The Wet Sponge

Prospering in 2010 is a 1-day conference organized by the Blue Ridge Community College Small Business Center, and is held at their Flat Rock Campus. The date this year is February 2, 8 a.m. – 12 noon for panel discussions. The afternoon is a general public conference to talk about hot topics and benefits of Home Renovation 2010.

This year it’s FREE thanks to the sponsors (see below).

Visit http://blueridge.edu/business_person/events/prosper2010.php for more details and registration.

The day-long conference provides expert help and professional advice on marketing of all kinds… including Internet marketing.

Each year we focus on certain types of businesses. This year, we’ll be addressing marketing trends and providing tips & advice for those in: Real Estate, Construction/Landscaping, Design (Architects, Interior Designers, Landscape Designers), and Renovation businesses.

I’ll be on the panel answering questions about SEO, PPC, e-mail (permission-based) marketing, and broadening your business ‘presence’ on the web. Other panel members – Barbara Donithan and Paul vanHeden – will address Social Media Marketing, using podcasting/online radio/video, Mobile Marketing, Blogging, and how to use coupons and discounts effectively.

Even if you’re not in real estate or construction, these conferences are well worth the time for any businessperson. You’ll learn a lot of “essentials” that any business owner will find useful and valuable… for FREE.

Sponsors of this event: Blue Ridge Community College/Blue Ridge Innovation Network, AdvantageWest Economic Development Group, Wheeler & Marks, Land of Sky Regional Council, Mountain BizWorks, SCORE, and Smoky Mountain Development Corporation.

This is a beginner’s lesson on adding a video to your blog. For this explanation, I’m using Wordpress (version 2.8.4) for my blog, and am going to add a video I found on YouTube.

 It’s actually quite easy.

Start with two browser windows or tabs open, one where you’ve logged in to your blog to write a post, and the other one on the page for the video you want.

1. On YouTube, look to the right of the video and you’ll see two little boxes of code. All you need to do is highlight the contents of the box for “Embed” and copy it.

2. Switch over to your blog where you’re writing a post. In Wordpress, first of all switch from using the Visual editor to using the HTML editor. Place your cursor to wherever you want to Embed (insert) the video, and simply paste in the code.

Publish, and that’s it!

If you have any difficulties, see my additional notes below the video – after you’ve watched it, of course

This video is perfect for cat lovers and music lovers everywhere!

Le Duo des Chats, sung by Les Petits Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois:

To be honest, I have lately encountered some trouble embedding videos, and I don’t know if it’s glitches in Wordpress or what. If you have problems, start over and make sure you:

1. Log in to Wordpress as somebody with Admin rights. It should not be necessary, but it helped me out a lot.

2. Start a simple blog post using the HTML editor, not the Visual one. I tried over and over with the Visual editor and it simply failed to include my video embed code, no matter what I did. You can go back and edit and update your blog post later, after you’ve got the video in place.

3. I also had trouble previewing the blog post – I simply had to Publish it and then go back and edit the post. (I tried both firefox and IE 8, but it doesn’t appear to be a browser issue.)

I’ll be teaching classes on Internet Marketing for Green Businesses at AB-Tech!

Squeeze The Sponge for knowledge, experience, useful info & tools, and hands-on practice for a measly $25.

There are two dates:

September 25th at the AB-Tech Enka/Candler Campus

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

1459 Sandill Road
Candler NC 28715

October 19th at the Madison County Campus

9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

4646 US Highway 25-70
Marshall NC 28753

On each date, there is a morning session covering the essentials of site optimization, Pay-Per-Click advertising, and Social Media. The morning session costs $25.

In the afternoon we’ll get a bit more advanced with hands-on practice on real sites, blogs, and PPC campaigns. The afternoon session costs $25.

So if you attend both (all materials covered in one day) the total cost is $50.

The computer labs are excellent – you don’t even need to bring your laptop. A binder full of lessons learned from 10 years of experience, and resources specific for Green Business, will be provided to all class participants.

All registration should be done directly via AB-Tech at:

http://www.abtech.edu/ce/schedule/gist.asp

I’m really looking forward to this. I love to pass on what I’ve learned from many years in the business of helping other businesses online. You don’t even have to have a web site to benefit (though it helps.)

I’ve taught IM classes at Asheville SCORE and Blue Ridge Community College. I also stay up-to-date on the latest & greatest, so I hope you’ll join me for this very educational and informative class in a comfortable, personalized setting.

Meanwhile:

Ask questions! Just post your questions here.

And please pass it on if you know of anyone who might benefit from this class.

Regards,

Fiona Dudley
The Sponge

OK, yeah, I’ve gotta set up another blog for my personal stuff – but this one neatly straddles the gray line between Social Media for business and personal use. This video is sooo funny, yet accurately describes how Social Media works when it comes to creating a “cult of personality.”

I believe the original title of the video is: Throw’d TV Presents: Facebook Breakup

I’ve no idea why but I’ve been unable to embed this video in my blog.

But you can find it on YouTube under Throw’d TV and here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTwwuIn9inE

Many, many Social Media lessons to be learned here.

Next step – track and follow whoever CREATED this video. Then do something EVEN BETTER.

Sponge

This one’s for those of you who like to make your own liqueurs, especially Lemoncello/Limoncello.

For those of you who don’t know, Limoncello is something between a liqueur and a potable with a powerful punch. It’s basically a way to flavor a strong alcohol (like vodka or Aquavit). Plus its high sugar content indicates you’d better be sippin’ this stuff, not sluggin’ it.

It does take 5 weeks to do, so the best time to make a batch is in spring so it’s ready for summer drinks. But it also makes a very nice winter toddy.

I learned how to make this from my Danish Aunt Ella, a former Miss Denmark – so I think she’s a good source! I’ve made it once so far, with great success – it is very easy. This time around I’m trying it with Lime, and an orange version using Clementine oranges.

Basic Limoncello Recipe

• One 1-quart Mason jar
• One bottle (750 ml) of 190 proof grain alcohol (see notes below)
• 10 lemons
• 2-3/4 cups water
• 3 cups sugar

Step 1:

Wash and dry your lemons (removes any mold spores or other contaminants.) Slice off the ends of the lemons (to make them much easier and safer to peel) and then peel them with a small, very sharp (be careful!) paring knife. You want only the outside rind, avoiding the pale pith just below it (which is bitter). Save the lemons, see notes below. Put the parings in your Mason jar and fill it up with the grain alcohol.

Step 2:
Put the Mason jar in the fridge for 14 days, shaking it once a day to stir things up.

Step 3:
On the 14th day, mix the water and sugar in a saucepan big enough to allow for adding the alcohol. Boil the water and sugar until all sugar is dissolved, ,about 2-3 minutes at the boiling point. Cover and set it aside to cool. (Covering it prevents the entrance of any mold spores and basically helps keep your mix sterile.)

Step 4:
Strain the alcohol from the mason jar, leaving all the parings behind  – but don’t throw them away! See notes below. Add the alcohol to the sugar/water mix, stir it a bit. Then pour it all back into your Mason Jar.

Step 5:
Put the Mason Jar in the fridge for 3 weeks, and shake it twice a day.

Step 6:
At the end of the 3 weeks (actually, by now, 5 weeks) you can put your jar in the freezer. Don’t fill it too far or seal it too tight. Despite the high alcohol content, which means it generally ain’t gonna freeze until you-know-where does, you should leave a little room for liquid expansion. Don’t blame me if you end up with a sticky, messy explosion (hmmm, maybe I should rephrase that!)

Once it’s ice cold, it’s ready to drink – in small quantities. Or you can dash it into any number of favorite drinks and cocktails.

Variations:

I don’t have the “proof” yet, but this time I am trying a batch with lime, and another with the peel of Clementine oranges. Stay tuned for the follow-up when I can report the results, somewhere around October 1.

NOTES:

For us frugal cooks and mixmasters, after peeling your lemons (or limes or oranges) squeeze out the juice. For long-term storage, pour juice into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, you can transfer the block of juice into freezer storage bags.

Don’t throw away the parings after you’re done soaking them in the alcohol! Toss them into a plastic bag and save them in the freezer. They’re great for adding to tea, iced tea, iced water, and cocktails. Probably lots of food recipes too.

By the way, the pared down lemons seem to keep very well in the fridge – so after you’re done peeling them, save one or two in the fridge for cooking or whatever.

It also helps if you live in a state like NC, where you can buy the really hi-test 190 proof stuff in the liquor store (they’re called ABC stores here, for Alcohol Beverage Control, or something like that. ) And, of course, large wide-mouthed Mason jars in the local grocery or hardware store

If you cannot legally get your hands on hi-proof grain alcohol, I have been told you can try the recipe using standard 80-100 proof vodka, but that some adjustments to the recipe are needed. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think a higher ratio of lemon peel to vodka, and a lower ratio of sugar/water to alcohol, would be called for. That’s because a regular vodka is not strong enough to extract “all” the natural aromatic, volatile oils from the citrus peel. And too much sugar-water will over-sweeten the finished goods.

I’ll add to this post when my lime and orange test batches are done. Meanwhile, I’ve already done the lemon version and I can’t tell you how delicious this stuff is!

Or, What I Learned at the SocialFresh Conference in Charlotte, August 2009.

You walk into a big room full of people. Most of them are happily chatting away in small groups. Obviously they know each other, and have plenty to talk about – but YOU don’t know anybody in the room.

Don’t you wish that somebody would walk up to you with a smile, and say…

“Hi! I’m Tom Ringmaster and I noticed when you came in.

Know anybody here? No? Well, let me show you around.

There’s some great appetizers over there – go help yourself anytime. We’ve also got a full-service wine bar over here. It’s not free, but we’ve got all sorts of new wines lined up if you’re interested. You can taste as many of them as you like before deciding which one to order.

What’s your name? Fiona – hey, that’s cool – Scottish – right? What do you do? You’re a wine taster? Great! You should really come on over here and talk to Sally and Joe. They’re wine importers and I”m sure they’d love to talk to you.

Hey Sally – Joe – meet Fiona here.  She’s a wine taster from Scotland. I just finished telling her about the fantastic new Rosé from the south of France you got your hands on.”

“Hi  Sally, Hi Joe, pleased to meet you! Name’s Fiona. Yep, believe it or not I’m a wine taster from Scotland. I saw a sign outside about some kind of wine bar & tasting event, so I decided to just wander in. I don’t know anybody here yet.”

“Oh Fiona, you really need to try this new French Rosé. Once you’ve tried it you’ll never drink American again. Let’s head on over to the wine bar and do some tasting, and let me know what you think.

Joe & I are importers – we don’t sell direct, but Tom thought this stuff was so good he’s already bought 20 cases from us. And he’s selling it at a great price.”

“Wow – this is the best Rosé I’ve ever tasted! Thanks Sally!”

“Well, if you decide you want a few bottles, definitely contact Tom Ringmaster – he only stocks the best, and just between you and me, he doesn’t jack up the prices like some places do. Plus he can ship it anywhere for you – guaranteed to arrive in one piece or your money back. We really like doing business with Tom, we can’t recommend him highly enough. Here’s his contact info if you need it.

Here’s our contact info too, in case you’re interested in something that Tom doesn’t carry.”

“Thanks Joe, thanks Sally! I’ll definitely be doing my wine buying from Tom Ringmaster from now on! What else is here at the wine bar you’d recommend?”

Now that was social media marketing! Now – how does this work online?

All you need to do is think of your site, or blog, or Facebook page, as being just like that room. And think of yourself, or your organization, as Mr. Ringmaster.

A web site or blog is not an empty room waiting to be filled up with furniture and the latest in interesting décor.

It is waiting to be filled with people interested in your stuff – customers, and  people who know other people of the same interests, and recommendations!

If your site or blog is not inviting – welcoming- helping newcomers find their way around and find what they want – then no amount of SEO or advertising is going to help you in the long run.

Now here’s a different scenario.

You walk into an event, all by your lonesome and you don’t know anybody there. You’re sure you’re all there for the same reason, and you’ve probably got similar interests and things to talk about. But you’re too shy to butt in on somebody else’s conversation.

Nobody welcomes you at the door. The room is crowded and hard to navigate your way through. There’s a table of free appetizers but they’re all gone by now – too bad – you were starving when you came in. There’s a long wine bar with all sorts of enticing items to try & buy – but the bartender is busy talking to the manager about getting some more appetizers in here. The bartender gives you a wave to indicate he’ll be ‘right with you’. But the discussion with the manager goes on a while…

So you decide to leave.

And you’re never coming back. Or going to recommend it to friends. In fact, you might even post your disappointing experience online.

I hope that business owners who are looking for answers about Social Media have found this helpful.

I also want you to know that the SocialFresh Charlotte event, all its sponsors, speakers, volunteers and participants were absolutely incredible.

If you want to know more about Social Media – what it is – whether it’s for you – and find some great people to follow and listen to, then go to www.socialfresh.com for all the details. Follow them on Twitter @sofresh

OK Folks,

Until I start a separate blog for biz & personal, here it is. My favorite Asheville NC bluegrass bands & musicians.

I got fired up to post my favorites when Steep Canyon Rangers played with Steve Martin on Prairie Home Companion tonight. This was the best PHC show I have heard in at least five years, without question – and I’ve been listening since, oh, some time in the mists of the ’70’s.

What a stellar performance tonight! Not only did we get the regular cast, and “up and coming” radio performer Martin (sexier than his son and that’s saying a lot) Sheen, we got:

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers; Stuart Duncan; Arlo Guthrie Heather Massey from the Wailin’ Jennies.

Until NPR and PHC see fit to provide a video I can link to, here’s a good one  I pinched from YouTube just to get you rolling. It’s in 2 parts so be sure to watch both. And Nicky, at least, is probably groaning ’cause I picked Orange Blossom Special

The Steep Canyon Rangers kick the bluegrass into the next county, if not all the way to the moon. I particularly love the fiddlin’ by Nicky Sanders – I’m a closet fiddle player. You can check out Nicky at www.nickysanders.com , or on MySpace, or on Facebook (that boy gets around!)

But there are waaay more to tell you about! In no particular order -

A new CD from Lance Mills, “Wore Out Shoes” – boy can Lance write & sing! Check out his MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/lancemillstunes

Then there’s Miriam Allen. She can mix up traditional Appalachian and “south of the border” until you just can’t stay sittin’ down – you just got to get up and dance. Either that, or gaze into your lover’s eyes On her latest, “La Capitana”, it is really hard to pick a favorite, but I love “One Eyed Jack” – you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!!! Give her a listen at www.miriamallen.com or her MySpace page.

How ’bout Town Mountain? Robert Greer can sure croon out a cryin’ in your beer tune. Check out Robert and Town Mountain out at www.townmountain.net .

Ryan Cavanaugh – Wicked banjo! He’s played with so many bands and other musicians it’s hard to pin him down. Check him out MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/banjoryan.

Then of course I can’t leave out my #1 favorite Asheville bluegrass musician of all – Tom Dudley. He likes to mix things up a bit, from traditional to newgrass to country to off-the-wall,for example “Etch-A-Sketch of Love” which got a personal phonecall and a really special thank-you from the Prez at the Ohio Art Company. (Etch-A-Sketch and Ohio Art Company are trademarked, registered, and copyrighted, folks.)

Tom Dudley’s debut independent release by Hoot Holler Music,  “Walkin’ To The Bridge” ranges very widely in style – so if you want to see what he’s got, go to www.hoothollermusic.com. “Walkin’ To The Bridge” features collaborations with his bandmates Jay Mullenax and Paul Leech of County Farm (www.countyfarm.net) as well as contributions from Nicky Sanders, Ryan Cavanaugh, Carey Fridley, Lance Mills, and Daniel Coolik.

This post is by no means complete – i still need to add some links for Carey Fridley and Daniel Coolick & more.

Please tell me about your own favorites so I can add to this post!

“Global Strategy for American businesses includes America” !

This minute I am watching & listening to the interview between Charlie Rose and Jeffrey Immelt, the Chairman & CEO of GE (General Electric) on my local PBS station.

GE is one of the few big American technology companies that have survived. Mr. Immelt has some very piquant points to make.

He is continually pointing out the importance of keeping the WORKFORCE competitive. To paraphrase, American companies certainly “have” made some mistakes when it comes to outsourcing the wrong things… not supporting the training and education resources American companies need in order to be competitive in the global market… thinking of our American companies as somehow different from those abroad.

GE and similar companies who are primary source providers of aerospace and other high-tech products need to make sure their workforce is well-educated and well-trained. That’s what our competitors are doing – why aren’t we?

Why aren’t we considering our own American people – our parents, husbands and wives, our sons and daughters -  as assets to be treated as such!

We must turn around the attitude of American business owners, boards, investors, and – yes – the employees themselves. We must deal with the fact that to be competitive in a global market – and to keep our successful employers & employees alive – we all need to think and work smarter.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Immelt’s comments on how GE has remained not just viable, but successful.  Obviously, don’t let our local, state, and federal governments cut back on funding for technical colleges and universities. For me in the WNC area, that means Asheville-Buncombe Technical CC, Blue Ridge Community College, and the University of NC Asheville. Industrial companies should also invest in in-house employee training programs – for example, such as those provided by Topaz, a professional hi-tech training development company in my area.

It isn’t a nebulous problem, people. Actually measuring the Return On Investment in people and education is a piece of cake compared to most of the metrics I wrangle with on a daily basis as an internet marketer.

But listen up – as employees, we “also” have to invest our time, effort and ambitions in our own education and training. If we want American business to survive, everyone – from top to bottom – has to be invested in the process. Success is success – you win, I win, they win, we all win.

-Sponge

How to optimize a site and do internet marketing for an international audience is a major FAQ in the business these days. This is just a quick post of my first impressions from seeing the Web from another country – for the first time!

I suggest that one of the best ways to study this is to actually BE in other countries, but this is not always an option for site owners. Despite the fact that I’ve built multi-lingual websites over the years, this was my first opportunity to take my own computer along and just see what happens.

I’ve just returned from a three week trip overseas, including stays in the UK and France. This is a quick, first post on what I discovered. Since this was a family trip, not a business trip, I didn’t have as much time to play around online as I would have liked – but I will expand on this subject as soon as I can.

For a first-timer, the first challenge is getting an internet connection. I brought along my laptop (with a universal power converter) and made an effort to go online every day, no matter where I was. My first try was sitting outside Frankfurt airport in between flights. My trusty laptop detected a half-dozen possible networks, but of course I didn’t know if any of them were free & open networks. I picked one that looked OK, but it required a user login. I stopped at that point, not wanting to “experiment” with my computer too much or expose it to unknown risks.

(Note: My laptop, at least, came home virus-free. Wish I could say the same for myself. When it comes to your computer, don’t take chances if you are not sure what is going on!)

The second challenge is e-mail while overseas. You should definitely have a universal email account before you go.

Since I had missed a connecting flight, I HAD to contact my party at the other end to inform them. I discovered that the Frankfurt airport had little internet kiosks here & there. You just prepay for so many minutes with your credit card, then go online. From here you can use a universal email account such as Gmail or Yahoo mail, etc. This was a lifesaver. But I also discovered that keyboards are different in different countries! It took me half my online time just to find the @ sign

Next stop, a private home in France with a home wireless network. Since they had not put in a security lock, I was able to easily connect, surf, and use my Gmail account to stay in touch with ground control back home. In France I got my first real look at Google from within another country. The Google ‘home page’ defaulted to www.google.fr with everything in French, but with a few additional features – there were links for searching for pages only in French (or only in the domain .fr), or alternatively, switching to Google in English. (It was also just as easy to navigate to www.google.com .) Since I was doing my best to learn French, I stuck with Google.fr as much as possible but did not restrict my searches to only French pages. The upshot is that if you search for something, you’ll get search results for domains/pages in France, a page in French from another country, and the usual world-wide results for that matter. The world is your oyster.

Next stop, Scotland, at a nice B&B outside Edinburgh. They also had an open home wireless network available at no extra charge, and not requiring any login. (They were safe enough to do this, being up on the moors of the Pentland hills.) Here it was easy-peasy to do anything I needed – no discernable difference from being in the states at all.

Next stop, England, staying at a chain hotel. Here I discovered that they charge through the nose for an internet connection from your room – no thanks! They did have 2 computers in the lobby for public use. You prepay for so many minutes at the front desk,, they give you an access code, and you’re quickly online. But it ain’t exactly cheap.

Final stop, a hotel at the Nice airport. Here too, they charge a lot for in-room internet access. But since I was only there overnight (actually, half a night – had to get up at 4 AM for the flight home!) I did not spin the wheel and try my luck with their internet service. This hotel did not have any public computers available.

I will write more about how to build and optimize sites and pages for international exposure, how character sets fit in, and other topics, as soon as possible.

Part of this trip involved a major family reunion – I now have relatives in several continents and countries, including Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, all the UK, France, and I think Italy too. As time and politeness allows I will ask friends and family what their online experience is like from their location, and pass on whatever I learn.

Meanwhile I am catching up on my “real” work back here at home

Sponge

What Would Alexander The Great Do?

I try to keep politics out of my public presence, but I just have to comment on the imprisonment in Iran of journalist Roxana Saberi.

All the pundits and experts I’ve listened to have explained the imprisonment as a inflammatory instigation by hard-right partisans in Iran, who just want to push our buttons and derail any hope for detente.

I doubt it.

This is certainly a TEST of how the Obama administration will react to, and deal with, a disagreement with the Iranian government.

Some History.

According to Mary Renault ( a well-respected historical conjecture author who based her work on ancient and eyewitness acccounts), in her book The Persian Boy, Roxana is a “close approximation” in Western language of the name of Alexander the Great’s Bactrian second wife, translating from Persian to Greek to English. Supposedly meaning “little star”, Roxana is more properly pronounced with the accent of the first syllable – WROX-ann-ah.

Back to Alexander.

At the time he took Roxana as his second wife (around 330 B.C.), he was almost literally king of the world. The only rival at the time was the Persian Empire, which held massive sway over the Middle East and Central Asia. Alexander had temporarily subdued the Persians – even razed the beautiful city of Persepolis to the ground.

Now – what would Alexander do if his wife had been abducted by the ancient Persian empire?

Most likely he’d have turned his army around, pursued and waged war with no quarter until he had her back and had reduced the Persians to total subservience. No doubt with disastrous results. Alexander was Great, but his empire did not hold for long following his death.

But this never happened. It’s just a “what if.”

Are we going to mimic Alexander? Or are we going to model ourselves after the Roman Empire instead?  The Romans -  despite disagreements, political intrigue and skirmishes – managed to keep peace with the Middle Eastern and Central Asian powers from Armenia to India for hundreds of years. (Except for the Levant and Palestine – I am definitely not counting those areas at the moment.)

I repeat – in my opinion this is a test in the time-honored tradition of Persia going back several thousand years. Of course they know the charges are groundless! It is our RESPONSE they want to see.