Tag Archives: Free

Circle of Reciprocity begins with FREE: My take-aways from this morning’s no-cost webinar with George Kao

October 20, 2009 Shari Weiss 6 Comments

Yosemite May 2008 009

Raise your hand if you’ve signed up for a free webinar lately?

If you haven’t, then you’re not really using the Web broadly enough to learn new tips & tricks that can enhance your own knowledge base AND your ability to deliver value to others.

All that being said: How many of us SIGN UP for the Webinars and then either [1] forget about them or [2] wait for the archive version that will likely be filed away . . . and forgotten?

YUP, Guilty as charged . . .

But not this morning.I listened and participated in one that was so good, it needed its own blog post: I wanted to share the information and, at the same time, review the lessons for myself.

My good friend Ann had forwarded me an email last week from George Kao, who offers free webinars [and subsequent coaching programs] — to discuss social media AND how to deliver information-packed webinars that will help build business success. George’s WebinarMethod.com caught my interest as I build my own coach/consultant business model — and the fact that his email said it WOULD NOT BE ARCHIVED was the impetus I needed to skip my yoga class this morning . . . because I wouldn’t be able to catch it later.

Can I say, once again, how valuable the entire experience was . . .

The initial approach, i.e., the fact that this would NOT be archived, worked to get me focused on getting the most from this one-hour experience.
The discussion of FREE: what to “give away” and what to hold back. George suggests:
- giving away too much for free inundates people . . . and will keep them from buying/hiring you.
- “catchy content” in a free event should require engagement that will inspire them to action, i.e., buying more from you,
When people buy from you, “You Change the World”: this becomes an “investment” rather than mere entertainment
On the “Hierarchy of Engagement for Content” — In-person speaking engagements ranked highest for emotional engagement and the least likely to allow for procrastination. Here is the rest of the list from Highest Engagement to Lowest:
- Video webinars
- Webinars with telephone and visuals
- Teleseminars with conference call
- Instant messaging and/or chat room
- Dedicated Video [DVD]
- Dedicated Audio [CD]
- Email [including newsletters/ezines]
- Mass email via social media [groups]
- Linkable text [PDF w/links; online articles, blogs]
- Social sites [e.g. Yahoo answers, forums]
- Offline text [book, magazine]

Thinking about the hierarchy list above . . . and social media lessons . . .

The beauty of what “we” are all doing online is ENGAGING with one another and supporting one another on our respective quests to improve our lives and our society.

I’d genuinely like to go on and on . . . but so many times “Less is More” as my students have heard me say so many times. Besides, George gives these free webinars all the time, so there’ll be a lot more you can discover for yourselves. And, of course, I do need to say, “NO, no one paid me anything for this endorsement.” It was just that well done.

By way of sparking conversation, I’m going to try to get the other participants [whom I met on “Savor Chat”] to add their take-aways as well, and, yes, George, I hope you see this and add your TWO CENTS as well.

Blogging

How to start a Blog: Step-by-Step . . . and VOILA, you’re a publisher!

October 8, 2009 Shari Weiss 21 Comments

So you’re ready . . . to join the Blogosphere with your own individual views.

It’s not exactly a “piece of cake,” but as my many advisors told me — JUST DO IT, and you will learn a lot as you go.

GETTING STARTED is always the hardest part of a new endeavor. So here’s a step-by-step tutorial to help you use the most popular free online blogging platform — WordPress.com.

If you follow these directions, you can be an “official” published blogger in just about an hour or so, which includes up to 30 minutes to get an email confirmation after you sign in.

Be certain to use the comment section IF you have any questions after you try this process. And keep in mind that this is just the first Baby Step, so don’t be too hard on yourself.

To give you an idea of what you are in for, I’ll list the instructions first. Then I will repeat them with the screens you will be filling out. Here goes:

1. Go to WordPress.com

2. Click on the Sign Up Now screen.

3. Put in your domain name and blog title.

4. Retrieve your Email Confirmation.

5. Click on the first link.

6. Click on New Post AND WRITE . . . AND PUBLISH

GOOD LUCK . . . AND GET BLOGGING:

1. Go to WordPress.com

Here is your first screen

2. In upper right, you will click on the ORANGE “Sign up now” button

“Fill out the one-step form and you’ll be blogging seconds later”

3. Next screen – BE PREPARED to find a “domain” name AND a blog title.

** IMPORTANT. Give the “domain” name some thought . . . especially if you want to be found by search engines. Try to think of KEY WORDS [i.e., the words people would use to search for your information] for BOTH the domain name and Blog title:

4. The next screen is called Check Your Email to Complete registration.

On this screen — which I am not going to show — you may “update your profile” by adding your First Name, Last Name, and something ABOUT YOURSELF. You will be able to change any of that information later.

COOL! I want to call my blog Cars & Guitars and other sexy things -[my husband Jack]
WHOA, Jack. You might want to re-think that name. Did you really want to attract a slew of pornography seekers?

BUT you cannot move on until you receive an email from WordPress . . . so now’s the time to get out the chips and salsa.

ALERT: Your email confirmation will come from donotreply@wordpress.com. Be certain to check your SPAM folder before you panic.

Here is the email my husband Jack received to confirm his account:

5. If you click on the first link http://wordpress.com [in your email], then you will see a screen LIKE this, but with your blog’s information:

6. In the top left corner, you will see four headings: My Account — My Dashboard — New Post — Blog Info

[you will want to explore those options when you have time . . . ]

But for now, click on “New Post” so you can actually write something, post it, and take a well-deserved break.

7. Here is the screen where you will write that first post:

8. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN:

a) Think of a catchy title

b) Write your post

c) Publish [blue button on the right]

How do you add a photo?

How do you use boldface and italics?

There are buttons above the writing box. You can either try them out yourself OR ask a question in the comment section. But here is a screen shot of my husband’s first post:

Good luck . . . and ask those questions 🙂

Facebook

Is Social Media THE ANSWER when traditional marketing “sucks”?

August 31, 2009 Shari Weiss 15 Comments

Five incredibly talented and deeply entrenched social media THOUGHT LEADERS fielded questions about “How to get the word out” and win more business now that there’s so much FREE stuff out there.

THE VENUE: Grand Hyatt in San Francisco

THE SPONSOR: San Francisco chapter of the American Marketing Association

THE “WHY”: To discuss whether or not today’s marketing and PR “sucks,” and, if so, What To Do About It.

THE PANEL OF NOTABLES:

Moderator & Alltop creator: Guy Kawasaki

The Silicon Valley Blogger: Louis Gray

French entrepreneur: Loic Le Meur

Community builder: Renee Blodgett

LinkedIn Sales VP: Steve Patrizi

Super Tweeter Guy Kawasaki

QUESTIONS POSED TO PANEL MEMBERS:

What would you do if you had a great product in a niche and zero dollars in marketing?

What would you now do if you now had $10,000 in marketing? How would you put it to use?

What is the role of agencies in today’s environment? Should companies simply do their own marketing?

Headlines from the discussion:

PR NEEDS A NEW NAME

NO TRUST IS OBSTACLE FOR PR & ADVERTISING

CROWDSOURCING IS THE NEW INFLUENCER

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE

BECOME AN EXPERT IN A UNIQUE NICHE

“TRUTH IN MARKETING”: [Who’d a thunk?]

EVERYONE IN YOUR COMPANY WILL BE FINDABLE

BE YOUR OWN MOUTHPIECE

PR AGENCIES ARE PASSÈ

Selected clips from the discussion

: Silicon Valley blogger Louis Gray

“For marketing on a shoestring: Tap into personal network for word of mouth. Leverage the people who are your biggest fans.”

Seesmic founder: Loic Le Meur
“The problem with old styles of marketing is No Trust. What I trust are my friends telling me about products they like.”

“Twenty years ago there were 20 influencers. Today there are 6,000.”

“When you engage with customers on Twitter, you can learn what problems need to be resolved.”

“Social Media Marketing: Find the fight people in the right places and offer the right message.”

Steve Patrizi and Renee Blodgett round out the panel of experts

“Online Social Media: No difference between personal and professional.”

“Professionally distributed news releases may only be necessary with major launches.”

“Break out of old marketing by teaching your people to LISTEN and then to RESPOND.”
“The speed of innovation is directly related to the speed at which we are sharing information.”
“Rules are different for social media platforms: MySpace is like your neighborhood bar. Facebook is the backyard BBQ. LinkedIn is your office. You’ll need to act accordingly.”

WHAT DID THE ATTENDEES HAVE TO SAY?

Mark Evans, SFAMA President
Marketing is going through a revolution. The SFAMA is here to embrace this change and help bring together all the moving parts. — Mark

Julia Francis - Ubiquity PR, Wendy Fisher - Moxie Mtkg, Sharon Lee - Shamiko Design, Kelly Connelly - Kelly Connelly Design
MARKETING AND PR “SUCK”? — People will always need them, suck or not. It depends on the approach for them “not to suck”: Change the name of PR to a more friendly and real term like SOCIAL CONNECT, for instance. — Sharon

Bill Bralye
After listening to the panel, I want to devote more time identifying best practices used by companies that are effectively widening their marketing tactics by adding social media to the mix. — Bill

Deb Kockos
I can tell you that most people do not spend their day online exposed to ads or blogs about certain products. Most of the world doesn’t even know what Web 2.0 means. When referencing a conversation on LinkedIn during a recent presentation, the audience looked at me like I was nuts. No one even knew about LinkedIn. We’re definitely in the early adopter stage here. — Deb

John Meyer - UC Berkeley, Laura Dantes - Engagement Strategies
We do need to filter the Hype and remember basic marketing principles. As Renee put it, “What is the problem we are trying to solve?” Focus on strategy, messaging, and reaching the right stakeholder groups using multiple channels. I don’t believe the zero budget Twitter solution is sustainable. — Laura

Cory O'Brien
Marketing and PR don’t suck. They’re just changing rapidly, and the companies that can’t keep up with the changing environment are using marketing and PR methods that “suck.” Social media has closed the gap between the company and the consumer, and there’s a level of speed, honesty, and transparency that is required to play in this field that many companies are not yet comfortable with. — Cory
FOR THOSE WHO’D LIKE TO VIEW GUY’S QUESTIONS AND THE PANEL RESPONSES AND DISCUSSION:
Here are links to several short YouTube videos:
Do Marketing & PR suck? Guy Kawasaki introduces panel.
Louis Gray says BE YOUR OWN MOUTHPIECE
Loic Le Meur says problem with ads is LACK OF TRUST
Renee Blodgett advises companies to ask What They Want to Be
Steve Patrizi says that companies still need ads
Guy Kawasaki asks panel How to Market with $10,000
Renee Blodgett has tip to spike video views
QUICKY: Not much can be done with $10K
Louis Gray says, YES, $10K can fund successful marketing plan
Are PR agencies still necessary and relevant?
Steve Patrizi: Companies will continue to need help getting the word out
PR needs a New Name, according to Loic
TRUTH IN MARKETING: Who would have thought of those 3 words together?
What if your customers are not on Twitter?

San Francisco AMA members: Please add your comments below, and everyone else “out there”: DO YOU THINK TODAY’S TRADITIONAL MARKETING SUCKS, and WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT IT?
Can’t get enough of thought leaders in panel discussions? Here’s my report on Steve Rubel, Michael Brito, Richard Brewer-Hay, and Angela LoSasso discussing “Beyond the Hype: Roadmap for Social Media”
Next post: HOW TO CONVINCE YOUR BOSS TO GO SOCIAL

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