I hope you do!

But perhaps you have this (secret) longing for something else,
something you’ve always dreamed of ?

This video tutorial is entitled What is a Domain Name? It’s the first in a series that is intended to make a contribution towards initiating change – in small, concrete and non life (or job) threatening steps.

If you want to skip the text here below and go straight to the video, please click here.

Because if you have a dream, why not start sharing it right now, connecting with others who think likewise – to inspire and get inspired? In other words, test drive your idea at low cost and low risk, so that you can build up your experience over time, make adjustments and learn.

This is possible by initiating an online Internet presence. And even if your future service or product – or simply your hobby – is really an offline venture, you’ll want to reach out to your potential audience far and wide, and start a conversation.

This video tutorial talks about the first and essential step you need to take in preparation of your online presence. Give yourself – and your idea – credibility by owning an Internet Domain Name and a few relevant email addresses.

For example: if designing beautiful gardens was your quest, you could add much credibility to your venture by inviting people to send emails to contact@beautifulgardens.com rather than to contact@gmail.com.

Owning a Domain Name costs about CHF 20 per year. In return, you own your very own brand. And when you’re ready, you can reinforce your brand with an interactive platform that gives you the opportunity to have an ongoing exchange with your target audience. These days, there are wonderful solutions for creating great looking and powerful websites; solutions which are low cost and require only a minimum of technical know-how.

I hope you’ll enjoy this first episode of my new series about change. If you’d like to comment, ask for help or have a need, please open the Comment section here below. Would love to hear from you!

Hints and Tips about choosing a powerful Domain Name for your online venture

Two points:

1. Please download the PDF document I prepared for you 10 rules to help you find a great Domain Name

2. I highly recommend this blog article written by Darren Rowse. Darren is one of the most credible Internet personalities today. He has been active in the Internet space for many years and offers invaluable advice, based on his own experience.

Please note that the powerful points he makes are directly relevant to static web sites as well as interactive ones such as a blog.

Sites that help you find a great Domain Name.

http://www.panabee.com
http://marcusvorwaller.com/blog/archives/2005/08/09/how-to-find-a-great-domain-name/
http://www.nameboy.com/
http://www.bustaname.com/

Domain Name Registrars (with no hosting package attached)

Generic and country Domains, excluding ch and li
http://www.godaddy.com/
http://www.eurodns.com/
http://www.namebay.com/

Generic and country Domains, including ch and li
http://www.nic.ch
http://www.register.eu
http://www.101domain.com/ch.htm

Recommended places to buy a Domain Name AND a Web Hosting Package.

Web Hosting is a very competitive market with innumerable providers worldwide.

Based on my experience, I recommend that you opt for a local supplier with a reputation of providing excellent after sales support. There is always a time when you’ll require support, and when you do, you’ll be thankful to have chosen a responsive local company!

Please watch out for my the next video tutorial. I’ll cover the purchasing aspects in more detail and provide a  price comparison table.

If you are in a hurry to purchase both a Domain Name and a Web Hosting package, here are two of my preferred Swiss Internet Service Providers whom I recommend, based on personal experience.

www.infomaniak.com Excellent provider. Choose French, English or German web pages top right

www.firestorm-isp.ch Excellent provider. Web pages only in German at this stage

In today’s video tutorial, I would like to reveal an easy techy secret in LinkedIn that lets you export Contacts (also referred to as Connections) into Excel and if you’d like to take this a step further – launch a mail merge in Word.

Now, why would you want to do this? Let’s assume you organise an event and expect the participation of your LinkedIn contacts.

To start with, get Excel to print a list of your contacts – because lists are indispensable at any event.

As fare as name tags, a word mail merge will print labels for you – sticky or not – ready for participants to pick up as they join your event.

The complete version of this video tutorial is for our Premium Members only. For occasional refreshers, we offer popular free episodes and hope you’ll enjoy them. If you seriously want to keep your skills up-to-date, become a Premium Member.

I am starting something new – and because you are a dear subscriber to Rikki’s Refreshers – you are the first to know!

How would you feel, if important information and new ideas were delivered right to your doorstep, just like a bunch of flowers?

This is my FREE offer to you!

Here is the deal:

• I’ll deliver a high quality interactive presentation, during one hour and at your office, for free.
• You must be a minimum of 3 participants and provide me with a room and a wall so that I can project a few slides.

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Be quick to grab this first topic and book a 1 hour slot today (see how here below)

You don’t have to be a genius to master Internet Marketing

I share with you 3 keys to successful online marketing which is applicable to any organisation: whether you are

• a company or consultant selling a product or service
• an NGO or Association looking for members and sponsors
• or a blogger searching for ways to increase the number of readers.

1. Eye opener

Discover new and hard facts about how the Internet is shifting client behavior and expectation. And why it’s important that your organisation takes appropriate action today.

2. How to be smart…

About promoting your brand without ruining your advertising budget. Uncover what’s bugging your clients and potential clients and then help them out with explanations and solutions.

3. How to be smart…

About reaching a larger audience than you ever did before. Deliver useful advice (see previous point) by experimenting with formats and platforms. Find out where your clients hang out and how they consume information. Formats might be text, audio or video; platforms are your website, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and more.

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Please book your slot by leaving a comment on this blog post, with your preferred date and time. Starting 20^th October 2011 – we are available between 9h00 right through to 19h00, including lunch. Or, if you prefer to reserve via phone, call me on my mobile at +41 079 251 41 20.

Hope you like my offer

And last but not least, reserve a minute for a smile by watching my favorite cartoon on this topic.

You too can be an exceptional presenter, like Steve Jobs!

In a previous clip I revived the topic of presentation skills and referred to the unfortunate truths about boring meetings.

In this second video on the same topic of presentation skills, we’ll discover how a few simple clicks in PowerPoint can supercharge the delivery of your message – and prevent your audience from escaping: not physically, but in their minds.

This is a free episode.

If you want to dominate your competences and keep your job skills current on a regular basis, consider joining our growing Premium Members community and enjoy 3 benefits and more, including our exceptional offer of personal coaching.

Not yet decided? No worries! But please do give yourself an immediate learning boost by watching more of our free video tutorials.

You can watch them on many different channels:

Online on this website, on YouTube or in Facebook.

If you are travelling, or you prefer viewing the videos offline on your iPod or iPad, please download them as a Podcast via iTunes.

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For our visitors who prefer a text version, here is the transcription of my video commentary

How to make a good presentation with PowerPoint’s secret animation solution

Here we have a presentation in PowerPoint version 2010.

Let’s start with the SmartArt diagram. Without further configuration, your slide show displays the whole diagram, all at once.

And you can guess what happens next: the presenter will talk you through each individual element.

Do you remember how you felt last time when you came across this scenario?

We participants tend to quickly read what’s on the screen, reduce our attention span and let our mind wander to other pastures, more pleasant or more urgent.

This is bad news for the presenter because he has lost you!

Never mind the wonderful idea, the beautiful concept or the great process.

A great presenter keeps his audience alert, to achieve his ultimate goal which is to engage participants and incite them to take action!

And one of the ways to retain people’s attention is to synchronize what you say with what appears on the screen.

Here is how you do it.

I have not added any vocals to the demo because I assume that the animated screenshots are self-explanatory. But you may enjoy the background music, and if not, muting the loudspeakers will do the trick.

Hope you found this often ignored technical feature useful.

Please join me and hundreds of smart professionals for more skills development video nuggets.

You can watch them online, on your computer

or offline, as a Podcast, for viewing on your iPod and iPad.

Take care and talk soon.

A 2 minute video to discover 2 sure-fire Headline types that work! (and more)

Your headline or title is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader.

If you are in a hurry, watch my video and grab a few secrets about writing powerful headlines – including concrete examples that have proven themselves for many years and that you can use right away.

Without a compelling promise that turns a slightly interested browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist. So, whenever you are ready to share, sell or market your idea, product or process - writing great headlines and titles is a critical skill.

As one of my learning objectives for this year, I set myself the task of becoming better at writing headlines for my blog posts. And for anything to do with copywriting and content marketing, my favourite place on the Internet, at least in English, is www.copyblogger.com

Copyblogger’s 11-part series, enticingly entitled How to write Magnetic Headlines caught my attention and I was not disappointed.

Quite apart from learning interesting techniques, it’s an enjoyable read that is a learning experience in itself. If you are motivated to delve into the topic of headlines, titles and copywriting, please navigate to the end of this post where you’ll find links to more copywriting resources from copyblogger.com, and references to other materials.

But maybe you are a busy professional with many other urgent tasks on your plate? And whilst knowing how to write effective headlines and titles is a nice to have, it’s not on top of your to-do list right now.

If this is your case, don’t forget that the above video is also available offline, as a Podcast via iTunes. Treat yourself to a cup of coffee and set aside 2 minutes to watch it anywhere and anytime, when you are feeling relaxed. I have summarized the essentials for you, in a visual and easy way.

Reading Materials Summary

Copyblogger.com – Brian Clark and Sonia Simone

How to write Magnetic Headlines
The 4 Words that will get your Email opened

Authors and Books

Robert B. Cialdini – Influence
David Garfinkel – Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich

Rikki’s Place

Download video voice-over text in PDF format

Bookmark this page

Found this post useful? How about bookmarking this page for your future reference: at Delicious or StumbleUpon ?

And…please feel free to comment if you have thoughts on this topic – or if you want more!

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the cornerstone of any profitable business.

But today your customers are no longer passively waiting until you feed them information when it suits you!

With the emergence of social media, your clients are becoming more involved and more vocal because they have at their fingertips many virtual plateforms where they can express their opinion, their appreciation but also their dissatisfaction – to large communities that share similar values.

As a decision maker – even if you are not particularly motivated by Internet marketing – it’s essential to understand the mechanisms of social media. Use Customer Relationship Management as a smart way to ensure that your products, your services and your brand continue to enjoy an excellent reputation, out there in the global market place.

Please note that the full episode of this video is for Premium Members only. Join our growing Premium Members community and enjoy 3 benefits and more, including personal coaching.

This month’s  video tutorial about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Social Media is the second in our series Why you cannot say “no” to social media networking. It has the objective of giving you an overall picture of the Internet Marketing scene.

When was the last time you really enjoyed a meeting?

Many people hesitate to admit that they suffer from PowerPoint - and especially – Bullet Point fatigue.

In this video I’ll show you how easy it is to break away from the dull Bullet Point routine and start a trend of crisp and visually explicit communication.

I recommend you also watch the next video in this series called How to be an exceptional presenter, like Steve Jobs. You’ll discover and learn how to synchronize what appears on the screen with what you say.

This video tutorial is free for all our visitors.

We publish free episodes every now and then. But if you want to dominate your competencies and keep your job skills current on a regular basis, why not join our growing Premium Members community and enjoy 3 benefits and more, including personal coaching.

And please, give yourself an immediate learning boost by watching more free video tutorials.

A picture speaks louder than a 1000 words!

In this video I show you how you can use a simple (and free) online drawing tool to explain your ideas or your problems visually, without needing to spend much time writing many words.

Sketch your idea whilst using the built in instant messaging feature or use the Skype conference call option to brainstorm vocally - in your very own online drawing room. Each partner or friend you invite can make a contribution immediately, by sketching and drawing just like you, in real time!

These days, many of us collaborate on projects with people from all over the world. When we don’t share the same mother tongue, images, sketches and pictures – more than words – are a superior way to discuss abstract concepts and ideas!

In this video tutorial, I introduce an online whiteboard solution that has definitely seduced me. It’s super easy to use and runs in all common browsers without plugins or installation. And it’s free!

Please note that the full episode of this video is for Premium Members only. Join our growing Premium Members community and enjoy 3 benefits and more, including personal coaching.

And please, do give yourself an immediate learning boost by watching our free video tutorials.

How a powerful Excel Chart can help you make superior business decisions!

Excel Bubble Charts integrate 3 different data elements into one. They are a great way to get a visual overview of your business, allowing you to understand and evaluate key aspects and how they relate to each other.

In this video tutorial I talk about Barbara, a Consultant,  who needs to take a major business decision. Right now, she is wondering what the next steps should be. Let’s discover how an Excel Bubble Chart can help her understand key issues and take appropriate action.

Please note that the full episode of this video is for Premium Members only. Join our growing Premium Members community and enjoy 3 benefits and more, including personal coaching.

And please, do give yourself an immediate learning boost by watching our free video tutorials.

New Logo Design, New Web Design

Are you bored with your logo and website design? And the graphists around you lack imagination?

In this video tutorial, I introduce an online design platform that gives you access to a worldwide pool of creative designer talent – because there are as many good ideas out there as there are designers! I have used this design service myself many times and I can highly recommend it. Here are 3 points that justify a visit to this online design platform: 1. a choice of great designs 2. fast service and 3. reasonable cost.

Please note that the full episode of this video is for Premium Members only. Join our growing Premium Members community and enjoy 3 benefits and more, including personal coaching.

And please, do give yourself an immediate learning boost by watching our free video tutorials.