Wendy Y Bailey Interviews Sherman Hu on Wordpress Blogging for Business

Wendy Y Bailey of DIY Tech Talk is a colleague and social media buddy on Twitter. She interviewed me about the use of Wordpress for business, and expanded on topics ranging from purpose of a blog for business use, plugins - along with my favorite plugins, themes - along with which 3 I recommend, integration with social media, and how to rank well and be visible on Google with blogs.

In this conversation, I shared edu-taining strategies using video to be visible, outrank your competition, and build your brand and expertise - tune in to this part of the conversation! 

As always, I appreciate your feedback and comments on your takeaways, and your thoughts on this video’s content. Cheers!

Show Notes

 01:22 AngelaBaden : Great, great show!

 01:22 shermanlive-1 : Thanks peeps!

 01:22 shermanlive-1 : thanks Angela!

 01:24 AngelaBaden : That really helped, I was feeling rather stymied by what wasn’t going on

 01:24 shermanlive : good! rock and roll now!

 01:26 AngelaBaden : Will do! Will tweet you and andy

 01:55 shermanlive : let me un-password my show peeps - sorry

 01:56 shermanlive : ok, go ahead and refresh the page - there shouldn’t be a password requirement now

 01:56 shermanlive : !moderateon

 01:56 shermanlive : !topic DIY Tech Talk: WordPress with Sherman Hu - Interview Host: Wendy Y Bailey

 03:00 lisamariemary : Hi Sherman!

 03:02 shermanlive : HEY HEY LISA MARIE!!!

 03:02 shermanlive : let your peeps know we’re gonna party about … now

 03:03 lisamariemary : Will do!

 03:03 lisamariemary : Yes

 03:03 DaveMarshall : good here

 03:03 lisamariemary : Volume just right to me

 03:09 shermanlive : wazzup peeps!

 03:10 lisamariemary : Hey Tony! Man, I need to visit your forum!

 03:11 WendyYBailey : snipurl.com/diy-wp-wendyy

 03:11 WendyYBailey : that’s to join the webinar!!

 03:12 TonyBlake : Yes you do Lisa… LOL!

 03:13 TonyBlake : SHOUT!

 03:14 lisamariemary : Eeks - I know, I’ve neglected you

 03:15 lisamariemary : eeks, sound gone

 03:15 lisamariemary : what happened to the audio? is it just me?

 03:16 LifeCoachMary : I love the pictures of food!! Yummo.

 03:16 shermanlive : do u hear us now?

 03:16 AndreaC : I hear fine

 03:16 shermanlive : HEY LIFECOACHMARY!!!

 03:16 lisamariemary : No, maybe I need to log in and out…hmm…

 03:16 LifeCoachMary : sound isn’t synced to the phone…

 03:16 shermanlive : refresh?

 03:17 lisamariemary : All better! Ahh!

 03:17 LifeCoachMary : do you know what the link is for Wendyy’s snip.url?

 03:17 shermanlive : yes there’s a delay

 03:17 shermanlive : snipurl.com/diy-wp-wendyy

 03:17 AndreaC : No better to make a choice with the audio, either or

 03:18 lisamariemary : Audio’s all fixed for me

 03:18 AndreaC : lol

 03:18 AndreaC : whats “for” dinner?

 03:21 LifeCoachMary : Thanks…all this technology is very cool.

 03:22 WendyYBailey : I love SEO, especially the All In One SEO Plugin for WordPress!

 03:23 WendyYBailey : What questions do you have about SEO and WordPress?

 03:24 AndreaC : Besides using the SEO plugin what else do you recommend doing?

 03:26 WendyYBailey : What’s a trackback?

 03:26 LisaVanAllen : Thanks for asking that WendyY

 03:27 lisamariemary : LOL!!!

 03:27 LisaVanAllen : I was getting scared

 03:27 WendyYBailey : LOL

 03:29 AndreaC : would you only do one or the other - comment or trackback?

 03:34 LisaVanAllen : When my prospects google “LisaVanAllen” these days, they find pg 1 filled with info on a woman involved in a notorious lawsuit (NOT ME). Any way to knock her off and regain page 1??

 03:36 LisaVanAllen : Is that QAlias?

 03:36 shermanlive : www.qalias.com/

 03:37 WendyYBailey : qalias.com/af/wb01

 03:37 LisaVanAllen : Got any contacts for me??

 03:37 shermanlive : i’ll send U “TONY”

 03:37 lisamariemary : LOL!

 03:37 LisaVanAllen : heehee

 03:38 lisamariemary : lol

 03:38 LisaVanAllen : It was NASTY!

 03:38 lisamariemary : Squidoo!

 03:39 LisaVanAllen : Not yet… will now!!

 03:39 LisaVanAllen : Just getting started with video

 03:39 lisamariemary : And use blogspot and youtube, too - they seem to get in the SERPS fairly quickly

 03:39 LisaVanAllen : How FUN!!!!

 03:39 AndreaC : brilliant!!

 03:40 lisamariemary : Oooh, yeah!!! That’d be cool!

 03:40 WendyYBailey : You got the right one, baby!!

 03:40 lisamariemary : Awesome!

 03:40 shermanlive : TubeMogul.com

 03:40 LisaVanAllen : That is a fabulous idea!!

 03:40 lisamariemary : I love it! And it’d make a cute Squidoo lens!

 03:41 LisaVanAllen : THANK YOU!!!

 03:41 LisaVanAllen : Yup with R Kelly

 03:41 LisaVanAllen : NOT ME!

 03:41 LisaVanAllen : Yes… very white!

 03:41 lisamariemary : lol

 03:41 lisamariemary : lmao!!!

 03:42 AndreaC : So when I search Lisa Van Allen next month, hope to see this video

 03:42 lisamariemary : No problems with new version? I’m scared to upgrade

 03:43 TonyBlake : No probs so far Lisa… upgrade was easy and no probs

 03:44 lisamariemary : Groovy!

 03:44 TonyBlake : I’ve upgraded all my blogs to 2.7 and have yet to have a prob — and I have like 35 blogs

 03:44 lisamariemary : OMG, Tony - wow!

 03:44 LisaVanAllen : 35?!?!?!? Where do you find the time?

 03:44 WendyYBailey : WOOHOO!

 03:45 lisamariemary : Tony is super groovy!

 03:45 LisaVanAllen : Tony - can we be friends?

 03:45 AndreaC : www.ablakeforum.com

 03:45 TonyBlake :

 03:45 TonyBlake : @tonyblakelive

 03:46 WendyYBailey : What plug-ins do you suggest?

 03:47 TonyBlake : I love sharethis… makes life so easy

 03:47 WendyYBailey : plug-ins: sharethis

 03:47 WendyYBailey : plug-ins: twittertools

 03:49 WendyYBailey : post a digest of your tweets on your blog

 03:49 WendyYBailey : kewlio!

 03:49 LisaVanAllen : Loving this!

 03:49 WendyYBailey : Me too, Lisa!

 03:49 SelfMadeCelo : Another great plugin is “Lifestream” reads RSS feeds from a ton of different social sites (Digg, FaceBook, Twitter, Flickr, etc) and posts it on one page

 03:49 LifeCoachMary : Where do we find that twitter to blog tool? Very cool!

 03:49 shermanlive : “Share This”

 03:49 WendyYBailey : plug-ins:  podpress

 03:50 shermanlive : “Twitter Tools

 03:50 TonyBlake : lifestream is another cool plugin — it posts your twitter or a twitter digest directly to your blog as a post

 03:50 shermanlive : “Podpress” MightySeek.com

 03:50 SelfMadeCelo : @Tony, great minds think alike eh? lol

 03:51 TonyBlake : LOL!… didn’t see your comment

 03:51 shermanlive : WishlistPlugin.com

 03:51 SelfMadeCelo : I’m actually setting up Lifestream right now =)

 03:55 WendyYBailey : snipurl.com/diy-wp-wendyy

 03:55 LifeCoachMary : Are plugins easy to install, or is it best to delegate to VA?

 03:56 LisaVanAllen : Give me a call Wendy!

 03:57 LisaVanAllen : Answer Mary’s question about whether we should hire a VA for our plugins??

 03:57 WendyYBailey : Plug-ins are easy but do delegate to a VA so you can focus on doing what you truly love — coaching!

 03:58 LifeCoachMary : Thank you!! Now I know how my peeps feel not understanding all this language. Thanks for doing this!

 03:58 WendyYBailey : You’re quite welcome!

 04:02 WendyYBailey : tutorialu.com

 04:03 WendyYBailey : wordpresstutorials.com

 04:03 WendyYBailey : diytechtalk.com  

 04:03 WendyYBailey : GENIUS!!

 04:04 WendyYBailey : You might also have a web dev/project manager to handle that stuff too.

 04:04 LifeCoachMary : You make it sound not so scary…but I’ll probably still delegate.

 04:05 shermanlive : lol - good for you!

 04:05 LifeCoachMary : If we’re a newbie with plugins, what’s the one or two we should add first?

 04:05 WendyYBailey : elance.com

 04:05 shermanlive : odesk.com

 04:05 WendyYBailey : guru.com

 04:05 WendyYBailey : odefk.com

 04:05 WendyYBailey : lol  odesk.com

 04:06 WendyYBailey : Do you know joselin mane?

 04:06 LisaVanAllen : Joselin Mane is awesome!

 04:06 LisaVanAllen : So, so helpful!

 04:07 WendyYBailey : groupcoachingmastery.com is a Semiologic pro/WP blog.

 04:09 WendyYBailey : That’s way kewl!

Will Newman, AWAI Interviews Sherman Hu

Will Newman, Managing Editor of “Copywriting Insider” (AWAI) interviewed me this morning. Frankly, this ranks as one of my all time favorite interview sessions. I believe alot had to do with how much of a pro Will is with his pre-interview research. He had invested hours of research into my previous blog entries, podcasts and videos before conducting his interview with intelligent questions that inspired lengthy, in-depth answers from me. Almost felt like an “Inside The Actors Studio” session

HIs audience are copywriting students, novice professional writers and folks who are generally tech-unsavvy. The questions Will asked of me really opened up answers targeting mindset and practices with respects to blogging, podcasting, video and social media / networking.

I’m confident you’ll receive tremendous value from this interview. It would really thrill me to receive your feedback, thoughts and comments on this interview and your takeaways that you’ll take action on.

(sidenote: To prevent audio feedback with Will, this interview seems 1-sided with me talking. As much as I could, I rephrased Will’s question/s before my answers. Just a heads up.)

ExtremeMember Shane Goldberg Answers Membership Software Questions

The problem with today’s membership scripts is the pain of integration with half a dozen other software scripts to make it sing for your membership business. The other issue with some of the membership services is high cost in the thousands before you open your doors for business.

Membership software developers haven’t created an all-in-one script that is sweetly integrated, so business owners and entrepreneurs like us don’t have to experience the CRUP of integrating all the pieces of the puzzle, ie.
- CMS (content management system),
- member gateway,
- email autoresponder module,
- affiliate management module,
- payment gateways,
- timed-content-moduling,
- secure media servers etc.

On the other hand, there are membership services that have all of the above available that charge an arm and leg - not something that small biz owners or entrepreneurs can handle in their budgets.

What’s Possible Today?

Shane Goldberg, CEO of ExtremeMember (http://ExtremeMember.org) has toiled the last 2 years to develop a brilliant integrated solution at a very affordable price point for business owners, consultants and entrepreneurs.

A husband and father of 2 lovely young children who lives in Adelaide, Australia, Shane experienced the pain of piece-mealing his own membership solution back in the day when he had a photoshop tutorial membership site. Hating that experience, he sought to develop a strong North American and European development team. Together, they rocked out with what you now see at http://ExtremeMember.org.

Christmas in July?

That was my experience with poking around backstage, setting up my next tutorial membership project - like Christmas all over again!

Instead of writing all the details, Shane and I had an impromptu 2-parter interview ("pain of integrating membership software" and "extrememember best features walkthrough") I want to share with you.

In addition, a week later, we organized an ‘open mic’ interview where over 140 interested business owners could ask their questions. The videos below offer you that experience. (The hour long recorded video has been split into 8 x 10-minute short clips for easier download and consumption).

Next Steps

If you’re moving forward with new membership or product business sites, and want an integrated solution that will keep you young and sane <wink>, this is what I recommend:

01. REGISTER FOR TRIAL

Click http://ExtremeMember.org and register for the $2.95 15-day trial.

This will effectively give you a backstage access tour to determine if this fits ‘the bill’. Kick tires, give it a whirl, and it may be "Christmas in July" for you like it is for me

Shane’s a good natured fellow with a heart for supporting his customers, so he’s capping the beta release at 200 accounts. After 200, he’s closing the release, so he can support us new customers effectively. (Note that it launched July 15th, 6p PT, and with the word spreading, I hope its not too late for you if you’re considering the trial).

My recommendation? For $2.95, register for the trial. Need I say more?

02. VIEW INTERVIEW VIDEOS

View the short 2-part interviews (here and here) & short 8 x 10-minute multi-part videos below.

The videos will give you an insight into this membership software platform, answer your questions, and also a sense/vibe of who Shane Goldberg is and his passion and vision for this software.

03. JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP

Join the "Extreme Member Membership Software" Facebook Group

Join this no-cost community of business owners who are either:
(1) Registered as trial members/paid members or
(2) Researching and asking more questions

When you’re registered with ExtremeMember.org, Shane has a host of video tutorials to guide you every step of the way when you’re registered for the trial. If you prefer a different modality, I’ve published 6 training documents at this Facebook group to get your feet wet with setting up your first ExtremeMember account. Join it, and enjoy those… my gift to you

Keepin’ it real… ExtremeMember.org fits hand in glove with my membership site business needs, and I’ve been thrilled to not only use the platform, but to know Shane Goldberg personally. I give him and EM 2 thumbs up, baby! Catch ya backstage!

Here are the videos. Appreciate your comments and feedback as always

 

 

Membership Software - ExtremeMember.org - Developer Shane Goldberg Interview - Part 2

Following up on Part 1 of this interview, Shane Goldberg of ExtremeMember.org reveals the most exciting features of each module in this 22 minute product overview interview.

When you watch this video, you’ll discover why I’m so excited about this web-based membership software. The current and future-planned features make this the most comprehensive membership software platform for the entrepreneur & small business owner, at a price point that’s truly affordable.

Shane has also planned a very irresistable product release pricing offer that’s out of this world. You’ll have to join us for next week’s LIVE video interview to discover how you can take advantage of this offer

Yes, next Monday, clear your calendar for an hour at the time below, as Shane and I "open the floor" to burning questions you have about ExtremeMember.org and its membership software inner workings. We’ll peek backstage at the user-interface, the modules and whatever else you’d like to see/ask to determine if this is a right fit for your membership business.

Mark this in your calendar: Monday, July 14th 2008 @ 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11p UK at ShermanHu.tv

Join us on the live video broadcast, and we’ll go backstage

In the meantime, click the links below to check out Part 2 of the video interview as you get deeper insights into why this membership software is "extreme" …

Membership Software - ExtremeMember.org - Developer Shane Goldberg Interview - Part 1

Researching, selecting and integrating different software scripts to launch a membership website can be "cruel and unusual punishment". I should know.

At WordpressTutorials.com, my membership site that teaches business owners how to start and use Wordpress blogs for business, uses aMember (membership gateway), Aweber (email module), iDevAffiliate (affiliate module), 2 installs of Wordpress blogs (front end and backstage), Paypal and 2Checkout (payment gateways). It’s hairy to integrate, let alone teach it to my colleagues and members. Learn from my mistakes - don’t do what I did - save your sanity!

Furthermore, there are so many options in the marketplace, from cheap scripts (that leave you wanting more) to expensive hosted solutions (for the corporate market or business owners who have lots of money to burn).

Is there a comprehensive all-in-one option that won’t break the bank for us entrepreneurs and small business owners?

Yes there is. On July 15th, 2008, a new membership software, Extreme Member (ExtremeMember.org), developed by Australian Shane Goldberg will open its doors.

Extreme Member is a comprehensive membership software that is backed by the infamous Wordpress platform, making it a breeze for those familiar with Wordpress blogs. It sports secure & feature-rich membership site management to create unlimited membership programs, an email marketing module that rival industry-standard services, a robust affiliate management module that will make a veteran affiliate smile with glee, a sharp Web 2.0/Ajax User Interface that’s a joy to work with, and integration with major payment gateways.

Shane’s support through my beta test was exemplary and his easy-going style, along with his good-natured personality affords me an easy 2 thumbs up recommendation of ExtremeMember.org to my colleagues and friends.

Click the links below to watch this short 12 minute Part 1 interview I conducted with Shane Goldberg, as we discover why he created this membership software. In addition, you’ll understand what Shane and I have experienced in creating membership sites in the past…feel our pain!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this interview where we dive into the features Shane has added to his membership software solution. It truly was Christmas for me all over again Plus, Shane and I will broadcast an informal interview LIVE on video next week, Monday July 14 at 3pm PT/6p ET. You’ll have an opportunity to see the inside workings of ExtremeMember.org and ask your burning questions. Add it to your calendar and come join us LIVE.

I welcome your feedback and thoughts as always

Mark Ress Virtual Real Estate (VRE) Interview Recording

Straight up - keepin’ it real - this is the most passionate, "in-your-face" interview I’ve ever conducted.

Mark Ress is a Virtual Real Estate (VRE) genius that has not only profited from his VRE strategies, but has taught his students, AND his own children how to profit from this too! (his 9 yo daughter’s also doing this)

Here’s why I’m excited - 3 reasons:

1. Business Education Curriculum: My wife and I homeschool our 2 children and I’m ready to teach them how to create and profit from their own online businesses. In the future, if they want to chase their passions, they can do it for the love of it, and not worry about the financial gains, as their online businesses are funding them.

Part of the challenge is choosing an ideal business model to teach, as many do not offer longevity, require a steep learning curve, OR do not offer easy entry, ease of duplication, low risk and high returns. I believe VRE is the ideal model for my family.

2. Bucket List: Looking through the perspective of "Daddy’s Eyes", I want my wife and children to be self-sustaining when I "kick the bucket". Morbid as I talk or think about it often, but this is important to me. I despise the thought of my family having to go backwards in lifestyle, not being able to generate revenues as & when they need it, or my wife having to go back to a job because she can’t manage my current businesses (because of skill level, personality and knowledge).

If you’re a parent, and are looking for business setups that can carry on past your lifetime, this is one of the best ways I can envision deploying it. I’m a proud parent, and I’m thrilled about this.

3. Small Group Mentoring from a Friend and Master: Mark Ress has grown to be a dear friend. He’s passionate about his family, is a super straight-shooter, and is grateful for his success because he’s seen the worst of it growing up. He keeps it real and lives what he teaches.

As a favor to me, Mark Ress and I assembled a 4-week, 10-person small group LIVE webinar coaching available to my audience and friends on our LIVE video broadcast (May 14th) and to you if you’re reading this entry/viewing the archived videos. As of the time I’m writing this entry, [UPDATED: May 16, 2008 1:47pm PT] SOLD OUT 7 9 10 seats spoken for (3 1 0 seat available). Deadline: Sunday Midnight PT or when all seats registered. All the details available at VRE Coach.

I’m thrilled to learn from Mark the details of his VRE strategies, teach it to my wife and children so we can all profit from it together.

If you’ve been tracking with me at ShermanLive.com or WordpressTutorials.com, you know "how I roll". I’ll be pulling back from speaking engagements and interviews (except for those I’ve committed to) and investing time and energy into my own private projects. I pray you see the value I see in this business model and register for one of those remaining spots in the program.

You can download the 6-part (20 minutes each) videos (and audios) below. Appreciate you!

3 Most Asked Questions About Virtual Real Estate (VRE)

On this Part 2, 6 minute video, Sherman Hu interviews Mark Ress for answers to the 3 most commonly asked questions regarding the VRE (Virtual Real Estate) business.

In addition, our Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6pm PDT (9pm EDT) LIVE broadcast on Ustream will be one you won’t want to miss. Tons of value, inside information, truly honest coaching and one that I’m ensuring my family tunes in too!

To join us, simply visit http://www.ShermanHu.tv a few minutes before the broadcast, as listed above.

What Is VRE (Virtual Real Estate)? A Mark Ress Interview

What is VRE (Virtual Real Estate)? You’ve heard of "Real Estate" and how folks will buy and sell it, buy-renovate-flip it, and buy-and-hold it. Seems like everyone has their own philosophy on how to best approach the market.

But what about Virtual Real Estate? What is considered real estate online? And more importantly, how does one jump into this market and profit from it?

Enter Mark Ress from California. I met Mark at a workshop organized by friend, Howie Schwartz. He’s a family man, works "underground", and is very profitable with VRE.

Watch this 18 minute video - part 1 of a 2 part video interview. Part 2 coming tomorrow. You’ll understand why I’m so excited about this business model (its not what you think) and why you’d be wise to invest the next 20 minutes to watch this video now.

At the end of the video, you’ll get details of this Wednesday’s LIVE Broadcast on Ustream. The broadcast will be private and password-protected. In tomorrow’s Part 2 interview, I’ll include a password for you to access the broadcast. Why? Block out spammers from this broadcast so that we get super-value from our super-focused broadcast - no distractions for all involved. Cool? OK.

As always, appreciate your feedback and comments.

How To Use Twitter For Business Connections & Results

Alejandro Reyes (SuccessFool.com) interviewed me about Twitter - a social networking, microblogging web-based service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface to stay connected in real time. You can communicate and stay connected through the exchange of short status messages of less than 140 characters.

We discuss who should use it, why to use it, how to use it and more. During the interview, I littered a host of tips and resources to use Twitter effectively, eg. connecting it to Facebook, your blog and the many applications that work with Twitter. Keep an eye out for those.

Check this video out and I appreciate your feedback and comments.

 

Bill Vick, XtremeRecruiting Interviews Sherman Hu

ShermanLive.com“>

Bill Vick (XtremeRecruiting.tv) interviewed me about how headhunters and recruiters can leverage blogging, video and social media to extend their brand, subject matter expertise and reach, which in turns enhances their business and profits.

View this video and consider how it can apply to your professional service. Do you see angles that you can transfer concepts, strategies, techniques and skills?

How can you leverage blogging, podcasting, video and social media to extend YOUR brand, subject matter expertise and reach, which in turns enhances YOUR business and profits.

Care to share what you gleaned from this video? What are your takeaways? Would love your feedback here.

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