Podcasting Experiments

Jim Woods and Erik J. Fisher have co-authored another book, Hit the Mark! Their first book, Ready, Aim, Fire!, was released last year. In this session, they join us to talk about the creative process they went through.

How did the collaboration process work while preparing for this book?

What were some roadblocks you encountered?

How did you overcome them?

What kind of investment did this book have?

What are the plans for the next book?

How will you approach the next book differently?

What advice would you give to someone working on a multi-author project?

The post Collaborative projects with Jim Woods and Erik J. Fisher (1-17) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Jim Woods and Erik J. Fisher have co-authored another book, Hit the Mark! Their first book, Ready, Aim, Fire!, was released last year. In this session, they join us to talk about the creative process they went through.

How did the collaboration process work while preparing for this book?

What were some roadblocks you encountered?

How did you overcome them?

What kind of investment did this book have?

What are the plans for the next book?

How will you approach the next book differently?

What advice would you give to someone working on a multi-author project?

The post Collaborative projects with Jim Woods and Erik J. Fisher (1-17) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Dave Stachowiak, host of the Coaching for Leaders podcast, is in the Academy today to share some insight about online leadership principles. He will discuss some of the principles from that book today.

What is your definition of leadership?

Leadership: Where are you going? Looking at the strategy.
Management: How are you getting there?

Why do you love How to Win Friends and Influence People?
It's so accessible. Anyone can open it, turn to any page, and get something from it.

It has the amazing ability to challenge me, even after reading several times.
What is an example of how one of those principles challenges you?
Enthusiasm is the little secret of success.
Become genuinely interested in other people.
If we want to be effective as content creators, we need to be interested in other people and what they care about. If the content doesn't speak to that person's needs, they won't read it or come back.

Sometimes, what we think they need is different from what they actually need.
Be a good listener. Let others talk about themselves.
Two mistakes we make:

Not thinking through who your audience is going to be beforehand.
Not listening to your community as it grows.

Know who your audience is.

We need to get past the point of just having a "nice article," and give them a tool or resource that is of real value and is life-changing, that is of tremendous value to our audience.
Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.
While you are reaching a broader audience online, it is still a one-on-one interaction.

"Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." - Andy Stanley

What are some of the other principles that you think are pertinent?

Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

Dave's wife, Bonnie, is a University professor and has started a podcast, Teaching in Higher Ed. While it is specifically for those that are teaching on a college/university level, she shares a lot of great principles that translate to content creation.

Get your copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People on Amazon (affiliate link)!

Next session, Erik J. Fisher and Jim Woods join us to talk about the process they went through writing their latest book, Hit the Mark! This interview doesn't cover the concepts from the book (energy, time, and focus), but you can listen to the other interview I had with them on Quality Living Made Simple. I would also highly recommend this book (get it on Amazon).

The post Dave Stachowiak shares some online leadership principles (1-16) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Dave Stachowiak, host of the Coaching for Leaders podcast, is in the Academy today to share some insight about online leadership principles. He will discuss some of the principles from that book today.

What is your definition of leadership?

Leadership: Where are you going? Looking at the strategy.
Management: How are you getting there?

Why do you love How to Win Friends and Influence People?
It's so accessible. Anyone can open it, turn to any page, and get something from it.

It has the amazing ability to challenge me, even after reading several times.
What is an example of how one of those principles challenges you?
Enthusiasm is the little secret of success.
Become genuinely interested in other people.
If we want to be effective as content creators, we need to be interested in other people and what they care about. If the content doesn't speak to that person's needs, they won't read it or come back.

Sometimes, what we think they need is different from what they actually need.
Be a good listener. Let others talk about themselves.
Two mistakes we make:

Not thinking through who your audience is going to be beforehand.
Not listening to your community as it grows.

Know who your audience is.

We need to get past the point of just having a "nice article," and give them a tool or resource that is of real value and is life-changing, that is of tremendous value to our audience.
Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.
While you are reaching a broader audience online, it is still a one-on-one interaction.

"Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." - Andy Stanley

What are some of the other principles that you think are pertinent?

Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

Dave's wife, Bonnie, is a University professor and has started a podcast, Teaching in Higher Ed. While it is specifically for those that are teaching on a college/university level, she shares a lot of great principles that translate to content creation.

Get your copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People on Amazon (affiliate link)!

Next session, Erik J. Fisher and Jim Woods join us to talk about the process they went through writing their latest book, Hit the Mark! This interview doesn't cover the concepts from the book (energy, time, and focus), but you can listen to the other interview I had with them on Quality Living Made Simple. I would also highly recommend this book (get it on Amazon).

The post Dave Stachowiak shares some online leadership principles (1-16) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Thanks to GuyCM for leaving a reivew on iTunes! To get your iTunes reviews e-mailed directly to you go to: creativestudio.academy/mypodcastreviews

Dave Jackson is from the School of Podcasting. teaches Microsoft Office. He loves to do classroom training, but also does online training. He is the bridge to get others from where they are to where they want to be.
The first thing is "Who is your audience?" and "What do they want to know?"

Really get to know who that person is

"Why am I getting into podcasting?"

Are you looking to get your message out?
Just for fun?
You need to know the why.

It's not "build it and they will come." When you start, your audience is small. It will be your "why" that will get you through.

After you figure out who your audience is, go find where they are.

Google relevant searches. For Dave's Logical Weight Loss podcast, he searched "top fitness apps" and found several forums. That's where he found his audience. He took some time to interact with them and answer questions.

How do you prepare for your podcast?

Get a system in place to capture your ideas, like Evernote or your voice recorder.
It's a 4-to-1 rule with podcasting (1 minute podcast takes 4 minutes).
Try not to do the typical interview with a person.
Be realistic about how many downloads you'll get.
Have a takeaway for your listener - summary of what was covered.

What are some steps for each individual episode

Dave uses Feedly.com to capture RSS feeds for different blogs.
Use Google Alerts to e-mail you results or deliver via RSS.
Use social media like Facebook and Twitter to keep current.
Create a folder on your computer to collect files and ideas for upcoming episodes.

What are some tips for effectively promote?

Make content that is WOW!
Figure our where your audience is
The key is to make friends with them
Have your profile figured out - don't leave it blank or default!
Business cards - some with basic contact information, some with specific info about the podcast
When you start out, you have to go out and tell people.
Take advantage of having a small audience.
Have some sample clips on your About page. Then have your iTunes, etc. links.

What kind of time commitment could someone expect for promotion?

Buffer - batch tweets ahead of time.
Always in promotion mode.
Maybe a good hour a day, broken up throughout the day.
Again, develop the relationships with your audience - they will eventually become your evangelists.
It sometimes takes awhile for people to follow though.

Money expectations?

If you are too strapped for money, don't get into podcasting.
There aren't too many hobbies you can do for free. On the otherhand, you don't have to spend $2,000.
There are many advantanges of this:
You'll be seen as an expert.
You'll get to know your customer better.

Go in with realistic expectations. Get started and begin reaping the rewards.
What to expect at School of Podcasting (creativestudio.academy/sop):

Everything you need in one place to start podcasting.
Equipment and software recommendations.
How to promote your podcast.
Access to Dave.
Community on Facebook

Dave also has a great show for DIY webmasters: Weekly Web Tools

The post Podcasting tips from Dave Jackson (1-15) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Thanks to GuyCM for leaving a reivew on iTunes! To get your iTunes reviews e-mailed directly to you go to: creativestudio.academy/mypodcastreviews

Dave Jackson is from the School of Podcasting. teaches Microsoft Office. He loves to do classroom training, but also does online training. He is the bridge to get others from where they are to where they want to be.
The first thing is "Who is your audience?" and "What do they want to know?"

Really get to know who that person is

"Why am I getting into podcasting?"

Are you looking to get your message out?
Just for fun?
You need to know the why.

It's not "build it and they will come." When you start, your audience is small. It will be your "why" that will get you through.

After you figure out who your audience is, go find where they are.

Google relevant searches. For Dave's Logical Weight Loss podcast, he searched "top fitness apps" and found several forums. That's where he found his audience. He took some time to interact with them and answer questions.

How do you prepare for your podcast?

Get a system in place to capture your ideas, like Evernote or your voice recorder.
It's a 4-to-1 rule with podcasting (1 minute podcast takes 4 minutes).
Try not to do the typical interview with a person.
Be realistic about how many downloads you'll get.
Have a takeaway for your listener - summary of what was covered.

What are some steps for each individual episode

Dave uses Feedly.com to capture RSS feeds for different blogs.
Use Google Alerts to e-mail you results or deliver via RSS.
Use social media like Facebook and Twitter to keep current.
Create a folder on your computer to collect files and ideas for upcoming episodes.

What are some tips for effectively promote?

Make content that is WOW!
Figure our where your audience is
The key is to make friends with them
Have your profile figured out - don't leave it blank or default!
Business cards - some with basic contact information, some with specific info about the podcast
When you start out, you have to go out and tell people.
Take advantage of having a small audience.
Have some sample clips on your About page. Then have your iTunes, etc. links.

What kind of time commitment could someone expect for promotion?

Buffer - batch tweets ahead of time.
Always in promotion mode.
Maybe a good hour a day, broken up throughout the day.
Again, develop the relationships with your audience - they will eventually become your evangelists.
It sometimes takes awhile for people to follow though.

Money expectations?

If you are too strapped for money, don't get into podcasting.
There aren't too many hobbies you can do for free. On the otherhand, you don't have to spend $2,000.
There are many advantanges of this:
You'll be seen as an expert.
You'll get to know your customer better.

Go in with realistic expectations. Get started and begin reaping the rewards.
What to expect at School of Podcasting (creativestudio.academy/sop):

Everything you need in one place to start podcasting.
Equipment and software recommendations.
How to promote your podcast.
Access to Dave.
Community on Facebook

Dave also has a great show for DIY webmasters: Weekly Web Tools

The post Podcasting tips from Dave Jackson (1-15) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Our guest this session is Joel Fortner. Joel works with the Poimen Group with Chris LoCurto. He has experience and a great background in online marketing. You can find Joel at ChrisLoCurto.com and on Twitter.
Tell a little bit about how you got into marketing.
While working for the Air Force in Washington DC, He felt God calling him to do more than he was doing. He working at trying to figure out exactly what that meant. This led him to start a marketing business, Get Serve Keep.

His life purpose is not to be a marketer – it is to take his skills to help others change their lives by changing their business.
Every business has three businesses within it: Get, Serve, and Keep. Focusing on that first part, how can we get clients?
Marketing is not simple.

Getting customers is difficult, so you need to have a strategy in place.

Find
Identify
Educate
Motivate

What are some specific things that we can do to identify who our ideal client is?

Take your own experience, see what you’re already trying to solve.
If you have a way to solve a problem that you know is a major pain point for people, and you can deliver on that well, you have a business.

What are some places we can look to find potential clients?
Joel focuses on inbound marketing, which is trying to capture people doing searches (i.e. Google) and growing an e-mail list.
What are some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices?

Create content that solves problems.
Make sure the headlines match what people search for.
Include the right keywords in your content.

Excerpts vs. Entire post
These are different thoughts about how blog posts should be presented. Each strategy works for different audiences. The only way to find out what is best for you is to test them.

[Tweet "Get very focused. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Get a process that’s simple to follow. - @JoelFortner"]

The post Online Marketing Tips from Joel Fortner (1-14) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

Our guest this session is Joel Fortner. Joel works with the Poimen Group with Chris LoCurto. He has experience and a great background in online marketing. You can find Joel at ChrisLoCurto.com and on Twitter.
Tell a little bit about how you got into marketing.
While working for the Air Force in Washington DC, He felt God calling him to do more than he was doing. He working at trying to figure out exactly what that meant. This led him to start a marketing business, Get Serve Keep.

His life purpose is not to be a marketer – it is to take his skills to help others change their lives by changing their business.
Every business has three businesses within it: Get, Serve, and Keep. Focusing on that first part, how can we get clients?
Marketing is not simple.

Getting customers is difficult, so you need to have a strategy in place.

Find
Identify
Educate
Motivate

What are some specific things that we can do to identify who our ideal client is?

Take your own experience, see what you’re already trying to solve.
If you have a way to solve a problem that you know is a major pain point for people, and you can deliver on that well, you have a business.

What are some places we can look to find potential clients?
Joel focuses on inbound marketing, which is trying to capture people doing searches (i.e. Google) and growing an e-mail list.
What are some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices?

Create content that solves problems.
Make sure the headlines match what people search for.
Include the right keywords in your content.

Excerpts vs. Entire post
These are different thoughts about how blog posts should be presented. Each strategy works for different audiences. The only way to find out what is best for you is to test them.

[Tweet "Get very focused. It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Get a process that’s simple to follow. - @JoelFortner"]

The post Online Marketing Tips from Joel Fortner (1-14) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

When you decide to create a website (or have a website created for you), you would obviously want to make it the best you can. There are many simple things that you can do. Here is a list to get started.
Here are 10 ways to make your website better:

Keep your audience in mind and create copy that personally speaks to them.
Truly understand the purpose of your website – make sure that it relates back to your target customer.
Update your site content and keep it fresh and current (blogging, etc.).
Anticipate and answer your visitor’s questions.
Make sure the navigation is simple and clear – this is one of the most important elements.
Include a call-to-action on each page – what do you want them to do?
Limit the number of topics per page (ideally just one topic) – too many will confuse your visitors.
Include your contact information – make it easy to find!
Title each page to be search engine (and bookmark) friendly.
Don’t include too many colors, fonts, or font sizes that distract your visitor.

Here's a couple bonus items that can help improve your website:

Create a clear and compelling sales message (Noble Sales Purpose).
Check your site to ensure all forms and links are working properly.
Carefully check your content for spelling and grammar mistakes.
Create a privacy policy and stick to it – respect your customer.
Return all visitor inquiries promptly because you never know who they may recommend you to even if they don’t buy from you themselves.
Don’t add a “visitor count” to your site.
Don’t include graphics that fail to add importance to your site.

The post 10 Key things to make your website better (1-13) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.

When you decide to create a website (or have a website created for you), you would obviously want to make it the best you can. There are many simple things that you can do. Here is a list to get started.
Here are 10 ways to make your website better:

Keep your audience in mind and create copy that personally speaks to them.
Truly understand the purpose of your website – make sure that it relates back to your target customer.
Update your site content and keep it fresh and current (blogging, etc.).
Anticipate and answer your visitor’s questions.
Make sure the navigation is simple and clear – this is one of the most important elements.
Include a call-to-action on each page – what do you want them to do?
Limit the number of topics per page (ideally just one topic) – too many will confuse your visitors.
Include your contact information – make it easy to find!
Title each page to be search engine (and bookmark) friendly.
Don’t include too many colors, fonts, or font sizes that distract your visitor.

Here's a couple bonus items that can help improve your website:

Create a clear and compelling sales message (Noble Sales Purpose).
Check your site to ensure all forms and links are working properly.
Carefully check your content for spelling and grammar mistakes.
Create a privacy policy and stick to it – respect your customer.
Return all visitor inquiries promptly because you never know who they may recommend you to even if they don’t buy from you themselves.
Don’t add a “visitor count” to your site.
Don’t include graphics that fail to add importance to your site.

The post 10 Key things to make your website better (1-13) appeared first on Creative Studio Academy.