Reason 9: Seizing Opportunities as They Come Along

If you’ve spent any time reading my emails or participating in my webinars, you know that I emphasize how fast the Internet moves, and how important it is for you to be ready to seize opportunities as they come along. Being able to manage an existing website is great; being able to create one or more pages or even a whole site when you need it is even better.

A couple of years ago (before I really knew what direction my business should take), a colleague of mine from the National Speakers Association invited me to deliver a teleseminar as part of another association’s series. I immediately agreed to participate, and we worked out a series of interview questions. I had one problem though; I didn’t have a website for this particular area of expertise. None of my existing sites were really suitable. I was going to need a website, and fast!

Once I had the teleseminar content worked out, I devised a small website to accompany that content. I didn’t have a product to sell, so a salesletter wasn’t going to work. What I planned to do was provide a special page of resources connected to that content for the teleseminar attendees. I needed a multi-page website that listed my services and pointed to the websites I DID have. The resulting site became www.Tooliedotter.com.

Is it an impressive site? No, definitely not my finest work — in fact, I debated about showing it to you at all. Did the site provide the intended information? YES, it did, including the hidden resources page. The site also included links to 2 online demos I already had, an opt-in box for my webinars, a working contact form for future inquiries, and my Live Chat button in case someone wanted questions answered real-time. The site provided evidence that I had consulting expertise, and provided a destination for consulting inquiries.

How long did I spend on this website? Less than eight (8) hours: in fact, I put it up overnight. It has my colors, my fonts, and a simple design I can expand and update in the future. Did I get visitors to my website as a result of the teleseminar? You bet. Did I get business from it? Indirectly, yes, through my webinars and coaching. Am I going to leave the site like it is now? NO! I’ll be revamping it when the time is right. The important thing is that I was able to produce the site when I needed it.

Most of you won’t need to create an entire site to seize an opportunity for exposure and future business. But wouldn’t be great if you could put up a dedicated web page specifically for an opportunity for acquire new clients? With a little HTML and CSS knowledge, you can do exactly that, any time of the day or night. My new training product/coaching program/membership site will show you how.

Tomorrow: Reason 8 – Branding and Creativity Applied Online

Toolie®

This IS the year you can learn to manage your websites and blogs yourselves. To give you a little food for thought, I’ve devised my “Top Ten Reasons to Manage Your Own Websites and Blogs.” I’ll reveal them one day at a time, leading up to the launch of the product I’ve created that can help you learn to do exactly that! I’ll keep these emails focused and to the point, but you’re not going to want to miss any of them!

I decided to set these reasons up in an order going from “somewhat esoteric” to “down to brass tacks,” so if this first one doesn’t impress you, stick around. I’ve got many more concrete reasons (and some true stories) why THIS is the year to finally learn how to manage your own websites and blogs.

Reason 10: It’s One Less Thing to Be Afraid Of…

In 1991, I was laid off from a job in a new career with only 18 months’ experience. I was devastated emotionally, psychologically, and financially. My marriage had ended just 2 years before and I was getting back on my feet from that when I lost my job. McAlister and I had been together only a few months when this happened, and after seeing me sob and moan day after day, he finally turned to me, exasperated, and said, “You’re just out of a job, you’re not out of talent.” He was right, of course. I was letting my fear paralyze my future.

When I came out the other side of that experience (still not understanding why I was meant to endure it), I finally came to the conclusion that having been through it, I was in a position to no longer be afraid of difficult economic times in the future. I wasn’t wishing difficulties on myself or anyone else, but I didn’t have to be afraid of them because I now knew what to do.

There are a lot of frightened people in a similar situation right now, especially entrepreneurs. We often live “promotion to promotion” anyway (instead of paycheck to paycheck), and if we had staff, we might have had to let them go. Now we have to do some of that work ourselves, and much of it involves wrangling our websites and blogs to best effect.

Our websites and blogs are our lifelines to future income. Without a solid understanding and skills to operate them, we’re forever stymied and frustrated because we let our fear of web technology govern our actions. The good news is that having an effective website doesn’t mean you have to learn everything there is to know about HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). There is a reasonable subset of information that will get you about 80% of the way, and the rest you can learn only IF and WHEN you need it.

It’s your chance for a sense of empowerment, of having one less thing to be afraid of…! And I’ll be here to show you want you need to learn to make it work.

Tomorrow: Reason 9 – Seizing Opportunities When They Come Along

Toolie®

When I describe what I do to folks who are not business owners or who don’t operate on the Internet, they’re baffled. “There are plenty of free website templates out there: do you have customers for what you do?”

Yes, absolutely. If you’ve spent any time on the Internet trying to attract customers, you quickly discover that simply putting a website up is not enough. You can set up a website or a blog and have it live in relative obscurity for months, even years. I know this from personal experience…!

“You don’t need to learn HTML to have a website.” That’s true as long as you don’t have a preference as to whether the website is blue or brown or purple. Perhaps you don’t mind that your website looks like the 762 other websites using the same template. However, when you begin to develop a brand for your business and you want your sites to reflect your brand, your colors, your logo, you will start to care very much.

“Have your web designer add this, (and this, and this) to your site.” Why do the experts say use this phrase? Because the assumption is that you as website or blog owner are not willing to learn HTML or Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) skills necessary to make the changes yourself. Perhaps not at first; but as time passes and your sites sit in cyber-obscurity, your priorities change. You can certainly choose to depend on your web designer to make updates, but why not learn how to do the simple things? It makes fiscal sense, and your site updates will certainly move along a lot faster. And on the Internet, fast updates are the name of the game.

When it comes to marketing over the Internet, you need more than just a website or a blog. You’re going to want to create squeeze/opt-in pages, confirmation and thank-you pages, custom HTML for the top and bottom of your shopping cart pages, and of course, pages where you post downloads or giveaways. You can certainly copy and paste from existing pages, but are you confident that you know what to add and what to remove without breaking the template?

There are plenty of things you can do to attract traffic to your site. And what do they usually involve? More often than not, it’s jumping into the HTML or CSS to make changes. The good news is that HTML and CSS are a lot simpler than you think. They’re detailed, but they are not difficult. And that’s where my business is: showing entrepreneurs, virtual assistants, and small business owners a simple method for learning the HTML and CSS they need to feel confident and be competent to work on their own sites.

I’ll have more to say on this subject in the weeks to come. Stay tuned for more of my gentle truth-telling…

Meanwhile, be sure to sign up for Thursday night’s Free Website and Blog Makeover Webinar.

You know it’s coming…the New Year. You can tell because the frenzy over Holiday shopping has begun. Not long after that, the January will arrive, and you’re going to be thinking about how to make 2010 even better than 2009.

On Thursday December 3rd, I can have a look at your websites and blogs and offer you suggestions on how to enhance them to attract and keep more visitors. I’m having another one of my acclaimed “Website and Blog Makeover Nights” and you’re invited! We’ll start at 6:00 pm Pacific and wrap up by 7:30 pm. You can sign up for the webinar by clicking on the ad on the right to sign up for the webinar.

You can supply the URL of a website or blog you want evaluated, or just join us to follow along. Either way, you’re certain to get ideas by observing other sites. The webinar will be recorded, so sign up even if you’re not sure you can attend.

I’ll also be going over the ways you can use my Holiday Sale 30% Off Website and Blog Coaching to get ready for the New Year. While everyone else is distracted by holiday preparations, you have a perfect opportunity to spruce up your sites and get off to a great start in 2010.

Click here or on the red Webinar ad on the right to sign up.

See you Thursday night!

Toolie®

I’m very excited about tonight’s free webinar where I’ll be showing you how to add social media to your websites and blogs. With 5 demos, a resource page of links, downloadable starter files, and a preview of my new website product, it’s going to be a great webinar!

As an “Internet Marketer,” keeping up with the latest methods for attracting traffic is essential. That’s tough to do when you don’t really know how to work on your websites and blogs. After years of watching my clients struggle with their sites, (plus several painful episodes of my own) I created a website training course specifically designed for entrepreneurs. I start at the very beginning and take you all the way through installing social media, plus audio, video, and much more. I’ll be revealing the details of this product during the webinar tonight.

So click the big button on the right to sign up, and I’ll see you at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern!

Toolie®

Late last month I put the finishing touches on a simplified setup in my office for recording videos for my websites and blogs. I started the process 18 months ago when first delved into Internet video for my weekly webinars. One thing I learned when I started doing webinars; if you want to get good at recording either audio or video and you want to do it often, work the equipment into your office setup as much as you can. If you have to stop to set up the equipment every time, you’ll never get around to it.

Of course I included a detailed full-motion video demo in my soon-to-be released website training product. I really love putting video clips, audio voice-overs, and music together to deliver a business message. I’m inspired though to do more impromptu video as part of my business: at my live presentations, when I work with clients in person, and even at conferences I attend. You know where I get my inspiration for cool ways to tie video elements together? The Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters program.

Yes, I’m a big fan of the Mythbusters; I discovered them about a year ago when I realized that I needed a consistent way to find my “happy place” and decompress at night. I record every episode I can, and I save them up to watch as I get ready for bed. I love their problem-solving approach to myths, their humor, their inventiveness…and their cool video editing! Have you ever watched one of their episodes with an eye for the way their video is edited together? I love the on-the-spot, in-the-moment nature of much of the footage. Imagine doing your job with videocameras recording YOUR every move! No stress, eh?

Watching the Mythbusters also reminds me that I don’t HAVE to have perfect hair when I go to record a video clip; I just need to have a genuine message and a purpose for talking into the lens. It’s the content that matters. And that’s the bottom line when it comes to delivering value over the Internet: real content, whether it’s via audio, video, or plain old email.

Speaking of delivering content, don’t forget my free webinar Tuesday night on “Adding Social Media to Your Websites and Blogs.” You can have a great message to deliver, but you need prospects to connect to you so you can deliver it. Tuesday night at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern, I’ll show you exactly how to install your choice of social media methods.

And yes, I’ll finally reveal the details of my website training program, so sign up right away! Just click the button on the right to register for the webinar. See you then!

Toolie®

Social Media has everyone’s attention these days — Facebook, Twitter, Social Bookmarking, and so on. There’s no doubt that you can benefit from participating in social media. You can even put icons, badges, and feeds on your websites and blogs to encourage your visitors to engage with you. Did you notice the new icon in the left column? That’s a Twitter badge.

On Tuesday night, November 17th at 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific, I’m having a f~r~e~e webinar on HOW to install social media on your websites and blogs: how to decide what’s appropriate, where to put the information, and exactly how to install it.

Putting social media icons and feeds on your websites and blogs is not difficult, it just requires some attention to detail, and I can help you with that. I’ll explain the HTML that Facebook, Twitter, and FriendFeed are so eager to have you install, and we’ll make it happen right there, live!

I’ll also be previewing my new website training course that evening, so be sure not to miss this webinar.

Save the date: November 17th, 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific, and click the button on the right to sign up! This webinar WILL be recorded and available to everyone who signs up for the webinar.

Toolie®

I’ve just returned from a trip to New Orleans where I spoke to a group of professional speakers, and from Chicago, where I both visited family and did some business research. In the next few weeks I’ll be busy completing my much-anticipated “Fix My Website, Please!” Course, so I will be talking to you about that soon.

One of my clients emailed me this YouTube video, and I thought it so much supported the ideals behind this blog that I had to share it with you. Entrepreneurs are really the unsung heroes of the nation’s economy. We are in the best possible position to move things along and to help the recovery happen faster.

But it’s not easy! I have my own moments of doubt, but when I get to my desk and find emails from people I can help, that changes everything. So here’s to my clients, past, present, and future. Hang in there!

Now go forth and do tech!

Toolie®

It exciting to watch: entrepreneurs with important things to share with the world are getting ready to make it happen through new or redesigned websites and blogs.

• A professional with valuable but highly specialized skills is going to be able to communicate her solutions with distressed parents in a meaningful way through her new website.
• An entrepreneur who knows about an IRS-approved, low-cost health insurance plan will be able to help small businesses take care of their employees through his expanded website.
• An entrepreneur who has unique merchandise will be able to expand both her market and her product line with her new website and blog, and she can add new information to both whenever she wants.

Being able to empower other people with new skills that help them support themselves is what gets me out of bed in the morning! To use a “vehicle” metaphor, it’s the difference between hitchhiking to get to client meetings and having your own car that gets you wherever you want to go. With the latter approach, you’re not always dependent on someone else.

There’s still time to book an appointment and talk to me about your website or blog project AND take advantage of 30% discount on coaching sessions. Visit http://www.ToolieCoaching.com to get all the details and click on the Live Chat icon to tell me about your project.

Toolie

After last week’s free webinar (view the recording here) I was inundated by entrepreneurs with requests to help them learn how to start, fix, update, refine, and/or finish their websites and blogs. It’s so exciting to see these folks take the reins of these incredibly important business assets and make sure their websites and blogs are as bright and shiny as possible. And what’s even better is that they’re getting help at 30% off my usual hourly rate!

Discount Coupon Code: 09SUMMERSALE

It makes good business sense too, to understand how websites and blogs work, to be able to update them at any time of the day or night. Business on the Internet moves QUICKLY and you’ve GOT to be able to keep up with it.

So what about your project? What would you secretly like to have look better on your website or blog? What do you want to add or improve? The discounted rate lasts for another 23 days (expiring at 11:59 pm on 09/09/09) so now would be the time to make your appointment at http://www.ToolieCoaching.com. If you’re not sure where to start, I recommend a Basic Website/Blog Checkup to get you going. You can always click on the Live Chat icon on my websites to ask me questions.

Remember to use the discount coupon code when you go to pay for the session: 09SUMMERSALE

Let’s get started on YOUR project!

Toolie®