Realize Your Business

I looked really closely at Kajabi when it was launched. It has two main categories of features: those that support the launch and those that support content delivery.

Kajabi is a hosted solution that makes it easy to set up a launch sequence for your products using video and PDF. It includes comment boxes for viewers to use.  You can require opt-in before someone views the videos, then Kajabi remembers who they are so the viewer does not have to opt-in again for other content in your launch sequence.

Kajabi also makes it easy to set up for content delivery, including the ability to “drip” the content, so each person who buys your product, no matter at what point in time, starts your sequence at the beginning and only sees new material on the schedule you determine. You can set up multiple membership levels on the backend.

There were a lot of things I liked about Kajabi, but price was a factor for me. Since it is a hosted solution, you pay XXX a month for one “site”, which is essentially one product. If you have a second product, then you pay XXX again for the next. They do have bundles that reduce the price as you purchase more sites.

Then I found OptimizePress.  This product cost me $97. It is a plug-in for Wordpress that you host on your own domain. I can use it on as many sites as I please, as long as I own all the domains myself. It does pretty much the same thing as Kajabi.  At this time, it does not have the “drip” feature, nor does it have membership levels, but it does integrate with other membership software if you need that.

I setup and used OptimizePress on a recent launch. I made a new WordPress installation, then activated the OptimizePress plugin. I did some customizing to make OptimizePress look like I wanted. It was very simple to set up my launch sequence, which appears to work the same as it does in Kajabi. I had video, PDF download, and enabled comments for the viewers. (Comments can be Facebook comments or Wordpress comments as you prefer).

For membership, I used the Wordpress default membership options. I did not need anything more than simple login for this product, so that has worked fine. If I decide I need membership levels (and I may add that in future) OptimizePress integrates with other membership software, including Nanacast, Wishlist Member and Digital Access Pass.

The free training is reasonable, and the support is excellent.

Overall, I am quite happy with this product and plan to expand my use of it in future. Click here to use my affiliate link to get more information and buy the product. I get some percentage of the sale if you do, and you get a great product at a great price.

I have optimized for certain keywords on one of my sites, and am on page 1 on search results. Good for me! But I am still not getting the traffic I expected.  So I used Google’s keyword tool to research keywords in my market again. The last time I did this was 3 years ago.

I think this is an exercise I should do more than every 3 years!  The market changes, the words people use in searches change as well.

I found that even though I rank at the top of the list for my keywords, these keywords are not being searched for by very many people! So I’m on page 1 of a search almost nobody performs. Not very useful.

So, I’m starting over with my SEO for that site.

It seems so obvious now that I should do this every 6 months or so, at least once a year. But it did not really occur to me until I was doing a keyword analysis as an exercise for a class, and used my own keywords in the analysis.

In my example, the site I used for keyword analysis is in a slow changing market, so I do not need to review my keywords very often. If your market is changing quickly, you might need to review your keywords every month.

The lesson to learn is that business is not stagnant, the market is not stagnant. Review your basic assumptions periodically to be sure you are getting the results you expect.

Geri

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Realize Your Business website at http://www.realizeyourbusiness.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as the Owner/Manager of a small business.

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Today my partners and I are launching a new business targeted to small business owners in the 45-65 ish age range (we won’t hold it against you if you are a bit younger or a bit older).

We are starting with an online membership site. Here you will find information about all kinds of things of interest to those of us in the middle of our lives, not just business information. Our experts will be on the site bringing you information and answering your questions about:

• Health and Fitness
• Lifestyle
• Using the Mind to improve your life
• Inspiration
• And of course – Business, specifically what we call being on a Holiday for Life

For more information, and to join me there, go to Club 45-65

See you there!

Geri

Hi all -

I have created a Facebook Fan Page here:

Realize Your Business – Finding Your True Fans

Promote Your Page Too

I have really focused in on the idea of using a small set of effective internet marketing techniques to help people who want to spend their time on their passion and not on their business, and yet to make a good living.

Join the conversation!

“December 1st marks the first day of Global Teleseminar Week which also begins ‘Teleseminar Marketing Season’ in winter and spring,” says my friend, Alex Mandossian.

On the first Thursday of December (for the past five years), Alex hosts “The BIG Call” which I have decided to co-sponsor this year, so I hope your participate

This year, the first Thursday of December falls on the 3rd, so clear your calendar for that evening. If you do register for “The BIG Call” make sure you use this VIP Discount Code: AM3964. (That VIP Code shaves-off $79 from the $99 tuition everybody will pay without it).

WHY Participate? Because you’ll get private access to over 2 1/2 hours of densely-rich content that will significantly do two things for you:

1) More Money: You’ll dramatically increase the possibility of transforming your annual income into a monthly income within 3 years

2) More Time: You’ll dramatically increase the possibility of maintaining your current income (if happy with it) and triple your time-off

WHAT Is “The BIG Call”? It is a LIVE and unique Teleseminar training on how to grow (or start) a business by adding the power Teleseminars to your marketing mix. You will get a 21-page Action Guide that you’ll fill-in during the call as you listen and follow along with Alex guiding you along the way.

HOW Do I Participate? Just grab your mouse and click here. If you’re reading this in time to become one of the first 200 who register, you’ll even get an important bonus gift for taking immediate action. click here and take a look!

WHAT IF I Do Participate? You’ll get access to the same Teleseminar training that many thought leaders such as Jack Canfield, Ivan Misner, Les Brown, Harv Eker, Dan Sullivan, Bob Proctor and Brian Tracy now utilize in their business.

Alex has an unprecedented 365-day money back guarantee, if you have a sliver of doubt that this Teleseminar Training will exceed your expectations.

So you really have no excuse not to grab your mouse right now, click here and get registered. And because you’ve read this far, I know you’re more than just curious about how “The BIG Call” may change your personal and professional life.

I want to be clear that these links are my affiliate links and I will get a commission if you register. I also want you to know that I am a student of Alex’s as well. I have taken Teleseminar Secrets in the past, and am repeating the course starting December 7. “The BIG Call” is a great way to get a lot of information about running Teleseminars from a real Master of Teleseminars. So click here to get into “The BIG Call”. And be sure to enter your VIP Discount Code: AM3964 so you only pay $20 for the course (instead of $99 like the folks without the code). See you there!

Geri

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

As a small business owner, you will often find a need to communicate information to employees, contractors, partners, prospects, and customers. You may find a need to teach something, such as a tutorial for customers, or policy updates for employees.  Or you may want to broadcast an interview with an expert in your field. When the people you want to reach are geographically distributed, you can give presentations by teleseminar, webinar, or a combination of the two.

First, I need to define some terms so you know what I am talking about.

• Teleconference – a meeting of a group of people using the telephone, where items of business are discussed among the participants. Anyone can talk to anyone else in the meeting. The meeting should be facilitated.
• Teleseminar – an audio presentation by a leader to a group of people using the telephone. This may include the ability for participants to ask questions. It is not a discussion among participants, but a dialogue between the participants and the leader.
• Telewebcast – an audio presentation by a leader to a group of people using telephone and webcast software in a web browser.
• Webinar – webcast software plus the ability to show visuals.

This article addresses Teleseminars and Telewebcasts. I will just call them teleseminars in this article.

Like any other meeting, the teleseminar has a topic or agenda, a list of participants, a date, and time of meeting. Unlike other meetings, you do not have to schedule a meeting room, since each person will attend from his or her own workspace. Be sure that the meeting you are scheduling is a presentation, not a discussion. The two kinds of meetings are managed differently.

First, find out what software is available for you to use. Is there a bridge line or conference call service that you can use for the meeting? Do you have webcast software such as Instant Presenter, or Instant Teleseminar? If you will be demonstrating software, you will need full webinar software such as WebEx, Go To Meeting, or Live Meeting to be able to share your desktop with participants.

The better services offer a control panel to the leader which lets you see who is online, mute and unmute individual people, and has a way for participants to indicate when they have a question.

Second, you will schedule the meeting using the appropriate service, then send out an email to participants telling them what the meeting is about, what day and time it is, and exactly how to participate. Giving complete instructions makes it more likely that everyone will successfully join the meeting. I like to send out a reminder the day before the meeting, and another reminder a couple of hours before the meeting. These reminder messages can be copies of the original meeting notice.

Some of the participants may want to schedule a conference room and attend by speakerphone. I do not recommend this approach. It is very hard for the people in the conference room to hear, and almost impossible for anyone else to understand people in the conference room. If you are holding the meeting by telewebcast, it is even more difficult for a group of people to participate by looking at one computer. Encourage each participant to attend the meeting from his or her own workspace.

Finally, the time has arrived for the teleseminar. As a leader, you should call in at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time. If the meeting will be recorded, you can start the recorder at this time. Greet participants as they arrive to the call.

In general, you will want to mute all participants while you are presenting. Allow some time for questions. You can schedule all the questions for the end of the call, or stop presenting periodically and unmute the lines for questions.  Some of the telewebcast services have a web interface where a person can submit questions. Then the leader sees the questions on a control panel. This is a very nice feature, because it allows the participants to ask questions when they occur, and allows you to schedule in the answers as part of your presentation.

If you find it too difficult to present and monitor participants at the same time, then you might have a co-leader for the meeting. You just focus on making the presentation, the co-leader watches for questions, and makes sure you are allowing time to answer them.

Another great option is to ask for questions before the meeting. You can use those questions to prepare your material for presentation.

At the end of the meeting, be sure to thank everyone for attending. If you are recording the call, let the participants know where the recording can be found. Review any action items. It is polite to unmute the lines for everyone to say goodbye. Then stop the recording and end the call.

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You are invited to re-publish articles from this blog, in your publication or website, as long as the article is intact and you include the following Byline paragraph (with live links) after each article you use…

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Realize Your Business website at http://www.realizeyourbusiness.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as the Owner/Manager of a small business.

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Thank you to all my readers, your questions, and emails of encouragement. Your feedback is what keeps this blog going

Jason and I are spending the holidays with my family, and enjoying the warmth and love of the family circle, and the loving thoughts we have received in email and text message today.

I hope your celebrations with family and friends are cheerful and loving.

Happy Holidays!

Geri

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

I had a great meeting with my business coach last week – we talked about motivation. About how to keep motivated to work on growing the business. About how to find the energy to do the work. About rhythms of work and rest.

This is a very big issue for small business owners. I look at people like Mark Joyner and Tellman Knudsen and they seem to be always working, never stopping. When I can not do the same, when I need some time to rest, I feel discouraged.

That is wrong on a couple of points. First is that Mark and Tellman do have rest time in their lives. They are not constantly working. They have a need to rest and rejuvenate the same as the rest of us. Second is that I can only do my personal best, so comparing myself to someone else is just a waste of time.

Having said that, what can I do to get the energy and motivation to work on my business?

One part of the equation is physical. We all know what to do here, but may not always do it. What are those things?

• Exercise – having good cardiovascular health and good muscle tone will provide you more energy to do your daily tasks than if you are out-of-shape. Also, this can help you lose weight. If you are heavy, it takes more energy just to move yourself around, and that energy is not available for other tasks.
• Sleep – 7 – 9 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period is what your body needs for health. It does not have to be all at once. Some people do well sleeping a few hours, then working, then sleeping a few more hours. If you never sleep well, see a sleep doctor to find out if you have a medical issue such as sleep apnea or periodic limb movement disorder or a deviated septum that is preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep. Make sure your sleeping area is dark enough, cool enough, and quiet enough for you to sleep.
• Diet – determine the foods that are good for you, that give you energy. Or conversely, determine the foods that are bad for you, that take away your energy.I have found that I do better if I do not eat sugar (any kind), artificial sweeteners, or caffeine. For me, these foods give me energy temporarily, but the effect quickly wears off and I feel worse than before I had them. Having given up all (artificial sweeteners 6 months ago, sugar a year ago, caffeine a month ago), I am feeling far better physically. Most of my aches and pains have gone away, and I have stopped getting headaches in the afternoon. I have more energy because I am not fighting the pain.
• Seasonal – do you have low energy in the winter months? Many people do, but the causes are many. I tried light therapy, but SAD was not the problem, and it left me feeling irritated all the time. I tried St. John’s wort, but I was not depressed, so it had no effect. I tried changing diet, eating lighter foods. That was good for my weight, but did not help the energy problem. I tried L-Glutamine (an amino acid supplement). That worked for me. After a couple of days taking the minimum dose, I had a lot more energy. So now I use it every winter. You have to experiment to find out what works for you.

Another part of the motivation equation is mental. You have to get to know yourself to determine your mental motivators. Some things to think about are:

• The reason for what you do – why are you doing what you are doing? A dear friend of mine was once diagnosed with a very serious blood cancer and had a 50% chance of surviving it. But she really wanted to see her nieces and nephews grow up, and that motivated her to fight the cancer and beat it. If you are trying to make a success of your business, what is the reason you want to be successful? Is the business itself something important to you, something your are passionate about? Is the business a means to an end, such as a better lifestyle for yourself or your children? What is that reason for your business that will keep you working on it for many years, and through triumph and discouragement?
• Skill – do you have the skills to do what needs to be done, or do you find yourself overwhelmed by the tasks because they are beyond what you have the skill to do? Or are you bored because the work is too easy? A huge motivator is when you have something to do that is just a little difficult for you. This lets you use your skills to the fullest, and gives you a chance to stretch a bit, to learn a bit more. If you are overwhelmed, you can either work with someone else who has the skills you lack, or you can learn and increase your own skill. If you are bored, what can you change to make the work more challenging? Or should you give the boring work to someone else and give yourself time to do what interests you?
• Introversion and Extroversion – Some people get energy when working alone. They are introverts. Other people get energy when working with others. They are extroverts. If your work environment is opposite of your needs (an introvert having to work with others, an extrovert having to work alone), then you are cutting yourself off from your source of energy.

Finally, consider that life has a rhythm. We all need time to work and time to refresh mentally and physically. We need time with people we love, and we need time alone. If you have recently spent a lot of time being very creative, intense, focussed, and just completed whatever you were focussed on, you may now find yourself with no energy at all! You may find yourself just sitting and staring at the wall. That is a natural rhythm, a period where your brain needs to rest for a while. Be conscious of your own natural rhythms and work with them.

• Some people work at 60% all the time, a steady constant effort. Other people work 100% for a very focussed period, then maybe 10% for another period. Their pattern is bursts of energy followed by nothing. Both people get their work done, but in different ways.
• Are you a morning person or a night person? Some people have more energy first thing in the morning, other people have more energy late at night.
• When is your best time to do mental work? Physical work? A lot of people love to work out at the gym as soon as they get up. Not me. My best workout time is around 10:30 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon. My body likes physical work at those times. I am at my mental best first thing in the morning, especially if it is mental work alone. I do not want to interact with other people early in the day. I do better working with other people in the afternoon. What is your personal rhythm? How can you use that to be most effective at your work, rest, and play?

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Now it is your turn.

Think about your needs for physical energy, mental motivation, and the rhythms of your life.

What have your learned about yourself? What can you change to use your personal energy, motivation, and rhythms to the best effect?

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You are invited to re-publish articles from this blog, in your publication or website, as long as the article is intact and you include the following Byline paragraph (with live links) after each article you use…

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Realize Your Business website at http://www.realizeyourbusiness.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as the Owner/Manager of a small business.

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Today is a much anticipated election day across the USA.

If you are a US citizen and registered to vote, I encourage you to do so.

You might think, my one vote does not matter. But of course it does!! Polls are predicting that 65% of registered voters will vote today. It is sad that only two-thirds of the registered voters will vote. Especially when you consider how many people are not even registered to vote! I’m guessing that less than half the people who could vote are making the decisions for the whole country.

So go and vote! Make your voice heard. Be part of the decision.

Geri

Author: Geri Schneider Winters

Hi everyone -

I have not been on this blog much lately. The good news is: I got a large consulting contract for my company. The bad news is: I am one of the consultants. Do not get me wrong – I love consulting! But doing the work means I do not have time to build the business. It is a common problem for small businesses owners – you can do the work to make money for your business, or you can run the business. So far in my career, I have alternated between the two.

I have found that when I am working as a consultant, I spend 40 hours or so a week on work for my client. Then I spend time in the evenings and weekends doing administrative work for my business. This does not leave much, if any time, to work on the things that will increase my business.

One way to help with this is to hire people to do some of the work. This year I hired a CPA to help with taxes and business planning. This is a great investment for me. I also hired an accounting company to do the bookkeeping. So far, this has not been as useful. I have to spend so much time preparing information for the accountant, that I could have done the work myself. I am trying this service for a year – there is some amount of time you have to allow to get the relationship with the other company working smoothly. After 5 months, I am seeing some decrease in the amount of work I have to do.

My company is very virtual, which is more of a challenge. The tax and accounting laws are all designed for physical businesses. There is a lot of paperwork that is required. And it is physical paperwork. So when I have work out-of-town, the paperwork tends to get behind. One thing I have learned is that I need someone locally just to handle the paperwork.

As I try working with these other companies, I am learning what I really want someone else to do. I am learning what I can effectively outsource, and what I really have to do myself. I have found that lot of what needs to be done is just opening letters and deciding if the letter has to be disposed of, filed, replied to, or given to the accountant. This is the same if the letter is physical, email, or even a telephone message. It may have been better for me to hire a good administrative assistant who could also do simple bookkeeping, rather than hiring an accounting company.

In all cases, I am trying to not hire an employee to do the work. Rather, I am contracting with other companies to provide these services. The reason is the tax laws for employers. I once had one employee of my company. She was great. But the additional paperwork, reporting, taxes, and insurance was so burdensome that after she took another job, I never hired another employee.

Each company is different, and you may have different needs from mine. I hope this article gives you some ideas of the process I am going through to get other people to do my work, so that you try the same kind of things for your company.

Remember, the point of getting other people to do your work, is so that you have the time to grow your company, the time to do the things you need to do to effectively run your business.

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Now it is your turn.

What are the things you do that take up a lot of your time, that someone could do equally well for you?

Have you thought about outsourcing that work? Would you hire a company to provide the services, or would you hire an employee?

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You are invited to re-publish articles from this blog, in your publication or website, as long as the article is intact and you include the following Byline paragraph (with live links) after each article you use…

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Realize Your Business website at http://www.realizeyourbusiness.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as the Owner/Manager of a small business.

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