ThePodcastSisters

Are you an inspirational business mum!

Received a great email from Gerel of Shiny Red that I would share with all you entrepreneurs...

"Just wanted to touch base with you regarding the “Inspirational Business Mum of the Year Award” in the run up to Mother’s Day ... as we thought it might be of interest to some of your readers on PodcastSisters.

The awards, which are hosted by Prowess, celebrates all women in business and I was hoping if you and any of your readers would be interested in entering the awards by nominating themselves, friend’s, sister’s, partner’s or even their own Mum’s in the run up to Mother’s Day. Entries close on April 11^th 2008."

As I fail on at least one account :) then I will leave the field open to everyone else and if you enter...good luck!

Podcasting Demographics

Anyone think that podcasts are for the young ?

Well, check out eMarketer which has some great insights into the podcasting audience.

The largest age group is the 25-34 group and it is a very close split between male and female.

The article shares other information about who has listened to a podcast during the last 30 days and also splits around household income.

I do believe that people are starting to realise the power of podcasting, the ability to personalise what you listen to, where you listen and even how to listen to the podcasts.

I think the next 12 months are going to be really interesting as most people are expecting podcasting to grow, especially in terms of advertising investment.

If you have a thought about podcasting then check out some of our shows of our thoughts on interviewing for podcasts, podcasting for profit, future of podcasting, podcasting and small business, creating your first podcast and even the mistakes we have made!

26 Week Marketing Plan Launches Tomorrow!

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about the 26 Week Marketing Dvd's that I received to review. As I said I think these are a great resource for anyone new to social media - or who want to help others get up to speed with social media quickly. (Not so sure if you already have some knowledge whether the investment would be worth it?)
Overall, although I think the presentations could be a little more "exciting", the content will give you a good grounding on how to start with internet marketing.

Anyway, tomorrow it launches with the following incentives

• Firstly, the first 10 people to purchase the 26 Week Plan will receive a complimentary 45-minute one-on-one telephone consultancy call with David Bain. This call will take place in late April so people first of all have an opportunity to study the 26 Week Plan.
• Secondly, everyone who purchases the 26 Week Plan within the first 7 days will gain access to a special '26 Week Plan Implementation teleseminar to be held in mid-April.

So if you are looking for a package, to get up to speed quickly with internet marketing then may well be worth checking out the 26 Week Internet Marketing Plan, - an audio-visual training course from Edinburgh-based Purple Internet Marketing.

Show #040 - How we are using Twitter

This week's free Podcast Sisters audio show is now available (remember subscribe free of charge and new shows will come automatically to your computer, just follow the instructions at the end of the post to download or subscribe via iTunes)

The Podcast Sisters have a discussion on how they are using Twitter, the microblogging platform that allows you to post 140 characters about what you are doing. Krishna and Anna talk about how twitter has helped them both with their businesses, how they have found it useful and what they like - and even dislike - about microblogging.

Here are a the links that the sisters mention in the show

Follow Anna on Twitter

Follow Krishna on Twitter

Link to our earlier show, when Heidi Miller introduced us to Twitter

HelloTxt - a way of posting an update once and updating several websites all at the same time

Twhirl - a desktop widget that shows you real time the conversation happening.

Twitterfeed - a way of sending your blog post to Twitter

Neville Hobson's post on Twitter statistics

Blog post on applications that you can use around Twitter

If you want to take up Anna's challenge and send in a quiz question for next week then e-mail Anna and she will pose it to the Sisters!

Join us over at the Podcast Sisters Facebook group to discuss this week's show and also do give us feedback and share ideas for future shows that will deliver value to YOU. You can also send us an email to podcast.sisters@googlemail.com.

REMEMBER SUBSCRIPTION TO THE PODCAST SISTERS IS FREE! 

1) To listen now on line without any downloads then click here and press the play button

2) Or to subscribe in iTunes      

3) Or if you use a different podcatcher then here are the feed details -

http://www.podcastfm.co.uk/podcast.rss?id=245

Top Posts and RSS Filter

I am always looking for ways to help readers find your best stories and promoting your blog work. Over at Read Write Web they introduce a new tool called Aide RSS...explaining

"The website does offer a couple of blogger-centric services, however. The "Sharing & widgets" page for every site indexed by AideRSS offers two services aimed at publishers: a syndication widget that provides RSS links to AideRSS-filtered feeds (good, great, and best) as well as a top posts widget that lists the top ranked posts over a given time period."

The tool can be used for filtering your RSS feeds that you have in your reader but I particularly like the ability to create widgets for your blog to promote your work - be it the posts with the most comments, most readers etc

The best part of blogs is that they are constantly feeding your creative mind with new content, however when people visit your blog for the first time they may not see your best work. Having this kind of tool allows you to put in the sidebar, a little "shop window" of work that you believe shows your most popular content.

The Power of Connection

This week I was on a panel at the Prowess conference - wonderful organisation for female entrepreneurs. I made many new friends but most of all I learned 2 things

• One we need to get the message out about how technology is there to help, how it is an enabler for both driving the top line growth, reducing cost and also as a support network.
• Secondly, the power of the human connection. Speaking to as many people as possible and asking that vital question - How can I help, how can I provide value to your life?

As entrepreneurs it is so easy to become insular, or isolated....but through conferences, networks and social media we can ensure that we stay focused upon achieving that success.

Remember the social media tele-summit will be a great source of inspiration...I am presenting on Monday!

Show #039 -Getting Started With Video

This week's audio show, Krishna and Heather discuss how you can get started in using video on your blog or website to support your business growth whether it be to generate moreleads, for training purposes, building community or simply entertainment.

We discuss why we should consider using video, the different options for creating video and tips for posting video's from YouTube or other video distribution sites to your website or blog   

Can You Help Our Listeners?

We have had a question about Pods In Print - are you using this service and if so what do you think about it?

Apologies for the delay in posting as we have had some problems with the audio and uploading it - we hope the problem is now rectified.

Resources For The Show

Camtasia
Articulate Presenter
Blip TV and example of it here at The Podcast Sisters
Oovoo
YouTube

Leesa Barnes
David Meerman Scott
Michael Port
Sherman Hu
Will Smith's personal brand video

Biz Growth Live
Free Camtasia Training Video's
Social Media Training Programme

Join us over at the Podcast Sisters Facebook group to discuss this week's show and also do give us feedback and share ideas for future shows that will deliver value to YOU. You can also send us an email to podcast.sisters@googlemail.com.

REMEMBER SUBSCRIPTION TO THE PODCAST SISTERS IS FREE! 

1) To listen now on line without any downloads then click on the Blubrry image below

blubrry.com

2) Or to subscribe in iTunes      

3) Or if you use a different podcatcher then here are the feed details

What's this?
or copy the address in the field below to your podcast software:

New MyBlogLog Widget

I know many of you are members of MyBlogLog and if you are then you will be interested in the new widget announced on The MyBlogLog Blog. As the blog says

"The new widget has a glossy finish, multi-colored shading, and new, eye-catching icons to add readers to your community.

There "flyout" which fades in when you hover over a reader's photo for more details on that visitor. You can quickly browse more information about that reader and directly click through to that person's MyBlogLog profile or their community pages.

To keep it simple, we've limited the number of options when you configure this widget. There's a choice of seven colors, two layouts, and you can choose how you want the flyout to behave. No more messing about in CSS, choose the width and number of rows and it configures itself automatically."

Take a look at the new widget on the right hand side of this blog, I think it is a definite improvement and again a great way of finding out who is part of your blog community.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Customer Service - Research Shows Gap between Companies and Consumers

I don't know many people - I do know some, unfortunately! - that do not put a high emphasis on customer service.

Accenture has just produced some shocking customer service research that although is based on large companies, I think there are lessons for small businesses as well..it says

"75% of executives felt their customer service was moderately or extremely good, but 57% of consumers described themselves as upset or marginally to extremely dissatisfied with their experiences."

It also found that

"It found that 81% of customers who rated their service satisfaction as "below average" said they will purchase from a different supplier the next time, and for those who rate their satisfaction as merely "average," the likelihood of buying from the same company drops from 51% to 27%."

One aspect that we talk about on the Podcast Sisters podcast is the effect of social media on word of mouth, the article also points this out as an important aspect for companies

""It used to be you shared experiences around the water cooler and impacted maybe four people," Sprague said. "Now people get on their blog and tell 40 people or 400 people immediately."

The question for us as small business leaders is whether we REALLY are putting customer service at the heart of our strategy. Do you measure it? Are you open to feedback, listen and take action?

Internet Marketing - What Customers Look For From a Website

Your website is your shop window and part of the brand experience for your customer. Getting the right feel can be difficult so I wanted to share with you an article over at Marketing Vox that says

"A study by Forrester Research presents the results of 5,000 online consumers that were asked content and functionality they look for in a site, reports Research Recap.

The study was conducted in light of consumers' increasing preference for online content versus traditional media.

• User ratings and reviews topped the list, with 64 percent of consumers requesting the function.
• Special offers and coupons came second with 61 percent, followed by product or price comparison tools.
• Near the bottom of the list was games and questionnaires (29 percent). And while customers love to read user reviews, only 23 percent wanted the ability to upload or view their own content.

There were significant differences among age groups. Gen Y (18 to 27) liked games, questionnaires, and the ability to share content more than other generations.

Gen X (28 to 41) liked discussion boards and the ability to create a profile more than older consumers.

Younger boomers liked user ratings and price-focused offerings, while seniors were the least likely to want additional content and functionality on sites.

All age groups agreed that ease of use should be a top priority for a site."