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Web: Pledge of Green

A site for John Francis Manning and his initiative Pledge of Green. Have you taken the Pledge?

I’m using Cudazi’s Luxury theme on WordPress.

Talk 1300 Interview: Social Media

I went on my friend Lisbeth Calandrino‘s radio show Sunday morning to talk about social media. The broadcast is below. Of course the biggest question in my mind about social media, Web, marketing and PR is this: do I really talk like this??

Listen.

(p.s. I come in 15-20 minutes in)

Web: Randy Rumpf Design

A new site for artist and illustrator Randy Rumpf to showcase his portfolio.

I’m using the free Gallery Theme based on Thematic and powered by WordPress to feature Randy’s artwork. Visit the site here.

The Book is Here!

After 8 months, the book is here!

Or rather – the ebook version, which I’m going to expand into softcover in the next two months.

My goal with this book is to help people learn how to manage their own Web marketing initiatives, and by that I mean build their own Web site, blog, social media accounts, develop an e-mail marketing strategy and then tie them all together into one powerful campaign. Oh – and to be able to do it all quickly. Like in 24 hours.

In ’24 Hours to a Powerful Web Presence’ you’ll learn:

• The basics of Web marketing
• How to create your own well-design, professional Web site
• Best blogging practices
• How to set up a payment system
• How to use set up social media sites to help your brand
• How to set up an e-mail marketing campaign to connect with readers
• What search engine optimization is and how to capitalize on it
• How to tie everything together into a powerful Web presence
• And much more

For those of you who like a challenge, I’ve broken the book down into chunks of hours, so each block is devoted to a specific topic. If you follow it closely, you’ll knock it out in 24 hours.

In addition, your purchase of this book gets you access to our resource center where you’ll gain access to everything there related to online marketing. This includes very detailed step-by-step instructions on how to hone your online marketing efforts.

So who is this book for?

Anyone with a business, a brand, a hobby — something you’re passionate about, that you want to share with the world. You could be an artist, musician, athlete, coach, business owner, entrepreneur or any individual with a passion to become their own online marketing and PR agency.

A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this book benefit Under the Same Sun.

To preview the book, click here. To buy it, click here:

The Transparent World

I’m more and more amazed at the amount of information available to anyone interested in doing even the slightest research. This thought struck me when I was driving recently and a car passed me with a vanity license plate clearly intended to draw attention. I tweeted it (at a stoplight) through my phone (text message — I don’t have a smart phone). Later I realized that the driver of this other car, having never met me or even known I had seen his license plate, could find out about it and even be at my doorstep within 30 minutes.

Here’s how: When I sent my message to Twitter, I mentioned the license plate # (or, word would be more like it). The driver could have set up some software on his phone to alert him whenever a keyword appeared on Twitter — in this case, his license plate. He could look at the source of the tweet, which would lead him to my Twitter page. My Twitter page links to my personal blog. That blog links to this site, where my name’s mentioned. A quick search on Whois.net would reveal my full name and home address (assuming it hasn’t been made private). Absent that, a quick search on Google based on info on this site and other details would end up showing my address. And there you have it.

Interesting to think about. Twitter search could prove to be a gold mine for bounty hunters or intelligence services. Assuming the people they’re after are on Twitter — or tweet-worthy.

The Benefits of Anonymous Blogging

I have a personal blog called Binza, where I talk about things like athletic training, movies, music, books and other things. I get a fair amount of comments — but mainly from family and friends who’ve been on the scene for a while. When I started the blog, in 2001, I kept it strictly anonymous. I didn’t know much of what I was doing and even knowing that it was “my eyes only” I still felt as though I was giving a part of myself up to the public.

A couple years down the road I decided to tell my family about the blog and they’ve been involved ever since — checking in, commenting and sharing their own links. I realize now, however, that in the time that I went from anonymous to public, my approach to the blog and the content has changed. I write with an eye for who will be reading. I edit posts and even re-think before I comment. Not always, of course. But because my name is attached to these things I clearly need to bear in mind the effect certain comments will have. I really prefer not to have something come back to haunt me.

So recently, I started another blog focused mainly on my personal finance goals. I talk about how much debt I’m paying off, what my billable hours were for the day, my fears associated with money, debt, expenses, etc. The fact that this blog is anonymous allows me absolute freedom to share everything on my mind related to each post’s purpose and the goal of the blog. In other words, I’m not out to just rant about things. I’m out to share specific information about my day and my feelings associated with it.

In the week that I’ve been doing this, I actually feel happier. I feel I’m unloading certain fears from my mind as I write things down, and each night I’m tallying up my day’s earnings. This has motivated me to focus on working more. I look forward to posting each night. I don’t have any links on the blog that allow readers to comment. I also have not publicized the blog and don’t plan to. I love the anonymity and feel that this blog is my tiny corner of the world to work towards a specific goal.

Do I still hope for readers? Sure! There’s a lot of validation in growing a following. But I don’t want anything to get in the way of how I write. I don’t want to hold anything back and I believe that sometimes, when you have your name attached to them, you’re forced to consider every post, every word, every comment.

Coming Soon: ’24 Hours to a Powerful Web Presence’

I’m excited to say that I’ve got a book coming out soon, an ebook that’ll also be available in soft cover. The book is called 24 Hours to a Powerful Web Presence. It’s about 80 pages long and it’s designed to help anyone create their own Web marketing campaign — in 24 hours. This includes the following:

• Buying a domain and Web hosting package
• Setting up a (professionally-designed) Web site/blog
• Establishing accounts on relevant social media sites and linking them to your blog
• Picking an e-mail marketing service
• Using SEO strategies
• Tying it all together

It took me about 1.5 years to learn how to do all of this professionally. The information is out there on the Web, of course, but it’s scattered to the high winds. Plus, I have my own opinions on how to best approach Web marketing. Not that my I’m the best or most experienced! Not by any means. But I’ve learned how to do these things and they work. The book is set up so that anyone can do it all themselves rather than spend thousands hiring an agency or freelancer to do it themselves.

The book’s coming out Feb 1, 2010. Watch this space!

Brochure: Healthy Wallet

Here’s a brochure we created for Elham Menhaji’s Healthy Wallet coaching business. Our goal was to use clean, tidy copy and colors to explain what her business does, and include her rates. We kept the colors and images consistent with her Web site.

Outside

Inside

We used Apple Pages to layout and design the brochure, and VistaPrint to print it.

Book & CD: Red Hot Customer Service

Lis Calandrino’s book Red Hot Customer Service: 35 Sizzling Ways to Heat Up Your Business and Ignite Your Sales was published in August 2009. We took Lis’s rough draft and, over the course of 10 months, got it into a polished, published format, and shipped 1,000 copies.

Since Lis is a voiceover artist as well, she came up with the idea to include a CD with the book, which we produced. She recorded her “10 Rules for Red Hot Customer Service” at a studio and sent us the tracks, which we finalized by adding music and breaks. We designed the CD and oversaw the publishing process.

The book is excellent, the CD is very informative, and there’s no one more capable of guiding a business to better customer satisfaction than Lis.

Video: Freihofer’s Run for Women Promo Video

Here’s a video we created earlier this year for the Freihofer’s Run for Women, an elite 5k race held annually in Albany, NY.

I used my Canon Powershot SD1000 to capture the interviews, then a JVC handheld with stabilizers while I was on the press truck in front of the runners. Two team members provided additional footage — one positioned among the runners and another at the start/finish line. After jumping off the press truck at the end I positioned myself behind the finish line as well, which is why we’re able to have two angles of women coming in.

I edited the footage on my iMac using iMovie, and mixed together Coldplay’s Life in Technicolor 1 and Life in Technicolor 2 using Garage Band to round out the video.

Here’s an extended version that captures the kids’ race.

Hope you enjoy.