Last week was all about mastering time. Today is all about finding and using the right shortcuts and time savers. Well share our favorite shortcuts and time savers, including Firefox add-ons, WordPress plugins, specific time-saving/time management tools, and outsourcing. Join Co-Hosts, Gina Gaudio-Graves (“The JV Queen” and Dean & Founder of DirectionsU.com and TheJVUniversity.com) and Ronda Del Boccio (“The Story Lady” of ProfitableStorytelling.com, as they talk with AMAZING people who build their business through the power of relationships, Youll discover how to grow your influence and to become THE go-to expert in your niche or field by focusing on service and using relationship-building as the FUEL that powers your business. Thats how to build a thriving company so you can live the life of your dreams using the power of the internet. Just starting your business–or considering starting? Then be sure to take the FREE 30-day Passion Challenge! Be sure to click the request reminder icon so you remember to join us each week!
Todays show is all about mastering time. Well share time management tools and practices to help you be in tharge of your calendar rather than letting y our day planner run YOUR life. Join Co-Hosts, Gina Gaudio-Graves (“The JV Queen” and Dean & Founder of DirectionsU.com and TheJVUniversity.com) and Ronda Del Boccio (“The Story Lady” of ProfitableStorytelling.com, as they talk with AMAZING people who build their business through the power of relationships, Youll discover how to grow your influence and to become THE go-to expert in your niche or field by focusing on service and using relationship-building as the FUEL that powers your business. Thats how to build a thriving company so you can live the life of your dreams using the power of the internet. Just starting your business–or considering starting? Then be sure to take the FREE 30-day Passion Challenge! Be sure to click the request reminder icon so you remember to join us each week!
Today our guest is Frank Sousa, co-creator of askthttp://asktsl.com/bots, a system that lets you easily create viral branded ebooks.. Join Co-Hosts, Gina Gaudio-Graves (“The JV Queen” and Dean & Founder of DirectionsU.com and TheJVUniversity.com) and Ronda Del Boccio (“The Story Lady” of ProfitableStorytelling.com, as they talk with AMAZING people who build their business through the power of relationships, Youll discover how to grow your influence and to become THE go-to expert in your niche or field by focusing on service and using relationship-building as the FUEL that powers your business. Thats how to build a thriving company so you can live the life of your dreams using the power of the internet. Just starting your business–or considering starting? Then be sure to take the FREE 30-day Passion Challenge! Be sure to click the request reminder icon so you remember to join us each week!
This year is the 10th anniversary of the devastating loss of those who died in the attack on the twin towers on 9/11. Visit www.911Unity.org and donate $20.11 if your can, or at least $1. Our guests today include our own Gina Gaudio Graves and Jimmy Vega of 911http://911mrmembrancelasvegas.org, This gathering brings together all the survivors and families in a multi-faceted event designed to raise millions of dollars for charity. Join Co-Hosts, Gina Gaudio-Graves (“The JV Queen” and Dean & Founder of DirectionsU.com and TheJVUniversity.com) and Ronda Del Boccio (“The Story Lady” of ProfitableStorytelling.com, as they talk with AMAZING people who build their business through the power of relationships,. Just starting your business–or considering starting? Then be sure to take the FREE 30-day Passion Challenge! Be sure to click the request reminder icon so you remember to join us each week!
There are so many different kinds of product launches. One size does NOT fit all. Join Co-Hosts, Gina Gaudio-Graves (“The JV Queen” and Dean & Founder of DirectionsU.com) and Ronda Del Boccio (“The Story Lady” of ProfitableStorytelling.com, as they talk with Pete Canalichio, the Brand Licensing Expert and help him plan his upcoming product launch. On this special, 90-minute call, the recording stopped at the hour mark. But, you can listen to the remaining 30 minutes at: www.askggg.com/radiopete During the call, we talked about “The Big 3″ and how they can ensure the success of your product launch online! Get the comprehensive “JV Checklist” that was developed while organizing JVs for some of the biggest experts on the internet at: www.askggg.com/jvchecklist If youd like even more help in organizing your product launch, then download “Secret Confessions of The JV Queen”. This multimedia course walks you through every facet of planning a successful launch! Youll find it at: www.askggg.com/confessions
Today we are replaying one of our favorite (and BEST) shows ever – Social Entrepreneurship. Using this method, a business owner can bothrow a business AND support a charity without having a nonprofit. Join Co-Hosts, Gina Gaudio-Graves (“The JV Queen” and Dean & Founder of DirectionsU.com and TheJVUniversity.com) and Ronda Del Boccio (“The Story Lady” of ProfitableStorytelling.com, as they talk with AMAZING people who build their business through the power of relationships, Just starting your business–or considering starting? Then be sure to take the FREE 30-day Passion Challenge! Be sure to click the request reminder icon so you remember to join us each week!
Some people either have too much time on their hands or no sense – AND they need a moral checkup. Here you are, a nice person going about your business, and some nasty person who threw their moral compass into the toilet one day and hasn’t seen it since does something nasty to you.
The latest cyber vandalism attacks are coming through Skype.
The first time I heard of Skype, this is how it happened. An Australian client wrote, “Do you Skype?” in an amail.
I, with my finely sharpened wit, asked, “Not yet. Is it fun?” Then of course asked him what that meant. I was instantly excited about being able to chat up anyone in the world.
Skype is a great way to talk with people all over the world without incurring long distance charges.
Naturally, although most of us use our powers for good, there are people who use this tool for nefarious purposes. (sigh) I wish it wasn’t so.
Skype is now a verb, by the way, in case you didn’t know. “Skype me.” and “He Skyped me” are both perfectly valid sentences. So Skype has now joined the ranks of other company names that have become parts of speech, notably FedEx and Xerox.
Someone I didn’t know wrote me through Skype “I send you a link ok?” He sent me a link to click. I asked why. He said “it’s for me ok?” and I blocked him. He wouldn’t say what or why, and I didn’t know him. Seems I dodged a cyber vandal attack.
Skype logo image
A savvy business owner friend of mine with a huge contact list got caught. Willie Crawford wrote about it on his blog. Apparently a friend of his known for sending cryptic messages sent him an email with a link. He, being a smart cookie, asked about it and was satisfied with the answer.
Apparently, my Skype account has been hi-jacked,
which means that my hundreds of Skype contacts
likely received a phishing message trying to get
you to click on a link, where upon you’ll be
prompted to log back into your Skype account,
and they will hijack the account
(snip)
Over the next hour or so, I got emails and phone calls
from a dozen friends telling me that they think my
Skype account has been compromised… and they based
that upon the REALLY poor English in the Skype messages
they were getting.
So even if you consider yourself smart and aware that these things happen, you could get caught. He has hundreds of contacts, so setting up a fresh account isn’t something he wants to contemplate.
here is a dark side to Skype. Hackers prey on naive online users. Last year’s hacker game was to usurp an account and initiate contact with all confirmed contacts, inviting those people to accept files. Even though I do not consider myself to be naive, I was duped into accepting and opening a file, in March 2009, when a seemingly active client offered it to me. When I lost access to my Skype account, I realized I had been hacked. It took a few days to put everything back together and it was a real headache.I haven’t accepted any spontaneously offered files or clicked on any uninvited links since that time, even if the offer is extended by a long-term contact on my list.
This year’s hacker game is to hijack an account and offer a link that looks like a Skype link to all confirmed contacts in that account. With a slight amount of scrutiny, it is obviously not a link you should follow. The link will probably ask you to login to your Skype account, at which point the hacker has your credentials. If you have a Skype subscription attached to your PayPal account, the hackers can run up huge expenses for you. Skype takes no responsibility for this. Neither does PayPal.
There are so many webinars and teleseminars these days and many of them blur into the background. But recently one captured my attention. As I watched, I got more and more excited.
As someone who offers mentoring, classes and info products, one of the saddest truths is that about 90% of people buy a package from someone and do absolutely nothing with it. I suppose it’s because when you make a purchase, your brain tells you that you have the solution now, so you don’t take
You swear that you’ll do whatever the self-paced study program or ebook is about, but chances are it languishes forgotten on your hard drive.
I’ve been wanting an online interactive training tool, but the one with which I am familiar is sterile, remote and hard to use. That online environment is a pain in the behind to use for creating a product or course, because you have to flip back and forth between various areas, and you can’t rearrange things either. Plus on the client side, it’s really not enticing. Oh, and the one I know doesn’t let the mentor/trainer brand it in any way. You only get this sterile, cold, YUCK background.
I wanted something better.
I want a flexible interactive arena that empowers me to create various online writing courses, mentoring or coaching programs, and even information products that help you the customer interact with and use the materials in a fun and easy way.
Here is my wish list for an online interactive training environment.
Ability to include audio’s, videos, hunks of html code, and text easily.
Ability to upload materials, such as work sheets, graphs, documents, etc.for the client.
Interactive so the client can answer questions right there, not in a downloadable workbook.
Easy for me to use with one area for me to create a module or a course (or coaching / mentoring program).
Has my logo on it and my branding
Ability to change the background color.
Ability to adjust font size
Spell check
Ability to edit all aspects of the module even in a live course
Affordable
Scalable
Ability to formulate various packages without re-inputting the materials
Ability for client to export their questions and answers for continued use on their computers.
So imagine my glee when I discovered Jigsaw Box! A British coach developed this program so she could deliver her services without using so much of her time. This tool gives me 95% of my wish list. And with a 2–week free trial, I was able to try it out at no risk.
Jigsaw box lets you create multimedia modules. You can include whatever materials you want, including uploaded documents. Then, like a jigsaw puzzle, you can create various packages, selecting the modules you want as if you’re choosing items on a menu.
One example of Jigsaw Box in action…
I’ve already made sales on the first product I created with Jigsaw Box. It’s Easy Write & Publish Your Book. I show you the 5 fastest, easiest ways for how to write a book and publish it fast
See how easy it is to create a module with an article that I “dressed up” using the editor inside Jigsaw Box. I added a few questions, then included a video. Watch this…
I had a blast turning articles I’ve submitted into directories into interactive teaching modules with questions for you to answer. Since the materials were already done, it only took me a couple of minutes to fancy them up a bit and add some questions.
This takes an article and makes it a valuable tool for you because you can incorporate the teaching into your life.
The best part
There are 2 “best parts” of this tool.
One is how infinitely malleable the program is. You can move modules around and create whatever packages you want. Plus there is no limit to number of clients or size of package.
The other best thing is that you can create scalable programs with this tool. Scalability is important for your business growth.
If all you had was 1–on-1 coaching, you only have so many hours in the day and maybe you’d like to have a LIFE too. Now with Jigsaw Box all your training materials are there in an interactive format, so you can offer a mid-range product to hundreds or thousands of people. This vastly increases your income potential.
Jigsaw Box gets my 5–star recommendation. What a fabulous tool! It is easy to use.
Improvements I hope to see
As I mentioned, I got almost my whole wish list with Jigsaw box. Here are the enhancements I hope will come forth in updates of the program.
Ability to edit questions after a program is live.
Ability for clients to easily export their questions and answers to their computer.
I’m thrilled with this amazing solution. Also, I have to say that Jigsaw is fun for me to create in.
Resource
First off, do yourself a favor. Before grabbing your free trial, think of one of your electronic info products that you’d love to make interactive. Maybe it’s an ebook you are offering. Start thinking of how you can break that ebook into modules and what questions or activities you can add to it to increase the value for your customers.
Get your 2–week free trial of Jigsaw Box. Then put your ebook-turned-interactive course into it. You can even start selling it before the whole thing is ready. Just get the first couple modules there and your customers will have something to start with immediately. Then you can add the other modules. So you can pay for your affordable membership with sales you make during the free trial..
Now if you want to know the 5 fastest ways for how to write a book – pick up my Easy Write & Publish Your Book program..
Blog commenting is something that’s been on my mind lately, and today I came across a blog post by James Mowery on the subject. Evidently, blog commenting is a hotly debated topic these days.
I have a mixed opinion of it.
When is blog commenting good, in my opinion?
Yes, commenting on blogs is a great way to bring people back to your own site when you do it in a particular way (leading to a specific post and not the blog in general).
Blog commenting is good when you find and comment on relevant blogs (meaning blogs your audience would also benefit from) It’s a good practice, if you have time (which…who does?) to post your own fresh content daily and then take that link and put it as the website link when you comment on 5 relevant blog posts (in your niche).
Piddledy-diddledy work that is better left to someone else. As a business owner, you need to focus on reaching your goals, serving your customers, creating content, marketing, etc.
It’s also great to comment when you find something you like on a blog and chime in to join the conversation.
Beware the Bad Blog Commenting Bots
because blog commenting is tedious enough to make an entrepreneur weep, business owners who want links leading back to their blogs are stooping to automation used in an extremely irritating manner to get linkbacks to their own blogs.
However, there are so many “bots” – meaning automated blog commenting systems, that I get extremely frustrated with the whole thing. People who want to comment on lots of blogs tend to write these horrid generalized “say nothing” comments that could apply to anything at all.
I can’t tell you how annoying it is to get spammy comments like “that was an interesting article on this topic and I will be back to your blog.” This by someone who hasn’t even seen my blog and with a website that’s about real estate, pills or… unmentionables.
I call it link bait whoring. This happens when someone crafts a generalized says-nothing-much comment like the one mentioned above plus a direct link to a blog post and slams it across the blogosphere, irrespective of whether it’s posting to a relevant blog or not
Because of this practice, those of us truly serving our audience have to go to ridiculous measures to keep out the spammy bots.
I’ve got better things to do with my time! And so have you. But such it is.
I am so incredibly grateful for Akismet! That keeps it down to a dull roar, but I had to put a simple captcha on comments just to cause some of the automated bot talk to go away. Not a perfect solution, but better than Akismet alone.
Scoble is most likely of this opinion because of his ability to generate plenty of conversation on services like Twitter and, most recently, FriendFeed. Other services like Disqus and Intense Debate offer third-party solutions to commenting on your blog, but FriendFeed could also serve as commenting service to anyone’s blog (or any other posted items) as well.[2. FriendFeed offers the ability for users to comment on items posted on a FriendFeed account. For example, when I complete this article, a notification will be sent to my FriendFeed friends. My friends on FriendFeed will be able to comment on that item if they please.] However, one must question if this is a viable option for those of us without hundreds of thousands of followers.
Blog readership desires new and effective ways to manage and post their comments. A service like Disqus is great for this because a user doesn’t have to sign up for various blogs to leave comments, but if a particular blog or site does not utilize the Disqus service, that user is back to square one.
To sum this up, commenting on blogs will continue to increase in popularity—Scoble was just being Scoble.[3. The best bloggers are those who can make themselves sound like geniuses but cover their ass if need be. I don't appreciate this form of blogging, but you do what you got to do
Social Media Revolutionizes Commenting
There truly can be plenty of commenting in various places as mentioned above. Remember, every post on Twitter is its own webpage, and one of the ways to get a good “bang” out of Twitter is talking about/responding to stuff about your topic using the keywords people are searching.
People are expected to be interactive these days. One of my friends just can't stand Twitter, reviews, commenting and all of it. It drives her nuts. She'll run straight to movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to help her decide what to see, but don't ever expect her to add one herself, to tweet or use Facebook! Anyone else notice a contradiction there? or is it just me?
I've had an occasional comment from FriendFeed, and I have to admit that sometimes I wonder if people don't have something better to do than sit around reading other people's feeds all day.
Changing the Way We Interact
Microblogs, review sites, the ability to add product reviews on sites such as Amazon and HSN, the Facebook Like Pages are all evidence that commenting of one form or another is here to stay.
I get more blog comments via my Facebook or Twitter links than I typically do on my blog.
And I have to tell you that I get all kinds of interesting and high-profile people reaching out to me because of the blog. So, comments or no, I'd say it's working!
Commenting may be changing, but there is no doubt whatsoever that interaction, sharing reviews, views, opinions and comments, is here to stay.
Is blog commenting going the way of the dinosaurs?
I don't see it happening. I Do wish real live people who actually are reading the blog would comment rather than link bait whoring bloggers using bots.
Blogging is GROWING
The question of whether comments are dead or alive leads to the question about the state of blogging itself. Is blogging in danger of extinction?
NO!
take a look at the following:
Hubspot Blog reports this news about businesses who blog. and why would they blog if they didn't get results like this?
A study of 2,300 HubSpot customers revealed that businesses that blog witness their monthly leads rise by 126% more than those who don't. Read more:
CyberJournalism.net quotes Technorati stats about the blogging explosion in this post:
• On July 31, 2006, Technorati tracked its 50 millionth blog
• The blogosphere is doubling about once every 6 and a half months
• About 175,000 new weblogs are created each day
• There are more than 2 blogs created each second of each day
about 1.6 Million postings per day, or about 18.6 posts per second.
More than 133,000,000 blogs have been indexed by Technorati since 2002
77% of Internet users read blogs according to Universal McCann
Two-thirds of Bloggers are male (c’mon ladies, start Blogging!)
One in four has an annual household income of $100K+
Around half of Bloggers are working on at least their second blog
68% have been blogging for two years or more
86% have been blogging for at least a year
70% of all respondents say that personal satisfaction is a way they measure the success of their blog
72% say they blog in order to share their expertise.
61% say they blog in order to supplement their income.
53% of professional Bloggers are interested in attracting new clients from blogging.
57% say that their future plans include blogging even more (including 74% of 18-24 year olds).
Part-Timers, Pros, and Self-Employed Bloggers are blogging as much as or more than ever (73%, 76% and 80%, respectively), while Hobbyists are blogging somewhat less.
15% of Bloggers spend 10 or more hours each week blogging.
One in five Bloggers report updating on a daily basis.
The most common rate of updating is 2-3 times per week.
The majority of blogs use tags (85%).
82% of respondents say that they post photos to their blog, making images the most popular form of multimedia.
Bloggers participate in an average of 5 activities to drive traffic to their blogs.
First, let me give a little background in case this is new to you.
A product launch, whether this is a book launch or the introduction of a home study course, event or anything else, happens when you make a big splash about introducing your newborn product into the world. Typically, you get a whole bunch of
people to promote during a certain period of time (a day, a week).
OK, now you know what this is.
Getting other people to promote your stuff is a GOOD THING. In fact, it’s a MUST. It’s leverage, and it’s powerful. But what I observe happening way too often is that people don’t start recruiting affiliates until – well… take a look at the usual series of events and you’ll see for yourself.
The Problem with Product Launches
Here’s what happens.
Phase 1: Product Creation
1. The Product: First, the product creator makes their product, and
2. All the other stuff that goes with selling a product: Creator writes (or hires out copywriting of) several webpages – partner info page, partner thank-you page, product sales page, thank-you page, download page, series of autoresponder messages (emails) –and let’s not forget graphics — and …
3. Buzz/promotion tools: Creator makes videos, audios, a acebook fan page, and whatever other promotional materials are needed.
All set
Now, the promotion MAY BE all ready to go. (and by the way most of this may not be done by the time they start seeking affiliates to promote)
Phase 2: Gathering Promo Partners
OK, now Creator has the product ready and wants people to promote it. Many book launches are set 3-6 months ahead of when someone looks for promotion partners.
Maybe Creator thinks an adrenaline rush is the way to work up a feeding frenzy, but honestly, the timeline for promotion is often WAY too short.
Here’s what happens all too often. Creator sets up a launch time that is 2-4 weeks from today.
They want “Whales” (big names) to promote.
The Whales all have their promotions lined up 3-6 months ahead.
The Dolphins (what I call mid-sized list-holding promoters) are often booked 1-2 months ahead.
The Trout can often squeeze the promotion into their schedule but don’t have a big following yet.
The Minnows have plenty of space open in their promotional calendar, and they’ll readily sign up for a launch, but they don’t have any traction in the marketplace.
the Krill only know 5 people but they’ll tweet like crazy to try making a buck.
I have been reaching out for partners on a promotion with a short-term, fixed launch time, and some of the people who have the perfect audience for the product are booked for 3-6 months ahead.
If this were a “rolling launch” – meaning there might be one early push and then people can promote anytime over the course of a few months, the launch can be wildly successful, and it will build up momentum or “steam” for a longer period of time.
The BIGGEST problem with product launches
Short-term rushed launch = smaller profits because the bigger cats don’t have enough notice- AND
Who said marketing should be done like a swimmer’s gulps of air along a race course?
How is that effective marketing? I truly do not understand.
One person I know of who had a 7-figure product launch made the mistake of buying a palatial home with a pool in the mountains. His monthly expenses are, naturally, very high. And rather than pay off the home he had been in and realize that this huge income was not going to be a continuing income, he blew a huge wad and now has monthly expenses that are more than what some people earn in a year.
So, why set yoursself up on a product launch financial roller coaster?
Would you rather have one burst of income followed by a 6-month dip…or would you rather work toward steady, sustainable income?
| relationship marketing
Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lady of www.ProfitableStorytelling.com
Ambassador of Inspirational Thoughts, www.HowToLiveOnPurpose.comDisclosures
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