ThePodcastSisters

Blog or Website?

I think this is the question that I get asked most often. The answer for me is a blog..however, that is the right answer only if you see the power of blogging, that you feel comfortable with

• Building a readership over time - it is not a short term fix.
• Investing time in writing valuable content
• What your brand personality is and what you want to convey as your company's personality.

To help you decide there is a great article over at Problogger Tips to help you decide whether blogging is the right direction for your small business and internet marketing efforts.

Guess Who is Now on Twitter?

....only the UK Prime Minister! Clearly I don't think Gordon Brown is twittering at Downing Street but no matter it shows how microblogging is gaining momentum as a communication tool.
At the moment the stream is only delivering news feeds...however, I am impressed that Downing Street is experimenting with social media. It illustrates that Twitter is growing in importance for engaging with consumers of your story!
If you want to hear more about how to use Twitter as small business owners, listen to the following shows
How we are using Twitter
What is Twitter?

Show #44 - Using Linked In as a Business Tool

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 the social networking site, Linked In. How you can use it to expand your business network, how you can use it to provide business services or even find jobs within your business sector. We also discuss the use of Linked In Answers as a resource tool. Here are the links for the Show

Linked In - Krishna De

Linked In - Anna Farmery

Age of Conversation  - Bum Rush

Chris Wilson

Stephen Fry

Google Alerts

Jason Alba - I'm On Linked In, Now What!

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

Ego Surf To Check The Health Of Your Personal Brand Online

One of the strategies I advise my clients is to ensure that they "ego surf" - in other words check what others will find when and if someone looks for them in the search engines.

I recommend that you check this each month and make sure that you check your name and your company name both with and without the "" around your name.

A great reason fo doing so is you just never know what you might find when checking the visibility of your personal brand online.

Today I checked against my name and to my suprise there was a wonderful testimonial posted by someone about the assistance I had given them about branding, blogging and social media.

Many times people may link back to you if you have a business blog and it's easy to check incoming links especially if you are blogging using Wordpress.org as the links are clearly there for you to check in the Wordpress dashboard.

In this particular case the person had linked to my profile on LinkedIn a social netowrking site used by professionals. I'd never have known that they had written such a great testimonial which has in fact led to another business opportunity if I had not checked my search results in Google.

So if you are worried that Googling yourself is vanity, get over it! You just may be suprised with the wonderful testimonials about you online. Go go one "Google Yourself" today - it may give you a great boost and is far better than a chocolate Easter Egg - and will have much longer lasting results!

Join the Conversation Bum Rush

During 2007 I was asked to contribute to a book called The Age of Conversation - each penny, cent etc was to go to a childrens charity Variety - of course I didn't hestitate. I thought this was a wonderful way of people who participate in social media to give something back to their community.

The book started life on the site - Lulu and raised well over $10,000 for charity. The book has now gone to Amazon and we hope that once again we can raise money for charity. Here's the idea - thanks to C.B Whittmore who wrote all this up which allowed me to cut and paste :)

The social media bum rush event of 2008 will be taking place on March 29, 2008 to benefit The Age of Conversation. I would not only like to invite you to take part, but also beg, plead, urge and demand [nicely] that you take part by:

• Purchasing The Age of Conversation on 3/29/08
• Getting the word to everyone you know that they should purchase The Age of Conversation on 3/29/08

NOTE: As incentive, I have created and posted a document summarizing and organizing the 103 chapters from The Age of Conversation [based on the 'slices' I published last summer in the posts listed in The Age Of Conversation RoundUp] -- to whet your appetite!

It's a long anticipated event as announced in Extra, Extra: The Age of Conversation on Amazon, and the date has finally been set. Better late than never and now let's get on with the bum rush!

Per Drew McLellan's instructions, here's the plan to bring this ground-breaking work to a wider audience via Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other quality retail book selling sites. Remember, not only do you get a copy of a great book, but the children of Variety's LifeLine literally get the gift of life.

1. On Saturday, March 29th, we need you to purchase The Age of Conversation from Amazon.com to support the Social Media Bum Rush [as outlined by Chris Wilson]!

2. If you want to purchase several copies, please do so in separate transactions.

3. When you purchase, please go to Amazon via this Amazon affiliate link to The Age of Conversation.

4. Please encourage others around you to purchase the book through this Amazon affiliate link to The Age of Conversation.

If you blog, and you want to participate:
1. Please post the badge to your blog.
2. Talk this event up and help generate as many touch points around the web as possible so that it will be hard not to spot the Age of Conversation activity.
3. Buy the Book & send others to buy the book.
4. Please use this affiliate link, which will help in tracking sales. Remember, all the proceeds from the book sales and referrals will go to charity. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847992994?ie=UTF8&tag= drewmclellan-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325& creativeASIN=1847992994]

For Twitter Commentary - Join Gavin, Chris and Drew as they provide Bum Rush play-by-play on Twitter. (Follow them: @Freshpeel, @DrewMcLellan, @servantofchaos.) If you add commentary about the Bum Rush to use the code #AOC so that it can be picked up by Twemes.com.

In addition:
1. Trackback or Comment on the post that Chris leaves on March 29, at 12am CST, so that everyone can follow the conversation and help promote exposure on social sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, etc.)
2. Digg the posts listed on Chris' site and send emails and shouts to friends requesting Diggs.
3. Stumble the posts listed & tell friends to do the same.
4. Bookmark your posts on Del.icio.us
5. Add your post to other social media outlets ( Technorati, Ma.gnolia, Furl, BlinkList, Newsvine, Facebook, etc.)
6. Send an Old Fashioned email to your friends about the Bum Rush for AoC.
7. Keep talking - Get on ooVoo, iChat, Aim, or where ever you like to talk, and start talking.

To add the Join the Rush Badge to your Blog or Web page: simply copy and paste the HTML code from Drew's blogpost.

• Add your Reviews and tags on Amazon - Help fill it up!
• Join the Facebook Group - You can join the group here.
• Become an AOC Fan on Facebook - Join the AOC fan page here.

Please help make this day a huge success. Don't forget! Join The Rush on 3/29/08. Thank you!

Business Gets LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking site but I tend to see it more as a business networking site. Before Facebook I used LinkedIn more but recently I have been taking more notice of the site as they have started to add more functionality to the site. In the past I saw this site as fairly static and a place more fro recruiters and marketers, however the site is now following the trend of making it more personal and a way of linking your web contacts and information.

The latest functionality to be added as reported by CNet

"Professional networking site LinkedIn has launched the beta version of its business directory, called LinkedIn Company Profiles, with data provided by BusinessWeek and Capital IQ supplementing LinkedIn's member information. Over 150,000 companies and organizations are indexed in the directory, working it into a Hoovers-esque database that ties into LinkedIn's social features.

A LinkedIn Company Profiles page includes a number of basic statistics pulled from BusinessWeek's database, such as company size and history. But for the most part, the rest of the business' page consists of information from employees of that company who have LinkedIn profiles, like a list of "new hires" (LinkedIn members who have recently added a current affiliation with that company) and recent promotions, other businesses that have seen people hired from that company, and demographic tidbits like median age and education information."

We will be discussing LinkedIn on this weeks The Podcast Sisters show and explaining how we are using it in our businesses both as a marketing and a productivity tool.

Show - #043 - Implications of Technology at Conferences

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 the Mark Zuckerberg/Sarah Lacy interview at SXSW. They discuss the implications for people who speak at conferences as a way of marketing your small business. Technology is now available to people attending conferences, which means that feedback is now immediate and also global. What do we now to think about before we attend conferences as business people. Here are the links that we mention in the show

Twitter - Follow Anna, Krishna De, Heather

BlogHer - Where Heather and Anna will be speaking on how social media has helped their businesses

Blogger Social - email Anna if you want to meet up for a drink in New York

Association of Coaching

Qik - mobile video

Creative Camp Ireland

The Engaging Brand - Interview on stress with Cary Cooper and on presenting with Maggie Philbin

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

Show #042 - Creating Your Online Community

This week's audio show, Krishna and Heather discuss the different platforms available to create your online community. This follows on from show #41 where we covered the reasons you might want to consider creating and nurturing a community online.

Resources For The Show

Google Groups

Phpbb.com - open source software to create online communities and forums

Membergate - membership software

Yahoo Groups

Frank Fullard - Mayo CEB CEO and the founder of IBW.com

Irish Business Women.com

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:

Social Media Needs Investment - Time Not Money

Social media is a wonderful tool for small business because it opens your business to a world of consumers - not just locally but globally. When I started my business - The Engaging Brand - I did it on a investment of £500. Yes, £500, that is all that I had in the bank at the time to follow my entrepreneurial dream. I did not want to risk my savings, I wanted to start with nothing and see if I could build a business.

Social media meant that was possible. Blogging, podcasting has brought me an array of clients around the world. However, it has not been without time investment. But time is something that I have, as long as I focus, as long as I use my time wisely then I can get my message out there without having to go the traditional marketing route.

Here are my time management tips

• Be clear about your market and focus your time on providing value for that market.
• Use travel time to create social media content.
• Capture ideas when you have them...that just means that when you have time at your computer then you are creating content not thinking about creating content.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help from other bloggers, podcasters etc They will save you time in learning about the new social media tools.
• Learn on the run! I learned about social media through podcasts - whilst walking for the train, driving in the car, working out at the gym. This is time when I wouldn't be able to do "physical work".

Has social media worked for me...well, the business is thriving despite the £500 investment!

Customer Collaboration at it's Best

Heather who is part of The Podcast Sisters lives and breathes social media and Web 2.0. She runs  small business called Wiggly Wigglers that helps people, like me, who have busy hectic lives, to create a sustainable living lifestyle.
I unashamedly love the company simply because it makes non gardeners like me find easy ways of making my environment better -oh and try their goat socks they are fab! Cannot find them on the website but you can request a cataolgue here

Heather runs her company as a mail order business and for this latest catalogue she has produced it WITH customers through social media...Karen the Wiggly Blogger explains

"The Wiggly Wigglers catalogue is absolutely stuffed with new products and is bigger and better than ever before. In addition to the new goodies, there are personal stories from contributors such as members of staff, customers and bloggers, which makes it feel more like a book than a catalogue."

They used Facebook, the blog, wiki's to bring this project together....but key is that it was produced with customers not just for customers. I have just got my copy and it does not feel like a catalogue, it feels like a Wiggly storybook...I suppose I should say well done Heather on being brave enough to use this approach but also well done customers!