Podcasting - The 21st Century Way to Tell Your Story

Unless you've been stranded on a desert island for the past four years, you've probably heard of the Apple iPod®. It's a hand-held device that stores MP3s and other files for playback or retrieval.

The iPod® has become Apple's main profit center with more than 28 million units sold since the product was first introduced in 2001. As a result, many competing companies have created their own versions of the iPod®.

The popularity of these devices led to what's known as "podcasting." Pod, for iPod®, and casting for broadcasting. Podcasting was coined by former MTV personality Adam Curry, who has now become known as the "father" of podcasting.

Podcasting grew in popularity as a way for young people to play downloaded MP3 music.

Podcasting has now become a way for anyone to play any kind of MP3 file, whether it is music or a voice-only production.

This is important to you because you can record information about your company and its products and services and make that information available online for people to download and listen to.

You can create your own podcasts and cash in on the growing trend to assimilate information audibly instead of or in addition to reading it.

Podcasting can serve to brand you as an expert in your field who is on the cutting edge of technology.

Podcasting opens up the opportunity for you to create information products you can sell for real money.

Podcasting can take several forms:

• Web page messages
• Online seminars, workshops and clinics
• CD and MP3 "how-to" programs
• Internet radio programs
• Downloadable MP3s
  
• Teleseminars
• Professional interviews

Podcasting is relatively new as a business building tool and most of your competitors are probably not taking advantage of this form of communication.

You can get the jump on them by creating podcasts for your business.

Basic podcasting can be done by simply recording into an iPod-type device, transferring the recording to your computer, and then uploading it to your web server for access by visitors to your website.

You can also buy inexpensive software to record directly into your computer using a microphone plugged into your computer's microphone input.

You can buy additional software to process the file to make it louder or softer; remove any mistakes you made; and to add special effects, like music.

You can have someone interview you about your business and record that interview. You can use the recording as a sales tool or, if it's good enough, you can even sell it.

The possibilities are endless.

Like any new technology, podcasting has a learning curve. Once you master the basics, a whole new way of promoting your business will unfold before you.

Experience this exciting new marketing tool right now by listening to the Write Marketing Group Podcast!

For assistance with the latest marketing strategies that can help you grow your business faster and leave your competition in the dust, contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1.

How to Boost the Chances Your Ad Will Be Successful

Recently I was reviewing competitors' websites in preparation for meeting with a client and I made an interesting discovery.

Of the ten websites I reviewed, not one made any kind of compelling offer to get visitors to take a most desired action.

By that I mean, not one of the websites gave people any meaningful incentive to call, complete a web form, or visit the place of business.

These companies had invested money in having a website built and maintained but had missed a great opportunity to capitalize fully on their investments.

They were spending money to drive traffic to their websites but were letting the ball drop there because they hadn't provided a good reason for visitors to take the next step.

Unfortunately, the lack of a compelling offer is an all-too-common marketing mistake made by the vast majority of advertisers both online and offline.

To prove my point, just pick up most any magazine or newspaper and take a look at the display ads.

I'll wager that nine out of ten of them have no compelling offer of any kind.

What's a compelling offer?

A compelling offer is a meaningful incentive for a reader, listener or viewer to take the next logical step, called a most desired action, or MDA.

Your MDA could be to call, complete a web form, or visit your place of business.

In today's highly cluttered world, competing for and holding attention has become more difficult than ever before. Once that has been accomplished, if you aren't able to get people to take your MDA, your ad dollars will be wasted.

It's not enough that your product or service does great things. Many products and services do that. If you want to motivate people to choose you, you must give them additional reasons to do so. That's where a compelling offer can help.

Compelling offers can take many forms, the most common of which is a price offer. However, when your main drawing card is price, people may come to expect price concessions from you and delay purchasing until your next price promotion.

Another form of offer is a free trial or free sample. Another is a free bonus with purchase.

One of the most cost-effective offers to make is for free information that solves a problem your target market has. This can be accomplished via a special report, tips sheet, booklet, ebook, CD, MP3 download, or DVD.

When properly positioned, free information can have a high perceived value to the recipient, but a low cost to you to deliver, making it the ideal form of compelling offer.

It's easy to determine what kind of information might be appropriate for your target market. Just ask them. This not only can provide the basis for creating your free information, it can also tell you more about what your customers, clients or patients really want.

Remember, if you don't give people a good reason to take action, they probably won't.

For assistance with advertising copy and marketing strategy that can help you reach your goals contact Ben Edwards today at 617-670-1888, ext. 1. Visit our website now.