Key Business Partners, LLC

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:

1. Go to the upper right hand corner and register.
2. Once you register, you can upload your Powerpoint presentation files.
3. Click on the UPLOAD button located on the horizontal navigation bar at the top
4. 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”.
   • Do NOT upload materials that you do not have copyright for, or have permission from the owner. Read our Terms of service & Privacy policy.
   • 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.

So, here we are for the 2nd round of the Power Point Presentation Series.

If you by chance missed , here is the link—Lesson #1

Once the Power Point presentation is completed, you can burn it to DVD so you can share it with others.
Okay, I think I got ahead of myself because I didn’t explain how to do make the transition from power point presentation to slide show…

First things first….create a Slide Show

• Open your power point presentation, click on slide show on the top navigation bar.
• Scroll down to Set up show – here are the steps to get through this:

You will get a new window -you will see

• show type
• show options
• performance
• show slides
• advance slides
• multiple monitors

Show type- you should either select presented by speaker (full screen) or browsed by individual if you would like others in a chat room to be able to scroll the slides.

Show Options- Loop continuously until Esc (hitting escape), show without narration, show without animation. – In my opinion, you will want to leave this unchecked because it will limit your ability to make your presentation unique.

Performance-I would recommend to leave this as [use current resolution], however this is useful if you are having trouble seeing the slides properly. There is a *tips* button to the right to correct this situation. I haven’t ever had to worry about not being able to see my slides though.

Show Slides- there is two buttons here – show all or to and from (this is for picking a selection out of your current presentation instead of showing all slides in the presentation). Since, for this post, I am assuming you are creating a new presentation, then I would recommend you choose show all.

Advance Slides- Manually or Use timings, if available. Manual is basically what it means – you are going to manually click on a button to move from one slide to the next. Use timings, means that you are going to set a time for each slide to be displayed before the next slide will be shown. Most presenters choose manual at first, however, if you are choosing to make this Power Point presentation into a video you will wish to choose use timings.

Multiple Monitors – This is if the presentation is going to be displayed on more than one monitor. So for the most part, you won’t need to do anything with this.

Ok, so now let’s talk about Timings – this will be essential for the video part of the presentation. You will decide how much time will be for each slide.

• Click on Slide Show
• Scroll down and click Rehearse Timings *Tip here–be sure that you are ready to speak about the 1st slide because the timer starts immediately when you click this
• After you are done speaking about the first slide, click your mouse and the next slide will appear
• Repeat this until you are done with all slides
• When all slides are complete, you will see another window, asking, “Do you wish to keep these timings?” If you are satisfied with the timings for each slide, then click yes. If you feel that you need to redo them, click no.

I will reveal abit more about me–I will be tell you, when I first tried to do the timings, I couldn’t get the timings right at first…so don’t worry if you don’t get it right away.

• Once you click “yes”, you will see the slides displayed in order and the times underneath each one.

Next order of business is recording the narration for the slides or the video you are going to be making from your presentation.

• Click again on Slide Show
• Scroll down to recording narration
• Speak what you wish to say for the 1st slide
• Click when ready to narrate the next slide
• Repeat until completed

Again, great tip here is —Be sure that you have the writing done and edited as to what you would like to say. *one idea is to rehearse what you would like to say a couple of times out loud to someone and then you will hear what you may wish to change

oh, something else you may wish to do—have 2-3 other people read through your narration and allow them to offer their opinions or ideas.

Next thing to do (if you would like), is to add visual effects to “bridge” the slides and that is under Slide Transition…here are those steps:

• Once again, click on slide show
• Scroll down to slide transition
• You will see a window on the right
• There is a list of options, such as blinds horizontal and checkerboard down
• Pick and choose which ones you like the best
• Below that, you will see where it states Modify Transition – here you can pick the speed of the transition that you picked
• Below that, you will see words of Advance Slides – you can click manually however, if you are doing a slide show you will wish to have the box checked that states “advanced after” (this is where the timing will be stated)
• Underneath that you will see three buttons, apply to all slides, play and slide show. Here you can play your slide show and make the necessary adjustments.

Well, that is a completed slide show power point presentation—woohoo! Next time, I will discuss the steps to transfer the slide show to others to view.

I am a firm believer in networking…offline and online.

Before starting my online business, I co-owned a floor cleaning/restoration business with my husband, Morr Services, Inc.. Even with an offline business, I recognized how essential online networking would add to the publicity of the cleaning company.

Online Networking creates:

• More buzz about our company
• Questions from potential customers that would could add to our monthly newsletter **another tip…low cost create a monthly newsletter and have a “Question/Answer” section and ask people in your networking session to email their questions and state that if you pick their question, you will add a brief bio and their url in the section–create content for you, free publicity for them***

So, here is a brief article that I wrote last year about networking groups.

Local business networking groups
I would like to discuss with you about getting involved with local business networking groups in your area.
Benefits of joining:
1) Increase exposure for your business
2) Get to know other business owners
3) Get recognized and known for your expertise
4) Grow your business through collaboration

Places you can contact for your local networking:

• Chamber of Commerce – try to see if there is something that you might be able to offer them or barter with them to decrease the fee *sometimes this may work
• City or County Offices – the fees for membership to these associations are *usually* cheaper and it provides closer demographic clients/partnerships/vendors/mentors
• Free Networking International – their website—I know you are thinking why am I giving you a website but this is a website that will lead you to local networking in your area and there are not any membership fees.

SPECIAL TIP**If there isn’t a local networking group you like… then form a networking group yourself.

I would recommend contacting others in the industry to see if the interest in there for establishing a group, and if there is…go for it. Collaborate with others about time, dates and location for the meetings. Set up weekly or monthly meetings as is best suits the group.

Online Networking Groups

One of the great things that I have found about since working with my husband in our business is ….online business networking. The reasons for going online are similar to the reasons for local networking; however, there is one more advantage…national or global exposure.

Places you can join easily and inexpensively**I think these are mostly free:

• Yahoo or Google Groups –
• Ryze – There is some wonderful networks on Ryze that will help spread the word about your business and share your expertise to others. See my previous posts about networking. Or you can sign up for the HER Mastermind Network
• Craig’s List -this is FREE to create a listing and you can offer your skills to gain possible clients and there is networking groups as well.
• Squidoo – *I have one (not so thorough) lens on Squidoo for my husband’s floor cleaning business,Morr Services, Inc. however, I have heard from others that it is a great way to expan your network


2 Comments »

You are probably wondering…”Now, Teresa, how in the world can a powerpoint presentation help with promoting my business?” Well, I am here to tell you just how to do that.

However, before I get to that, I would like to do a post on how to create a PowerPoint presentation. (yes, I think this is going to be a 3 or 4 part series of posts)
I need to start at the beginning and tell you just what a powerpoint presentation is:

A PowerPoint presenation is a series of slides that you create by using Microsoft Windows PowerPoint software.

1. First, open the software on your computer
2. Go to file in the upper navigation bar
3. Click on the save as and then name the file that you are about to make
4. Be sure to save the document in a file on your computer you are going to remember

On to your first slide you will need to start with a title

• Click in the title box in the slide and type a title of your choice
• You can click outside of the box to see what the title will look like
• If you don’t like the size or color, you can change it
• To make these changes – you can click and drag over the word to highlight it
• Once highlighted, go click on format in the menu bar and then click on font (there is also a “A” font icon on your toolbar)

+ Then you can go in and change the color, size and type of font for your title

• Then you will wish to do the same with the main text box
• Click in the box and you can start typing your information in the box

****Tip here—It is best when doing a PowerPoint presentation, not to make the text in paragraphs…do it in a outline of your main points.

Well, that is the first slide…not to bad, right?

_______________________________________________________________

Oh, I forgot about a few creative additions to add your own unique “spin” to your presentations…. designs, layout and images.

Designs – PowerPoint actually provides some templates within the software that you can use.

1. Go to “Format” on the menu
2. Click on the Slide Design on the drop menu
3. You will get a window on the right hand side of your computer
4. On the top of this window, you should see a list, Design Templates, Color Schemes, and Animation Schemes

Let’s start with click on the Design Templates

+ You will see quite a few picture samples show up at the bottom of this window
+ Click through each of them and when you do, you will see it will change your slide on the screen
+ Save the one you choose. (It is a good idea here to save the complete file – go to the file on the top navigation bar and click on the save button)

Color Schemes

+ Click on this list and then like the design templates, click through until you find one you like and then be sure to save it

Animation Schemes
+ Click this label on the list and this offers to have the slides
Fade in/out
Wipe Left/rigth
Spin in/out
(other fun things you can choose from)
+ Close this window by clicking the X in the upper right hand corner

Next, let’s talk about the layout

• Click on the format then slide layout
• Another window will come up like the last one
• Click though and see which layout you would like with your presentation
• There are text layouts, context layouts and text & content layouts to choose from

***Save the presentation again once you pick a layout you like (however, this can be changed again if you would like)

Ok…next, is images for your Power Point presentation. Images are great to add creative and “life” to your presentation. Now, this can take some time to search for just the right picture, however, I think that this is one of those steps that people forget about when doing power points and then they can have a flat presentation.
* For images, go to the insert on the menu,
* Scroll down to picture, file or clip art. There is also a place to click if you have a picture on your scanner or camera that you would like to insert into your slide.
* Once you pick the place you are “grabbing” your image from, go ahead and add it to your slide. *another tip -your images, can be moved around each slide also, you just need to click and drag the image to place it where you would like it to be on the slide.

See, that is what you do to create a Power Point presentation.

———————————————————————————-

Uh, there is also notes. The notes can be added by clicking on the window on the bottom of the PowerPoint presentation, you should see a small window the has the word “notes” in it. Here is where you are able, as the presenter, to add the quotes or examples you would like to use for your presentation.

I will continue next time with these items to add to your presentation to increase the proper presentation to be delivered over and over again to your audiences.

Boy, I think that is enough for this lesson…I will continue next time…see, this is fun stuff!