Leila invited me to talk on her show, Matters That Matter, on Voice Of The Cape FM.
We chatted about ‘Marketing Magic’, the Flow Marketing Magic™ Cycle & my upcoming seminar, ‘The Magic Experience: De-Mystifying Marketing For Entrepreneurs‘.
Recorded on Monday 6th April 2009.
Update: Leila wrote an article about this interview on her blog.
{ Comments }
As more an more people are joining Facebook & Twitter , it becomes harder & harder to be noticed in the ‘crowd’. The one thing that almost all social media networks now have in common is the ability for each user to upload an ‘avatar‘ or an ‘icon‘ that represents the user.
This little image – normally a square, cropped image – is what the users see whenever messages or status updates are sent. It should therefore be representative.
Seth Godin has written an excellent post about how to create the best representation of yourself online:
Seth’s Blog: The power of a tiny picture (how to improve your social network brand)
If you’re serious about socialising online, I highly recommend you make an appointment with a professional photographer & together create a small portfolio of close-up, 3/4 & full body photographs. You should be dressed professionally, as you wish to be seen in public. You won’t need to print them out, simple request a CD or have them copied straight to a flash disk. Some studios will offer to ‘touch-up’ your photographs; unless you’re familiar with professional graphics applications, I suggest you spend the extra money to have the professional make you look good.
Or watch this video to see how you can make a ‘manga’-style avatar without a photograph.
As suggested by my mentor, I used the 6 Power Poses to create a collection of photographs that I can use for practically any purpose. Some of them have been cropped for my avatars, others work well for printing. But the hour or so it took me to have the different poses caught on film has been well spent, as I no longer need to search to find an appropriate photograph for a press release, newsletter or blog post.
I can highly recommend Ant from That’s Me Photographic Studios.
You can contact him here:
Physical Address: Unit A112, The Old Biscuit Mill, 373 Albert Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, 7925
Website: http://www.thatsme.co.za
Tel: (021) 447 1280
(My upcoming seminar, “The Magic Experience: De-Mystifying Marketing For Entrepreneurs“, will include information about the best Power Poses for photographs, how this images can be used & how to ensure that you look fantastic in the shot.)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=b7817d82-a53f-4b50-abcd-4a65725c4e3a "A simple way to enhance your online profile")
{ Comments }
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
It’s Time for Entrepreneurs To Unleash Their ‘Inner Magician’
Why? When “Big business” is taking a knock small business owners, freelancers and other entrepreneurs feel the crunch! Whether you are an entrepreneur, small business owner or freelancer, no matter what business you’re in, you’re in the marketing business.
As property prices plummet and banks need government aid to see them through this economic decline, there is good news on the horizon. “What goes down must come back up,” is just one way of seeing it. This offers entrepreneurs fantastic opportunities to excel. Why? They are creative individuals that have passion and motivation, & can see opportunities where others can’t. They have the natural desire to open new businesses that can solve a problem or meet a need, and despite the many challenges, those that manage to keep their businesses open often, become super successful.
But then, why do so many small businesses fail? There are many people out there with the true ‘Entrepreneurial Spirit’ who have something unique and valuable that can potentially change the world, BUT – and here’s the catch – it often seems like no one knows about them!
A fundamental skill that successful business owners have is that they understand & use effective marketing techniques. It’s a fact. Entrepreneurs are extremely talented when it comes to business ideas, but most struggle when it comes to the marketing of their product or service.
Marcel Oudejans, author of “The Serious Business Owner’s Guide To Creating Customers For Life“, is himself an entrepreneur & started his own small business at age 15. His business was, at first, a way for him to earn ‘pocket money’ but 12 years later, he is recognised by many established South African companies as a leader in his field of ‘Infotainment’ : delivering marketing and sales information & persuading his audiences through the medium of entertainment & the Art of Magic.
During the process of growing his own business, Marcel was forced to learn how to market & sell his own services … or starve. When asked about how he learnt the techniques & strategies that have lead him to be so successful, his answer is simple: “Reading, researching, rehearsal & repetition”.
Now Marcel is regularly called to help suggest and implement cost-effective and practical marketing strategies & techniques. Due to the increasing demand for his services and ideas, Marcel formed a team of passionate small business owners who decided to create a unique educational experience that would help entrepreneurs find and empower their “Inner Marketing Magician”. This event, “The Magic Experience: De-Mystifying Marketing for Entrepreneurs“, has been created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. [click to continue…]
{ Comments }
As seen in Mango ‘Juice’, the airline’s in-flight magazine, in the February 2009 issue.
{ Comments }
“Nature gives all, without reservation, and loses nothing;
man or woman, grasping all, loses everything.”
- The Path to Prosperity, James Allen
It’s a paradox of life that “givers get”: when you’re willing to share with others, you make yourself attractive to even more positive experiences. This can take different forms: giving a free talk to a networking group, creating a free report or article that you can give to clients, offering your services to a charity, or even being a mentor. There are infinite number of ways that you can give value to others!
The amazing thing about sharing is that it opens your awareness up to new & exciting opportunities. In order to share anything, you need to understand how to create value for other people: ‘sharing’ something of no value isn’t really ‘sharing’ at all, is it? When you are willing to give away something of value – something that the people you share it with find useful or practical – you’ll find yourself becoming more attractive to those people. If you’re able to consistently share information that you know others will find valuable, then you’ll start growing a network of loyal followers & supporters.
Having a positive attitude to sharing encourages thinking abundantly: if you believe that you will always have ‘enough’ & that there are no limits to amount of love, knowledge & trust you can accumulate, you will begin to share quite easily because you have faith that you will never be left with nothing. More importantly, being open & enthusiastic to sharing with other people encourages everyone – even people you’ve never met before – to support you & share with you too.
Sharing creates the need to reciprocate: your supporters will want to engage you in dialogue, will want to find out more about you & will eagerly maintain communication because they find value in your relationship. Ideally, you want to end up in a position where your supporters are willing to tell their network about you so that you can leverage your content to their family, friends & colleagues. It is inevitable that when you have a large enough database of friends & fans that are eager to recommend you & your company, that you will be able to generate a sustainable income as an authority of your subject.
In essence, this is a big part of what ‘Marketing Magic’ is all about!
Think about this: An authority is considered to be the ‘go to’ person if you wish to find out more in their field of expertise. Authorities are asked to present at networking functions, called for interviews, are able to get lots of free publicity & are generally the highest paid people in their industry. If you write a book, you’ll be called an “author” because you’re considered to be the authority of that subject: and what is writing a book other than sharing your insights, knowledge & opinions with the world? [click to continue…]
{ Comments }
including
"17 Professional Tips For Planning Corporate Events"!
