Blogs

If you have never had a stroke, then be thankful.  Elaine Starling, my guest on the SkillBites Show, had a stroke that transformed her life.  A former marketing pro, Elaine Starling received a complete download from The Divine about why we’re...... Read more

You have expertise that others need.  When you share your message, whether via social media, video, a book or a speech, you have the ability to help others, which is pretty powerful.  Jackie Bailey, founder and president of Emerald City...... Read more

There are hundreds of book marketing tactics.  In fact, John Kremer, an expert in book marketing, wrote a book called 1001 Ways to Market Your Books.  In the December SkillBites Show, my guest, Marika Flatt, focused on the best ways to...... Read more

This is a great time to seek corporate sponsorships, even for for-profit businesses.  Given the lack of live events in today’s environment, businesses that typically sponsor live events are actually looking for other ways to give money away and...... Read more

In January, 2008, Mark Coudray purchased a beautiful new building for his business.  Shortly after that, the recession hit, and Mark’s multi-million dollar business revenue dropped 62%.  He and his wife almost lost their home, and all their...... Read more

One of the hardest tasks for authors is getting awareness of their published book.  There are a myriad number of marketing tactics, but it takes a lot of work to build a decent level of visibility.  Getting good publicity is perhaps the most...... Read more

Chuck Monroe, founder of Gold Dust Publicity LLC, was my guest on the SkillBites Show podcast.  Chuck has been instrumental in the successful launch of more than a thousand books in virtually every genre.  As Chuck stated, if you don’t publicize...... Read more

Kerry Kathleen Heaps is an established speaker and owner of Book.Speak.Repeat, a company that helps get paid speaking engagements for authors and business owners.  She is also the Publisher of Pageant Platform Magazine and the Host of Pageant...... Read more

Everyone has times when they feel incredibly sharp and productive.  Wouldn’t it be great to have that feeling more often?  If that appeals to you, then read further. You can maintain focus and sharpness, by spending as little as 3...... Read more

We all face stress in our lives, and have had situations where we didn’t handle it very well. Some of us find ourselves in a constant state of anxiety, or we know people who seem to be on edge all the time. In this month’s teleseminar, we heard...... Read more

In the July SkillBites Teleseminar, Diane Hansen, Chief Inspiration Officer of What Works Coaching (http://whatworkscoaching.com/), introduced the notion of creating a “happy pie” to help us identify the areas that need focus. The idea is to...... Read more

You can’t fit more hours in a day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be more productive during the hours that you do have. Ann Jenrette-Thomas, founder of Esquire Coaching, has a system that can make this happen. Imagine it’s your 90th birthday...... Read more

In this month’s SkillBites Show, Doug Foresta shared some valuable tips on podcasting. Doug is a coach and podcasting producer and host. Since 2009, he has interviewed over 700 guests, including New York Times bestselling authors and Academy...... Read more

SkillBites has recently published Chef Budd Cohen’s book, Farm to Table for Schools (https://resources.skillbites.net/farm-to-table-for-schools/). Chef Cohen has worked in a number of academic institutions where he has implemented Farm to Table...... Read more

This month I had the opportunity to interview Bob Schiers, founder and CEO of RAS Associates, an award winning Marketing and PR firm, on the need for authors to plan how they will leverage their book.  Bob explained the difference between...... Read more

Your book title is one of the most important elements of your book.  It’s the hook that grabs your prospective reader’s attention and motivates them to flip over the book, look inside and hopefully purchase the book, so it is critical that...... Read more

Angela Megasko, founder of MarketViewpoint, author of Ultimate Mystery Shopping and SkillBites customer, forwarded to me a blog post that was very disturbing. It concerned a woman who was about to launch her book when she discovered...... Read more

Podcasting is a powerful way for authors to expand their visibility and promote their expertise. This month, SkillBites invited Steve Lubetkin, managing partner of The Lubetkin Media Companies, to provide tips on producing effective podcasts. As...... Read more

Hiring the right person for your organization is tough. It’s time consuming and, if you don’t do it right, it can be very expensive. Hiring the right sales person is even tougher, because sales people are very good at selling themselves. In this...... Read more

“Your One-Sheet is your passport onto the next stage,” according to Kimb Manson Williams, designer of one-sheets for hundreds of speakers. Kimb was this month’s guest on the SkillBites Show, and gave great insights into creating an effective...... Read more

You’ve heard that LinkedIn is a terrific business development tool, but you just don’t have time for one more activity, and aren’t really sure how you would use it anyway. What if you could be shown how to use LinkedIn, and get five phone calls...... Read more

I asked this question of Helen Chang, CEO of Author Bridge Media, on the SkillBites Show. Helen has been ghostwriting for over a decade. Her company has ghostwritten, edited and/or published over 300 books, including books for such...... Read more

What if you could wave a magic wand and get your biggest problem resolved? In this month’s SkillBites Show, Nancy Dunleavy, CEO and founder of Dunleavy & Associates, and imminent author of Exercise Your Ask Muscle: the no-weight workout...... Read more

In the pursuit of leadership excellence, communication skills are often over-looked and yet they are foundational to our success. Have you ever felt that someone’s words and body language were not in sync? You may have been guilty of this...... Read more

Is it really worth your time to do social media? Which platform should you focus on, and what are the key steps to take? In this month’s SkillBites Show, LinkedIn expert David Steel, CEO of Everyone LinkedIn, explained why LinkedIn is such a...... Read more

“Nobody likes to be sold, but everybody likes to buy.” That’s how Tom Gill, Senior Sales Strategist, Coach and Trainer with Business Development University, started his presentation on the SkillBites Show this month. Tom shared a number of tips...... Read more

Speaking is a great way to get in front of your target market, exhibit your expertise and gain new clients; but how do you get speaking engagements, and how do you leverage them? These questions and more were answered by Denise Hedges, business...... Read more

Have you ever received an email or direct mail piece, or watched an ad and found it distasteful? Lisa Manyon, the guest on this month’s SkillBites Show, explained that she has felt that way about many commercials and marketing pieces since she...... Read more

On this month’s SkillBites Show, our guest was Jason Sherman. Jason is a serial entrepreneur, award winning filmmaker, journalist and tech startup expert. He has been featured by more than 10 media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, USA...... Read more

Ever feel like you are stuck, that your job doesn’t provide fulfillment or meaning for you? Alexandra Figueredo talked in this month’s SkillBites Show on how you can find your mission and bring meaning back into your life. Alexandra is the...... Read more

Without proper planning, projects tend to get delayed or incur cost overruns. What does proper planning consist of? In this month’s SkillBites Show, Jon McGlothian shared a number of tools and techniques for managing projects effectively. Jon is...... Read more

One of the hardest parts of running a business is maintaining a steady flow of prospects and customers. It can take a lot of time and effort to connect with enough of the right people to achieve that steady flow, which may not be what the...... Read more

If you are curious about whether Facebook ads would be a good way to go for your business or to promote your book, then read on. In this month’s SkillBites Show, Julie Friedman Bacchini discussed the power of Facebook ads and provided some...... Read more

Audiobooks are becoming more popular with over 20% of book consumers stating a preference for listening to a book rather than reading one.  If you’ve ever thought about narrating your own book, you would do well to listen to the July 2018...... Read more

Admit it — you’ve often considered creating your own small business after spending day after day inside a tight-packed cubicle under fluorescent lights or watching hours and hours of daytime television after the kids have gone off to school. Or...... Read more

When someone brags about their own abilities, we generally take it with a grain of salt; but when we hear someone else extoll someone’s expertise, we take notice and give it more weight.  And when that someone else is a commentator for a TV...... Read more

Businesses can’t survive without sales; yet many small business owners who have significant expertise in their field have limited sales skills.  In this month’s SkillBites Show, our guest, Chris Spurvey, provided some simple tactics to help...... Read more

This article appeared in a neighborhood newsletter, MainLineNeighbors.com on 4/11/19.  I thought it was a great idea, so I am passing it one. Late last fall we planted a Little Free Library in our front yard.  Have you seen...... Read more

For many small business owners, marketing is the biggest obstacle to growing their business. The business owner may be an expert in the service or product sold by the business, but marketing that service or product is not within their expertise...... Read more