Jayme Soulati, Author at soulati.com

The Happy Friday Series: Positively Peggy

10/04/2013 By Jayme Soulati

When I launched this series on Jan. 11, 2013 quite by happenstance, I had no idea where it would go, what it would become, or how I would write on happiness every Friday. I instinctively invited the very happiest person I know online and with whom I’ve never spoken or met, to kick off the first official guest post for the series.

She accepted my invitation with relish, and did me and us justice; The Happy Friday Series was official and rolling.

Every Friday since January, I’ve been jazzed with a cadre of #RockHot guest authors. People who have shared their most personal thoughts and feelings, and people who have shared their passions about what puts smiles in their hearts. The series hasn’t been off the hook giggles; it’s been about life and the pursuit of happiness. Sometimes we find that happy in odd ways, with one little bit of graciousness and generosity.

As the series has continued and my invitations to many to author here have become more sparse and peoples’ time has become less to commit, I’m turning the tables to you.

This series is taking a turn; it’s my turn to thank each and every one of you for your generosity of sharing and caring right here.

And, so, today, I thank Peg Fitzpatrick for her spirit and generosity for kicking off this series right here.

Peg, Positively Peggy, writes a blog that is always generous. She’s a teacher extraordinaire, she shares happiness for real with her community, and if you don’t follow her, you’re truly lacking.

Peggy is one of those sincerely genuine nurturers and givers. She puts herself last, she puts her community first.

She’s a managing partner at 12Most.com, she manages the Google+ community for APE, The Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch, she is on all social channels, and she’s writing her own book. If you link to that blog post of hers, you’ll get a positive sense of this woman’s creativity and how she teaches you with relentless giving.

May I say, she’s forever in smiles, too?

Please give Peggy a nod your way; she will imbue positivity and inspire creativity — promise.

Peg Fitzpatrick, thank your for your Happy Friday. You are #RockHot!

E-Commerce For The First Time

10/02/2013 By Jayme Soulati

My 20 seconds of fame; “Mug in Times Square.” !!

Anyone who reads me knows I share my journey in real time; as it unfolds, I hit the blog to teach and share the trials, tribulations and tips so you don’t need to experience what I do.

I recall when all the new social media channels were launching — Pinterest, Google+ and Empire Avenue to name a few. I waited for peeps the likes of , and to test the waters first before I jumped in. No sense being the earliest adopter when the kinks were truly NOT worked out (especially with Google+).

That’s another good reason why I still have not downloaded iOS 7 on my phone or iPad. Did you know they’re already at iOS7.3 since it launched? Waiting for some more bug fixes to take effect; then I’ll jump over.

I digress.

I’m publishing a book. Its called, “Message Mapping: How to Sizzle External Communications with a #RockHot Tool for Leaders.” This book, my second, will reside on a website (that was the first plan) and be sold through PayPal so I can get rich quick (just kidding).

Testing E-Commerce

I’m testing e-commerce but I didn’t know that; it kind of fell into my lap that way. Let me share:

1. The book will be a pdf for download after someone pays via PayPal and a “Buy Now” button on my site in the sidebar. I called PayPal and they said so.
2. I consulted with HubSpot about how I could capture my leads and get folks to subscribe to my newsletter, Soulati Smart Stuff (see the call to action just above). However, HubSpot and PayPal do not speak or integrate. There is a fix on Zapier.com to solve that, but it’s for tech geeks, and I have no time to deal.
3. I was still going to be manually sending my book to someone after they paid for it; what if I was not near my desktop when a purchase arrived? What if I had irate buyers not getting their product quickly, and what if I got 30 sales in one day and I couldn’t process the orders? OMGosh.
4. I called my colleague who said use Yahoo shopping cart to set up a domain, a payment tool and whatever else right there on my site (or something). OK, that was one solution; however, I’m not sold on Yahoo products and services much at all.
5. Finally, after trying to DIY this thing (as usual) I asked for help sooner than I ever have before (I’m so proud of this). I spoke with who is a man of many hats and someone’s authority I trust. He said…
6. Set up the domain name I own relating to my message mapping e-book, as a landing page only. For that landing page get PayPal Pro and a tool that integrates with WordPress. Host the domain on my reseller account with HostGator.
7. I need to write the landing page with a really convincing approach to why people need to buy my book.

Easy, right?

Let’s talk about the other factors also happening at the same time:

1. I’m still writing my deck for my content track keynote at ConvergeSouth next Friday.
2. The book cover, yet to be designed, and url must be added to the deck so I can debut my book at a conference; the second book to be debuted at two conferences.
3. The book is in design right now; the designer needs to come up with a template, dump my PowerPoint content into another PowerPoint, add art, graphics, and I have to proof the first draft.
4. All of the writing, hosting, design, set up, testing, proofing, approvals, and practice have to be done prior to my departure in eight days.

Piece of cake.

Blogging Is No Longer Enough

10/01/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Credit: Cision

Have you noticed your corporate blog may be getting fewer comments? How’s traffic in general and what about that bounce rate?

Blogging by most is regarded as a one off, something that’s done to write about topics and position you and your company as a content authority (or maybe “context” authority). Companies that use blogs as a public relations strategy understand the importance of owned media for overall integrated marketing.

Today, however, there are factors contributing to a blog’s one dimension. Before we understand what that means, we have to know how you regard success:

• What goals did you set up for your company blog?
• How are you measuring against those goals?

• Are you watching analytics, listening on Trackur and earning comments?
• Have you made it a goal to build a community?

As a professional blogger, you likely are incorporating syndication and blogging automation tools to help amplify your content to a variety of other bloggers, channels, portals, and apps. Well, are you?

When you share your blog post to Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Tumblr, it provides opportunity for content to be in the stream along with a plethora of others’ content. There’s no guarantee people will open the link and read. Sharing only on social media channels becomes very one dimensional for a professional blogger.
So, what’s the solution?

Syndication Automation & Marketing Automation

About 18 months ago, I began to hear the term marketing automation more and more. With disdain, I wrote about the lack of authenticity occurring on the blogosphere. Today, I fully understand the need for marketing automation tools and, more so, for syndication automation tools. Professional bloggers who may be solopreneurs (like me) or corporate blogs with a team of excellent writers from public relations, cannot boost owned media without help from syndication automation tools.

Triberr

Since the inception of Triberr several years ago, we who have been on board since the floodgates opened have watched creativity spur innovation. The co-founders have stopped at nothing to ensure its platform is a place where bloggers can share content, build tribes, cascade content across multiple social media channels, and leave comments for any blog post while remaining on the Triberr dashboard. Triberr’s reblogging feature allows content from others’ blogs to be reblogged on yours. That means content can be posted every day, and you can write as infrequently as you’d like for your own blog.

RSS Feed

I can bet that few understand the true value of an RSS feed. Every single blog should have a reputable syndication partner, like Feedblitz, to publish blog content to subscribers, on others’ blogs, in portals, in a community of writers, in Triberr, etc.
Without an RSS feed, that orange icon usually in the upper right of your blog’s sidebar, your content goes nowhere. It stays on your website and no one knows it’s there.
RSS feeds allow folks outside of your network to pick up your content via the feed and publish blog posts when they like. When you begin to write really good content, the RSS feed is richer and others become interested in having that content handy.

Blogging Community Like SteamFeed

When you write for an esteemed blogging community like SteamFeed, you get the added bonus of interacting with professionals interested in blowing up the ‘sphere with high-quality content. You also are assured of having decent community managers who help you with deadlines, manage your content, are creating ideas to leverage your expertise beyond just writing, and generally are helping position your brand as authoritative and you as an influencer.

HubSpot

I am a digital marketer with HubSpot. In fact, I’m in HubSpot school. When you have a blog, you need to push it to the next level. It’s OK to write to your heart’s content; however, are you writing to your buyer? Are you adding calls to action in your sidebar and building your email list to also build a book of business online? The blog forms the very crux of digital marketing gold; this owned media provides the content and authority to lure folks in from around the Interwebz and download your content, ebooks, invitations to events, and more. HubSpot is a total solution for email marketing, list building, connectivity between landing pages, calls to action, content, and lead generation from the top of the funnel to the bottom.

Cision Content Marketing Suite

Cision is a provider of public relations tools for public relations professionals and many others. It also has been creating new innovative tools for companies interested in amplifying content. They have a social news room and now, even better, the company is touting a new content amplification suite.
Bloggers can amplify content onto online portals like CNN, Time, U.S. News & World Report, Huffington Post, and many other high-branded sites. The boost from lowly corporate website to nationally branded media is gold.
These are marketing automation tools and give bloggers ways to think differently about why they blog, for whom, and where that content should get published or posted.
At the end of the day, really, we have to ask, “What is the Future of Content?”

This post originally appeared on Steamfeed.

E-Book Pricing Help Needed!

09/30/2013 By Jayme Soulati

Jayme Soulati holds her new book prior to presenting at New South Digital Marketing Conference

My second book, Message Mapping: How to Sizzle External Communications with a #RockHot Tool for Leaders, just went into design at midnight, maybe it was already Monday morning. I can’t be sure. I’ll do pre-sales this week, once I develop the digital marketing aspect of this offering.

Publishing a book, whether a touch and feel book with actual paper pages, an electronic version for Kindle and other readers, or an E-book that resides on a website somewhere (not Amazon), takes time, commitment, patience, and perseverance.

What’s Your Goal When Writing a Book?

You have to ask yourself about your goals when writing a book. My first book was to earn the experience, walk the talk, learn the ropes, and also establish myself as a published author. It worked! I accomplished these goals; yet, the marketing of this book has fallen by the wayside.

The most taxing aspect of book publishing, however, is pricing.

Factors to consider when Pricing A Book

Is your book specialized and are there few of these written?
Is the topic something people need and want for their business?
Is it different than what’s being sold on Amazon right now?
Who is the author? Someone with professional experience?
Will it really teach something you don’t already know?

Help Price My EBook, Please!

When you use a hybrid publisher, as I did for my first book, Writing with Verve on the Blogging Journey, available on Amazon in Kindle or softcover, the publisher gets a cut and so does Amazon. At the end of the day, when people purchase the book for $12.95, I may receive $4 from that total.

This second book is strictly a business book. At last count, it’s 80 pages and growing. It provides detail about how to message map, why message mapping is important, who can benefit, and so much more.

There is a message map I build step by step for a fictitious company, too.

I also provide an actual message mapping template as well as tools in the book I recommend considering.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Section I: About Messaging & Message Maps
Who Needs a Message Map?
Who Uses a Message Map?
Defining a Message Map
Purpose of Message Maps
Benefits of Message Mapping
PR Messaging vs. Marketing Messaging
Messaging Maps Are Not Mind Maps
PR Messaging vs. Storytelling
Tool Alert! Clipsi
Crisis Communications & Messaging

Section II: Hands On with Message Maps
Steps in the Message Mapping Process
Company Goal Setting
Set Internal Point Person
Consider a Facilitator
Vet Facilitator’s Credentials
Sign Non-Disclosure Agreement
Advance Preparation
Set Expectations
Draft Questions for Point Person
Invite Leadership
The Session
Messaging Draft 1: Organizing the Messages
Messaging Draft 2: The Master Draft
Messaging Draft 3: The Last Edit
Finalizing the Map

Section III: How to Message Map
The Message Map for Company X
Training Users with Message Maps
Timeline for Message Maps
Template for a Message Map

Section IV: Blurbs & Contact
Leading Up to This Book
About Jayme Soulati

How much should I charge?

Would you pay $22?
Would you pay $18?
Would you pay $16?
Or, what would be an appropriate price for this E-book based on your reaction?

When you look around at prices for other books, the prices hover in this range. When someone considers an eBook for purchase; however, then the price seems to differ.

The Happy Friday Series: Sorrow, Happiness And Joy

09/27/2013 By Jayme Soulati

“Life has never been easy. Nor is it meant to be. It is a matter of being joyous in the face of sorrow.”

~Dirk Benedict

Let’s face it; we’ve all grown up hearing the mantra “Life is unfair,” over and over again. It likely began with our parents telling us this when we were very small children complaining about the gross unfairness of a playground game that didn’t quite go our way. And, it wouldn’t be so annoying if it wasn’t so true.

Most people can point out those unfair moments in life where they did everything right and things didn’t turn out the way they planned on a grand scale. For me, these moments string together with the birth of our older son who was severely handicapped through the end of his short life. It wasn’t fair that he had to deal with multiple physical challenges; yet, that was the hand dealt to him and us as his parents. It was our joy to help him navigate life around those challenges and now to pass along the things we learned during our time with him. Through him, I learned a very valuable lesson that I will carry with me and share as often as possible for the rest of my life.

The Lesson

What I learned is that there is joy in our journey even when we’re headed into unfamiliar, unanticipated and undesirable territory. As we took our first steps down the parenthood path, we had no inclination that our time with him would be so short. What became abundantly clear was that we were being given the privilege of parenting a very special young man who was an advocate for his community, a loyal and loving older brother and a bright light in the world. He would guide us, teach us and give us more than we did him.

Lance could have watched his younger brother Ben and been frustrated that he couldn’t walk and run like him. I’ll admit this would have been my unfortunate attitude. But, he didn’t. He chose to participate as a spokesperson for the United Way of Greater Dayton annual giving campaign in 2005. He was featured in videos, television commercials and newspaper ads. He chose to appear on the United Rehabilitation Services (URS) of Greater Dayton that same year in their annual fundraising telethon.

Lance was a giver and change maker. He gave unconditional love and happiness everywhere he went and to the lives he touched. Through memorial and equipment donations, a sensory therapy room was created at URS to help children and adults in the tri-state area improve their abilities.

To this day, he is used as an example in caregiver training to never assume that those with disabilities cannot do and to give everyone an opportunity to try. He did remarkable things in his time. When I think of my oldest child, I miss him dearly but I find great happiness in the lessons he taught me, the things he accomplished and the way his life has mattered even in his absence. He was remarkable and he didn’t even realize it. He simply did what came naturally to him. He cared and he gave. We can all do remarkable things when we face obstacles in our life with perseverance, determination and a positive attitude.

Your Time Matters More than You Know

Our time matters and not just to us, our families and our employers, but to our communities. There will always be more cleaning to do, another report to submit, bills to pay and things to be done in the yard. Be an agent for positive change in the areas that touch your life and find the joy and happiness that comes with giving with a pure heart your talents and energy. You are an amazing resource with lessons to learn from the paths you’ve chosen and those upon which you never intended to travel.

About the Author

Amy Fenning is a dedicated mom, wife, and marketing professional and is a self-professed reading and dachshund enthusiast. Currently living in Beavercreek, OH, she has been married to husband, Mike, for 20 years. They are the proud parents of the late Lance Fenning (2000-2006), Ben (11), Bonnie (6) and Sam (7). Amy has spent the last 20 years in the marketing profession and has served as a brand marketing manager with LexisNexis in Dayton for four years.