Increase Your Internet Footprint Blogs. Podcasts. YouTube. Video. Facebook. Forums. Twitter. E-books. Membership sites. Wikipedia. Internet marketing has changed. Now it's no longer enough to have a Web site. Everybody has a Web site - if you're serious about your business. This is how Internet marketing used to work ... In other words, you build a "shop" with products or services; you write compelling sales letters or "flyers"; you put high-value content on your site to make it attractive; and then you advertise to get people to visit. But that doesn't work any more! People aren't going to your Web site directly any more. There are so many Web sites that it's just not possible to visit them to evaluate them. Here's how it works now ... The first three steps are the same: The shop; the sales letters; and the content. But now you push your content out into the world. And that's how they find you. From blogs, podcasts, forums and other places on the Internet. That's what "Web 2.0" means for you. It's no longer enough to expect people to visit your Web site to find out you're an expert. Now you have to prove you're an expert before they ever visit your Web site. How? Here are some examples ... They're searching for blogs in Google Reader, subscribe to yours, and read it for a while, before clicking to your Web site. They're browsing the iTunes Store for educational podcasts, download yours to their iPod, and then listen to it while walking the dog. They search Google for a book everybody's talking about, and they find your blog with your book review. They need content for their corporate in-house newsletter, and pick up your article from a public article directory. On Facebook, one of their friends invites them to join a discussion forum, and they find you in there taking part in discussions. You give away a free report on your Web site, and somebody who downloads it sends it to their friend, who is exactly the sort of person you want to do business with. This is good news! If you're an information expert - a speaker, trainer, consultant, coach, mentor, author, financial planner, facilitator, or other service professional - this is great news for you. Why? Because you're already creating great content. And some of it is probably already on your Web site. Now it's just a matter of putting it out into the on-line world. That's where our "Internet Footprint" service comes in. You can create the content. But you don't know have the time or the knowledge to keep putting it out where it matters. That's why we've created the "Internet Footprint" service. It helps you get your great content out on your blog, podcast, article directories, Facebook, YouTube, on-line forums, and other places on the Internet. This is not for putting content on your own Web site. If you've already got a First Step Web site, you can continue to use our Help Desk and support services to help you with putting content on your Web site. The Internet Footprint service helps you take the next step. It puts the content in other places on the Internet. For example ... ? Here are some of the tasks the Internet Footprint service can provide for you. Articles Create as PDF: We'll take an article in Word and format it as a PDF document, using your standard letterhead or other layout of your choice. Publish to article directories: We'll take articles you provide (in Word, PDF, plain text or from your Web site), add a "resource box" that promotes you, and publish the article in various on-line article directories. Audio Clips Top and Tail: When you record an audio clip, we'll "top and tail" it with a music clip of your choosing (we have a suite of royalty-free clips you can choose from, or provide your own). Publish to Hipcast: We'll publish the audio clip to the on-line multimedia service Hipcast.com, so you can then add it to your Web site, blog or podcast. Add to Media Clips module: If you have our Media Clips module, we'll publish the audio clip there, which makes it easy for you to refer to it in e-mail. Video Clips Publish to Hipcast: We'll publish the video clip to Hipcast.com, so you can then add it to your Web site, blog or podcast. Add to Media Clips module: If you have our Media Clips module, we'll publish the video clip there, which makes it easy for you to refer to it in e-mail. Publish to your blog: We'll also publish the video clip to your blog if you choose. Publish to YouTube: We'll also publish it to YouTube for you. Publish to Google Video: We'll also publish it to Google Video. E-zine (newsletter) Promote your e-zine in directories: We submit your e-zine to on-line e-zine directories E-Books Format the e-book: Add standard information to your e-book, such as: Copyright notice Permission to reprint Links to your Web site Create a three-dimensional cover graphic: You give us a picture for the cover, and we'll turn it into a professional three-dimensional graphical image Promote it in various on-line directories: We submit your e-book to on-line e-book directories. This is particularly useful for free e-books and special reports, because other people can download them. Blog Create your blog: We create a blog template with similar branding (colours and heading) to your Web site. Promote it in various blog directories: We submit your blog listing to directories like Technorati, which is like Google for blogs. Post to your blog: You write the blog posts, and we'll add them to your blog. You can even write a whole bunch in advance, and we'll post them at regular intervals for you, saving you time. Post book reviews: You write a book review and we'll post it to your blog. If it's a book available from Amazon.com, we'll include a picture of the book cover and a link directly to Amazon.com using your Amazon affiliate link (so you'll get a commission on any sales generated using that link). Post audio clips: You record an audio clip, we'll edit it as described in the "Audio Clips" section above, and then publish it to your blog. Podcast Create a podcast: We'll create a podcast for you, ready for you to start publishing. We'll create a podcast graphic to promote it - for example: Submit to iTunes: We'll submit your podcast to the podcast directory in the iTunes Store, one of the most popular places for listing podcasts. Promote in other podcast directories: We'll submit your podcast to other podcast directories on the Web, so people can find it in different places. Publish regularly to your podcast: You record an issue of your podcast, we'll edit it as described in the "Audio Clips" section above, and then publish it to your podcast. Publish podcast clips to your blog: Whenever we publish an audio clip to your podcast, we'll also publish it to your blog, to increase its visibility. Add to Media Clips module: If you have our Media Clips module, we'll also publish the podcast clip there, which makes it easy for you to refer to it in e-mail. Publish to membership site: If you have a membership site, we'll also publish the podcast clip there, so it's immediately available to your members. PowerPoint Publish to SlideShare: You provide a PowerPoint file (in either PPT or PPS format), and we'll publish it to SlideShare, which is like YouTube for PowerPoint. Publish to your blog: We'll also publish the slide show to your blog. Membership site Create a membership site: We'll create a membership site for you, with similar branding (colours and header graphic) to your Web site. Link your blog: We'll link your blog, so that whenever you post to it, the new post appears automatically in the membership site for your members. Add resources regularly: We'll add e-books, articles, audio clips and other resources regularly to your membership site. Research Find free e-books: We'll find free e-books in your area of expertise, so you can give them to clients, add them to your membership site, or include them as gifts in your e-zine. Find related podcasts: We'll find other podcasts in your area of expertise and other areas of interest you mention, so you can add them to your regular listening schedule. Find related blogs: We'll find other blogs related to your area of expertise, so you can read them regularly and also post comments in them (to encourage links back to your own blog and Web site). Find video clips: We'll find video clips related to your area of expertise, so you can post them in your blog, e-zine, membership site and Web site. Find Amazon.com books: We'll find books on Amazon.com related to your area of expertise, so you can post them in your blog, e-zine, membership site and Web site. Find on-line slide shows: We'll find on-line slide shows related to your area of expertise, so you can post them in your blog, e-zine, membership site and Web site. Who does the work? Over the last six months, I've been working with Tom, my Internet marketing assistant in India. I've been teaching him my strategy, and he's been learning the tasks I've been using for my own Internet marketing. This is not some five-year-old kid working in a sweatshop. Tom is a fully qualified university graduate with an Internet marketing degree. He knows his stuff. And he's good at what he does. And now he knows the First Step way of doing things as well. The Internet Footprint service gives you two hours a week of his time, to work on any of the tasks above - whatever you require at the time. I'll be supervising his work, and we'll have a private message area where all three of us communicate with each other. Is this right for you? This service isn't right for everybody. You'll get the most out of it if you meet these three criteria: You're an expert. If you're already running a successful business as a speaker, trainer, consultant, coach or other information expert, you can probably tick this box. You create high-value content regularly. This service helps you leverage your content; it won't create the content for you. At a minimum, we recommend you provide at least one article a week. This can be material you've already got available, or new material you produce regularly (e.g. in an e-zine). You want to improve your on-line presence. This might sound obvious, but this service is only useful for you if you're genuinely interested in using the Internet as part of your overall marketing strategy. Although we'll be doing the work for you, you should still have a basic understanding of blogs, podcasts, on-line video - and what they can do for you. What if you've already got a PA, VA or other support person? If you've already got a personal assistant, virtual assistant, office manager or other support person - that's great! You already recognise the value of outsourcing and delegating non-core work to others with the right expertise. We don't want to replace these people. But we can complement them, by providing a specialised service they can't offer. Tom and I have years of experience with Internet marketing. If your support team doesn't, then we can provide that for you, at the same time freeing up your team to do what else they do best for you. How much does it cost? If you're a member of the First Step Member Community, the service is $150 per month (plus GST). For that, you get two hours per week of Tom's time, which averages out to about $17 an hour. That's about what you pay for basic secretarial work, but you get a fully qualified Internet marketing graduate. If you're not a member, it's $250 per month (plus GST). But membership is only $70 + GST per month. So if you're planning to use this service, it's more cost-effective to sign up for membership anyway. And then you get all the other benefits of membership as well. Sign up for the service here.