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

4 Opportunities to Assure Your Business Thrives

Opportunities abound in May to fast track your training in online and social marketing. Like, you, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all the info available. However, strategies, tactics, and networks are evolving at a dizzying pace and it's important to stay on top of what's going on so your marketing stays fresh and on target.

I attend or listen to 2-3 training teleseminars every week because there is ALWAYS a nugget that I can apply to my business to make it better, more efficient, and more profitable.  And that doesn't include the work I do with my business coach! How about you? How much professional development are you actively engaged in?

Regardless of your level of marketing expertise, there's always more to learn. Here is what's coming up this month that I'm personally involved in, either as a partner/speaker or a content contributor. Some are free, some are fee. Some are virtual; one event is live and in-person (would love to meet you there!).

Check out what's going on and choose the program that is perfect for you, that meets your needs for your ongoing online marketing development. Click on the links provided to get program details.

May 3 - June 9: Conscious Business Telesummit

No charge (with an opportunity to get the replays and transcripts)
30 Marketing Experts are teaching strategies to market without hype by tapping into your true voice and your heart so you can articulate the value you deliver and get better results.
Details for Conscious Business Telesummit

May 4 - May 25: Social Media Success Summit 2010

The PREMIER online event devoted to up-to-the-minute social marketing strategies and tactics. 22 experts - there's something relevant for every business, from the solopreneur to small business to corporation. Guy Kawasaki kicks off the 2010 Summit with a keynote on May 4. All registered participants are eligible to win an Extreme Social Media Makeover with me, Mari Smith, Chris Garrett and Michael Stelzner. Plus there is a private forum and a private LinkedIn group for participants to connect and there are some amazing discussions and opportunities already emerging.
Details for Social Media Success Summit

May 20-23: Radiant Success Event (live event, Raleigh, NC)

Five very successful women online marketing and small business experts are teaming up to do a LIVE teaching conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Check out the program including presentations, panel discussions, hot seats, networking, and a VIP mastermind opportunity.  I hope to meet you there, live and in-person!
Details for Radiant Success Event

May 3-7: Free Marketing Made Easy Launch

My colleague Kai Rostcheck has brought together 18 Internet Marketing experts and compiled their knowledge into a conversational, easy-to-follow program. You can tap into the system right now, without spending a dime, by listening to the podcasts, reading the blog and watching the 37-minute video The Free Marketing Method, which presents the framework of the program so you can see what it's all about. You can also get The Free Marketing Method: Internet Marketing for Entrepreneurs ebook.
Details for Free Marketing Made Easy

If you have questions or comments about any of these programs, please post them on my Facebook wall at http://facebook.com/BlogSquad ... I'm happy to answer, help or direct you to someone who can.

I look forward to connecting with you at one or more of these events in the next few weeks.

Blog on!

Online Visibility Tip - AudioBoo Puts Ellen Britt Front and Center

How many tactics do you use to get in front of your community, prospects, friends, followers, readers? I frequently talk about using various media to mix up your content and give your audience multiple ways to experience you. With video so hot, audio is often overlooked as a powerful way to connect with your peeps.

I love to experiment with online tools and a few months ago I discovered AudioBoo. I think I saw a Boo posted by Mari Smith on Facebook and checked it out. It's an app you can install on your smart phone to record and post when you're out and about (or from your computer).

My colleague Ellen Britt jumped on the AudioBoo bandwagon recently and is using it in a really creative way. I decided to find out why and how Ellen is using AudioBoo in her online activity.

You can listen to my 17 minute interview with Ellen Britt, or read it below (and check out Ellen's Boo midway through the interview transcript!).

10 Business Building Tips from 5 Successful Entrepreneurs

It's no secret that in order to grow your business, you have to take thoughtful, consistent action. Business success doesn't happen overnight and there are many, many roads to get there. Here are 10 business building tips from four of my super successful colleagues (including two from me). You can get a lot more in a brand new free ebook we've put together for you called From Zero to Six Figures - FAST!

Download the ebook here - no opt-in required.

1. Create a Strategy and Process for everything you do in your business. Random actions get random results. Whether you're doing some marketing, offering a teleclass, or doing a live presentation, networking, or launching a new product you need to map out a strategy that will take you step by step to the result you want. Once you've nailed down your process or strategy you can use it again and again to get similar results. Taking a "shot in the dark" approach where you try an approach hoping it will work without thinking it through from beginning to end result is like playing darts while wearing a blindfold. Creating process maps as a visual really helps with this process. Janis Pettit, Small Business Strategy and Lifestyle Coach
 
2. Be willing to invest in your education. However, as you learn new information, apply it. It never ceases to amaze me how many people will either not invest anything in their knowledge base or buy so much, without applying anything. Education application is a discipline. Kathleen Gage, The Street Smarts Marketer™

Are you getting new clients from social sites? Do you know?

When I talk with clients and colleagues about social marketing, one of the big frustrations that gets expressed is that they don't know if the time they spend blogging and on social networks is really paying off and netting new business.

I ask how they would know or if they even track that information. Most don't.

I do. I see a very direct connection between sales processed through my shopping cart and my marketing time spent blogging and connecting with people on sites like Facebook and twitter. I see it because I ask.

KickStartCart is my ecommerce/database management system. There is an option to set up custom fields on the order from people fill out when they make a purchase. I have one called "how did you hear about us" which gives them several options to choose from to let me know how they found me.

In prepping for my new program, From Platform to Profit, I ran a report to see who had signed up so I would have a class list. After reviewing the names, many of which were new to me, I then checked to see how they found me.

25% of the participants stated that they found me through my blog (!), several mentioned Facebook, many are repeat clients/students and a few said they met me at an event. 

Does it pay to blog? You bet.

Does it pay to have an active presence on Facebook? Yes.

Does it pay to attend live events? Yes! (Note the people who said them met me at events were at event where I was a participant, not a speaker.)

Maintaining a very visible presence, both on and offline is necessary to attract more of the right people to your business. 

My questions then, for you are: do you know where your clients/customer/patients are coming from? Do you have a system in place to find out? If so, what is it?

4 Articles You May Have Missed That Can Help You With Your Blog

One of the challenges of having several blogs, especially ones that have similar subject matter, is that sometimes the content could go on either blog and ultimately one blog gets a bit neglected.

Sometimes that happens here with Biz Tips Blog and Build A Better Blog. Lately, it seems most of my posts are going on BABB and if you're not reading that blog, then you're missing some information that could help with your online marketing. So the purpose of this post is to direct your attention to four recent articles that you may find valuable.

How to Use Blog Analytics to Improve Your Blog

The Basics of Content Syndication and RSS

Your Business and Your Blog - Interview and Mini Case Study about how using social media and boosting your visibility really does lead to more opportunities.

How to Keep Readers Coming Back to Your Blog

Just for fun...

Via Michael Martine at Remarkablogger, I discovered a site called Link Bait Generator. It's simple site where you type in a keyword for your blog post and it generates a bunch of provocative blog post titles for you like:

5 amazing things you probably didn't know about business blogging

10 epic fails involving business blogging

Why business blogging sucks: myth vs. reality

The 8 most baffling things about business blogging

10 common misconceptions about business blogging

8 reasons to fear business blogging

10 common misconceptions about online visibility

10 ways people have gotten rich exploiting online visibility

Some are funny and some that I didn't include are a bit outrageous. Certainly though, you get some good starting points for article or blog content if you're feeling stuck!

Blog on!