Flashcast 19: How To Create a Podcast For Your Market
Posted by Staff
Adding audio to your website is a new approach to connecting with your target market. Even though the process is simple for installing podcasting software, you still need to plan what kind of information you will present to your target market.
This week Tammy walks you through the steps of planning your podcast so it will be relevant to your target market so they will keep tuning in and keep buying from you.
Join us for the Work At Home Business Expo from June 3-6, 2008!
For more information, visit http://businessandlearning.com
Flashcast 15: How Television Can Help With Your Marketing Plans
Posted by Staff
Do you think watching television is a waste of time when you’re trying to create a marketing plan for your business?
Think again as Tammy shares 4 lessons that we can learn from some popular television and radio advertising campaigns.
Join us for the Work At Home Expo from June 3-6, 2008.
For more information, see http://businessandlearning.com
12 days of Christmas - Entrepreneurial Style
Posted by Tammy Munson
Thanks to Shannon Cherry for letting us know about this video!
Networking From Your Chair!
Posted by Wendy
You know, if you’re a work at home parent – how hard it is to ‘take any time off’ from the house to network and promote your business. What if there was a way to network and share your business without leaving the house.
Let’s say there’s a great event that your company or an association you deal with is putting on over a two day period, somewhere that involves a short flight to get to. You would love to attend (but, but, but), let’s review all this entails, shall we?
• Babysitters – possibly more than one, or maybe writing a manual on how to care for the children and the house for your significant other. This may also involve your partner rearranging their schedule – this may take some hand holding or arm wrestling.
• Preparing a detailed schedule of places, times and supplies needed for the birthday party, Kindermusik and soccer game that will take place while Mom’s out gallivanting around. How DARE she!
• Pet-sitters or arranging a place for them to go while you’re gone. Feeling guilty because you know they are going to be miserable without you.
• Meal planning – taking into consideration the kids only eat things Mom makes, which means they’re going to be living on pizza, cereal and fast food. Can we say cranky and demanding kids when mom returns? Oh wait, that’s normal, forget that one.
• Grocery shopping – probably with the kids since it’s the only ‘quality’ time you’ll get with them before you go.
• Packing - Pack light because you know that you’ll have to leave the car behind and take local transit to get to where you need to be. Sacrificing, so your partner can do what needs to be done while you’re gone.
• Hotel arrangements – the cheapest dirtiest place, furthest from where you need to be because you feel guilty about spending money on something as frivolous as a hotel.
• Flight arrangements – the red eye – cause it was $150 cheaper and you can’t take THREE days off. Plus it’s easier to sneak away in the middle of the night otherwise you’d be attending your event with a kid on each leg.
• Cleaning the house – only to come back to a place worse off than when you left including a week’s worth of laundry and dishes.
• Getting everything related to your work taken care of so that you don’t have to worry about it for two days. Hoping you don’t lose a customer because you didn’t answer their email or phone call within an hour of receiving it or because you weren’t there when they came by to drop off an order.
Do we agree? It takes a few weeks of a whole lot of planning, arguing, negotiating and guilt just to leave the house for two days.
Let’s not even get into the aftermath of taking two days off. You pretty much have to do it all again, while dealing with the kids – who’ve gotten their own way and liked it, pets – that won’t leave your side and follow you everywhere and a partner that’s disappeared for some alone time because two days with full responsibility almost put them in a coma.
But you want to go! So you do it all and then some.
Your event will have networking opportunities in a social setting as well as learning opportunities from people that you look up to and admire. Networking with people that have things in common with you is important for your business and it will all pay off in the long run. Plus it will be a blast! Full on adult conversations not interrupted by a screaming child, dressing up in clothes that won’t get wiped on or spilled upon unless you get a little out of hand during the social event. Justify, justify, justify.
You can do all of this without the hassle if you’re someone that attends online events. No flight, no hotel, Mom is home and taking care of everything, no aftermath, no guilt and no planning. You get to network, socialize and share your business or products with people eliminating the obstacles involved with an in person event.
Forums, Yahoo or Google Groups, Blogs, Blog Comments, Text Chats, Audio Chats, MySpace, Ryze, Networks, Facebook, the list is endless… all places you can network and have conversations from the comfort of your chair. Do yourself, your kids and your partner a favor and explore the opportunities that are available to you right from where you read this article.
Wendy Cooper – A work at home mom, Virtual Assistant and Online Event Organizer who built her business networking online loves helping other work at home business owners realize the value of building relationships from the comfort of their chair. For an awesome, real time opportunity to share your business, products or resources visit http://www.thewahexpo.com
Website Critique Event at Business & Learning
Posted by Tammy Munson
As you well know, every Tuesday night at Business & Learning we have our weekly networking chat. The chats are fun, informative and even business alliances have been made. We all can see the value in participating in networking as a great way to build your business!
Another way is to have a well done website whether it’s a content management site, blog or regular old-school HTML site. It could really make or break your business! How do you know if you have a well-designed site? Well let Business & Learning help you.
Come join us this Tuesday July 17th at 9pm EST for our first ever Website Critique Event at Business and Learning! We will continue to have this type of event once per month at Business & Learning!
Conference Room URL : http://www.businessandlearning.com/expo
User Name : type in your own name
Password: learning
Thanks to our very own Wendy Cooper for coming up with the idea, which occurred at one of our networking chats!
Of course, our team of website reviewers (Amanda Hamm, Jennifer Gniadecki, Wendy and Tammy) will be available to give critiques on your site as well as ways to make it better or just take it to the next level.
We will cover the following when reviewing your website:
*Clean & Easy design/structure
*Good user ability in the design
*Fast loading ‘light’ pages
*Correct use of technology and new media tools
*Marketability and Branding
If you are interested in having your website reviewed by us, please sign up below! All websites that are reviewed will receive a free MP3 of your review for later reference. We will take the first 5 signups we get for the first Website Critique Event. If we do not get to yours, don’t worry we will add it to the list for the next Website Critique Event.
To sign up, please email your name, url and contact info to info@businessandlearning.com
Hope to see you there!
Tammy , Wendy and the Website Critique Team
Business & Learning / WAH Expo
http://www.businessandlearng.com
PS…Mark your calendars now for the upcoming WAH Expo – November 13-16!