Sound Solutions: North Bank Audio Solutions

If you want to attract more clients, establish yourself as an expert and capture the valuable knowledge that you already have in your head, you should be hosting teleseminars.

A teleseminar is simply a way of distributing your knowledge to your audience. They are virtual events hosted on the telephone via a bridge line. Because of how simple they are to set up, they are usually the easiest way to get started in information marketing.

Very few of us are effective writers and even less of us actually enjoy doing it. If you are a coach, consultant, speaker trainer, teacher or service professional, it’s almost a given that your primary mode of communication is vocal. This is the beauty of a teleseminar.

Instead of speaking only to your clients, those who call your office or that you call, you can reach large audiences during and after your teleseminar. And instead of having to travel to high pressure speaking engagements, you can host teleseminars from your home or office.

Here are the 9 simple steps to launching your information empire with teleseminars:

Step one: choose a topic. This is a major roadblock for some people. Remember to focus on the benefits of the concepts you are teaching and that you pick a topic that your target market is actually hungry for - not just something you like to talk about.

Step two: create an outline. Don’t waste your time by writing out a word-for-word script for your teleseminar. Not only is it time consuming, but it will make you sound unnatural when you are hosting your event.

Step three: host and record a teleseminar. Use a free bridge line service like www.freeconferencepro.com or better yet, use www.handsfreeteleseminars.com, an online tool that allows you to host, record and promote your event at a very low cost. Simply invite your list, your friends or anyone who you know who might be interested in the topic you are covering. Don’t worry - even it if it’s just you on the line, still deliver the teleseminar.

Step four: distribute the recording. Send out the recording to your teleseminar attendees.

Step five: transcribe the teleseminar. Have a professional transcriptionist convert the audio recording into a text format. This can then be distributed as PDF to your teleseminar attendees and sold or given away as a free report or white paper.

Step six: set up an opt-in page with your recording and transcript as a free or low cost lead generation product. It can be in the form of digital files or a CD and a printed transcript. You will then drive traffic to this page through your online and offline marketing campaigns. Your goal is to get targeted people in your target market to exchange their contact information for your valuable recording and transcript. Then you can be in touch with those people and help transition them into customers and clients.

Step seven: repurpose your teleseminar into marketing materials. The audio can be redistributed as podcasts and submitted to directories. The text can be edited and redistributed as online marketing articles, blog posts, ezines and e-courses and press releases. The audio and text can be combined to create online video which can be submitted to YouTube and other video sites. All these pieces can be promoted through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, blogs relevant to your target market and social bookmarking tools like Digg.

Step eight: repeat the process. Tweak as you go. Notice which topics and approaches get the best response and focus on those. Pay close attention to which questions are asked the most.

Step nine: archive and repurpose again. Consider repurposing multiple free or low cost teleseminars into a book or a big ticket item (live event, high-end info product, home study course or coaching program.)

Even if you don’t complete all nine steps for your first few teleseminars, keep creating and moving forward. By simply getting started with information marketing and list building will help you refine your message, grow your business and differentiate yourself from your competition.

And now I’d like to invite you to learn out the 5 simple steps to turn one hour into a successful marketing plan at http://www.northbankaudio.com/teleclass

Caleb Scoville helps consultants, trainers, coaches and service professionals, multiply their impact with information products and audio and video online marketing strategies.

I recently started recording all of the consultations I offer to my clients and prospects and send them the recording. Since I’m an audio guy, it makes sense and gives my new clients a preview of coming attractions, but it can add value to any kind of consultation or coaching session.

Here’s the process I use for recording consultations:

1. I book the time in advance. If it’s a free consultation, I let the client know that I only allot 15 minutes to free consultations and anything beyond that will need to be billed at my current rate for consultations.
2. I send the call-in details to my client and let them know I will be recording the call for both of our convenience. I tell them this will enable us to focus on the conversation without having to take copious notes.
3. We hold the call at the scheduled time. I used Instant Teleseminar to record my consultations. I then edit and master the call lightly so that my client receives a high quality end product.
4. I send my client the audio recording with a YouSendIt link in my email and a personal message with links to all of the resources we discussed on the call.

There are many reasons to use a process like this with your clients. Here are a few:

1. Added perceived value. It simply bulks up the value of your consultation since your client gets an audio recording that they can listen to again and again.
2. It’s easier for the client and for you. They don’t have to take notes and neither do you.
3. You will be able to help your clients even more. We all know the importance of repetition. If you tell your client to review the recording of your call and they do it, they will learn more about what you are teaching or coaching them on and they will be able to learn more about themselves.
4. Your clients and prospects will remember you more. If they have an audio file to listen to, it will help you stay in their memory. They might come across it later even if they have fallen out of touch with you for a while and be able to relive the call again - thus sparking interest in working with you again.
5. You can repurpose the recordings later. As long as you don’t use personal information without your client’s knowledge, parts of these calls can be used as material for information products, articles, interview questions, podcasts, blog posts, online videos and more.
6. You can evaluate your own services. Hearing yourself from an outside perspective can help you learn a lot about your own strengths and weaknesses.

So, are you sold on the value of recording your coaching sessions and consultations but aren’t sure where to start? I suggest one of the two options:

1. Use Instant Teleseminar. It’s a great all-in-one teleseminar hosting and recording system with a bunch of other valuable tools. Another great tool I recommend is Audio Acrobat.
2. Outsource the whole process to the professionals. Contact us at North Bank Audio Solutions and let us know that you want to start recording your coaching sessions or consultations.

Have anything to add that I left out? Any successes related to recording coaching calls or consultations? Join the conversation and leave your comment below.

As I’ve shared before, you can easily leverage testimonials as powerful positioning tools in your business by asking your highest profile associates to vouch for you as well as offering testimonials to those you know with a large amount of visibility in your target market.

Now I’m sharing the anatomy of an effective testimonial. I’ll admit that while I already knew this formula, I pretty much just lifted it from the notes I took at Adam Urbanski’s “Attract Clients Like Crazy” bootcamp this month in Newport Beach California.

Here we go:

1. First share your name and website. Your company name can be included, but keep it brief. The main thing is you want to send them to a web page that is easy to spell (since many testimonials are in audio or video formats) and is relevant to those who will be listening. Make sure it has an opt-in box with an offer for something valuable to the folks who will see the testimonial.
2. Next, share a brief sentence about what you do. Focus on the benefits of your work rather than the process.
3. Now, share where you were before you worked with the person or company you are vouching for. This is the part where you “bring the pain”. Explain the problems you were having.
4. Explain the experience you had of the service or product you are giving a testimonial for. Again, don’t focus so much on the process, but on the value of the services received.
5. This is the most important part. Tell the audience the benefits and results you got from using the service or product. Be as specific as possible. Include numbers and examples if you can. Money speaks, so if you can include financial figures, that is ideal.
6. The last step is optional, but suggested. Include the “result of the result”. So, if a new program enabled you to make an extra $30,000 this year, explain what that will mean to you in human terms. For example, you can spend more time with your family and friends and take that exotic vacation you’ve always dreamed about without having to check your email once.

Follow this basic outline and you can’t fail. Another thing - when you’re meeting people you have worked with or think you might work with, get a photo together. Then, either of you give each other testimonials, you’ll have something to post with it as a credibility factor.

The last tip is… ALWAYS tell the truth. You will do a disservice to yourself, your prospects and the person you are giving a testimonial for if you make things up or fabricate any of the above.

Did I miss anything? Do you have any big testimonial stories, examples, wins or horror stories to share? Join the conversation by posting a comment below.

I recently gave an endorsement to my good friend and client Adam Urbanski of The Marketing Mentors for his upcoming Attract Clients Like Crazy event.

Well, if you’re on any of Adam’s lists, you should have already gotten his message about my testimonial, but I wanted to share you the link with you myself so that you could see what he did.

Have a look for yourself:
http://www.northbankaudio.com/mmtestimonial

What struck me about this was, not only did this testimonial become a vehicle for a powerful promotion that Adam could send out to his list, but it also became a promotion for me as well! I’ve already seen a few new opt-ins directly from this promotion he sent out.

The real reason I’m sharing this with you is two fold:

#1) I want you to learn from what Adam did.

Make sure you’re asking your clients, associates and even contractors or employees for testimonials.

When you’re asking for testimonials, coach your clients on what you’re looking for.

I’m going to follow this up soon with the anatomy of an effective testimonial, but listen to the one I recorded for Adam at the link above for the basic format.

#2) I want you to learn from what I did.

Are you offering testimonials to your associates who are highly visible in your target market? If the answer is  ‘no’, you’re leaving money on the table.

I knew that giving a testimonial to someone with as much  visibility in my target market as Adam has would pay off  for me just as much as it would for him.

Notice that I plugged my website in the beginning and end  of the audio I recorded. Whenever introducing yourself,  don’t use your company name - use your website.

Here’s that link again:
http://www.northbankaudio.com/mmtestimonial

One more thing… whenever dealing with testimonials, whether you are giving one or asking for one, audio and video is much better than just text.

You can truly identify with your audience and authentically present a message in these forms. Plus, different people like to learn in different ways and you need to make all of your information as easy to consume as possible.

Do you have any testimonial tips to share? Any big wins or horror stories? Do you absolutely disagree with what I just said?

Join the conversation. Add a comment below.

So, you probably know by now that you should be submitting articles to article directories by now, so I won’t bore with you why. I’ll just let you check out Article Marketer to find out more on that topic - they’re the experts. What a lot of people aren’t doing though is effectively linking their work together. What do I mean by this? You should have your body of work (your blog, podcast, articles, videos, and social media etc.) all refer to eachother. Here are a few examples:

1. When you create a blog post, include a link to a relevent vidoe that you posted on YouTube.
2. When you post something to Twitter, link to a related podcast, blog post or article you submitted to ezinearticles.com.
3. Post the videos you put on YouTube to your Facebook account.
4. When you upload videos to YouTube, include a link to your free report or teleseminar recording opt-in page for lead generation.
5. Link your blog to your social networking sites. Like Twitter, MySpace, Linkedin and Facebook.

The reasons for doing these things are two fold:

1. You want human beings to click on these links. This is pretty obvious, but remember, the more ways you can display your information, the better. Some of your prospects and clients might love to read blogs, but others might do better with video or audio.
2. You want search engines to know where your stuff is online. The logic goes like this - if you link to your YouTube video on your blog, then you are letting Google and Yahoo know that the video exists, thus pushing that video up in order of importance. The same goes with your articles, blog posts, social media, podcasts, etc.

One more tip - for those of you who are blogging (and I hope that’s all of you) may I make the suggestion, that you go a step further with these suggestions? If you take a look at my blog, you’ll notice that my Twitter updates are syndicated on the lower right hand side. This is done for a similar reason as I explained above. People might click on my updates and go to my Twitter profile and because search engines like fresh, new content, my blog site is constantly changing each time I post to twitter. You’ll also notice that I’ve integrated my podcast in a similar way. This is a slightly more advanced way of linking your blogs and social media, but all the more effective. You can actually do this on your static websites as well with a tool called Feedburner. If you’re not using Feedburner, shame on you. No, but seriously, check it out. It’s free. I’ll probably include some video tutorial of how to do these things in the near future, so make sure to subscribe to my feed so you get them as soon as I post them.