What began as a marketing and organizational support system for Realtors, has changed over time to accommodate the marketing needs of entrpreneurs, small businesses, speakers, coaches and internet marketers.   I want to extend gratitude to David and Ben (my husband and son), my family, friends and colleagues for the patience, faith, expertise and love.

It was seven years ago this month that I ventured outside my comfort zone (that’s where we find growth after all, right?), and traveled to Florida to attend my first IVAA Live Summit – my trade association’s annual conference.  WilsonVA was barely 2 weeks old when I was hob-knobbing with my industry’s leaders and soaking up their energy.  I learned the importance of networking – especially with my “competitors” – to create lasting bonds of support and I vowed never to miss an IVAA Live Summit again.

Today I send special greetings to my clients – especially those who’ve been with me since day 1 – for your continued support.  Without you, there would be no WilsonVA.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

One can never prepare enough, I think.

I want to share 3 Preparation Tips with you that I use to organize virtual events for clients.  They are my ‘mise en place’ for virtual events.  Mise En Place is a french term meaning “things in place,” which I borrowed from the culinary industry.   My mise en place consists of two documents (a Timeline and a Workflow) and a practice event.

Preparation Tip #1: Timeline

For ample marketing and organization the Timeline is imperative for your virtual event.   It is a critical path that outlines Pre- and Post-event Marketing efforts, Attendee registration (and payment if yours is a paid event), Attendee messaging (email reminders) and Post-production tasks, and who is responsible for each task.  As a Virtual Events Specialist, my clients rely on me to have each task listed and assigned with a deadline date.  So for instance, while it is my client’s responsibility to decide the title and description of the event, it is my responsibility to determine which tool will work best and get the word out about the event.  For a typical complimentary teleclass or webinar, I find that 2 weeks is ample time to announce and market a virtual event.

Preparation Tip #2:  Checklist

The other document on which I rely heavily is a checklist.  Much like the pre-flight checklist a pilot uses, this document lists step-by-step instruction for me and my client so that no details of the event management are overlooked.  Every detail.  I remind myself to open my email account (so I can provide trouble-shooting assistance to attendees).  I remind myself to have a glass of water available.  I remind myself to make sure that anything with a  noise is quieted during the call.  Every detail is listed on the checklist.

Preparation Tip #3: Practice Event

My last suggestion for Virtual Event success is the practice event.  This is usually done the day before your actual event.  I dial into the conference call line or log into the webinar tool with my client and we have a dress rehearsal of the event.  The Practice Event is a great way for you to test your Checklist and work out any bugs in your plan.  I practice my welcome script, I practice muting phone lines, I practice changing presenters.  Practice makes perfect, after all.

What are your ‘must-have’s when planning a virtual event?  Feel free to comment below…

photo credit: Andres Rueda

Videos are great departure from standard text content because they are dynamic and are capable of keeping the attention of Internet surfers with short attention spans.  Remember that some folks like to listen to, some like to see, and some like to read information, so it’s important to add in multimedia to your marketing mix.

Videos can be informational, illustrate a process or they might just be pure entertainment. With sites like YouTube.com, video is exploding in popularity. YouTube allows you to reach their millions of visitors. Plus, the site allows others to publish your videos with simple copy and paste code.

Here are 5 great ideas for creating videos for your business:

1. Create a ‘Welcome to My Website’ video – When visiting a website for the first time, it’s great to be welcomed by the owner.  You can build instant rapport, and give prospective clients an overview of your services and a quick tour of the site.

2. How-to information – Creating a how-to video demonstrates your expertise, and again, gives people a taste of the services you offer.

3. Live action video – Create a live action video to spice up your sales/landing page.   The theme of a recent joint venture was “launching” and having your products “take-off,” so it was no surprise that we drove to a local airport and used it as a backdrop for our introductory video.

4. Slide shows – Have the slide deck from a recent presentation?  Add audio to the slides to create a video presentation.  By adding a link to the video in your email signature, you gain more exposure to your presentation.

5. Screen-share videos – Create tutorial videos for your team.  It’ll save you time.

The videos you create for your business should be posted to your YouTube channel.  YouTube is the 3rd largest search engine, so take advantage of it.  Consider these tips when posting videos on YouTube:

•    Create a profile that has your business information in it, including your website’s URL.
•    Make it short. Generally speaking, the shorter the video is the better. People have short attention spans and you want your marketing message to get out there before they lose interest. This advice will apply to most of your video marketing.
•    Take advantage of YouTube’s promotional tools. YouTube gives you the ability to publicize your videos using email and bulletins. You can even customize messages that go along with them.
•    Display your URL/logo on your videos. Make sure the URL is to the left of the screen as YouTube put their logo on the right.
•    Become active in the community. You can leave comments on other videos. You can also set up a group or join one that’s frequented by your target market. If you create a group, center it around your target market’s interests, needs or desires.

If you’re having trouble figuring out where to start, consider searching YouTube channels for competitors’ videos. Find out what’s popular and has the most subscribers. Do further research and sort your results by time to see what videos are being viewed and when. Study those videos and determine how you can add value to your own.

Other video sharing sites include:

BigThink.com
Blinkx.com
Blip.tv
Break.com
Google Video
Hulu.com
Kewego.com
MSN Video
Ovi Share
PhotoBucket.com
Revver.com
UStream.com
Viddler.com
Vimeo.com
Yahoo Video

Do you have more ideas for creating videos for a business?  If so, I would love to see your comments below:

For my audio posts, I use AudioAcrobat.  Not only can I create a quick recording, it stores and hosts my audio and video links and allows me to create a custom player.  To create the audio, I log into my AA account, click on the Audio tab, and click the Create a New Audio option.  At this point, I can choose to Record by Phone, use an Audio Web Recorder (using my computer’s microphone), or upload an audio (.WAV or .MP3) file.  For today’s demonstration, I’ll record by phone.  When I click on the Record by Phone button, I am taken to a page of instructions.  A special phone number and PIN are listed, as well as the main menu for creating an audio recording.  I know I want to ‘Record One Person, Personal Audio,’  so I dial the number, enter my PIN, and choose option 1 to record the personal audio message.  When prompted, I begin my recording.  When I’m done recording, I press the # key.  I then have the option to Listen, Re-record, Save or Not Save the recording I just created by following the prompts.  When I’m satisfied with the recording, I choose to Save the recording.

I return to my AudioAcrobat account page, and click the Show Audios links.  This takes me to the My Audios page where all my audio links are stored.  The AudioAcrobat system takes your call recording and processes it.  This usually take about 5 minutes (for a 1 minute recording).  When completed, my recording is listed as “Saved Telephone Recording” and the date and time.  I click on the title of the recording and listen to it again, to make sure I’m satisfied.  Then, I can proceed to adding descriptions, creating a player and getting this link into my blog post (or wherever I’m posting the audio).

when I click on the title of the recording I created, I’m taken to the View Audio Information page.  I click the Edit Description tab and re-title the audio (so I know what it is for) and add in a description (about the subject and where I used it).  I click the Yes radio button to notate that I’ve published this audio, and list the location URL (usually my blog).  I can also change the name of the Audio File.  I then click Save Changes Now button at the bottom, and I’m returned to the View Audio tab.

From here, I choose the Publish Audio link under Description (or you can click the Publish Audio tab and be taken to the same page).  I choose the ‘Publish for Website’ button and am taken to the Choose a Player page.  There are 4 pages of players to choose from.  I usually use one of the “Dragbar Players” because they are a bit bigger and stand out, and I can be sure that folks can see it when it’s posted in the middle of a blog post.  When I click next step, I can take a moment to choose the colors for my player.  Again, I take the few seconds to do this so that I can make the player match my business brand, and so that it sticks out so people take notice of it.  I then click the ‘Get HTML code’ button at the bottom of the page.  I highlight and copy this code, and then paste it directly into my blog post. It creates a player like this:

The player above is my audio version of this post. It is about 6:30 minutes. I would love to hear your feedback or questions about how to create audio for your business. Please comment below:

Tip #1: turn text into audio.  For example, say your EProduct is an eBook.  Consider using the eBook text as a script and create an audio recording of the content.  The simplest way I know to do this is by using an AudioAcrobat account.  Within my account there is a special phone number that I can call, pick a record option, and a few moments later, there is an MP3 file waiting for me.  AudioAcrobat stores and hosts the link to the audio file.  (I simply drop that link into my blog post or my confirmation email when someone has bought a new product.)  Voila!  An audio product.  Again, some folks are auditory and would prefer an audio product.   If you create audio products on a consistent basis, then you can create a  podcast (using an RSS feed, folks can subscribe to your podcast, and each time you post a new recording, they are notified).

Tip #2: turn the audio into a video.  So, you’ve created the audio file – great job!  A logical next step would be to add visuals to the audio script you recorded.  One example is a screencast, which matches screenshots with the audio you’ve created.  These are typically used for training purposes.  I’ve helped clients create screencasts by using a tool called Camtasia, but I’ve seen other folks use a f*ree service called Screenr (available at Screenr.com.  It is a Twitter-based tool.)   So, this step may seem a bit intimidating, but relying on your Virtual Assistant may be the cost-effective way to creating a quick video product. ;-)

Tip #3: Consider an affiliate program.  I’ll give more details about affiliate programs in a later post, but basically, you pay a small commission to other folks who help sell your product or event by creating an affiliate link for them to post.

Tip #4: Once you have built your EProduct empire, Another option is to create a membership site.  In its simplest terms, a membership site is a website where members enter a secure password to access your exclusive Products and content.  For instance, when I took some training from one of our VA training providers, I was invited to join their special Club.  Membership in the club is $10 per month and for that $10, I get special discounts for upcoming training, I have access to tons of resource material to use in my business, I’m invited to exclusive mastermind discussions.  Imagine what the VA Training Provider is getting for barely any extra work – $10 a month from many, many of their past happy customers.

My point is to demonstrate the ease by which one can repurpose their content, get it launched and make more income.  What other ideas do you have for repurposing?  I’d love to hear your comments below…

Generally speaking, printable documents often carry a perceived higher value than text that is simply read on a page.

Writing genuinely useful reports and eBooks can almost automatically establish you as an expert in the minds of your audience. Readers will come to trust your input in the industry in which you operate and will likely come back to your website for more of your content, especially if you have been generous enough to offer your insight for free.

Here are some tips for your next eBook or special report:

Treat your reports and Ebooks like a viral marketing tool. Make their content something that readers feel the need to share with others. If you take the time to make your content something that can’t be kept a secret, your reports and Ebooks will be passed along, exposing your business to people who you couldn’t reach otherwise. The result may be increased profits simply by writing detailed, great content.

Consider having your reports and Ebooks distributed by other website owners, as one-way inbound links can only help your business’s search engine rank. You can do this through your affiliate program and allow affiliates to brand the documents with their affiliate link. Or if you don’t have an affiliate program, you can also distributors to co-brand the reports with both your company’s information.

Here are some sites to consider to distribute your eBooks and special reports (even more places to distribute your expertise and content!):

ButterflyReports.com
ebook88.com
EbookDirectory.com
free-ebooks.net
GetFreeEbooks.com
scribd.com

Do you have some favorite eBook websites that you use?  Please comment below to let me know….

I have been following blogging industry leader, Denise Wakeman for some time.   She teaches folks about blogging and online visibility, and building better business blogs.   Denise, founder of The Blog Squad, outlined “14 Attention-Getting Tactics for Launching a Business Blog,” in her recent post on the Social Media Examiner blog.  I was not surprised to read that 6 of her 14 suggestions included easy-to-implement ideas using audio and video.  Here they are:

* Host a live-streaming video event

* Create a video to promote your blog

* Repurpose your content

* Feature experts (Interview them via teleconference or webinar)

* Host a webinar

* Host an online radio show

Thanks, Denise, for an insightful post!  As usual, her content on blogging is of great value.  I suggest you follow Denise!

Have you thought about using a different medium for getting your message to your target market?  What challenges are you facing in trying new marketing tactics?  Please feel free to comment below:

Many business owners mistakenly believe that “content” means only articles or just written text. Not so at all. The Internet marketing definition of content has come a long way compared to just a few years ago. In addition to articles, blogging, video, audio, podcasts, reports and ebooks can propel your website to the top of the search engine charts and make it interesting to customers who are tired of the same old text content format.

But before we get into details of distribution, let’s talk a bit about brainstorming content ideas. Because this is often the tripping point for many business owners, here are a few tried and true strategies to generate content ideas:

• Ask your audience. Simply set up a poll, survey or questionnaire on your website. Getting readers to participate can be tricky, but it’s not impossible. To know what your customers want to read about, make the poll or survey mandatory in order to access certain areas of your website.
• Research your frequently asked questions or ask your virtual assistant to go through the questions they hear the most from customers and website visitors. This is great material for content.
• Visit online forums and chat rooms and read the most popular threads. The threads people are passionate about are sure to make for excellent content topics.
• Create lists or step-by-step content. People enjoy and value lists or step-by-step type articles. They’re easy to digest, share, and keep for future reference making them very valuable to your readers.
• The Internet can be an impressive research tool. Visit industry or competitors’ websites to discover what’s being talked about. Determine if your target market can benefit from your personal take on the matter and then follow through by writing content crafted around the hot topic.

Here is one of the beautiful facts about using the internet to market your content – it’s very easy to re-purpose content from one form into another.  For instance, one can take an article and break it up into several blog posts.  Or, use the article as a script and record an audio version of the article.  Or, if the article was educational in nature, create a training video from the content.  Keeping that in mind should take the content brainstorming to another level.

Take 15 minutes right now to sit and brainstorm or research or mind map your content ideas.   This is your first step to an internet marketing plan.

What are ways that you brainstorm?  Please leave me a comment below.

Future posts on this blog will contain resources and tips and tricks for your internet marketing success.

The EProduct Flight Plan was created by my joint venture partner, Mary Motz, and me to help entrepreneurs get their products selling on the web.  If you are new to the internet marketing arena, have a digital product you’d like to sell, but you’re not sure where to start, then EProduct Flight Plan is for you!

EProduct Flight Plan give you super-simple checklists and pre-flight plans to get your EProduct (i.e. digital products, like an eBook, an audio of a training, or a virtual event like a teleclass or webinar) launched and selling.

Here’s what our EProduct Flight Plan covers:

• E-Commerce 101 – facts you must know in order to understand the online sales process
• Secrets of choosing the best eCommerce tools for your budget, product type  & business goals (there’s no such thing as one-size fits all)
• Pros & cons of using a traditional web page vs. WordPress for your sales page
• Messaging: the importance of mapping out your communications before you start selling
• The must-have items of message copy you need completed and ready to go before you sell.
• How to work with a VA to be sure there are no “missing links” in your selling process
• Getting the word out… learn to leverage all your communication channels to reach people “where they are”

And here’s what you get:
The 90-minute teleclass recording
Carla’s Exclusive Resource Rolodex – a listing of tools and services to check out for your e-product project
Mary’s Shopping Cart & Payment Process Demystifier – your quick guide to shopping cart and payment processing options
A Sample Flight Plan – An example project plan flowchart for getting a product online, along with a blank flight plan for you to complete for your project.
A Pre-Flight Task Checklist – Did you forget anything? You won’t with this handy task checklist.

Visit EProductFlightPlan.com to purchase your copy NOW!

What do I mean by Multimedia?   Think audio and video.  With audio there are several options like audio recording a blog post, creating a podcast, or creating a teleseminar series.  Add in video with options like video blog posts, webinars, maybe even live-streaming an event.  Sound challenging?  It doesn’t have to be.  I can consult with you to teach you the ropes, or manage the tasks start to finish – you choose.

When you expand your marketing with multimedia, your message reaches more folks.  How?  Syndicating your posts, podcasts, audios and videos via social networks and the many sharing sites on the Internet, you’re touching a wider audience.

Future blog posts will include tips and tricks for producing your own multimedia – some video posts and some audio – to demonstrate the ease with which you can add multimedia to your marketing mix.  If you have a specific question you’d like me to answer in a future blog post, please post a comment below, or email me at carla@wilsonva.com.

Here is a quick audio version of this blog post: (It took just less than 10 minutes start to finish to record, edit, and publish the audio to my site)