Is your copy a bit lifeless? Marketing flat? Michele PW is here with tips and tricks to get your marketing and copy back on track.
08.12.08
Posted in Business, Community Relations, General, Online Marketing, Public Relations at 8:14 am EDT by Michele PW
Great question. And it’s one that keep popping up over and over again.
The short answer is yes – it’s VERY possible to make money using social networking and Web 2.0 tactics. Both MaryPat and myself are doing it and we can show you how.
In fact, there are a number of ways you can make money from social networking and Web 2.0:
- Traffic. Most of these ways will lead to more traffic to your site one way or another. Some of that traffic is from direct links to your site, some of it is because you show up more in the search engines and some of it is because people will find you somewhere and decide they want to learn more about you and go to your site.
- Prospects or customers. Your prospects will read your articles, profile, comments, or maybe they’ll see your videos or hear your podcast, etc. and they’ll seek you out to become your customer.
- Referrals. In this case, someone find you, becomes a friend or fan, and refers other people to you.
- Joint venture or strategic partners. Many people are looking for experts to interview for their teleclasses or shows, or speakers for their events or for products to promote, etc. Again, many of these people will find you using social networking means.
- Sell products or services. You have to be careful how you do, but it’s also possible to promote yourself using social networking tactics. This truly is an art and if you don’t do it right, you can do quite a bit of damage to your reputation and your business.
That said, it is also possible to spend a lot of time and energy on this and make little to no money. The key is to know what’s the best use of your time, what can be outsourced and what you should never do.
Want to know more? Join MaryPat and I as we host a question and answer teleclass answering all your top questions on Web 2.0, social networking and traffic and then some. It’s called “Everything You Wanted To Know About Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking to Get Thousands of Warm, Hungry Visitors to Your Web Site” and here’s the link to sign up:http://www.kachingtraffic.com/teleclass
Permalink
06.30.08
Posted in Community Relations, General, Marketing at 11:40 am EDT by Michele PW
Here’s me with my pink hat walking the San Diego Marathon. I’m proud to say I learned my lesson from last year, which was if I improve my attitude and smile while I’m walking, I’ll have a much better time. And I DID. I had a blast – right on up to between Mile 22 and 23. Then, I hit the wall.
And I hit it hard.
I’m not sure why I’m the only one in our little group to hit the wall but there it is. For the last 4 miles, I wanted to kill someone (or kill myself). All of a sudden the pain in my legs, which was hurting for most of the marathon but it was more of a dull ache, flared up big time. And all of a sudden, that pain became nearly unbearable. I didn’t think I could deal with it for one minute longer.
But I did deal with it. For an hour. One very long, agonizing hour.
More then that, I refused to let myself slow down. (Although I must say, that was a fairly easy decision as I knew if I slowed down I would simply be prolonging the agony.) I kept with my 15-minute mile and finished the race at 6 hours, 26 minutes — 38 minutes faster then last year.
So that was a win. Other wins to report:
• They changed the flavor of Accelerade (which is like Gatorade). Last year they served the original lemon-lime, which was disgusting. I could barely choke it down. This year they served fruit punch. Much better. (I’ve decided to attribute the change to me, as I complained last year in this very same blog about it – I have no doubt the powers-that-be at Accelerade are of course avid readers of my blog. : ) )
• The wonderful people with the oranges were still there, Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
01.22.08
Posted in Community Relations, General at 9:00 pm EST by Michele PW
In case you don’t know who the Blue Man Group is, they’re a group of three men who are (what else) blue, and together they perform this quirky show with no speaking, a touch of the odd, irrelevant humor and lots of really jamming percussion-based rock music. You might remember them doing Intel commercials a few years back. (Ironically, their show is based on poking fun at modern society, so for them to be in any commercial is pretty funny.)
Anyway, the Blue Man Group is on the road right now and their travels have taken them to the surprising place of Prescott Valley, Arizona. You may have heard of Prescott Valley, but my guess is probably not. Prescott Valley is part of what’s known as the Quad Cities, which includes Prescott, Chino Valley and Dewey/Humboldt, and if you add all the people up together you’ll maybe get a population count of 100,000 if you’re lucky (and if you include Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
11.26.07
Posted in Business, Community Relations, General at 4:46 pm EST by Michele PW
I love Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday. Family, food, friends and football thrown in for good measure. But I digress.
What I REALLY like about Thanksgiving is it’s about giving thanks. And I think gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions out there. Why is it so powerful? Because it has the capacity to change your life.
My business and life are going great right now, better than I had planned, but it hasn’t always been that way. There were plenty of times where things were looking pretty bleak. During one particularly bleak time, a friend told me to just start listing everything I had in my life to be grateful for. Now, when things are looking pretty bad, it can be easy to say “everything sucks, I have nothing to be grateful for.” But, if we’re honest, we know that isn’t true. There’s always something, no matter how small, that is in your life you can be grateful for, and sometimes you just need to take a step back to see it.
What’s so amazing about gratitude is it’s Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
08.23.05
Posted in Advertising, Business, Community Relations at 5:49 pm EDT by Michele PW
Have you ever noticed that in communities without big universities, high school sports take on an even bigger importance?
That’s what it’s like where I live.
But like everywhere else in the country, our high school sports are always looking for ways to make a few extra bucks. Enter the high school baseball sponsorship program.
For a nominal fee (really nominal) businesses can display a banner around the baseball field for the season.
To me, this is a perfect example of a win-win situation for everyone.
Businesses get to advertise to parents (who are currently purchasing adult products and services) and kids (who soon will be purchasing adult products and services). They are able to control their message because they choose the banner (one of the strengths of advertising). And, because the parents and kids viewing the ads know the proceeds are going to help high school sports, they tend to view those businesses more favorably (one of the strengths of community relations). Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
I also write fiction. Learn more here.
