This THURSDAY (1/29/09) at 9:00AM PST, I will be testing our new multi-camera, multi-input live video streaming capabilities by offering 45 minutes of interactive podcast questions and answers to any participant joining us during this live session.  This will be a first-in, first-served arrangement where I’ll do my best to answer as many of your podcasting questions as possible during our time together.  I think it’ll be pretty cool.

Here’s the scoop:

Date: January 29, 2009
Time: 9:00AM PST
URL: http://www.podworx.com/LivePodcastAnswers

See you on Thursday!

Title:

Guess What?  Traditional Sales Techniques are
Killing Your Bottom Line.

Description:

Why is it that in this increasingly difficult economy, there are some companies that keep right on selling.  It’s because they recognize that selling isn’t about price, it’s about how you position yourself against your competition and effectively present the value you bring to the market.  In this session, returning BES Speaker Scott Whitney will teach you. . .

• that although the key to sales is relationships, what’s the key to relationships?  And how do you attain it?
• how to QUADRUPLE the reasons for a prospect to buy from you
• how to develop a calling script that WILL generate call backs and appointments

This highly interactive session will make you re-think all of your sales training.  You should expect to leave this session with life-long techniques you can use immediately to improve your probability of sales (and thus, your bottom line).

Whatcha think?  A great deal of what I teach folks during our podcasting work will be featured in this presentation.  Here’s my questions–would you want to attend a session like this?  I look forward to your feedback!

I decided that instead of putting this package together in a vacuum, I would ask for your advice.  Specifically, what would you expect to receive to be willing to separate yourself from some amount of your hard-earned cash? (Amount to be determined at a later date.)

We’ve already begun work on some of the items to be included, but my guess is y’all have other recommendations that would make this an even better product.

So far, we’ll be offering:

• Video: The complete one-hour “The Four Keys to Podcasting Success” session I gave in the “main room” of the 2008 New Media Expo.  We continue to be in post-production on the video (MUCH more time consuming than I thought!) as we sync all 59 slides with the audio/video of me teaching the content.  (The first few minutes of the video is here.)
• Audio CD: The one-hour “Four P’s of Podcasting” CD.  Because of time constraints, much of the content in this CD is not covered in the FKTPS video.
• PodWorx Pre-Interview, Interview and Episode Map Templates: Attendees to the New Media Expo session were especially excited to have time-limited access to PodWorx’s pre-interview, interview and Episode Map templates.  In the FKTPS video, I go step-by-step over how to use these templates to put into a place a podcast program that’s easy to manage and consistently successful in producing great content, episode after episode after episode.
• One Hour Consulting: Inevitably, there will be follow-up questions after reviewing all this content.  I decided to include up to one-hour of one-on-one consulting to answer questions and provide further direction to those needing additional help.
• Bonus Video: The complete one-hour “Cutting Edge Marketing in the Technology Age” presentation I gave to rave reviews at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Business Education Series and will be presenting at an upcoming Vegas Young Professionals and private speaking engagement.  In the session, I cover tips and tricks to improve your efforts in website, email, search, blog, podcast and social networks marketing.  This video will likely be provided after the initial package is delivered (versus being included with the 1.0 package).  (We’re currently organizing the taping of this session.)

From a pricing perspective, we’re still working on the details.  We provide a fixed-price podcast consulting offering that costs $7500.  If somebody asked for the three hours of help outlined above, if the consulting was done over the phone, we would discount our $250 hourly rate and charge $500.  We’re still gathering recommendations on this (feel free to throw in your own recommendation).

Whatcha think?  What else (if anything) should I add?  What am I missing that, if included, would help you with your podcasting needs?  Send me an email (swhitney [at] podworx.com) or post a comment.

Had a GREAT response to the session I gave at the 2008 New Media Expo that took place in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago.  We have some pretty cool plans for the full video (along with all the documents I referenced and demonstrated during the presentation) but in the meantime, I thought I’d share with you the first few minutes of the presentation.

Did you go to the expo?  What did you think?  Leave a comment and let me know.

For those of you who plan on attending, I’d like to personally invite you to check out my session.  It’s going to be a lot of fun, lively, very interactive and (if all goes as planned) educational.   In the session, I will share many of the “secrets” to PodWorx’s success in the podcast space. 

The session will be geared toward those interested in developing a podcast for their organization.  I’ll begin with an introduction into how to effectively position your podcast to executive decision-makers, with a focus on what does and does not work when proposing a podcast as a helpful addition to your media mix.  After that, I’ll work through each of the Four P’s of Podcasting® (Plan, Produce, Publish and Promote). For each step, I’ll call upon the session attendee’s real-world needs, then work out exactly how to approach the successful design, development and deployment of your business podcast. By the end of the session, you will benefit from seeing how a successful podcast is structured.

Hope to see y’all there!  (And for those who listen to my favorite Las Vegas Podcast, hope to see you at the Living in Las Vegas Podcast Listener Meet Up! on Friday, August 15 at 5PM, at Trader Vic’s.)

We’ll pick a day (more like early evening) soon.  And to show my appreciation, I’ve decided that I’ve got a little gift set aside for the first ten LiLV listeners who shake my hand and introduce himself/herself.  (And no, the gift does not require that you buy me a drink. . .that would be uncalled for, not something I would ever expect, and I drink Tanqueray and Tonic.)

The Expo is happening from August 14-16 in Las Vegas.  My session is on the Thursday the 14th but I’m open to meet any day/night.  For those interested in joining us for a drink or two, how about sending an email to meetup@livinginlv.com and tell me what night works for you.  Based upon the majority, we’ll post a date/time on the website.

Stay tuned!

As a part of the presentation I gave to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, I listed four reason why the life of a typical corporate website is not an enviable one.  Here’s a recap:

1. It is Static

Which means that the day-to-day efforts that make your company great are not being reflected and shared with your visitors.  Those interesting ideas, insight, thoughts, and opinions you have?  Lost. 

A static website also lacks the ability to have a dialog with your customers and prospects.  It is clear to me that the power of blogs and podcasts is that they are predicated on an architecture of participation.

2. It is Cumbersome to Update

Anybody with a voice in your business hates your website.  Why?  Because it’s too damn hard to add a new page.  Don’t believe me?  Here’s the steps:

1. Open a new page in favorite editor
2. Create/write the content
3. Spell check
4. Preview the content locally
5. Upload the new page via FTP
6. Secretly test the page
7. Revise the navigation scheme throughout the website to reflect new page
8. Rinse and repeat

Blech.  Not exactly conducive to new content.

3. It’s Hard to Find Stuff

Do you know the average time a first-time visitor spends on your website?  Three minutes or less.  And because you’ve placed important content in a variety of places, there is a good chance that your visitor is missing something you thought was important.

4. Google Doesn’t Love You Anymore

While search engine optimization techniques still have value, Google give much more weight (and search result order) to content that comes from a dynamically-created, often-updated website.  Like a blog.  Or a podcast.

There have been no less than three occasions (that’s I’ve gone to the trouble of checking) when I placed new content on a site (either blog or podcast) that could be found on Google within one minute. 

Bottom line: A static corporate website will become more and more problematic as time goes on and users expect more from their vendors/solution providers.  The question you have to ask is, are you willing to risk losing business to your competitor because you haven’t taken the steps to communicate the way your customers want?

In our interview, we talk about a wide variety of subjects, including:

• How I decided to become an entrepreneur
• My experience with podcasts
• The obstacles I faced as a business owner
• Whether I wrote a business plan
• Why Polycom podcasts with us
• The problems facing most business today
• The process I take all interviewees through
• The Four P’s of Podcasting®
• The upcoming 2008 New Media Expo
• How PodWorx markets itself
• My recommendations for other aspiring entrepreneurs

For those interested in such things, below is the audio file from that interview. Fred also was nice enough to have the interview transcribed as well (PDF).

Do we have any entrepreneurs reading this blog? Are you using podcasting or blogging for your company? Let’s hear from you!

New Media Expo organizer Tim Bourquin just sent an email announcing that the conference sessions for the 4^th Annual New Media Expo has been posted. As promised, the sessions, which fall into five “tracks” (Audio and Video Creation 101, Attracting and Growing Your Audience, The Business of New Media, Audio and Video Creation and New Media Strategies), look to be heavy hands-on, with speakers who’ve walked the walk.

This is great news.

While I believe podcasting is a powerful branding and customer relations tool (naturally), I believe those who attend the Expo will be exposed to many ways to further that concept to their executive staff. The problem many people interested in putting podcasting to work for their company is a lack of details. How do I get started? What should I look out for? What is the best ways to get this project off the ground? What’s a process that can work for me? A review of the sessions available leads me to believe these questions will be answered.

I want to personally invite anybody who has even the most basic interest in podcasting to attend the conference. I’ve been asked by several people if it’s open to the public…it is! I can assure you that those of us chosen to speak will be working very hard to make sure you get everything you paid for! As a matter of fact, Tim had a great comment about his selection process:

“I take a close look at every proposal we get and before giving the final approval, my question to my conference coordinators is always, “If this is the only session a person goes to at the event, will they leave thinking the entire trip was worthwhile?” That’s what makes New Media Expo different than most everything else out there.”

How about that for a selection criterion?!? Nice!

Will you be going to the New Media Expo? If so, what do you hope to achieve by attending? If not, why not? Add a comment and let me know!

For many, the concept of developing an effective online marketing strategy is intimidating. As a result, we find companies unintentionally distancing themselves from their customers and prospects instead of bringing the two groups closer together. Fortunately, there are a number of online marketing techniques that will introduce the real value of your company to your prospects and customers, motivating these important people towards a new (or additional) working relationship with your organization.

This presentation offers those techniques.

Come to this session ready to look at your existing marketing efforts in a new, fresh way. (And be prepared to learn some new methods to reach out and grab additional business.)

Naturally, I’ll be talking about podcasting. But I’ll also be talking about how to improve the performance of your website, your email marketing and search engine efforts. Furthermore, I’ll spend time on what really works in social networking and the value of blogs. If you’re in the Las Vegas area and you fancy the idea of starting your Wednesday at the Four Seasons listening to a highly-animated presentation, I’d love to see you there.