I’ve moved my blog to http://phylliskhare.com

Hi – If you are reading this…I’ve moved my blog to http://phylliskhare.com You might find it a bit more up to date and enjoyable there.

 

Twitter Matters

Copied below is part of a wonderful newsletter I get from John Kremer @johnkremer . He is the BEST reference for book authors – here is his contact info: 

John Kremer, editor, Book Marketing Update newsletter
author, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, Sixth Edition
Open Horizons, P O Box 2887, Taos NM 87571
575-751-3398; Email: JohnKremer@bookmarket.com
Web: http://www.bookmarket.com

Newsletter section copied below:

Twitter matters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BookMarket.com’s Alexa rank was 169,425 in late January. On May 3rd BookMarket.com’s Alexa rank was 89,308! That 80,000 jump was due to my Twitter activity.

As a bonus, 10% of the visitors to BookMarket.com now come directly from Twitter. That’s about 10,000 new unique visitors each month coming from Twitter. Are you on Twitter yet? Why not?

Twitter resources:

The 30-Day Twitter Challenge (how I got 9,500 followers in three months and jumped my Alexa rank 80,000 points): http://blog.book
market.com/2009/03/30-day-twitter-challenge.html

How to Get Retweeted on Twitter: http://blog.bookmarket.com/
2009/04/how-to-get-retweeted-on-twitter.html

Book Marketing Tweets: http://www.bookmarket.com/BookMarketingTweets.htm

Book Marketing Twitterview: http://www.bookmarket.com/BookMarketingTwitterview.htm

126 Ways to Tweet: http://www.bookmarket.com/50WaystoTweet.htm

reader success story: Twitter and blurbs

 

Social Networking Teleseminar

A friend of mine asks, “Are you tired of spending a lot of time on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter without getting results? Are you overwhelmed by the sheer numberof social networking web sites that experts tell you to use? Are you stressed because you know you need to use social networking web sites, but you also know that you don’t have time to spend on yet another marketing technique in hopes of getting clients? If you answered yes to any of these questions, help is here!”

Her name is Biana Babinsky, the online business expert, and she is teaching her How To Make Thousands Of Dollars Teleseminar Series starting on May 6th.

She says you will learn:

How to minimize the time you spend on social networking web sites, while maximizing your results – Which social networking web sites you should use for best results – How to integrate social networking into your overall marketing plan and much, much more!

Register for the  Teleseminar Series now at Make Thousands Of Dollars With Social Networking Series

And if you are local to Fairfield, Iowa, I give private consulting sessions on these same subjects. Feel free to contact me directly.

 

creative help: 101 Tips for PowerPoint

As a best-selling author, her books have sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into over 14 languages. Do you know Ellen Finkelstein? Twitter her @efinkelstein

Do you use PPT in your business?  Do you feel your PowerPoint presentations are not as professional as they could be? 

One of her books is this concise, content-rich 101 Tips Every PowerPoint User Should Know.  It is 100+ pages, fully illustrated with bonus chapters on keyboard shortcuts, image tips, and design tips. Instant download PDF, plus, get a bonus video lesson free on Creating a Timer in PowerPoint, including the PowerPoint file! And it’s only $15!

I’ve used PowerPoint for years – thought I knew it all – but I learned new things in almost every tip. I’m sure you will, too. For example:

• #6 Import text for an entire presentation or for several slides
• #16 Align text around a decimal point
• #22 Quickly replace one font with another
• #67 Extract sound files from a narrated PowerPoint presentation
• #90 Add flexibility to your handouts by sending to WORD
• #91 Protect your presentation

So there you go – another creative helping from on the beach – enjoy!

 

See It As Perfect Video

lovely video to share

 

bird lovers only

How am I supposed to get any work done with all these birds outside my window? Did I mention they were REALLY loud? Seems the red-wing blackbirds love my trees.

 

Hard Twitter Questions #1: Where’s the Money?

Question #1: “It seems that the only people who follow me are competitors… Again, not sure I see the point of this.  From what I can tell from the posts and posters, this is a portal for procrastination and trading free advice.  Please find me some evidence that twitter actually is revenue producing.”

I’d like to first address the topic of competition vs cooperation.

Here’s a bit from http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-spectrumfive.htm

Hostile cooperation, on the other hand, is what exists between competitors. This may seem paradoxical, yet there is a good reason why competitors often cooperate with each other: the rewards are greater. For example, if everyone fights for a piece of the pie, then the fight may become so costly that the pie will be nearly gone when it comes time to divide it. It’s much better to forget the fight and come to an agreement from the very beginning.

As with competition, a moderated desire to cooperate is natural and healthy. Those with non-cooperative natures would have very low survival rates, as would those who cooperated so much that they did not look out after their own self-interests in a competitive world. It is for this reason that people take a healthy enjoyment in belonging to a group, practicing teamwork, helping others, etc.

What I have found through the years (got a few under my belt mind you) is you have to let other people know who you are and how you differ from others in the same field –  and let people go with the person that feels like the best fit.

There’s no reason to try to compete. There is plenty for everyone. If someone feels there is not enough to go around, then they might try harder and wear themselves out with that type of competitive spirit.

Don’t get me wrong, competition is a good thing – it provides the fuel to be better, but to not join the game (Twitter) because it is competitive would have you miss out on all the fun of finding new people who relate to YOU. They can’t be your new client if they don’t know about you.

To quote a bit from my son’s book, The Sharp Knife of Forced Simplicity Vol. 1: the Numinous Rebellion

“If there were one bad habit I could liberate the world of, it would be scarcity thinking. I believe this outlook has caused more damage (and caused more scarcity!) than any other factor known to humanity.”
                                          ~Ron Khare

People are making money through Twitter – the stories are there – just be open to seeing it. A good source of information is @mashable especially this post: http://mashable.com/2009/04/10/extraordinary-twitter-updates/ 

I talk to people almost everyday who are making new connections on Twitter and many of those are turning into new customers. I don’t think the question is can you make money on Twitter – now it’s – how much money can you make on Twitter.

I would love to hear your stories.

As you find more and more people who resonate with you – your sales will grow as long as you stay current and available (and have something to sell!).

 

How to Get Clients with Social Networking Event

This is the hottest topic with my clients right now. I think Biana Babinsky knows her stuff.

How To Get Clients With Social Networking Teleseminar

 

Hard Twitter Questions#2: Why Would I Promote a Local Event on Twitter?

Question #2: “Why Would I Promote a Local Event on Twitter? It seems like a waste of time.”

The great thing about Twitter- and all social media outlets for that matter – is that you never know where the information goes. I can send out an invitation to a local event to my friends on Facebook or Twitter – and it is seen by people from all over the country – which is good – but they won’t be able to attend – but wait – there’s more! Those friends who live away from my local event have friends who do live here – and the forwarding and recommending begins. That’s why they call it viral marketing…

To NOT market a local event to your extended social media groups is to limit it’s exposure IN the local area. I think i need a visual for this! Anybody got one?

Let’s say I have an event coming up – a hands-on workshop – “Sing for Health”. You have to physically be there to attend and get the wonderful benefits. I send out a tweet to my 800 followers – NONE of whom are in my local area. BUT one of my followers – Jesse – has a granddaughter in my area – she RTs it to her group so her GDaughter – Josey – reads it – and she clicks the link and signs up. This happens all the time.

So, why would I promote a local event on Twitter? Because it makes good financial sense. Free promotion – more income. It’s all good.

 

(another) Proud Mom Report

photo credit: Josh Ellinghaus

alright…can’t help myself. My son (now 26) published his first book a couple of months ago. The Sharp Knife of Forced Simplicity. If you follow me on Twitter (phylliskhare)you probably got a rash of tweets around the last of February about it. I’m quietly (haha) telling him all I know about promotion and marketing. It’s really hard not to be the “Mom” while discussing strategic planning! Every Mom that reads this knows exactly what I’m talking about…yes?

Right now I’m sitting a few feet away while he signs his book in a local coffeehouse. Waves of people are coming in and buying and talking about the chapters that hit home the most. His book is definitely thought-provoking. He feels like he has a mission to shake up his generation a bit…and bascially destroy scarcity thinking.

A couple of weeks ago he spoke at a local university. Here’s a response:

Dear Ron,
I really want to complement you for your yesterday’s presentation! Very well done!
I was seating at the very back, totally not into cooperation or collaboration, feeling very much under-the-weather (I’m back on my feet now) and was actually planning to stay only 10-15 minutes. BUT I was simply fascinated- not so much with what you had to say (I kind of know and agree with that already) but more with how you said it and your interaction with that specific audience. I think you’re a gifted speaker because you took an uncommitted young audience and transformed them to become very interested in what you had to say. This is really skill in action!
Alex Kachan
Sustainable Agriculture and Composting Coordinator
Sustainable Living Department
Maharishi University of Management

Ron is a gifted speaker and this proud Mom is helping him put together his marketing for a college speaking tour. Any ideas are welcome! We have video in the editing cycle – look for new Proud Mom posts in the future.