You are invited to join 1st Fridayz™ brought to you by the WECAI Network™

1st Fridayz™ is a 36-hour email networking event that takes place on the eFriday Forum listserv. 1st Fridayz™ begins on Friday, September 7th at 8 AM Eastern Time and goes until 8 PM Eastern Time on Saturday, September 8th. In addition to participating in lively discuss topics of interest to women business owners, professionals and executives. 1stFridayz™ networking events allows participants to get to know more about the products and services each offers.

1st Fridayz™ are designed to be a rich mix of conversations, one-on-one interviews, and panel discussions. And the beauty of an email event is that you can come and go and interact as you please. You are not attached to your computer keyboard unless you want to be.

Like previous 1st Fridayz™ the September event has a twist to it. The first 20 people to reply to this message will have the opportunity participate in a 10 minute "blog showcase" in our (pc friendly) online conference room. Your blog will also be added to the 100 Great Women Bloggers List we will be unveiling on the WE Magazine blog in September.

Since the showcase focus for September is blogging, we will ask you to show us your blog as well as answer so key questions such as why you started your blogs, what your goals are, your focus, target audience and what you enjoy most about blogging? We will also want to know what you find to be the most difficult part of starting/maintaining your blog as well as how you promote it. In essence, the September showcases will be mini-interviews.

Showcases will take place in the conference room and will scheduled between 12:30 and 1:30 pm, 4:30 and 5:30 pm, and 8:30 and 9:30 pm on Friday and 11:30 and 12:30 pm on Saturday (all Eastern Daylight Time). Times are on a first-come basis. Go here to convert the time in your part of the world: www.timeanddate.com.

For those of you who are unable to join us in the conference room, you will be able to hear the conversations and participate via a teleconference bridge line. You will be able to showcase your blog even if you cannot attend in the room, because you will supply the URL of your blog, and we will follow along with you - while you are on the phone you can give a tour via your own computer.

Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners is the September Showcase Chair and will be coordinating the showcase times. Her email is keybusinesspartners (at) gmail.com. You may also send a message heidi (at) wecai.org with "SHOWCASE" in the body of the email and I will forward it to her.

And we have an educational component to our event. The theme for September is "BLOGGING FOR BUSINESS" and five or six guest experts will be interviewed during our Conference Room Networking times. The experts we have lined up so far are Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman aka The Blog Squad, Liz Strauss of Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers), Heidi Caswell of Connect Simply, and two other "surprise guests!"

1st Fridayz™ is a free event. That’s right! There is no charge to attend and participate in these discussions. However, showcases are reserved for members of the WECAI Network™. If you are not currently a member, you can sign up for free as a Basic member and give the WECAI Network™ a try. And as a thank you for participating you will receive a directory with a complete list of every participant.

In addition to the networking directory which everyone who signs up will receive, there will be book and prize give-aways throughout the 36-hour event and even a few surprises. BTW, if you attended in the past, you don't have to do re-sign up, just fill out a networking profile before the event!

So if you have not attended a previous 1st Fridayz(tm), please go to http://listserv.familynet.net/mailman/listinfo/wecai and register.


Because this is an email networking event you will receive the discussions, questions, answers and introductions via email to your inbox. I recommend you set your email at DIGEST, so you won't be inundated with messages. I also recommend you not use your primary email address if another one is available. This will help you separate your important business messages from the networking event.

One last thing, I also suggest you create a folder to put the messages in so you can check them when you have time and not feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that will be shared, and fully absorb all the information as well as reconnect with those women who attended.

On September 4th you will be asked to submit a "networking profile" introducing you to the group. Even if you have completed the profile from our previous event, please do so again. We are going to encourage participants to click on your links and get to know you. We will also be using the information you supply to create questions participants can answer and some will even include an opportunity to "W.I.N." some great prizes.

If you would like to donate a prize, let me know and I will include it in Future communications, in our next eMonday News as well as post it to our blogs, this one and WE Magazine for Women Blog. This is a great way to gain extra visibility for your products and services.

THANKS! We look forward to networking with you and learning more about what you do and how we can help you do business on the web.


Heidi & Suzannah

Co-Founders - The WECAI Network™
"Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB"

5 More GREAT WOMEN Bloggers (part two)

The list just keeps on growing! The "W" list that is.

And I have 5 more great women bloggers to add to it.

They are:

Niquenya D. Fulbright of http://www.chicagolifecoach.blogspot.com/

Tonya Ramsey of http://lifebydesign.wordpress.com/

Lorraine Cohen’s Powerfull Living blog - http://www.powerfull-living.biz/blog/

Nicole Graham of http://www.moderngoddessonline.com/blog.

Faith Smith, Founder and CEO of http://www.brastrapping.com/

Be sure and check each of them out. You can tell they love their audiences by the conversations they start and the exceptional advice they share.

BTW, stay tuned for our next 1st Fridayz™ event which takes place online and via web and teleconference - our focus will be Blogging for Business and we have 4 exciting guest interviews for you and 20 women bloggers will have the opportunity to "showcase" their blogs during this 36 hour networking and educational event. The fun begins on Friday, September 7th at 8 am and goes thru 8pm on Saturday, September 8th! If you are interested in attending or participating in the showcase, send me a note to heidi (at) wecai.org.

Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners is Chairing the Showcases. Be sure and stop by her great blog too and say HI!

More details to follow....

Wishing you a wonderful day... and then some.

Heidi
The WECAI Network™

Book Mastermind Session Another Home Run!

"So many resources, you will never run out of places or ideas to promote your book." Heidi Richards


Today was another exceptional day for our Book Mastermind members and I couldn’t wait to share this great information with you.

We had two wonderful experts sharing their time and resources with us.

First Sharilee Guest spoke to us about the Bookwise business model and how self-publishers can use Bookwise to promote your books.

Sharilee’s contact info is:

www.AmericaTakingAction.com and www.MyBookwise.com/nonprofits
Sharilee’s email is sharilee@americatakingaction.com.

Both sites have a wonderful video presentation introducing folks to the sites.

Be sure and look at the Parent Resource section of America taking Action as Sharilee will be inviting authors to submit appropriate books to the site.

Catherine Franz contact info is: http://www.abundancecenter.com, http://lwww.letstalkmarketingshow.com and after August 31st you can check out her new site at http://wwwCatherineFranz.comYou can also email her at catherine@abundancecenter.com or call her at (304) 724-8901

Today’s discussion was so lively, when the time was up (2:30) people were still online chatting with Catherine and picking her brain.

I want to again thank both of these great women for their time.

In addition, Catherine has agreed to be one of our guest experts for the Women’s Media Summit which will take place October 18th & 19th.

Be sure and visit their sites, drop them a line and listen to the live recordings of the event.

And check out Catherine’s 1-page Book Marketing Plan Webinar – scheduled for 8 pm Eastern on Wednesday September 5, 2007. Register early for this event – Catherine is going to show you how to create a 1 page book marketing plan in about an hour – here’s the direct link: http://www.abundancecenter.com/Workshops/workshops.htm

In addition, here are a few more radio programs you may wish to check out and contact for a possible interview. Most of these have multiple programs and hosts so you are sure to find one or more that fit your genre or topic.:

WorldTalkRadio at http://www.worldtalkradio.com

Blogtalkradio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com

WSradio at http://www.wsradio.com

Achieveradio at http://www.achieveradio.com

Internetvoicesradio at http://www.internetvoicesradio.com

In addition, I stumbled upon http://www.newdimensions.org today and it had some wonderful shows. I recommend you contact them to see if they interview experts on your topic.

Also, if you did not get to attend the teleseminar offered by Sid Smith of Business Wordsmiths who interviewed Peter Hornsberger of Cold Tree Press - Bringing Your Words to Life ( http://www.coldtreepress.com/) I highly recommend it!

Here's the audio link: http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=397119

Wishing you a wonderful day... and happy writing!

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & Chief Visionary The WECAI Network™ - “Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB™”
To download a Complimentary Copy of our latest eBook “GET IT WRITE,” visit - http://wecai.org/wwps/html/getitwrite.html -

Law of Attraction with Catherine Franz - September 7th

My good friend Catherine Franze of Abundance Center asked me to help her spread the word about her upcoming Law of Attraction Workshop, so here's the scoop:

Law of Attraction - Advance Clinic Friday, September 7, 2007 Harpers Ferry, West Virginia with Catherine Franz of The Abundance Center

Learn how to have your desires drop in your lap time and time again! Learn to allow all your desires to come forth and multiply.

Now enjoy the same techniques, exercises, and increased understanding that Master C has only provided individually in the past.

The Law of Attraction -- Advance Clinic package includes:

Attending the all-day clinic
Special clinic binder full of information to learn and support you in the future
Opportunity to learn from a Master at a reasonable fee (other Masters charge $2,700 and up)
Proven advance Law of Attraction techniques
Opportunity to enjoy the beautiful area of the Blue Ridge Mountains to open your spirit and soul
A take-home re-enforcement package (see information below)
An Qi Gong experience with Master Barbara
An afternoon snack provided by the hotel
Plus some great bonuses!

The location is minutes away from D.C., Maryland, Virginia, even Pennsylvania Come for a three-day weekend and enjoy biking, white water rafting (fast or slow water) or a slow leisurely tubing trip down the river, and there's so much more. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.abundancecenter.com/law_of_attraction_advance_clinic.htm

P.S. If you have any questions or prefer to reserve by phone, call us: (304) 724-8901.

Don't you owe it to yourself and your future to bring your desires to you faster and easier?Join us on Friday, September 7, 2007 for the Law of Attraction -- Advance Clinic -- at the very edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

For more information and to register, visit: http://www.abundancecenter.com/law_of_attraction_advance_clinic.htm

Wishing you an abundant day... and then some.

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO, The WECAI Network™
Join TODAY - BASIC Membership is FREE! http://www.wecai.org/
Our Mission is to "Help You do Business On and Off the WEB!"
Posted by Virtual Woman's Day at 12:13 PM 0 comments

GET IT WRITE is here!

"Writing a book is a lot like giving birth, it can be a painful, labor intensive exercise … Once your ‘new baby’ is born, the real work begins.” - Heidi Richards, President WUN Publications, INC.

Check out the newest ebook by members of the WECAI Network™ today….

GET IT WRITE! – The Women's eGuide to Writing, Publishing and Promoting Your Book by 20 Best-Selling Authors

For many people the thought of writing a book can seem overwhelming. In fact, people who have never written a book think it takes a lot longer than it actually can and often does take. Some writers spend years laboring over every word in their book and therefore, a project that could take one to two years to complete takes several. And others find a way to get their book onto paper in months, weeks and even days!

That’s why GET IT WRITE! was created. To help you to better understand the process of writing a book, getting it published and coming up with strategies to promote your book once it’s done. Because once it’s published, the real work begins. Whether you go the traditional route or self-publish (or somewhere in between) you must be willing, able and available to promote the book – sometimes in a very short timeframe.

The real question is not will you get your book written. If you have the drive, determination and commitment to the project, your book will get done. The real question is will anybody buy it – or read it? This 94 page ebook is jam-packed with ideas and strategies to write, publish and promote your book.

Part One of GET IT WRITE! takes you through the process of writing, including finding time to write, overcoming writers’ block, generating ideas for your writing projects, copywriting musts, whether or not to work with a co-author, and more.

Part Two of GET IT WRITE! covers how to find out if there’s a market for your book idea, finding a literary agent for the traditional published author, how to approach agents and publishers, and compares the various publishing options available today and the new face of publishing

Part Three gives solid ideas to promote and sell your book beginning with creating your virtual media kit, doing book signings, selling outside the bookstores, internet marketing strategies for your book , participating in virtual book tours and at least 27 other ideas to sell your books.

Part Four is filled with resources for the new and seasoned author suggested by our contributing authors and the guest experts who spoke during the Women’s Writing & Publishing Summit. These include websites for authors, online forums, books, ecourses, books, organizations and more.

"The ebook looks great, and there's a wealth of information in it; I'm sure recipients are going to love it. And I'll look forward to hearing about next year's conference." Fern Reiss – PublishingGame.com

"Thanks, Heidi, I can imagine the many hours you put into this project. I still am in awe."

Jo Condrill, GoalMinds.com

"Hi Heidi: Wow! Great job, as always. Appreciate all the effort that went into this."

Rosalind Sedacca, CCT, HowDoITelltheKids.com

TO GET YOUR COMPLIMENTARY COPY, VISIT: http://wecai.org/wwps/html/getitwrite.html

Special thanks to Linda Alexander, Moira Allen, Linda & Allen Anderson, Laura Backes, Jo Condrill, Kathleen Gage, Donna Gunter, Marilyn Jenett, Sheri McConnell, Ann McIndoo, Elizabeth Parsons, Dan Poynter, Linda F. Radke, Fern Reiss, Heidi Richards, Lynn Rosen, Melissa A. Rosati, Rosalind Sedacca, Cathy Stucker, Dorothy Thompson and Debra Shiveley Welch for your contributions to GET IT WRITE! On behalf of each of them, I hope you enjoy reading GET IT WRITE! and use the information to further your own writing career. There is no time like the present to get your book onto paper and into the hands of your readers!

GET IT WRITE! WAS A COLLABORATION OF EXPERTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE WOMEN'S WRITING & PUBLISHING SUMMIT - You can still get copies of all 15 audios when you visit http://wecai.org/wwps/html/registration.html (and dozens of other free resources!)

Wishing everyone a wonderful day... and more!

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO, The WECAI Network™
Join TODAY - BASIC Membership is FREE! http://www.wecai.org/
Our Mission is to "Help You do Business On and Off the WEB!"

4 Speakers Announced for the Women's Media Summit!

"... Advertising is what you pay for, PR is what you PRAY for." Philp Kotler

Today has gotten off to a great start!

I just had a great conversation with Annie Jennings of Annie Jennings Pr fame and she has agreed to be one of our guest experts for the upcoming Women's Media Summit which will take place October 18th and 19th. We are in the process of "booking" our experts and yesterday I had the pleasure of attending one of Annie's famous teleseminars entitled: MEDIA WEBSITE STRATEGY NOW - How To Create A YES For You When The Media Visits Your Site - How To Pack Your Site With What The Media Needs To Say YES To You!

It was a great session and well worth the time.

When I signed up for Annie's teleconference I filled out a form asking if Annie would be interested in being our guest and our conversation today confirmed her attendance.

So hold onto your hats because you are in for some great guest speakers! In addition to Annie Jennings, we have booked Jason who is a new member of Annie's team. He will be talking about The World of Radio, including how to be a great radio guest, ettiquette... and more.

And by the way, Annie has some wonderful gifts for everyone - so be sure and stop by www.AnnieJenningspr.com/publicitypro.htm and see all her goodies including dozens of archived interviews will well-known celebrities and experts on a variety of topics.

In addition to Annie and Jason, Shannon Cherry of Cherry Communications and Bev Mahone of Baby Boomer Diva fame have also agreed to be our guests.

This is going to be one incredible summit.

We will be posting updates as we get them.

Stay tuned!

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO - The WECAI Network™

Here's Looking at You, Kid! Your Video Toolbox!

"The biggest challenge was that we had to shoot so quickly and with such a limited budget." Debbie Allen

Have to give a shout to Penny Haynes who did a great job of giving us excellent advice and tips on how to create an online video to promote your business. Penny Haynes is an expert in creating video for her clients. She is the owner of 1st Podcast Publishing which provides training, resources and services for all of your podcasting needs. Learn how affordable and effective it is to brand yourself and your business with podcasting at the 1st Business Podcasters Blog/Podcast.

Go to http://www.YourVoicePodcast.com to listen to the shows and subscribe to the feed.

Here are the tips and sites Penny recommends:

1. Make sure you syndicate your website with rss.

2. You video needs to be as long as it needs to be to convey your message - people will listen to a 15-20 minute video if it has entertainment value, or answers the viewers questions, or addresses her concerns.

3. Video helps you build the relationship before you even meet your clients.

4. If you host your own videos, you need bandwidth paid for on your hosting site.

5. Host Can - http://www.hostican.com/ is a great site for hosting your websites, video, etc.

6. And online video can help your viewers answer questions without surfing all your pages.

7. BYO Audio is the most feature rich audio, video and podcasting solution on the Internet - With BYO AUDIO you just select the audio you want posted to your website from the list of audios you've recorded, and customize the play button the way you want it. We generate the HTML source code for you that can be copied and pasted into your web page. It's just choose, cut, paste... that's it. Check it out at http://www.byoaudio.com/

8. To record your own video get a digital camera with a build in hard drive - there are video demos at Circuit City or CNet.

9. To edit the video get Premier Elements (it about $99) - Adobe product - at http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/.

10. Save your video in Windows Movie Maker / iMovie for web publication

10. Places to share your video on the WEB (in addition to your own site) - YouTube®, Google Video, Blip TV®, OurMedia®, VSocial®, Yahoo! Video. (Visit Master New Media for a Complete list of Video Sharing Sites as well as reading an overview of each).

Check out Penny's Video Training Program at 1st Podcast Publishing (click on Training for a list of courses Penny offers).


In addition to all the great tips Penny shared, here's some articles and videos to add to your Video Toolbox:


Online Video Marketing: Ten Ways You Can Use YouTube To Promote Your Online Content

Video Marketing Online: How To Effectively Market With Video On The Web

Broadcast Yourself Live On The Web: Best Tools To Create Your Own Live Web TV - A Mini-Guide

How To Upload Your Video Clips To Multiple Video Sharing Sites: Hey!Spread

Digital Video Production Cookbook: 100 Professional Techniques for Independent and Amateur Filmmakers

Looking forward to "looking at you" and seeing you among the online video superstars! If you would like us to check out your online video, please send me an email at heidi (at) wecai.org so I can let our readers know about it!

Wishing you a great day... and more!

Warmest regards,

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO - The WECAI Network™
Be sure and check out the WECAI Network Video Penny helped produce at: http://www.wecai.org/welcome_video.html

Online Video - YouTube Tips and More!

"Before long, online video will replace television as the most popular visual entertainment media in the world (if it hasn't already)." Heidi Richards

Last week I had the opportunity to watch ABC News iCaught (which is on every Tuesday night - check your TV Guide for time and details). I happened to stumble upon the show while channel surfing for something intersting to watch.

What I loved about ABC News iCaught was that it highlighted video celebrities - called Weblebrities and mentioned that almost anyone could be one.

During the show they shared clips from some of the well-known videos from YouTube® including Free Hugs Campaign, Lonely Girl, Tony vs. Paul, The Manny Video and how these people have gone from Internet posters to mainstream stars. They also mentioned The Webby Awards - "The leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet including Websites, interactive advertising and online film and video."

The show ended with 4 rules for YouTube® success. Here they are:

#1 Keep it short - the shorter the video the better

#2 The Freakier the Better - think of BlendIt

#3 Looks matter - high production quality can give you the edge and the viewers

#4 Passion Pays - Put something you love together and everyone else will see the passion and love it too

After watching the show I felt compelled to write ABC a note. So today after this post, I plan to write the following:

"Many thanks for making your show both entertaining and educating. I think that is what television should be about - TV is loosing a lot of viewers to the internet because it seems to report the same ole thing on every channel.

It is great to see a local news station getting into the WWW and highlighting things that people are interested in. I loved your show last week about Weblebrities" and have also posted your 4 rules of YouTube® Success on my blog. "

I also invite each of you to check out the WECAI Network Video at http://www.wecai.org/welcome_video.html

It is a little over the 5 minute mark, so it isn't ideal for YouTube® however, we have received some nice reviews about its content.

Have you made your video yet? If not, and you would like to learn how to capitalize on the online video craze, you can join us this Wednesday when Penny Haynes of 1st Podcast Publishing will share her program, "Online Video - the Most Popular Self Promotion Tool." To join us, www.eWednesdaychat.com and sign up.

Warmest regards,

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO - The WECAI Network™

And the Female Blogger List GROWS!

"It's not who you know, or even who knows you online, it's who you have conversations with that matters." Heidi Richards

Lately, I have been having fun finding lots of great women bloggers. Surfing the net, getting "Google Alerts," referrals from members, colleagues and friends all add up to finding some well-known and even some lesser known women who blog. The "W" list of women bloggers started out with with less than 50 women bloggers and has grown tremendously over the past few weeks.

Did you know, it's been estimated that there are approximately 5+ to 1 men bloggers to women bloggers? If that's the case, then we must get visible and let people know who we are, where we are and what we stand for!

Women are known as being great networkers and conversationalists. We sometimes need a little proding to get the conversations going, so when a list like "W" comes along it is a great excuse to connect.

I don't know about you, but I have reached out and connected with a world of women that before blogging I generally found by surfing the net, checking out their websites and then if something resonated with me, I might have contacted them.

On the other hand, when you read their blogposts, you feel as though you know them. You start making a connection even before the conversation begins.

Here's my recent contribution to the list:

Business Info Guide by Stephanie Chandler

Babson Women's Business blog with Candida Brush, Patricia Greene, Nan Langowitz, Maria Minniti, and J. Janelle (Jan) Shubert

Boss Lady by Lauren Bacon and Emira Mears

Funny Business Everything About Business Except The Bottom Line with Elana Centor

The Successful (and Outstanding) Blog with Liz Strauss

Do It Myself Blog by Glenda Watson Hyatt

Key Business Partners by Teresa Morrow

Start Up Princess by Kelly Anderson

Work it Mom by Nataly Kogan and Victoria Grace

Conversation Agent with Valeri Maltoni (who absolutely should be on the list, since she started it all!).

So please take a moment and stop by and say Hi to them. Check out their blogs. You may find a great connection and learn something in the process! And while you're at it, make your own "W" list... and share it with your readers (in case you haven't already done so).

Have a great weekend!

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO The WECAI Network™ - “Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB™”
Did you miss the Women's Writing & Publishing Summit July 19 – 21 & 25?
You can still register to receive the audio files of all 15 sessions available now! – just visit: http://www.womenswritingandpublishingsummit.com/

Check out these Podcast Resources!

"When you participate in a mastermind, you cut your learning curve by at least 75% and acheive your goals at a rate far quicker than trying to do it on your own." Heidi Richards

Dave Jackson the Personal Podcast Coach and Founder of School of Podcasting was our guest expert this week for session three of our book mastermind. He was a delight and had some wonderful tips for everyone.

Many thanks to Roy Montero, The SEO Guy of Verbal Networking (http://www.verbalnetworking.com) for recording yesterday's session and also for saving the text chat notes for me to send to you.

We asked Dave what we needed to record a good podcast and here are some of his suggested resources:

Microphone is number one the most important! Get a mic for about $60 - MXL - AudioTechnica About $99

Also need a cable- 3 foot cable $10 - $15 and a stand for mic $10 - $15

He recommends a mixer too - it powers the microphone and helps you tweak your voice and with Berringer model 802 you can plug in 2 Mics (cost about $50)

PodProducer is a software that will help you produce and record your podcast and it's free

Editing software:

FREE http://audacity.sourceforge.org – download it here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

FREE - Wavepad Recording and Editing Program

Sony Sound Forge Editor is about $70

Check out Dave's Weekly Web recommendations for more podcasting tools at: http://www.weeklywebtools.com/

Place for storing your podcasts (server) http://www.libsyn.com unlimited bandwith (unlimited listeners and storage – you can upload podcasts per month - they move to a holding area so you can upload new ones monthly ) costs up to $20 per month

Some more sites for finding posdcasts:

http://coolerwebsites.com,
http://www.podcastpickle.com
andhttp://www.podcastalley.com
http://www.podcastfastpass.com
http://www.121podcasting.com – also has a forum

Some of the Podcasts Dave listens to include:

This Week In Tech
InternetBusinessMastery
RumorGirls

Dave also mentioned inexpensive places you can Buy jingles:

SoundDog.com
PodsafeMusicNetwork is mostly free when you find music you want to use, you simply mention who the music came from.

When asked about the 2 or 3 biggest mistakes podcasters make Dave said:

1. Not realizing how big (important) podcasts could be

2. Finding a balance and pacing yourself in each episode.

3. Trying not to give it all away in one session.

The key to podcasting is great content and quality – quality is QUEEN!

BTW, If you are a member of the Book Mastermind, you automatically get a copy of the audio file as part of your registration. If not, you can still sign up to receive the audio program and all audio files we make from our various weekly masterminds. You can go to Women's Writing & Publishing Summit to sign up today.

Thanks to everyone who participated and expecially DAVE Jackson!

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO - The WECAI Network™

More GREAT WOMEN BLOGGERS!

"Starting a conversation in the blogospher, is easy. The hard part is finding out if it's worth starting in the first place. " Heidi Richards.


Earlier this month, I mentioned the "W" list of top women bloggers and so I have been surfing the net, getting Google Alerts and finding some great women bloggers.

The fun thing for me is to stop by their blogs, post a comment about one of the topics they have written and start a converstation with them.

So here are five more women bloggers I have had the pleasure to meet or have known.

Be Relevant Email Marketing Best Practices by Tamara Gielen

Learned on Women by Andrea Learned

The Copywriting Maven by Roberta Rosenberg

Millionaire Mommy Next Door with Millionaire Mommy

Weekend Entrepreneur with Michelle Anton

When you get the chance, I recommend you stop by and say "HI" to them and spread a little "blog love" on the Internet. Tell them Heidi sent you!

Wishing you another great day... and more!

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO The WECAI Network™ - “Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB™”
Did you miss the Women's Writing & Publishing Summit July 19 – 21 & 25? You can still register to receive the audio files of all 15 sessions available now! – just visit: http://www.womenswritingandpublishingsummit.com/

From Media Zero to Media Hero Webcast

Join us Wednesday for our upcoming eWednesday chat - "From Media Zero to Media Hero!"
( 11 AM Eastern Time, 10 AM Central Time, 9 AM Mountain Time and 8 AM Pacific Time)

"Advertising is what you pay for. Publicity is what you pray for."

What's a small business owner or entrepreneur to do?

You have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of competitors around the world.

How do you make yourself known amid all the noise and confusion?

One thing is for sure. You may or may not have a big budget for marketing and promotion but you want to get the most bang for your buck.

That's where media relations comes in. Publicity is a far more powerful tool than advertising and a successful campaign lends credibility to you and your company. Are you tired of wasting your time sending out information to the media that no one responds to?

Do you want to stop struggling to figure out how to get the media interested in writing about you and your expertise?

Then join the WECAI Network™ for this live webinar. Shannon Cherry will share her insider knowledge as someone who's worked as both a reporter and a PR pro.

You'll learn the secrets that the top PR practitioners use, including:

identifying which type of media outlets to pursue
knowing what reporters want to cover
determining the best timing for an important announcement
developing relationships with reporters discovering what reporters want to see on your web site The 5 key media relations tools that help you get publicity

Shannon Cherry, APR is the President of Be Heard Solutions and Cherry Communications"Find Your Voice, Tell Your Story and Be Heard!" To learn more about Shannon, visit http://wwwcherrycommunications.com or http://www.beheardsolutions.com.

To join us for either of these Webinars, all you have to do is download the conference room at http://www.wecai.org/eWednesdayChat.exe. Once you do so, you don't have to download again (if you save it to your desktop) - Do not login as the moderator or you will not be able to get in the room. For those of you who have joined us recently, this is the original conference room we used prior to Verbal Networking – be sure and test your system to make sure you can get in.

We will not be hosting this via the teleconference bridge line this week, so if you are on a Mac and would like the audio files, send me an email to heidi@wecai.org "Media Hero Audio" in the subject line.

Everyone who attends will also receive the audio files. I am happy to meet you in the conference room any time today or tomorrow for a test run.

Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday,

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Leader "HER Mastermind Network" http://HERmastermind-network.ryze.com/ - Founder & CEO, The WECAI NetworkJoin TODAY - BASIC Membership is FREE! http://www.wecai.org Our Mission is to "Help You do Business On and Off the WEB!"

Reputation by Association

"A great reputation earns respect and creates opportunity. A poor reputation chases everything good away." Jim Logan

My mother always used to tell me "you are judged by the company you keep." Well I knew what she meant and yet didn't always follow her advice. There were times when I hung out with less than reputable people because I saw the good in them and really believed that others did too.

That is not always the case and it is something I recently had to be reminded of.

In the past week I have had conversations with some of my members who had expressed their challenges working with a particular member. They shared with me this person's inability to understand the job hired for. And that it was frustrating them to deal with. They also said that this person could be hurting my reputation because of their experiences and who knows how many others who have also had similar encounters.

This really got me thinking because I have always been a trusting person who sometimes looks at life and people through "rose colored glasses." And because I have never had an issue with the person my members were referring to, it never occurred to me that there might be a problem. Granted, I have not had the opportunity to hire the member in question, so the only interactions we have had have been through our virtual events.

Which brings me to the point. People will assume that because a member is so visible and active she or he is good at what they do professionally and will often hire them. They will also assume that because of the person's visibility, the endorsement is there, albeit unspoken.

I tend to be one of those people who hire others on my gut instinct and sometimes don't bother getting any referrals. And I have been pretty accurate and fortunate in those interactions. However, once in a while our "gut" can be missing all the pieces of the puzzle and our reputation is at stake.

So what's a member to do? Here's my advice: Before you hire someone you met online (even if you have gotten to know, like and trust the individual) the first thing you need to find out is what experience others have had with the individual. You can do that by asking members or asking the person for referrals of customers. Find out who they have worked with, ask for recommendations and then make your decision. Just because someone is nice and likable does not necessarily mean they are good at what they do professionally.

Here's a great article I recommend:

10 Things You Want Your Reputation To Say About You by Mary Foley at http://www.nationalbusiness.org/NBAWEB/Newsletter2007/2358.htm

Protecting our reputation and finding out what others are saying about us, begins with open communication. And from a marketing perspective, our reputation both online and off must be protected as much as, if not more than, any of our other company assets.

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO The WECAI Network™

Being a Guest on OPP - Other Peoples Podcasts to Promote Your Book

"We are expecting podcasting to be additives on both the revenue and profit lines in 2006." Audible.com

Today The WECAI Network™, ™ again hosted a great eWednesday Chat mastermind session featuring Roy Montero, THE SEO Guy (and Verbal Networking sponsor) who discussed "How to promote your books on Podcasts - Being a Guest on OPP - Other Peoples Podcasts to Promote Your Book" without all the work that goes into production.

During our almost two hours together, Roy talked about what podcasting is, what types of programs work best, how to upload them to your site, where else to submit your podcasts, and mucgave some excellent resources to check out (listed below).

I would like to also thank Jerry Leventer of Red Apple Tutoring who shared his expertise on Podpress.org. He showed us some great tools on Podpress that we can use to upload our audio files and more.

In addition, Sheila Finkelstein of EteleTours and Natures Playground deserves a big thank you for once again recording the audio portion of our program. You can access it at: http://sheilaf.audioacrobat.com/download/WECAI-podcasting80807.mp3

Special Thanks to Roy Montero for again hosting the session on Verbal Networking and on his teleconference bridge line. Roy is our #1 Sponsor!

If you attended today's session, you know that there is "homework" for next week. Your assignment, should you decide to accept it (and you plan to attend next week) is to go to Odeo.com and set up an account and record a 30-45 second commercial that you can share with us next week. In addition to that, you are asked to get yourself "booked" on a talk radio podcast show and let us know about it. We will help promote the program during the session and also on this blog.

Now for the resources mentioned:

Book -- Podcasting: The Do-It-Yourself Guide by Todd Cochrane

Listen to an interview with Roy on the Let's Talk Marketing Radio Show with Cathrine Franz - it's available on the Let's Talk Marketing Radio Show website. Here's the link: http://www.letstalkmarketingshow.com/. The interview is in archives section on the website.

Free sound editor - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Excellent site listing hundreds of tutorials for audio and video - http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=audacity

For wordpress plugins - http://www.wp-plugins.com/

Free account for recording - http://www.odeo.com/

Google reader to read the feeds from the rss you subscribe to - http://www.google.com/reader/

Feed editor - http://www.aweber.com/

Where you upload your podcasts - http://www.podpress.org/

Roy says, "RSS your home page first and then just the pages that need to be RSS, you don't have to do all the pages, especially if you have 200 or 2,000 pages http://www.wordpress.org/

Load iTunes onto your computer - http://apple.com/itunes

Wave pad sound editor - http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/

A few places to look for shows to contact for interviews:

Lillian Cauldwell – Global Talk Radio http://www.globaltalkradio.com/shows/thelilliancauldwellshow/
The Podcast Network - http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/
Podcast.net - http://www.podcast.net/
Podcast DirectoryPodcast awards - http://www.podcastawards.com/
Catherine Franz - http://www.letstalkmarketingshow.com/
Coach of the Airwaves - http://www.coachoftheairwaves.com/
World Talk Radio – http://www.worldtalkradio.com/
Heal Yourself Talk Radio - http://www.healyourselftalk.com/

For music to add to your podcasts and recordings:

http://www.podsafeaudio.com/ (free)
http://www.musicbakery.com/ (paid)

OPUZZ.com offers a CD with 10 songs for $59

BE sure to join next Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern Time at http://www.blogger.com/www.verbalnetworking.com for another lively discussion.

If you are writing a book, have written a book or are considering writing a book, then this mastermind group may just be the place for you!

Wishing you a terrific day... and then some.

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder of the WECAI Network™,

More GREAT Book Promotion Ideas!

"As a new aspiring writer, all the Summit information was invaluable. The new insights gained will better enable me to accomplish my objectives. I now know by name, face and voice of an agent and publisher to contact. Thank you!" Elizabeth Skronski, Rise International

Yesterday I mentioned 13 great book promotion ideas shared during the eWednesday Chat Mastermind session at Noon and just wanted to write about the 5 PM session and all the great ideas shared then as well.

In addition to more ways to promote your book, I have included links to the audio recordings sent to me by Sheila Finkelstein of EteleTours and Natures Playground a multi-talented and gracious woman who I have the priviledge of calling a friend. She is also the author of Banana Sky DVD and Pictures to Ponder among many other artistic works.

Here's the link to audio session one of our book mastermind: http://sheilaf.audioacrobat.com/download/WECAI-WPmasterminding80107AM.mp3

Session TWO: http://sheilaf.audioacrobat.com/download/FINAL-WECAI-WPcall-PM-80107.mp3

Here are the tips shared during session TWO:

Catherine Franz came back for part two and again had lots of great ideas to share with everyone: Here are NINE more to add to your marketing strategic plan:

1. Sing for your supper. Get passage on a cruise line or room and board at an exotic convention spot by offering to give your presentation to their guests for free. I just came back from one from in Arizona. Afterwards use this as a BIG testimonial. This also adds a lot of credibility.

2. Provide waiting room copies. When you receive your shipment of books from the printer, open the boxes and hand check each book for flaws. Set aside those copies that are less than perfect and negotiate a partial refund from the printer. Place flawed books in waiting rooms throughout your city/country. You can also place copies in the lunch room or waiting rooms at large companies. You want to place a label on it "property of X, please leave behind for others to see".

3. Sell your book thru cold calls. Think about it, if you make 10 contacts a day everyday and get one good lead a day, that's five good leads a week. Put yourself on a schedule and only call places/people/companies (whatever applies) -- your reader target market. If calling entrepreneurs call before 8 am and afer 6 pm. If calling regular companies its okay to call human resource department directors and ask if this is something that they would like to give out to all their employees (such as for Christmas -- and the deadline for this is this month). Once you start realizing results, you'll probably become more comfortable doing this and automatically spend more time reaching out to potential buyers and reviewers. Remember, it takes as much time to sell one book is it does hundrds.

4. If your work is poetry - Companies like to give poetry as Christmas gifts to their employees. Look at companies with between 20 to 50 employees. (But don't leave out under 20 employee companies).

5. Send your book to school. If your book has educational aspects, consider offering it to school districts. Even if your book isn't destined to be a textbook, it may be apporpriate for school libraries or college bookstores. At colleges, contact the professors, they have a book buying for student budget that doesn't need a lot of approval.

6. IDEA for those those writing a cook book or recipe book: Give demonstrations, not just at book signings, do it at gift stores, department stores, grocery stores (many independent stores love you for doing this), you'll sell alot of books if you do it at the right time. You can do this with craft books, sewing books, or something similar.

7. write a letter to the editor. Get publicity for your book by commenting on someone else's letter to the editor in a newspaper, ezine, magazines (yes, yes, yes), Amazon, B&N, etc., even your own. You might notice a letter from soneone on a particular topic that relates to your book. You could respond to htem. Or respond to an issue that has appeared in the paper. For example, maybe there's a controversy in your community. Mention your book as a reference for your expertise.

8. Donate books. Donating books is another way to get exposure. There's nothing like an auction to get your book noticed. I often donate local books to community fundraisers for their silent auctions (I used this as questions as an introductory question when I do a cold call -- Do you have a silent action?). I often donate people's books that they give me because of the radio show to community fundraisers for their silent auctions, raffle drawings, and for prizes (even on other radio shows). I've donated my books to benefit schools, club and church charity projects, the humane league and a feral catt association fundraiser. What are the benefits of donating books? Exposure, notoriety and that good feeling that comes from giving. You book gets exposure when its exhibited at the event and/or help up and described by the auctioneer or emcee. Sometimes the donated items are listed on a handout. There may also be newspaper publicity. And your donation is a tax write-off. I do it with other people's books and still get mentioned -- a triple win-win!!!!

9. If you begin to sell a book, ask if they want to give one as a gift, then you sell two or three.

You can reach Catherine at http://www.abundancecenter.com or www.letstalkmarketingshow.com or you can call her at: (304) 724-8901.

My next post will be about all the wonderful women (and men) who shared their books with us.

Be sure and sign up for this blog or bookmark it so you can see what's next.

And if you are interested in participating in our mastermind group, send a message to me at heidi (at) wecai.org with "book mastermind" in the subject line. This group oringinally started with people who registered for the Women's Writing & Publishing Summit and we have room for a few more! And the best part of all... it's FREE.

In fact, if you missed the summit, you can still purchase the audio recordings (which includes a workbook and many other great things like links to other audios about writing, publishing and promoting books).

Here's what just two of our 90+ guests had to say about the Summit:

"I was impressed with the quality of the speakers. I liked the ability to access this information in the comfort of my own home. I appreciated that it was available both via verbal connection and telephone. I love that we have access to the audios." Jane Carroll, author Bertha-size Your Life

"Love the webinar format, a great range of very practical topics and excellent and experienced speakers. Heidi you did a fabulous job of getting that together. I know from experience how much work it takes." Louisa Bird, Women's Marketing Forum.

Thanks again to Roy Montero, The SEO Guy of Verbal Networking for being our sponsor!

Wishing you a terrific day... and then some.

Heidi

Heidi Richards is the Founder of the WECAI Network™, President and CEO of Eden Florist & Gift Baskets, Publisher and President of WUN Publications, Inc., a professional speaker and author/co-author of eight books, five internationally distributed e-magazines, several ebooks, tips booklets and special reports. She is also the Editor-in-Chief for WE Magazine for Women.

Promoting Your New book - 13 great ideas!

“Writing a book is a creative act. Selling a book is a business. A finished book is a product.” Dan Poynter, Author – The Self-Publishing Manual


Today, we had our first mastermind session on book writing, publishing and promoting.

Mostly it was about promoting. There was some excellent advice given by many of the women who joined us.

Catherine Franz of AbundanceCenter.com and Let's Talk Marketing Radio Show is an expert Marketing Guru and has helped literally thousands of books get noticed. First and formost she recommends everyone create a marketing strategy for your book. Here was more advice from Catherine:

1. Use talk radio shows as your marketing avenue
2. Create a 15 minute audio, reading part of the book, not necessarily the 1st chapter either and put it on your web site.
3. Sell your book, a license, to a book club that has your type of books, you can sell 5,000 or more copies in one shot instead of one book at a time.
5. Sell your book at your garage sales (don't discount, sell regular price) - autograph them to add value.
6. Tap the library market (must have index and no forms in the book) - The major distributor to libraries is Quality Books, here's how to reach them: Quality Books, 1003 West Pines Road, Oregon, IL 61061, I think their phone number is 815-732-4450
7. Give out flyers in your neighborhood
8. If you have a children's book, go to book stores and unannounced with a few kids and begin reading, other children in the store will join in for sure
9. Do readings at Libraries
10. Read the article 28 Reasons Why Publishers Will Buy Your Book at http://ezinearticles.com/?28-Reasons-Why-Publishers-Will-Buy-Your-Book&id=3354

BTW, you can reach Catherine at (304) 724-8901, or visit her online at http://www.abundancecenter.com/ and http://www.letstalkmarketingshow.com/.

11. Elizabeth McElrath said: I have seen books for sale on ebay in some stores...

12. Jane Carroll said I have books at gift shops and even a dress shop...I have found local festivals are not good...

13. Heidi Richards says, "JOIN a MASTERMIND!"

I'm off to part two - 5pm Mastermind. If you were unable to join us... I will post more tomorrow as well as books by women who attended.

If you are interested in attending future mastermind sessions, let me know by sending me a message to heidi (at) wecai.org with "Book Mastermind" in the subject line. I will send you details.

Warmest regards,

Heidi

Heidi Richards is the Founder of the WECAI Network™, President and CEO of Eden Florist & Gift Baskets, Publisher and President of WUN Publications, Inc., a professional speaker and author/co-author of eight books, five internationally distributed e-magazines, several ebooks, tips booklets and special reports. She is also the Editor-in-Chief for WE Magazine for Women.

New books by Women - Check them out!

"All humans are storytellers with their own unique point of view. When we understand this, we no longer feel the need to impose our story on others or to defend what we believe. Instead we see all of us as artists with the right to create our own art." Don Miguel Ruiz

One of the perks of attending the Book Mastermind sessions and the Women’s Writing & Publishing Summit is having your book listed on this blog. So as promised here are just a few of the many authors and the books they either have written, are in the process of writing or planning to write:

The Soccer Mom Myth - today's female consumer - who she really is and why she really buys by Holly Buchanan and Michelle Miller (available Fall 2007).

The premise of the book is that marketers and advertisers trying to reach women consumers are basing too many decisions on stereotypes. Not only are they not connecting with their female consumers, they're actually turning them off.



Dear Daisy by Jane Marla VerDow

Dear Daisy; reader reviews claim their copy, "a keeper". The author, a gifted storyteller travels back to her childhood world under cherry and apple trees and shares her relationship with Daisy. Once her Angel on Earth, years later Daisy mystically reappears an Angel from Heaven to guide the grown child on her pathway back Home. Hardcover, rich green earth-tone simplicity.

For more information and to order visit http://www.risingsparrowpress.com/announce.htm



How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce? A Create-a-Storybook™ Guide to Preparing Your Children – with Love! by Rosalind Sedacca, CCT

How Do I Tell the Kids about the Divorce?, is a "create-a-storybook" guide that helps parents prepare their children for a pending divorce or separation -- with compassion and love. The fill-in-the-blanks templates and family album format simplifies one of the toughest conversations any parent will have. To learn more and to order go to http://www.howdoitellthekids.com.

Stay tuned! More books to follow!

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO The WECAI Network™ - “Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB™”www.EdenFlorist.com - "NO Reason is the BEST Reason to Send Flowers!Did you miss the Women’s Writing & Publishing Summit July 19 – 21 & 25? You can still register to receive the audio files of all 15 sessions available only through August 9th! – www.womenswritingandpublishingsummit.com

Conducting a Book Mastermind Session Noon & 5 pm (EDT) TODAY!

"Writing a book is a lot like giving birth, it can be a painful, labor intensive exercise … Once your ‘new baby’ is born, the real work begins.” Heidi Richards

Today, instead of doing a regular eWednesday Chat seminar session we are conducting a mastermind session about selling books in places other than a bookstore (and any questions you have about writing, publishing and promoting your books tomorrow at 12 noon EDT and again at 5pm EDT. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Each session will be one hour long so if you cannot attend at noon, you are welcome to stop by at 5pm.

During these sessions we plan to discuss the following:

What's your book about?

Who's your audience?

How do you plan to connect with your audience?

Are you:

Self-published?

Traditional?

Partnership Publishing?

What is the number one challenge you are currently having with your book project?

How can we help?

Is your book available? If so, what's the title and how can we get a copy?

Would you be interested in participating in a mastermind forum like this on a regular basis?

In addition to bookstores, at what other possible venues could you sell your book?

And of course, any other "book" concerns you may have.

In addition, you may send a message to heidi@wecai.org with the title of your book – a 2-3 sentence description and the website describing your book (or where it can be purchased). Please put "book for blog" in the subject line. Everyone who participates in either of these sessions will have their book mentioned on the Virtual Woman's Day Blog… and eMonday News (if we have not yet covered it).

If you are available for either of those times, please stop by our Verbal Networking Room – To join us all you have to do is download the conference room at http://www.verbalnetworking.com/. If you have not yet done so, download the room first. Then all you have to do is go back to the URL and click on the Click Here to Enter theVerbal Networking Room. Type in your full name. No password is required as this is a F.R.E.E. event.

Once you do so, you won't have to download again (if you save it to your desktop) - Do not login as the moderator or you will not be able to get in the room. This conference room is currently only available to PC users – however, you can also call into the free conference line and listen and participate by calling: 1-218-486-1300
The teleconference ID number is 440530.

Looking forward to "masterminding" with you.

Warmest regards,

Heidi

Heidi Richards, Founder & CEO http://www.wecai.org/ - “Helping Women Do Business on and off the WEB™”
http://www.edenflorist.com/ - "NO Reason is the BEST Reason to Send Flowers!
Be sure to check out the Women’s Writing & Publishing Summit that took place Online July 19-21 & 25 – http://www.womenswritingandpublishingsummit.com/ - you can still sign up and receive access to the audio recordings!