I’ve been using these virtual events for some time now and I love to do them. But my goal usually isn’t to make buckets of money, but to attract more people into my pipeline.

And that’s why webinars and teleseminars are great. No matter what business you are in, if you do them right, you can get more prospects in your funnel, and hopefully, sell to them again and again.

But with all the chatter going on, I’ve noticed a missing piece.  Sure, you can host a webinar or teleseminar. But if you don’t get people to come to it, it’s worthless.

So I’m presenting a FREE webinar, in conjunction with ReadyTalk, called: Promoting Your Webinar: Using Free Publicity to Attract More Targeted Participants

You’ll learn the step-by-step way to get more people to register for your online events, without spending a dime.

Find out more and register here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Free webinar… on webinar & teleseminar promotions

Most magazines are already thinking of stories with a winter or holiday angle. So you should be thinking that way, too – if you want to beat the competition and get some coveted coverage.

Why so early? Because of many media outlets’ production schedules – most notably magazines – reporters often start working on seasonal stories 4-6 months in advance.

Many late November and December magazines are chock full of holiday gift guides and product reviews. So early October is too late if you’re seeking coverage in magazines. In fact, a trip to the newsstand in November will provide all the evidence you need: all the November issues of monthly magazines will be stocked and ready for purchase — some have been there for a week or two.

One way to find out when the media is working on holiday stories is to contact the advertising department of the outlet and request a media kit. This kit tells advertisers what stories or topics will be highlighted in each issue so that advertisers can submit their ads by the proper date. Many media kits are also offered online, so if you have a particular publication with a web presence, you may find what you need at their site.

Follow these tips now to gain more exposure when the cooler weather returns:

1. Create ways that your product or service can tie into the holidays or winter. For example, an organizer can show how to properly store summer clothes – or even your holiday decorations. A fitness coach can provide ways to get fit  to really make that New Years’ resolution work.

2. Find reasons for gift-giving all year-round. Is your product or service something that would be a great gift for someone? Find out which media outlets are doing gift guides and how you can get your product or service featured.

I offer more tips on this over at the Be Heard Blog.

Post from: EveryJoe

Ho! Ho! Ho! You better start now for a holiday boost!

By Michele PW

One definition of creativity states that creative people look at the same thing everyone else does, yet they see something no one else does.

But even creative people (which includes all of you, of course) can run into roadblocks every now and then. Sometimes it’s not possible to see something different. Sometimes you’ve just been staring at a problem for so long it’s now impossible to look at it in any other way.

So what do you do in these situations?

Why not try changing your perspective?

Consider this: A friend of mind who does needlepoint has a design that’s mostly black. Rather than simply stitching the design on white canvas with black thread, she’s using a black canvas and is stitching the negative aspects of the design instead of the positive.

She changed the way she viewed the problem. And now she has a really cool-looking needlepoint design that’s different from most other ones out there.

Or what about this: An art teacher has her students turn a photograph or object upside down and paint what they see — not a picture but an arrangement of shapes.

By changing your perspective, you’re changing what you see. And when you change what you see, you’re more likely to create something completely different.

But — I can hear you all saying right now — that’s art. That won’t help me with my business problem.

Okay, so here’s another story from the book “Thinkertoys” by Michael Michalko. Back in the 1950s, experts proclaimed the ocean freighter industry was dying. Costs were skyrocketing and delivery times kept getting pushed back later and later.

Executives at the shipping companies kept focusing on ways to cut costs while ships were sailing. They developed ships that went faster and needed fewer crew members to run.

It didn’t work. Costs continued to spiral out of control and it still took too long to get the merchandise shipped.

Then one day, a consultant changed the perspective. Rather than ask the question: ” In what ways might we make ships more economical while at sea?” executives asked: “In what ways can we reduce costs?”

Ta-da!

Ships are big money-sucking machines when they aren’t at sea actually doing their job — shipping merchandise. And when aren’t they working? When they’re sitting in port being loaded and unloaded.

So, the industry came up with way to preload merchandise on land. Now a ship comes in, the container carrying the cargo rolls off, a new container already loaded with cargo rolls on, and the ship heads back to sea.

That one innovation saved an entire industry. And it happened because shipping executives changed the way they viewed their problem.

Creativity Exercise — Change your perspective

So, how can you change your perspective and solve your business/marketing problems?

Try what the shipping industry did and change the question.

Instead of looking at a narrow part of the problem (”In what ways can we make ships more economical while at sea?”) broaden the question (”In what ways can we reduce costs in general?”)

Here’s another example.

Maybe your question is “how can I land more clients?” What if you started broadening the question like so:

How can I land more clients?

How can I grow my business?

How can I make more money from my business?

How can I make more money period?

How can I be happier in my life? (I know, I know, money doesn’t buy happiness. But it’s certainly nice to have.)

Maybe one of those questions is a better place to look for a solution. Because maybe one of those questions is the “real” question you want to solve, but since you never took a step back to look at the big picture, you’ve never discovered the right question to ask.

And if you don’t ask the right question, your muse will never give you an answer that actually solves your problem.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site at http://www.michelepw.com.

Post from: EveryJoe

Need a New Idea? Try Changing Your Perspective

Truth is, failure is part of being an entrepreneur. Trial by fire and all that nasty stuff. Although it’s not necessarily that entrepreneurs are huge risk takers, we are doers. And doers make mistakes.

When you do fail, it’s important to learn from your mistakes. It’s the best way to avoid them and improve things in the future.

Chris Pearson has made some mistakes and openly discusses them in his blog post. Dumb Move #3 for Chris is a tough lesson and one that requires a fair bit of skill in balancing a business. The crux of his point is:

If you’re going to traverse the road of an entrepreneur, you need to play it smart by avoiding distractions and obstacles.

What he’s talking about specifically is how he worried too much about money. It distracted him from doing the things he needed to do in order to make money. Worrying about money is easy. We need money to pay bills, and if we don’t pay bills we get in trouble.

Here’s the balancing act:

Worrying about money. Making money in any way possible. Doing what’s right for your business.

How do you balance those three things for the most success possible?

In order of importance, focus on:

1. Doing what’s right for your business.
2. Making money in any way possible.
3. Worrying about money.

A little worry never killed anyone, but let it consume you and you’re screwed. Either you’ll be paralyzed or you’ll go towards doing whatever it takes to make a buck, and there’s no vision or success in there.

Ultimately, bills have to be paid, so if opportunities arise to make money, go for it, but do what you can to align those opportunities with your overall strategy and goals. And again, focus too much on this and you don’t really have a business anymore, you’re just working for hire.

At the end of the day, with a vision and plan in-hand, you need to do what’s right for your business. Short of that and you’re hampering your own success.

Photo courtesy of Havana2006.

Post from: EveryJoe

How To Balance What’s Right, Making Money, And Worrying