The holiday season is definitely upon us. If you are like me then you may be thinking about what to buy the people on your list but you have no idea what to get them. Why not get the coach in your life (your coach, your business partner, your significant other or your favourite coach blogger) a gift that will last the whole year? I’m talking about Choice Magazine, the magazine for professional coaching.
This magazine is always jam packed with delicious content such as business tips, the impact coaching has on the world, corporate leadership and columns such as Choice Books, Coaching Tools and Industry News! It’s a great way to stay connected to the coaching world.
Choice Magazine has over 2,500 subscribers in over 28 countries! Yes, the magazine is shipped around the globe, so if your coach is in Japan, New Zealand or Portugal they will receive the print magazine in their mailbox.
Why not get a subscription yourself? You deserve it and you don’t want to be left out of the conversation!
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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November 18th, 2008
I was recently interviewed by Lynne Klippel host of Women’s Internet Talk Radio – Internet Talk Radio for encouraging, inspiring, and informing Business Women.
Lynne asked me all kinds of great questions about blogsites and my book “Does this blogsite make my wallet look fat“.
You can listen to the interview at Web Sorority Talk Radio.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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WordPressBlogsites.com
October 22nd, 2008
Last week I wrote a post called “What is Twitter and Why do I want to Tweet?“. This week, I’ve got a little tip for you. I have always suggested that you buy the website of your name ie. www.MarySmith.com. Why? Because you want to get your hands on it before someone with your same name grabs it. You never know what they will do with it once they have it and it could potentially be damaging to your brand and your company. Seriously, I’ve heard a few bad stories. 
Now with Twitter you get your own page on www.twitter.com, such as www.twitter.com/techcoach, where you can find me on Twitter. So you can imagine how quick companys such as CNN, www.twitter.com/cnn, Yahoo, www.twitter.com/yahoo and WordPress, www.twitter.com/WordPress moved quickly to get their Twitter accounts and pages. In fact, if you take a look at www.twitter.com/iPod you’ll find that this account is for sale!
So, if you haven’t signed up for your Twitter account yet, get on it…it’s free!
Register the following user accounts on Twitter to cover yourself and your business:
- your full name
- your business name
- your book name
- your other websites addresses (I’ve registered www.twitter.com/wpblogsites where I will be promoting my book)
- any trademark names you have
- your children’s names…why not!?
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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September 23rd, 2008
You can change the published date for your post to a date in the past or a date in the future.
If you choose to publish your post to a date in the future, your post will not be published or appear on your blog until that day and time. So if you want to write a bunch of blog posts and post-date them then you can take “create blog posts” off your list of things to do for a week or more.
For versions 2.3.3 or earlier:
1) Create your post
2) On the right hand side look for “post time stamp”
3) Change the date and time (optional)
4) Press save/publish
For versions 2.5 or later:
1) Create your post
2) On the right under “publish status”
3) Click edit beside “published on”
4) Change the date and time (optional)
5) Press save/publish
For more tips on creating and maintaining a WordPress Blogsite visit www.WordPressBlogsites.com or purchase our book for only $24.95.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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August 26th, 2008
Welcome to the sixth stop of the official blog tour for Linda Dessau’s new book, The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write. Linda not only edited my book Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat? she gave me guidance and fabulous suggestions for my book that were both spot on and funny!
Linda and I have had numerous conversataions about writing and encouraging other coaches to write and write well. I like to encourage coaches to write because I know first hand that coaches who write do attract more clients, make more money and attract more speaking assignments.
Why you should make room for this book beside your computer:
I wasn’t always a big fan of writing. Back in 2004 when I started to build my coaching business, I attended a business building workshop specifically for coaches. We were encouraged to write newsletters as a way to keep in touch and build a trusting relationship with those who were interested in what we offered and what we had to say. I remember thinking to myself “Well that’s a good idea for those who like to write. I hate writing that’s why I studied math and computer science!”
A few months later, I hired that coach and he said to me “Sandra your first step in starting a coaching business is to start a newsletter.” I stubbornly replied “No, I don’t think you know me well enough to say that. English was one of my weakest subjects in high school. I am not a writer.” “Sandra, if you trust me you will send me a draft of your newsletter by Friday.” I trusted him and I never looked back. I’ve been writing my newsletter for over 3 years now. I’ve also written a few blogs, magazine articles, e-books and had a book published. So if I, the anti-writer, have changed my ways, then anyone can. Thanks to Linda’s style guide your writing process will not be as painful or filled with resistance as my journey was.
How this book makes your life easier as a coach:
In Linda’s book she covers six main benefits of using a style guide. They are:
- Confidence.
- Consistency
- Credibility
- Speed
- Readability
- Efficiency
A style guide will increase your confidence so that you keep writing. Keep your writing style and formatting consistent so you don’t hurt the eyes of your readers, (this has happened to me!) It will build your credibility as a coach and an expert in your area of expertise. As with any guide, a style guide will also speed up your writing and increase your efficiency. What good would an article for your target market be if it was too difficult to read or written for a 7-year-old? A style guide will gear your writing to the audience who will read it.
I’m a big fan of resources and tools. Give me a website were I can look something up quickly and move on with my work and I’m a happy writer! Linda has done a fabulous job researching a number of fabulous tools and giving us her top picks in this book.
What made me smile from ear to ear when I read this book:
There are two chapters in this book that I think will make a huge difference for any coach who uses the internet to promote their business (I’m a bit biased, but the internet is the best tool to promote your business and usually for free!). These two chapters are “Writing for the Web” and “Writing Emails”. You will thank Linda for including these chapters!
How to make your life easier:
This book is not just a style guide, it includes business tips, inspiration and some virtual hand holding. Buy this book and keep it by your computer, but only if you like to make your life easier!
More on this book:
Learn more great things about Linda’s cool new book by visiting her site ForCoachesWhoWrite.com or follow the other bloggers on her blog book tour. Tomorrow the blog tour continues with Laura West at her blog Cafe Entrepreneur.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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WordPressBlogsites.com
August 11th, 2008
Super star marketer and author Seth Godin wants you to be on the cover of his new book. The book won’t be available until October and your picture may or may not be completely visible but how cool would it be to say “I’m on the cover of the new Seth Godin book”. People will think you are a celebrity!
Seth is very creative. I know I had a hard time trying to figure out what cover I should use for my book “Does this blogsite make my wallet look fat?“. So *high five* Seth for making the work easier on yourself!
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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WordPressBlogsites.com
May 26th, 2008
This is a question I get all the time. Here’s just part of the long answer.
A website (a traditional site created with html) becomes a pain to maintain. You either need to know html, have expensive software to update it or have your web person update it when they have time.
A blogsite is easy to maintain and you can update from any computer in the world (yes macs and PCs) with internet access.
Google and other search engines are giving priorities to blogs over regular sites for many reasons. Two main reasons are that blogs are updated with fresh content more frequently than regular sites and blogs are structured in a way that makes it easier for Google to find, index and add them to their list of results.
With blogsites you can:
* create static pages such as “our services”, “our products”, “contact us” etc.
* maintain your own website
* blog by posting articles, tips, promotions, etc.
* interact with web visitors and start building a relationship with them
* promote your newsletter, services, affiliate programs
* get Google to fall in love with you and your site as it’s built with search engine optimization in mind
* take advantage of web 2.0 functionality
* add media to your site easily
All this and more is available in our book “Does This Blogsite Make My Wallet Look Fat? How to use a WordPress Blogsite to make money, attract clients and gain expert celebrity status”. To order your copy visit www.WordPressBlogsites.com
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
Check out our other blog:
WordPressBlogsites.com
May 15th, 2008
I previewed my book at the ADHD Coaches Organization conference this past weekend. Within the first 30 minutes of the bookstore opening up 5 of my books were sold. I witnessed 2 of them being sold and I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was better than I ever could have dreamed of.
I presented Sunday Morning. My presentation ended at 10:30am and the book store closed at 11am. When my presentation ended there was a rush to the bookstore to buy my book. There was one copy left and the bookstore operator picked it up and said “Alright let’s start bidding on it.”
Two participants ran back to me and said “Sandra the bookstore sold out of your book. Do you have any left?” I had one left that I was going to give away at the end of my presentation but ran out of time. So the two of them fought over it!
I am pleased with the results so far to say the least.
To top off the excitement I was asked to autograph my book a number of times. This is really exciting because 1) I’m a “book celeb” 2) I felt honoured that they asked and 3) when Andrea Lee was coaching me around starting the book she asked me to visualize signing my book at conferences. So the visualization came true and it worked!
We are putting the final touches on the sales page of the book and getting it ready for sales! To be the first to get your hands on the book send a blank email to bookvip[at]aweber.com
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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May 4th, 2008
Thursday afternoon I arrived in St. Louis for the ACO conference. I was excited. This conference was the strict deadline I needed to get my book completed. I needed to give the publisher a week to print the book and send it to me. Well, the book files were sent to the publisher one week ahead of time but at 4:59pm on the friday! Was it going to make it to St. Louis in time for the conference?
When I arrived, I asked the hotel staff if they had a package for me but nothing had arrived. Friday morning I called front desk and asked “Do you have a package for me?”, “no ma’am”. Then at 12:07 pm the phone rang “ma’am your package has arrived”! I ran down to grab the box of books and get my hands on the final product. I ran back upto my room opened the box and was delighted! The book looks amazing and I was thrilled with the final product. I was so happy I started to take pictures of the book as if it was a contestant on “America’s Next Top Book Cover Model”. Here’s a pic of the book and I.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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May 2nd, 2008
