The ABC’s of Networking
Once again, just like he did with Some Assembly Required, Thom Singer has nailed it.
I just finished his really easy to read ( yes, that’s a huge compliment ) The ABC’s of Networking.
The good part is I read it between the two Sunday edition newspapers I read every week.
The even better part is I was smart enough to take notes and now I’ve got 20+ items to work on, and I expect it will take me a lifetime, so in essence, I got a lifetime course in networking.
The simply fantastic part is I got an idea I’m going to pass along to Thom by email as soon as I finish this post !
All the way from a to Z, Thom gives you some actionable strategies, tells you how to easily and quickly implement them and some great personal stories relating to how he’s done it. Not heard about it being done, Thom lives and breathes networking.
Click over to Amazon and order The ABC’s of Networking today and if they’ll let you, bundle it with Some Assembly Required and double your networking expertise from someone in the trenches every day.
Want A Chance To Win Some Great Podcasting Gear ?
After I started blogging about podcasting, it seems I see all kinds of posts about it now.
Here’s a blog that’s giving you a chance to win $335 in podcast gear and all you have to do is subscribe to their RSS feed and send an email.
No, really, it’s that simple and you know I like simple.
Click thru to the special page that Create Business Growth built to use for their giveaway and you’ll see the podcast gear I’m going to win !
The even better part is, during the week I’ve been an RSS subscriber, I’ve actually really enjoyed their blog !
Kind of a win-win thang.
Use Podcasting To Generate Sales In 3 Easy Steps
After my review of Podcasting In About An Hour, a reader sent me an email and asked me to design a marketing campaign using podcasts.
I agreed to do so, for a small fee. The reader declined my offer, so I’ll not be designing a full-scale, all-out marketing campign for them, but I will give you some tips to use to stimulate your brain and help you along the road to generating sales using podcasts.
Step 1: Create a series of podcasts that tell a story about your product. How to use it for maximum profit, pleasure or productivity, how to aviod mistakes when using it, etc.
Step 2: Post that series on iTunes or mp3.com.
Step 3: Drive traffic to a landing page that promotes the series of podcasts.
That’s it. No, really.
Economical, easy and effective.
Don’t believe me ? Then prove me wrong.
Write the series of podcasts, build the landing page, upload them and drive traffic to the landing page.
If it doesn’t work for you, show it to me and I’ll offer a free critique of the series and landing page for the first 5 people who ask.
Action speaks louder than doubt.
The New Rules Of Marketing And PR
What could I possibly say about this book that someone hasn’t already said better ?
Could I say it better than Debbie Weil did on her blog ? Probably not.
Could I do a better job than Brian Carroll who snagged David for an interview ? Probably not.
Could I say anything that these reviewers on Amazon haven’t thought of ? Probably not.
Can I add anything to the very well written review by Brad Shorr ? Not a thing.
Could I say it better than Barry Graubart ? Not likely.
Even Steve Johnson said all that needed to be said in his short, sweet, to the point review.
Joe Wikert went above and beyond in his well written review.
After all of these well thought out posts, why would I even attempt to add to this conversation ?
Because David’s new book is just that damn good and after seeing the marketing and PR strategies of about 100 businesses just this month alone, I can safely say every one of them need this info more than they need to waste another dollar on a stupid, senseless, untrackable, unprofitable ad campaign.
I’ll point out one actionable strategy almost every business oriented website needs right now - read the chapter 15 and implement a, or a new, Online Media Room today. Not next week. Today.
Thanks for the book David. I wish I could say something that hasn’t been said, but when your book’s this good, all the great reviews get written very quickly.
I highly recommend you visit David’s blog, download any and all free ebooks and then go buy every print book he ever writes and subscribe to his RSS feed.
Do You Want To Be Podcasting In About An Hour ?
My friend, Jay Jennings, is a marketer, programmer/coder, product creator and several other things all rolled into one package.
He just began the release cycle of a new product, called Podcasting In About An Hour.
It’s a video tutorial and I bought a copy.
Here’s the kicker - I bought it mainly for one of the bonuses he includes, called Audio Editing Secrets, another video tutorial product.
I’m doing a lot more audio and have the intention to ramp that up into more multi-media products as the year goes along, so a quick, easy, video tutorial seemed like the thing to help me learn to use a product like Audacity, which he includes on the CD, and if he could teach me using a condensed, quick and easy version, it would be nice.
Jay’s done many, many audio products and services over the years I’ve known him and I tend to buy almost every product or service he produces, so I’m familiar with his style and quality, which have never been a disappointment to me.
In Podcasting In about An Hour, Jay covers:
Formatting Your Product, Finding A Source For Content, Recording And Editing Your Product, Easily Recording Interviews For Your Podcast, Publishing Your Podcast On Your Website and Promoting Your Podcast On iTunes And Other Sites and more.
I listened to and watched the whole tutorial in a little under 2 hours.
I paused it “several” times as the info was causing me to take notes faster than I could write and I wasn’t even interested in podcasting !
Remember, I bought the course for the bonus, Audio Editing Secrets, which I also watched and learned all I needed to know to work with my audio products … in about an hour.
I won’t bore you with a tremendously long review, but there are some high points that you need to know about.
The Intro was a great overview, the part about Doing Interviews was well done and the step-by-step Putting It All Together section will make it quick and easy to create an audio product or podcast.
Let me be a bit more specific here about the Publishing Your Podcast section. Here Jay goes into great detail on using a product call Podcast Generator. Not only does he teach you how to use it, which will make creating the actual podcast very simple, he even includes the software on the CD ! Yeah, it’s open source, but now it’s always where you need it, on the CD.
The Hardware and Software section looked like it would be scary, but it’s nowhere as complicated as I thought it would be and Jay’s been there and done that, so he can tell you what to buy and more importantly, what not to buy, to avoid wasting money !
Under Formatting Your Podcast, he’ll teach you a “segmenting” secret that will allow you to record pieces and parts and put them together to make multiple podcasts from one sitting in front of your mic.
This was worth the price of the course alone.
Also worth the cost of the course was all the secrets he spilled in the Finding Content section. he mentions two or three places to find content that will cost you nothing to very, very little. I’ll be using both of these in some form or another.
Jay also lists the Top 5 podcast directories and shows you how to add your podcast feed to them.
Want to get your material on iTunes in less than 10 minutes ? Jay went thru the steps in a lot less time than that, but it would have taken me all night, if he hadn’t made this video for me.
Jay also includes a 4 hour teleseminar he did with a podcast expert, as another bonus for his customers.
And he includes a simple tweak to Podcast Generator that will make it make more money from your podcast home page.
Taking everything into account, this product was a tremendous addition to my marketing arsenal, especially since a couple of my corporate clients have indicated wanting to add a lot more audio to their mix in the coming months.
Here’s the best part. Jay has agreed to be on a teleseminar with me to answer all of your podcasting questions and any questions you may have about his video tutorial course, Podcasting In About An Hour.
Click thru, ask your question(s) and stay tuned for more free education about podcasts.
