Thank you so much for your comments on the latest blog posts. Because of the overwhelming response I will continue sharing some insider information on books, marketing, and publishing.  As many of you know, my roots began with dissecting marketing campaigns to see how and why they worked and what, if any, could be duplicated.  This is actually how I put together most of my material that’s currently inside the MIT Program.

Therefore I am particularly excited about the next few short, yet inspiring (hopefully) marketing ideas I’ll be sending your way.

Below is an example of an author using a unique digital strategy to launch their books – and I’m going to send you more.

First, I’m going to be frank with you and go as far as to say that the average person looks at strategies and says, “Can I copy this?”  In fact MOST TEACHERS out there don’t have any more imagination than that and suggest you copy (as that’s all they can see themselves).  But I believe YOU can go further.

Now, I’ve never said things like this before because I was taught growing up not to make waves.  But after my husband’s accident I view life a little differently and not only do I like playing in waves (literally speaking now, not figuratively as I detest stirring up trouble) but time is short in this lifetime and I want to just tell it like it is, and revealing more behind the scenes’ info as well as my own thoughts.  Hopefully you won’t “unsubscribe“ because of it.  But I feel that it matches my goal of truly being honest and helping you by giving as much information as I can.

Ok, so in that spirit of going beyond the average marketer or author or entrepreneur here, I challenge you to do what I do, which is … just for fun, no pressure, read the example below and instead of saying, “how can I copy this”, think about these questions yourself

1. What’s cool or fun about this campaign that I enjoy?
2. Could I do something similar?
3. How does it engage the reader?
4. Is there a distribution partner here, or way of getting books into customer’s hands or capturing their interest, that makes this exciting for me to brainstorm on?
5. Did they succeed in creating a media angle here?
6. How could I take just one element of this campaign and have it inspire me to put my own twist on it?  I find that is where the REAL FUN begins.

Ok here’s your first shot at this:

…and PS – don’t ignore fiction campaigns if you are a non-fictional writer, or vice-versa.  Look at the promotional concept and what it does for the book promotion and the audience/reader.  After all a book campaign should evoke the following 3 elements:

1. Garner interest of new audience.
2. Spark interest in the media (either social or traditional).
3. Create a response or interaction for the reader, as this goes a long way in not only getting the reader’s attention but building a loyal, supportive and connected following.
4. Bonus element -  Hey, where can I get a distribution partner?

Darn, I said this would be short.  Dammit.

Sorry about that…back to the example:

Example One:

Ok, I’ll admit I picked this example because of my relationship with and respect for Howard Behar, the former CEO of Starbucks, but I wanted to give you this idea to think about how you could promote your book with the help of a company – any company.  Please don’t email me requests for Starbucks, again you’re thinking too literal here, but if you are dead set in that space, I suggest you contact your local Starbucks first as they have a goal to connect with their community.

Genre: Fiction
Book Title & Author: The Night Circus by Erin MorgensternVideo or Book Link: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/night-circus-morgenstern-erin/9780385671712-item.html?s_campaign=goo-Books%20By%20Title-B&gclid=CIjm2o-3qKwCFSYaQgodiDVhEg
Publisher: Doubleday/Random House
Basic Premise: A Circus that opens at night and closes at dawn, becomes a star-crossed love  story for two competing magicians.
Digital Marketing Strategy: For several years now, you could walk into any Starbucks, order your coffee and grab a small ‘pick of the week’ free iTunes downloadable song.  Recently the 2 partners (Starbucks and Apple) have expanded their deal and are now offering ‘pick of the week’ programs to include book “episodes”.  This is term you may hear a lot of.  Basically it’s a selected chapter or selection of chapters.
Brief Intermission Factoid: Did you know that Charles Dickens began selling his books not as a fully completed storybook, but instead as individual episodes?  That’s where he quickly learned to create ‘cliffhangers’ so readers would buy his next ‘episode’.  So what is old is becoming new again.  How about that?
Back to the Strategy: The first e-book episode to be chosen by Starbucks is The Night Circus.  You can go into selected Starbucks store and pick up the download code on a card that will let you read several pages of the book.  Secondly, in the UK, they also launched an interactive mobile game that users can log into via Twitter or Facebook, and gather “preserved snowflakes” to advance to the next game level.  This is also Media worthy as they can make press releases about the interactive game and the new Starbucks deal.
Game link: http://www.nightcircus.co.uk/Home/Index
Interesting Author Fact: Erin began sending query letters to literary agents in June 2009.  After one year of bouncing between mildly interested agents and revising her manuscript on their advice, she signed with an agent (Richard Pine of Ink Well Management) in May 2010.  And just 4 months later Erin signed a (rumored 7-figure advance) publishing deal with Doubleday.  This is her first book – yes I said first book.  Her book deal includes rights in 25 countries and film rights by the producer of the Twilight Series.  Good job Erin! I’m officially jealous.

Look for my next post shortly for a second digital book strategy!  See – a real life cliff hanger!

Stefanie

Popularity: 4% [?]

Here is the eighth great installment I found on book tours, so I thought I would pass it on to you guys!  This is a good post from Kevin, he has a sense of humor about book tours from the glamorous to unglamorous things that can happen on tour.  Take this one with a grain of salt as many people don’t do book tours anymore, with all the social media launch opportunities available including setting up a proper book launch strategy.  But if you can do one, that’s great.  He basically says here that what is really important  is to match the kind of event that is right for you and your book, and which venue you are going after.  There is an exercise at the bottom for you.  Enjoy.

All the best,
Stefanie
—————————————
Your Book Tour and How to Plan it.

Last time we talked about how to give a great interview. That was probably the first time in our series that book promotion has sounded not just practical but glamorous, maybe even fun. Of course it’s important to describe your book in a smooth, clean sentence, or get your friends excited about the promotion process. But these are functions and not sexy ones. The sexy part of doing all this, we dream, is the unexpected interest, the strangers saying “I love your work,” the out-of-the-blue calls saying “could you be at the studio tomorrow afternoon?”

The sexy part of book promotion is going on a book tour.

What do you see when you hear the words “book tour?” A tastefully lit room with walls of regal brown? A packed house leaning in to your every crafted sentence? Answering questions about your  “process” while a helpful assistant reminds you of the line of autograph seekers vanishing like a horizon out the back door? Must not keep the people waiting, your smile assures her. They’ve already preordered your next book.

I’ve got that fantasy, too. We can both have it for only one Pulitzer Prize or a time machine back to the autumn of 1965.

For now let’s assume we have neither. What does this book tour look like? I had one a few years ago. A baby threw up on me. An earthquake struck while I was naked and shaving in a Palm Springs hotel room. I took about 650 trips to the airport and forgot where I was at least four times. Nobody showed up for some of my events and it felt awful. At few others, hundreds of people showed up without me asking. On those days, I felt like I could lift mountains.

My book tour was wild, exhilarating lunacy that left me grateful, exhausted, delighted and sad, all piled up between dinner and breakfast. And I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

I was also lucky. I had a publicist who valued events, five years of national public speaking experience on my résumé and relationships at venues throughout North America. Many stars will have to line up for me to be that lucky again.

Plan your book tour like it’s the only one you’ll ever have, because a) it might be, and b) these days, planning it is mostly your responsibility. Few publishers pay to send authors out on tour anymore. So if you think doing events, in your hometown or far, far away, is an important part of being a published author (in most cases, it is), your book tour will consist of a series of engagements starring your book and arranged, from the ground up, by you.

Next time we’re going to talk about how to be the star of your events. This time, we’re staying with how to set events up.

Wait, hold on. Should I?

You don’t throw a birthday party for a sofa, so let us not waste time on a mismatch. Are you or your book are right for events as a promotional tool and, if so, what kind of events? If you’re terrified to speak in front of a crowd or if your book wouldn’t benefit from such a thing, perhaps this isn’t the right approach. You can teach yourself how to speak publicly, and you probably should. No one is going to do it for your book but you. But if the book plain isn’t “event-right,” it’s mowing the lawn with a screwdriver. Wrong tool, wrong purpose.

Novels, poetry, humor and how-to books are great for event-style promotion. Biography, history, novelty titles, not so much. Rule of thumb: If your book is boring to an audience when read aloud, find some other way.

Let’s say your book is “event-right.” What then?

Kevin’s Four-step Mini Guide to Planning Your Book Tour:

1)   What kind? What kind of event is right for you and your book? Decide this by what plays to your strengths, but accept a few cold realities. Author-at-microphone-awkwardly-reading is not a big draw anywhere but a community with little competing entertainment. There aren’t too many of those. So what can you do to liven up a presentation of your book and make your event an experience instead of (let’s be real) a polite but ill-disguised sales pitch.Is your main character a basketball coach? If so, can you set up a hoop and have a free-throw contest in the bookstore? If your memoir is about growing up on an apple orchard, I’d like fruit bushels and cider tastings at your event, if you don’t mind. The baseball murder mystery we featured a few segments ago should probably have Gaylord Perry memorabilia scattered about or craft a “how to host a baseball murder” dinner in conjunction with a local civic organization.  Big question here: What kind of event can you structure around your book that makes for a special evening, rather than an “I guess this is better than watching TV” evening, for your readers?

2)  How far? Now that you know what kind of events fit your book, you need to decide how far afield you can go with them.

Start close to home. Venues nearby will be predisposed to aid a local author and easier to work in partnership with. If you’d like to do multiple events in your area, roll them out at least a week apart and vary the event type and venue. Doing six events at six competing bookstores all within twenty miles of each other risks overexposure and is not fair to the small businesses taking a risk on you.

If you’d like to travel, make sure first you have the time and resources to do so. If you’ve assembled your team and put your house in order, you should be able to do at least a few. But don’t start flying about at random. Where do you have large concentrations of friends and family that will show up? Where have you worked previously or gone to school? What organizations—civic, religious, professional—do you have relationships with that you could call on? Where are they located?

If friends/family or an organization would like to throw an event for/with you, make sure they’ve got books on hand to sell. I advise partnering with a local bookstore (independent shops will do this much more willingly than chains), as that store then has good feelings toward you and your book and will speak well of it to their customers long after you’ve gone home.

3)  Event Venue? If you are trying to secure an event at a bookstore or other venue you don’t have an existing relationship with, you’ll have to pitch them in much the same way we discussed in our pitch segment. If your publisher is throwing some marketing muscle behind your book, they’ll do this part for you. More than likely, you’ll have to do at least some of it yourself.

In a pitch, your target venue wants to know three things:

a)  Is your book “their kind of book”? Stores and venues have customer bases to which they direct their programming. A store next to a retirement village will not be game to feature you and your graphic novel about death metal bands. Use common sense and do your research using BookTour’s database to find out what venues host what sorts of authors before you even consider pitching.

b)  Will your event both bring in customers and sell books? If #a is a yes but you’re still an unknown author, I’d get promises from 10-15 friends that they will show up and buy books. Include that promise in your pitch. Otherwise, you’re asking a small business to put staff time, resources and their reputation into an unknown commodity. If they’ve read your book and love it, great, you’ll hear from them. If not, plan to bring your own crowd.

c) Can it fit into our calendar? Most venues book out weeks if not months in advance. If it’s Tuesday and you’re asking for a slot on Friday, you seem like an amateur and worth the risk Be sure to take a venue’s needs into account before you start pushing your own.

A pitch, then, is two to three paragraphs requesting an event, describing the type of event you plan to do, your book, and how it fits into the mission of the venue. As we’ve said before, be professional, succinct and informative.

4)  For Whom? At this stage, if someone wants you for an event six months from now, you say yes unless the request is outrageous or expensive. Same if they want you tomorrow. You’re on the promotion trail right now, and any interest is good interest, potential energy waiting to become kinetic. Promoting from a dead stop is painful and demoralizing. And this is supposed to be the fun part.

Exercise: Plan to be doing this for six months. Here in the early days, start booking events using these simple lenses: What Kind? How Far? For Whom?

BookTour.com launched a ten-part series on Book Promotion called “Everything you Wanted to Know about Book Promotion but were Afraid to Ask” written by CEO Kevin Smokler. Kevin has been advising authors and publishers on marketing and promotion for nearly a decade and has written and lectured on the topic throughout North America.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I found this funny website with Crazy Translations and it got me to thinking about why it’s so crucial to understand your target market.

Picture this: You’re a big-shot marketing honcho at General Motors in the ‘70s.  One of the global car retailer’s best-selling models is the Chevy Nova.  Comfortable, conservatively stylish for its day, it’s a car that’s on the move – so to speak.  Your territory is Latin America and you’re excited to offer this fine vehicle to our neighbors to the south.  You hop a flight from Detroit south of the border because you just can’t wait for the dealers to greet you like the conquering hero you know you are.  You walk proudly into the first dealership and ask the manager about Nova sales.  “Nunca (none),” he says.  You’re sure “nunca” is the word for “thousands.”  You ask the interpreter for a translation.  “None,” he says, “the dealer has not sold one Nova.”  What?! How can that be possible?!  In the states, dealers can scarcely keep enough on the showroom floor!  Why haven’t they sold any?

“Well,” explains the interpreter sheepishly, “No-va in Spanish means: Doesn’t go.” 

The morale of this famous business blunder is clear: know your customers, know your niche target market. And, this is important, know them before you spend millions in research, development, production and marketing!

Being successful in a business venture takes more than a knowledge of the market, it starts with a knowledge of people – the buyers, the final customer –  Each person plays a unique role in your ultimate success – as well as a unique perspective on your product or service’s plusses and minuses based on the observations from where they sit.  Talk with them.  Visit them.  Listen to them.  Communication  is key.

In the MIT Program www.mitprogram.com we work on figuring out your niche or target market so you can communicate to them in the most effective way.

Things to think about:
• Think outside the norm. Who could benefit from your info, but no-one is teaching them?
• Where do they hang out & their lifestyle? (Locate companies that reach your target market)
• What are the commonalities of why customers come to you for help?
• Find out if there is a market for your product by seeing how many people search for your keywords. 

Just ask the Scandinavian manufacturer Electrolux who once launched their newest vacuum in the U.S. with the slogan: “Nothing Sucks Like an Electrolux.”

You bet.

Other Big Marketing Brands and Funny Translations:

Clairol introduced the “Mist Stick,” a curling iron, into Germany only to find out that “mist” is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the “Manure Stick.”

Coors put its slogan, “Turn It Loose,” into Spanish, where it was read as “Suffer From Diarrhea.”

Pepsi’s “Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation” translated into “Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave” in Chinese.

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the labels of what’s inside, since many people can’t read.

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine

When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its “Fly In Leather” campaign literally, which meant “Fly Naked” (vuela en cuero) in Spanish.

An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope’s visit. Instead of “I saw the Pope” (el Papa), the shirts read “I Saw the Potato” (la papa).

The Dairy Association’s huge success with the campaign “Got Milk?” prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read “Are You Lactating?”

The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as “Kekoukela”, meaning “Bite the Wax Tadpole” or “Female Horse Stuffed with Wax”, depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent “kokoukole”, translating into “Happiness in the Mouth.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

I just found this book that I thought was really interesting.  It’s called ‘Predictably Irrational’ by Dan Ariely.  He’s a pretty interesting guy.  He is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight.  He did an experiment with giving away free items that marketers should read about.

Here’s a brief summary of one of his chapters:

The Free Trade Experiment

One of the chapters in Ariely’s book discusses the amazing power of giving away things for free. We all know that getting something for free makes people feel good. But Ariely takes it a step further and explains how attached people get to their zero-cost item, and psychologically, zero is very special.

Ariely wanted to find a way to explore his theory, so on Halloween, the author conducted an interesting experiment on trick-or-treaters.  After all – kids get zero cost (free) items every Halloween.  So he started out with a giving out three Hershey’s Kisses when the children first started to come to his door. But then he offered to make a deal.

He gave them a choice.  Each child could trade one Kiss for a mini Snickers bar or two Kisses for a full  sized chocolate bar. The result: after seeing the size difference in the chocolate, almost all of them traded the two Kisses for a full-sized bar.

As this is an experiment, Ariely changed the terms of the deal halfway through the night.

This time, the kids could now trade one (instead of two) of their three Kisses for the larger bar, OR get a mini-Snickers without having to give up anything in return. In terms of sheer volume of chocolate, the trade for the larger bar was still by far the better deal.

Here’s what’s interesting; when faced with this choice, most of them refused the trade, even though it cost them overall. Ariely later performed this experiment on his MIT students, and the majority there as well made the same mistake.

So what happened?

Ariely speculates that the underlying reason for the chocolate miscalculation was anxiety. He believes that people are naturally risk averse. He says, “there’s no visible possibility of loss when we choose something for free.” Therefore, most people are drawn to it.

I found this interesting because I know through consulting that when you give too much away free, you can ‘train’ people not to buy from you. In essence, they come to EXPECT all your products and services and help for free.  They might even get upset if you suggest a price to them.  Accordingly, when I consult, I walk the line with clients of suggesting what times we give for free, and what we just charge a small fee for and then strategically decide when we should begin to introduce the paid for items.

Having said that, I typically will include a free item to give people an incentive to buy.  Perhaps we can take this experiment to heart and offer our FREE items in a way where people can trade up for other items.  Like – download these 2 e-books and get this one for free.  OR sign up on this form to get a free item a month sent to you.  OR trade that for X.  It would be interesting to see what people choose.

OR even do something like what places like GoupOn does, where they offer deals, but only if the majority of people want it.  So everyone saves, but if only a few people want the 50% off then it doesn’t go on sale.  This company basically has the consumer emailing out to other consumers asking others if they want it in order for everyone to get the 50% off.  I might try this by asking my list which product or program item do THEY want a SALE on – the majority vote wins!  Great way to have people get involved and interacting.

Please let me know what your own FREE item experiences are.

All the best,
Stefanie

Popularity: 13% [?]

AUTHOR 101 UNIVERSITY OCTOBER 29-31 IN LAS VEGAS

You know I go to maybe 4 events a year.  Many events have lots of hype but when you show up  (frankly) they can suck.  I am sorry for being so blatant here, but you know it’s true.

However, the event that I return to EVERY year is Author 101 with Rick Frishman.

This is one of the best events.  It is always a PACKED room, and you meet a ton of authors and BIGWIGS.  Rick always invites industry pros and let me tell you – most people don’t even realize or take advantage of this opportunity.  But that’s like life isn’t it?  98% of people don’t do the things that gives them the edge, they just talk.

I am shocked.

Here’s why.   It costs you NOTHING to go up and either ask ME (which I will) or ask Rick to introduce you to a star maker at the event. What MOST PEOPE do at this event is just attend, sit in a chair and watch the speakers.  Listen, you will learn a LOT that way, and I hope you show up to support my presentation. But if you want to be someone who BREAKS through then in between the speakers presentations (on the breaks) CONNECT with those who help to make you a star.

Some may be one of the speakers OR one of the panelists.

EVEN if you have nothing to offer right, now, no book or product, no website.  What you DO have right now is YOU, your heart and your guts.  Nothing beats a face to face handshake, and 2 mins of rapport building that who knows may turn into dinner, that may turn into a million dollar deal next year.  I have seen it happen.

Trust me you won’t get a chance to have a phone call with them.

You might meet someone who SEES your STAR potential.  You might just meet someone who wants to PUBLISH you or MARKET you or turn your ideas into a MOVIE or TV Show next year. Or you might meet someone who just thinks you are so great they want to do a JV with you and you don’t know what yet, just that you are keen to put something together.

So here’s the email about the event.  It’s also 2 for 1 and it’s frankly underpriced.

I suggest if you go to this event – and when you do, COME GET me and ask me to introduce you to ANYONE or EVERYONE.

Be the top 1% , not the rest.

Plus – it’s Halloween- if you’re going to come to Vegas Halloween will be a riot.  Lots of fun.

About the event:

AUTHOR 101 UNIVERSITY is the place to be if you’re an author, publisher or aspiring author. You’ll hear top publishing and marketing experts reveal tools and techniques to get your book published and double or triple your income as an author or publisher.

You’ll hear from…

• Brian Tracy (he will help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined)
• Stefanie Hartman (she will help you monetize your expertise and make revenue FROM your book)
• Rick Frishman (best selling author, Morgan James Publisher and the go-to guy for author publicity)
• Barbara DeAngelis (one of the most influential teachers of our time, with four NY Times #1 best selling books)
• Tom Antion (internationally acclaimed Internet Marketing Expert)
• Loral Langemeier (NY Times best selling author and one of today’s most dynamic and pioneering money experts)

There are 19 other fabulous speakers – AND a Publishing Panel of publishers, agents, and editors that you can meet and talk with. This is going to be an amazing event and it is going to sell out fast.

LITERARY AGENTS are looking for your book – Don’t participate in the recession – this event will change your life!

Go today to www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/author101
and get the details and watch videos from some of our previous attendees.

See you there!
Stefanie

Popularity: 10% [?]

Very soon, I will be speaking at the crème de la crème of events, as one of the handpicked Successful, Elite Entrepreneurs Tactics team and I would like to see you there, meet you face to face if I haven’t done so before plus have the chance to sit down and talk with you face to face.

Without any hype or B.S. this truly could be the best event I speak at all year after seeing the star studded line up of the other speakers . . . such as;

Mark Joyner
Joel Comm
Marshall Sylver
Matt Furey
Simon Leung
Mr. ‘Z’.
. . . and myself, plus many more.

At many seminars and events, there is a mystery speaker, usually referred to as Mr. ‘X’.

Due to who this mystery speaker is and the fact the promoter has managed to drag him away from his secret hideaway and come out of ‘speaking retirement’ for a one off speaking engagement . . . he is clearly not any old ‘Mr X’ . . . he’s so rare, he deserves to be called ‘Mr. Z’!

What I can reveal to you about Mr. ‘Z’ is this; When he speaks, you can hear a pin drop in the room because everyone hangs on every single word, not wanting to miss even the smallest nugget of pure gold which flows effortlessly from his lips.

He’s like the pied piper of entrepreneurs and someone you don’t want to be kicking yourself for the rest of your life because you passed on the rare chance to see him live.

I know I will be taking notes like crazy.

http://www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/bigevent

After looking at the website for the event and knowing what each and every other speaker will be talking on . . . you would be wise to investigate for yourself so that you can make an informed decision.

I can reveal to you, some of the Team of speakers do private consulting . . . and, on average, it costs $5,000 to $10,000 an hour to buy their time and advice, and you would probably have to get in a very long line and wait forever.

In reality, YOU would have more chance of going to the moon. Others NEVER reveal their strategies and business secrets, for any price . . . to anyone. Some teach other subjects, however they have kept their best kept success secrets locked away in ‘Fort Knox’ . . . until now.

If this interests you even slightly, I urge you head on over and get the full story at:
http://www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/bigevent

All the best
Stefanie

PS. I am very selective as to which events I will put my name to because it’s my reputation on the line. When I was invited to speak at this event, my decision was a no-brainer. Head on and see why.
http://www.stefaniehartman.com/recommendation/bigevent

Popularity: unranked [?]

I certainly hope you’re one of the lucky ones that got in and were able to reserve your place in the easy-peasy podcasting program, where I will show you (begins July 5th) how to make $30,000 a month (yes on-going cash in your pocket) and build your list off iTunes (no-techno experience required millions of people searching for you) by speaking into your phone in your basement 2 hours a month.

You don’t even need to promote it (although I will show you how to do that) to get sales or to build your list. This is way easier that a teleseminar.

Did you know that people who search on iTunes are totally different people to those who search on the web? That means YOU are missing 40% (and growing) of the market by not doing this – so start doing this now!

It’s like a whole phone book or other internet that you don’t show up on.

Right now iPhones are automatically promoting you – but that may change any day now so be part of this opportunity now.

Did you know that because there are so many iPhone apps that iPhone has started to block them and make the screening process harder to get through?

This may likely happen with people who try to get their podcast up later. Now it’s free and easy and guaranteed!

Seriously, I am in the middle of moving, my clothes are looking grubby from painting, and Tania calls me to tell me, I have never gotten so many panicked emails from people who didn’t believe me that the door would be closing, or said their email was down – that it wasn’t their fault. Please let me in!

So, ok, if you didn’t get those emails from last week, then here is a BRIEF window of opportunity for you:

Only open for a day or so – then no matter who emails me, we’re closing the doors on this.

Brief window here: www.getitdonetodayseries.com/podcast

You are so great!
Stefanie

Popularity: 1% [?]

Remember the Wisk commercial in my last blog?  Here’s another vintage commercial:

I bet you didn’t even know you needed Space Food Sticks until you saw that!  LOL!

Out with the old . . . in with the new.   Download your free copy of The Hartman Report now.

Popularity: 1% [?]

What Is a Podcast?

You know, it wasn’t too long ago that I was going around thinking, “What is a podcast, anyway?” – but from all the buzz I was hearing, I knew it was something I really should be doing in my own marketing strategy!

So, when I did decide to get started, I went and found the best of the best to get me on the road to creating my podcast – his name is Scott Paton – the author of Podcasting Unleashed and serious podcasting expert.

Scott showed me that Podcasting is simply a way to distribute audio and video shows via the Internet that let you subscribe to a number of files, also known as “feeds”, and then listen to or watch the program at the time of your choosing.

So, rather than having to go to a web site to see if there is a new MP3 there for you to listen to or receive it via email, which can be blocked by Spam filters, subscribers use a “feed” to deliver the MP3 file directly to them.

Podcasting, much like Blogging did for news and editorials, lets anyone have their own “Radio or TV show”.

While you have always been able to download MP3 files and listen to them on your computer, Podcasting automates a lot of the process. Now an RSS Feed delivers the MP3 file to your computer (when you want), then your computer downloads the MP3 program to your iPod (and that’s where the name came from).

But, you don’t even need an iPod for it to work, as most MP3 player have the software to automate the process. Many people simply listen to the recording on their computer, or even burn it to a CD.

Great!

What I get out of that is that podcasting is simply another way for me to connect at a heart to heart, voice to voice, face to face level with my community (and future members of my community!) – which is always something I love – especially when it turns out to be a lot less ‘technical’ than I thought it would be!

If you’re interested in getting your own podcast done and working for you before the summer ends, stop by the Get It Done Series today, where in just a few short hours, you could know exactly how to use podcasts to gain traffic, sell products, create mini-radio shows and gain a loyal following.

You could go from thinking, “What is a Podcast” to having YOUR Podcast DONE before in less than a month!

Scott Paton and I are heading up the whole thing – and we’re going to make it easy for you to understand and implement right away.

Scott is so amazing when it comes to podcasting that as a direct result of his training, one student of
his made an extra $75,000 – and when Mike Filsaime and Tellman Knudsen wanted to start their podcasts, Scott was the one they turned to!

You can get your Podcast off to thunderous applause, rocket to the top of the hit lists in your industry, and GET IT DONE!

Visit here today for more info.

In the meantime – let me know your burning questions about podcasting by leaving a comment on this post – I’ll see if I can get Scott to give out some free advice!

Popularity: 3% [?]

I can hardly believe it’s FINALLY here! I have been sitting on this thing for WAY too long – and the time has come for me to share it with you! (And as a member of my online community, you’re getting exclusive access 10 days BEFORE everyone else does!)

Let me tell you – if you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, these are the words you’ve been WAITING to hear (I know because this whole thing was created out of my own longing as an entrepreneur to just get some of the help I needed!)

I am so excited to finally be able to tell you about a new service that is going to let you check off everything on your list for your business – and check it off fast (and cheaply too!).

Now, you know me – I love marketing strategy and techniques and teaching my students the behind-the-scenes secrets of how the super successful become well-known, generate massive leads, and well…make a ton of money doing it.

And of course I put many of these techniques into practice in my own business – but even I can never seem to do ALL the ones I want to in a year – I just don’t have the time or the energy. And it’s not always easy to find the right kind of help – even if you can afford to hire out!

The real truth is (and trust me, most marketers won’t tell you this) – you’ll probably never have all ofthe hours and dollars that you’ll need to learn and implement all the top marketing strategies for your business – it’s just too much!

And when you’re continually balancing your business needs, wearing many hats, and trying to enjoy a life at the same time, you’ve gotta ask yourself…

WHO CAN REALLY…IN REALITY…STUDY FOR 10 – 12 HOURS EVERY SINGLE DAY TO JUST KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TRAFFIC & LIST BUILDING STRATEGIES!

And really…wait for it…here’s the kicker…

WHY THE HECK SHOULD YOU HAVE TOO??????? Continue Reading

Popularity: 2% [?]