How to Develop a Seminar

How to Develop a Seminar

Creating a successful seminar is no easy feat, but there are some things that you can do in 60 days. Is it too late for me? No! There’s still hope, and you can make your own way with these steps. 

The following blog post will offer some tips on how to create an effective seminar in 60 days that’ll be worth its weight as gold when all is said and done! 

How to Develop a Seminar

Develop a seminar title

Develop a seminar title by selecting the most appropriate name for your course. Selecting an eye-catching, descriptive, and memorable title is key to attracting maximum enrollment numbers. Conduct market research to see what names are being used in seminars that would work well in yours (as long as it’s not too close) or select a catchy phrase from the content of your presentation with some added keywords like “How To” or “Ultimate Guide.”

For example, if your seminar is about how to develop a social media strategy for an upcoming event and you want attendees to remember the post-event marketing campaign ideas that were discussed in the presentation, then “Social Media Strategy For Successful Post Event Marketing Campaigns” would be a great title. This name also includes keywords like “social media” and “marketing campaigns.”

The best way to generate new names without being too close or near another product’s current brand identity is by using free tools online (for instance, Namebrain). Typing in your industry plus phrases such as “best titles,” “how can I come up with good names,” or “what are some catchy titles?” will lead you right to this exercise. 

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss

Find an appropriate location for the seminar

Action Item

Write down your seminar’s purpose and then set goals for how many people you want to attend in person or to watch your live stream.

Send invitations to potential attendees

Invite people with a personal message. You may want to include information about the seminar on your invitation, such as when and where it will take place, how much space they’ll need for parking, or accessibility-related accommodations. Be sure that you have all of the potential attendees’ contact information before contacting them; this includes email addresses, phone numbers (including cell phones), mailing address(s), and any other way in which someone might be contacted by mail. 

The next step is to make sure that you’re covering all of your bases and have planned out how things will go in detail, from beginning to end – this includes when registration opens, what time there’ll be a break between sessions (if applicable), how foodservice works at breaks as well as lunch/dinner onsite or off-site (again if applicable).

Create a schedule of presentations, including topics and speakers

A seminar is a series of lectures that each typically lasts around 30 minutes. If you’ve ever been in the audience for one, you know how excruciatingly long it can feel to wait your turn between presentations. Personally, I find this time spent waiting awkward and unpleasant; when developing my own seminars or attending as an attendee, I do everything in my power to make sure we don’t have any wasted time. 

So before anything else—before choosing topics, speakers, venue—you need to plan out how much content will be covered during each session, so there are no gaps or lulls throughout the day. When deciding which people should speak at your event, keep these questions in mind: Who might want to attend? 

Who in your organization has the right skills to speak on a given topic? What are their speaking styles like—do they have an energetic or reserved delivery style, for example? 

What do I want them to say when asked how my event was? How should they position themselves and what we hope attendees will take away from our day together.

How much time is available for this speaker in each session slot (and don’t forget other speakers)? Will there be enough time allotted so that all of the content can be covered without feeling rushed at some points during the day?

What topics might make sense together for one presenter to discuss across two sessions versus splitting up into multiple presenters who only talk about one topic per session?

How much time should we allow for break-out sessions? How many people will be in each break-out session, and how are those groups determined (randomly or by expertise)?

What other attention needs do the topics have that might require a presenter to fulfill them during their presentation—does one need an agenda with visuals, another speaker needs help with handouts.

When does this speaker’s availability start, and when is it available again (for example, after lunch as part of my event).

Set up registration and payment options

The registration link on the website of your event or organization. 

Accepting payment online with a credit card, PayPal account, Google Wallet, and other services.

Pro Tip

Identifying your target audience is important in order to properly identify personas and the voice you use to present your seminar.

Create marketing materials, such as flyers and posters

Create marketing materials, such as flyers and posters. Offer a design service if you are asked to do so or if you have the time. 

Google it to see what others have done, but do not copy.

Create a banner and logos that represent the seminar well

Design a website for your event if you plan on having an online store with merchandise available during or after the event. Include information about pricing, how long before the event ordering is necessary, background about who you are as an instructor/speaker(if applicable), etc. 

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Web Presentation Tools that Work

Web Presentation Tools that Work

Presentations are a great way to communicate ideas, and web presentation tools can make it easier than ever. With these tools, you can reach new audiences, collaborate with co-workers from all over the world, and have your presentations available on any device. 

There are tons of web presentation tools out there, but which ones actually work? I’ve spent more time than I care to admit trying different options, and here’s my list. 

Web presentation tools that work

PowerPoint Online

If you’re looking for a web presentation tool that is quick and easy to use, PowerPoint Online might be the one. 

Did you know that there is a free version of Microsoft Office available? It’s especially great for students who may have one-time or infrequent needs to create presentations and can’t afford the time, money, or effort. 

Yes! They offer PowerPoint Online, which has some pretty cool features like an intuitive layout, so it doesn’t seem foreign if you’re already used to using other products from them. You also get access to more advanced tools such as animations and slide transitions at any point in your subscription when needed too!

“Creativity isn’t about the advantage or disadvantage of a specific time or culture. Creativity is something that comes internally from a human being having a genuine mistrust of rules. And that may be the constant. It’s almost like there’s some rebellion in it.”
Paula Scher

Google Slides

Google Slides is a web presentation tool. Google Slides has many features which make it perfect for presentations and meetings. You can create animations, transition from one slide to the next easily, or even add video with just some clicks of your mouse! 

Shoot videos in places you might not be able to take photos (like underwater) with Google Street View and turn them into presentations right on your computer screen! You can also import files from other programs, like PowerPoint. 

This is a great presentation tool for those who like to collaborate with others and publish their presentations online. It’s free but has features that rival premium software tools!

Action Item

Search on the internet or YouTube for the best web presentation tools.

Keynote

Keynote is a free online presentation tool for both PC and Mac users alike. It has been recently updated to offer collaboration features, such as adding images or multimedia into your presentations with ease on the well-integrated platform that it resides in – which makes using Keynote easy! 

Keynote was created by Apple Inc. but can now be downloaded from iTunes App Store for iOS devices (or via the iCloud website), available also through Microsoft Windows operating systems. With its recent upgrades, collaborating on this software just got easier than ever before: you don’t even need an account to log in anymore; all edits are automatically saved across different devices tied together by iCloud’s integration feature, and syncing will happen automatically if connected WiFi exists between them.

You can organize the content in panels by using tabs; this way, they’re easier to find when needed. The most recent release of Keynote includes collaboration features – which make it even more useful! Plus, since there’s no account required anymore (you just log in with Apple ID), collaborating becomes very easy as well: you’ll always have access to the latest versions of files, and you can see changes that others have made.

Pro Tip

Always learn the web presentation tool that you choose and familiarize it.

Prezi Basic

There’s a lot to love about Prezi, and the following are just some of its benefits:

It has an impressively intuitive interface that is perfect for novice presenters. It offers detailed tutorials on how to use it as well as other helpful resources like templates and backgrounds. And best yet? You can try out one of their many versions without paying anything!

Prezi is a graphic interface and non-linear presentation tool that offers tutorials to show you how it works. There’s also an impressive zooming feature, plus third-party resources available for free when signing up with Prezi or doing the basic version trial.

Web presentation tools that work

LinkedIn SlideShare

LinkedIn SlideShare is a free presentation-sharing software tool. If you need to get your slideshow in front of a large professional audience, then this online presentation software might be worth knowing about. There are millions of users on the website, and many are business professionals who use it for presentations like keynote speeches or sales pitches as well as personal projects such as photo albums that they want to share with friends and family members who may not live nearby; university students can post their research papers here too! 

It’s easy-to-use, so there’s help within the program itself, but if you’re looking for tutorials outside LinkedIn, Google any keywords related to what kind of project you have going (e.g., “How do I make an animated video?”). 

Zoho Show

With a free version of Zoho Office Suite, you can keep your business organized and on track without breaking the bank. You’ll have access to secure file collaboration features that let teams share documents with one another securely from within their apps or browser windows for all types of projects, including spreadsheets, presentations, videos – even photos! 

The best part? The suite is available in both desktop and mobile versions, so no matter where you are working, today’s hot project idea will be at hand when it comes time to get down to work tomorrow morning.

“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.”
Lilly Walters

FlowVella

FlowVella (formerly Flowboard) is a strong presentation tool choice with company support and help. Its ease of use also makes it an excellent option for those who are just getting comfortable using the platform or need to present on the go in remote settings such as classrooms where teachers can’t always rely on their internet connection is available. 

For power users looking to incorporate multimedia content into presentations, this app may be too simple–though there is still plenty that you’re able to do without having any other third-party resources at your disposal!

Action Item

Write down the best web presentation tools that you discovered.

LibreOffice Impress

LibreOffice is the latest and greatest free office suite for Windows, Macs, IOS, or Android. Unlike many other suites that are more expensive than Libre Office- Impress has been compared favorably to these pricier alternatives by users who’ve tried them both out!

The social media aspect of this software allows you to collaborate with others on projects without using an outside service like Google Docs. You can also download it online if your computer doesn’t have enough space or want a backup copy in case anything happens to your original installation – just make sure you know how/have time for some IT skills before getting started, though! 

Pro Tip

Web presentation tools are always informative and widely used by popular speakers.

Final Words

When you’re looking for a web presentation tool, it can be hard to know where to start. You might need something with more features and flexibility than Google Slides but less expensive than Adobe Presenter. The good news is that there are plenty of free or low-cost options out there that will work well for your purposes. 

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How to Put Together the Ultimate Online Swipe File

How to Put Together the Ultimate Online Swipe File

Have you ever heard of an online swipe file? If you have, then you may be one of the few. But don’t worry – I’m about to tell you everything that there is to know about them! 

Essentially, an online swipe file is a resource for designers and web developers looking for inspiration. To put together the ultimate online swipe file with all of your favorite designs and resources in one place, follow these simple steps: 

Ultimate online swipe file

Repeat this process until your spreadsheet or document is complete!

Start with a clean, uncluttered workspace:

Clear away all the stacks of paper on your desk. Arrange them neatly in piles (either alphabetically or by date). 

Clean off your desktop and remove any clutter from it. Put a fresh pad of blank sheets of paper there, with pens lined up next to it at the ready. This will be where you start writing whatever comes into your head without having to worry about looking like an unorganized mess while doing so.

“An organized desk. An organized mind. A neat desk. A neat mind! The world’s greatest thinker!”
Bill Watterson

Organize your files in folders and sub-folders by category:

Keep all your images in one folder. 

Create a new folder for each project you have.

Name the subfolders according to their content: web design, print design, logo concepts. This will help you find things quickly and easily later on when you need them!

Make sure that any image or file is clearly named with as much relevant information as possible (filename goes without saying), e.g., “logo_01” instead of simply “L.” You’ll save yourself time down the line.

Keep all your folders on your desktop and keep them labeled with the name of their respective subfolders. If you’re using a computer at work or in school, then use an external hard drive to store those files instead—you’ll be glad you did!

Put as much relevant information about each file as possible: what it is, where did you find it, when was it created? Remember that this can save you time down the line.

What does “down the line” mean? It means after some time has passed from now. For example, if I’m looking for logo concepts that I have saved onto my laptop’s desktop folder one year from now, knowing how many logos are there and which ones I have already looked at will save me time.

Save all your brainstorming and research into a folder labeled “Ideas.” You can use this as an easy starting point for inspiration when you’re feeling stuck on what to do next in your work.

Action Item

Create a unique swipe file of resources and templates, and use them to create a foundation.

Label each file clearly to avoid confusion later on:

You can also add the URL to each file if it is a website page or PDF. Label your files clearly and in order of preference, with the most important one at the top. This will help you find what you’re looking for quickly when pulling together an email pitch or job application. 

Pro Tip

Books are useful to help understand writing techniques.

Create an organized folder for all the content you plan to swipe from other websites:

Make sure that the images are high quality and not too small or blurry when you download them:

Add captions if necessary so that people can understand what they're looking at without having to click through every image one by one:

Action Item

Search on the internet or YouTube for the best tools you can use to create your swipe file and study them.

After clicking through each photo individually with captions:

After clicking through each photo individually with captions:

Leave it empty if necessary so that people can understand what they’re looking at without having to click on every thumbnail one by one. 

Create a Pinterest account:

Create a Pinterest account

Subscribe to email newsletters from companies you admire:

Some companies offer a weekly newsletter, while others have monthly emails that you can sign up for. For example, Nike offers an email subscription which is sent out every week with the latest news on product releases and events happening in your area. Subscribe to at least one company’s newsletters to see what they’re doing now so you know how they might be changing their marketing strategy next year or soon after! 

Another way of collecting content from different websites is by following them on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. Many big brands are active on these sites and announce new products, sales, and other important details through posts here daily – this means if we keep tabs on our favorite retailers’ feeds, we’ll never miss anything they release.

It’s also worth checking out a company or two on LinkedIn too – as well as posts from the individual; companies often post articles and snippets of their latest research, which can be interesting to read through more thoroughly at your leisure.

Pro Tip

The best tools you can use to create your swipe file are Pinterest, Trello, Evernote, Pocket, and Gmail.

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Does Speaking at TEDx Improve Your Personal Brand?

Does Speaking at TEDx Improve Your Personal Brand?

For those who are looking to raise their profile in the community, the plan should be to build your personal brand. What was once reserved for celebrities and CEOs of corporations is now a vital part for anyone trying to expand their reach and profile within their community. That is why one popular method is to build you personal brand speaking at TEDx.

But before you take the first step, it is important to understand what is a personal brand and how TEDx fits into improving your personal profile. 

Does Speaking at TEDx Improve Your Personal Brand?

Building a Personal Brand

A personal brand is how the public perceives your persona. You should look at it in the light of when people see you, what do you want them to think? When you think of celebrities and business owners, there personal brand is the perception of being popular, informed on their subject, and a source of authority at least in their specialty.

You can do the same by becoming an authority in your particular field. A personal brand does not mean trying to be all things to all people, but rather a source of reliable information usually on a single topic. This may sound limiting at first, but it may be the most valuable thing you can create for yourself in terms of how the public perceives you. 

“Your brand is your public identity, what you’re trusted for. And for your brand to endure, it has to be tested, redefined, managed, and expanded as markets evolve. Brands either learn or disappear.”
Lisa Gansky

How to Create a Personal Brand

The first thing to keep in mind is that building your personal brand is a marathon, not a sprint. There are no overnight successes when it comes to creating authority in your field. Instead, you must take the long approach and build up your brand over time.

Create a Plan: The concept of creating a plan is simple enough. Where do you want to be in a year, three years, and five years? Now, write down what you will have to do to get there. Creating a personal brand takes time, so use that time wisely by planning out what needs to be done. This may mean creating your own website, expanding your responsibilities at work, or building relationships with others. But it all starts when you create a plan for success. 

Keep It Real: The brand you create should be you. It should not be some idealized version of you or worse, a persona that is fake. People can see right through fakery, so you will need to keep things real in your public interactions.

Take Advantage of Opportunities: This is tricky because becoming an authority on a subject does not necessarily mean that you will be perceived as a leader. You may be seen as the “information person” that leaders rely on to find out more about a subject. To shape your personal brand, you will need to take advantage of opportunities that let you go into different areas.

Look at where you want to be in a few years and use the opportunities in your workplace and community to get there.

Go Public: Building a website, posting blogs or videos is an excellent way to reach outward. But arguably the most important is to speak at public events. This is because people seeing you in person is the best way to establish your personal brand. You can build up to that point by going online and improving yourself within the business that you work, but few things beat public speaking to establish your personal brand with others.

That is where speaking at events such as TEDx comes into play. This represents a substantial opportunity to push your personal brand to new heights.

Pro Tip

Don’t give everything away – just enough to intrigue the viewer.

What is TEDx?

Speaking at TEDx

You may have heard of TED, a live speaking event that is broadcast around the world in participating theaters. TEDx is a similar format, but it takes place in your community. This is a live event where a series of speakers just like yourself present valuable information. 

TEDx is fully planned and coordinated within your community and therefore will have some unique aspects that are not shared with any other community. The format itself is similar to the larger TED events. This is a program consisting of a series of speakers, performances, and demonstrations that are focused to teach and inspire. 

The goal is to create additional conversation on the ideas that are covered in the TEDx event. For building your personal brand, a TEDx event is the perfect format. Keep in mind that there is no selling or raising money. 

In fact, the purpose of TEDx is to provide a platform for non-professional speakers to reach an audience. The diverse number of topics means that it is the perfect place to build your personal brand even if you have little to no experience speaking in public.

Build Your Personal Brand Speaking at TEDx

The first step is knowing what area you want to talk about at your local TEDx event. The topic should be one that has value to your audience, even if the subject matter is seemingly limited. You should think about shaping your demonstration along the lines of providing value to your listeners.

Once you know what you want to say, the next step is getting on your local TEDx event. This means finding out when the next TEDx is scheduled, turning in the application, and following all the guidelines of your community TEDx event. There are no guarantees that you will be allowed to speak, but if the topic is relevant, you do stand a good chance.

Remember to build your personal brand at TEDx means connecting with the audience. You will want to practice your speech or demonstration and hone it towards providing value. There is no selling, not fundraising, only information that people will think about and discuss.

To build your personal brand is an ever-changing process. Speaking at TEDx is one way to reach a larger portion of your community in one session. While you can build your personal brand speaking at TEDx, it should be one part of a larger plan to expand your profile and build authority in your community.

Action Item

Post your videos onto a content-sharing platform that might be interested in the talk, like a subreddit on Reddit.com.

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Why You Can Self Publish a Bestseller on Your Own

Why You Can Self Publish a Bestseller on Your Own

Traditional publishing is going the way of the dodo bird; there is a very clear reason why. It takes way too long to publish a book in the traditional manner and your readers do not want to wait that long. 

The traditional market requires about 1 year to 1.5 years and that means you have to deal with the marketing, planning, as well as the publishing of the book. In addition to this, you also need to know that the publisher will take a large percentage of the profit as well. 

Why You Can Self Publish a Bestseller on Your Own

Now you have the ability to take the destiny of your book into your own hands and you will be able to turn your book into a bestseller if you are willing to take different actions than people who fail again and again. The key to being successful is curating your content, it is not what you put into a blog, but it is instead creating quality content that is relevant and that shows that you are an expert in your field and will ensure that you are able to show your clients, customers, and colleagues that you are relevant now and that you have the expertise to help them. 

What that means for you is that you have to make sure that you are creating quality for your readers. The main distinction used to be between traditional and nontraditional publishing the main change now in the market is now professional and unprofessional publishing. The benefits of self-publishing are much higher profits. Here are the benefits. 

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
Louis L’Amour

How to Publish Your Book Professionally

Here is what you need to do to professionally publish your book.

1. Work on Building Your Platform

When you want to work with a traditional publisher, they are going to expect you to be able to have a great following. That means that you are going to need to have a Twitter following, as well as a Facebook following. You are then bringing the customers to the publisher in hand when you are ready to sign a traditional deal. 

But the real question is why would you want to have a traditional publisher if you already have this? You really would not because you do not need one. You also should consider that publishers do not get you into bookstores. 

What this means is that bookstores only take a very few of the books that are published by the publishers. That means that if you get your book does get special placement it was usually paid for by a publisher, if it does not get that placement, it will not sell. 

2. How to Build Your Platform

You have to make sure that you have a very honest voice if you want for people to follow you and to be influenced by what you are doing. You need to be afraid to discuss things about you and your industry and you need to have a different perspective on things. 

You need to make sure that everything that you are sharing is entertaining, industry specific and related to your viewers. You also need to make sure that you are able to get more traffic; the way that you need to do this is by blogging, but also by spending time podcasting about something that you love and sharing a sincere different voice. 

Pro Tip

Ensure you take part in the proofing process as much as your editor does.

3. Why You Need to Write

You need to make sure not only to post about writing, but also on other things that are important to you. This means that you need to make sure that you are writing between 500 and 2,000 words per day so that you are able to write an excellent book. You need to make sure that you are able to write an amazing book and that means that you should be writing a bit at a time.

A great book will always be between 40,000 and 80,000 words, and then you need to plan on writing about 1,000 words a day for 1 week. That means that if you can write every day you can average anywhere from 4 to 8 books in a year. You have to make sure that you are able to have a great revised, edited and a professional tone. 

4. Why You Have to Know What You Want

When you are self-publishing, you can publish anything you want with no other effort. That means that you can upload your book and people can start selling in a few days. Everyone has different goals when it comes to getting a book done. 

For some it is speaking gigs, this is the best and the best way to get people to know about your book. However, if you are looking to make the most possible money, these are the steps you should follow. 

“You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”
Annie Proulx

Why You Need to Edit

If you think that creating a book that is poorly edited is acceptable you are wrong, that means that you need to plan to hire and allow people to edit your book and they will look at the content as well as look at all of the information that is in it and decide what is you r best approach. Having a professional editor will set your book apart and ensure that you are able to have the best possible results when your readers are consuming it. 

Why Design is Key

When it comes to your book, it is very important that you like it. When you traditionally publish, you are usually at the mercy of other designers, publishing houses, and their concepts of what will sell. The problem with that is that you do not have the ability to control what your own book looks like; this means that often the concept gets lost. 

Even worse than this, you are treated like a number. Do you want to feel like a customer in a Walmart when you are trying to create something that is central to your brand and your career? I think it is safe to say no. You want something sleek and lovely and that represents your brand that means that you take the time to find the best designer to work with. 

Pro Tip

Make sure your book length fits within your category expectation.

Do You Need an Audiobook?

When you have an audiobook it makes your book much more credible to readers. In this mobile society more and more people are driving to work and are listening to books while they are in motion that means that you need to accommodate your audience and expect to see what you are able to do to ensure that you are bringing them back. 

In addition to being a bit expensive to create, an audiobook makes sure that you really hear what you are writing because you make a commitment to those words. When you are going to do an audiobook, you can read it yourself or you can hire a voice actor. However, you must always make sure that you have a professional voice over studio to edit your work. 

There is no way that you can produce quality on a laptop and expect it to be ready to go. You have the ability to make a great income with your books if you are willing to do the work that is required to put them out there, and you need to realize that also means that you have to do it as a professional, there is no wading here. You have to dive in. 

Creating a book

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