Catherine "Cat" Seda

Monday, May 28, 2007

How to Win Sales and Influence Spiders Review

My second book, How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders, is getting good reviews. Thank you!!!

Michael Mattis - Yahoo! Search Marketing Blogger
Andy Beal – SEO Strategist
Dr. Amanda Watlington – SEO Strategist
Manny Hernandez – Top 80 Amazon.com Reviewer
Monte Huebsch of AussieWeb Local Search
Steve Mertz – Denver SEO Consultant
Knox –Denver SEO Consultant
Lisa Manyon – Copywriting Strategist
Stephanie Diamond - Marketer
Aaron Weiche, Web & Multimedia Director of Prime Advertising – A full-service advertising firm
Christine O'Kelly, Create Business Growth

Hmmm…most of the folks who have blogged about my book are in the Internet marketing space. Don’t worry, this book isn’t just for Internet marketers! You can check out some non-Internet book reviews on Amazon.com.

Have you blogged about my book? If so (and ya said something nice), let me know or post a comment and include that URL here.

Writing a book is um…a lot of work. So, I really appreciate hearing from happy readers because hoping I share something that helps your business is the reason why I write. :-)

Monday, May 14, 2007

Press Release Make-Over (after)

As I said in my last post, What's Wrong with Your Press Release, here's Stacy's "after" press release. Read my original post, then Stacy's "before" press release and this one before sharing your comments. What other tips could she share that would get your attention?

Five Tips to Turn Wine Tasting into New Business

Want new clients? This summer, start a wine tasting club to invite your clients, prospects and friends to do more business with you.

(PRWEB) May 10, 2007 -- When most people think of a networking group, they think of business cards, stuffy suits and dry chicken. When most people think of a wine tasting party, they think fun. Why not combine the two and create a wine tasting club to bring in new business?

Here are 5 simple tips to hosting a successful event:

Tip 1: Choose Personality over Profession
When launching a wine tasting club for business, personality counts. Don't invite people with great connections but poor people skills; they'll kill your event. Instead, invite colleagues who can share business contacts and good conversation. It only takes a few fun people to make a club dynamic so start by inviting 6 to 10 friends and ask each bring a fun colleague.

Tip 2: Create a Theme
A simple way to liven up your event is to create a theme. For example, focus on a specific type or region of wine. How about a taste of Italy? Or, a Champagne celebration with French cheese? Why not pair white wines with summer fruits? Appetizers and cheeses are easy to offer and they promote mingling.

Tip 3: Get the Word Out
Networking groups succeed because people get into the routine of attending a regular event, so stay consistent. For instance, pick the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Put everyone on an e-mail list and send out a reminder one month, two weeks and then two days before the event to make sure people remember it.

Tip 4: Share the Fun Stuff
Hosts don't have to do everything -- in fact, they shouldn't. Inviting your guests to participate lightens your load while making your guests feel important. Ask your guests to bring a bottle of wine, an appetizer, or both. You can also consider printing a schedule and asking for volunteers to host future events; people will jump at this opportunity. By rotating the event location, the club will quickly grow because hosts will invite their colleagues to join in.

Tip 5: Keep it Flowing
Here's a successful ice-breaking idea: rate your wine! Pass out wine rating cards to let guests share their opinions. Pour one wine at a time and ask for group feedback. Or, let guests sample the wines available, vote for their favorites, then a winning wine will be chosen at the end of the event. Score cards encourage guests to talk about their favorites. If your guests are required to bring wine, you could award the winner a trophy which gets passed each month for bragging rights.

By launching a wine tasting club, you can create a fun and memorable networking event. You'll also extend your community of friends and business contacts.

Visit The Wino Club™ at http://www.thewinoclub.com to get fun wine facts, glossary, food pairing recipes, free newsletter and blog.

Stacy Nelson is co-creator of The Wino Club™ (http://www.thewinoclub.com), the ultimate wine tasting party kit which includes step-by-step instructions for hosting a successful event. A portion of each sale is donated to Michelle's Place, a breast cancer resource center. Stacy is also a Reverse Mortgage Specialist in Southern California whose business is 100% referral based.

Contact:Stacy Nelson
The Wino Club
1-888-694-3225
www.thewinoclub.com

Press Release Make-Over (before)

As I said in my last post, What's Wrong with Your Press Release, here's Stacy's "before" press release. Check it out and then read her "after" press release before sharing your comments.

Networking With Wine: 5 Easy Tips to Turn a Wine Tasting Party into a Monthly Business Club

Temecula, CA, February 12, 2007 - - Creating your own wine tasting club can be a very powerful tool for business people who want to build their business with referrals and relationships.

When most people think of a business networking group, they think of business cards and handshaking, 10 second commercials and dry chicken.

When most people think of a wine tasting party, they think of getting together with a few friends and spending the evening together enjoying wine and good food.

Which do you prefer?

People refer business to people they know and like. Getting to know your referring partners and meeting with them regularly is the best method of building a great business relationship. This is why the best business groups meet regularly, either weekly or monthly.

Now imagine that instead of dressing in your business finest and passing out cards for a couple of painful hours, you were to toss on a pair of jeans, toss back some great wine, leave your cards in the car and still generate referrals?

The relaxed atmosphere of a wine tasting party makes the relationship building phase of networking painless. By meeting in each other’s homes instead of at a hotel or restaurant, you’ve just moved from business relationship to friend. Forming a wine tasting CLUB rather than just throwing an occasional party creates a consistent presence with one another to reinforce those relationships.

Tip 1: Invite Business People You Like

That seems like an obvious thing to say, but when building a social business network, personality actually weighs in more than occupation. You may know of a person who is a great potential business referral partner but they are just so boring. Don’t invite them. This may sound counter-intuitive but keep reminding yourself that an exciting group will generate more community interest than a stuffy one. If your club is fun, it will attract more dynamic business people. You’ll have people begging to come.

Tip 2: Write it off

We’re not tax professionals here, but if you are building a networking group that just happens to be called a wine tasting club, wouldn’t that qualify as a business expense? So go for the good cheese and some special napkins. You don’t have to make it a gourmet event (remember this is about relaxing with one another), but please skip the American cheese slices on Ritz crackers. These are business professionals you are inviting to your home and you want to leave them with a good impression. The wine will help a lot with that, but it doesn’t hurt to put in a little bit extra.

Tip 3: Pick a Day

Networking groups meet consistently because if the meeting date is always the same people can schedule ahead. This is no different. Meet for example the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 pm. It’s easier to remember and people get in the habit of coming so scheduling is never an issue.

Tip 4: Rotate Homes Every Month

We know as a dynamic business person you will want to have it at your home each and every month but it will pay off much better to rotate around each month. You see, every person in your group knows 5 other people that would love to come and odds are that they will invite those people when the party is at their home, giving you a much broader base of people to get to know and to network with. It adds a dynamic that a static party could not have. So at your first party set up an annual schedule with addresses so you can have a year of wine tasting parties that rotate from home to home. You can still be in control and get your name in front of these people by offering to send out the email reminders each month with the address of the party but you are not responsible for buying the good cheese all of the time.

Tip 5: Run it like a meeting

We don’t mean a stuffy meeting. But do start on time and do end on time, especially if you are meeting on a work night. Do keep to a certain format so the party is consistent no matter whose home you are at. The easiest way to keep the consistency is to buy a wine tasting party kit that has directions to follow and materials to use. There are a lot of kits out there but only one that helps set up a monthly club called, appropriately, The Wino Club. It can be found at http://www.thewinoclub.com/shopping1.html. They also have a glossary of useful terms so you can sound intelligent and a monthly newsletter that everyone in your club can subscribe to.

One of the most significant changes in your referral relationships after starting a social networking club is you begin to form a tight circle of support. Friendships that are formed while drinking wine together are powerful in the world of business. Now not only do you have new people referring business to you, but you also start a deeply loyal circle of influence in your community.

Social networking with wine works. Try it this month and you’ll see the difference immediately.

For more FREE tips on starting your own Wine Tasting Club contact Stacy Nelson or visit www.thewinoclub.com.


About the Author

Stacy Nelson, CSA has built a successful business as a Reverse Mortgage Specialist in Southern California through her networking efforts and 100% of her business comes from referral sources. In addition, to her career and her beautiful family she volunteers her time and money to a variety of charitable organizations including Hospice of the Valleys, Michelle’s Place Breast Cancer Center and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. She is proud to be a member of Rotary, an International Service Organization. As evidence to her commitment to share with others, a portion of the proceeds of the sale of The Wino Club™ is donated to Michelle’s Place, a breast cancer resource center for younger women in their often ignored fight.

Contact:

Stacy Nelson
The Wino Club
1-888-694-3225
email: info@thewinoclub.com

www.thewinoclub.com

What's Wrong with Your Press Release?

Don’t write your press release like a press release.

Huh?

What I mean is, write your press release like an article.

If you think “press release” you’ll write something that’s all about you—not newsworthy. If you think “article” you’ll write a story journalists salivate over.

IT’S TIME FOR A PRESS RELEASE MAKE-OVER!

Read the Q&A below first (from my May newsletter).

Next, read Stacy’s first press release here

Then read her final version here

QUESTION:

I saw you speak at the Entrepreneur “Women in Charge” Conference and was so excited that I got home and wrote my article and submitted it to PRWeb... only to realize that an article was not what PRWeb really wanted. Now I'm confused. I wrote an article that was not a sales pitch. But now PRWeb says they want something more of an announcement or promotion. Could you please take a quick moment to review the differences?

~ Stacy Nelson, Co-Founder of http://www.thewinoclub.com/

CAT’S ANSWER:

(Here are my five favorite tips I shared with Stacy. Happily, her new final version was just approved by PRWeb!)

* Use an Attention-Grabbing Headline

“Networking With Wine: 5 Easy Tips to Turn a Wine Tasting Party into a Monthly Business Club” is too long. Sell the result first. A wine tasting party sounds fun, but a monthly club sounds like work. Consider announcing the club idea a bit later. What about “5 Tips to Turn Wine Tasting into New Business” or something like this?

* Write a Summary that Sizzles

The summary is a sentence or two that should persuade readers to read on. You’ve got a good one; it’s just a bit soft. Shorten it up and tell me how a wine club can help me NOW.

* Create Creative Tips

Rework the 5 tip titles to be more mysterious. You want people to say “why?” or “how?” Some titles like “Choose a Day” seem too obvious.

* Slim It Down

Your press release is over 850 words! Yikes. As David McInnis, CEO of PRWeb, recommended in my new book, aim for 300-500 words. By staying focused you’ll keep readers’ attention.

* Only Advertise in the “About the Author” Area


Uh oh! Tip #5 pitches your wine tasting party kit. That’s not a tip. You can absolutely pitch your product; just do this in the “About the Author (or Company)” area.

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Whadda think? Go check out Stacy’s old and new press releases, then share your comments. She’s got a great product. What info could she share that would attract YOUR attention?

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Online Video Advertising: $775 Million to $1.3 Billion

Can you believe that U.S. Internet video advertising will jump from $775 million this year to $1.3 billion in 2008? Wowzers. Check out more eMarketer video stats in my May "Buzz" article for Entrepreneur magazine:

Visual Appeal

Move over, TV. Online video advertising is here.

More and more, TV-style commercials are appearing on the web. And companies are investing a lot of money in them.

According to eMarketer, spending on internet video advertising in the U.S. will jump from $775 million this year to $1.3 billion in 2008. That's an expected increase of 68 percent.

In its November 2006 "Internet Video" report, eMarketer stated that small and midsize businesses could greatly benefit from this hot technology. Online video ads are cost-effective to create, and they can act as marketing materials or even educational tools. It's also easy to promote them through your existing online marketing campaigns, and you can give them more visibility through video search sites.

A video ad usually falls into one of the following formats: in-page, in-stream or transitional. An in-page ad, or in-banner ad, refers to videos shown in a box within web page content. An in-stream ad, also called a preroll ad, is shown before the video content. Think of the video as a movie; the in-stream ad is the movie preview. A transitional ad, or interstitial ad, is shown to users while they're moving from one web page to another.

Generally, a video ad is 30 seconds long. However, because eMarketer's report states that 46 percent of users are only willing to view an online video for 20 seconds or less, it's a good idea to present your message and call to action before the end of your video.

© Entrepreneur