I’m very pleased to announce that I am now offering one-on-one coaching sessions for those who want to learn about Aweber’s email marketing system.

This coaching program is meant for those who are do-it-yourselfers, who understand the importance of developing an email list but don’t know the correct way to do it.

It’s also for Virtual Assistants who want to offer email marketing management to their clients but are not familiar with the Aweber system.

It’s also appropriate for those who have used Aweber for a long time but want to get up to date on all the social media features.

I do not delve into email marketing strategies but this 1 hour session will guide you through the process of how to create a list, how to create a web form for your site, how to create a newsletter broadcast, and how to create an automatic blog broadcast.

Each 1-hour coaching session is custom-designed based on your list needs and costs $40.

Here’s what one of my recent coaching clients said:

I hired Christina for coaching with AWeber. She was organized, knowledgable and professional. When my situation threw her a curve ball she promptly researched the issue and got back to me with a solution. She was easy to work with and I recommend her coaching services highly. ~ Eileen Lonergan, Web Designer

If you feel you could benefit from an Aweber coaching session, simply click the button below and we can schedule your session.

Recently, I received this question from a reader… What is the recommended number of keywords per page? It’s a good question. Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer.

Keyword Tips to Remember

Google doesn’t address the question of how many keywords to use on a page. What they do say is that “keyword stuffing,” which refers to the practice of filling a page with keywords in an effort to manipulate search engine results, is a big no-no. A page stuffed with keywords creates a negative user experience, according to Google, and in turn, can actually harm your site’s search engine ranking rather than help it.

Another issue with keywords that Google frowns upon is simply the “misuse” of them. This can involve anything from creating long lists of unrelated words, posting keywords in the same color text as the background so they don’t show up to the naked eye but the search bots find them, repeating a keyword over and over to where the content doesn’t even make sense, or using a keyword that doesn’t fit the site just to get a page ranked higher in search results. Any of these “black hat” webmaster tactics can get a site penalized and potentially banned by the search engine.

Proper Usage of Keywords

Learning to use keywords properly according to Google’s guidelines is crucial to your search engine results. But if there is no clear direction as to the recommended number of keywords per page, how do you decide what’s best? Well, according to the search giant, you must focus on creating helpful content filled with good information that uses appropriate keywords in context.

This means you must write naturally using appropriate keywords and keyword phrases that apply to your business, products and services; write content that offers solid information and that your visitors will want to read; and do so without forcing keywords into the mix just to have them there.

Keyword Research Tool

Google’s Keyword Analysis tool can help you determine what the best keywords and phrases are for your site. You simply enter a word that applies to the content of your site and the results return a list of potential keywords that might apply for you. Using this tool can help you tightly focus your content and be sure you’re using all the possible combinations of keywords without overstuffing or misusing them.

If you research your keywords, write your pages naturally with a focus on using the keywords that apply to your site, and create solid content that’s helpful and informative, wondering about the recommended number of keywords per page won’t be an issue. You’ll be creating quality web pages that won’t turn off an intelligent visitor and you’ll be pleasing the search engines at the same time. It doesn’t get any better than that.

If you need a little pizazz in your marketing videos, consider using stock video clips.

Stock video clips are identical to stock photos, in that you pay a one-time royalty fee for the image (in this case a video clip that will vary in length) and you can use it in any number of videos, for any type of marketing video, and for any length of time.

In theory, you can spend a small amount now on a few stock video clips and use these same clips for the next 10 years in every marketing video you create.

My favorite source for stock videos at the moment is Pond5, mostly because of their budget-friendly prices.

In 2009, when Apple finally joined the Twitter bandwagon in an effort to promote iTunes, the Twitosphere gained a considerable amount of credibility. Users joined by the thousands creating one of the largest social networking applications online. Today, learning how to use Twitter for podcast promotion is a tremendous marketing strategy for even the smallest businesses.

There are several ways to promote your podcast on Twitter. For instance, you can create a separate account strictly for your podcast. In the bio section, include information about what you provide and who your intended audience is. Also include a link so your followers can find your site.

You can then tweet each podcast you create and encourage your followers to retweet (RT) the link. This can help generate backlinks for your site and help you gain popularity as more and more users find you.

Applications to Promote Your Podcast

With all the popularity, Twitter users have developed a number of helpful applications that you can use—many of them free—to promote your podcasts. One helpful application is TwitterFeed, an  online application that lets you post your podcast’s RSS feed automatically to your Twitter account when a new feed is published. This is especially helpful if you tend to forget to update your tweets regularly.

Another helpful application is TwitThis, which allows visitors to easily send tweets from your blog or website. The app automatically shortens the URL and creates a link that users can quickly send to their Twitter followers. Future Tweets is another useful app that lets you schedule tweets for a later date. This will allow you to offer teasers and tidbits about upcoming podcasts, projected interviews and more.

Once you’ve started using Twitter on a regular basis, be sure to add your profile to WeFollow. This online directory of Twitterers allows you to choose up to three categories where users might search to find people to follow. For example, if your podcast is business related, you can list your Twitter account under business for prospective followers to find you there.

Twitter Usage Tips

As you become familiar with Twitter, you’ll discover that the most popular “tweeps” (Twitterese for people) are those who post helpful tips and ideas related to the topic of their business. This is an ideal way to promote your podcast. Using an automatic update application allows you to write several tweets and plug them into the software for drip-feeding to your Twitter account. What could be simpler? You can offer useful comments for your followers by spending just a few minutes a week to set them up.

Be sure to tweet upcoming content, podcast episodes, interviews, participants and more. If your guests use Twitter, be sure to include their Twitter ID such as @christinalemmey.  This will give them a little free publicity and offer your followers another resource related to the topic of your podcasts.

You can use your Twitter account to ask followers for their input and suggestions, as well as how they would improve future podcasts. And you can share links to reviews, guest bios, and more.

As you’ll discover, there are innumerable ideas for how to use Twitter for podcast promotion. Use your imagination, have fun with it, and be yourself. Twitter is a social networking site, so make the most of the social aspect to grow your podcast popularity on this popular, growing site.

One of the toughest aspects of producing a podcast, publishing a newsletter, writing a blog, or any other form of online marketing that must be done on a regular basis, is to come up with creative ideas that will interest your listeners or readers. There is a tremendous strategy, however, that is often overlooked when searching for topics. It’s called brainstorming.

Brainstorming topics for your podcast is truly the ultimate way to keep fresh, original and worthwhile content ideas available for consistent production. Spending some time jotting down ideas, then using the ideas you generate to create a publishing schedule or editorial calendar can help you plan your podcasts months in advance and never have that dreaded thought of, “What am I going to talk about this week?!”

How to Brainstorm Ideas More Effectively

While brainstorming is so easy that anyone can do it, to do it properly, there are a couple guidelines to remember. First, set aside a specific time to brainstorm, say 10 or 15 minutes at one time. Next, don’t filter your thoughts. If an idea pops into your head, write it down, regardless of how inappropriate it may seem. Also, just because you write down an idea doesn’t mean you have to use it. Select the ideas that work for your podcast, specifically. Adapt them, edit them, rearrange them. The ideas are YOURS. Use them as you see fit.

Once you’ve spent some time in your brainstorming session and you have several ideas you think would work for your podcast, group them together in like topics. For instance, do you have several ideas that deal with marketing? A few that deal with writing? Some others that are related to customer service? Whatever they are, having groups of similar ideas allows you to run a series if you like, or to create a special topic day. For instance, Marketing Monday or Time Management Thursday.

After you have a list of topics you feel comfortable with, and you’ve divided them into groups, it’s time to transfer them to your editorial calendar. A simple print calendar works well, or you can use an online calendar such as Google’s free one. Just enter a topic for each day that you plan to create a podcast, keeping in mind your groups or series. Fill it in with as many topics as you have available, then add a note about a week before your topics run out to remind yourself to sit down for another brainstorming session. This method will help to ensure you always have a podcast topic to use.

Where to Find Creative Ideas

If, even after brainstorming, you’re still struggling to find topic ideas for your podcast, there are other places to look. You can do some informal market research using online surveys or social media. You can look at search trends on Google and see what people are looking for. You can check magazines or newsletters that deal with your subject area and see what is popular that you could create a podcast about. There are any number of ways to generate ideas for podcasting, but if you’re looking for the fastest, easiest way… give brainstorming a try. You’ll be amazed at some of the ideas you come up with in just a few minutes of dedicated thinking.

If you want a brainstorm partner to help bounce ideas, contact me today to schedule a 1 hour brainstorm coaching session!

What types of books do you like to read? Are you soley focused on business books or do you like mysteries, historical fiction or biographies?

Normally I’m a murder-mystery fan (and yes, I also have seen almost every Law & Order episode ever made!) but my sister-in-law lent me the book Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel by Beth Hoffman.

Even though it’s not my typical genre, it was a page turner. Not because of needing the next clue in the mystery but because I just had to know what would happen to 10-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt. After being the sole caretaker of her mentally ill mother, her absentee father relinquishes custody of her to a great aunt CeeCee doesn’t know.

After CC moves down south is when the heartwarming story begins. She is enveloped in this loving community full of women, all of whom have their own personalities and back stories and that is when you can see CeeCee’s transformation.

You can’t help but wonder if such a transformation is actually possible in real life, if you take a child out of a troubling home life and place them in a loving and warm environment.

So, what’s on your reading list this summer? Leave a comment below

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “backlinks,” it’s time you understand just what it means. Backlinks are the links that point to your site, or podcast, from other websites and pages online. The more backlinks your site has, the better you rank in the search engines, the higher PR (Google Page Rank) you receive, and the more traffic you’ll get.

Finding backlinks for your podcast is an easy task, but it does require some effort. It’s not as simple as it once was when you could submit a page to all the free-for-all (FFA) sites you could find or swap links with any Tom, Dick and Henrietta who would swap with you. Today, backlinks must be one-way links to your site, not a swap, and they must be from quality sites to have any value.

How to Build Backlinks

One quick way to build backlinks to your podcast is through online podcast directories. Search Google and you’ll see there are hundreds of potential directories online where you can submit your podcast free. One site, PodSubmitter (http://www.podsubmitter.com/), will actually allow you to submit your site to 55 directories at no charge as long as you give them a link back. If you don’t want to do that, you can use their list of directories to submit manually. The choice is yours.

Another way to build backlinks to your podcast is by writing unique articles or guest blog posts that you send to bloggers or online publishers to use free, with a link back to your site. These can be short articles on any topic, though ideally they should be related to your niche, and they should include a short (four to five line) resource box at the end with a link to your podcast. This is a promotion strategy that has been used for years and continues to be popular today, simply because it works.

You can also build backlinks to your podcast through your social networking connections. Tweet a link to your site via Twitter and encourage others to retweet it for you. Post a link on your Facebook page. Submit your link to Digg. There are hundreds of other possible sites that allow you to post a link to your podcast or RSS feed and get quality backlinks in return.

Backlinks Provide Traffic to Your Podcast

Keep your eyes open to other possibilities for getting backlinks. New methods pop up nearly every week, and there are many more that aren’t mentioned here. Realize the importance of getting other sites to link to your content, and you’ll begin to gradually grow your site into one of authority and popularity. And that’s the ultimate method for getting more traffic, and more listeners and subscribers to your podcast.

For even more help creating backlinks to absolutely any kind of website, check out the Easy Link Love – 13 Week Link Building Class by my friend, Susanne Myers.

Deciding on a continuous branding strategy for your product and company are difficult enough when you’re first starting out but after several years of success, why would you choose to rebrand your product?

That’s the question I asked Kelly McCausey, whose online business included the popular Work At Home Moms Talk Radio podcast for 7 years. She enjoyed much success with this brand and is widely known as an expert and mentor to women who want to work from home or who want to start their own online businesses.

But yesterday Kelly revealed the new name and look of her podcast, now known as Solo Smarts and I was pleased that she answered a few questions for me, explaining why she made this decision to rebrand her popular podcast.

What exactly does “branding” mean and why is it important?

Oh how I wish you hadn’t asked that question, I feel so inadequate to answer it! I won’t even try to give you a definition, I’m certain I’d get it wrong to some extent.

Instead, I’ll talk about my experience with my own brand in the last few years.

I didn’t set out to create a brand. I started Work at Home Moms Talk Radio in November of 2003. I was intrigued by internet radio and hungry to learn all I could about working at home on the internet.

I started the show while wanting to be a full time WAHM. I still worked on my business full time outside of the home and worked part time at night and on weekends. My dream of being a WAHM endeared me to my audience who was made up of so many moms just like me.

In 2006, I became a full time WAHM. It was such a wonderful validation for me as host of the show to be able to say that, I felt like I had won the respect of my audience.

In 2009, my 18 year old son moved out and I had an empty nest. I started to feel a little strange calling myself a Work at Home Mom, but I still felt a strong kinship with my listeners and continued doing the show.

In the spring of this year, things really started to change. I’d been out of the whole ‘kids at home’ thing for awhile and starting to feel attracted to topics and guests I’d never considered a good fit for the show in the past. I wanted to talk about things that had nothing to do with being a work at home mom. I found it increasingly awkward to call myself a WAHM.

The ‘WAHM’ brand was a good fit for more than seven years, but it isn’t a good fit for me now. Could I continue to host the show? Some say yes, but I say no. I still have a huge heart for the Work at Home Mom community, I still want to help moms make their home business dreams come true! But I have to step out of the WAHM brand in order to regain a sense of being genuine.

What is your new branding?

The new brand is Solo Smarts, Interviews, Ideas and Inspiration for Solopreneurs.

With this new branding, will that affect the types of guests you have on your podcast?

Yes, this change will have a big impact on the guests I interview. With WAHM Talk Radio, I felt it was important to interview as many genuine work at home moms as possible. Over the years I interviewed only a handful of men, and chose those only when I felt there wasn’t a mompreneur who could cover the topic as well. Our topics were focused on the ‘work at home’ side of the WAHM. I learned early on that my listeners were there to learn about making money, not to hear about taking care of the home or family.

Solo Smarts will see more of a mixed group of men and women, something a few years ago I wouldn’t have believed. I’ve always felt like I enjoyed working with women more than men. My first guest on the new Solo Smarts is a guy, and I’m looking forward to interviewing many more.

What other changes do you anticipate due to this new direction?

With a new focus on Solepreneurs, I see a lot of fresh new topics ahead. There are some things that won’t change. I’m as dedicated as ever to exposing work at home scams and educating my audience about strategies that work.

Another thing that will stay the same is my firm believe that business should serve life, not the other way around.

Bringing guest interviews to your podcast can add interest and attract an audience that might not otherwise listen in. Knowing how to approach potential guests, the kind of questions to ask, what to expect from a guest, and more can help make the process go smoothly and give you a multitude of fresh and original content for your podcasts.

Let’s assume that you’ve taken the time to find a guest you’d like to interview for your podcast. Maybe you found her through Help A Reporter Out (HARO), through a discussion forum or a blog, or somewhere else. However you found her (or him), there is a right and a wrong way to approach your prospective guest and invite her to be interviewed for your show.

Interview Request Etiquette

The first thing you can do is to compose a polite email with the subject “Interview Request.” Be sure to introduce yourself, give the name of your podcast, and that you’re interested in interviewing her. Offer a suggested date for the interview, and tell her what you’d like to talk about.

You certainly want to keep the request short. And you want to sound professional, though friendly. Be sure to use mixed case letters (upper and lower case), proper punctuation and capitalization on names, etc. While the message doesn’t have to be perfect, you want to do your best to write it well.

If your prospective guest has media instructions or public relations information available on her website, be sure to read it carefully and follow any directions given. Such information is provided for a reason. Failing to follow her directives could cost you what might have been a good interview guest for your show.

Learn About Your Interview Guest and Their Subject Matter

It’s also a good idea to do a little research on your guest in advance, unless she’s someone you’re familiar with or know well. This can help you better prepare 10 to 20 questions covering the information you’d your guest to provide. When preparing questions, be sure to use open-ended ones rather than simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ This will give your guest the opportunity to provide the most detail and make the interview much more enjoyable for your listeners.

Once your interviewee has agreed to be a guest, send her a short thank you. At that time include the questions you’d like to ask or information you hope she can provide. Allow time at the end of your interview for your guest to give her website address, email address or other form of contact so your listeners can learn more. And once the podcast is complete, send another short note thanking her again. It’s always best to err on the side of being overly courteous than appearing ungrateful for your guest’s time and input.

Finding and interviewing guests who are known for their knowledge and expertise can add interest and variety to your podcasts. The process can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. While you want to keep in mind that you’re, in essence, asking for a favor from the guest, you’re also offering a chance for them to promote their business as well. This creates a positive situation for both you and the guest and can make your podcasting a lot richer in content as well as a lot more enjoyable to produce.

Don’t use the excuse that you don’t have time to find or interview guests on your podcast! Contact me for pricing to help you create appropriate interview questions today.

It’s Friday and time for some fun stuff!

Have you ever thought about what you would do with your time if you were independently wealthy and had no responsibilities?

What would you do right this second instead of working?

Personally, I would take my family and travel through Europe, taking our sweet ol’ time. We’d start in Portugal and work our way east, seeing all the tourist sites in London and Paris but also enjoying the slow pace of the countryside in Ireland and the beaches of the French Riviera.

We would visit my uncle in Italy and enjoy LOTS of good food and wine! We wouldn’t be intimidated about not knowing the languages. We would try to meet locals to really learn about their different cultures and customs.

Of course, my hubby would play all the famous golf courses, my teen would search out every ballet performance, and my little one would have to say hello to every horse we found. And I’d be happy watching it all, not caring what time it was or having any kind of itinerary. Well, give me a spa treatment or two

What would you do? Share the biggest dream of your life in the comment section below!