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

How to Recession-Proof Your Business with TeleSeminars (audio)

Who wouldn't want a fool-proof way to create a steady stream of income? That's precisely what Kathleen Gage and I discussed in our interview on how to use teleseminars to recession-proof your business. Nearly 500 people registered for the interview and we tagged on about 10 extra minutes to address many of the questions that were submitted.

We covered a range of topics around creating successful teleseminars including how to prep, different types of teleseminars, how to market programs for no cost, mistakes we've both made and learned from, whether or not you need contracts, how to spin off products from teleseminars, when to do free or fee, and much more.

Kathleen Gage shared a lot of great nuggets of info and to assist you with your business growth, I'm posting the 70 minute audio here for you. [and check out the stream of tweets that were flying by during the interview!]

We also talked about the system we both use to manage teleseminars: InstantTeleseminar. I realized I had a quasi-tutorial for setting up events on InstantTeleseminar so I cleaned it up and created a tutorial for you - my gift to you - to show you how I set up events on InstantTeleseminar.

Celebrate Effective Communications Month and Get Lots of Gifts!

I'm celebrating Effective Communications Month and you get the gifts! My good friend Felicia Slattery has assembled 14 amazing experts (myself included) who are sharing their tips and techniques for free!

Research has shown that effective communication is an essential part of your overall business success.  If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, you don't want to miss this opportunity!

In honor of Effective Communications Month - a real honest-to-goodness holiday listed in Chase's Calendar of Events-throughout the month of June you can pick up loads of fabulous tools to help you communicate more effectively in your business with your customers, clients and prospects so you can enjoy greater success. 

The best part? It's all free! There is nothing to buy now-or ever. This isn't some teaser offer where you only get to see what's listed and then have to buy something in order to get the goods.  This is completely 100% free to you.  That's right -- we're doing a real giveaway going on all month until the end of June. 

What's the catch?  There really is none.  If you don't know her, Felicia is just that kind of person.  She likes giving away useful stuff.  [NOTE: you do have to opt-in to get the gifts of your choice - that is a small price to pay for the information you're getting, believe me, I've checked it all out.]

Felicia's got some powerhouse folks on board with her like PR expert Shannon Cherry, video expert Lou Bortone, Bob the Teacher, Jeff Herring and Maritza Parra and many more!  You'll see tools to help you with writing ebooks, creating your signature program, showing appreciation to your clients, creating a membership site and even how to raise business smart children.

I'm giving away my updated (2010) program on How to Drive Quality Traffic to Your Blog. It's been "off the market" for several months and the only way to get it right now is via the Effective Communications Month Giveaway.

Go right away to: http://www.EffectiveCommunicationsGiveaway.com and let the experts shower you with gifts!

Image from Shutterstock.

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™

What's the missing link to making money with social media?

The biggest question people have about social media is how to make money from it. The thing is that people are spending thousands of hours in social media, but aren’t making thousands of dollars from it.

As a businessperson, this isn’t a wise long-term strategy. We always have to be looking for the best possible return on our investment of time and money.

I have something that might help.

Been there, done that. What you can learn from the experts.

One of the reasons I invest in my professional development is that I want to accelerate the growth of my business. I make a serious investment in my business: I attend mastermind retreats, I hire mentors, I take classes, and I buy ebooks and "traditional" books.

I also follow a lot of successful people. I watch what they do, how they do it and when I see something I can model for my own business, I adapt it and try it.

That's why I jumped on the chance to contribute to a FREE ebook that my colleague Scott Stratten (unmarketing on twitter) compiled with responses from 39 of his colleagues about what they would do differently if they could go back to the beginning of their speaking/coaching/writing career. 

If I Could Go Back:
Successful Speakers, Authors & Coaches Reflect on What They'd Do Differently

You get to tap into the hindsight from successful people including Leesa Barnes, Alexis Neely, Mari Smith, Adam Urbanski, Michael Bungay Stainer, and me (!), to name just a few. I learned so much from the other contributors, especially around getting started as a speaker since it's not my strong suit.

If I Could Go Back is 123 pages of pure gold and it's totally free. Scott is not selling anything. He is building his list, though. He loves to share information and this is an example you can study and model for your own business.

Watch his videos, study his process and then figure out how you can do something similar in your own niche.

And read the ebook. As I said, it's pure gold and I'm pretty sure you'll get find a few golden nuggets you apply to your business.