Wednesday, June 27, 2012

How to Choose a Public Speaker


Looking for someone to speak at your next conference, retreat, or even at your place of business? How do you choose the right speaker to discuss social media, marketing, or branding subjects? Is Terra L. Fletcher right for you? Allow me to answer.

 

Presentation

I hate to say it, but I’ve heard plenty of “professional” speakers that – frankly – suck. Now, I’m not going to claim that I’m the world’s greatest or anything. But I’m surely not terra-ble. (I promise to limit the use of bad puns!) I’m very passionate and high-energy when I speak. I believe in taking frequent breaks and strive for lots of audience participation. I promise I won’t make your ears bleed. Nor will you have the desire to poke yourself in the eye with your pen.

My presentations follow 4Mat for Learning techniques, include PowerPoint slide presentations to aide visual learners, and activities or hands on learning so you can try it yourself. I encourage you to bring your laptop where practical. 

I am highly committed to personal improvement. I am perpetually enrolled in a public speaking class and I strive to bring you the most up-to-date advice on internet marketing and presenting a professional image. I do everything I can to guarantee that each participant leaves with at least one or two action items that they’re going to put in place immediately.

 

Experience

View a list of speaking topics and locations. Not included on the list are several organizations that wished not to be named. I’ve spoken to groups of just a few individuals and to groups over 1,000. My local presentations are often sold-out events.

 

Price

Do you believe you get what you pay for? Generally speaking, I do. My rates are fair and competitive.  I don’t charge as much as some of the big shots who have been doing this for 20 years. (Hire me now, before I decide I’m a big shot.) *Exact fees depend on type of engagement, audience size, and location. Email for a quote.

 

Personality

To an extent, whether you’re satisfied with my presentation is largely a matter of personality. If you look at me and think, “What in the world is she gonna teach me about how to run my business that I haven’t figured out on my own in the last 30 years?” The answer is, probably not much. But that’s not what I’ve set out to do.  

I recognize that you are the expert in your business, in your industry. I’m keenly aware of how busy today’s professionals are, too. It’s not possible for a business owner or CEO to be attuned to every change on Google or Facebook. (It’s hard enough for me to keep up.) If you’re willing to learn, I’m willing to teach. 

If you’re looking for a public speaker that doesn’t suck to share one or two tips to help you better your business, call me, Terra L. Fletcher of Fletcher Freelance at 715-584-6773. Still not sure? Read testimonials. Check me out on YouTube or email any questions you might have.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

BlackRock, Renaissance, and Chuck: Ads Reviewed by Terra L. Fletcher


Renaissance

This ad for Renaissance Hotels looks very rich; as I’m sure it’s supposed to. If you view the site for Renaissance by Marriott, you’ll see five star hotels and luxury amenities. This print ad, highlighting gold leaf, ties in very well with the site and creates a strong brand image. The ad has a woman pictured, which adds that personal aspect. Notice the woman first and you’ll naturally follow the direction she is looking, to the content. You’ll read that next. If gold leaf and a romantic building appeal to you, hopefully you’ll remember Renaissance for your next travels or visit their website.

 

 

 

Chuck

Charles Schwab ads, in my opinion, are usually very good. This specific piece highlights how much Chuck’s clients like “him.” So much so that almost half of all new clients are from word of mouth advertising. We know how powerful WOM is. I enjoy the fact that Chuck is pointing viewers of the ad to a specific webpage that has customer ratings and reviews. This way they can track the effectiveness of the campaign and speak directly to the people that are interested in reading reviews.

 

 

 

 

BlackRock

“Are your returns near the point of no return?” I get the copy on this ad. The woman’s expression is perfect. I also noticed the women’s hands. The woman appears to be fidgeting with or twisting her wedding ring. Some would say this may be simply a nervous tic. Body language experts might tell you this person is uncertain with her marriage. Hmm… what exactly is BlackRock trying to convey? My first impression was that they were trying to add to the facial expression of uncertainty by adding a dynamic body language clue. Is BlackRock telling us to break commitments to current investment management firms and work with them, someone who will tell you what to do with your money?

What does BlackRock say to you in this ad? Please leave a comment below.

*If you enjoy my ad reviews, please share this on your favorite social network. Thanks!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Risk Ready with Kroll, Be the Best in the Business with Monster, and Keep it Together with Acura: Ads Reviewed by Terra L. Fletcher


Kroll does a fine job adding a visual element to an otherwise not visually inclined industry, something I can always appreciate. It’s also a different ad, attention grabbing. It gives the audience a sense that Kroll will simplify data security and privacy policy. It gives Kroll the image of an organization made of intelligent individuals who pay attention to the details.















I’m a firm believer in the philosophy that you don’t have to know everything; you just have to know where to find it. I think that’s why this ad works on me. The ad by monster, the recruiting website, is very simple and eye-catching. I like the copy, “Be the best in the business of having the best in the business.” It goes on to elaborate how good businesses are built on having the best people. This builds on a fact that most business people will readily accept.













This Acura ad appeared on two separate pages of a magazine. I found it relatable (perhaps because I drive a black crossover?) Don’t we all want to give the appearance of having it all together, have the space, but not look like we’re driving a gluttonous gas-guzzler? With a great visual and just a few sentences this ad conveys all that and addresses horsepower, gas mileage, and style.

What say you? Please comment below.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

How Social Media Helps SEO


*Special Guest Blog post by Sachin of websudasa.com

Social media is one of the most popular marketing trends these days. Social media can easily help anyone to raise brand awareness as well as to generate more targeted visitors to your website. Have you ever thought how social media can help you in SEO? 

Let’s explore some of the most famous websites in social media like facebook, twitter, YouTube, digg and many more. Click here to find list social networking websites. Yes, there are hundreds of social networking & bookmarking websites available which can help you in SEO. 

Generate Quality Links with Social Media

There are so many SEO activities we do for link building but social media is in one of most effective ways to build genuine one way links. As you know one-way links are of utmost importance in search engine optimization. 

Here’s an example

You can do a search on knowem.com for your brand.

“Search over 575 popular social networks, over 150 domain names, and the entire USPTO Trademark Database to instantly secure your brand on the internet.”

Let’s talk about some of the most famous websites. How these websites can help us in SEO, see the image below for your reference


We actively started focusing on some of the most popular social media sites to generate some quality one-way links.

So let’s talk about some of the most famous social media sites.

How to use facebook for SEO

Some of the activities we follow to generate quality one-way links from facebook

1.       Submit website link in facebook business page
2.       Website link in facebook profile
3.       Write facebook notes to generate some targeted traffic and links
4.       Share one or two links or status update in profile or business page

How to use twitter for SEO

1.       Create your company/blog business profile & add your website link in profile
2.       Share your blog or website links on twitter. As soon as your tweets became popular or get a good number of retweets, they become good links.

How to use YouTube or other Video Sharing Websites for SEO

1.       Create a company profile or personal profile where you can easily add your website link.
2.       You can keep adding some of the videos related to your products or. Add your product or website link in descriptions.

How to use Social Bookmarking Websites

1.       Create your personal profile as well as company profile on most of the social bookmarking websites.
2.       Maintain your account by adding some friends to your network.
3.       As soon as you publish any post on your blog you can bookmark those articles on these websites.
4.       You can exchange articles with your friends to submit different articles from your account.
5.       You should get some votes for your articles to get permanent links from these websites or they will remove your link after sometime.

How to use Webmaster to Track Social Media Links

1.       Login to your Google webmaster account.
2.       You can check traffic -> links to your site - >more where you can see all domains that have links to pages on your site.
3.       Here you can easily find social networking and bookmarking websites.
4.       You can click those websites for more details & found what kind of content is getting maximum links. Write that type of content for your blog.

As many genuine and targeted one-way links as you can generate for your website will give you higher chances to get top ranking for your keywords in search engine.

Author Bio: - Sachin Bhutani, Internet marketing consultant and founder of SEO company in India. Writes articles related to SEO, PPC, blogging and making money online. Email info@websudasa.com if you’re interested in having Sachin write a guest article for your website.