Start a WordPress Website in 3 Main Steps
Very often people ask me which website platform I recommend. I don’t have to think about it 1 second: definitely WordPress. In a previous post I went through the 7 reasons why I recommend WordPress to every small business owner.
In this post I want to dig a bit deeper, start with a definition and then show you how simple it is to get started with your first WP site.
So what is WordPress?
WordPress, according to Wikipedia.com is “a user friendly, web based open source Content Management System (CSM), often used as a blog publishing application powered by PHP and MySQL. It has many features including a plugin architecture and templating system…. WordPress is the most popular CMS in use today.” Since it is so very popular it is likely that you will be able to find expert help at a price you can afford, maybe even free in some cases if you’re a developer and join the developer’s forum on WordPress.org’s website.
To use WordPress you don’t need to know anything about HTML or in fact any other code unless you plan to be a developer. It’s really user friendly. The trick is getting the right theme and using the right plugins to create the look and feel of the site that you desire. Once you learn how to use WordPress you are literally able to build a site and have it up and running within hours. If you can follow directions, learn how to use Cpanel, and then watch a few of the tutorials on the Worpress.org site you’ll be up and running in no time.
The great thing about WordPress is that there are no programs to download on to your computer. It is web based so it’s simple to get to your website and update it from any computer with Internet access. Additionally it is very Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly. It has so many awesome features and wonderful add-on’s (called plugins) that give you any feature that you could possibly want.
Because there is a very active and involved WordPress community, you can find answers to questions when issues arise, not to mention the wonderful video tutorials available on the site, WordPress.org, as well as contractors who are willing to help you build a WordPress website less expensively than other types of web design. In addition, you can take over your site and you do not have to rely on your web designer to do everything (did I mention WordPress was user friendly 
?)
Three steps to get started
Essentially, there are three steps to take if you want to start a WordPress website that are the same no matter what kind of website you want to build.
1. Get the right hosting
You need to ensure that you have the right hosting that can run WordPress. Ideally, the hosting account will preload WordPress for you the first time, but as long as they have Cpanel and “one click” install available you can do this! My preferred hosting is Hostgator.com. Even though I live in Switzerland I choose a US based hosting company. They just offer much better customer service, are open 24/7. Do you know any hosts that offer that in Switzerland ??
2. Pick a Theme
A WordPress theme is a template that you use and modify to match your own tastes and colors. There are free themes that you can find at the WordPress.org website as well as premium themes that you must pay to use. Studio Press is good place to look for one. You can also have themes made for you or if you are proficient in CSS you can create your own.
2. Choose Plugins
It is a good idea to read about plugins and find out what plugins are basic and needed for most sites. Some plugins are incompatible with others so it is important that you fully understand how they work and use the fewest number of plugins to avoid problems but use what you need to get the job done. Essentially, plugins do things like add in a shopping cart, create backups, provide security, and extend the functionality of your website beyond the basics. I plan a future post about my favorite plugins.
The best way to get started with WordPress is to just try it. It is the fear of the unknown that stops most people from starting a WordPress website not the lack of skill or inability to do it.
Now it’s your turn ? Do you have a WordPress website ? Would you agree that it’s user friendly ? Share your experience & advice in the comments below.
[video] How To Share an Article With Your LinkedIn Network
A couple of weeks ago one of the members of my LinkedIn Group (click to join) asked me how she can share a link to an interview with her with her LinkedIn network. I decided that it’s easier to shoot a quick video than try to explain in writing. So find the quick 2-minute tutorial video below (switch to full screen view if it’s too small). If you already know how to do this, skip the video and just read the tip below the video on how to measure your click-through rate of the links you post.
Another question that came up in the same group was: How can I measure click-throughs on links that I post in my updates and messages on LinkedIn ?
There are no “LinkedIn Metrics” like the Facebook Insights for example per say, at least not for the free accounts. The paid accounts get a little bit more. But there is a “work around” solution to this. If you get a bityly.com account (it’s free), then shorten your links that you post on LinkedIn with bitly, bitly gives you exact analytics on how many people clicked on that link. So try that out…
For other ways to measure your success on LinkedIn, the “Who’s viewed your profile on LinkedIn” is a good indication. The more people view your profile, the more visibility you get. It can be found on your home page, in the bottom right corner.
If you are interested in LinkedIn and other Online Marketing techniques (such as Facebook, Twitter etc), don’t miss my FREE Webinar on May 15th 2012, 7pm CEST. Click HERE to find out more !
Expert Interview with Olivier Tripet, Founder at Swiss Community Managers Association
It’s time for another Expert interview. This month I asked Olivier Tripet, Founder of the Swiss & European Community Managers Associations a few questions about
Social Media and Community Management in Europe and Switzerland
Listen to the Audio by clicking on the hyperlink (rightclick to download the file to your MP3 Player) or just read the transcript below.
Enjoy !
Interview with Olivier Tripet
If you enjoy these FREE Expert interviews, but have noticed as well that the quality of the call could be better, why not consider making a small donation (the price of a virtual coffee) so I can invest in a better Skype recording tool I would defintely appreciate it and YOU would benefit from it in the future.
Transcript:
Sarah: Hi and welcome to another expert interview on the Savvy Biz Blog. Today, I have Olivier Tripet who’s the Co-founder of the Swiss and the European Community Managers Association with me. Welcome, Olivier.
Olivier: Hi, Sarah. Thank you for having me.
Sarah: Well, thank you for being here. Before we begin, let me say a few words about Olivier. Olivier is a freelance consultant and trainer specialized in social media, community management and enterprise 2.0.
In 2010, he co-founded the Swiss Community Managers Association and the European Community Managers Association. Olivier regularly speaks as a trainer and expert in various schools such as the School of Business Administration in Geneva, the High School of Engineering and Business Vaud, the Swiss Marketing and Advertising Institute. You will also find Olivier on OlivierTripet.com or Facebook.com/SwissCommunityManagersAssociation.
So welcome Olivier and thank you for your willingness to answer a few questions about social media and community management in Europe and Switzerland.
Olivier: You’re welcome.
Sarah: Well, let’s start right away and I will start with my first question. Could you start and give us a definition of what is a community manager? What does his or her job description entail?
Olivier: Well, the question of the definition is the question I have all the time and it’s mainly because it’s a new facility. It’s quite a new job on the web so people are not sure yet what it really is about and if you look at the different – at the people who are actually doing the job of the community manager on the web, they do it in many different ways and as a consequence, there are many different definitions of community management.
But basically to be short, community manager is basically the person who will be the face of your brand or of your company on the web and especially on social media. So he or she is the person responsible to interact with people on the web on social media and when I say people, it’s really – it’s quite broad. It could be your customers. It could be your partners. It could be vendors, fans if you have a Facebook fan page. Many different profiles on the web.
Sarah: OK.
Olivier: So this person would interact with all these people and discuss with these people and typically the main activities of the community manager will be, well, basically discussing, dealing with the different conversations on the web.
Sarah: Yes.
Olivier: And this person would also do some moderation, OK? If you have a blog, if you have a Facebook page, if your business has a – I don’t know, a Q and A section or a forum, so the community manager will be responsible to do the moderation in all these different platforms.
Sarah: Yes.
Olivier: And then of course he or she is doing animation to foster discussion and exchange on the web and then you have also additional activities like giving some basic support if you’re providing – just selling products or providing some service on the web, giving guidance to the people, et cetera, et cetera.
Sarah: Yes, yes. I guess that you’re talking about brands, right? Are those generally bigger companies or what – is there a rule or rule of thumb that says, OK, starting 30 people for example, it makes sense to have a community manager or in your experience, what size companies do hire a community manager?
Olivier: Well, by experience, for the moment, I can tell you that you see community managers in large organizations but it’s only because it’s the beginning. Basically, it’s not really related to the number of people or the size of the company. It’s really related to the type of activity you have on social media. OK? The number of interactions you have, the size of your community, so you can very well imagine a small or medium business who is extremely active on the web, on social media.
Sarah: Yes.
Olivier: And this would require to have one or even several community managers. So in my opinion, it’s not really related to the size of the company but really it’s the type of activity you have on social media.
Sarah: OK. That brings me maybe to my second question. As you know, the audience of this blog is small business owners. So they don’t necessarily have the resources to pay for a community manager. So how can solo entrepreneurs also participate in social media without having to pay this person who takes care of all this social media management?
Olivier: Well, it is possible. The good news for your listeners is that all the technology and the tools are available on the web to do good community management even if you are working freelance and very often these tools are free of charge.
Sarah: OK.
Olivier: And that’s really an important change because everybody nowadays has the technical ability to do some good community management on the web.
Sarah: Yes.
Olivier: And the bad news is that it requires some training and it also requires time and dedication. OK. So you as a solo entrepreneur or as a freelance worker, you can do it but you have to learn how to do it and you have to allocate a certain amount of time everyday, every week, depending on what kind of action you want to have on social media. But you can do it by yourself and – myself, I’m also working freelance and I’m also doing it by myself.
Sarah: Yes, yes. I think there is some kind of fear that it – from small business owners that it would just take over their days and that’s all they would be doing. But I think you agree that there’s a certain amount of time that you can dedicate, like you said, either per week or per day and just commit to that and still make money on the side and do your real work because it shouldn’t be that all your time is invested on social media. Right?
Olivier: Exactly. Absolutely.
Olivier: So organization is the keyword here.
Olivier: You have to get organized. You have to have a strategy, a plan and it’s much easier if you know in advance how much time you’re going to spend everyday or every week to be in social media and interact with your community.
Sarah: Yes, yes. So in your opinion, what holds small business owners still back? Is it fear of technology or is it that fear of too much time? What do you see the most?
Olivier: There are several reasons. The main reason I can see is ignorance because for many people, it is still a new world. It is still something – a bit curious.
Olivier: They don’t know how to deal with it. It’s moving fast. It’s changing everyday. There are so many platforms and tools and stuff available and so if you don’t have the basics about how to deal with social media, it can be frightening.
Olivier: So the main reason for me is ignorance.
Olivier: Then you also have the reaction of many people who are actually afraid of being in touch with people on the web, afraid of receiving negative feedback, of being forced to talk to people and interact with people.
Olivier: So they prefer to step back and stay silent.
Olivier: And then you have a – maybe a third – the third reason. It’s the one you just mentioned. It’s the lack of time or the lack of resources.
Olivier: So if you are already working 14 hours a day, maybe you should think twice before starting something on the web.
Sarah: Yes. Well, I think you should start prioritizing anyway. Even if you don’t add social media, I think you’re doing something wrong. You work 14 hours a day already.
Olivier: Yes, exactly, exactly. It’s a question of objectives. What are your objectives?
Olivier: Are you satisfied with the way your business is running? And if you are, maybe you don’t need social media.
Sarah: Yes. So what’s the first step if somebody says – maybe after listening to this, like, “Oh, OK. So maybe I should get started.” How do you get started? If you don’t have a Facebook account, you don’t have Twitter, you have nothing. You have maybe a website. So what is your recommendation?
Olivier: The first advice I can give is before jumping into it and doing it officially, I would recommend to go, for instance, on Facebook or Twitter. Select a couple of social media. Open an account and start by listening to what people do there.
Sarah: Yes.
Olivier: Read what they write and try to spend a few days or even a few weeks just by listening and listening and reading to get an idea with how these things work. How do people behave on social media? So that would be my first advice.
Olivier: But then all the time by listening and reading what people do, you will start learning. What are the – how do people behave? What are the rules on social media? And at some points, you will have to start learning something, starting to write a few posts, a few updates, a few pictures, whatever.
Olivier: So my recommendation would really be to go step by step progressively. Don’t be too aggressive.
Olivier: Give yourself a few very simple objectives like post something, maybe in the beginning, once per week then you can do it every second day and so on.
Olivier: And progressively, you will have some feedback. You will start to interact with people. You will be able to engage with these people. So it’s really something you have to do progressively.
Sarah: Yes. I think I definitely agree with the listening part. It’s a learning experience and if you don’t listen first and see how other people do it, then you might just jump in there and do it completely wrong. What I see usually with so-called beginners is that they still do marketing the old-fashioned way so they just jump in there and just promote their business. This is who I am. This is what I do. Buy this. Buy that. And that’s exactly what you’re not supposed to do. There’s this 20-80 percent rule where yes, you’re only supposed to share 20 percent of your own stuff and really it’s an exchange, right?
Olivier: Exactly, exactly.
Olivier: So if you consider social media just as an additional channel and just replicate the old school behavior on social media, it will be a failure.
Olivier: Really the keyword on social media is discussion and conversation and authenticity and if you understand these rules, then you can be successful in social media.
Sarah: Yes. Maybe also that brings me to the next question, is social engagement. That has been talked about a lot lately especially since Facebook introduced the new timeline. Would you agree with me that social engagement is different from country to country?
Olivier: Yes and no. Yes, because the different cultures of course influence engagement.
Olivier: And also the – basically it influences the topics people are discussing. It influences the way people discuss on these topics and ultimately those are influences. Culture influences engagement.
Sarah: Yes.
Olivier: But I would like to say no at the same time because I think it is mostly a question of time. So you have countries where usage of social media and engagement on social media has been something that they’ve experienced for quite a few years now. I’m thinking of the United States of course. So people there are used to go in social media and to interact and in other countries, it is quite a new process. So people have to learn. People have to understand. People have to get used to it.
Sarah: Yes. So you mean time in terms of how long it has been used and not personal time.
Olivier: Right.
Sarah: Yes, this country doesn’t – that has less time to spend on social media.
Olivier: No, no, no.
Sarah: It’s more the time that we’re in – for example in Europe, it’s newer so …
Olivier: Exactly.
Sarah: … you’re saying that maybe 5 or 10 years from now, the engagement will be just as high as in the States.
Olivier: Absolutely, absolutely.
Sarah: Oh, yes.
Sarah: Yes, probably true because yes, it’s still very new over here and well, we’ll see. We’ll talk again in 10 years and see.
Olivier: Yes, with pleasure. Then of course you have people in cultures who are more outgoing. We tend to consider southern countries in Europe as more …
Sarah: Extroverted and …
Olivier: Exactly, exactly. So it’s not always the case but there is a tendency.
Olivier: Then you have countries like – what can I say? No, some Eastern countries for instance. We still have a very traditional way of approaching interaction and discussion. When you see lots of companies who are still a very traditional approach, well in those countries, engagement is a little bit more difficult.
Sarah: Right.
Olivier: But again it’s a question of time and I’m sure in three to five years ahead there will be – you will be able to see the same type of engagement as you have in the United States today.
Sarah: Yes. What I think still like in Switzerland specifically, people are still afraid to share their opinion publicly. I think we set that in the beginning is that it’s not in our nature yet maybe to kind of share our opinion in front of everybody so there’s that fear of sharing knowledge or opinions.
Olivier: Absolutely. Yes, yes. And especially in Switzerland, yes, it’s – people are usually reluctant to express themselves.
Olivier: But it’s also a question of generation. We talk a lot about the Y generation.
Olivier: Younger people who are born with social media in their hands. So this also influences the kind of engagements you will have on social media in the coming years.
Sarah: Yes, true. So knowing that, could you share some best practices with us, what business owners or community managers can use to increase that engagement with users who are maybe a bit more reluctant like people in Switzerland or other European countries.
Olivier: Well, the number one rule is really to lead by the example. So you have to behave on social media the way you want people to behave with you. OK? So if you want people to engage, you have to – yourself to engage in social media. So that’s really the number one rule and when I say engage, it means listening. It means being reactive when people post something or ask a question. It means being honest and authentic, try to foster collaboration and exchange between the people. So it’s really by doing yourself that you will encourage people to behave in the same way.
Olivier: And then you have tons of different techniques that community managers use to encourage engagements. One very common technique is simply to ask questions. OK? Talk to people and ask questions, even for yourself when you don’t know something or when you want some advice. And it’s really important because usually people, they tend to sort of consider social media as a channel where you only push information.
Olivier: This is my product. This is my service. I’m the best. Buy it, et cetera, et cetera.
Olivier: And this is not a good way to encourage engagement. It’s really by talking in an honest way to people, asking them questions that you can encourage engagement.
Olivier: Another advice is don’t sell.
Olivier: Ever. If you start selling your products or your services on social media, usually people will react negatively and will step back and as a consequence not engage. What else? Work with influencers, with – try to identify the people in your sector, in your community who are already engaging and try to interact with them and involve them in the discussion.
Olivier: This will also encourage other people to engage. Don’t be too serious. OK?
Olivier: It sounds obvious but it really helps to – sometimes to be – to make a little joke or if you’re too – if your approach and style and tone is too business-oriented, usually it will not attract people. So don’t be serious.
Olivier: Try to be some sort of – entertaining in any of this.
Sarah: Especially I think for small business owners who – where usually the brand is the person.
Olivier: Right.
Sarah: You cannot do social media being this brand that nobody knows. You have to really be the person.
Olivier: Exactly.
Sarah: And yes, be able to mock yourself sometimes and yes, add some jokes and stuff.
Olivier: Exactly, exactly. If you are a solo entrepreneur, don’t put the logo of – if you have a company, don’t put logo of your company. Replace it with your pictures so that people can actually see what you look like, who you are.
Olivier: So these are also basic but useful advice.
Sarah: Yes. Well, great info there. Thank you so much Olivier. I think we learned a lot during this call. Again, for more information about Olivier, please visit his website at OlivierTripet.com. I will put that in the transcript down below so you can just click the link and thank you again for taking the time with me today, Olivier. It’s great …
Olivier: You’re welcome. It was a pleasure talking to you.
Sarah: Thank you. [0:23:34]
5 Blogging Content Ideas for Coaches
When I tell coaches that their business could really benefit from a blog, I always get this look that says “Who has time for that and what would I write about?!”. Below are 5 ideas for content and believe me, it really doesn’t take that much time! If you need a reminder about the benefits of a blog, read my earlier post “Why Every Coach Should be Blogging” 
5 Blogging Content Ideas for Coaches
- FAQ Post
- Tip List Post
- Video Post
- Book Review
- Personal Story
Think about the questions that potential clients or workshop participants always ask you and compile them into a blog post, in a simple question/answer format.
Why not create a post in the form of a tip list ? Just think of a subject and give your 5 or 10 best tips of advice. For example: 5 tips for managing transitions.
If you don’t like writing, and believe me, you’re not alone, why not start a video blog ? Any kind of content works on videos, but as a coach it’s a good idea to sample your coaching style. So just look at your workshops or presentations, pick one slide or subject, and talk about that. The best length for video is 2 – 3 minutes, not more.
Another good idea if you like to read and regularly read books about your industry, is to post a book review on your blog. If you like, you might even set up an affiliate account with Amazon and make some money on the side from people who buy the book through your link.
Last but not least as we know people do business with people. So sometimes the most personal posts get the most comments and interactions from your readers. You could for example share an opinion, a real life experience or just in general talk about who you are and who you came to be.
5 Mistakes Coaches Make With Their Newsletters
If you are a Coach or other solo-preneur who has an e-mail list and sends out newsletters, tap yourself on the back. You are doing one thing right already ! Despite all the Social Media hype, E-Mail Marketing is still a very important marketing channel. There are a few mistakes that I see regularly in newsletters though, so I thought I’d write them down:
5 Common Mistakes Coaches Make With Their Newsletters
Lack of regularity – Busy coaches sometimes think that they can just send out a newsletter once every six months and expect a good “opening rate” (number of people who actually open the e-mail). Sorry to disillusion you, but if I signed up to receive your newsletter 6 months ago and never hear from you again until half a year later, I probably won’t remember who you are and just delete your e-mail. So, continuity is key to build that trust with your readers. I would say one newsletter per month is the bare minimum.
Too much info – This is kind of related to point one. The same coaches who send out their news only once every 6 months expect me to read their 3 page long e-mail. Most likely they will loose me after the 2nd paragraph. So not a good technique either. I recently announced to my subscribers that I will increase the frequency of my news exactly for that reason. I have too much content, articles and tips to share with them and each newsletter gets too long ! Keep it short and to the point.
Not the right content – If someone trusts you with their e-mail and accepts to get news from you, don’t just send them your promotions, your special offers, your courses etc. People signed up because they were hoping to get some value from you, so that’s what your newsletters should be about: tips, tricks, tools you use, books you read, articles that inspired you, videos that you liked etc. etc. Of course it’s ok to slip in your own promotions every now and then, but that should not be the main content.
Not personal enough – Another thing that I tell coaches is to try to personalize their news. Alright, people know that the newsletter went out to a big list, but they still appreciate if they feel that there is a person behind it who actually wrote this, who they can connect to. I think the biggest success of a newsletter is when people reply to it and share something with you. For example in my last edition I wrote: “I’m sitting on the plane to Copenhagen while writing this” and one of my subscribers wrote me back “No way, I’m in Sweden too this week”. That was cool !
Not adding any links back to their website – One of the objectives – besides creating trust – is to drive traffic back to your website. This will only happen if you add hyperlinks. The best way is to add a short summary of your latest blog post and then a “Read more” button that leads the reader to the full version of your post on your site. Don’t add too many links either, otherwise it will be counter-effective and the reader will not click anywhere.
Are you sending out newsletters in your coaching business ? I would love to hear your opinion about the above points !
Who is Sarah Santacroce
As I’m on vacation this week (at the beach in Tunisia) I thought I would use a “filler” post and tell you a little bit about myself.
I’m Sarah Santacroce…
Hmm, this is more difficult than I thought.
Ok, I am a 30 something (getting seriously closer to 40 something) Swiss national. I grew up in the German part of Switzerland (Bern) and now live with my family in the French part of Switzerland (Lausanne).
On the personal side…
…I’m married to my soul mate, an Italo-Canadian whom I met while traveling in Spain 15+ years ago. We have two boys together, aged 6 and 9. At home we speak English, with my parents I speak Swiss-German, and at the grocery store we speak French.
Back in 2007 we moved to California where my husband got an Expat Assignment. We stayed for 4 years and had a great time ! It’s not easy to move a whole family (and house) overseas, but I’m so glad we did. Wonderful experience.
So now we’re back in Switzerland since 2010.
Random bits of information about me:
- Languages, different cultures & traveling take a big part in my life and I would get really bored without that.
- I trust people easily, sometimes too easily which resulted in some tough learning experiences.
- I’m a people person, but much better at 1 on 1 than big crowds.
- I believe in alternative medicine: homeopathy, acupuncture and other alternative treatments. But traditional medicine is also important and has saved two lives in my immediate family already !
- I work from home, around the school schedule of my boys. Don’t expect me to answer your call at 4pm, that’s when they come home from school and expect snacks and then it’s homework time
- I’m not a good skier at all ! I prefer the beach to the mountains.
On the professional side
If you are familiar with this blog, you know that I’m helping Small Business Owners find their place in today’s online world. I work mostly with solo-preneurs, coaches and small businesses (1 – 5 people).
I like both: the strategy part, but also the technical part of setting up & customizing my client’s social media accounts, playing around with html code on WordPress sites, creating Autoresponders and search engine optimizing videos on Youtube. But what I enjoy most is the “consulting” role that I get to take on with my clients. Guiding them through all the options that are available to them with Social Media & Online Marketing.
That’s also why in 2012 I added a new area to my services: Coaching & Training. I’m working on a course for coaches right now, but will add other trainings and workshops in the future.
I think that’s about it. That’s who Sarah Santacroce is. If you’d like to be in touch regularly and benefit from my tips & tools for small business owners, sign up for my bi-monthly news below this post.
And if you read this blog regularly I would love to know who YOU are! Leave me a comment (comments are a good marketing practice) !
Remove Contacts from Your LinkedIn Network
Normally you want to add connections to your LinkedIn network, not remove them. But it has happened to me before, that I thought: I wish I could remove this person from my network.
Usually it was users who had their Twitter linked to their LinkedIn account, and my newsfeed was filled with their tweets. I can’t repeat it enough: big No No ! Each Social Media tool has it’s own audience, and people who are on LinkedIn are not necessarily fans of Twitter. But I’m getting off track…
So, I recently discovered that
You can remove connections from your network
And the best thing about it: they will never know about it ! LinkedIn doesn’t send them a nasty message: “this person has kicked you out of his/her professional network.” Nothing. You will just not be connected any longer.
Are you desperate to find out how to do it ? Watch the screencast below:
Press Releases 2.0 – Expert Interview
It’s time for another Expert interview. This month I asked Catherine Daar from Commnation.com
How Can Small Businesses take advantage of Press Releases 2.0?
Listen to the Audio or just read the transcript below. Enjoy !
Listen right here or right click to download the file to your MP3 Player:
Interview with Catherine Daar from Commnation
Transcript:
Sarah: Hi. And welcome to another expert interview on the Savvy Biz Blog. Today I have Catherine Daar from CommNation with me and we will be talking about online press releases. Welcome, Catherine.
Catherine: Hello.
Sarah: Before we begin, let me say a few words about Catherine. She spent the last two decades hopping between continents, helping companies and organizations promote their brands. In that time, she has learned a thing or two about spreading the word. An early adopter, Catherine quickly came to understand the value of marketing online, making it her mission to incorporate new technology into PR techniques. Her international experience has seen her work in New York, London, Boston, Tel Aviv and Geneva, where she is now. She has worked across media including television, print and radio. With a versatile, open mind, Catherine is capable of creating messages targeted at practically any audience, anywhere in the world. She truly believes the best work knows no borders.
Catherine holds a degree in Entrepreneurship and Business Development from HEC Geneva, and attended the Program for Executive Development at IMD in Lausanne. She now specializes in Internet Marketing and recently earned a Master Certificate in Internet Marketing from the University of San Francisco as well as a Certificate of Web Analytics from the University of British Colombia. She also holds a certificate in Professional Internet Marketing from HubSpot, and is an active member of the Web Analytics Association.
You can find Catherine on CommNation.com or Facebook.com/CommNation.
Wow, that was a mouthful.
Catherine: Mamma mia! That’s me! Wow. Actually I’m not a member anymore of the Web Analytics Association.
Sarah: OK. That’s for the record. But all the other things are correct, right?
Catherine: Yes. Yes, absolutely.
Sarah: OK, great. So thank you again for being here and taking the time and answer a few questions about online press releases.
Catherine: Well, thank you so much for having me.
Sarah: Great. So Catherine, what is the main difference between a traditional press release like it used to be known when people submitted to journalists and a Web 2.0 press release.
Catherine: OK. So the press release from yesterday, the traditional press release used to be only for journalists and we used to send it by post and then by fax and then we send it by email, which was most of the time ending up straight in the trash and basically the online press release is posted online meaning that it’s not only just in the media but also at the target market, which is amazing because we – nowadays, we don’t depend only on the media to put our message across. OK?
The other amazing thing with what we call the online press release with this press release 2.0 is the fact that because we post it online, we can actually optimize the text with keywords and the press release can be found by anyone who is looking for these specific keywords depending on of course the competition on these keywords. But we can also add videos on the press release. We can add pictures. We can add “share” buttons. People can tweet it and like it on Facebook meaning that it has a viral potential too and the main thing is that the online press release is measurable. You can actually measure how many people read it and clicked on certain links.
Sarah: OK. So if I understand correctly, now we’re not just targeting a bunch of journalists who as a small business owner would probably never pick up my story or there’s a tiny chance but not that great. But we’re also targeting the main audience. Is that correct?
Catherine: Exactly. I mean not the main audience but your target market.
Sarah: Yes. Yes. OK, great. OK. So what does that mean for – who can publish an online press release? Because it used to be just big companies who would publish press releases.
Catherine: Yes. So anyone can publish a press release and anyone should publish a press release. It should be a very important part of your communication as a small business because first of all, it’s free. You can learn more or less anywhere online how to write this press release and you can post it on your website and also you can host it on the platform that you’re using.
Sarah: The platform meaning a press release …
Catherine: Distribution company, absolutely.
Sarah: Yes. OK. So pretty much anybody, any small business. What kind of contents though? You have to have some kind of message that you want to share.
Catherine: Absolutely. So the other difference between the old press release and the new one, because we – today, we post it online. We’re not disturbing anyone. We’re not actually sending a press release to someone and stuffing his mailbox or stuffing his email.
So we’re just posting it online and it’s going to be found only by the people who are looking for those keywords or who receive the link or who are interested. Because of that reason, you can actually send many more press releases and it’s a good idea and I usually suggest to my clients to send at least two online press releases a month and you can send them on any occasion. OK?
For instance, you have a new client or you have a new employee or you have of course a new product or you earn an award or you’re adding a service. You don’t really need like we used to before to wait for very big news that’s going to get the interest of the media anymore because you’re targeting your target market.
Sarah: OK, great. So I don’t have to merge with another company just in order to send out a press release.
Catherine: Absolutely not.
Sarah: Great, great. You’ve mentioned a few things already like hyperlinks and videos and stuff. What else is different in terms of the content from the press release now compared to the paper version?
Catherine: OK. So when you write a press release, the structure is always going to be – it’s going to stay the same but you will keep the same messages. But the formatting of the content will be different because you’re going to write the text in an SEO-optimized manner meaning that you will optimize your H1 tag, your title and then you’re going to format it in a much more readable way for humans and for search engine.
You’re going to add links in the text with keywords and then on the side, you also have an amazing opportunity to put, as I said before, videos, pictures; but also more links, for example, to drive people to your website or whatever and the sharing buttons.
Sarah: Yes, the whole social sharing is activated.
Catherine: Yes.
Sarah: Great. Yes. OK. Great. So in your opinion, what’s the next step? How do I start with this? Where do I submit my online press release?
Catherine: OK. I want to talk about the difference between just having your press releases hosted online and having your press releases distributed too. If you go to the main companies, you can see that they have different levels of services and for example, for me, I use a lot PitchEngine and the first level of PitchEngine is free because all they do is they host your release online, on their platform; but they don’t distribute it.
And the reason is because when I worked with small to medium companies, I have never had success in having my release picked up by big news, online news outlets because unless you’re a very big brand or whatever, then you’re paying a lot of money to have your press release distributed and a very little chance of it to be picked up. So all I do with my small to medium clients is I host it online.
Sarah: OK.
Catherine: OK?
Sarah: Sorry to interrupt. How is it better to host it with PitchEngine? Why couldn’t you just host it on your own site?
Catherine: It’s a great question, very good question. First of all, you should always, always, always host it on your own site first.
Sarah: OK.
Catherine: The reason being that the search engine will rank your site first. They will rank the one that has been posted first. So the idea is to do it first on your site and then on the platform and the reason of using a platform is because they have a template that is already made where you can upload the videos and put your links, et cetera, which you could totally do on your website if you have a little bit of development skills.
Sarah: Yes.
Catherine: But it’s just – it’s already made and it’s free so …
Sarah: OK. So it’s really the template that helps you structure your press release better than on your site.
Catherine: It’s the template and again, for some people you’re going to see use – for example PitchEngine, you’re going to see that on your – because it’s free I guess on your press release, they might put also other press releases that are related meaning that this gives an opportunity to be associated in someone else’s press release. Maybe someone picked up a press release about shoes and you’re a shoe company and then it says related pitch and then your pitch appears. So you get an opportunity to be seen by other people.
Sarah: Yes.
Catherine: I just want to say something important. OK? At this point – and this is my experience. OK? For me, so far, the press release, because I’ve worked many with Swiss companies in our region, is not really to have a worldwide exposure or whatever. But I really use a press release now with my media relation because I can now send them an email with my pitch, put a link and actually I give you a little trick here. This is a bonus trick. When I put the link of my press release, I actually put a Bitly link because it helps me for free because I’m a great free small budget person. It’s good for the small business. So basically I put a Bitly link.
Sarah: Can you just say what Bitly is so the audience knows?
Catherine: OK. So Bitly is a URL shortener and there are a lot of other companies apart from Bitly that do the same thing but basically, initially, it was invented because on Twitter, people started sharing links but the links were really long. OK? So someone invented a little software that you can put a link and Bitly or any other companies, and we can list them of course, will shorten your link initially. But then, they went one step further. They’re giving you the opportunity to actually know when someone clicked this link.
So as a PR, for me, the way I use it, I send a pitch by email; a few lines to the journalist, to the traditional media. I put my link that I have shrunk with Bitly and I send the email. The journalist can click the link and get on the hosted multimedia PR 2.0 platform.
Sarah: Yes.
Catherine: So that’s good for them because they can download pictures, high def pictures, videos. They have everything in one place and for me, it’s good because I know if I send for instance 50 emails and I see that maybe 20 people clicked on it, it gives me an idea of who opened – it’s a very cheap way to know more or less if people are interested in your pitch.
Sarah: Yes, yes.
Catherine: Make sense?
Sarah: Good tip. Thanks for that. Great. Yes. So it looks like we …
Catherine: I just want to – I’m sorry. So just one more thing I want to say because I think it’s important. So what I’m saying here is as of today in Geneva for small business, I’m not saying that the social media press release is going to – whatever. But what I’m saying is as a PR, I don’t have anymore to have 10 different emails with the journalist who’s going to write an article, who’s going to say, “OK, send me the pictures and OK, send me this,” because he has got everything there and if he wants to write his article at 3 o’clock in the morning, he doesn’t need me anymore.
Sarah: OK. So you’re kind of killing two birds with one stone because you’ve found a pitch for your market and at the same time you just send the journalist the link to that hosted page.
Catherine: Exactly.
Sarah: OK. Great, great. So Catherine, tell us how do you help your clients with public relations 2.0?
Catherine: For me, because I have been in PR for more than 20 years, I have really done PRD all the way and many PRD – the major part of it was media relation and we always used to depend on the media.
For me today, and that’s what I’m saying to my clients, the good news is we don’t need – especially with small business, we don’t – I’m not saying we don’t need the media, traditional media anymore because it’s always amazing to have exposure on them but sometimes it’s not possible.
So today, we have the opportunity as small businesses to reach our target market online. So I help them to promote their business online with the tools we have today like of course their online press release, social media, content marketing, search marketing, etcetera.
Sarah: Excellent. Great. Well, very good. Thanks so much for taking the time today, Catherine. I think we’ve learned a lot and as you know, there will be a transcript underneath the video. So check that out for links to all the resources that Catherine has mentioned and again, thanks for being here today, Catherine.
Catherine: Thank you very, very much for having me. [0:16:06]
WordPress Security
Website security is a bit like health insurance
– you never really worry about it until you absolutely, positively need it and it’s just too late to get it. You may think,
“Naw, that’s never going to happen to ME.”
Then a couple of weeks ago, Hostgator sent me an e-mail saying that they “had observed outgoing emails that have known characteristics with a trojan infection on one or more of your PCs.”These e-mails had been sent from my cpanel e-mail. That’s when I started to realize the real risk here. I asked myself: “What if I lost my entire website, TODAY? How would that feel?”
The answer was: “I’d be devastated”.
Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if the last few years of hard work just disappeared into thin air. It would be very hard to recover.
Website Security is Your Responsability
Many people assume that it is the responsibility of their hosting company to keep their website safe. That is just not the case and I’m sure if you go right now and scour the hosting agreement you signed, you will see that the responsibility of protecting your website and your business rests entirely with you.
Here are just a few of the ways your website can become compromised:
- Website hosting issues
- Hackers add code or take down your site
- Malicious employee or contractor messes with your site
- An upgrade creates errors and takes down your site
Scared yet ? You should be !
I was ! The good news is that I invested some time and did some research and have compiled a 20 page e-book. And yes, it’s FREE and it’s all yours (just fill in name & e-mail below).
The WordPress Security Ebook covers the following subjects:
- Why You Must Protect Your WordPress Website
- Is WordPress Weak and Vulnerable to Attacks?
- Common Problems That Can Take Down a Website
- Top WordPress Security Plugins
- How to Back Up Your WordPress Site
- WordPress Software Security Updates Are Not Negotiable!
- Additional Security Measures
- Guests & Employees – Keeping It Safe
- Being Prepared When Security Fails (and it will!)
- Printable WordPress Security Checklist
I was lucky. I acted quickly and changed all my logins and passwords and nothing happened to my site (knock on wood). But trust me, I no longer leave my security to chance.
Don’t wait until it’s too late, ACT NOW and protect your site! This e-book tells you everything you need to know ! Get it now, it’s FREE.
Why Every Coach Should Be Blogging
If you are a coach, or any other type of “heart-based entrepreneur” you have to wear a lot of hats: the coaching hat, the accounting hat, the sales hat, the marketing hat and I really recommend you also wear the blogging hat.
In a way, blogging is marketing. It’s the new way of marketing. When you blog, you don’t sell, you share your knowledge with others.
6 Reasons Why Every Coach Should Blog
- Because blogging positions you as an expert. In your posts (or audios/videos) you will demonstrate your expertise and get people curious about you and how you could help them
- Because blogging builds relationships. People find out more about who you are as a person and as a coach. They can read your blog to get to know you a little bit. Are you funny, serious, professional ? All this can be found out by reading someone’s blog
- Because blogging is a great marketing tool. You get to market yourself and your services without ever saying «buy this» or «sign up here». Simply by showing your expertise and sharing your knowledge people will get interested in what you have to offer.
- Because blogging creates traffic to your website. According to Hubspot research data, companies that blog get 55% more website visitors. B2B Companies that blog get 88% more leads/month than those that don’t. B2B companies that blog get 67% more leads/month than those that don’t.
- Because blogging creates content. There is no point to be active on Social Media if you have no content to share, or only share other people’s content. You won’t have much luck telling people: «Come and see my website». But if you tell them «5 main reasons why people are unhappy» you spark their curiosity and chances that they come visit your blog are much higher.
- Because Google loves fresh content and your site will get better search engine rankings than a static website.
So, are you blogging ? And if not, what holds you back ? Please share in the comments below.
Main Benefits of Joining a LinkedIn Group
When I teach people how to use LinkedIn, LinkedIn Groups take an important part in my course. It is one thing to have an optimized LinkedIn Profile (get my LinkedIn B2B e-book that teaches you how), but LinkedIn is not just an online CV. With 150 Mio users it really deserves it’s bronze medal of the 3 Top Social Networks (after Facebook and Twitter, as you might have guessed).
So after having optimized and glamorized your profile, it’s time to network. Active participation in LinkedIn Groups is one way (among others which I will address in future posts) to increase your reach, grow your network and create more leads for your business on LinkedIn.
So let’s start with a definition…
What is a LinkedIn Group ?
A LinkedIn Group introduces the opportunity to strengthen connections with like-minded individuals in an exclusive forum. The Groups function provides a private space to interact with LinkedIn members that share common skills, experiences, industry affiliations, and goals.
Got it. So why would I want to invest time to participate in yet another online activity ?
What are the Main Benefits of being part of a Group ?
- You get to strengthen connections with individuals in an exclusive forum
- AND you can send members of the group direct messages
Why is this so important ?
Because in LinkedIn, by default, you cannot send messages to people you don’t know. But if you share a group, this option becomes available and presents a major benefit. You can get in touch with people that you wouldn’t be able to approach otherwise. So whenever you see someone’s profile that’s of interest to you and you would like to get in touch with them, check if you have a group in common. If you don’t, just join a group that the other user is part of so you can send a direct message. You can always leave the group again if it’s not of value to you.
Of course there is more to Groups than just being able to send private messages.
More Benefits of Using LinkedIn Groups:
- Start relevant discussions
- Comment on discussions
- Submit your blog posts and articles: only if they are relevant to the group, otherwise you will be considered a spammer
The 80/20% rule also applies here. Share 80% of interesting content, and only 20% self-promotion. If you do promote your own services, be smart about it and “present wrap” it nicely by offering your know-how, not just telling people “Buy from me”.
Every time you post something, your photo is featured and other members of the group can click through your profile. By posting valuable content you position yourself as an expert in your field and chances are that curious members visit your profile where they find your website.
So go ahead, take action ! Go browse through the Group Directory right now (after sharing this post on LinkedIn, thank you very much )and join at least 3 new groups. Maximum number of groups is 50 !
If you join lots of groups, make sure you turn off the daily digest e-mails in the settings section. Watch the video below before you get bombarded by daily digest e-mails.
What’s your experience with LinkedIn Groups ? Have you seen positive results, connected with new people, created new business partnerships ? Let us know in the comments below.
Last but not least I would like to invite you to my group Simple Small Business Solutions. In just 1 month it already counts over 120 members. Look forward to seeing you there !
That’s it, I’m quitting Facebook (Part 2)
Facebook did it again ! On February 29th 2012 they changed the destiny of all business pages. Nothing will ever be the same again… And you were not alone if you were thinking:
That’s it, I’m quitting Facebook !
Unfortunately, as described in Part 1 of this 2-Part series about quitting Facebook, it’s not that easy. You don’t want to give up your personal profile because you loose touch with all your friends and family, and you can’t give up your Facebook Page because businesses nowadays are expected to have one.
So embrace the change, change is good
Let’s have a look at what will change on March 30th, date on which all business pages will be switched to the timeline layout:
Features that disappeared and will be dearly missed
- Welcome Page: Probably the most talked about change. We’ve spent all this time setting up customized welcome pages, a default landing page which visitors land on when they visit your page for the first time. Well, Zuckerberg didn’t like this idea any more and it’s GONE with the wind. While you can still have custom apps on your Page, it will not be the first thing visitors see when they land on your page. Visitors will always land on your Wall/Timeline.
- Profile image size – Good bye custom banners on the left. The dimensions you now have to work with are a 180px x 180px square.
- Photo Strip – the photo strip of 5 thumbnails at the top of your page is replaced with a row of 4 applications or tabs.
New Features of the Timeline design
- Cover Image – You get to use a unique image that represents your Page. Get creative, but be careful not to use any sales messages. Facebook rules state that the image may not contain: pricing or purchase info or discounts, calls to action such as “Like this Page”, “Download it at our website”, “Buy it Now”, “Tell your friends”, or your contact information.
The cover photo dimensions are 851px x 315px. Read this post for 15 Creative Tips to Rock Your Timeline Cover Photo. - Larger Images and Videos – you will notice that images and videos are generally larger and easier to see on the page.
- Pinned Posts – you can identify a particular post as important or special by pinning it to the top of your page for a week.
- Starred Posts – you can highlight any post within the timeline, which makes the associated image or video larger and more noticeable.
- Milestones - you can celebrate or emphasize important moments in your business over time, for example a book launch for an author, an important event, an open-door party etc.
- Private messaging – You can now privately message your page fans as a page admin instead of replying to a comment in the public arena of the Wall. This is a great new feature in terms of customer service.
- Extended About section – The about section got extended from 70 characters to 170 characters. Make sure you include your website url.
So you see, over all there were more features added and the only feature that we will be missing for a while is the “Welcome Tab”.
Here are some additional resources for you to explore:
- 28 Things You Need To Know About The New Facebook Pages
- www.learnfacebookpages.com A quick interactive course from Facebook about the new features
- My FREE Facebook Marketing Basics E-book, updated March 7th 2012 !
Now is your turn ! What will you do ? Embrace the change or quit Facebook ? Which parts do you dislike the most about the new Timeline for Pages ? Please share in the comments below. Or come join the discussion on my Facebook Page.
How To Get Started With Online Video (Expert Interview)
Today I’m starting a new thing on my blog: expert interviews. The idea is simple: each month I ask an expert a few questions and record the interview on Skype. You will then get to listen to the audio recording (or just read the transcript). All experts are somehow related to these subjects: Small Business, Web2.0, Internet Marketing or Social Media.
My very first interview is with Phil Squires, Video & Social Media Coach at www.wickedonlinemedia.com. I asked him:
How can Small Businesses take advantage of Online Video?
Since we are talking about video, it didn’t make sense to give you an audio (duh!). So Phil created a nice little screencast video for you! This is a good example of using screencast videos instead of “showing your face” videos. Enjoy !
Here is the transcript for those who prefer to read:
Sarah: Hi everybody. This is Sarah from Simplicity – Simple Small Business Solutions. Today I have Phil Squires from Wicked Online Media here with me today. Phil helps small business owners get familiar with online video to reach their target audience. Hi, Phil. I’m honored to have you answer a few frequently asked questions about video blogging.
Phil: Hi, Sarah. Well thank you very much. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me.
Sarah: Yes, thank you for being here. So Phil, why should I video blog? What are the main benefits of video blogging?
Phil: Well, Sarah, you know what? Video is a wonderful thing. It really enables you to do four key things.
The first is you can build integrity and trust with your audience. Secondly, you get a chance to differentiate yourself from your customers and how your product or service can make you a lot different and for instance – let me just carry on. This leads nicely into the reason number three is that you can create a desire for your product because people can – when they connect with you, this can lead to an almost sort of – an automatic connection with you because of that integrity we were talking about earlier.
And ultimately, video allows – because of the connection with the audience, it’s sort of higher conversions because of the rapport that you’re building with your prospect and potential leads. Lastly, it’s really the ability to eliminate the need to sell. I think you probably know what it feels like when you’re trying to sell or someone tries to sell you. However with video, you can inform or educate and even entertain and when you do those things and bring extra value to the market, it sort of reduces and eliminates that need to sell. I think that makes sense.
Sarah: Yes, yes. Definitely. OK. Great. But how much is this going to cost me? That’s what people usually ask me because people have this idea that it has to be the perfect video. What is the basic equipment that I need to buy?
Phil: Yes, this is a great question and this is something that – yes, obviously everybody comes up against. But the truth is that video is really pretty inexpensive nowadays. There are a lot of people out there that sort of would lead you to believe that you need to have the latest and greatest and this simply isn’t true. You can get started today for sort of under $200 and I still use a Kodak Zi pocket video camera which helps me to create videos in next to no time.
One thing that’s kind of useful though. When you are looking for cameras, make sure that you’ve got an external jack for a mic, for an external mic. This will enable you to plug in a mic and it’s really inexpensive. You can get a mic for sort of – I’m still using a mic that I’ve had for a couple of years that cost me about 30 pounds and it still does a great job of making sure that audio comes through.
Sarah: OK.
Phil: Also as an alternative to talking head videos, a lot of people worry about actually being the star and there are ways to create videos with simple black text on white background set in PowerPoint; and some of the most successful videos online today don’t use video cameras. They simply use a PowerPoint presentation or Keynote if you’re using a Mac and some sort of desktop capture software. I use ScreenFlow for Macintosh and I’m not sure – I believe you’ve used Camtasia.
Sarah: Yes, I use Camtasia for Windows.
Phil: Yes, and I think both of those come around in about $99. That’s really, really cheap …
Sarah: It’s actually a bit more for the Windows version.
Phil: Well, is it …
Sarah: Yes, it’s funny. The Camtasia Mac version is $99 and the Camtasia Windows version is $300.
Phil: Oh, really? OK.
Phil: I think in the Mac, it must be a bit scaled down.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: Yes. And so we’re just talking about a simple black text on a white background. There’s a guy called Jon Benson and he – I think he created the term “ugly sales letter video” or “ugly video sales letter,” one of the two; and he says that his sales letter conversion, i.e., those letters, those pages on his website that have been designed to get somebody to buy his product, the conversions have gone from one percent to six percent and that’s just incredible. It’s a 600 percent increase in conversions and 600 percent of anything is – for me I think is a big deal.
Don’t let equipment be a barrier to entry because it’s not that. People really want – they want value. They want to hear you. They want to know about your ideas and it’s important you deliver quality. People are looking for people who have something for them and if you are – if you do that in a measured way and you make sure that you’re answering people’s questions, you’re giving them what they want, then people will enjoy your stuff.
Sarah: OK, great. Yes, I agree. I just – I think I told you before. I just bought a flip cam.
Phil: Yes.
Sarah: What do you think about flip cams?
Phil: Well, to be frank, I haven’t actually used one. I’ve got a Canon – like a big like kind of HD camera and then I used the Kodak Zi8 which is actually being discontinued but it’s still a lovely camera but I heard a lot of very good things about your camera. All the big marketers around the world talk about having a simple flip cam, a simple camera and the word “flip cam” is probably one of the most spoken words. So I think it’s a great, little camera.
Sarah: Yes, I like it because you can just plug it in directly into your computer, the USB jack, and it just uploads everything to …
Phil: Absolutely. Yes, yes.
Sarah: … whatever you wanted. OK, great. Now talking about formats, what formats or video hosts are best?
Phil: A lot of people think about YouTube as a hosting site and they sort of handle the formats and stuff for you but this kind of – this question sort of – I got caught out when I first – I thought it was going to be really kind of difficult. YouTube is a great place to host things and to enable you to have less challenges with formatting and all that sort of thing. When you first kind of get started, I mean in the simple way, I use MP4 when I’m creating the videos, when I’m editing them and when I upload them to YouTube but if I’m using an alternative player or an alternative host, then I might change the codec, convert the codec to a .FLV which is Flash video and basically the idea is that Flash video has a lot more – is a smaller file …
Sarah: OK.
Phil: … than an MP4 file and it’s really kind of easy to actually make that – get that conversion done. One thing to keep in mind though that I think is quite useful or something that I learned is that when you’re uploading to YouTube, try and make sure that you use the best kind of quality and a larger video size. For instance, if you’ve got a small little video and you sort of – and you upload a small video to YouTube, then that’s the best quality that YouTube has got to work with. Does it make sense?
Sarah: Yes, it does.
Phil: So if you’re going for a bigger size and better quality, even though it may take a little bit more time to upload that video, at least YouTube has got some great quality content to work with.
Sarah: OK. So what about hosts? You said YouTube is OK but YouTube only – I think it’s limited in time so the video can only be a certain length. So what do you do if you do like a training video which is 20 minutes or more?
Phil: Yes, that’s a good point. When I first started, I think the limitation was about 10 minutes. Certainly, I think it has gone to about 15 for the average kind of user and I’ve seen videos with longer but I think you’re right. YouTube does have its limitations. It is a public domain so when your video is up there, anybody can grab them and that’s fine to a point but if you’ve got a membership site or you want to have some kind of restriction, then you might want more control and for my money, I’ve been using Amazon S3 for a long time now and Amazon S3 is really the way to go. It’s probably …
Sarah: Not that user-friendly, right?
Phil: Yes. Exactly. I had a couple of challenges with myself and it’s kind of easy now for me because I’ve done it a couple of times.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: But, yes, certainly Amazon S3 is very cost-effective. I’ve heard there are a couple of new platforms coming out now at the moment. So I’m going to be testing those in the next, I don’t know, couple of weeks. I’ve got a friend in Australia who’s testing at the moment.
Just in terms of cost-wise and how they deliver their videos but the interesting thing about using Amazon and the player for Amazon – because Amazon is just sort of a storage facility, is that obviously you get greater control about those videos and the length of them, the kind of player that you have, and certainly you can even direct people at the end of a video to a particular URL. So if you’ve told something about – so if you’re telling or informing somebody about something in the video, you can then redirect them and that takes them off to wherever you want the viewer to go. Does that make sense?
Sarah: Yes, great. OK. So when I finally do get the courage to shoot my first video, what subjects should I use for my videos, about my product or service? What do I talk about?
Phil: This is something that I’ve had to deal with myself and the fact is that I learned most of what I know by following the experts; and for me, that started off by not being in front of the camera. But I mentioned it before but this is the key thing and I’m seeing this over and over again.
If you can inform, if you’re giving away – I think there are a lot of fears here and I think we’re talking a little bit earlier about giving away information and being – and perhaps being seen to not be protecting what you have but I’m of the opinion that you can give away your best stuff and you can – if you’re educating and informing and you’re even entertaining, if you’re giving away your best stuff and people can really see that you committed to making sure that you’re giving them great content, then I think it’s kind of easy.
You could lead with 10 frequently asked questions about your business or your product or your service. What are people really asking about you? We can even go as far as to survey them. There is another little point that I should just add. You can also have 10 videos on should-ask questions.
Very often, the client or the prospective audience doesn’t always know what questions to ask or doesn’t always know what you can offer. So perhaps they should ask questions as well. So it’s kind of easy, I think, just to put down 10 or 20 videos and start planning around the idea of what it is that – how you can add value to people.
Sarah: Yes. Probably tips as well, right? Just in general. Make 10 videos of your best tips.
Phil: Yes, absolutely. And I think the key here is to keep them short and sweet.
Sarah: Yes, yes. Yes. Let’s talk about length. What’s the maximum length that you would advice?
Phil: Frankly, I think the sweet spot is about three minutes but anywhere between two and five minutes. I think – and I’m guilty here that – I think the internet creates attention deficit disorder. I don’t know if everybody can be diagnosed with that but certainly I think that people are consuming information in short and small chunks. So about three minutes, I think, would be kind of right.
Sarah: Yes, that’s true. OK. Now the idea of videos is to inform but everybody talks about a video going viral, like …
Phil: Oh, yes.
Sarah: … I want a video to go viral.
Phil: Yes, yes.
Sarah: How do I do that and how do I integrate it with social media?
Phil: It’s kind of funny you’re asking that because I was looking – I was watching a video this morning and like I was talking about exactly that and the challenges – I don’t know about you but from my perspective, I’m not a – not Samuel Jackson. What’s the guy’s name? I’m not one of the world’s greatest video producers. I’m not going to make ET or Rocky, those kinds of movies. I help people get – how they can add value and entertain and inform.
So for you and I, if I was to just sit down and try to write a viral video, I don’t know if I can do it. I think the – although the key is, if you are paying attention to kind of the script of the video, how those videos are laid out, because that’s really important and just making a video about what I think is great. It doesn’t mean the audience is going to think that’s great.
So knowing what the audience wants and then giving them that message in a measured kind of way. I think that’s super important but once you’ve got to that – sorry, you wanted to ask a question?
Sarah: I think sometimes these viral videos didn’t even have the intention to get viral. I remember this video about the wedding entrance song.
Phil: Yes.
Sarah: Have you seen that?
Phil: I have not.
Sarah: And it’s this wedding where they decided to do something different and instead of doing the usual wedding song …
Phil: Yes?
Sarah: … they played the song – kind of rap song. I forgot the name of the singer.
Phil: Oh, yes, yes, yes. I have seen it.
Sarah: And they danced …
Sarah: And they just went crazy viral and nobody even planned to do this video and go viral.
Phil: Yes, yes, yes.
Sarah: So sometimes it’s also kind of a coincidence and it’s just people like it because it’s different.
Phil: Well, yes, and that’s the interesting thing. I mean very often, those viral videos may not actually have any – if we’re talking about business here, we’re talking about products and service. Then those videos may not have any – what’s the word I’m trying to use? They might not have any – a way to monetize them.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: Like for instance, I saw a guy riding a bike down a long – somewhere in Africa and he was cruising on a bike and he got hit by a buck that ran across him, which was – you had to laugh because it’s just such a big surprise but there was no URL at the bottom saying, hey, if you want to perhaps wear this certain kind of helmet or wear this kind of safety gear, because you never know what’s coming. If they – I mean that thing had like 12 million views in a very short period of time. If they’ve had maybe some sort of clever thing or maybe even marketing GoPro cameras, hidden mounted cameras.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: So yes, making something go viral isn’t necessarily that simple as you point out although I will say – I mean if you are going to – if your intention is to go – I think the definition of viral is that we want as many people as possible to see this and hopefully share with their friends or the same kind of audience and that way, I think your video needs to be on multiple platforms.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: So if you are going to create a video, perhaps you can make sure it gets on YouTube and you’re doing all the right things. You’re using the keyword and the title and the file name is the same as the keyword for which you’re going after and I’m getting into market research and that sort of thing. But how you’re constructing your YouTube page and then where else are you putting the videos. Are you using something like TubeMogul to propagate those videos and have it on either platform?
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: And then if you’ve put a video out, then tweet about it. Make sure people get the chance to see it and share it with your LinkedIn groups and profiles and other groups within Facebook and what not; and make sure the message gets out there so you have a better chance of traction.
Sarah: Yes. OK. Well, great. Phil, do you want to quickly tell how you help clients with video?
Phil: Yes, thanks. That’s great. I mean I think you can get it from the way I’ve been speaking that it’s kind of important to me that we – that the customer or I or whoever is – you’re creating content to getting value in some way. But for me, it always starts with marketing keyword research. We’re understanding and knowing what people are actually asking for. So, when you go to Google, making sure you understand what the client’s needs are. And once you’ve got that, then you can create videos and content to satisfy their needs. Like you said, the 10-tip videos. So what needs are you satisfying? How are you helping people?
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: So, it really doesn’t matter whether it’s in a small business, an entrepreneur. I’ve helped people sort of redevelop products, even taking seminars and books and basically redeveloping that. For one guy, we did a seven-week weight management program. He had written a book on IBS and diabetes. So we created about 80 videos and we put them in the membership site and we created – at least 30 of those videos were in a public domain and we dealt with people’s challenges, whether it’s carbohydrate problems or IBS or whatever; and we use video in order to get our message across and to create that credibility and trust that I was speaking about earlier.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: So Alex was able to do that with his market in a different way and there was another guy. He had a self-help program out in the UK and we shot about 90 videos with him again in the membership site; and it was about getting his message out, how to help people achieve the best results, how to help people realize that they can do more in life kind of thing.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: And so it’s important just to plan out each video message, knowing what you’re saying and doing that in a measured kind of way. So the video makes sense to people and you can get it across and get a great message across. On the flip side, I use video to try and dominate in challenging areas and I’m a little bit wary of using the word “dominate” but I think the idea is that we all dream of having search – page one rankings and video is just a wonderful way to do that. I think you know all the stats about video being the – about Google being the number two search engine and the fact that Google – sorry, YouTube being the number two search engine and the fact that – excuse the siren there. And the fact that Google owns YouTube.
Sarah: Yes.
Phil: So they will and do index video. So the whole key thing is how can you leverage that. How can you make sure you – if you’ve done the market and keyword research, how to take that – so brick-and-mortar products.
Sarah: Excellent. So Phil, do you – obviously video is all online and it’s kind of global. Do you work with clients all over the world or is it mostly in Europe?
Phil: Yes. Absolutely, Sarah. It’s a global kind of village that we’re living in at the moment. So it’s really being a matter of if they have a good, solid internet connection. We can pretty much work with anybody. Yes.
Sarah: OK, yes. Great. Excellent. Well, Phil, thanks so much for taking the time to answer some questions. I really hope my readers or listeners understood the value of video that should be part of their marketing strategy and there are really no more excuses to make their first video. I know we’ve joked about it earlier. I’m still at the Screencast level. I still have to move up to the showing-my-face level. So, I will get there eventually.
Phil: OK, wonderful. Well thank you for taking the time to chat with me. It has been great.
Sarah: Yes. You can find Phil at www.WickedOnlineMedia.com and get in touch with him there. All right? Thanks Phil for being here with me today.
Phil: OK. Thanks, Sarah. [0:21:38]
Are you using video in your small business already ? If yes, share your experience below. If not, what holds you back ? Do you have any other question for Phil, just post below !
Use Testimonials on Your Website
On this blog we’ve talked about the most important pages on your website before. The “Contact Us” page or the “Press Room“. Another important page is the “Testimonials” page.
Why is it important to use testimonials on your website ?
Because people nowadays shop online before they buy and because people read and trust other people’s opinions ! Let me ask you this: how do you book your summer vacation ? Do you go to your local travel agency or do you book it online ? Probably online, right ? And do you also read the Tripadvisor reviews for your chosen hotel ? (and wonder if these people have nothing else to do than submit 2000 character reviews of their last holiday But, it the hotel has a really bad review, you probably stay away from it, correct ? So if you read these testimonials (or in this case we call them reviews) then other people do to. And the same goes for your potential clients. If they consider buying from you, I bet you any money that they will read your testimonials before contacting you.
So what makes a good testimonial?
Where should you display the testimonials on your site?
You can create a “Testimonial Page” where you display as many testimonials as you like. But, you can also use your testimonials on other places of your site, like the side bar. For example on your “Services” page, use one that praises your services. On the “Events” page, use one that talks about the great results of your last workshop.
Using testimonials as a marketing strategy comes very close to “word of mouth marketing”, which is the most powerful marketing out there. So start giving your website the credibility it deserves by displaying your testimonials !
Do you use testimonials on your website ? Have they proven to be effective ? Share your experience in the comments below.
How Coaches Can Use Online Video
Take a guess which is the world’s largest internet search engine? Easy, of course it’s Google. Now guess which one is the 2nd most popular one ? No, not Bing. It’s Youtube !
YouTube gets 4,000,000,000 page views a day, has 800,000,000 users (about the same as Facebook) who watch 3,000,000,000 hours of video a month.
Impressed ? You should be! And if you aren’t already, you should also be using video as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Here are a few online video ideas:
- Introduction videos: business owner presents herself. Can be placed on the home page of your website
- How-To videos: instead of describing a process in writing, businesses can just shoot a quick video and show their audience how to do it
- FAQs: business owner discusses the most frequently asked questions about his products or services in a short video.
- Product and Service videos: a short video about the benefits of a product or service
- Customer Testimonials: video of a real life customer recommending your services or products
Fair enough, but…
How Can Coaches Use Online Video?
I see three main avenues for video use in the coaching industry:
- Your blog
- Youtube
- And Video coaching
Youtube and Your Blog
Let’s start with your blog and Youtube. This is where you would use video to get more traffic to your website, build your tribe and essentially get more coaching clients. People could see you in action, put a name to your face… Wouldn’t you agree that it makes the interaction immediately more personal ?
You would shoot the video, then upload it to Youtube and embedd it in your blog. This process creates two ways for people to find you: either on your blog or directly on Youtube.
Video Coaching
The other avenue to use video for your coaching business is the actual video coaching. Imagine a course that you have given live over and over again. Usually how does it work ? You have to book a location, lunch, coffee breaks. Promote the course, then people sign up and you show up and teach the course. Sometimes there is travel involved, sometimes there isn’t. Quite a lot of work…
Well, wouldn’t it be nice if people could sign up to this course and just study the content from their home, through video sessions ?
Yes, the initial time investment for a video based course would probably be a bit more than your traditional course, because you would have to learn some new things (video recording for one). But after, you could be making money while you sleep. People would watch your videos while you are busy working on other lucrative projects.
Do you use video in your coaching business ? If so, are there any other avenues that I missed in this post ? Please share in the comments below.
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