Melanie Kissell | Solo Mompreneur

Overcoming The Challenge Of Getting An Audience In Your Virtual Seats

Nothing spells disappointment like spending weeks or months creating, planning, organizing, and marketing a virtual event …

And then having no one show up or just a sparse handful of attendees.

Ouch!

3 Biggest Virtual Event Promo Challenges

1.) You may not have a large network of contacts.
2.) You may not have the resources to reach the people you want to connect with.
3.) You may be an expert in your niche, but you may not be great at marketing.

Even if you’re not currently using virtual events to grow your business, read on anyway.

You may be surprised to receive an unexpected invitation to co-host a teleseminar or webinar or be interviewed on Blog Talk Radio.

So take the boy scout/girl scout approach and be prepared!

Enjoy Over The Top Attendance At Your Next Virtual Event

My colleague and friend, Chris Makell, and I pulled our resources and skills together at the end of 2011 and created a special presentation to help you succesfully promote your virtual events.

If you want to learn how to get an audience in your virtual seats, register at no cost to watch the replay of “Virtually Fantastic Event Promotions!”

You’ll be provided with a handout of event promotional tools.

Then be on the lookout for an opportunity to join me and Chris for a Facebook fan page Q & A session. We want to get you inspired and motivated to rock your next virtual event!

Watch the replay today.

You’re up to bat …

How do you get the word out about your telesminars or webinars?
Are you getting awesome attendance at your virtual events?
What’s your #1 virtual event promotional strategy?

Filed Under: Promoting virtual events Tagged With: Chris Makell, Marketing, Online Promotions, promoting virtual events, Teleseminars, Webinars

Help Me Fill “The Brag Bag”

By Melanie Kissell 34 Comments

Did you know your target audience EXPECTS you to brag?

It’s true!

No one wants to work with a loser, right?

Bragging the right way will help you build relationships while you increase sales and revenue.

Everybody likes to hire professionals or purchase products or services they can brag about.

Your potential customers and clients want to hear about …

Obstacles you’ve overcome
Success stories of clients you’ve worked with
Awards you’ve won
Contests and challenges you’ve entered or sponsored
Your sales volume for the month
Those glowing testimonials from happy customers
Successful collaborations with colleagues
Charities and causes you support and believe in
Products or services you offer that help change people’s lives
Business-building tools and software you love
Coaches and mentors who have helped you succeed
The blog post that earned you 100′s of comments
Your proudest moment as an entrepreneur
Times you’ve been in the spotlight
Your secret sauce for success

So don’t believe it when someone tells you “bragging” is bad.

It’s just the opposite – it’s good for business — and it’s essential to your success.

So …
If you could choose just ONE thing to “brag” about today, what would it be?

Post it in the comment box and let’s see how fast we can fill “The Brag Bag”!

Filed Under: Bragging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online Tagged With: Bragging, Bragging 101, Business, Cathy Goodwin, Internet business success, Marketing your services online, Online Promotions, Testimonials, Third Party Validation

My Biggest Marketing Mistake In 2011

By Melanie Kissell 48 Comments

I didn’t “ask for the sale” nearly enough times in 2011.

I didn’t stay laser-focused on making money this past year — BIG mistake. As you know, without sales, you can’t stay in business.

Believe me, I don’t plan on repeating that mistake in 2012.

Does that mean I’m going to pitch, push, prod, and pounce on people at the turn of every corner?

No.

Am I going to include a promotional offer in every blog post and social media update for the next 365 days?

No.

Will I transform myself into an abnoxious unrelenting spammer?

Heavens, no!

But I do intend to work a lot harder on asking for the sale.

What will that work involve?

Raising my level of confidence
Acknowledging my expertise has value
Charging what I’m worth
Targeting the right people
Testing new marketing platforms and modalities
Getting my marketing messages out there in a bigger way
Collaborating with colleagues for joint venture success
Building more brand awareness
Creating more Buzz!

Your turn …

1. How do you plan to increase your sales in 2012?
2. What was your biggest marketing mistake this past year?

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Building brand awareness, Joint venture partnerships, Marketing, Online marketng mistakes, Online Promotions, Sales tactics, Small business, Social Media

Merry Marketing! Share Your Holiday Offer

By Melanie Kissell 56 Comments

Before the jolly bearded man in the red suit comes down the chimney …

I’m inviting you to participate in some Merry Marketing!

Do you have a special holiday offer you’d like to share?

Please use the comment box to post the link to your offer and a few details about the “benefits” of purchasing your product, program, or service.

Hope Santa is good to you this year!

**Note**
Please do not post any MLM or Direct Sales opportunities to join your company.

Thank you.

Filed Under: Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Promotions Tagged With: Business, Christmas sales, holiday promotions, Marketing, Marketing your services online, Online Promotions, Santa Claus, special holiday offers

Vacationing In Burnout-ville

By Melanie Kissell 18 Comments

The hotel rooms in Burnout-ville are always full …

… full of wrung out, worn out entrepreneurs.

The revolving doors at hotel front entrances are in perpetual motion.

Business is booming!

Unfortunately, it’s a vacation spot completely void of fun activities, swimming pools, shuffleboard, and scenic tours to book.

They have no souvenir shops — no one ever wants to bring back any reminders of their visit.

Talk about gloomy and somber.

The scenery around town is pretty bleak.

Take a close look at the guests and you’ll notice clearly-defined dark circles under their eyes and people moving about at snail speed. Guests resemble zombies right out of your favorite science fiction movie.

And the cuisine?

There’s no spice! You could best describe what they’re serving as bland, dry, tasteless, and unsavory.

Getting the feeling you’ll want to decline a free ticket to Burnout-ville?

Beware — most tickets are “one-way” only.

You could easily be the next entrepreneur on your way to Burnout-ville if you are:

Saying “yes” to every favor everyone asks of you
Not eating properly
Allowing 30-minute sessions with your clients to turn into 90 minutes
Staying up late and burning the candle at both ends
Forgetting there’s a world out there outside of the internet
Multi-tasking on multiple days of the week
Forcing yourself to blog when you don’t feel like blogging
Simultaneously working your way through the last three programs you purchased
Stretching yourself and your commitments so thin, you’re like a rubber band about to snap
Constantly being distracted and derailed by shiny object syndrome
Trying to build your business by yourself and too proud to ask for help
Ignoring your family and friends
Unable to recall the last time you had any fun

Ever spend any time in Burnout-ville? How did you end up there?

Filed Under: Balance work and life Tagged With: burnout, Business, entrepreneurs, Work Life Balance

3 Simple Keys to a Strategic Plan that Rocks!

By Melanie Kissell 7 Comments

Every year, during the last couple of months, we turn our attention to “planning.”

And because it’s that time of year, we call it a strategic plan that sets us up for the next year’s growth.

You can spend tons of time, invest lots of energy and lose yourself in crafting a strategic plan for your business. Heck, there are so many elements that can go into creating an effective strategic plan that you can give up before you get started.

As a former corporate leader, I too, built strategic plans for my team.

One year, we went off to a conference room in the south of France to plan new skills development strategies for a revamped organization. It was a full week, heads down, locked together in a common goal. And I had tools, templates for us to use and complete. I asked them to do some homework before they arrived in France and we all left with a plan of activities and due dates at the end of our time together.

Now, I’m not that much of a hard driver, we did get out for dinner and wonderful French wine every evening. Great team building… smile. But planning IS a huge part of the corporate environment.

What about we entrepreneurs?

Do we use planning as part of our strategy to grow our skills and business? Sorry to say, I don’t think it’s as widely used or greatly appreciated. And that’s too bad, because at a minimum it can help you get the “stuff” out of your head and on paper so that you can see the possibilities available to you.

I do know that one of the reasons it’s not used effectively is because it can take “time” to plan.

And when you’re focused on attracting clients, designing and delivering programs or products, planning takes a back seat. For that reason, I want to give you a “shortcut” to do some planning if you can’t invest the time to grow your business. (Yes I’m being facetious!) But if I can get you to do “some” planning it could actually open you up to more in-depth focus and results.

So the 3 simple keys or “shortcuts” to a strategic plan that rocks revolve around a theme: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Plan Tagged With: Business, entrepreneurs, Internet business success, Marketing your services online, Organizing, Planning, Small business

Virtual Event Etiquette: 7 Tips for Webcast Success

By Melanie Kissell 3 Comments

Use the following guidelines to give your virtual events the white glove treatment!

1. Send a reminder

Send registrants a reminder at least one day before and an hour or two before your event. By sending a reminder, you ensure better attendance. People have very busy lives, get mixed up with time changes, and simply forget about things even when they’ve purchased a ticket to an event. Reminders also help clear up misunderstandings about time zones.

2. Send an agenda

In your final event reminder, include an agenda or menu of what is going to happen during your presentation. It adds a very special touch that can create anticipation and excitement for your event. It also helps attendees think of questions they want to ask and encourage them to invite more people as last-minute sign ups.

3. Greet participants upon arrival

If you were hosting an in-person event, you would stand at the door and greet visitors as they arrived. It’s important you or someone you’ve assigned greet attendees as they come into your virtual conference room. This will make them feel included and welcome and avoid the tendency for people to click in and click out if they don’t know what is going on.

4. Explain the technology

Before your virtual event officially begins (and most of the attendees have arrived), take the time to explain the technology to them. Just a quick couple of minutes explaining how to mute a microphone, raise your hand to speak, and how things should look can go far in making attendees feel at ease.

5. Keep track of time

Someone should be keeping track of time. It’s important to keep the event running smoothly and on time to show respect for your guest speaker/s and your attendees. This is why practicing ahead of time is a must.

6. Have a clear closing of the event

Instead of just stopping your event abruptly, make sure to have a planned closing that has some sort of call to action — whether that is to sign up for a newsletter, attend the next event, or to remind participants to download their bonus materials and/or handout.

7. Follow up

Never ignore the follow up after a virtual event. Send participants bonus materials by email, a recording of the event, and thank them for attending. In addition, include a survey that gives you their event feedback so you can improve with each ensuing event. Follow up is a very important part of the entire virtual event experience.

Regarding Tip #1:

Reminder: If people are not signing up and showing up (in big numbers!) for your virtual events, Virtually Fantastic Event Promotions is happening this Wednesday, November 9^th.

Free webinar + Free event promo tools + Free marketing strategies + A special report for those who attend the presentation “live”.

Image credit: DaizyB

Filed Under: Promoting virtual events Tagged With: Business, Marketing, Virtual event

Say Bye-Bye to the Challenge of Getting People to Attend Your Virtual Events

By Melanie Kissell 21 Comments

Finding ways to compel people to sign up and show up for your events can be a gargantuan challenge — especially if you have a small list of email subscribers or no list at all.

You know the drill when you’re gearing up to host or co-host an event.

Let’s talk “virtual” events today.

And let’s pretend you’ve worked hard to put together a fabulous webinar on a topic you’ve researched to the hilt, you’re passionate about, and you have expertise in.

You know there’s a hungry target audience who would embrace, enjoy, and benefit greatly from your training session.

You’ve done your homework and you’re convinced people need this stuff.

Amen!

Your webinar will surely help attendees boost their business and their bottom line.

You spend weeks or months preparing in advance to create a stellar presentation and, as a big perk, you’re offering this exceptional training at No Cost.

Terrific!

Who doesn’t like “free”, right?

You’re off to a good start.

The fact you didn’t just pull an event topic out of your hat or simply assume there’s an audience for the information you want to share puts you eons ahead of the pack.

All the creating, planning, and organizing is now done, all your marketing materials are in place, and you start getting the word out about your webinar.

Your excitement level begins to build, your presentation has been well rehearsed, and you’re motivated beyond belief to deliver up an excellent and worthwhile training session.

Now let’s fast forward to the day of your event. [Read more...]