

A couple weeks ago I had the great privilege of attending a high-power mastermind meeting organized by Dave Lakhani (Bold Approach) and Dr. Don Kennedy. In the welcome gift, were copies of Dave Lakhani's two books The 12 Factors of Business Success and Subliminal Persuasion. (See end of post for details on how you can get a free copy of The 12 Factors.)

Even though my brain was overloaded, I had a very long flight home from Florida to L.A. and decided to dive into The 12 Factors.  I couldn't believe how much resonated for me.

Chapter 3 is about Directed Action. Lakhani states that "Change, by definition, requires movement. And movement is not inertia. It is action. But action by itself will not create success. Directed action is a necessity for success."

I'm pretty good about taking action and implementing stuff, but I realized that sometimes my action is not directed and I may be spinning my wheels. Of the many things that can get in the way of directed action, one is a disorganized work space.

I look around me and my space is a wreck. Totally disorganized. So I was ecstatic when my friend John Trosko, a professional organizer in Los Angeles, called me this week and said, "Denise, I have a feeling you need an organizing tune-up. It's been awhile since we got together. We need two hours to get your space back in shape."

How did he know?!