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Posts from the 'Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!"' Category
January 19th, 2007 by Allen Voivod
You know that feeling … the one where you notice something once, and then you start to see it everywhere? It’s like a little Law of Attraction thing, where the more you start thinking about it, the more you draw it to yourself.
Well, that’s happening with my lovely wife and business partner, who’s got blogging on the brain in a majorly intense way. (See her most recent wowser of a post on it.)
She just pointed out to me that Gloria at The Virtual Wire is asking for feedback on how business blogging is impacting the virtual assistant industry and their clients. She has three simple questions, and it’d be awesome if you joined the conversation there.
Need one last bit of incentive? Go there, and you’ll get to see their list of websites that offer free stock images for blogging use. Yes, free. As Lani might say, “I mean, COME ON, what else is FREE these days?!!”
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in Blog Bits, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | 1 Comment »
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January 19th, 2007 by Lani Voivod
 I have five minutes to write this post.
However…
I have hours upon hours - days, really! - of pent-up energy on the subject of why you should be blogging. I’m sitting on the equivalent of a massive nuclear weapon here, or the cure for cancer, and no one’s really understanding the implications…
Ever have one of those dreams when you’re doing everything you can to run at a full sprint, but it feels like your legs are thigh deep in black tar? Or, you’re trying like heck to shout a very important message to someone you love, like “Get out of the way! The train’s coming!” or “Watch out! There’s a giant shark fin right behind you!!!” but all that comes out is strained, laryngitis-ized hot air?
This is what’s happening in my life right now. I sit across from friends and business associates, talk with entrepreneurs and small business owners, and share strategy sessions with larger companies and corporations, and I mention the possibility of them blogging. There’s a universal glazed look, often followed by a shrug, or a nose crinkle. “Eh, I don’t see the point,” or “Yeah, I thought about that…”
I know it’s my job to just let it go, and I do, because every business person knows the “I’m not ready to talk about this” look. Oh, but it’s killing me! Because if you’re serious about your business, career, or professional reputation, there is absolutely no reason for you not to publicize your interest and expertise in the form of a blog.
A blog is conversational. It comes alive with YOUR distinct voice, style, and proclivities. It dies if it’s fueled by the dreaded Corpspeak, stiff language, or totally self-conscious and “safe,” play-by-the-rules drivel.
A blog is FREE. (Or extremely low-cost, depending on how you go.) I mean, COME ON, what else is FREE these days?!!
A blog is a mirror. It’s an organized trail of your ideas, experience, and hints at your vision. It’s ALSO a living, breathing organic organism that grows as you grow. It’s like one of those “smart” computers that develops its own life and personality over time.
A blog is search-engine friendly. It’s PROOF you know your industry or subject matter. It’s PROOF you’re active in your business and niche.
A blog is a way to connect with other like-minded professionals. When you comment on someone else’s blog, or when they comment on yours, it’s like a quick, manly nod that says, “Hey. Saw your post. Liked it. Peace out.”
A blog is a simple, searchable content management system. Why, oh why, are you hoarding all of your industry knowledge to yourself? Are you saving it for posterity? Do you think St. Peter will give you extra points for having a huge collection of inaccessible folders on your computer?
A blog is FUN, darnit! It’s a chance to just be you, and even see and experience your own voice and priorities over time.
Sure, a lot of blogging gurus say there are “rules” - like, “you should blog at least three times a week!” or “be strategic” or “keep posts short; avoid long tangents!” (like this one). And a lot of PAGs (that’s People Against Blogging) say no one reads them, or they’re a waste of time, or all of the above. But to this I say, WHO CARES??!!
No one’s reading your darn internal folders, or going through your file cabinets, but you still throw articles and information in there!
Why not claim your intellectual territory and put a select and steady amount of information, opinions, photos, and energy OUT THERE to be discovered by one or more of the proverbial masses, if and when they come looking for you or the information, knowledge, products, or services you have to offer?
God didn’t just not bother with Antarctica because he figured no one would ever find the frigid continent, right? And now, with advances in technology, we get to watch fine films like “March of the Penguins,” “National Treasure,” and “The X-Files Movie.”
If you have a passion, specialty, niche, mission, or business (and you gotta have at least one of those things, unless you’re a corpse…or Paris Hilton), then START BLOGGING. Don’t worry about traffic. Don’t worry about the nit-picky stuff.
Do it imperfectly. Find your voice. Discover your flow. Loosen up. Be bold. Get yourself out there.
And if you refuse, please answer me one question in the comment field.
WHY??????
P.S. If you’d like a more formal argument for why you should be blogging, check out this article by biz-blogging expert Debbie Weil: “Top 7 Tips to Write an Effective Business Blog.” (Or download a lovely PDF version of the article, packed with additional information and resources, right here!)
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in Blog Bits, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | 7 Comments »
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on Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Blog Bits, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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December 18th, 2006 by Lani Voivod
 Jiggidy-jig and away we go! Look at how Office Max gets savvy & hip with FUN, ENTERTAINING content - riding the holiday spirit wave…
If you watch the clip, you may notice that the pic of me to the left (which was taken at my home a week ago, I reluctantly admit) is the same one that’s on the dancing elf. Easy personalization, fun, quick, and perfectly branded, through and through. Bravo, Office Max! Thanks for knowing it’s good for your business to fund stuff that makes us happy. 
(If for some reason that link doesn’t work, or it’s got an expiration date, try your own at www.ElfYourself.com.)
Elfing yourself, it turns out, is a dynamite way to “A-Ha Yourself!”
Man - if artists, creatives, and programmers can develop and launch customizable animation like this in 2006, imagine what 2007 will bring…
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in All About Content, Brand Funk, Fun With Marketing, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?, Mood Boosters, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | No Comments »
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on Monday, December 18th, 2006 at 11:31 pm and is filed under All About Content, Brand Funk, Fun With Marketing, How do you "A-Ha Yourself"?, Mood Boosters, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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December 13th, 2006 by Lani Voivod
I’ve been blog hopping today.
From Seth Godin’s post on Brand as mythology to Lisa Wilder’s posts (first, one on www.Coachamatic.com re: “How to Shift Out of Fear” (Parts 1 & 2), then, on her www.TheWilderZone.com blog, “Contemplating the Coming Year“), then finally all around Acorn Creative’s “Nuts & Bolts” Blog, a la Kevin Skarritt…
Seth’s post talks about how effective storytelling - with the requisite HEROIC OUTCOMES implied or outright stated - can be weaved into a company’s culture and marketing to create powerful brands that resonate deeply with their core audiences.
Lisa reminds us how easy it is for us to become excellent storytellers of our own imminent DOOM…and urges us to consider becoming just as good (or, preferably, better!) at our imminent SUCCESS. As she says:
“If we’re going to spin stories, and we all do, we may as well spin positive stories that will empower and uplift us and keep us moving forward proactively.”
And Kevin…well, he advocates the practice of IDEA MASHING. Which brings me to my suggestion for you and your ventures, business, and vision:
Instead of (or in addition to) the standard goal sheet or vision statement for 2007, why not spin a beautiful, bountiful, big-vision story of your IDEAL OUTCOME, your BEST CASE SCENARIO, your ULTIMATE SUCCESS STORY?!!!!
Have some fun with it. Weave in details.
- Who will you meet?
- Who will you partner with?
- Will you become a media darling?
- Will you rise to some glorious occasion and inspire charitable donations around the world?
- Are you featured on the cover of Inc. or Entrepreneur magazine?
- Do you have a major business breakthrough that transforms your future?
- Do you FINALLY hit your stride, and become the industry powerhouse you always knew you could be?
The reason everyone who’s anyone recommends storytelling as a biz success tool is because it CONNECTS with the core of your being. It’s memorable. It drives EMOTION. And if done right, it’s downright MAGICAL.
If you write a version of your own HEROIC adventure for 2007, it may be just the script that helps you play out the details so they become your reality.
So…What’s YOUR HEROIC MYTH for 2007?
Write it. Read it. Learn it. Live it!
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in Call in the Coach, Storytelling, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | 1 Comment »
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December 7th, 2006 by Lani Voivod
Some Internet visionaries are simply magnificent.
Take Nick Grouf and David Waxman, for instance. These guys have been fixated on using the Internet as a tool to serve the masses and give entrepreneurial underdogs a chance to be the best they can be.
First, these guys founded Firefly, which was all about online collaboration and ultimately sold to Microsoft. (So it must’ve been good. Or a threat to Microsoft’s empire. Whichever.)
Then they went on to launch PeoplePC, which Earthlink gobbled up as soon as it had the chance.
This year, the duo has invented a way for businesses with itty bitty budgets to advertise on TV. Real live TV. Not your hidden local cable access channel, but national cable channels, like ESPN and MTV.
It’s called Spot Runner.
Choose from thousands of pro-produced 30-second commercials and customize your fave with your own biz messaging for as little as 500 bucks. Then spend a few hundred to a few thousand to run your ad, depending on your needs and goals. They even boast you can set up a targeted campaign in as little as 15 minutes. Sounds absolutely unbelievable, but if their website says it, it must be true. 
I first read about this service in this article from June 2006 issue of Inc. Magazine.
Anyone out there tried the service yet? If and when you do, let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear if the easy-as-1-2-3 approach is for real…and I’d love to see your slick commercial, too.
(Of course with YouTube, who needs to pay anything for real TV advertising, right?)
Automating the TV advertising process for solo professionals and small biz owners so they can reach targeted demographics, regionally AND nationally. Hmmm. For anyone with a thousands or so bucks to play with, sounds like a fine way to “A-Ha Yourself!” to me.
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in Fun With Marketing, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | No Comments »
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on Thursday, December 7th, 2006 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Fun With Marketing, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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December 5th, 2006 by Lani Voivod
Yeah, blogging’s the big “It” word of the last year or so, but did you know there are university studies about it and its effectiveness for corporations and small businesses?
In one such study (brought to my attention this Andy Wibbel’s blog post), Northeastern University’s Communication Studies department teamed up with Backbone Media to determine “the reasons, conditions and factors that make a blog successful, and to create a list of criteria to help companies assess whether and how they should engage in blogging.”
They interviewed 20 corporate bloggers - a healthy mix of folks from Stonyfield Farm, Adweek, Adobe, and more - and included summaries of the interviews in the study.
Want some tips for best practices? Use this quick checklist:
- Compelling Content Comes from Unique Experiences
- Industry Content Provides Great Relevancy for Audiences
- Sometimes The Most Random Content Generates The Most Interest
- Put Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing at the Center of Your Blogging Content Strategy
To get the PDF of this success study or read it online, click here! Find out if 2007 becomes the year you and your company breaks out of the mold with a kick-butt biz blog.
Good luck!
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in All About Content, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | No Comments »
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on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 at 11:42 am and is filed under All About Content, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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November 30th, 2006 by Lani Voivod
It was 8am. I was stumbling around the house in my PJs, gripping onto my coffee mug for dear life, getting our son ready for preschool.
The phone rang. Who could be calling at this hour?
I did what any good suspicious person does - I checked the caller ID before I picked up. It was an area code that looked vaguely familiar. 510? Isn’t that California? Who could be calling from California at this hour? Wait - it’s FIVE AM there!!! What the…
“Hello?”
“Good morning. Is this Lani?”
“Uh, yeah.” pause pause pause…
“This is Dave Barrett from Audio Acrobat. Your husband sent me a message last night about a problem you were having. Can I help you with it?”
Holy smokes. This guy was calling me at 5am his time to help me with a techie issue. Have you ever heard of such fab customer service in your LIFE? No, neither have I.
“Dave - do you sleep? Are you crazy?”
Friendly banter ensued. The problem was fixed, and I moved forth into my day with the knowledge there are people in this world who still give a $%^& about the product they put out into the world and the customers they serve.
Thanks, Dave. And Dave? By the way, Allen and I LOVE Audio Acrobat!!! It’s EASY, fun, and wonderfully versatile. We love it so much we set up our own dedicated affiliate link at www.AhaAudio.com. We use it all the time for business AND for pleasure, and we hope to find new ways to recommend Audio Acrobat to folks and drive new customers your way.
All because we know you care about us. You proved it to us in a pre-dawn act, after all. And that kind of TCB-ing stands out.
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | No Comments »
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on Thursday, November 30th, 2006 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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November 16th, 2006 by Lani Voivod
In this updated corporate interpretation of “too many cooks spoil the broth,” Guy “Empower Entrepreneurs” Kawasaki explains exactly why a Mission Statement stinks to high Heaven, while the mighty Mantra (comprised of just 3-4 carefully placed words) is all a business needs to anchor itself…then fly to the great big infinite ATM in the sky.
Brevity! A noble goal for all. And definitely worth the agony of choosing those few powerful morsels to represent your company’s purpose. Once you get a good, strong mantra down, it’s gonna be much easier to “A-Ha Yourself!”
And speaking of…
Allen and I have been working with “Bold Insight PLUS Joy-Filled Action” as the way to “A-Ha Yourself!” - but hmmm, that’s five words. Does that make it wrong as a mantra?
Rats. It’s midnight, and there’s more thinking required here. Will it ever end?
(Then again, Guy’s Mantra is only two words. So maybe rules can be bent just a little to suit the rebels among us.)
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
Posted in All About Content, Brand Funk, Dances With Gurus, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!" | No Comments »
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on Thursday, November 16th, 2006 at 1:30 am and is filed under All About Content, Brand Funk, Dances With Gurus, Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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November 11th, 2006 by Lani and Allen
At this very moment, Al and I are brainstorming Google AdWord ads for a client. The page we’re using to anchor us is an essential one - especially for online businesses that want the quickest, most straight-forward guidelines for writing their own online ads.
So, as Allen sits at his computer and stocks a research doc with sponsored links from competitors in top-performing keyword searches, I’m giving you this vital resource, just in case an AdWord experiment is something you’re thinking of doing:
Google AdWords Editorial Guidelines
Even if you’re not ready to start a pay-per-click campaign of your own, take a shot at writing a few for your own interests. It’s the modern-day Haiku form for businesses!
Headline: 25 characters (includes spaces)
Then three more lines, each no more than 35 characters:
- Two description lines
One display URL
A challenge is brevity, to be sure. Those folks at Google know all the tricks, and they don’t let you get away with any of them - as you’ll see from the Guidelines page. No superfluous characters, no indulgent exclamation points, no hyperbole-rich phrases. Gotta keep it clean and honest. (Or as clean and honest as is still effective in a competitive advertising space.)
Google, we love you
Oh Great Sorter of Info
(Please, approve our ads!)
For FREE articles, tips, and strategies designed to catapult your content and electrify your business, sign up for our ezine, “The Inciter,” at EpiphaniesInc.com!
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