ThePodcastSisters

New Books in Our Bookstore

I have updated The Podcast Sisters bookstore with 6 more books that are worth taking a look at...

The Long Tail which is a great read to understand sales revenue
The World is Flat which is looks at how the business world has changed and how globalisation has changed the business rules.
3 Books on Podcasting:- Business Podcasting, How to Everything with Podcasting and Podcasting for Profit.
New Rules of Marketing and PR (I interview David Meerman Scott on The Engaging Brand podcast for a quick insight into his ideas). This book helps you understand how marketing has changed from selling the product to joining the conversation.

How to make money podcasting...

... was the question a journalist asked me today. Karen Coleman is a friend who has a radio show on Newstalk, one of the national radio shows in Ireland and I was speaking to her about whether she would like to join us at PodCamp Ireland next week as I know she had expressed an interest some time ago to start podcasting and blogging.

Like many people in business, they often think about how they can spend time creating a podcast which then turns into immediate profit. Karen was concerned that podcasting would not be a financially interesting option for her.

How to monetise and profit from podcasting is a conversation that Paul Colligan and I have had a number of times and Paul is great at getting you to think about developing a strategy for your podcast.

If you are in a situation where you are just getting started podcasting, if you do not have a specific brand or great reputation with a solid following (ideally having build your list) then to be frank, it's highly unlikely that you will be able to monetise your podcast immediately. Podcasting however, just as blogging, is a great way to build your reputation, express your expertise and build your personal brand, from which many opportunties will flow as we have covered on recent shows.

This week I had the opportunity to speak to Leesa Barnes, who I first got to know of via my good friend Andy Wibbels when Leesa was a coach. Leesa is now an author - her new book "Podcasting for Profit" will be formally launched next week and we recorded a podcast for The PodCast Sisters - we'll broadcast it when I'm here left on my own and Heather and Anna are off on their foreign tour!

We had a great conversation and covered a lot of great tips and strategies about profitable podcasting.

However if you can not wait for the show, you can mouse over to get a couple of chapters of Leesa's book and if you do so before the 25 September 2007, she will invite you to a live 75 minute teleclass about podcasting for profit. Leesa has declared the 25 September podcasting for profit day so if you are wondering how you can take your podcast to the next level, do make sure you join her.

Build your personal brand online for career distinction

I often get books to review from guests of my "Biz Growth Live" programme so it especially exciting to get a new book to read from a colleagues and friend as happened to me last weekend.

William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson, colleagues and friends who I have known and worked with for a couple of years are now officially authors with their launch this week of their book "Career Distinction".

"Career Distinction" is now on my list of recommended reading if you are an individual in an organisation looking to progress your career.

Personal branding is definitely the hot topic of the moment with everyone from coaches to image consultants, from web designers to bloggers talking about how to build your personal brand. Personal branding is one of the key areas I write, speak and teach - I recently covered how to build your personal leadership brand on of my recent podcasts at "Todays Women in Business".

Having spent almost 20 years in executive positions across the globe, what I was particularly struck by was one very important message in the book.

I have appointed many business leaders over my time in my corporate career, but few recognised the key message in "Career Distinction". Progressing in your career is not a start and stop approach - many people update their resume/CV and start networking when they are looking for a new job.

Instead, Arruda talks about considering your career management plan as something you work on continuously.

Co-author Kirsten Dixson brings to the table her experience of helping people build their personal brand online and I was delighted to see the subject of business blogging versus static web profiles to build your personal brand online being covered. However if you do want to build your personal brand online with a business blog or personal blog I would recommend that you also read books such as "Go Blog Wild" by Andy Wibbels which will provide specific guidance on blogging.

In summary, "Career Distinction" is a distinctive book about personal branding if you are looking to progress your career. I would recommend it for people in early career or middle management - there are some other elements I would want to see covered before recommending it to executives.

It would also make a great college graduation gift to help young graduates discover how to nurture their career right from the start.

If you would like to disover three key reasons why I recommend "Career Distinction" you can read my full review on "Todays Women In Business".