Blog Talk Radio: Media Exposure on the Internet

For those of you who are new to my blog here, you may not know I’m an advocate for media exposure for entrepreneurs. It’s one of the best and most cost efficient ways to get your brand in front of hundreds and thousands of people.

Blog talk radio is a great way for speakers and coaches to get media experience before branching out into traditional mainstream media outlets. You get the opportunity to share your story and connect with your target audience while polishing up on your interviewing skills.

Blog talk radio hosts are always on the hunt for experts and twitter and Facebook make it easy for you to find them – and for them to find you too! You can do a simple internet search with “blog talk radio” followed by the subject matter you’re interested in and within seconds you’ll have show archives at your fingertips.

Here are a few things you should always have on hand to keep you prepared for your blog talk radio interviews:

Short Bio – Show formats range from 30 minutes to an hour, so be sure to check with the show host to see how long you’ll be on the air. Don’t make the mistake of having a lengthy bio that takes too much time to read. This cuts into the time you could be spending sharing your knowledge and expertise with the listeners. Draft one bio that can be used over and over again. You can add a few words to customize the bio to the specific audience. I have one bio that speaks directly to women and another for general business and entrepreneurs.

Great Photo – If you haven’t invested in quality headshots you probably aren’t ready for any type of media exposure, either online or offline. There’s no way of getting around this and a snapshot of yourself with your digital camera just won’t cut it. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get good pictures and you only need two different poses. One that’s professional (but relaxed) and another casual, lifestyle shot. Remember, your listeners can’t see you so they’re connecting with your voice and your picture.

Interview Questions – Some hosts have a predetermined list of questions that they ask. Others will ask you to provide a list of questions. You’ll save yourself a ton of time by not having to come up with questions each time you’re booked as a guest. The goal is to have multiple interviews so that you can dominate the search engines and become recognized as an industry leader. Create a generic list of questions that can be easily modified.

I’ll be interviewed on the Warrior Women Wine and Wisdom blog talk radio show on March 2nd at 6pm CST. Please mark your calendars and tune in.

Would you like to start doing blog talk radio interviews? I have several friends who host their own shows and I'd love to connect you with them. Leave a comment and let me know how I can help.

Photo credit: marketingcurve

The Unemployed Entrepreneur™ Contributes as a Guest Blogger

I’ve been back actively blogging here since December 2009. I talked about my hiatus in this post. This is the same month I set the intention to become a guest blogger. I’d been reading all about the benefits of guest blogging and knew it was something I wanted to do. I had no idea who I’d blog for, when it would happen, or any of the other specifics. All I knew is that I’d made my mind up and once my mind is made up, there’s pretty much no stopping me at that point.

How it All Started

I’m a member of a local women’s group called Business+Balance Austin. We get email updates about PR opportunities, workshops, and retreats that other members are offering. I was checking my email one day and low and behold there was a call out for guest bloggers! Without giving it a second thought, I responded to Holly Reisen Hanna of The Work at Home Woman and put my name in the hat to become one of her contributors. This was the ideal writing gig for me because not only was Holly local which meant she and I would have the opportunity to form a solid relationship, but I’d been introduced to her when she got wind of an event I was hosting and promoted the event on her site. Mind you, she had no idea who I was at the time. She was just doing her part to help out a fellow woman entrepreneur. By the way, I’d found my event on Holly’s site when I googled myself. Holly just wrote a great post about keeping up with your online reputation. You can read it here.

In my email to Holly, I detailed my areas of expertise, a link to view my writing samples, and a list of publications that I’d been printed in. She responded immediately letting me know I’d been “hired”.

Where I Am Today

This is my second month contributing to The Work at Home Woman. In two short months, my guest blogger position has afforded me the opportunity to meet the other fabulous women entrepreneurs in Holly’s network and connect with her audience. Holly does a fantastic job of engaging with her readers by frequently responding to comments. I’m following in her foot steps and doing the same.

You can read my posts on The Work at Home Woman the third Tuesday of every month. This is all original content you won’t find here or anywhere else.

Are you a blogger? Let me know where I can find you...I leave at least 5 blog comments a week on various blogs and am always looking for new ones.

Have you thought about blogging, but haven’t taken action yet? What’s holding you back? I’d love to hear your feedback and assist in any way I can.

Photo credit: hedgiecc

Don't Be Blinded by The Truth

From time to time, I get calls from people who want to vent. In most cases, it’s usually about someone close to them revealing their true selves. A friend who is starting to behave more like a wishy-washy acquaintance instead of the honest person you thought they were when you first met.

In almost all cases, the person venting has started to make positive changes in their lives. They’ve become more focused on self-wealth, career developments, furthering their education, and just letting go of bad habits and replacing them with new ones.

Listen...when you decide to do things differently, you’re going to lose some friends. It happens in life and in business. I experience it all the time. There are some folks who smile in my face, send me tweets and emails but could really care less if I succeed. They stay close to me to see what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and how they can mirror what I’m doing without it being obvious that they’re really stealing my stuff. It used to get under my skin, but now I look at it as a form of flattery. You can try to copy my creativity all day long, but you’ll never be me. We don’t have the same vision. Mine is bigger than you can imagine and I work fearlessly to make it a reality.

I’ve been looked at and judged my entire life. My mama often told me, “If people aren’t talking about you, then you must be doing something wrong!”

The truth of the matter is that these people are showing you who they really are. They’re being their authentic selves. We’ve become accustomed to the word “authentic” being used to describe someone who is real, down to earth, and positive. However, when someone stabs you in the back, they are an authentic back-stabber.

Keep doing what you do to the best of your abilities. Embrace the people around you who show unconditional love and support. Surround yourself with like-minded people who don’t just say they want more out of life, but actually get up and do something to make it happen.

I strive daily to fulfill my mission: to globally represent what the everyday woman can overcome and become when you begin to love yourself, define your passion, and serve others.

"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them."  — Maya Angelou

How do you handle naysayers? I could definitely use some pointers in this area.

Photo credit: lorrainemd

Who Really Pays for Celebrity Endorsements?

A couple of weeks ago, the night of the Grammy’s to be exact, Dish Network put their competition, DirecTV, on blast. I hadn’t seen anything this good since the Pepsi Challenge.

I was actually leaving the room when the commercial came on, but stopped in my tracks to watch in its entirety. I’m not a satellite tv subscriber and have no intentions of becoming one, so their ads don’t appeal to me as a consumer.

What I am a fan of is good marketing, marketing that gets my attention and makes me do just what I’m doing now...generate buzz by talking about it and sharing it with you. (If you haven’t picked up Mark Hughes’ book Buzzmarketing, you’re missing out on a good read. And no – I don’t get paid for endorsing his book.) You know you’ve hit the marketing jackpot when The Associated Press writes about your campaign and ABC news picks up the story.

Let’s get back to the question at hand, “Who Really Pays for Celebrity Endorsements”?

According to Dish Network, DirecTV is passing this cost on to their customers. In the commercial, they say DirecTV customers pay approximately $175 more per year vs. Dish Network customers. I don’t know about you, but I believe it.

T-Mobile® has also added a few new celebrities to their list of paid endorsers. Whoopi Goldberg and Phil Jackson are proud myTouch™ owners. I’m a T-Mobile customer and can vouch for price increases. They introduced a new lower family plan rate, but customers have to pay to enroll in the program. Are you serious? I’m already a customer and didn’t have to pay to get the plan I’m on now. When speaking with a supervisor about the issue, I was actually told that they’re a company and they have to make money. I get it. I’m an entrepreneur and I have to make money too, but is it wise to do so at the expense of your already paying customers? Rumor has it that T-Mobile® is also requiring customers to purchase internet service when you buy a new smart phone. This was optional before. Another added fee to perhaps offset T-Mobile®’s multi-million dollar contracts with celebrities.

I’m more inclined to do business with people who use regular old every-day actors in their ads...not actors as in stars, but actors as in commercial actors. Unknowns who may someday become A-lister’s because they were discovered in a commercial. I don’t always buy into celebrity figures using the products/services they’re paid to promote. In most cases, they just aren’t believable.

What’s your opinion of Hollywood superstars getting paid mega bucks to be the faces of major brands that we as consumers keep in business? Come on...be honest.

 

Photo credit: Ujjawal.bagaria

The Key to Success

Wouldn’t life be grand if our keyboards were really like the one in the photo? We could just hit the success key (repeatedly!) and poof...that’s it...success achieved!

I do believe that we as individuals define our success differently. My definition may not be the same as yours and vice versa. But I’m sure one thing we can all agree on is the fact that the pursuit of success is an ongoing effort.

Success happens in increments, meaning you shouldn’t think one single accomplishment automatically puts you in the category of being successful. As we progress, grow, and learn we get closer to that thing we call success - one step at a time.

So often we hear of the Cinderalla stories, people becoming overnight celebrities, but we forget about all the years of hard work that took place behind the scenes. The struggles, obstacles, and challenges that came along with the journey. There’s no getting around the journey because it shapes and molds us into who we’ll become. We evolve daily – one day at a time.

Embrace your journey and share your story with others to make their paths a little easier to navigate. As you get closer to the pinnacle of success (as defined by you and you only), don’t forget those who helped you along the way. Always show sincere appreciation and gratitude.

Thank you to each of you who take the time to read my blog. I appreciate those of you who’ve subscribed and support The Unemployed Entrepreneur™ by spreading the word.

May God continue to bless us all.

Much Love to you...

Photo credit: csitscenter