If you are looking to build your reputation and brand online and attract more clients, then you’ll be interested in the forthcoming online marketing bootcamp taking place between the 22-24 April 2008 in Dublin.

The Online Marketing Bootcamp being hosted by iQ Content. Make sure that you read to the bottom of this post to find out how you can avail of a 10% discount on the registration fee.

The online marketing bootcamp includes workshops on the following areas:

• Search engine marketing 202: More advanced techniques for enhancing your website’s search engine visibility
• Content strategy: Getting your content mix right to drive traffic, engage customers and increase conversions
• Writing for the web 101: Creating great content – the fundamental techniques
• Writing for the web 202: Beyond the basics – writing to convert and persuade
• Accessibility for web managers: Planning, procuring, delivering and maintaining an accessible website
• Information architecture that works: Essential techniques for structuring and organising your website
• Killer web applications: Designing usable and effective web applications  
• Personas – Getting into the head of your customers: Tools and techniques for understanding your customers
• Practical user testing: Planning, conducting and reporting on user tests
• Web analytics 101: Fundamental techniques for measuring the success of your website
• Web analytics 202: More advanced techniques for measuring the effectiveness of your website
• Website healthcheck: How to evaluate the effectiveness of your website and benchmark it against your competitors
• Kick-start your web strategy: Defining and implementing an effective online strategy
• Web governance: Getting your organisation organised – people, teams and processes
• Web project management: How to deliver a successful web project
  Email marketing: Planning, creating and delivering effective email newsletters
• Online advertising: Conceiving, creating, implementing and measuring an effective online advertising campaign
• Search engine marketing 101: Driving more traffic to your website – the fundamental techniques.

You can attend for 1 day, 2 days or 3 days and as I’m speaking at the event, you can use the special code I’ve been given by the event organisers and can therefore avail of a 10% discount - please note this is not an affiliate link - I asked the organisers if my community of readers could benefit in some way and am delighted that they made this discount available.

All you need to do is put in the code ’speaker’ when making your booking to access the 10% discount.

I’m speaking at the session on the Wednesday afternoon - the iQ FutureNow Seminar where we’ll be covering emerging trends and technologies that you need to start thinking about.

Do let me know if you plan to be there won’t you. I’m trying to clear my calendar as much as I can as  know the content that will be covered at the online marketing bootcamp will be outstanding.

Make sure that your coaching practice isn’t left behind online - you can deinately ensure that your coaching practice rides the recession by developing a strong grand online and so that you can generate more leads and attract more clients.

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

This weekend I’ve been having lots of fun researching online video. It’s one of the strategies in social media communications that I have yet to fully embrace and while I use platforms such as Camtasia, Articulate and have tried out Oovoo, I’ve not recorded my own video from situations where I have been “on location”. You can listen to a podcast I recorded recently about getting started with online video.

How to create video that is compelling and engaging and which will support your brand essence be that your corporate brand, employer brand or personal brand is the place many of us start.

But how do you then ensure that your online video is “onbrand”; how do you actually embed your brand identity and call to action into your video; where should you host your video; and how can you achieve this without costing you a small fortune?

Then are a vast array of platforms from hosting your video to live streaming - it’s enough to make your head fuzzy like eating too many chocolate Easter eggs!

We’ve been doing some test runs over the weekend which has been interesting - so get ready for some video’s here in the not too distant future.

This next Monday on Biz Growth Live, my guest was to be Debbie Weil, author of The Corporate Blogging Book, but unfortunately Debbie can not join me as she is just finishing her house move and on Friday we had to postpone the session to a later date. Debbie sends her apologies to everyone.

So I got to thinking, if I am wondering about all these questions about online video, perhaps some of my Biz Growth Community are too. So I contacted my Facebook friend and someone who is an expert in video podcasting, Sherman Hu to see if he would join me as our guest expert this week.

Sherman is in the middle of a huge project so I was thrilled when he said he would join me this week.

If you’d like to join me and find out about online video, where to start and how it can support you in expressing your brand online, then you can register for the free Biz Growth Live call which will be taking place on Monday 24 March 2008 at 6pm in Ireland and the UK (2pm ET).

And if you have questions for Sherman or myself about how to master online video to bring your brand to life you can either post a question in the comments section or on our live questions page.

I also want to share with you a video clip from Stephen Fry a great British actor, comedian and author which I found on the terrific video sharing site VideoJug (their tag line is “life explained on film”). In this clip he covers:

- His defintition of Web 2.0

- His thoughts on the quality of user generated content

- How will Web 2.0 change traditional television

- What excites him about the way technology is evolving.

Stephen has a blog and podcast too if you want to connect with him through social media.


VideoJug: Stephen Fry: Web 2.0

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Next week is an exciting week in the world of the web for Ireland with the inaugural Irish Web Technology Conference 2008 (IWTC 2008) organised by IrishDev.com in association with the Python Ireland, Ruby Ireland, Microsoft Technology, Dublin Java & PHP User Groups and First Port Jobs.

IWTC 2008 is an event by the Irish web community for the Irish web community and will brings nearly 50 experts and internationally renowned speakers together to discuss latest trends and emerging technologies.

There is an extensive agenda as the event takes place over 4 days starting on Tuesday 26 February 2008.

I’ll be speaking on Friday 29 February at 9.15 am on “the New Rules Of Brand Engagement”, discussing how to leverage the potential of the Internet to build our reputation and create communities of loyal fans and brand advocates.

I will share case studies of how smart companies are using “word of mouse” marketing, nurturing relationships online with customers and challenging the old traditions of marketing.

Be sure to take advantage of booking online as you will save €56.00 by pre-registering online (on the day entrance to IWTC is €245.00).

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

I love books and there is not a month that goes buy that I don’t have new business books to read - in fact it was a great treat when I found myself with several hours free to spend in a Dublin book store recently and left with no less than 10 new business books.
I often get ask about marketing and social media books that I recommend and have a list on my website and business blog of some key business books in the areas of branding, marketing, leadership, employer branding and personal branding.

However, how much more exciting would it be to have access to the list of books that leaders in the field of marketing recommend and also know that if you made a purchase, you could also be helping a good cause?

We’ll that is exactly what the Ultimate Marketing Bookstore offers. The founder is author and digital marketing expert Rohit Bhargava and he has approached some of the worlds best known marketing experts to share their reading lists.

The bookstore is online and powered by Amazon and if you purchase a book from the bookstore 100% of the Amazon Affiliate fees for any books purchased from the site will be donated to fund projects through a charity called DonorsChoose.org.

In addition, the homepage of the bookstore features the latest new release marketing books and products for marketers. In fact you can make recommendations for latest releases and products that would be relevant to marketers by posting your ideas at the Ultimate Marketing Bookstore Facebook group.

So if you are stuck for what to buy a colleague for Christmas, want to add some books to your Christmas present list or just want to see what the worlds leading marketing experts are reading, then head on over to the Ultimate Marketing Bookstore and be sure to make your purchase online.

After all purchasing through your own Amazon affiliate link is likely to be worth just a few dollars, but together through buying books at the Ultimate Marketing Bookstore we can both enhance our own knowledge in the field of marketing and change the world for others.

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!

Have you ever considered why some brands are able to extend their reach and build equity yet other brands fail to perform to their maximum potential?

On next week’s call we will be discovering what we can learn from some of the leading consumer brands in world, the importance of developing your brand and how that translates into brand equity and business success.

We will also be discussing how to connect with consumers – what the major brands call relationship marketing - attracting, nurturing and retaining them so that they become brand ambassadors and raving fans.

My good friend and colleague, Mark Ody, Co-Founder of the marketing consultancy “Little and Large” will be joining me in conversation. Mark has worked as a brand manager and marketing manager for some of the worlds most famous brands and we will discover how to take the learnings of the large consumer brands and apply them to building and growing our professional services practices.

If you would like to join me in discovering how to build equity in your brand, you register for this no-cost seminar here.

This content rich virtual seminar will take place on Monday 21 May 2007 at 1pm ET (6pm Dublin and London). All you need is a phone to join us!

Did you find this article helpful? Then please share it!