I remember when YouTube first came out in February 2005. We were all amazed at the availability of 100s of online videos that you could watch on a bunch on subjects. I sat for hours going through the different categories and watching videos, albeit somewhat frustrating with the buffering that went on using my dial up service in the office.

Then it went crazy: from 100s to millions of videos and the world exploded with video services and a multitude of spinoffs from the YouTube model. But they held market share and were bought out by Google in November 2006 for $1.65 billion and video fast became the main player in online marketing.

I went out and bought a video camera, set up a home studio and began making videos. Over the  next few years I made 100s of videos and learnt from other people and soon developed a knack for good, fast professional videos for the entrepreneurial market.

To date, we have over 15 online video based courses on 4 different platforms. We have created a vast number of videos for education, marketing, instructional and inspiration. We now have 2 cameras, a full set of lights and wireless sound in our own video studio.

I share this not to brag, but to inspire. If we can do this, so can anyone. It takes time to learn how to be in front and behind the camera and more time learning how to work the complex editing software but time is spent having fun and learning.

This week we will unpack some of the benefits of having videos for your business and how we have learnt to leverage YouTube as one of the most powerful online search tools and marketing platforms available to businesses.

Join us as we journey through some good, bad and ugly, but all inspirational videos and tips and tricks to build your business.

Register for the webinar on Wednesday here and read the other blogs during the week.

For a select few blogging comes as naturally as talking to a good friend. People make a living from blogging, some even a great living. I know of food bloggers, music bloggers, life and love bloggers. I once met a young lady who made a living about blogging about her personal experience of testing sex toys. #truestory

For the rest of us, we need to tap into our inner creative side, brew coffee and muster all our energy to carve out a good 300-word document. Blogging is not easy: it does get easier with practice, but for the most, we need to know the rules and required format and then try to be creative whilst conforming to all of the above.

Blogging for the Entrepreneur is essential. It becomes your information life line to the world and compliments your online profile and brand footprint.

This week we will chat about all things blogging during our Webinar Master-Class on Wednesday at 12:00 CAT. We will cover the essentials of a good blog, look at some examples of successful blogs and then give you some ideas on how best to start or restart your business blog.

If you are interested in blogging or have someone in your business that needs to be interested, then please join us on Wednesday or later for the recorded version. We will, of course, report the entire webinar blog here on Thursday.

Until then: happy blogging – I know you can do it.

This month as we tackle some of the Social Media platforms and unpack some of the ways to best use them for small business and Entrepreneurs, we start with LinkedIn. Register HERE

Many people we speak to seem to have ignored LinkedIn as their primary focus for brand building and online activity. We get comments such as “Why LinkedIn?”, “It is only for job hunting”, “It does not do anything for me” and “There is no company stuff, just people”.

Well in all these cases the answer is, “It can assist you and your business, in many different ways”. But like all platforms: if you do not work it, it will not work for you. We constantly strive for new innovative ways to leverage our online presence for the greater good of our business. Recently I attended a workshop run by Charlotte Kemp, one of most informed LinkedIn person I know. Charlotte was able to show us some cool tips and tricks to add to the stuff I already knew to put our LinkedIn profile on the gas burner.

So here is a short quiz for you to take: Yes or No answers

1. Do you have a current LinkedIn profile?
2. Does your business have a LinkedIn page?
3. Are both these up-to-date with all recent information?
4. Do you have over 500 people in your LinkedIn personal network?
5. Do you post articles, blogs and company information on LinkedIn at least once a week?
6. Do you strategically research, identify and connect with key players in your sector?

If you scored more than 2 “No” for the above 6 questions, then you are in dire need of some LinkedIn butt-kicking and I extend to you a special invite to our Wednesday Weekly Webinar presented on 6^th September at 12:00.

Register HERE and learn with many others some of the tips, tricks and strategic techniques to make LinkedIn work for you.

Why is Social Media important? 3-5 decades ago, long distance communication was limited to telephones and fax machines. Information was stored and distributed mainly on paper. With the rapid increase in knowledge, one would have guessed we were headed for a disaster especially in an environmental perspective. Then came Social Media.

It’s no surprise that social media is, well social. Social Media content generally has more informal tone than other communications. That not to say Social Media messages are not also professional. LinkedIn is a Social Media networking specifically designed for career and business professionals to connect. It’s about building strategic relationships, making it hard to sell product on the platform. Facebook is one of the cheapest, largest and the most prominent Social Media networking application today.

Social Media is useful when people can use the information to see their lives in new ways, change business strategic ideas, or learn something they didn’t know before. It’s also an affordable way to increase brand awareness, Launches, relevant quiz, marketing, competitions, surveys, referrals and much more. Its tools help to build awareness and direct readers to take action or find more information.

A blog is a frequently updated online personal journal or diary. It is a place to express yourself to the world. A place to share your thoughts and your passions. Really, it’s anything you want it to be. For our purposes, we’ll say that a blog is your own website that you are going to update on an ongoing basis. A blog is a short form for the word weblog and the two words are used interchangeably. Youtube most popular video sites on the web today.

Social Media messages should have a call to action, urging people to take the next step. What is your next step?

The weeks will be split into lessons pertaining to the different platforms. So save the following dates and follow the links to book your spots on the social media webinars and workshops and get yourself added to the mailing list to get the regular blogs on this subject.

6 Sept – LinkedIn – BOOK HERE

13 Sept – Blogging – BOOK HERE

20 Sept – FaceBook – BOOK HERE

27 Sept – YouTube – BOOK HERE