ThePodcastSisters

Podcast 55 - Web Tools That Make Our Business Life Easier

This week's free Podcast Sisters audio show for non geek's,who are wanting to grow their businesses on line, 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)

Heather, Krishna and Anna talk about 3 different topics this week.

• Heather talks about a great use for her Wiggly Wigglers Facebook group
• The girls talk about the importance of podcast reviews
• All 3 talk about what gadgets/web tools that they are using in their business

Feel free to discuss topics or share links inspired by this show at our Friendfeed room

Here are links mentioned in the show

Wiggly Wigglers Shop

If you want to embarass Anna by leaving a review for The Engaging Brand!

If you want to review The Podcast Sisters on iTunes

Blog Talk Radio - Free podcasting tool

The Flip Camera

Marantz Mobile Recorder

M Audio Mobile Recorder

Skype - For those embarrassing video calls

Middle Age Shed Diet Podcast

Google Calendar

Mobile Me - automatically pushes new email, contacts, and calendar events to your Mac, PC, iPhone and iPod touch using a secure online server or “cloud”.

Google Gears to access Google applications when offline

Google Mail

Feedjournal for RSS feeds in a newsletter format

Podcamp Ireland
To listen to all the previous shows, here is the bank of The Podcast Sister podcasts

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

Which brands are using Twitter?

I often get asked about which companies are using Twitter. We mention Twitter quite a lot on the podcast, as after our initial cycnism we are now fans of the microblogging service - or at least Krishna and I (Anna) !

Well there is a Twitter Brand Index that is compiling a list of companies who are checking out Twitter. The one thing that hits me is the array of companies or organisations. You may think that this would only be used by technology companies.....but the list illustrates that the tool is not just for technology brands.

The whole microblogging arena really interests me as an engagement tool - watch out on The Engaging Brand for an podcast interview that I will be having with Pownce - we will be exploring how microblogging can be used as an engagement tool.

Google While You Walk

I love it, Google has added to their maps, the ability to get walking rather than driving instructions.

I love Google maps and use it on my mobile to find client addresses, hotels etc  However, I had found it irritating that often you ended up walking longer than you had to...not now. Now you can use it to get the quick, walking route :)

Podcast Sisters 54 - How Not to Tire of Social Media

This week's free Podcast Sisters audio show for non geek's,who are wanting to grow their businesses on line, 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)

Heather cannot join us again this week but do not fear Krishna and Anna are on fine form talking about how they cope with social media overload. Feel free to discuss topics or share links inspired by this show at our Friendfeed room and if you want to join in the conversation then why not come over to our Podcast Sisters Friendfeed room and leave your comments!

Here are links mentioned in the show

The Dongle that Anna loves from 3 mobile

Paul Tate

Twitter - Krishna and Anna

Twhirl to keep track of Twitter

Hellotxt for posting to your social networking sites

Podcamp Ireland

Identi.ca, Plurk

Pat Phelan

Jason Calacanis blog post about giving up blogging
 

Friendfeed for Krishna, Anna and Heather

To listen to all the previous shows, here is the bank of The Podcast Sister podcasts

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

Boost Your Business With Online Video

You have no doubt seen the proliferation of video's on the web this year and probably noticed how impactful they are in bringing your brand to life.

Heather has actually made a recent purchase of a Flip Video which she enjoys using to capture video's on her travels and she also uses them on her main website.

But what if you are camera shy or don't have the excitement of a Wiggly Wiggler's backdrop to share with your community?

You don't have to have to create video with you as a talking head - you can be inventive with the backdrop you choose, record your voice alongside a screen capture or create a PowerPoint slide presentation and do an accompanying voiceover.

I've been doing this kind of video for about 3 years and have used online video for lead generation and delivering online study programmes about personal branding and marketing strategies.

If you are not sure where to start, friend of the Podcast Sisters (and a previous guest) Leesa Barnes has a three minute video on what to look for when choosing video capturing software. And while you on that page you can find other video's she has done on her blog. Access the video HERE.

Do let us know what questions you have about creating video online and we'll see what we can do about covering your questions on a future podcast.

NOTE: Leesa's video is a primer for a virtual seminar she is hosting on 23 and 24 July 2008 about how to boost your business using video. If you are interested in that course, make sure you scroll down the page and enter in the VIP code (VID 723) so that you will get into the virtual training for just US$20).

Podcast Sisters 53 - Facebook Groups and Facebook Ads

This week's Podcast Sisters Podcast, we discuss discuss how to use Facebook Groups and Facebook ads to build community and increase sales.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Del.icio.us - Tagging and privacy

07:34 Facebook Communities case study Wiggly Wigglers

08:25 Groups, pages and profiles in Facebook

11:29 Setting up a Group; promoting product

17:18 Tracking purchases

18:26 Discussion boards to understand your customer and for stock list planning; understanding customers needs and customer support

23:00 Building your group

26:19 Setting up ads to benefit from viral marketing

29:44 Facebook groups as a focus group and how to engage members

33:36 Setting up your ads

36:19 Paying for clicks versus paying for views

37:50 Maintaining momentum

37:50 Conclusion

We'd love to hear from you - what thoughts, feedback or suggestions do you have for future content? Or perhaps you have suggestions for subjects you would like us to cover?

You can post your comments here or mouse on over to our Podcast Sisters Friend Feed room.

Or you can join us over at the Podcast Sisters Facebook group to discuss this week's show.

You can also send us an email perhaps attaching an audio file with your comments to podcast.sisters(at)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:

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

PutPlace For Digital Media Peace Of Mind

As we increasingly create and save more and more information it becomes challenging to keep track of files as we talked about on this week's Podcast Sisters podcast where we were talking about the tools we use to bookmark information. 

That's where the new service Putplace becomes really valuable. 

At PutPlace you can store your files and access them wherever you are. 

PutPlace is currently in Beta and you can therefore use the service free of charge for up to 2GB of space - when the service opens up fully there will be an annual subscription fee based on the amount of data PutPlace handles for you. 

And if you have ever had a disaster losing your digital files, PutPlace wants to know about it - send them a photo of your digital despair and you're in with a chance to win an annual subscription to PutPlace for 100 GB of data and US$200 USD Amazon gift certificate.

Five finalists will be selected by the PutPlace team and the voting will then be open to the public. The contest runs between 1 and 31 July 2008 and winners will be announced on 15 August 2008. So go on take a snap of your despair and enter into the PutPlace pull a face competition today.

Oh and did I mention - PutPlace is an Irish start up - over at PodCamp Ireland we are very proud of CEO Joe Drumgoole.

A Simple Tip for Social Media

I was asked today about where a small business should start on social media. They had loads of great ideas - seriously great ideas - but had spent the last few week thinking about how to start.......my advice

Just start....

The best part of social media is that you can test ideas, you can fail fast and move on, evolve and develop.

Social media can be overwhelming but often it is overwhelming when you look at the whole.....choose one area that you feel passionate about, that makes sense for what you are trying to achieve with your company. One thing that I did early doors was try things with my personal name or a name that people could not link to my company...that way I could test it out with low risk.