Archives for September 2011

How To Convert Audio Files For Podcasts

September 29, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

Do you have audio files that you want to send across to your friends and family?
Or to upload to your server for streaming purposes?
Audio files (audio books, lecture notes, interviews) are typically much larger than text files and that means it will take more resources (time, bandwidth) to upload or to send across using e-mails. It will also use up more storage space.

I do a lot of podcasts, audio interviews and tele seminars. If I use a digital recorder, it will often record in stereo and with an audio frequency of 44 kHertz and a bit rate of 128, which produces large files. But I do not need that for my podcasts and audio interviews.

All I need is a file with a frequency of 11 kHertz and bit rate of 56. You can crunch it down further but it won’t make a lot of difference to the file size.

The great thing is that you will not hear a difference in sound quality because these will be played over your computer speaker or your headsets and not your surround sound stereo speakers. But it will significantly reduce your file size to as much as one third the size.

I make use of AudioConverter Studio from ManiacTools (actually a CD ripper) to crunch down my files into smaller size for uploading to my server.

Audio Converter is easy to use, just point and click and allows me to choose the frequency, bit rate and whether I need it in audio or mono.

It also allows me to convert audio files in batch. Another cool thing is that I can save my files with tags for easier search and reference later.

Very important to use tags so you can find where you stored your files for better productivity and efficiency. It’s easy to use just point and click.

I do not use this for my music files. Because I want to enjoy my music in stereo and in the best quality. For pod casts and educational audio files, this is a great tool that I often use. Check it out. I find it a handy tool.

I am not affiliated with this product in any way but am just passing on information about another useful tool that saves you time and improves your productivity.

Feel free to share this and pass it along to others and let me know if you find this helpful. There are other features which I have not tapped into and would like to hear from your experience of it.

Hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions just post them at the comments below or at the Synergy Marketing Pro Facebook Page and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post.

For more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join us at the Synergy Marketing Pro Business Page. And if you like you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

How To Find Content For Your Articles

September 23, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

In the last post, we talked about some mindset matters and touched on a much needed Code of Conduct for Online Marketers. This post I want to show you where you can look for material to create your own work.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of offering high quality unique content if you want to be an expert or authority figure. And as professionals you do not want to be anything less. So let’s dig into the “where” and “how” of creating your own content.

Keyword Research Tool Here’s a resource that helps you in your groundwork and research. It gives you related material for your topic.

When you hit writer’s block considering how others approach the topic will be helpful. You can look at related work and come back to your own writing with a fresh perspective.

The Find Content Module in Market Samurai makes it easier to find relevant material for your writing or speeches. It gives you background information (of keyword and ranking) and trends and gives you related work from Amazon, electronic magazine directories, even Youtubes and wikis.

You can read up, cross reference, soak in, digest and come up with your own message and then rewrite it in your own voice. By considering others’ approach, you can do comparisons, comment on pros and cons or maybe come up with a new model you have not thought of earlier.

Now you can agree, disagree or have your own views on this matter. And if you dig deeper, you will find you enough material for a whole series of work, ready for production.

This way you are writing in relationship to what others write and not in isolation. Yet you are not taking what is theirs. You can benefit from having a look at others’ content in your research. And you can quote and refer to their work – AND give credit where credit is due.

The Module also allows you to cross check on keywords used in these articles and see how they are ranking on the search engines. This research will give you an idea of the possible keywords that you may want to use and the sites that you too may want to link to so that your article can rank high on SEO.

The information you need is all out there. You just need to know how and where to look for it. And be willing to spend some time doing the research. This keyword Research and Find Content module can help you create relevant and SEO friendly products.

You can follow the tutorial that Market Samurai has prepared. It will demonstrate to you step by step how to find relevant resources for your book, speech and product.

I hope you find this report useful and practical.If you have any questions just post them at the comments below or post them at the Synergy Marketing Pro Facebook Page and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post.

For more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join us at the Synergy Marketing Pro Business Page. And if you like you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

An Ethical Professional Online Marketing Code Of Conduct

September 15, 2011 by Louisa Chan 1 Comment

During the week, some of my published articles were republished on others’ sites – that is a good thing.
And some of them were modified without my permission. That is not such a good thing. And it is not allowed.
But it happens and I have written a post on this before some time back. There are lots of credible marketers and there are the minority who manipulates the systems, looks for loop holes and does things that are less than desirable.
While the internet has made it easier for self publishing and sharing, unfortunately there are those who do not abide by the codes of online marketing conduct. And it only takes a few to break the code for others to want to stay away from “Internet Marketers”; which has inherited a less than desirable reputation – and I can understand why.
So how do you deal with this as a marketer?
Do you stop sharing and giving?
Do you also join in the crowd and “go with the flow?”
It took me some time to learn this lesson of letting go. We cannot allow others’ behavior to affect how we will conduct ourselves. If you believe in abundance then you will believe in shinning brighter when the surrounding grows dim.
I enjoy writing and sharing. So long as I continue to immerse myself in online social media marketing and growth strategies for small businesses, I will have new and unique content to share so you too can benefit from my knowledge and findings. So watch this space for tips on online marketing.
Remember too that what is copied will soon be out-dated and in many cases incomplete because the person who copies typically does not see the bigger picture from which the author writes.
There is no need to take what is others and present it as though it is yours (incidentally the word for that is stealing) because there is enough resources to go round – if you know where to look and how to tap into it.
If you want to build a strong and sustaining business, you will want to build it on expertise, authority, credibility and reputation. Tricks and manipulations do not work in the long run.
I am sure there are marketers you respect and there are those whom you stay away from. So decide which ones you want to model after.
In the next post, I will share with you how you can have enough material to create your own unique content. And if you like to share with me your take on this, I like to hear from you too.
I hope you find this report useful and practical. If you have any questions just post them at the comments below and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post.
For more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join me on LinkedIn or on Google Plus. And if you like you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

How To Use Facebook Effectively For Medical Professionals

September 13, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

Facebook For Medical Professionals
Some doctors and dentists I talk to are staying away from social media for fear of transgressing the guidelines set out by the Medical Council. Some are happy using it. In the article below I highlight some effective Facebook use for the Medical Professionals.

The embedded article shows responsible and correct ways of using Facebook keeping in mind Facebook’s terms of use as well as guidelines given by the Medical Council.

So when you are ready, here’s a short 1000-word report.

Content discussed includes the following:-
– Why medical professionals should use Social Media
– View of the Medical Council
– Facebook Terms of Use
– The various Facebook Tools
– and how to use them
If you are want to connect with patients, to educate the community and to help the many e-patients who are searching the internet for information, this is one platform you can use.

Full Report On Effective Facebook For Medical Professionals Here:

There are many more things that doctors and dentist can do obviously, this is an introductory article that was meant for very busy professionals wanting to use the basics.
I hope you find this report useful and practical. If you have any questions just post them at the comments below or post them at the Louisa Chan Facebook Page and I will be responding with a video or a blog post.
For more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join us at the Louisa Chan Business Page. And if you like, you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

How To Use New LinkedIn Features For Professional Networking

September 12, 2011 by Louisa Chan 1 Comment

What is Linkedin again? It is the online networking site for connecting with Professionals.
Whether you are a fresh graduate or a season professional, this is a place you would want to have a presence.
Research found that top level executives primarily use Linkedin for industry networking and promoting their businesses while middle management use it to also keep in touch with other people.
Entry level employees typically use LinkedIn for job searches because corporate HR is using it for recruitment. Research results taken from lab42.
The new features that are introduced make Linkedin a great place to show case your expertise, document your digital footprints and network with professionals in your industry. There are many features in Linkedin and I will not overwhelm you here.
Today’s video follow on from the first one on Linkedin Login. By now you would have successfully created a Linkedin Login account if you have followed the step-by-step walk through video.
The next step is to optimize your Linkein listing so you stand out form the 120 million people on that platform. Follow this 5-minute video clip and you will get some extra mileage for your Linkedin Professional Presence.
So when you are ready, let’s dive in (well, we are not really going very deep today, so chill!)

How To Optimize Your Linkedin Account – Step By Step

And with that, you now have a functional and optimized LinkedIn Professionals Presence show casing your skills, languages and experiences. You can also make use of keywords to describe your professional niche.
If you have any questions just post them at the comments below or post them at the Louisa Chan Facebook Page and I will be responding with either a video or a blog post. Alternatively, you can connect with me here.
For more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join us at the Louisa Chan Business Page. And if you like, you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week.

Keyword Research And Online SEO

September 4, 2011 by Louisa Chan Leave a Comment

When I get ready to write an article or prepare a speech, the first thought I have is: What is the central message I want to communicate? Or more precisely what is the purpose of the message?

Without this central theme, the article or speech can go in all directions. There will not be a focused message that either informs the audience or helps them solve their problems. At best, this will be a casual conversation which is delivered without purpose and with no expected results in mind. This conversation does not add value to the listener nor the person delivering it.

Tip#1 for speaking and writing is to know the purpose of your message. And as we write around that central theme, there will be categories of related keywords that will be used without any conscious effort on our part. For example, if I write on the topic of “stress management”, related words that will pop up may include “stress management techniques”, “work stress management” as well as categories of keywords such as “burnt out”, “emotional fatigue”, “anxiety” and “depression” etc.

Where am I going with this? Bear with me.

When we want to research on a topic as we prepare for our speech or article we go to google and type in these keywords or related keywords, or even long tail keywords, right? (“Work related stress management” or “stress management for parents” may be the long tail keywords for my seed keyword “stress management”).

When we type in these keywords, google will come back and supply us with lists of relevant articles, videos, blog posts that use these keywords. We can then look through these relevant sources or content and do our research. It helps so we don’t have to pull ideas out of thin air.

So far so good?
So we use keywords to help us do research, write and publish our content (speech or articles).

Now if you are contemplating an online business or presence, and if you want to rank high on google (so that when others search using your keyword you come out on the top 1 or 2 listing), then you need to know what keywords to use to achieve that. If you want to be searchable or visible on google, bing or yahoo, you need to know what seed keyword, categories of keywords and long tail keywords to use so you are searchable online.

How do you do that? You can use google keyword tool, it is free but I find that rather complicated, time consuming and challenging. Lately, I have been using a software that is also free (you can download Market Samurai here) and it makes the whole process of research, finding content and publishing consent much more friendly and easier.

With this software, Market Samurai, you not only can do all the above in one place, you can also find out if the seed keyword you choose has high Search Engine Optimization values, reasonable search traffic or whether this is a keyword that will bring your people who are willing and ready to pay you money for the products or services you sell at your site. Pretty cool huh?

I have avoided doing keyword research for the longest time although I know how important it is. It was over my head and I was quite lost until I tried using Market Samurai, the friendly yet super duper keyword analysis software. I find myself making progress in this area and not fearing keyword research.

You can check it out, it is free to download. There is also a paid version that comes with a suite of other features but if you do not need the other modules, you can keep Keyword Research for free.

Without using the correct keyword your message will go nowhere; there is no focus and you will be lucky to rank anywhere on search engine results.

So in summary, finding and using the correct keyword(s) for your content or online presence is basic and paramount. Get this wrong and we will not be able to add value to others or ourselves. We can be writing and posting but there will be little or no visitors/traffic if we do not rank high on the search engines. That translates into a waste of time, effort and money, lots of frustration and with nothing much accomplished.

There are lots of video tutorials to guide you through what Keyword Research is. If you like to give this a try just click on the banner below to download it Any online work will benefit from doing some basi keyword research!

Original article published at Abundant Lives Coaching.

If you like more regular helpful resources that save you time and give better productivity, feel free to join us at the Synergy Marketing Pro Business Page here. And if you like, you can also get a free report on how you can Master Social Media In 5 Simple Steps Using An Hour A Week