Tom Hanks

Nothing has helped international brokerage business more than the internet: it enables a businessperson to do business with little or no capital and to make quick contacts. Yet nothing has made the brokerage business riskier. This comes from a broker unknowingly linking genuine or false buyers with genuine or false sellers. Other ingredients also exist to cook the broker an unpalatable soup.

When all seemed bleak, I felt the internet was my best bet to boost my business. I visited some B2B portals and posted trade leads. An Italian, Arnoldo Marchetti, contacted me as mandate of an Austrian firm, Holzh

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Before we answer that question, let’s take a quick look at what a podcast is. Audio programming isn’t revolutionary.A company called Audible.com has been selling downloadable content like audio books and radio shows for nearly 10 years. Now, thanks to the growing popularity and large storage capacity of Apple’s iPods and other such devices, tech experimentalists are considering anew the possibilities of downloadable audio. Now with new, easy-to-use distribution tools and cheaper storage capacity in addition to the millions-sold iPod market, podcasting is going mainstream.

The broadcasting part comes from syndication tools that allow listeners to subscribe to receive automatic downloads of new podcasts in episodes that interest them. People who produce podcasts use something called RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to create subscription feeds. Listeners point their podcatchers toward those feeds and receive their automatic updates. Apple’s iTunes software has built-in podcatching features, but you can also use other programs, like the free Juice Receiver. These podcatching programs transfer new episodes to your PC. Some software will then even deliver the files to your digital music player automatically using the RSS feed.

You can listen to podcasts without an iPod. Individual podcast shows are usually recorded in common audio formats like MP3, others are in AAC format. Some podcatchers’ auto-synch features only work with iPods, but you can listen to podcasts on any digital music player or on your PC with standard programs like RealPlayer, Windows Media Player or any of the myriad other programs available for download at no charge.

Your company can shape the message it delivers, and a podcasting series distributed regularly to customers is a great way to build their loyalty and create a bond with both customers and new sales leads. The trick is to offer content listeners will find useful. For some companies, the podcasting topics are more obvious than others. Music distribution services provider Nugs.net posts a monthly promotional podcast of samples from its archive while travel website Hotelbook.com offers podcasts full of travel tips. But companies that aren’t in the consumer services market can still use promotional podcaststhey just have to be more creative in figuring out what they have to offer.

If you’re ready to begin making your own podcast, Audacity is a popular, free program for recording and digitizing and editing sound. HOwever, pretty much any sound software will work. Once you have a recorded sound file, upload it to the internet on your website; if you’re creating a series, set up an RSS feed pointing to the site where new episodes will appear. That’s all there is to it.

Unless you’re aiming for top-quality production quality, podcasting is a fairly inexpensive undertaking. If you don’t want to go the trouble of doing your own production, services shops are springing up to handle podcasting chores. Some companies have a production staff and network of voice artists on tap to quickly convert scripts to ready-for-podcasting sound files. Others have a hosting and syndication service that handles podcast storage and RSS feed creation, with an unlimited bandwidth allowance. For marketers interested in podcasting, the obstacles to start up have never been smaller.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Steve Wright (aka Podcast Dude)is the webmaster for http://www.findpodcasts.net and has been recording, distributing and listening to podcasts for many years. He can help you grow your business with news, information and consulting services.

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My first email address was with compuserve.com back when you could only have numbers for an email address. They then allowed us to have letters as well on prodigy so I switched internet service providers or internet content providers as they are better known to us geeks. My next stop was with the number one provider AOL and my name became an extension of my love for jazz music and I have had that email address ever since. I also have a yahoo.com email address that I use strictly for its Spam filter and free virus protection software that is built into the website. Free email addresses are great and I suggest you take advantage of their many no cost features. But I only use them for personal reasons. The main reason I don’t use them for business is because I refuse to give the free email services anymore free publicity and not get anything in return.

The use of email addresses that promote anything but your business is a waste of great branding potential. Every time you send and email to a potential client or customer you have a perfect opportunity to promote your business. Yahoo and MSN will gladly give you a free email address because you help market their business with every click of the send button.

Earthlink and AOL get you to pay them every month to promote their service. I ask you, what are the chances of wemakewidgets@aol.com winning a ten million dollar contract over yourname@wemakewidgets.com Who do you think will be taken more seriously? Don’t get me wrong I am sure there are many multi million dollar deals done using these services. But how many of them keep using it to create a more corporate and professional image.

Why not go to a website like Proemailaddress.com and register your own little piece of electronic marketing. This can be done for as little as $9.95` for a years worth of keeping your businesses name moving back and forth through cyber space. And get this; yourname@yourcompanyname.com makes a much bigger impression on those you look to do business with in the future.

I can’t tell you how many business cards I have received with yahoo, msn, hotmail and especially aol.com email addresses on them and thought do I really want to do business with this person. Are they just a fly by night business? Can I trust a person who can’t take the time and effort most legitimate businesses use to make sure they are recognized and respected industry leaders?

At one time just having an email address on a business card was impressive because not everyone had an email address let alone knew how to use it as a marketing tool. Gone are those days and in their place one has to step up their game and make more of a first impression. Using a professional email address does just that and more. Not only does a professional email address bring more promise and prestige to your company but it is one of the most inexpensive forms of mass marketing there is today. You are able to market your business to many potential clients while at the same time keeping customers informed and up to date through correspondence.

So in reading this article if you only get one thing that you can use please see to getting a professional email address and give your business the optimum chance to show its true worth.

Jeffrey Alexander Brathwaite, aka “JB” is a Internet Technology Coach, Speaker and Trainer. JB prides himself on helping small to medium size businesses who are frustrated with dealing with the Internet. If you are having problems trying to deal with Email marketing, Search Engine marketing or just getting your own website off the ground. Please go to our website
http://www.2thenextlevel.com

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