Bill McRea

If you are just getting started establishing an online business, one of the most effective things you can do is to become known as a subject matter expert in your field. Once you have done the work to gain enough knowledge, skill and ability to call yourself an expert you’ve got to demonstrate to the world that you’ve earned your chops, so to speak. The goal is to have others refer to you as an expert and in order for that to happen you’ve got to demonstrate your expertise to the world.

In this article we’re going to take a look at 10 tips for demonstrating your expertise and establishing yourself as an expert.

1. Publish a blog on your topic

Buy your name as a domain name, i.e., www.yourname.com, and establish a blog where you take a narrow focus but drill deeply into your topic.

2. Write guest blog posts for high profile blogs that focus on your subject.

3. Become a news maker

Discover something new about your topic and publish it first. Create content that other people will want to quote, and use in their work. Be a trend setter in your industry rather than a follower and disseminator of other people’s original work.

4. Publish a book.

This could mean writing and publishing a traditional hard copy book, self-publishing or writing an ebook. Writing a definitive book on your topic is an effective way to establish your expertise and you will automatically be labeled an expert.

5. Write articles for print and online magazines. Publish them or publicize them on your blog.  Post articles in article directories with a link back to your website.

6. Create a video series on your topic with links back to your blog. Keep the videos short, tightly focused, and full of valuable content that does not sound like a commercial.

7. Create a slide show and post it on slideshare.com, and other presentation sharing websites.

8. Conduct live workshops in your city and neighboring towns where you teach others about your area of expertise.

9. Host a webinar or tele-seminar that shares news, industry insights and how-to tips.

10. Answer questions on Q & A websites

Create a profile on question and answer websites such as yahoo answers, quora.com, and Linkedin answers.

Keep studying in your field. Continuously build on and increase your skills, but remain teachable and curious. Take classes, get an advanced degree, and keep your skills sharp. Probably the most important aspect of demonstrating your expertise is to be confident in your own abilities. Own your accomplishments and never compare yourself with someone else. We each have unique abilities and strengths.

The ability to demonstrate your expertise will have a great impact on your ability to attract your ideal clients and customers and grow your business.

If you’d like more tips and ideas for how you can demonstrate your expertise and develop a successful online business visit, http://mcreasite.com/blog today.

If you’ve had a blog for at least six months then you’ve got a wealth of Content that you can re-purpose in order to generate even more traffic to your website.

Here are five tips for making use of all of that content that’s languishing in your archives.

1. Convert articles into Powerpoint presentations

Copy and paste the content of the article into Powerpoint slides. You can add images, transitions and animation effects if you choose. You can record an audio track to accompany the slides and even insert intro and out-tro music that will come in before and after the narrator’s voice. Save the presentation in a video format and upload it to your favorite video sharing sites. Embed the video on your website and include a link back to your site from the sites where you’ve uploaded it.

2. Post audio files with an image and publish on video sharing sites

Create a static graphic image with the title of the audio, your name and the name of your site. Then use video creation software such as Windows Movie maker, and upload the image along with the audio file. Save it as a video and upload it to your favorite video sharing sites. Don’t forget to also embed the video on your site as well.

3. Use slideshow animation software

Try one of the many slideshow animation websites such as animoto.com where you can upload your own text, images and audio to create visually stunning video compilations. The magic happens with the software which adds animation and visual effects to make a compelling video presentation. It takes just a few minutes, and when the video is finished rendering you can share it to video sharing sites such as youtube.com

4. Save time with a video syndication service

Check out one of the video syndication services that will take your video file, upload it to several video and other content sharing sites and some will even promote your videos as well. They come at various price points for the different services. Here are three sites that you might want to take a look at for syndicating content:

• ContentBuzz
• Hey!Spread
• OneLoad

5. Optimize your videos and your channel

Here are some tips to help you make the most of your Marketing videos and your video sharing site profiles:

• Write a keyword rich title
• The full URL to your website (indlude the http://) should be the first thing in the video description
• Use lots of keywords in the video description
• Use the Google XML Sitemap for Video plugin if you’re running a WordPress blog
• Keep the video short (under 2 minutes)
• Add a watermark to your video with the URL to your website
• Use captions and subtitles
• Add tags to your videos relevant to the content
• Share your video on Facebook and the other social media sites where you participate
• Share on Pinterest.com and ask your friends to pin your video and share it with their network
• Transcribe the video and include the text
• Write a descriptive title for your channel
• Include a clear, keyword rich description for the kind of videos that your channel will contain
• Use a compelling, appropriate avatar image
• Choose or have created a background image that fits in with your branding

video marketing is so easy and it is such an effective method for generating targeted traffic for your site. Try these tips today and start filling up your channel with lots of compelling videos that point right back to your website.

For more tips and strategies for making the most of video marketing, you are welcome to visit http://mcreasite.com/blog today.

The advent of the Internet has made is possible and a whole lot easier for solo entrepreneurs to build a business on their own without staff or even a physical location other than their kitchen table. But those who have achieved any level of success will often admit that they attribute their breakthrough to the advice, counsel and support received from a coach, or a mastermind group. Networking, which requires you to get out of the house and up from behind your computer screen, is the best way to make vital connections with more experienced, more knowledgeable business people who can share their knowledge, wisdom and experience with you. In this post we’re going to take a look at the different ways you can leverage these powerful relationships to increase your knowledge and grow your business.

Mastermind groups
A mastermind group is a group of two or more people who come together to help one another achieve either a common goal, or individual goals. Napoleon Hill, in The Law of Success, writes this about the concept of the Master mind: “A Master Mind may be created through the bringing together or blending, in a spirit of perfect harmony, of two or more minds. Out of this harmonious blending the chemistry of the mind creates a third mind which may be appropriated and used by one or all of the individual minds.”
Master mind groups can be free and created by a group of business people, or they can have a membership fee. It can be challenging to get members to show commitment to a free Master mind group. When members must pay a membership fee they are more likely to attend consistently.

Coaches
A coach is a professional who has training and sometimes certification in the field of coaching. Whether you are looking for a life coach to help you achieve personal goals or a business coach to help you grow your business you simply find a coach whose philosophy and approach resonates with you and then you hire them for a specific period of time. A coach will encourage you, support you, hold your feet to the fire when you are slacking, but they will also cheer you on when you achieve your goals.

Networking events
If you are looking to meet other business people who might be prime candidates to be a mentor, coach or a mastermind group member, networking groups are a great place to start. You can find local networking groups by doing an Internet search in your area. There are business networking groups for all different purposes, and a good place to find such groups is on a website called, meetup.com.

Those who live in the U.S. can look for their local Chamber of Commerce and find out when they meet. You’re guaranteed to meet local entrepreneurs and business leaders at these meetings.

When you are approaching a situation where you are looking for help from others, remember the importance of giving first. If you are a new business person who is just starting out, and you think you may not have anything to offer, you always have something to offer. You want to come across as a person of value who has a vision, a plan and goals that you are working towards. Some experienced business people enjoy helping beginners find their feet in the business. Like any other kind of arrangement, seek to establish the opportunity for a win-win. In other words, each party should benefit equally from the transaction.

Joining a master mind group or hiring a coach is a good way to help you make progress towards your goals. If you’d like valuable tips and strategies for growing an online business visit http://mcreasite.com/blog today.

Do you hear the sound of crickets chirping when you visit your blog? Are you looking to generate some activity, and engagement, attract more visitors who are interested in your blog? In order to do that you’ve got to generate some buzz using social media and all of the other Marketing channels at your disposal. In this article we’ve got five fab tips that you can use to make your blog juicier, more appealing and increase the buzz around your blog and your brand. We’re going to banish the boring and bring in activity, engagement and with any luck increase your traffic and sales.

1. Establish measurable goals for your campaign

The term, “buzz,” generally means you’ll be drumming up interest and activity around your brand and your website. You want to attract attention, let your audience know what you are up to and how getting involved will benefit them. But without setting some goals at the outset you’ll never know if you’ve achieved success or not. Take a look at your current traffic stats, the number of friends and followers you’ve got on your social media profiles, and then decide to what degree you want to grow those numbers. Aim to meet or exceed your goals.

2. Develop a content creation plan

Your content is what is going to attract the visitors and bring the desired attention and engagement that you are looking for. Whether you are going to create a free ebook, a series of videos or blog posts, take the time to create the content that your audience is craving. Make it so that they are wondering why you are offering this stuff for free. Write up some press releases and submit them to directories. Write a series of articles using your primary keywords and submit them to the top article directories. When you have created valuable content that your visitors will comment on and share with their network, this will begin to create that buzz.

3. Work your network

Contact a few of your colleagues and let them know about your campaign. Ask them to share your content with their network and maybe even send an email to their list about your campaign. It helps to already have established network or tribe that you have established a mutually beneficial working relationship with.

4. Decide which social media platforms you will focus on

Are you active on Facebook? Do you have a lot of followers on Twitter? Have you gotten started with Pinterest.com yet? Choose which social media platforms you will focus on and begin to customize your content for these platforms. Write up some status updates for your Facebook and Google+ profiles. Host a live Twitter party on Twitter, Get some images created that are related to your campaign and share them on Pinterest. Host a Hangout on Google+.

5. Execute your plan

Create a schedule for your campaign and make sure that your audience knows what is happening when. If you will be hosting a contest, make sure the deadlines are clearly communicated. Follow up on your plans and ask for help and support where you need it.

When your campaign is over, be sure to compare your analytics reports to the benchmark reports you created before you began. If you achieved your goals, then celebrate your win. If not, look at how you can improve next time. social media marketing can be a fun and effective way to attract all of the buzz and targeted traffic you will need for your blog.

For more social media marketing tips and strategies, visit http://mcreasite.com/blog today where you’ll discover how you can grow your online business using Internet Marketing techniques.

Are you an information marketer who has a good selection of free ebooks that you give away to visitors to your website? ebook Marketing is an effective way to allow your visitors to get a taste of the kind of content you offer so that they will come back and eventually purchase the products that you offer for sale. Chances are those ebooks are saved in .PDF format so that visitors can download them and either read them on their computer screen, or print them to read later. However, with the rising popularity of ebook readers such as Amazon’s Kindle, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook, and the omnipresent smart phones and tablets, it’s time to think about providing different formats for your visitors to access your ebook content so that they can consume it at their convenience and share it with their friends.

Most popular ebook formats

According to Matthew Fields’ article, ‘Best eBook Formats for Self-Publishing,’ on the Social Media Chimps blog, the ePub, PDF and Kindle formats are the best and most popular formats for those who are looking to self-publish their content and make it available to a wider audience of readers.

ePub

The ePub format is, “an open standard for e-books created by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF).”

Ebook readers such as the Kobo eReader, Blackberry’s Playbook, Apple’s iBooks that can be read on iOS devices such as iPhones, iPads and the iPod Touch, the Nook, Sony Reader and others.

PDF

Portable Document Format, by Adobe Systems, has been around since the early 1990′s. It can be read on almost every computer platform making it a very popular document format on the web.

PDF files can be read on several ebook readers including Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Kobo eReader, Sony reader and several others.

Amazon Kindle (KF8)

The .kf8 file format was released in 2011 with the release of the Kindle Fire ebook reader.

Kf8 is a proprietary file format exclusively for Kindle ereader products, however, by downloading the Kindle app, users of a variety of mobile platforms can access Kindle eBooks.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats

How to convert your documents to the various ebook formats     

To convert your existing content to the ePub format there are free ePub converter tools, such as can be found at 2epub.com, which is a website that allows you to convert .pdf, and .doc documents to the ePub format. It allows several input formats, and outputs .epub, fb2, lit, lrf and .mobi. It also has a utility that will convert .PDF files from any application.

Amazon DTP

On the Kindle Direct Publishing website you can convert your word processing documents into the Kindle format. It’s free to sign up for an account, and converting a document is as easy as uploading it to the site. Be sure to review the Help Topics on the Kindle DTP site. There are tutorials such as, ‘Building Your Book for Kindle,’ and ‘Prepare Your Book.’

kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

Calibre

The Calibre website is an excellent resource if you are going to be delving into the world of creating ebooks for ereaders. They offer a free ebook library management software application that you can use to convert your ebooks, view ebooks and sync to ebook reader devices.

calibre-ebook.com/about

Here’s a link to a handy list of the steps required to prepare your ebook for publication if you’re starting form scratch: sellbox.com/amazon-kindle-direct-publishing-kdp-nook-pubit-checklist/

eBook formatting services

If all of the technical details of formatting and converting your ebooks is giving you a headache, you can always hire an ebook formatting service:

gopublished.com/

ebookarchitects.com/index.php

If you’d like more information about how you can use ebook marketing to build your online business, visit http://mcreasite.com/blog today.