Receive Michael's free report: "What successful people do first thing every morning"

Subscribe to Michael's free "5 Cool Ideas" e-newsletter

Archive for the ‘Writing and Publishing’ Category

My social media links

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Social media has become a monster way to build networks, promote products and services, and build an impressive Internet presence.

Just think what happens to your online profile when in addition to a Website and a blog, you have an account with Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Google+ and others. (My links are below.)

To see how this works for people like me, simply type my full name into your favorite search engine. See how I own the first ten pages of Google, for example? Pretty cool! You can do the same if you spend a little time and energy on social media networking.

Here are links to my favorite social media networks. Simply click on the link to friend, follow or connect with me. If we’re already connected, feel free to post “hello,” a compliment or whatever’s on your mind.

I’m big on Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and Facebook. To connect with me on any or all these platforms, simply type “Michael Angelo Caruso” in the respective search box.

Okay, so I’ve given you my social media links. Feel free to leave yours in the comments section. What is your favorite social media platform?

Wanna market your products/services via social media?

social media marketing michael angelo caruso

Michael Angelo Caruso with another satisfied customer

If you have a social media following, you may want to share information about what you do to these folks. Direct selling is considered bad form on Facebook, for example, so you may want to use a technique I invented called, “indirect selling.” To learn more, listen to my Social Marketing for Business CDs.

See you online!

Tags: facebook, google, Internet marketing, linked, michael Angelo Caruso, Social Media, twitter, youtube
Posted in Blogging, Communication, Creativity, Growing Your Business, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Social Media, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

Resume tip–your resume doesn’t matter

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

Readers always write…

Hi, Michael-

I’ve recently had to update my resume so I can upgrade my job. I consider myself a good writer, but it’s been quite a challenge getting this project done. I’m still not happy with my resume and wondering if you have any tips for me. I’ve attached a copy to this e-mail message. Thank you!

Sara in Bloomington, Illinois

Hi, Sara-

A lot of the best jobs are filled without using the resume process. The best way to get a good job is through networking, which allows you to become recommended or “pre-approved” by a trusted third-party. More info on how to do this in a future post.

So now that I’ve told you that a resume doesn’t matter, let me explain how you can make yours better…

Your resume looks very good, Sara! I’m returning it to you with a few minor suggestions for improved grammar and syntax. I am also listing my advice on how to “punch up” a resume.

Tips:

- All the experts recommend a one-page resume
- Play down past jobs (use one or two lines max for each)
- Use present tense for present situation, e.g. “demonstrated” should be “demonstrates”
- Use parallel construction for bullet points; begin each bullet with an active verb

Bonus ideas

Here are a couple of special “Michael techniques:”

/Recycle the exact language from the job posting.

/That way, your resume is more likely to make you look like the perfect fit.

/The resume is a kind of meaningless tradition. It’s far better to secure the job first and then submit the resume as a required formality.

/So, how does one get the job before submitting the resume? Use online research tools such as Linkedin and Google to learn more about the company. Of course, you should visit the company’s Web site, but learn even more about the specific people involved such as:

- Who will be interviewing you?
- Who will you be working with?
- Who will be your boss?
- Who is your potential boss’s boss?
- What can be learned from their social media or YouTube activities?

Once you have the names of these individuals, search them online to discover anything you can, such as:

- Where they live?
- What church do they attend?
- Do they blog?
- What they’ve presented on (presentation pdfs often come up in this type of search)

The idea is to get into the same orbit of one or more of these people so they can get to know you and possibly champion your cause.

Caveat: Don’t be aggressive or even assertive when doing this. A sincere compliment when friending someone on Facebook will usually do the trick. You might contact the person to offer insightful research on one of their
favorite topics. Don’t necessarily make it known that you are applying for a job.

When you show interest in others, others show interest in you. -Michael Angelo Caruso, American author and speaker, (1958-present –ha!)

Then, when the moment is right, say something like, “Oh, by the way, the reason for my interest in xxxxx is that I’m thinking of applying for the xxxxx position.”

You’re on your way to a some useful information, an endorsement, a champion, and hopefully, a new job!

Good luck!

Michael Angelo Caruso, Royal Oak, Michigan

Tags: facebook, Marketing, michael Angelo Caruso, new job, resume, Social Media, tips, writing, youtube
Posted in Blogging, Career development, Communication, Creativity, Internet marketing, Marketing, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Social Media, Success, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

How to rework content for your blog

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

When posting an article to your blog or creating other content for your company’s Internet presence, it’s best to do your own writing.

But, if your writing skills aren’t the best, you can also rework articles that have already been published. When doing so, make every effort to avoid two things:

1) Plagiarism, which is unethical. It’s just plain wrong to use claim credit for someone else’s work. This includes the despicable act of anonymously posting articles–as if the pieces wrote themselves!

2) Duplicate content. Google and other search engines notice when you post duplicate content and will penalize you with lower search rankings.

Here are some guidelines for reworking articles written by others.

Be sure to change the other writer’s article at least 70%. You can do this by rearranging the paragraphs and sentences and changing the order of the bullet points. Delete some of the material and maybe add a bit of your own. You can also incorporate content from two or three sources.

Perhaps the best way to go about reworking an article is to put the words in your own voice. For example, don’t keep words you would never use in conversation.

A second way to rewrite is to simply delete awkward phrasing, sentence fragments, convoluted sentences, and other nonsense. Most people tend to overwrite, so it will be easier to make your revised article shorter, just by
taking out the weakest parts.

Speaking of length, you only need about 500 words for a substantial blog post. I recently rewrote a cool article I found online, by using all the above techniques and busting the article into four blog posts.

When finished, include your favorite keywords in three places: the title, first paragraph and last paragraph before posting.

Be sure to add your contact information and attribution for the writer–you, if you followed these directions and when rewriting content.

-Michael Angelo Caruso

P.S. Learn how a soccer Mom named, Paula Parisot, now gets paid for blogging. Michael interviews her on the CD, Blogging for Profit.

More great Internet marketing info (mostly original articles!) at http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/michael-angelo-caruso-blog/

Tags: blog, blogging, duplicate content, google, Internet, Internet marketing, michael Angelo Caruso, plaigarism, rewrite articles, rewriting articles
Posted in Blogging, Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Success, Weblogs, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

Article marketing – selling without selling

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

5 Cool Ideas for Article Marketing – Selling Without Selling
From www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

Here’s a great way to sell without seeming like a salesperson. It’s called “article marketing.”

The first syllable of “article” is “art” and there is an art to creating useful content. Article marketing is certainly more time consuming than posting a status update on your Facebook business page, but the payback can be huge.

If you can write, it’s best to create original content, but here’s how you can reconstitute info from articles written by others.

Copy/paste the content from one or two well-written articles into Notepad on your PC. You can open the Notepad program by clicking Start/Programs/Accessories. Notepad will strip out all the hidden code.

Copy/paste the content from Notepad into a fresh Word document. Then, start rewriting by moving paragraphs around, reversing sentence order, and doing word substitution. You want to change about 75% of the article to make the article your own and avoid plagiarizing.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to retain some brilliant quote or well-turned phrase from the article you have not written. It’s okay to do this if you provide attribution by including the author’s name, title and company or location.

Finally, it’s important to identify and include your favorite key words in in the article. Key words, of course, will help people find your article when they search the Internet. Make sure these key words are in three places:

a)   The title of the article
b)   The first paragraph—ideally the first sentence—of the article.
c)   The last paragraph—ideally the last sentence—of the article.

Here are 5 ways to repurpose the content of your new article and get the most from your online marketing efforts:

1)   Post the article on your Web site.
2)   Post a version of the article as a Facebook Note.
3)   Use a 140 character excerpt of the article as a status update or Tweet.
4)   Post the article on a free article depot site, such as www.EzineArticle.com
5)   Create a .pdf of the article and post it on your Linkedin page.

Articles that are written in an “evergreen” format can be reposted and reshared, if they don’t contain dated information.

Article marketing is a fantastic way to sell without selling.

_______________
Get more great marketing tips by subscribing to Michael’s free 5 Cool Ideas newsletter at www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com. You can also learn more about article marketing from Jeff Herring, who I met through the great Alex Mandossian.

This article is available for reprinting and republishing. Simply go to http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/contact-me/ and state your intentions. Be sure to provide a link to Michael’s Web site when you use his content.

Tags: Alex Mandossian, ezinearticles, facebook, Internet marketing, jeff herring, linked, michael Angelo Caruso, Social Media, twitter
Posted in Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Success, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

New words for the New Year

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Expect to hear lots of new words in the New Year. Which one is your favorite?

The "coffice?"

1. coffice

Do you regularly work at Panera Bread or take meetings at Starbucks? If so, you work at the coffice, a cross between coffee shop and office, which is a tad better than working at the carffice.

2. halfalogue

If you ever hear half of a conversation, such as when someone is on the phone, you’re listening to a halfalogue. It’s not a very useful or fun exercise, but at least you now know what to call it. You’re welcome.

3. mansplainer

Funny how it’s okay for gender-specific words to be pejorative as long as they don’t refer to women. Anyway, a mansplainer is a guy who’s compelled to explain in great detail–and there’s nothing he can’t explain.

4. poutrage

Some people just like to complain. Poutrage is a type of toothless anger directed at no one. Or everyone.

5. refudiate

This Palinesque term is a blend of refute and repudiate. I like made up words, unless the person making up the word thinks that their invention is a real word. It’s irritaining when this happens.

6. shellacking

Really, one might add “ing” to any verb to create a gerund-like form of a new word. “Friending” comes to mind. Come to think of it, “friend” was a noun before it was a verb or gerund. And by the way, my dad, the former Mickey Caruso use to use the word “shellacking” to describe a bad defeat at the family ping pong table.

Feel free to add any new favorite words as a comment below.

Tags: coffice, halfalogue, mansplainer, michael Angelo Caruso, mickey caruso, New Year, panera bread, poutrage refudiate, shellacking, starbucks
Posted in Communication, Entertainment, Personal Development, Speaking, Writing and Publishing | 2 Comments »

Internet marketing training at my home Jan. 27

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Internet marketing at Michael's home!

Want to receive Internet marketing training in a great setting?

You’ll learn some fantastic techniques for marketing online so you can sharpen your current campaigns, make more money, contribute more to your favorite charity, or even start a biz.

You can attend this Internet Marketing Summit on January 27 at my home in Royal Oak, Michigan. I live at on the 11th floor of a high-rise condo called, The Fifth and the view is inspiring!

You’ll learn to:

- Do effective e-mail marketing

- Get the most from your Web site

- Benefit from video marketing–the hottest trend in the land

- Make the Web work better for you

- Use free social media platforms to market your great products/services

- Grow your data base

You’ll get $250 in bonus products! And I’ll feed you twice!

Read testimonials and register today!

This program is fun and affordable. This is not a technical class–you will not get lost. As with all my products and services, you will get much more than you pay for.

Call 248-224-9667 for more info and some free consulting.

www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com 432 S. Washington, #1105 Royal Oak, MI 48073

P.S. Here’s a fun video that shows how fun my class is.

Tags: Internet marketing, michael Angelo Caruso, michigan, online marketing, royal oak, seo, Training
Posted in Career development, Communication, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Internet marketing, Marketing, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Social Media, Training, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

5 cool ideas for being more credible

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

From www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com

Being more credible means you will be more persuasive. You’ll be more influential in getting people to do what you want them to do. This will be helpful if you are in sales, management or if you are the parent of a teenager. Here are 5 Cool Ideas on how to be more credible.

1. Read and listen to good information. Carry a professional development book with you for three weeks. You don’t have to read the book, just be seen with it. People will almost instantly find you more credible. I actually read the books I carry. Every year, I process over 30 books, reading 15 and listening to 25 audio books. Recent titles include Good to Great (good is the enemy of great) and Theodore Rex–think you can learn something from the youngest man ever to be President of the United States?

2. Publish a book or an article. Imagine your level of credibility if you’ve written the book that people carry. John F. Kennedy, the youngest American ever elected President, established credibility as a successful author. His book, Why England Slept, was a best-seller and helped convince voters that the young man was experienced enough to hold the nation’s highest office.

Teddy Roosevelt authored several books prior to becoming the youngest American President at age 42. Being published authors increased Kennedy’s and Roosevelt’s credibility and being published can increase yours, too. Begin your publishing career by sending a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. It’s fun and addicting to see your name in print. Write a 500-word essay on something work-related and send it to the top five trade publications in your industry.

3. Speak out. Listen a good amount of the time, but never miss an opportunity to present good information in informal situations.

4. Be your own advertising company. Fly your flag to the top of the pole. People are more likely to believe in you when they know you believe in yourself. Use your voice mail messages, e-mail signature files and elevator speech to gently remind people of your value as a dependable source of quality information.

5. Network with people who will help spread the word. There’s only one thing better than being able to personally impress people and that’s having others attest to your credibility. Keep helping people and people will keep singing your praises.

Tags: business, cool ideas, credible, john f. kennedy, michael Angelo Caruso, read more, theodore roosevelt, tips
Posted in Career development, Communication, Customer Service, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Leadership, Marketing, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Selling, Speaking, Success, Writing and Publishing | 2 Comments »

Coaching opens doors, fast tracks success

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

Every Tuesday, a talented young man from Dubuque, Iowa calls my personal cell phone.

We’ve only met once, but now have a deep relationship that has changed us both in many positive ways.

Josh Jasper

His name is Josh Jasper and he is Executive Director at Riverview Center, a non-profit entity specializing in the prevention of domestic violence.

Josh and I meet for an hour by phone once a week and he’s made some amazing progress in a short period of time. He’s made HUGE headway in the following areas:

Awareness–We’ve planted some ideas in Josh’s noggin for becoming an even better speaker. He’s already benefited from a few of these. Some will come to fruition in a few more talks.

Lead generation–Josh now has at least a quasi-system for getting more speaking gigs by working with a special network of people that we’ve identified.

Info products gift–I’ve sent Mr. Jasper some of my books and audio programs. This material offers many ways any speaker or writer can sharpen his game.

We’ve produced Josh’s very first audio program! He now has a master copy of the recording we did a couple weeks ago.

His first book! We’ve got the beginnings of Josh’s first book. He’s about to become an author–very exciting!

A customized coaching program is available to the right kind of candidate. I don’t accept everyone as a client, but am willing to speak with you, if you’re interested in fast-tracking your career by becoming an industry expert.

Coaching has worked for me. I have a long list of mentors, including Jim Pawlak, Bill Douglass, Alex Mandossian, and many others. I look forward to helping you!

For more information, contact my office at http://www.michaelangelocaruso.com/contact-me/ or by calling 248-224-9667.

Tags: 248-224-9667, coach, first-time author, industry expert, josh jasper, michael Angelo Caruso, open doors, riverview center, Success, telephone coaching
Posted in Career development, Communication, Creativity, Entreprenuers, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Personal Development, Sales and Marketing, Self improvement, Selling, Speaking, Success, Training, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

Self-publishing up 181% from last year

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Virginia Heffernan

If encouragement and awareness are important to authors, Virginia Heffernan is making it easier for you to write a book. Her New York Times article, Author Unbound makes it abundantly clear that self-publishing is an increasingly respected way to get your book out.

Once termed, “vanity press,” self-publishing was practiced mostly by rich people who could afford to print 1,000 books, even if they only sold 100 of them.

But the advent of desktop publishing, e-books, and print on demand (POD) has changed all that.

The Bowker company reports that self-publishing is up a whopping 181% over last year. In fact, 764,448 titles were self-published in 2009. In other words, as Heffernan reports, book publishing is becoming publishing.

As author of over 75 information products, I can attest that self-publishing is not limited to just print books. People are producing e-books, audio CDs, and video programs, too.

The process is incredibly easy, if you have a book shepherd or someone giving you good advice.

You can attend my self-publishing seminar on June 23 in Detroit or order my ( self-published) audio CD and e-book, How to Create and Sell Information Products.

Find a print-on demand vendor such as Lulu, Xlibris or iUniverse to deliver the finished product and you’ll be amazed at how a book can amp up your career, once word gets out.

Which reminds me, getting the word out is the hardest part of self-publishing. Most authors radically underestimate what it takes to sell a book.

If you were to write a book, what would it be about? Please comment below.

Tags: bowker, michael Angelo Caruso, new york times, self-publish, virginia heffernan, write a book
Posted in Career development, Creativity, Growing Your Business, Information products, Writing and Publishing | 1 Comment »

5 Cool ideas for writing and selling your book

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Your info is worth money

Everyone has a “how-to” book in them. Your lifetime of experience and acquired skill sets should probably be required reading for the next generation, yes?

That book is easier to write than you think. Once written, you can market your knowledge to people more than willing to pay for it. Social media can be a cost-free delivery system.

Use the profits from the book to pay down bills, shore up your battered 401K, buy a car or just have some fun. Here are 5 Cool Ideas for writing and selling your book.

1. Do it yourself, the publishing industry is broken, anyway.

Self-publishing e-books is an easy, very lucrative way to create passive income. The process can be as simple as writing a 20-page e-book and saving it to a .pdf. Arrange a payment gateway through Google or PayPal and start telling Facebook friends about your creation.

2. You can publish a book, even if you’re not a writer.

Mark Victor Hansen simply collected stories others had written and titled the book series, Chicken Soup for the Soul. Another great idea is to create other types of information products, instead of books. Audio programs, for example, are very popular and in some cases, sell better than printed material. And get this–audio programs are even easier to create than books.

3. A writing “system” can help you be published in less than 90 days.

I often write books by accumulating information. My 5 Cool Ideas books have been the result of collecting info, reworking the content and formatting related ideas in groupings of five.

4. Blog your way to authorship.

Web logging on Typepad or WordPress is a an easy way to develop your voice and build a following at the same time. Just post a few paragraphs twice a week and you’ll be amazed at how much content you can originate.

5. Think about what comes next after what comes next.

Celebrate your finished book as a great achievement, but remember that a book is almost always more powerful as a means to an end. Being a published author opens the doors to many opportunities, including speaking gigs, consulting work and media attention. Consider having other products and services to promote when your book is released.

Want more info on how to write a book?

Go to http://bit.ly/CreateSellYourInfoProducts

Good luck and keep writing!
Michael Angelo Caruso, Author of the 5 Cool Ideas books and creator of over 75 info products

Tags: blogging, creating info products, how to blog, michael Angelo Caruso, self-publishing, selling a book, writing, writing a book
Posted in Career development, Creativity, Growing Your Business, Information products, Internet marketing, Marketing, Sales and Marketing, Selling, Social Media, Success, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

Pages: Prev 1 2 3 Next