In yesterday’s call, I promised to post a resource on how to pull together a teleseminar. I mentioned Cindi Dawson, the Teleseminar Coach and said I’d post a link to her site here. So, here it is!

www.teleseminarsuccesssystem.com

This is not an affiliate link, I just think Cindi’s great! And she’s fun to listen to, too. Even better – I’ve invited her to be one of the featured speakers in the next series of Turbo-Charge Your Marketing calls and she’s agreed! Yeah!

Any way, go to her website and sign up for her free monthly calls — they are filled with golden tidbits of information that will help you pull together your own teleseminars.

Teleseminars make great attraction and retention tools. They are easy to do for very low cost — in fact, there are several free bridge line services out there. I use FreeConferencePro for Turbo-Charge Your Marketing.

Oh! And be sure to check out her cool list of teleseminar resources at:

www.teleseminarsuccesssystem.com/tstools.html

Teleseminar Resources is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

Would you like to record audio to use in your business? Here are a couple of simple ways to do that.

Use Your Telephone

This is the method I use. I dial into a conference call service, FreeConferenceCalling.com, login, click on the “record” button and record. Since I have a land line and decent headset for my phone, the recordings have been pretty good.

There are plenty of free conference calling services available. I use this one because it allows me to record when I’m the only one on the line. Most other services require there to be at least one other person calling in.

If you only have a cell or wireless phone, I don’t recommend this option, as those types of phone often have clarity issues.

Use A Mic for Your Computer

There is plenty of software available that will allow you to record audio from your computer … all you need is a microphone to pick up the sound. In fact, many modern computers come with this software already installed.

The trick to this option is, however, to have a decent microphone … and these can be fairly expensive.

You Don’t Need a Studio

I hope you can see from the two options I mentioned above that you don’t need to have a fancy studio in place to record decent audio you can use in your business.

Easy Ways To Record Audio for Your Business is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

There are many ways that recording audio can help your business. Here are just the first four I could think of:

Better Productivity

It is often easier and quicker for you to create an audio product than a written one. Therefore you can provide more information products to serve your market in less time if record them in audio format.

Business Promotion

There are many ways you can use audio to promote your business, grow your list and sell more products and services. You can do free teleseminars, you can be a guest on other people’s teleseminars, you can engage in audio article marketing, or you can produce a regular podcast or Internet radio show.

Increased Conversions

Audio messages posted on your sales page can increase sales. You can also send quick audio messages to your subscriber list to attract them to your sales pages. Another way to increase sales is to provide sample audio clips from your audio products on the sales page.

Increased Traffic

When I launched an podcast for my Examiner.com column, I noticed an uptick in page views. So, it is quite possible that producing an regular podcast can increase traffic to your website.

How Audio Can Help Your Business is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

If you’re doing a podcast, radio show or any other kind of audio product as part of your marketing mix, you’ll probably want to spice it up with some fun music. Having intro and extro music makes your audio sound more professional.

There are plenty of places where you can purchase royalty free music, but I just found a place that has some pretty good royalty free music you can use for free!

It’s called Partners in Rhyme and you can get both royalty free music and sound effects. When you’re marketing on a shoe-string budget, finding a resource like this is golden. Think of it, you could download some totally cool music and sound effects for your next audio or video project and take your product up a notch in professionalism.

Here are some samples of what I downloaded.

3 Ways to Use this Music

• Intros and Extros
  The intro is a short snippet of music that fades into your audio, such as the recording of your teleseminar. An extro is a short snippet of music that fades from the end of your audio. These little details make your audio sound more professional.
• Add Dimension to Your Videos
  Adding some background music to your video can enhance the mood and effectiveness of the video. I used this technique in my promotional video, displayed in the sidebar.
• Spice Up an Audio Button
  According to David Gale, music can make your audio button more effective. To learn more, check out his article titled, “Why You Should Add Music To Your Website Audio Buttons“.
• Create an Audio Brand
  Using the same music in your business for all your audio will help you build an audio brand. I talked about this in a post on the Women’s Business Gallery.

Spice Up Your Audio is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge

As a business owner, you know how important it is to offer your customers new products and services that make their life easier. But the fact is that thinking up new offerings can be expensive, time-consuming, and difficult. On top of that, you have to spend money advertising the new product or service, with no guarantee that it’ll be a success. It’s a high-stakes game that leaves many business owners unsure of what to do next.

Fortunately, an easy solution exists, and it can double or even triple your profits with little outlay on your part. It’s called coaching, and it enables business owners in every industry to increase the maximum lifetime value of their customers.

When most people hear the word “coaching,” they think of professional sports’ teams. But realize that everyday people just like your current customers need coaching on a variety of topics, from parenting to business. If you’re not offering coaching support as an added value to your existing product or service line, then you’re missing a huge profit potential for your company. Consider these two important facts:

1. No matter how good or how comprehensive your products or services are, your customers will always want implementation support. They’ll need someone to help them step-by-step through the process your product or service provides.
2. If they don’t get coaching from you, they’ll get it from someone else. If you don’t offer the next step that will allow your customers to successfully implement or better use your products or services, then they’ll find this support elsewhere. They’ll turn to a life or business coach who can be there for them every step of the way.

In other words, if you don’t offer implementation support, you’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table with each customer. So now the question is, “How do I begin offering coaching services to my existing customer base?” The following three steps will help lay the groundwork and get your new coaching service off to a great start.

1. Create a coaching niche:
Even if you offer a variety of products and services, when it comes to offering coaching to your customers, you need a niche. Not only will establishing a niche help focus your efforts, but it will also enable you to better brand yourself and your coaching services. Additionally, having a niche will increase your chances of getting referrals. After all, if someone can’t describe what your coaching is all about and whom you can help, that person won’t be able to refer others to you.

As you consider your potential niche, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are my most popular products or services?
• How can I better help my customers utilize these popular products or services?
• What are the most pressing problems my customers have?
• How can I help my customers better solve those problems?

By answering these questions, you should have a list of ideas for your coaching niche. The key question you then should ask yourself is: “Which of these specialties and niche markets have the highest potential for my coaching services?” If you find that you have multiple niches, that’s okay. Eventually you will find that one of the niches you work in is more enjoyable, profitable, and the easiest to reach.

2. Offer a coaching program:
Every coach needs a program. And while you might be offering a variety of coaching services and can probably coach all kinds of people on many different issues, you’ll have more success if you offer a core coaching program. You can offer your coaching program in a group setting or as one-on-one coaching. Whatever format you choose, make sure your coaching program has four important elements:

• It must focus on a very specific goal (Example: Better communication with your employees).
• It must have a specific time line (12 weeks, 6 months, etc.).
• It must be based on a process you follow (system of steps or concepts).
• It must demonstrate a “tangible” result at the end of it.

Here’s an example of how your core coaching program might look:

“12 Weeks to Highly Effective Employee Communication – A three-month, hands-on coaching program designed to help you better connect with your employees to increase productivity and morale through behavioral style communication techniques.”

To develop your own coaching program, start by asking yourself these questions:

• What goal would you like your clients to achieve as a result of your coaching program?
• What steps do your clients need to take to achieve this goal week by week?
• What tools and strategies can you use to help your clients reach their goal?

If you believe that you can’t develop a coaching program and need to customize your coaching services to each client, then develop a short-term training program based on an issue very common to your target clients. For example, “Building a Winning Team” can be relevant to small business owners, executives, non-profit organizations, etc. Then, as you deliver this coaching service, you get an opportunity to learn about each client closer, find out about their needs, and offer more customized long-term coaching solutions.

3. Use tele-classes to turn customers into coaching clients:
Tele-classes are a fun way to connect with other like-minded people, learn a new skill, and pick up some useful information. They’re also a great way to announce your coaching services and enroll current customers into your coaching program.

The most important thing you should have in place before giving a tele-class is a back-end product—your core coaching program. Next, treat your tele-class like both a product and a marketing campaign you’re conducting to fill your coaching program. For example, if you’re an employment recruiter and your tele-class is titled “How to Land a New Job in 30 Days or Less,” your content would discuss the “how-to,” but you would leave the hands-on strategies to the actual coaching program. Finally, name your tele-class. Be specific. Don’t make people guess what your tele-class is about. Your tele-class title is like the headline in an ad—make it short, punchy and to the point.

Prepare a handout with the tele-class’s outline, case studies, and the link to your coaching program web page. To get the most participation, send at least three reminders about your tele-class to your current customer base. This will also build awareness of your coaching program. It’s best to hold your tele-class three to four weeks before you’re scheduled to begin your coaching program.

During the actual tele-class, stick to the handout and cover the case studies you prepared. Spend seventy-five percent of your time on content and twenty-five percent of your time on questions and interaction. Mention your coaching program about half-way through the tele-class, and then again at the end. Tie any tools, products, or services you’re using with your customers to help them identify problems, gaps, and areas to work on into your discussion. At the end, invite participants to take advantage of a special offer—a discount, a bonus, a resource, etc.—available only if they enroll in your coaching program by a certain time.

Multiply Your Income Today:
Starting your own coaching program is the easiest way to send your profits through the roof. Remember, people are begging to be told what to do. They’re just waiting for someone with the knowledge and expertise they need to come along, sit them down, and walk them through it one step at a time. If you need proof of this, just look at how quickly people jump on trends. Whether it’s the latest fad diets, fashions, new technologies, or new ways of doing business, people are always ready to “plug in” to the next big thing. Now’s the time to make sure that “next big thing” is you!

Increase Profits by Offering Coaching Services is a post from Marketing Turbo-Charge