Audacity is an open source software program (free) that allows users to edit audio on their own computer.  It is Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux compatible.  This program can help you create audio files that are compatible with just about every computer.  Some other audio prorams and their resulting audio files, may require a special player.  You can add audio to your blog or site (I’m working on this, myself!). 

One of my most important new projects is BootstrappingStories.com.  In addition to articles on the Internet (see: EntrepreneurshipClearinghouse.com), I have written academic papers in the entrepreneurship area and spoken at numerous conferences suggesting the possible lack of alignment relative to common instruction, text books, etc., with reality.  Most businesses are bootstrapped, and small; they’re started by individuals who have more passion and creativity than cash.  Meanwhile, my guess is that some colleges may be influencing students with the (implied) notion that if they write a good business plan, they can start a successful business.  That may be true at Harvard, where family money and connections can lead to venture capital or other opportunities, but at the majority of the other lesser schools, that’s typically just not going to happen.  My goal is to collect the inspirational stories of bootstrappers who have made it (and even the lessons from those who have not).  I have spoken with some publishers who are intrigued by the fact (as I am) that collected “best stories” could become a perennial book.

Whether you are promoting a business, a publishing career, or a professional speciality, you should first focus on creating a sustainable and visible positive public platform.  Most businesses are small, and started using some form of “bootstrapping” — employing creative techniques and workarounds to address a lack of access to traditional forms of financing.  However, this does not mean that they cannot gain positive public visibility by leveraging the efforts of a founder who is willing to create a platform.  What’s a “platform,” and how does one go about creating a platform?  A platform is your source of credibility and connection with a type of business or area of expertise.  The list of things to do to create a platform is easy:  Establish yourself as an expert; become known in your industry, your community, and in the media; broadcast your own messages by blogging, volunteering, teaching, speaking, publishing (and being quoted as a source).  Network, Network, and NETWORK some more!  Many people may be uncomfortable with some of the items on the above “to do” list, especially when it comes to suggestions such as public speaking.  However, take heart, you can learn!  Here’s a link to one of my articles, Public Speaking for “Scaredy Cats.”  You may also want to pick up a copy of the book, What to Say When. . .You’re Dying on the Platform: A Complete Resource for Speakers, Trainers, and Executives, which is filled with great advice on how to handle situations with dignity and grace.

If you would like to increase your visibility on the Internet, one sure way to do that is to have other relevant sites link to you.  Link popularity is one of the ways that search engines “know” which sites are the most important.  A few years ago, a popular strategy for increasing links was to include a link posting page, whereby you could automatically post links to various sites.  However, some sites began to become “link farms,” and these were deemed to be undesirable. 

As it turns out, one of the best ways to create links to your site is based on the simple notion of being popular in the first place, by creating something of value, which others would view as a resource.  If you do this in the form of content that you create on your own site (or blog), that’s one way to approach the challenge.  Another way is to write articles and share your knowledge by posting those articles on other sites.  If your “author box” (descriptive information about you) at the end of the article includes a link back to your site, then the link back to your site will go wherever your article goes.  Hint: granting permission to others, allowing them to use your article as long as they leave it intact, along with your author box, will allow your article to spread to other sites, newsletters, and additional outlets.

If you would like to check your link popularity presently, one way to do this is to visit Google and then type in the following (omit the quotation marks): “link:www.the-URL-you-want-to-check.com”

If you are interested in publishing and have not heard of BookExpo America (BEA), let me be the first to tell you: this is the industry event, which you must attend!  This year’s convention, held in Washington, DC, will have more than 2,000 exhibitors, including special areas for novels, children’s books, education, religion, audio products, travel, art, and anything else that constitutes a major niche.  The exhibition halls of the Washington Convention Center will be filled with books, new products, authors, publishers, agents, book reps, keynote speakers, and “all things publishing.”  For a complete list of exhibitors, click here.  There are also numerous educational sessions to attend — over 60 that are associated with BEA and the American Booksellers Association (ABA); beyond these sessions, other organizations such as the Publishers Marketing Association (PMA) will have even more programs.  (I am attending the full conference sponsored by PMA.)  For links to all of these organizations and events, see my navigation bar.

There’s on old saying, “you get what you pay for,” and that’s why PRWeb (which offers distribution through PRNewsWire) is featured with a graphical banner on this site.  The same goes for PR.com.  However, here is a list of press release resources that I assembled a while back for my own use.  Several of these resources are free and in addition to distribution services, also offer tips and advice:

Free Press Release Distribution Service
Free press release distribution service, news release.

PR Leap.com - Free Press Release Distribution to Major Search Engines

Press Release Base

24-7PressRelease.com
Free press release distribution service that helps feed news.google.com, opt-in journalists, online media, freelance writers, and newspapers.

Writing a Press Release & Free Publicity for Your Website
Learn everything from writing a press release to using creative ways to gain free publicity for your website.

CanadaOne’s - Free Interactive Press Release Builder.
Free online workshop will help you understand how to build an effective news release; includes an online template.

PRFree.com
Free Press release distribution, writing services, company news by category.

Press Release 101 - Tips
www.ereleases.com      Choose a service that posts to the  wires and to media in your industry

Press Release Submit Tool
PR template–60000 news outlets  many distribution plans.

Write a Press Release
Create professional press releases with this software.

WebWire.com
Press release distribution Internet plus wire service.

PressMethod.com
Professional Press Release Services  Distribution, Writing, and Editing.

PressReleaseToolkit.com
Radio talk show host reveals press  release tips, tools and tricks.

This may seem obvious to more serious or experienced writers, but one must endeavor to stay current and invest in professional development.  For the past couple of years, I have purchased an average of two or three writer’s books per month, either at a book store, or when my Writer’s Digest book club circular is delivered to my mail box (and yes, I subscribe to the magazine, too, along with about two-dozen others). 

Some of the books I buy, I admit, are even whimsical to an extent.  For example, I have purchased books about how to write science fiction and how to write children’s books.  I’m afraid that it will be quite some time before I can give these kinds of books my full attention. 

Yet, what does it suggest when one says he or she is a writer and at the same time fails to invest time or money in all of the resources that are part of the writer’s craft?  I think it screams, “amateur.” 

I’m also excited about attending this year’s BookExpoAmerica event in Washington, DC.  That’s professional development that will cost a couple of thousand dollars in travel and registration expenses, and having attended before, I have concluded that the price is nothing compared to the benefit that is derived on the part of attendees who are serious about a career that has anything to do with writing or publishing.

Now, some people will say they can’t afford to invest in books, conferences, workshops, and the other tools that would aid their efforts to either stay current, or advance in their careers.  I say it’s a matter of attitude, at least to a great extent. 

Can you afford to pay for your own professional development?  Well, that’s up to you, and your own attitude, and the choices that you make about your career and your business pursuits. 

As for me, I figure the few thousand dollars per year that I keep investing will eventually be worth far more than what I have spent.  I know what I won’t have if I don’t invest: no current knowledge; no contacts; no contracts; no industry knowledge; and no ability to demonstrate that I even have a clue about what’s going on, as a so-called professional, among my cohorts in the publishing industry.

That would be a very high price to pay, indeed.

Top copywriters study the techniques of others in order to learn and perfect their craft.

This is no different than art school students who study the work of the masters, or engineers who apply an age-old principle to a new problem (have you ever thought about the fact that modern dam designs use an arch turned on its side to hold back the massive force created by the weight of a large body of water?).

If you’ve never read a book on copywriting, or even a chapter in a larger book on advertising that includes a review of copywriting techniques, how would you know where to start?

One of the all-time favorite words of copywriters is: “FREE.”  Variations include “FREE!” (exclamation point added), and any number of add-on words or phrases, such as “FREE for a limited time only.”  In the latter case, the copy screams: “Hurry!”

People find the word “FREE” absolutely attractive.  If the word “FREE” were translated into a color, it would glow and pulsate like a neon sign in a restaurant window and cause a hungry passerby to salivate.  Our sites also use the word “FREE” in own marketing strategy by offering e-books and information.  What do we hope to gain?  It’s not a secret: like any marketer, we want to gain an audience and the trust of that audience by proving that we offer something of value.

Why do you think that a “FREE” taste of some kind of new food product is often offered at wholesale clubs and grocery stores?  It’s simple really: if you like the taste, and you have confidence that you will like the product (having now tried it for yourself), you are more likely to buy the product.

The only time that “FREE” can become a problem is when unethical marketers provide a sample of a product, and then deliver something else other than the authentic product at the time when a sale is made.  This is the equivalent of watering down drinks at a bar.  Sadly, this happens.  It’s not a good long-term strategy however, because people tend to smarten up pretty fast, and they will vow: “I won’t be fooled again.”

On the Internet, variations of “FREE” include (among others):

FREE Sign Up

FREE 30 Day Trial Membership

FREE [Fill in the Course Title Here] Course.

FREE Newsletter

FREE Software

FREE eBook

Free eBooks deserve a special mention of their own.  You’ll note that among some of the other examples above, a free eBook has the potential to create a unique benefit to the marketer: if permission is granted to share the eBook, users may very well do just that.  AND, if the marketer’s name, products, Website URL, and sponsors’ names are “branded” into the book, then every time it spreads, this information spreads with it.

Unfortunately, and to be blunt, shortsightedly, some eBook creators don’t put enough time or value into their work (since it’s “FREE,” after all), and they end up spreading some information that has a reverse effect, because it advertises that creator’s crummy work.

This is similar to the scenario whereby a new restaurant owner is in such a hurry to promote a “Grand Opening” that he or she “jumps the gun” and does so before all of the kinks are worked out in the kitchen, with the servers, and in other areas that affect a positive dining experience.  The end result is that the restaurant promotes an unintended negative message which will be hard to overcome in terms of the restaurant’s reputation: “slow service, lousy food, not worth coming back.”

Free eBooks can also be customized on behalf of Webmasters, so that they will have an incentive to give away the eBook that transcends being “nice.”  In other words, the creator of an eBook can say, let’s work together to our mutual benefit to that Webmaster by creating an eBook (or customizing an existing one) so that both your information, and my information, are carried in the content of that eBook.  This could take many forms, but generally speaking, there could be a link, editorial content, or advertising content placed in the eBook.

In effect the creator of the eBook and the Webmaster(s) work together as joint venture partners.

There are also software programs that are designed to “brand” eBooks, and many leading eBook compilers have this feature built-in. 

Michael Hopkins is a master at this subject of using the words “FREE” and eBook, together.  His product, a “Step-by-Step Guide to Success on the Internet” is designed for first-timers, and includes eBook compiler software, marketing instructions, and plentiful information on how to make a living at creating and marketing with both free eBooks, and eBooks that are offered for sale.
 

If you are interested in finding prospective sponsors for your Web site or blog, you can either look for organizations that look like a good fit one by one (which is not a bad idea, simply because the research effort will cause you to become generally more informed), or you could use a companies that serve as a go-between.

Organizations such as LinkConnector, Linkshare, Commission Junction, Text Link Ads, and Clickbank (Clickbank provides merchant credit card services for e-book and software publishers–anything that can be digitally downloaded) all serve the same essential purpose in the online marketplace.  They are intermediaries between Web site owners (a.k.a., “publishers”) and advertisers (a.k.a., merchants: meaning, someone with a product or service that they wish to sell through other Web sites). Advertisers and publishers, upon being matched with one another, establish “affiliate partnerships,” whereby the advertiser’s banners or text ads are placed on the publisher’s site.

A relatively new entrant into the matchmaking business is LinkConnector. We have found that they are more eager to be of assistance and responsive than some of the older players. We do not want to mention any names. One reason is that despite any quirks or idiosycracies, all of these brokerages are a “Godsend,” in that they have paved the way for tiny little guys and gals across the Internet to partner with brand name companies as well as other lesser known companies that are just right for a given publisher’s audience and market niche.

There is no cost to sign up Become a LinkConnector Affiliate. Likewise, Linkshare, Commission Junction, Text Link Ads, and Clickbank are also free to join as a publisher. Merchants pay for either traffic (clicks) or actual sales, depending on the nature of their compensation structure. It’s been our experience that you will not “get rich quick” with these programs.  However, most Web sites benefit (just as individuals benefit) from a “multiple streams of income” approach, and advertising sponsors can provide one viable income stream.

Would you send Valentine message to your “special someone” using a less-than-romantic means of delivery such as an e-mail, as compared to a hand-delivered greeting card?  When you think about it, in the above case the delivery is the message.

Too many writers spend half their lives in some “pitch” line so that an expert publicity guru can tell them how to meet the media and perfect their respective 30 second speeches.  Do you want a book deal that involves distribution through traditional channels, i.e., book stores?  Well, I hate to tell you this, but it’s far faster and far easier to get published when some other method of delivery is utilized. 

If you want to express yourself, you need to take a serious look at the entire spectrum of delivery possibilities for your message, and the audience, and timing, and effort, and cost, and the headaches, and heartache you might suffer trying to break into the traditional (big) book publisher market. 

Any delivery method you choose has its own pros and cons.

If you want to spread a message quickly, you’re better off on the Internet, or even better still, in front of a TV news camera.  That’s right, you can be famous, tonight–just like the “runaway bride” from Duluth, Georgia.  All you need is to pull a stunt that will get your face on CNN.  You’ll probably get a book deal, too.  You won’t even have to write your book under a scenario like that.  The publisher will assign a ghostwriter.

If you want to make money quickly and maintain a high profit margin, you need to sell your message using a digital delivery mechanism.  No printing means no printing plates or presses, no paper, no ink, no shrink-wrapping, no storage, no shipping, no spoils, and no shipping.  Digital content can be created “by tonight” as well.  You can use a word processor and software such as PDF Converter, and suddenly, you’ve got yourself a publication–ready for the masses.

With a blog, you don’t even have to convert anything: just type your message in, and post it.  Outbound feeds will make sure that your message is delivered to other sites (by “pinging” those sites), immediately.  Why wait–you’re published!  In this last case, your delivery vehicle is about as revolutionary as Gutenberg’s press.  You can reach a world-wide audience.  And if that audience clamors for more, you can give it to them.  They’ll even buy your e-books, audio CDs, print-on-demand books, reports, and your message as it might be carried by various other delivery mechanisms, if they like you and what you have to say.  They’d probably also love to hear you deliver your message in a speech. 

They might even want to buy your next book before you’ve even thought of the title or written a single word.

At that point, you can be fairly confident that if there are enough people who feel that way, you can forget the “pitch” line altogether.