We’ve talked a lot about the importance of building up and streamlining your contracting website’s SEO. Search engine optimization helps you get found by your target clients and helps place you higher in the Google search results. Google also provides special local service ads. Is there any chance Google local service ads could replace SEO as we know it?

The short answer is “Nope.”

I don’t believe they will replace SEO, and the rest of this article will show you why.

What Are Google Local Service Ads?

Google local service ads allow you to advertise your local business on Google and receive communication directly from your potential client. Your potential client can simply click on the ad to place a call or send you a message. You’re able to send and reply to messages, track your connections, and manage your bookings within the app and online.

Google local service ads are a pay-per-lead deal, but you’re able to set a budget for your costs per week or month.

Here are four points about what Google’s local service ads are and how they work:

1. Limited Availability

Google local service ads are only used for a handful of local service-based businesses. They focus on five main services:

• HVAC contractors
• Electrical contractors
• Plumbers
• Locksmiths
• Garage-door service contractors

They’re testing out a few more categories in California—towing, painting, house cleaning, handyman, etc.

2. Seen Above the Normal Search Results

Google local service ads appear as banner-style ads ABOVE the top search results.

Here’s a pic I just took of a search for Seattle Plumbers:

3. Require a Screening Process

To apply for these ads, Google requires you to complete a screening process. Once you go through the process and are approved, you receive a little green “Google Guaranteed” badge beside your company’s ad. Google then covers claims on the job invoice amount with a lifetime cap of $2000.

How much is the “Google Guaranteed” badge really worth to a local contractor? That remains to be seen.

4. Google Selects the Keywords

Unfortunately, with a Google local service ad, you cannot set your own keywords. Google chooses which keywords are relevant for the job types your company has selected. In fact, Google does not provide you with any keyword data to further streamline your ads. You just trust them to do the right thing!

Why Google Local Service Ads Won’t Replace SEO

Contractors, I don’t think this service will replace SEO at all.

The Google search engine will stay the same, and the local and organic search results will still be there every day. So unless you are Roto-Rooter, or One Hour Heating and Air, then I do not think you should spend a lot of time and money on local service ads.

If you have a solid online presence, custom SEO working well for your website, and money left over—go ahead and test them out, but for most of my audience (typically custom home builders and remodelers), I do not recommend Google local service ads.

Summary

Google local service ads are a specialized ad service working with a limited amount of local businesses. These ads are viewed at the top of the search results and provide potential clients with the ability to contact contractors directly through the ad. Google controls the keywords.

While the specialized ads could be helpful for some business, I do not think they replace the need or effectiveness of regular SEO for your contracting website.

Hopefully, this has helped answer any questions you may have had concerning whether local service ads would replace SEO. If you want to look into Google local service ads a bit deeper, I recommend these articles.

https://support.google.com/google-ads/topic/6224863?hl=en&ref_topic=6224857

https://www.brightlocal.com/2018/05/21/google-local-service-ads/

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Will Google Local Service Ads Replace SEO? appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Not too long ago, I posted a picture on Instagram of one of the new websites we just launched for a contractor client.

Down in the comment section, one of my clients saw the post and said, “Very nice job again. Keep it up. Keep pushing people to write a great bio too. I’ve picked up two jobs over the last month specifically because of the trust that they gained from my ‘Meet the Owner’ section on my website.”

So, that is the reason I’m writing this post.

The question is, if you already have an ‘About Us’ section on your website, why would you need another page called ‘Meet the Owner?’

Today, I want to talk about three reasons you should have a “Meet the Owner” page on your website and then show you how to write one for yourself.

#1. It’s Not Your ‘About Page’

When I design websites for contractors, I prefer to put the “About Us” page on the Home page of the website.

As soon as people begin scrolling down the Home page, they’ll encounter the “About” section. Your ‘About’ page should basically tell in in a rough outline who you are as a contractor, what services you provide, and a brief background.

However, your ‘About’ page is not going to talk about you specifically as the owner. The “Meet the Owner’ page goes deeper.

If your potential clients want to learn more about you, they can click on the link you’ve set up to take them to the “Meet the Owner” page.

#2. A “Meet the Owner” Page Builds Trust

Trust. This is a very, very important aspect of your website.

Potential clients are coming to your website to learn about you. They want to know who you are and how you can help them meet their goals and fulfill the desires they have for their home.

When they come to your ‘Meet the Owner” page, they are looking to see if you are the type of person who they would get along well with.

Remember, they have to trust you tremendously to allow you to come onto their property and into their house to perform these services.

This page is a perfect opportunity for you to display who you are and what values you hold dear—not only as a contractor but also as a human being. It’s a chance for you to open up to some of the struggles you’ve been through or maybe some of the life experiences that have prepared you to get to where you are now…the perfect position to meet them at their point of need.

Letting them into your life story communicates authenticity and builds trust. You can help them fulfill their dreams and solve their problems because of your story.

#3. A Client Wants to Know the Owner

People want to know the owner. I mean, don’t you? When you go to someone’s website, don’t you want to know who the person is behind the scenes? I do. I want to know who it is I’m going to be dealing with.

Even if your clients are going to be working through your employees and not with you specifically, they still want to know who YOU are. Knowing the owner helps them to trust the greater company and multiple employees.

As the owner, you carry the purpose and passion of the brand. Your employees carry it after you, but it’s important for your clients to know who you are.

How to Write Your “Meet the Owner” Page

I’m going to walk you through how to write up a “Meet the Owner” page through the eyes of a Landscape Contractor. So if you’re a landscape contractor yourself, your “Meet the Owner” page could look something like this: (This example is loosely based on a contractor I know).

1. Define Your Client’s Need

“Are you interested in unplugging from the world? Relaxing and enjoying your outdoors? Well, you’ve come to the right place.”

You want to open this page defining their need, and then you want to transition into your own story—not for the sake of telling your story, but for the sake of showing them how your story and your background connects their need. When you open up your conversation or your story, you need to start with why they’re looking at your website…what are they looking for, etc.

2. Get on Your Client’s Level

“We all want a place to unwind and relax to enjoy nature.”

We’re all human, and to some extent share the most basic desires. Communicate your own desires for peace, outdoor beauty, and relaxation. This shows that what you do as a contracting company is important to you personally.

3. Fulfill Your Client’s Need.

“My company and I specialize in premier outdoor living.”

If your future clients are coming to your website to look for inspiration and a respectable business to help them fulfill their backyard dreams, describe how you will take care of them.

4. Introduce Yourself and Offer Personal Details.

“If you’re going to trust someone to transform your outdoor living space, you want to make sure you’ve hired the right professional. That’s why I want to take a moment and introduce myself and my family to you.”

Then you can go on to talk about your childhood, your family, some of your dreams, some of the struggles you’ve been through in your life and business. Maybe even share a few of the ways you give back to the community around you.

5. Connect Your Stories

As you get towards the end of the story, you need to show how your story is now interacting with theirs; describe how you can bring about the fulfillment of their dreams, because of how your life has made you who you are today.

6. Share Pictures

At the bottom of the page, drop a picture of your face and your own signature. Adding pictures of you with your family can only build more trust at this point! Photos along with your life story let your clients know they can trust you because they feel like they know you and the values you hold.

7. Call to Action

You should then end your “Meet the Owner” page with a call to action.

“Now I want to hear your story.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you can sense my level of commitment to my craft, family, and God. I look forward to meeting you and hearing your ideas for inspiration for your own outdoor dreams.”

Then you can end with a “Contact Us’ button, or say, “contact us today to see if we are a good fit to help you fulfill your dreams.”

The Call to Action is the practical way to tie both your story and your client’s together. Once you’ve built trust with them and they’ve placed a call to you, you can begin your journey together!

Summary

A Meet the Owner page is important for building trust with your future clients. It takes them on a journey from their unrealized dreams to the realization that you can make it happen for them. I highly encourage every contractor to do this on their website. It’s extremely valuable and builds trust, which will ultimately lead to more sales and the growth of your company.

*****

Thank you for joining me today. If you have any further questions or comments, please join the conversation in the comments below.

*****

Follow me on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stuff. And if you want to go deeper with marketing your business, you may get a free copy of my contractor marketing book, Contractor Marketing Simplified.

The post Why You Need a “Meet the Owner” Page on Your Website appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

I have a friend on Instagram who just asked a great question on his Instagram story today.

And It revolves around the question of “Why would I create videos or Instagram stories giving away valuable tips if they’re just going to disappear in 24 hours.”

Here’s an idea that I use, which works really, really well.

1. Make a video two to three minutes long which shows your tip.
2. Then chop that up into three videos and put it on your Instagram feed, not your stories. Now that you can have carousel feed, carousel posts, on your feed, put it on there for 60 seconds each.
3. Slice it up into 15 second segments and put it on your Instagram stories,
4. And then publish it on YouTube,
5. Publish your video on Facebook,
6. And then take the written or the words out of your video and make a blog post tutorial with pictures and video embedded and everything into that blog post.

It’s a great way to take one video and make multiple places of content, put it online, and they will all be reached by different people and interact with you and your brand.

That’s what I would do.

If you’re interested in learning how to do all of these steps, send me a message and let me know. I am working on some training and I want to know if people would be interested in learning how to do all of this stuff.

FYI: This video is a perfect example of this method. I have it on my IG story today, and it’s on Youtube already. And will soon be on my blog.

The post Instagram Stories Marketing Tip – Repurpose 1 Video In Multiple Places appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

For me, the week after Christmas is always reflective, and anticipative. I feel like the year is winding down, and It’s almost time to begin the new year.

We all know the old chime… “We wish you a Merry Christmas,We wish you a Merry Christmas… and a Happy New Year!”

The “Merry Christmas” is the easy part. But how do we best prepare for a happy new year?

A Goal Setting Blueprint That Actually Works

Preparing for another year is imperative for a contractor. And in order to do that. I’ve found it necessary to do two things: 1) Reflect on the past year, and 2) Plan for the next year. The cool thing about this, is that you can do it in July, and it still works! So, even if you are reading this in July, you can still do this.

Let me show you the exact process I use to reflect on the past year, and plan for the year to come. As we go through this together, I hope it will inspire you to do it as well.

Choose Your Location

It doesn’t really matter so much where this event takes place. What matters is that you set aside ample time to go through it completely.

I usually take at least one whole day and go away somewhere and work through this. A coffee shop. A mountain cabin. A quiet place at home. The important thing is that you cannot be distracted by work or other obligations.

Reflections Of The Past Year

This part of the process is just as important as the planning part of the process, if not more so.

This past year you’ve had wins, losses, personal growth, and much more. All these things have brought you to where you are now, and will prepare the foundation for what’s to come next year. That’s why it is so important to spend plenty of time going through this part of the process.

First of all, look at what you’ve gained and experienced.

Then, look at what needs to be released in order to make room for more.

To get started…Get out your journal, or calendar,  and go through it looking at the events of your past year.

Answer the following questions as completely as you can: Note: Modesty is not allowed here. Elaborate as much as you can.

• What are some of the successes, wins and accomplishments of the past year?
• What was the major area of growth?
• What are you most proud of?
• What have you learned about yourself and your life?
• What insights have you gained?
• What are you grateful for?
• Who were the important people in your life during the last year?
• Is there something that used to be important to you, that no longer is?
• Is there something that used to be unimportant, but now has greater importance in your life?

Time To Release

• What are your disappointments, failures and breakdowns? Acknowledge these as an opportunity to let them go.
• What events occurred that you can make peace with and let go of?
• What negative experiences and associated negative emotions are you ready to leave in the past year?
• Who are the people that you said goodbye to? Acknowledge them … and then let ‘em go, along with any negative emotional association.

The Coming Year

Choose A Theme

1. Choose a theme for the entire year. It can be “laughter” or “financial success” or “health.”…etc.  Pick a theme that resonates with you.
2. Make a commitment to yourself to weave this theme into your work, play and relationships.
3. Visualize the Year
4. Transport yourself to Dec. 31 of next year. Contemplate this for a few moments in silence.
5. Write a letter to yourself or any of your loved ones as if it was written New Year’s Eve of next year. In it, describe all of the amazing things that happened to you over the year. Include items about your career, your financial situation, your love life, your health and your free time. Make it bold and exciting to you. Feel what it would be like to have lived that amazing year. Write this letter in past tense.

Major Goals

• Pick 3 to 9 things from your letter that you most want to attract in the coming year and begin writing a plan for attaining those things.
• Make sure that each goal is constructed in such a way that it is possible to see if you have accomplished it by the end of the year. (Use S.M.A.R.T. Goals. See illustration below)
• Include each major area of your life – health, career, finances, etc.
• Do not choose more than 9 goals for your entire year. You can break each major goal apart into sub-goals. But, you do not need to set more than 9 major goals for next year.

Write Them Down

Now it’s time to write them down and publish them. No, I don’t mean publish them for the world to see. In fact, it has been proven scientifically that sharing your goals with the world has a reverse effect. Your brain experiences a release when you share it with others, which in turn, triggers the same feeling as if you accomplished the goal. So, your brain now thinks you’ve already accomplished it, and there is no need to go for it. So, the experts do not recommend sharing your goals publicly.

However, if you are like me, and you need a little accountability… Then there is nothing wrong with being open and honest with your mentor, coach or friend. but make sure that they will hold you accountable to really accomplish these goals. Otherwise, there’s no point in sharing them.

How to publish them

Calendar. You can put them on your calendar, first of all. That’s right. Go ahead and schedule the accomplishment of these goals on the calendar. Setting a due date will motivate you to accomplish your goal.

Laminated. You can print them out and have them laminated. Then you can put them up in strategic places around your life.

Screen Saver. You can put them on your screen saver. That way whenever you aren’t active on your computer, you will be reminded what your goals are.

Conclusion

Congratulations! If you make it through this entire process, you have done WAY more work towards creating an inspiring future than most people ever will.

Thinking it through. Visualizing the result. And writing them down. This all takes work. If you have done this, you are well on your way to the best year you could imagine.

I can’t wait to see you, and your results, next year at this time, and wish you “A Happy New Year” all over again.

The post How To Prepare For A Happy New Year appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

We set up a meeting and met at a local coffee shop.

There we were about twenty inches away from each other. We had a small little coffee shop table between us. About ten or fifteen minutes into the conversation, his phone rang.

He looked down at his phone, told me who it was, and then answered it. Then he started talking to the other person.

I’m sitting there thinking, “Okay. What am I supposed to do? We have this meeting to discuss his needs and how I can serve him, and he’s on the phone.”

I opened my computer and I started typing away. I acted like I was working on things I wanted to do. Secretly, I was looking at his Linkedin profile that he had just told me was “Awesome.”

After a while, he got done with his phone conversation and hung up. He then started to try and pick up his conversation where he had left off with me.

I let him talk for a while, and then finally I closed my computer, and brought my attention back to him again.

Should You Answer Your Phone In A Sales Meeting?

The question today is should you answer your phone in a sales meeting? I am going to give you three reasons that you absolutely should not answer your phone in a sales meeting.

#1. Out of Respect

The first reason is out of respect. You are called to respect people. When you have a meeting with someone, you are there to talk to them one-on-one and strengthen your relationship with them.

Suppose someone came up to your table. And you turn your back on the person you are talking to, and start talking with the new person. Your back is now turned towards the original person.

How would that make them feel? That would make them very disrespected, right?

Your phone is that third person. When you answer it, you’re turning your back on the meeting, and talking to a new individual who was not invited to the conversation.

That’s disrespectful.

So, the first reason you should not answer your phone in a sales meeting, is out of respect.

#2. Professionalism

The second reason is to be professional. You’re a professional. This other person is a professional. And you’re having a professional meeting.

It’s unprofessional to answer your phone in a meeting.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the best of friends. You can be best friends that go clear back to childhood. It’s still unprofessional to be having a meeting with someone else and then answer your phone.

#3. To Develop Trust

The third reason is trust. A sales meeting is supposed to build trust in the mind and heart of the person you’re meeting with.

Meetings are more about trust, than they are about content. It’s not about just getting through your content. It’s that unspoken sense that happens between two people, which helps the person determine whether they can trust you or not.

For instance, let’s pretend you are my prospect. I’m having a meeting with you, and you answer your phone. Because this phone call interrupts our conversation, my trust in you will go down. It makes me wonder what you’re going to be like as a client of mine. And vice versa… If you are meeting with me determining whether you can trust me to handle marketing your business for you, and I interrupt our conversation with a cell phone call, your trust of me will go down. You will begin to question what it would really be like to work with me down the road.

Conclusion:

If you struggle with answering your phone in a sales meeting, my counsel for you today is … Leave your phone in the car!

Time For Response:

Here are 3 things you can do in response:

• Share this article with someone you know would benefit from reading it.
• Join my list and be notified whenever I publish new articles like this.
• Send me your thoughts and feedback.

The post Never Answer Your Phone In A Sales Meeting – Here’s Why appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

I wanted to get some real feedback about our workshop. So I decided to send a free online survey to the attendees.

Sending a free online survey to your audience is so important. Whether you just did a live event or not, doesn’t matter. If you serve others, in any capacity, it is important to get feedback from them from time to time.

In this post, I plan to show you how…

How To Make a Free Online Survey With Typeform

I use a free tool called Type Form. Just go to typeform.com and set up a free account. They make it super easy for you to do this.

Setup Your Workspace and Template

First setup a new workspace.

Then if you want to create a new type form just click the plus button.

You can use a template or start from scratch. Remember, I want to get feedback about our workshop.

So let’s find a “post event survey” template. Just click on the template. And then it’s going to give me a preview of how it works. If I like it I just click “use this template.”

Build and Tweak Your Survey

Now let me show you inside the online survey itself.
Here’s the build, it’s already set up. All you have to do is come in and change the line items.

I didn’t have to do very much change because it was already set up for an event.

Line items were already setup such as:

• How would you rate the speakers,
• The workshops,
• The venue,
• Door prices,
• Food?
• How did you first hear about the event?
• How well did the event meet your expectations?
• And so on.

This is exactly the information we want to know about our workshop so there was very little I had to change about it.

Within a couple of these questions there are places for people to leave comments. Which is really nice. Because there are people who will take the time to type in a response. And that gives you personalized feedback.  Which is really great.

Change the Color and Design

Then you can go into the design panel, and change the color if you want. Or you can change the background image, the fonts, and almost everything about the design of the type form. But you know what? I didn’t change anything. I just left it the way it was and it worked great.

Distribute Your Free Online Survey

When you click distribute, you are given a link. Let me show you what I mean. Right here I just click “copy” and it’s copied to my clipboard. Now all I have to do now is go to my email, or social media, or whatever, and paste it in and send it out to the people who came to the event.

Analyze The Results

I think this is really cool.., When you click on “analyze” you’ll be able to see analytics, and you’ll be able to see all the responses.

The first thing you get is an overview of the metrics. This tells the average time to complete was 4 minutes and 46 seconds, 14 unique visits and 12 responses. It shows whether people filled it out on their laptops or tablets or smart phones.

There’s a visual report also.

When you pull up the visual report, you can see the average of all of these responses. You will know overall how satisfied people were.

And it goes deeper from there… How did you first hear about the event? It tells how people heard about it and so on. There’s graph averages of what all of the respondents entered.

Share The Results With Your Team

Then there’s a way for you to share this general report with your colleagues. If you had somebody else, like I did, who did the workshop with you. Just go to the bottom of the page and copy the public link. I did this,  and sent it to him and said, “Hey, check out the responses.”

So cool! This is so easy and they’re beautiful. You can upgrade your account for more functionality. But, the basic version right here, the free version, was enough for me to get the feedback I needed to help continue growing my business.

If you’re an entrepreneur, or small business, it’s important for you to survey your audience and find out things that you need to know.

Response Time:

1. Have you ever used a free online survey tool before? Let me know about it. 
2. Please share this post with others you know could use this help.
3. Get on my list, and be notified every week when I publish a new post.

Watch the FULL Video about how to make and send a free online survey here:

The post How To Make a FREE Online Survey appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

That’s just the way it goes in the nature of leadership.

In this post, I’m going to give you nine public speaking tips that will engage your audience.

#1. Don’t Start Immediately

After being introduced by the moderator, you come up and take the lectern. You should pause. Give it a little bit of time for the moment to sink in.

Allow people’s attention to be drawn to you. A lot of times people are looking down at their papers or whatever, just give it a pause and wait. Let them look at you, and then begin your speech.

#2. Know Your Content

I’ve done speeches where I was speaking on subjects I maybe wasn’t the most knowledgable about. Those speeches didn’t go so well.

And then, there have been speeches where I knew my subject inside out. I was very enthusiastic and excited about the subject. When I do that, people come up to me afterwards and thank me. That’s, in part, because I knew the content so well.

So, make sure that when you are giving your presentation you know your content very well.

#3. Have a Clear Message

When you give your presentation, it needs to be orderly and laid out in a way that’s easy for your people to understand.

Spend some time and prepare your speech in such a way that the main points are easy for people to digest and take home.

Have a clear message.

#4. Keep It Real

Don’t exaggerate.

Don’t go outside the lines of reality or possibility. Keep it real.

People love authenticity.

People love it when you are real with them, and you share with them your experiences, your failures, and your successes.

#5. Use Good Body Language

Be aware of what you’re doing with your hands.

Often, when I’m giving a presentation, I tend to want to put one of my hands in my pocket, and gesture with my other hand. This makes me feel more relaxed.

You don’t need to do that. Keep your hands out of your pockets.

Keep your hands above your waistline, and use general gestures and body language that adds to and accentuates your message. Use good body language.

#6. Use Good Eye Contact

You must communicate with your audience via your eyes, as well as your mouth.

Look around the room. Look into the eyes of a person, and deliver your point. Then shift, and move over to another person. Look into their eyes and deliver that point. Then, shift around the room, and continue to do that.

Maintain clear eye contact with different people throughout your audience. That makes everyone feel included with your message. Use good eye contact.

#7. Make It Fun and Engaging

We all love a good story. We all love to laugh. When we laugh together, it bonds us together. If you are able to bring your audience into good humor? They’ll appreciate you.

Make them laugh, but also, make it useful. Make it fun. Use stories, anecdotes or illustrations that bring light to your message in a fun, engaging way.

#8. Use Pauses Well

When you make a point, pause. If you tell a joke, pause.

Use pauses throughout your message in order to maintain the attention of your listeners.

#9. Close With Purpose

So often, when we are just beginning in public speaking, we’ve put so much attention into the content that we forget about the closing.

We ramble through our content. Then when we realize our time is up, we abruptly close.

Think very clearly, and specifically, what you want your people to take away from your presentation. Maybe it’s a call to action that you want them to do after the speech. Or, maybe it’s a way to tie in with the introduction, and wrap it all up in a nice package with a bow on top that they can take home. Whatever it is, make sure that you close with purpose.

And there you have it…Nine public speaking tips to help you engage with your audience.

Here are 3 things you can do in response:

1. Share this article with someone you know would benefit from reading it.
2. Join my list and be notified whenever I publish new articles like this.
3. Send me your thoughts and feedback.

The post 9 Public Speaking Tips To Engage Your Audience appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Earlier last week Periscope came out with their new numbers. And they are Amazing. Since they launched on March 26, 2015, about 4 months ago, they have grown to over 10,000,000 users. And Periscope has almost 2,000,000 active users per day.

EVERY DAY There is 40 years worth of engaging scopes being broadcast.

Isn’t that reason enough to join the “Periscope for Business” movement, and start broadcasting your message?
I think so too…

What is Periscope?

Here is the official description from the iTunes Periscope app: “Periscope lets you broadcast live video to the world. Going live will instantly notify your followers who can join, comment, and send you hearts in real time. The more hearts you get, the higher they flutter on the screen.”

When I first started hearing the buzz about Periscope, I thought it was like those live-cams where you can watch an eagle build a nest. Or worse yet, watch someone sit at their desk while they are working. Well, those cases may be found on Periscope. However, I am much more excited about the online marketing aspect that Periscope brings to the table for you.

By using Periscope for business you now have the power to incorporate sight, sound, and emotion, into your own personal reality tv show. And when you do it “on purpose” for business, you can build an audience of rabid followers. I don’t understand the psychology of why that is the case yet, but I just know it’s true.

Dos and Don’ts of Periscope For Business

I don’t yet have my own personal case studies to share with you. But I will give you my thoughts, based on what I am seeing other successful people doing.

Here are 5 things to think about when using Periscope for Business:

1. Focus on your audience.
   Don’t focus so much on yourself or even your message, focus on your audience instead. They will appreciate you so much better, if they come on your show and feel like you are there for them.
2. Prepare beforehand.
   I know, it’s so much funner to “wing it.” But, don’t do that. Spend some time and plan your scopes. Even let your audience know what to expect in future scopes. Tell them your upcoming schedule. That will build anticipation, and follower-ship. But the main thing is to plan what you are going to say, before you start broadcasting.
3. Interact with your audience.
   Ask and answer questions. This is what makes Periscope for business so powerful. People love the fact that they can ask you questions, or leave you a comment, and you will respond in real time. Don’t ask for hearts and shares too much, but show gratefulness when it comes.
4. Re-introduce yourself and your topic multiple times.
   With Periscope, people are hopping on and off all the time. Your new watchers will not know who you are, or what you are talking about. Take a moment to welcome newcomers, and bring them up to speed.
5. Reward your audience.
   I’ve seen this done in different ways. You could have a free giveaway just for your Periscope followers. Or you could have a regular drawing, where you draw a name and give them something for free. Rewarding your audience seems to keep them coming back, and strengthens retention.

How To Use The Periscope App

Periscope is actually very simple to use. Periscope is a mobile app that works on all devices. Periscope is owned by Twitter. So, you just download the app onto your phone, and connect the app with your Twitter account. It pretty much does the rest.

Once the app is working, here’s the steps to start your first broadcast properly:

1. Open the app.
2. Press the little “broadcast” button at the bottom.
3. Give your broadcast a title.
4. Set Twitter notifications ON.
5. Set Precise location sharing OFF.
6. Set your broad cast to Public.
7. Set your chats/comments to Public.
8. Press “Start Broadcast.”
9. Flip your camera around so they can see your face.
10. Welcome everyone, and start your show.

Does Periscope Record Broadcasts?

Yes, Periscope does leave a recording of your broadcast up for 24 hours for people to watch the replay.

Also, your phone will automatically download a recording of your entire broadcast to your device.

There is a website called, Katch.Me. They will host a recording of your broadcast for you for free. Again, you just set it up by connecting with your Twitter account. (This will force some of you to start using Twitter again, huh.)

Also, you could record your replay with screencast software like, Screenflow or Camptasia. And then you can repurpose your scopes much easier.

Can Scopes Be Erased? 

Yes, you can delete any scope you want to. My first couple of scopes I did were horrible. I won’t even tell you about my first one, and that I was driv… But thankfully, you can easily delete them.

Who Else Is Using Periscope For Business? 

Here are some notable #Periscopers that I really enjoy watching:
@PatFlynn offers Tons of value about Online Marketing and Podcasting.
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@AmyPorterfield also lots of value about Facebook Marketing and Funnel Optimization.
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@RestorableLife #scopewithjon a relatively new show with a lot of Entrepreneurial energy and value-bombs for Entrepreneurs just like you and I.
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@michaelhyatt has a great show called #dailymentor. He offers great advice on various subjects related to Leadership.
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@kimgarst of course is a social media rockstar. Her show ( #scopewithkim ) is packed with value on the subject of social media marketing for your business. And lately she’s been offering all kinds of great tips about using Periscope.
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@eventualmillion is hosted by Jaime Tardy. She hops on every now and then with great tips on how to be more productive. And much more…
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@lucyshall has a daily scope on social media marketing. She has great tips and tricks. She has grown her own business just by having a regular scope on Periscope.
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@jonacuff also does regular scopes. He is funny. He loves to scope about what he’s facing in the moment. His fans seem to love it. One scope he recently did was, “What happens inside a New York Publishing House?”
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@suebzimmerman – The Instagram Expert – She does one or two scopes per day about social media marketing and other things. She recently did a scope called: “How to grow your Instagram account to 10k.”
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There are tons more, but those are some great ones to start with.

Get Started With Periscope For Business Today

The best way to get started with Periscope for business today is to just start watching some other people do it. Get the app, and start watching some of those folks I mentioned above. Pretty soon, you will want to do your first scope.

Go for it!

Are you on Periscope? Please follow me at @martindale2u and I’ll check out your scope as well.

To your success,
Martin

The post Periscope For Business – And How To Use It Effectively appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

Our group leader was teaching through some materials, and that particular day his subject was, Called To Work. 

I took ravenous notes, and let the truths sink in. I remember how monumental it was in my life. The Truth really stood out to me that day. My biggest lightbulb was that “Work” is not cursed. But rather God cursed the ground and told it to bring forth thistles. 

But from the beginning, God had called Adam to work. And to Adam it was pure joy to do his work. Sometimes we get the picture that Adam was lying around enjoying his vacation in Eden. But that is not the case. God gave Adam work to do. “God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it… take dominion over everything that moves on the earth. See Genesis 1:28. And Adam enjoyed every single minute of every day that he worked. 

Here Are 3 Reasons to Embrace Work as Your Calling

1. Work Produces Food

We are called to provide for our own the Bible says. That means that if you have a family you must provide for them. There’s nothing quite so ungodly as the man who is lazy, and refuses to get up and provide for his family.

On the contrary, there is nothing like the satisfaction of being able to work hard and bring home food for your family. Can you think of anyone who is exempt from this reason to work? I can’t. We are all called to work to provide for our own.

2. Work Touches The Community

When you pick up your tools and go out into the community everyday, you take Jesus with you. Or rather, He takes you with Him into the community. Our work is the perfect opportunity to join Jesus in what He is doing in our community.

Work puts you in touch with the “common people”. The people who will never set foot in a Church, are the very people who are contacting you to come and serve them. What better way to minister to the community than to get out there and work in their midst. 

3. Work Pleases God

God is a creator. What I mean by that, is that God takes great pleasure out of creating things. In other words, God loves to work. He loves it. We are made in the image of God.

Therefore, I believe that when we are creating stuff, God is smiling. He enjoys watching us work. No, not the sweaty part of work. But the creative part of work.

He likes that, because He is in it. Seriously, it’s not a sin to enjoy your work. Unleash your creative power, and get to work. Your work pleases God. 

I hope those 3 reasons have sparked your thoughts and inspiration. I want to encourage you to provide for your family, touch your community, and bring pleasure to God. 

We are called to work. 

Questions for response.

• Have you ever thought of your work as your calling? 
• Do you ever wish you were “called” to a ministry like pastor, or missionary, but instead you just “have to work” ? 
• Does this truth inspire you to view your work differently from now on? 

Please join the conversation and share your thoughts and feelings in response to this subject. 

The post Called To Work appeared first on Martin Holsinger.

But on this particular day. I was working on a writing project in Starbucks. At about 3:15pm I decided to get up and go for a quick walk to stretch my muscles and get the blood flowing again. And clear my brain.

I walked into the bookstore next door. 

As usual I went straight to the business section. Sometimes just seeing the titles of all those great books gives me an extra boost. You know what I mean? Just reading the titles of published books, can give you insight. Especially if you are a creative.

Anyway, I saw a new book by Jon Acuf titled: “Start”.

“Hmmm. I thought. I haven’t seen this one before. I think I’ll pick it up and leaf through it.” 

I flipped through a few chapters. Until I found a chapter near the back about why he is working for someone else while he grows his own platform. 

Then, I read a few more pages about “doing reps,” you know, becoming an expert at one thing by just doing it over and over again. 

Boom! the fire started to grow inside me. It was just the fix I needed to keep going with my creative work. 

No, I didn’t buy the book yet. Sorry Jon. But, it did inspire me, and that’s what counts. 

So do you need a quick fix on a lazy afternoon?

Here are 3 things that you can do for a quick boost.

1. Go For A Walk

Getting up and going for a walk is stimulating to the brain. It releases chemicals that we need in order to be creative. It provides a washing of the mind. That’s why we call it “clearing the head”. It opens your mind to other things. That kind of distraction is actually healthy. 

So, if you find yourself nodding off. Or not getting as much done as you hoped. Go for a quick walk. 

2. Read Something Inspiring

Don’t do this at the same location as your work. You have to get up and go somewhere else for this to work properly. Just like my story above. I went for a walk, and then read a few pages that inspired me. 

Can you do something like this too? Find something inspiring and read it. 

3. Listen To Something Inspiring

Podcasts are awesome! I love to listen to podcasts when I’m not working. I listen to a few folks on a regular basis who continually inspire me. 

This is certainly something you can do while you are on your quick walk. Just put your earbuds in and listen to a quick inspirational podcast while you walk.

There you have it. 3 quick and easy things that you can do the next time you need a boost in the afternoon. 

Questions for Response. 

• Have you found any other ways that offer a quick boost in the afternoon? 
• Do you do any of those things I mentioned above on a regular basis? 
• What is your response?

The post How To Get A Quick Boost On A Lazy Afternoon appeared first on Martin Holsinger.