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Years Worth of Posts Here

Archive for September 2005

Free Blogging Teleseminar

posted by:
Fri Sep 30, 2005
1 Comment |
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    Next Tuesday, October 4th, 11 am Pacific (Noon M, 1pm C, 2pm E) I will be interviewed on a free teleseminar hosted by Steven Van Yoder, author of Get Slightly Famous, on the – The Basics of Business Blogging (and why every business should have a blog)

    Here are some of the things we will discuss on the call:
    - An easy-to-grasp explanation of blogs and blogging
    - The benefits of blogs over e-mail newsletters
    - How to cost-effectively start and maintain your own blog
    - How to brand your blog with great writing, audio, and video
    - How to use your blog as a new income generator

    Blogging has become an integral part of my marketing and is responsible for generating significant revenue, leads, PR, awards and even a book deal! Maybe it’s time to learn how to harness this powerful tool.

    Click Here To Register

    Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 30, 2005 | 12:07 pm
    Category  : Blogging

    Where In The World Is Local Search?

    posted by:
    Fri Sep 30, 2005
    3 Comments |
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      Look, I’m not going to waste too much time trying to convince you that people are searching for every kind of business, right there in you hometown, using the Internet. Every major search engine is rushing to become the next local phone book and you need to get your business listed now, while it’s still free.

      Here are the major plays you need to make today. (Of course, this will change by next week but, it’s a start.)

      Register your web site and business listing with each of these local versions of search engines.
      Google Local
      Yahoo Local
      Super Pages (provides listings for many search engines and part of Verizon)
      City Search (said to feed AOL)
      MSN Local

      Let’s say you were looking for a marketing coach and you typed in “Marketing Coach Kansas City, MO” in Google Local. This is what people do and they need to be able to find you when they do!

      Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 30, 2005 | 10:41 am
      Category  : Internet Marketing

      News You Can Use

      posted by:
      Thu Sep 29, 2005
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        You may know a little about Yahoo and Google News but, you may not be seeing those two services for the true potential they have.

        First, let’s start with the basics.

        Here are the links to Google News and Yahoo News. On the surface they look like any news reporting site giving out the day’s top headlines. But, if you dig a little deeper, you will soon discover that both of these sites index almost every little scrap of news and every press release in the world and, we are talking about Google and Yahoo.

        Now, add that with the fact that any search you do on these news sites can be syndicated via RSS and you’ve got a very powerful and very user friendly tool.

        The first thing every business should do is set up a series of searches on key industry terms, key competitors and the company name. Once you do these searches you can subscribe to them via MyYahoo or a Google account and then, anytime something comes up in news under one of your searches, you can read about it automatically in your RSS reader or even choose to have an email alert sent directly to your inbox.

        Track your PR campaign far and wide.

        I recently found this nice little article about my web site in the Tucson Citizen on the day it ran. A notification just popped into my gmail account.

        Syndicate industry headlines

        Without much work you can create pages of dynamic content on your website, all focused on keyword rich, industry themed topics, displaying and updating automatically. Heck, combine the right search feeds ( there are many more sources for this than Google and Yahoo) and your pages may become a hot spot for content in your industry. Here’s an example of a page created by a law firm to display construction news

        You need to have a MyYahoo and GMail account to get the most from these services but you should have both of those for lots of other reasons anyway.

        MyYahoo is free and you can get by filling out a form. GMail is still be invite I think. If you still need a GMail invite register and post a comment here and I will send you one.

        Update:An alert reader informed me that getting a GMail account no longer requires an invite. They do require your mobile phone number though.



        Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 29, 2005 | 12:07 pm
        Category  : Public Relations

        The Ultimate Small Business Marketing System Audio

        posted by:
        Thu Sep 22, 2005
        1 Comment |
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          I conducted a teleseminar yesterday with about 500 small business owners in attendance. I recorded the call and you may listen to, download or subscribe to the audio portion of “How to build the Ultimate Small Business Marketing System in 7 steps” by visiting the Duct Tape Marketing Radio Podcast.

          I have posted the mp3 file as a podcast. This allows you to visit my podcast site and simply listen to the file on your player, download the file to listen to when you wish or subscribe to the RSS feed through a service like iTunes (or several other RSS Readers) and have the file automatically downloaded and added to your favorite mp3 player such as an iPod.

          Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 22, 2005 | 7:01 pm
          Category  : Marketing Plans

          Offer Proof With Checklists

          posted by:
          Tue Sep 20, 2005
          2 Comments |
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            It may not be that glamorous but one of the best ways to differentiate your business is to show your clients and prospects checklists.

            See, lots of folks talk about quality, speed and accuracy but few really deliver it. If you could offer your prospects proof that you not only deliver the goods you have a 10 point system that guarantees it, well, I think your business would be the obvious choice.

            Almost every business has checklists (even mental ones) that they go through to ensure the job gets done right, the order gets packaged right or the service is delivered on time. Few however, take the time to document those systems in the form of a checklist and fewer still think to use those checklists as marketing tools.

            What if you produced a document that read: Our 10 point white glove inspection guarantees that your car will be spotless – and then proceeded to list all 10 steps.

            How about your web site optimization process, your financial investment risk analysis, your safety process, your service punchlist. . . there is no end to the creative ways you can approach this. People love top 10 lists and checklists because they take something that is often complicated or boring and turn it into something that is simple and even entertaining.

            SIDEBAR: Documenting the kinds of systems I’ve discussed above might actually be a good business idea anyway!

            Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 20, 2005 | 11:34 am
            Category  : Referral Marketing

            Writing Is A Master Marketing Skill

            posted by:
            Fri Sep 16, 2005
            4 Comments |
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              Few things are sold without a prospect reading a written word or two.

              Business owners often ask me what they should be looking for in a marketing assistant and I always say – find someone who can write.

              Now, let me back up and tell that what I really mean. Find someone who will write.

              Many people claim that they are not good writers and my take is that they simply don’t write. In order to become a good writer, in order to use writing as a marketing skill you must write. You can always have someone edit what you write, but it’s the act of writing that starts the marketing ball rolling. (I know my editor friends out there wish I would take that editing advice.)

              Here’s what I have found.

              Writing creates ideas. It’s rarely the other way around. Many times I have no idea what I am going to write, but once I start, ideas just happen. What comes about is often far greater than anything I could have simply thought and then transferred to paper or screen.

              Writing will help you have something to say. The more you write, the better you will sell.

              Writing will help you listen more actively.

              Write speeches, write notes, write essays unrelated to your business.

              Okay, write sales letters, write web pages, write white papers. Just, write first, and then see what you had to say.

              Your business and your marketing will thank you.

              Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 16, 2005 | 9:53 pm
              Category  : Copywriting

              Free Press Release Distribution Resources

              posted by:
              Fri Sep 16, 2005
              3 Comments |
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                I’m a big fan of PR. I’m also a big fan of PRWeb when it come to putting press releases out to the world. But, there is a growing list of alternative PR resources.

                One of my BlogLightning students, BZ Riger-Hull of Spiritual Marketing (means she purchased BlogLightning and built her blog in a flash) recently posted a great list of free press release distribution resources.

                Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 16, 2005 | 2:12 pm
                Category  : Public Relations

                Small Business Ownership :: Is It a Noble Calling?

                posted by:
                Thu Sep 15, 2005
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                  So, three young guys walk into Starbucks, and one of the guys is practically jumping up down enthusiastically telling the others something seemingly urgent.

                  When they finally come into earshot I realize that the animated one is trying, passionately, to convince the other two to start their own business.

                  Part of logic went like this: Business ownership is one of the best ways to positively impact a great amount of people.

                  Wow – How often do we remember that? What you are doing (if you own a business, I’m talking to you – if not, listen anyway) is a high calling. I wonder how often we treat it as such? I wonder if we’ve forgotten to trust that the service of product we put out into the world has the ability to transform lives. I wonder if we still consider the positive impact our places of business have for the people who call it their job?

                  Do we still reach way up there and turn on the light. And do we let that light shine through our business as an example for the 2 million plus start-ups that will come on line this year.

                  It’s pretty easy to grow cynical the longer you have been in business. I’m not always full of this light I talk about but boy, it is where the fun in this thing is.

                  Tell me your story – what keeps you enthused about your business? What’s your noble cause all about? Have you ever considered that?

                  Posted by  : John Jantsch on Sep 15, 2005 | 6:16 pm
                  Category  : Vision
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