Hey, it’s little ‘ol me again (for those whom don’t know this–I am rather little, I am only 5′tall). Teresa, the virtual assistant and online publicity person…or what I like to call myself the Prima Online Connector! (I just made that up-cute, huh?)
Anyway, here are the details of what my title is all about….A Great Place to gain exposure and publicity for your online business.
The organization I am talking about is called WECAI
I know you are saying to yourself…what is that??? Sounds like a foreign car or some kind of exotic fruit and not an online organization, right? Well, it is pronounced WEE -K -EYE and it stands for Women’s eCommerce Association International. WECAI is a membership based organization mostly for women (however, men are welcome to join too).
The “official” explanation is …The Women’s ECommerce Association International™ is a not-for-profit, professional organization for individuals with an interest in doing business on the WEB. WECAI.org is dedicated to the advancement of women in business, industry, education and science.
And so you are saying to yourself, what does that have to do with me, right?
Well, let me tell you about WECAI and you will see why you will want to click to join button after reading this post.
Yes, I am a Charter Elite member of WECAI and also a networking moderator of the Ryze Network called HER Mastermind Group run by Heidi Richards, Founder of WECAI.
I am so happy to be a part of this great organization and I think you will think so to once you read this post.
So, let’s begin shall we?…
To Get Started:
When you see the home page of WECAI, you will notice the horizontal navigation bar along the top and a vertical menu on the left hand side.
First, you should hover your mouse (don’t need to click) over the JOIN WECAI button on the navigation bar on the left.
Listed are the just a few great reasons to join…here are just a few…well, there is actually a whole lot more:
1. A press release that you can share with all of your contacts as soon as you become a member to highlight your affiliation with WECAI. All you have to do with is input your business information and then send it out.
2. Receive a FREE ebook called, Women’s eCommerce Handbook, a guide for anyone starting their own ecommerce business.
3. You can also contact WECAI to see how you are able to lend your expertise…perhaps you would like to moderate one of the many blogs?
If you are ready to join, click the APPLICATION button (located in the menu of the Join Now in the left hand side). However if you wait to read more of the post, you will see another great benefit (just for you from me).
So, now we can go over the membership level benefits. (this is also located in the *menu* when you hover over Join Now on the left hand navigation bar.
BASIC
· A FREE listing in our WECAI™ Member Directory (Listing includes website url and inclusion in 1 professional category)
· (This was already mentioned, but worth repeating)A Media Release announcing your affiliation with WECAI™, which you can download, personalize and send to your media contacts immediately!
· Unlimited Access to the WECAI™ Member Directory
· Unlimited Access to the Member Resource Portal
· Unlimited listings in the Women’s Online Calendar
· Submit 1 article to our Business Resource Center
· A Membership Certificate, suitable for framing and displaying
· A downloadable Member Logo to display on your website
See, and that is just the BASIC membership…woohoo!
Oh, WAIT!! I didn’t finish the list of the benefits to the BASIC membership…
· NEW! Instantly download: A list of 25 places to list your website URL
· As soon as you register you will be automatically subscribed to our weekly news blast eMonday News™ (I can tell you from personal experience, this is one of the best newsletters I receive on a weekly basis)
· TWO special reports in your inbox! E-mail Marketing Strategies – 13 Tips for Success and Why You Need an Internet Presence – 13 Reasons to Become a Netrepreneur
Whew, that is alot of information…and you get alot of great information when you join as well.
Now, let’s talk about the next level of membership
CHARTER
At this level you receive:
· If you upgrade your membership to the Charter Level or higher and pay your one-year dues in full ($77), you will automatically receive a one-year membership in NAFE (www.nafe.com) – one of our partner organizations (the value of this membership is $35.00 annually).
If you are already a NAFE member, we will give you $35 credit toward your Charter level dues. This entitles you to become a member of the NAFE Virtual Network.
*I liked this benefit…becoming a part of 2 organizations for one low price of $77/yr.
Also, in addition to the basic membership benefits, the charter members receive:
· Promote your NEWS in our Members in the News Section
· Submit your press releases to our Media Room
· Submit up to 3 articles to our Business Resource Center
Ready to become a member of WECAI at the Charter Membership level, click the APPLICATIONbutton and fill it out to start receiving the wonderful benefits this organization has to offer you.
Now, for my SPECIAL offering…just from me to you…just for becoming a member of WECAI…I
If you write in my name (Teresa Morrow) as a referral when you sign up as a member of WECAI, you will receive a 15% discount for up to 2 hours of my VA services!! Now, how is that for a benefit too!! But, hurry, this special won’t last long!
So here is the last (but really good!) lesson about how to use PowerPoint presentations to increase your exposure to your audience.
In the process of giving you different places to showcase your powerpoint presentations, I came across a new website, well, actually, it is a community (like YouTube and MySpace), however, it is just for people who wish to showcase….
PowerPoint Presentations – isn’t that just so awesome!
So, here is what Slide Share is all about:
The name of the website is SlideShare. As their home page states, Slide Share is theworld’s largest community dedicated to sharing presentations on the web. It was started by three people, Dr. Rashmi Sinha,Jonathan Boutelleand Amit Ranjan.
So, let me tell you how to get started:
- Go to the upper right hand corner and register.
- Once you register, you can upload your Powerpoint presentation files.
- Click on the UPLOAD button located on the horizontal navigation bar at the top
- Once you get here you will see the following list displayed:
- We accept PowerPoint (ppt & pps), PDF, & OpenOffice (odp) files. If you are on a Mac and use Keynote, export to “PDF”.
- SlideShare is public space. Do not upload any material you want to keep private.
- Please be patient while uploading files; it can take several minutes to upload a large file. If you get any errors, please contact us with details.
- Maximum file size is 30 MB.
- Click on the button underneath this, “Browse and Select Files”.
Another window will open up labeled “Select Files to upload to www.slideshare.net”. You will need to retrieve your selected file from your computer. Once you find it, click the “open” button in the window.
The program then will start uploading your ppt(Powerpoint presentation) file. (Don’t be worried if it doesn’t look like it is uploading at first…it takes a few seconds -sometimes up to 10 or 15 seconds to start)
Within 5 minutes, you can click on the “My SlideSpace” button and see your Power Point Presentation and it is ready for viewing by others.
To Retrieve the code so you can share your SlideShare :
If you click directly on your powerpoint presentation on the screen once you are in the “my slidepace” window, you will be brought to another window where you will be able to retrieve the code to place in your blog or on your website.
Also, you will see where anyone can:
-”zing it” (like Digg it) and they can Digg it too!
-Save it to their favorites
-Share it with others
-Subscribe to receive updates on all your PowerPoint presentations
Underneath your slide show on this page, you will see where you can share it with My Space, Facebook, Friendster and Hi5 communities (I haven’t heard of Hi5 yet – I will have to go check them out. Anyone a part of that community? Please tell us about it. )
Another added feature – they have a Slide Share forum you can join to ask and answer questions.
Ok, now for the coolest part (well, I think it is pretty neat) if you want, you can take a moment to check out the <a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/VATeresa/key-business-partners-intro”>Slide Share Presentation that I did today</a>:
I hope that I have helped you realize how you are able to utilize PowerPoint presentations to gain exposure for your business.
If by chance you have missed the previous lessons: Lesson #1 or
Lesson #2
Just a special note here: Audio Acrobat has a beta version for video NOW.
Hey, just yesterday I created my audio welcome message using Audio Acrobat and it was pretty simple as well.
Finding your way is one of those topics most entrepreneurs believe they know the answer to until they get more into their business.
Then they are hit with uncertainty and confusion about where to go and how to get there.
Here are some questions:
1. What do you like to do? For me, it was administrative “things” more specifically tasks such as completing Power Point presentations and creating newsletters, blogs and writing (whether it was blogging, co-writing or freelance). I also really enjoy meeting and connecting like people together.
2. Why do you enjoy doing these certain things? For me, I thought about this and it was because they allow me to be more creative. I am able to place text and images in different places along with changing colors and aspects of the look. (this is why I am a virtual assistant). Also, I am a people person and enjoy meeting others. I enjoy helping them, so I wanted to be able to connect business people to assist them with connecting with each other (this is why I help other business owners with online publicity).
3. Is this something that you would enjoy in order to make money? For me that answer was an easy yes. Although for you, you may find out that some tasks you like doing but you don’t think you would enjoy them if it became something that you had to do in order to receive payment.
4. What are the tasks that you really do not like to do? This is really important because a lot of times the things that we don’t like to do, are the very things that can keep us from our focus and getting down the path to where we want to go. The reasoning for this is because we don’t want to do this things so we end up procrastinating, however, this thing we don’t want to do is creating a wall so we can not move forward to develop our vision.
Here are two ideas for when you run into a roadblock. Hopefully these can help you quickly remedy the situation.
- Put a timer (you can buy a kitchen timer for about $10) on 20 to 30 minutes Sit down and do those things you need to do. If you do this each day, then these tasks will get done.
- Outsource these items and allow the time to be spent doing those things you would like to focus on for your business.
5. What shall my website look like in order to convey my focus and showcase my brand
One of my mentors and friends, Ponn Sabra talks about internet branding for your business and is the expert on this subject.
6.Where do I go in order to find inspiration and empowerment in order to help me move forward?
- The first and easiest answer for this question is your family and friends. Ask them questions like, “I am thinking about doing this (whatever it may be) and see how the conversation develops. What do you find yourself talking about more or what is the questions that are brought up that concern you that you didn’t really want to talk about.
- Networking Groups – Google and see what groups are available in the industry that you are interested in. Or even better yet, check and see where you think your customers may be interested in being a part of. Join and attend the chat sessions. Sit back and just listen. Don’t comment at first too much. Just see what types of questions come up and see if these are questions that you are interested in answering and able to resolve for the attendees in the room.
So, next time you find yourself confused about what to do next, just take some time to redefine what you like to do (your strengths), what you do not like to do (your weaknesses), and what you find yourself talking about or other are talking about with you. It will come together, give yourself time, and it will all work out.