Internet Marketing

My Wish #2 for 2009 Making Podcasts Cool Again!

My second wish for 2009 is for more podcasts or MP3s instead of the videos. Or if you have to do a video, then I would like the option of an MP3 when it it only talking.

If you are going to show me something like a tutorial or how your latest product works, then by all means a video would be great and I would enjoy watching and learning.

You see, if you want to get stuff done, then to watch a video, even though the video may only be 15 minutes, there is that loading time, the ‘stuttering, spluttering’ time which turns 15 minutes into a half hour or more in some cases.

Whereas an MP3 doesn’t seem to have these loading problems.

They can be listened to while working, download it to your iPod or MP3 player and while doing offline stuff, can be listened to, like walking, vacuuming, doing the ironing, all the mundane jobs around that may need doing. Your entertaining MP3 will be a great distraction.

I think the Internet Marketing This Week is a good example of what I mean, you can listen to it online, several ways and also download it to listen to the gems of wisdom at your leisure.

Maybe the word podcast has some years gone by ring to it, not exactly old hat but maybe not as cool as it was. Kinda seen better days, so call it a hip new name and make it cool again.

Just because we can video ourselves chatting doesn’t mean we all have to do it.

If you are intent on video, do what the professionals do, write a script or get cue cards.

I have probably missed some information along the way simply because I just couldn’t sit and watch someone in not very good light, talking over and over about the house out the window at the back of them which couldn’t be seen on the video anyway and had absolutely no relevance to what the video was supposed to be about.

The ravings and ramblings may be okay if they didn’t have anything to do for an hour or so but keep those videos for the family get together nights when you lock the doors so the family can’t get out and have to watch. After all they are your family and they love you, we’re just people who are disappearing off your list.

I know with all new things there is a trial and error period. I think videos have been here for long enough for the trial and error period to be over.

If you are really into making videos to connect with your audience, then please, practise, entertain, keep us interested, don’t waft and wane, inform, I’ll happily take my 15+ minutes break.

So for 2009, my #2 wish is for the option of an MP3 when the video is just talk and no action.

Wish #3 coming soon

Till then, take care

Cheers

Carmel

Posted in Internet Marketing

2008 Handing Over To 2009, May It Be A Great Year For All!

Image by Christopher Chan via Flickr

This is the last day of 2008, in less than 24 hours (for me anyway) it will be next year, 2009.

Why is it that we always associate New Year’s eve and New Year’s Day with a new beginning?

When a year has been not so good, many of us seem to breathe a sigh of relief at the stroke of midnight on the 31st December and start to look forward to better times.

When we are going through a bad trot, you know we could pick a day, any day and do the stroke of midnight thing, breathe the sigh of relief and start a new period in our lives. It’s all in our state of mind, fresh beginnings can happen, we just need to make them happen with our ‘new start’.

I have much to give thanks for, my life in 2008 has been good, sure like everyone, some rough patches but all in all I am fortunate, I live in a great country, Australia, in a beautiful part, South East Queensland, have a wonderful family and friends, I do have so much to be thankful for.

Online I am fortunate too.

The biggest curve in existence is the learning curve on the Internet. All the tools, resources, the how to’s, what is the latest gizmo, gadget, the trends, what’s in, what’s out, what’s coming, what’s gone. It all helps keep the brain active, sometimes too active.

This year I’ve found what I really enjoy doing online and I have been learning as much as I can about that.

I admit I’m a bit of a tool junkie. Pity we can’t have ‘garage sales’ on the Net . Sure you can if you have purchased something with the resale rights but many of the other tools, you can’t.

(not sure what you call them in your country, but you advertise in the paper and have everything set out in your ‘garage’ with the price on little yellow stickers and people start turning up at 5.30am to get the best of the worst, I’ve never had one but my sister did, had one that is and never again).

As the state of the Net changes, so do the tools and resources we need.

While my computer has been turned off during the Christmas break, I have taken some time and cleaned out cupboards, didn’t have a garage sale, bagged the stuff and took it to the charity bins. Very cleansing!

Now that my computer is turned on again, I have tidied up my desktop and found inside folders, tools I will never use again.

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with them, some were in the expensive line too, but as the Internet has moved along the curve, these tools have stayed back in their time and unless this jolly curve starts to bend back, these tools will never be needed for the job they did again.

I’ve decided to ‘bag’ up these tools (who knows, maybe one day the curve will bend back) and put them into folders for the years they belong.

Then I’m going to put them into Dropbox http://www.getdropbox.com/ (not a charily bin as such).

Dropbox is a place where you can add your files and then access them no matter where you are or what computer you are on.

Not sure if that’s the right place, but has the same cleansing feeling as the Charity bins only they stay with me, just outa sight.

Anyway that’s the plan, gotta have a plan

I hope your break was enjoyable and you got to spend time with those you love and if Santa came, hope he was kind to you.

May 2009 be kind to you too, I would like to wish you all the very best for the coming year, may you have good health, peace and prosperity and….lots of it!

Take care

Cheers

Carmel

Posted in Internet Marketing

IMTW A Podcast Not To Miss!

Well after most of yesterday redesigning one of my sites, an older HTML one that I built a few years ago, I didn’t get much else done.

This site has just bubbled along but I felt it was time for an update and adding WordPress or the other way round. This is going to be a work in progress for a little while yet, I didn’t realise how much I had added to the site over the time.

I intend to give the product a bit of a ‘cut back and polish’ too.

I have only just caught up with the Internet Marketing This Week podcast for this week, that’s #4 and well worth a listen.

In case you haven’t heard about it. Ed Dale and Paul Colligan started out a few weeks ago doing a podcast each week and then brought on board, Lynn Terry and Michelle MacPherson. I’m tipping this will be “the must not miss” event each week.

So go on over and check it out, there are several options for you to subscribe or you can listen right there on the site. Here is the URL
http://www.internetmarketingthisweek.com/

What I really do like about this is, I can download the podcast to my iPod and listen to it while I work, walk or do so many other things and I don’t have to be ‘watching’ at my computer.

So far they have all been really good value and I know with Ed involved there will always be great info and I’m betting you will hear the latest there first ‘coz Ed is just like that.

Okay I’m back to the designing and a few other things, like playing with this site too, this WP-Flex template has so many options, Leanne, the WPQueen has finished the ebook to help with all the options for the template.

Bye for now and take care

Cheers
Carmel

Posted in Internet Marketing

The Latest Buzz And A Little Bit More!

How the Internet has grown and matured over the past however many years!

You only need to look at the US elections for the President Elect and here in Australia our last election at the end of 2007 to see how the World Wide Web has been accepted. When the leader of a country has his own Blog, when politicians are tweeting then, Hey! WWW is powerful stuff!

One of the latest in Internet Marketing to go after is the, what I have always called, the ‘dirt world’ or the bricks and mortar businesses.

I had my own ‘dirt world’ business for 15 years until I needed to retire and sold it. Sad day but all good things must come to an end, so they say. It was time for me to retire.

Towards the latter part of those 15 years, the Internet was just getting going. I had been through the, wait for it, Fax stage. Yes! to have a Fax number was the be all and end all of being in business. A fax number and the good old automatic credit/debit card processor, you know that little machine that has become a way of life.

Well I had the fax and the credit/debit card auto processor but I didn’t have the www.mybusiness.com. And…..my business was one of those that could benefit from the www.

So, one day along came the ‘salesman’ to get me that presence with my very own www. They would build me the website, just how I wanted it and get me all set up so in no time I would have all this new business.

Well, the website looked nothing like what I had detailed how I wanted it. From the color scheme to the layout, there was no comparison with what I had asked for. So back they went to fix.

Well after three times, I cancelled the order and with the help of my son, (he was about 15 years old and very into computers, he now codes and designs computer games) set about to built the site myself. Well we did it and it looked pretty good. But then I thought I need to get people to see my site so they can order my products, so how do you do that?

And so began my affair with Internet Marketing.

If someone has walked into my store then, to show me what Internet Marketing people can show today, I would have jumped at the chance to implement what they advised.

Today all small to medium business in the offline world are being told, they need a Web presence. Many of them already have a website but apart from adding the address to their business cards, they have no idea what else to do.

That’s where those who know how to Internet Market, come in.

If you are one of the online people who know how you can help these offline businesses not only have a Web presence, you can make that Web presence profitable for them, then you have a new market but….. you will need to learn how to market to these offline people.

You are going to find that there will be a lot of information coming at you about this offline market. This along with the new ‘email’ called Twitter and the new word for group/groups which is Tribe/Tribes and add a little continuity and blueprints for anything and you will be right in the new “Marketing Zone”

Twitter—> Utter Succession of Tremulous Sounds
Tribe—> Subdivision of Race of People
Continuity—-> A Logical Sequence
Blue Print—-> Original Plan

And……my term that can be used with TTCB or whatever TTCB becomes in the future.

Marketing Zone—> Offering a Region/Area with Particular Characteristics or Uses

So my wish for you “May You Always Stay In The Zone”

Look out for my next post, I’ll help you with how to get on side with the offline business owner, from a voice with experience.

Cheers
Carmel

Posted in Internet Marketing