The Book Giveaway Results!

Thank you to all who posted comments on the Spirit of the Season post! It was fun to read your comments (yes, Spike, I figured someone would have to comment on the “I’m easy” statement I made ) and I apologize for my postage budget not extending to our foreign friends…

So, the winners have been sent emails…if you see your name below but haven’t seen an email from me, then it means the spam monster got a hold of it. So please send me an email with your mailing address and I will get the book out to you in the coming week (words at tinamcallister dot com).

Drum roll, por favor….

- Rich: Beyond Booked Solid

- Alan: Power of Full Engagement

- Michaela: Credit Road Map for the Self Employed

- Sherry: Credit Road Map for the Self Employed

- Mary Jo: How to Start a Home-Based Writing Business

- Carrie: The Art of Abundance

- Brian: Desert Storm Diaries

The Spirit of the Season: Free Books!!

In the spirit of giving and all that good stuff, I have some books I am getting off the shelves. I am a book lover (yeah, yeah, kind of obvious for a writer) and want to pass these along so you can enjoy the juicy book goodness!! They are all new and ready to be loved by a fellow reader.

The details: All you have to do is leave a comment. Short and sweet will do the trick. Even typing something like “Pick me!” will do. I’m easy. (Make sure you use a proper email address so I can contact you if picked). And you can leave your comments until December 22, 11:59PM EST. And yes, you can leave more than one comment if you have more than one email address. (Translation: you can leave one comment per email address).

Winners of said books will be picked by a number randomizer online. They will then be contacted to provide a mailing address. And the book(s) will be mailed via media mail. Please no overseas mailing addresses.

The books:

- The Credit Road Map For the Self Employed (this one I edited and I can’t say enough about the author, Patrick Ritchie, and how he’s able to take a pretty dry subject and make it interesting! And in his second book he gears the information to independent contractors and small biz owners. There’s a wealth of knowledge here and I’ve got two books to give to two lucky peeps).

- Beyond Booked Solid (this is the follow-up to Michael Port’s awesome Booked Solid book. Especially helpful to service providers!)

- The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

- Desert Storm Diaries (my buddy Carlin Comm wrote this…a diary of his involvement in Desert Storm. Really neat stuff!)

- The Art of Abundance (a hardcover book full of phrases and quotations to keep you on that positive path. Just a good little book to look at now and again).

- How to Start a Home-Based Writing Business (sort-of self explanatory, huh?)

Whatcha waiting for? Go ahead and leave a comment! You’ve got ’til the end of the day on the 22nd!

Free Webinar TOMORROW on The Low Down on Ebooks!

Interested in learning a little bit more about ebooks? Wondering about the difference between a freebie ebook and one you sell? (Because there ARE differences!).

Well, here’s your chance!

As part of the Business and Learning Grand Re-Opening Extravaganza tomorrow, Thursday October 15th, I am presenting a webinar on the ins and outs of ebooks and how you can help them to market your biz and build your bank account.

I was honored to be asked to be a Team Leader on the site and would love for you to join me and the other Team Leaders tomorrow as we each present some really cool information to business owners and entrepreneurs such as yourself.

You can check out the full line up of webinars here and also sign up. It’s FREE and there will be giveaways such as coaching and memberships. So don’t  miss out! Hope to see you there!!

PS got an ebook question for me? Post it here in the comments or shoot me an email at words at tinamcallister dot com and I’ll make sure to address it during the webinar!

How To Find Inspiration For Your Ebook Promo Video

So you may already know that I am an Animoto junkie since I wrote all about it a few weeks back. I confess: I love Animoto.

It’s easy. It’s a complete no-brainer. You upload some photos. Insert some text. Pick the music. And let Animoto put it all together. Piece o’ cake!

But what if you’re just not sure what to say? Or what tact to take with your video?

How do you find the inspiration?

My advice: check out the music. Go to the Animoto music choices and listen. You only get about 30 seconds of music to hear each selection. But it’s enough to hear the emotions behind it.

Is it jumpy and fast? Is it slow and sad? Music evokes emotions in most of us (well, those of us normal humans, anyway) and the music can completely change the tone of a piece.

I am going to post two short videos. Same pictures. Same text. Two very different pieces of music.

(I was actually going to pick a classical piece to REALLY show a difference and then I stumbled across this piece called Funkasaurus…which I had to pick in tribute to the munchkin who loves dinosaurs).

Did you notice the differences? (Hopefully you did!)

Anyway, the point is that music can really inspire you to feel different things. So BEFORE you write the text for your promo video and BEFORE you decide on the pictures that will be floating around, listen to a bunch of music clips and see what hits you. You may go in a completely different direction than what you originally planned. You may decide to make multiple videos to promote your ebook – a different “feel” and a slightly different message to different target markets.

Let the music guide you and see what you come up with!

Using Animoto To Promote Your Ebooks & E-reports

If you’ve looked at the recent blog posts, you know I’ve been bitten by the video bug. But I know not everyone is so rarin’ to go in front of a camera and record themselves. And that’s okay. Because with cool sites like Animoto – you can whip up an awesome little video in a manner of minutes.

You can register for an Animoto account for FREE. Yes, free. (We love free around here).

Here’s the lowdown on Animoto and the free account:

PROS: uh, did I mention it is FREE? It’s simple to use…takes only minutes of your time. Exports to YouTube.. You can share the video via email or use the code to embed it in your site. They have music and pictures available.

CONS: you will soon find out that 30 seconds is really, really short. And that it truly limits what you can pack into a single video. Also, while the music is nifty, there is little to choose from. So far, I’ve been able to find what I want/need…but I could see where I might want more selection. Big con – the pictures are less than desirable (to me, anyway) and slim pickin’s. The amount of text you can type is also quite limited. Kind of annoying for a wordy writer like me.

Seriously, though. I would give Animoto the big thumbs up for promoting an ebook, an e-report or your biz in any way. All you have to do is upload pictures, add some text, pick out some music and voila! Animoto does it all pretty much for you. And it ends up looking like a polished piece o’ work.

Here is one I made as a promo for the 28 Ebook Writing Tips For Parents (an e-report I recently released). I am embedding it using YouTube:

And here’s one I made in all of 6 minutes…using one of my own pictures, and then some royalty free pics over at stock.xchng. And this one is using the embed code from Animoto (so you can see the difference):

There are options for those of you who want to make longer videos. One is the all access pass for $30. This still brands the videos with the Animoto image, apparently. I’m going to try this out before moving onto the next option…which is the commercial use version. The plumped up biz account at Animoto will set you back $99 for 3 months, or $249 a year (thank goodness for business write-offs) but it appears there are a lot more goodies for you to work with when you go this route. As I continue to use Animoto and make various videos, I will be sure to give you feedback.

Free E-Report: 28 Ebook Writing Tips For Parents

Okay…it’s no secret I’m a parent (you can even see a picture of me with my little business assistant on the About Tina Page). And I love to work with parents. Whether they work part-time or full-time at a home business, I get a kick out of helping parents learn how they can use ebooks to promote their biz, build credibility, make money…and sometimes all of that rolled up into one!

So I whipped up a little e-report for the parents out there. Easy to read – 28 tips of ebook writing goodness.

And it’s free! Yippee!!

So go ahead and fill out the form below and you will get your nifty e-report via email (alas, after you confirm that you want it, because the Aweber peeps require such things).

Don’t see the form above? No, it’s not a magic invisible form. It means there are technical difficulties. Such is life. So post a comment to let me know if it’s missing and I’ll make sure you get a copy of the e-report!

Biz Tip: Celebrate Business Milestones!

Most of us embrace the milestones we hit in our lives. From graduating school to hitting a home run to mastering how to make an omelet…we have big and little milestones in our lives that we celebrate.

But what about business?

I’m not talking specifically about your long term dreams and goals (though achieving them is certainly a HUGE milestone and to be most definitely celebrated!!).

I’m referring to the everyday little things in our business. To find out more about why you should celebrate the little milestones, watch the video below….

Biz Tip: Surround Yourself With Peeps Who Know Stuff You Don’t!

I know a little about a lot of stuff. And a lot about a handful of things. But the stuff I know a lot about sure as hell doesn’t include the techie side of websites.

Yes, I know how to update my sites (both static and WordPress sites). But the backend stuff? Heck no!

And honestly, I’m not interested in it anyway. I have WAY too much on my plate as it is.

So…earlier this week it was pointed out to me that my WP sites were down. Not cool.

Even not cooler? I was on the road and really didn’t have the time (or inclination) to figure out what was wrong. Beyond the error log over at Bluehost, I was lost.

This is when it’s pretty handy to have someone that you can contact to help you with such things. The things you don’t know and the things you really don’t want to know.

And for me, that person is Vince.

Ebook Writing Tip: Need Some Help Trying To Figure Out What To Write About?

Have you ever heard the saying “You know more than you think you know?” I sure hope you have!

For many of us, it’s true!

We have information locked inside us that others would LOVE to have!

Many home biz owners are stumped for what they should write about, what they could possibly put into an ebook to use as a marketing piece or a money maker. So here’s my ultra-simple idea when you get stumped:

Ebook Writing Tip: Write Like You Talk

Ooh, ooh!! Ultra excited here!!

My Flip camera arrived and I put it to use! After trying to mess around with my pricey HD cameras with no luck (okay, so perhaps some of the issue is operator error…I’ll take some blame here…) I picked up a great deal on a Flip and you know what? I flippin’ love it!!!

(okay, a bit cheesy, but at least I’m crackin’ myself up)

With no further ado, I present my first ebook writing tip via video:

Comments? Suggestions? I would love to hear your feedback on the tip, or on the video itself. Thanks!!