Free Webinar Wednesdays

Why the Senior Segment of Society is Important to Marketers

Why the Senior Segment of Society is Important to Marketers

As the senior population grows, companies will do well to create products and services that serve the over-60 segment of society. There are more than 78 million consumers in America and as Baby Boomers reach their sixtieth birthdays, the demand for products and services will require that companies pay attention to the purchasing power seniors hold.

The key to reaching the senior market is in understanding what they really want. What they care about is nothing like what previous generations desired. Today’s senior has more discretionary income, is in better health, and is one of the most educated populations America has ever held.

Dolores Hagen is a certified coach whose web/blog www.sixtyandsensational.com is dedicated to women who find that reaching the age of sixty (and beyond) is a cause to celebrate. She coaches clients who want to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others through discovery of their own talents and creative forces.

In this webinar she will discuss the importance of marketing to this segment of society, what they really want and how to market to them.

Register Today:


If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:


Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

Blogging with a sense of humor. How to get people to stop and read your blogs by tickling their funny bone.

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below: 

Elizabeth Cassidy is the owner of Branching Out Life Coaching and Founder/Co-Creator of Coaches on the Edge. Elizabeth came up with the idea of an edgy coaching blog when she realized that she was not your typical life coach.

Welcome to the slightly warped world of Elizabeth Cassidy and her blogging partner, Laurie Lawson.

There are plenty of coaches out there who will tell you that every cloud has a silver lining. Not them. The Coaches on the Edge are experts in taking cold, harsh reality and making their readers see the humor in their situations, no matter how devastating and humbling. They have had it all, lost it and then lost some more, but they always maintained their senses of humor and their survival instincts. And they do it without drugs. That is what their lawyers advised them to say.

They are Coaches on the Edge—Life Coaching at its finest—peppered with humor, sliced with sarcasm, tainted with truth and able to leap tall buildings in high heels. Aren’t you glad you asked?

They are national bloggers for Skirt! and their blogs have also been featured on USAToday.com, NBC.com, NPR.com, Daylife.com, GalTime.com, Vibrant Nation, Huffington Post, Treehugger.com, BestBoomerTowns.com and IndiaTimes.com, (so it is safe to say that they have been read by millions).
elizabeth is a former NYC stand up comedienne and was a comedy writer for NBC Radio.

Currently, The Coaches on the Edge are running a fair and transparent campaign to be featured on the cover of O Magazine.

And it all started with one blog.

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

The Best Wordpress Plug-ins for 2010 – make your blog work better, so you can work less!

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:  

Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 1 pm Eastern

 Nina East, Lead Developer at www.BasicBlogSetup.com and Wordpress expert, knows plug-ins – the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you use Wordpress to run your site or blog, you most likely have plug-ins installed on your site. And, if you’re like most Wordpress users, you probably have some that you don’t use or don’t understand. The problem with this is that you may have some that conflict with your theme, interfering with performance, or even worse, shutting down your site.

Nina has more than a thousand of hours of experience working with Wordpress and a whole variety of plug-ins. In this webinar, Nina will show us her favorite Wordpress plug-ins and how they work, as well as how to evaluate if they are right for you.

 If you use Wordpress to run your website or blog, this webinar is a MUST. 

 Join us on Wednesday, February 17, to learn about the best plug-ins for 2010, and how to select the ones that make your site work better so that you can work less.

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

Marketing to the New Consumer: 5 Key Strategies to Attract the Millennial Buyer to Your Business

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 1 pm Eastern

Here is a PDF containing the information Bea convered in this presentation:  Download Marketing to the New Consumer

In today’s world, business owners have a new set tough commandments to live by if we want to reach the young adult consumer. The shifts which are occurring in the marketplace are not only powerful but they are disrupting the way marketers have been going about their business for the last 3 decades. Bea Fields’ ongoing research of the Generation Y demographic has provided key insight into the advertising and marketing triggers which are driving decision making for the new consumer.

What she is discovered is that approximately 75% of business owners who are using marketing techniques from the 1990s are actually driving this demographic away…straight to their competitors who truly get the game of how to market to this sharp group of consumers. During this presentation, Fields will present guidelines on how to understand the mindset of the under 30 buyer and 5 key strategies every marketer needs to consider before even approaching this savvy demographic of buyers.

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

Blogging Lessons Learned: Recap of Blogging for Bankers 2009

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

Date: Wednesday, January 20th @ 1 pm Eastern Time

During this episode of Free Webinar Wednesdays, Eric and Jeff will share some of the insight and lessons learned during their 2009 Blogging for Bankers online course. While the title would indicate that today's session would only be appropriate for banks, many of the take-aways from the class are universally applicable to all types of businesses.

As Eric, Jeff and Bea FIelds (the other BFB instructor) prepare for the 2010 version of the class, some of what was learned based on feedback from the class participants and a age-range survey that is under way now are helping to shape the direction of the 2010 class. If you are thinking about making 2010 the year you start your bloging effort (or enhancing your blogging activities), this will be a very helpful session.

We'll also share some of the preliminary survey results asking consumers to let us know if the presence of a blog on a bank's website would have any influence on their selection process when picking a bank. You might just be surprised what the responses are saying... especially if you are a banker!

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

What Are You Reading? Eric And Jeff Share Their Reading Lists (and hear what you're reading)

 Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

From What Are You Reading? Eric And Jeff Share Their Reading Lists (and hear what you're reading)

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 @ 1 pm Eastern

One of the things about doing business these days (whether you are doing business on the Internet or not) is you simply cannot afford to stand still. The world is changing so quickly and from an intellectual perspective that means taking in new information and continuing to learn. Whether you are using magazines, blogs, podcasts or other means of getting information, staying current is an important factor to staying competitive in today's business environment.

In this issue of Free Webinar Wednesdays, Eric and Jeff will share their "reading lists" (which may not be limited to only books) and resources they have relied on for keeping on top of their industries in 2009. But, we want to hear from YOU and will be interested in resouces you've used, so feel free to participate and bring your ideas.

This also will be the last Free Webinar Wednesdays for 2009 as Eric and Jeff will be taking the rest of the year off to celebrate the holiday season with friends and family. We look forward to seeing  you this week and again in 2010. Thanks for all your support and we are now close to 400 registered users, so spread the word and let's tip 400 before the new year arrives!

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

Blogging for Bankers + Social Media - Learn All About The Class Starting September 16, 2009

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

Date: Wednesday, September 9th @ 1 pm EDT

Even if you're not a "banker" you'll want to join us for this information packed session as Eric Cook, Jeff Simpkins and Bea Fields walk you through their upcoming course called Blogging for Bankers (http://www.BloggingForBankers.com). We'll be walking through this new course, launching on Wednesday, September 16th, and giving an overview of the 12 one-hour webinar sessions that are included in the class.

The session starts with the basics of "Blogging 101" and some of the early discussions that need to take place at your organization in developing a strategic plan for your blogging efforts. This section will also cover the topic of compliance, and will feature a leading audit firm to help explore what critical areas need to be addressed to help keep your bank out of "regulatory hot water".

The second four weeks will get into more of the nuts and bolts of "Content Generation", what to blog about and some of the different ways that you can blog using video and even audio to get your message across. You'll discover the advantages to each of these different mediums and how you likely have information already in the organization that can be "re-purposed" in your blog to ensure you keep a steady flow of content for your readers.

The final section is all about "Promotion Strategies" and how to get your new blog and making sure the rest of the world knows what you're up to. We'll talk about some of the ways that you can leverage other social networking solutions like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others to get the word out and touch as many people with your message as possible.

So, as you can hopefully see, even if you're not in the banking industry there will be quite a bit of helpful information that may get you and your blogging efforts further down the road towards success. Of course, if you ARE a banker, we'd love nothing more than to have you join us starting on September 16th for the full 12-weeks of learning. You can sign up for any one of the sessions individually or all three for a savings of $194 compared to registering for each of the classes individually (but the special pricing ends on September 16 - so don't delay). Either way, we look forward to seeing you during this FWW session!

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

So Why Tell Stories, rather than just blather on in plain ordinary language?

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

Date:  Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT

Annie Hart, master communicator and story teller will be our guest in this edition of FreeWebinarWednesdays.com.

So why should we tell stories rather than speak in plain old ordinary language?  For many reasons.  First of all because telling stories is more fun and we should always have fun when we’re speaking.

Storytelling is the oldest and most powerful form of communication on the planet.  It completely bypasses the rational conscious mind and goes directly into our unconscious, which is the meaning maker of our mind.

This means that stories go in more easily and are more enduring than ordinary communication.  If you want to have power in your message, you really need to tell a story.

Words by themselves are completely boring.  They are just like flat pieces of cardboard with no color on them.  To make a mosaic out of them you need to create colorful images in your reader or listener’s minds eye.

So I went out on the street the other day and as stepped out the door, I smelled the taste of roses in my mind.

Now what does that mean?  Absolutely nothing.  But notice that it created clear images in your mind.  Your brain needed to visualize the step, the door, the smell, the taste and roses, all in one short sentence. This is the same way a great story is created, from inside of the memory banks of your mind.

We need to tell stories for many reasons but the most important of which is that you don’t want to be boring with your words.

Annie will give us more details on her top three reasons to tell stories:

1. tell stories so that people will listen to what you have to say
2. tell stories so that your message will be lasting
3. tell stories so that you don’t bore people with your words

Most of all tell stories because they are the most fun and enjoyable way to communicate on the planet.  That’s it, enough said.  Now go tell a story.

This is an excerpt from the blog of Annie Hart, access the full post at:  http://anniehart.com/2009/08/so-why-tell-stories-rather-than-just-blather-on-in-plain-ordinary-language/

Annie Hart – Master story teller, Book Yourself Solid Certified Coach and author of the blog Stories Change the World:  Inspiring change through story.  Visit her blog at http://anniehart.com/blog/.

Click here to read a biography of Annie Hart.

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

Blogging for Success in Business

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

Date:  Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 1 PM EDT / 10 AM PDT

Blogging as a business tool?  Absolutely!

Join us as we have a panel discussion on how blogging can be successfully used as a business and credibility builder.  Blogging can also be a lot of fun!  This discussion is sure to be lively, informative, educational and entertaining!

Our panel will include regular business people, people that have been blogging for a short period of time, people that have been blogging for years, and a professional writer.  We've selected a group with a mixed set of skills to look like the blogosphere... diverse.

Our panelists include:

Corey Blake - Successful writer, author and blogger.  Co-author of Edge! A Leadership Story with Bea Fields and Eva Silva Travers, among other books.  Visit one of his blogs at:  http://blog.writersoftheroundtable.com/. 

Click here to read a biography of Corey Blake.

Bea Fields – Blogging expert, Gen Y expert, published author and founder of the Become a Blogging Maniac course.  Visit some of her blogs at:  http://beafields.com/blog/, http://millennialleaders.com/blog/, http://www.bloggingforbankers.com/ and http://www.blog.becomeabloggingmaniac.com/blog/.

Click here to read a biography of Bea Fields.

Annie Hart – Master story teller, Book Yourself Solid Certified Coach and author of the blog Stories Change the World:  Inspiring change through story.  Visit her blog at http://anniehart.com/blog/.

Click here to read a biography of Annie Hart.

Eric Cook – WSI Internet Consulting principal and co-sponsor of FreeWebinarWednesdays.com.  Visit his blogs at:  http://www.ericcook.blogspot.com/ and http://www.bloggingforbankers.com/.

Click here to read a biography of Eric Cook.

Jeff Simpkins – Community Bank Consulting, Inc. principal and Book Yourself Solid Certified Coach.  Visit his blogs at:  http://blog.communitybankconsulting.com/ and http://www.bloggingforbankers.com/.

Click here to read a biography of Jeff Simpkins

We’ll be announcing information on two upcoming classes:  Blogging for Bankers is a collaborative effort between Eric Cook, Jeff Simpkins, and Bea Fields and is designed to teach bankers how to start, promote, and write a blog in the highly regulated banking industry, including issues such as compliance and security.  Become a Blogging Maniac is Bea Fields very successful signature blogging class; it is designed for solopreneurs and small business people to go from start to success in just twelve weeks using the open source platform WordPress.

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialog, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc. and WSI Internet Consulting.

Social Media 101: How to Manage Your Online Life and Business By Tapping Into a Social Media Manager

Access a recording of this webinar by clicking below:

Click below to download a copy of the webinar handout:

Download Social Media 101 Social Medial Manager (07-01-2009)

Please see "comments" at the bottom of this post for additional resources.  Also please leave feedback, questions, etc. using the comments feature.

Date: July 1, 2009 @ 1 PM EDT

Twitter, Facebook, Blogging, Linked-In!  HELP!  There are thousands of social media sites popping up every day, and most business leaders are saying they are truly living in overwhelm about how to manage these sites, the things their employees say online,  their privacy and how to protect their products and services.  The answer?  A Social Media Manager.   While social media skills will eventually become a main part of our resumes, for the current time being, social media specialists are needed to help companies manage their online conversations and duties which are foreign to most marketers.  During this presentation, Bea Fields, Generation Y author and Chief Principal of Become a Blogging Maniac will provide you with both the profile and the guidelines needed to bring this very specialized individual to your team.

Bea Fields Biography:
Learn more about Bea Fields, her work, her websites and her blogs.  Click here to view Bea Fields biography.

Register Today:
If you are not yet registered for the Free Webinar Wednesdays series, click here to register. We look forward to seeing you online!

About Free Webinar Wednesdays:
Free Webinar Wednesdays was created as a community building tool to bring professionals together to share pertinent business development information, provide subject matter experts with a platform to open a learning dialogue, and inspire small business owners to reach their professional goals.

Free Webinar Wednesdays is sponsored by Community Bank Consulting, Inc.,WSI Internet Consulting, and Matt Walker Coaching.