20 items followed on our Webinar

These are the 20 things we did when working on our webinar to follow the content rules.

1. Ask, yourself, Whats keeping our customers up at night? or What information do our customers want?

·         They want the real life information, the information that is true to heart, and you can relate to.

2. Create momentum. Your goal should be to educate or inspire your customers, and to be a resource to them. What do you want your audience to take away from the webinar?

·         -We want our audience to take valuable information about interviewing and really use this when going to an interview. We are educating our audience.  

3. Go big or go tactical. There are two different types of webinars: how-to webinars that offer specific tactical information and inspirational or strategic seminars that often feature big names in business. 

·         We did a how to webinar that is tactical and loaded with information.

4. Create your webinar registration form wisely. Make sure it captures relevant information without making the form so long that the visitor would abandon the registration.

·         -We put our ebook, informative link, and this document in our registration form, and also filled out our reflection on our info for the registration.

5. Write the story. Get your key points and logical flow written before even creating the presentation. 

·         We all planned our presentations, researched and wrote up what we are all planning to say.

6. Show; don't tell. Webinars allow you to add voices, images and sound and create something that teems with life.  So use case studies, stories, or colorful anecdotes to express your ideas.

·         We use ourselves, researched information, music, and slides to really show our ideas and bring them out for the viewers to see.

7. This is a really important, critical point! Compelling titles are very important! The title draws the audience in to watch your webinars. 

·         How to land your dream job, how compelling is that. It will draw people in to watch our webinar.

8. Find a compelling speaker. No one wants to listen to a boring speaker.

·         Our speakers are informative, and humorous. We tend not to be very boring, but yet amusing.

9. Moderators matter. You want a good moderator that improves the experience for the audience. You want someone that will keep the webinar moving, paying attention to the feedback or audience chat. They need to help the vague questions get more specific and ignore the inappropriate questions.

·         Justin is a great moderator. He can answer questions very thoroughly and will be humorous and keep the group going.

10. What about video? If you add any video but make sure the video is short and truly relevant to the topic.

·         Our video is relevant, it is our whole group doing their part by speaking about a specific part of this webinar.

11. Practice and rehearse. Schedule a rehearsal ahead of the live webinar so the speaker and moderator feel comfortable with the platform and controls. Test the Internet connection and hardware but also check the slideshow so that it looks and preforms as expected. 

·         Practicing and rehearsing was done. We did It all, and met up tons of times to get our webinar working great.

12. Re-imagine your webinar. Give prospects an idea of what to expect and help drive them to register for the event. 

·         Great tips and hints to help nail an interview, from multiple perspectives using humor and knowledge.

13. Encourage audience members to interact. Most webinars have a live chat that allows the audience to ask questions during the live events. 

·         We will let our audience know that questions throughout are awesome and welcomed.

14. Encourage speaker-attendee interaction. Build some interactions into the presentation itself. Stop to answer incoming questions instead of saving them to the end.

·         We are using a prerecorded video. Using pause will be critical to answering our live questions.

15. Record your event. You can then reimagine that recording in various ways to deliver maximum return on investment from your webinar. 

·         We prerecorded our video to enhance viewing experience with music, slides, and lots of useful information.

16. Optimize for sharing. Upload your webinar presentation and slide notes to SlideShare, and make sure they are optimized for search. Use plenty of relevant words to tag the webinar so users can find your content during searches.

·         We used tags in our video so people can find it

17. Spread it around. Upload it to many sites so more and more people can view it. 

·         We uploaded it to our blog, youtube, and twitter.

18. Plan for a disaster. Everything doesn't go as it is planned so be prepared to fix something on the fly and how to recover when something unexpected happens.

·         If things do not go as planned, we have our webinar uploaded to various sources for more options to view.

19. Create feedback. Create a survey that you can collect after webinar. This is will show you how it went and if there is any changes you might want to consider.

·         -We created an awesome survey for viewers to take after they attend our webinar.

20. Make sure you try out different webinar sites. Many are good but none of them are perfect. They all have their pros and cons.

·         -We looked at different options in preparation for our webinar. For all 5 of us, prerecording seemed the best option for our group. 

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To declaw or not to declaw?

Do you declaw your cats? Could you imagine getting your nails ripped off about an inch deep then having to have full functioning paws afterward? Cats have this done when the owners don't have control over where the cats scratch and what they are scratching. Personally, I couldn't do it. None of my cats are declawed and I have beautiful furniture, walls, and anything a cat would scratch on. I trained my cats to scratch on scratching posts, and their cat trees. I have to replace the hemp rope a few times a year, but my furniture looks great! My mom has her cats front declawed which I do not personally like, but her cats had scratching issues that simply could not be fixed.

When you declaw a cat, only do the front paws. If your cat were to get loose outside, it would have no way to defend itself against other animals that could be potentially dangerous. So if you do decide to declaw your cat, only do the front. If you decide not to, great! Practice with your kitty, hold on to their paw and rub against the scratching post. A lot of cats like vertical posts to scratch on. You could also put catnip on the post to help get your cat into scratching on it. It may seem like a lost cause, but continue to work with your cat, and it can pan out in your favor. If you say you do not have time, that is not the case. It only takes a little bit of time, a few minutes a day. 

Some people also like to try putting caps on top of their cats nails. I have heard good things, and bad things. I have heard that they help a lot. Also have heard a lot of bad reviews that removing them is almost impossible. Also that they can break and the cat's nail can break as well. Whether trying some of them is an option or not, ensure to check reviews and see if that is really a good option for your kitty. 

Whether you decide to declaw, put caps on, or none of those options, it is something you need to think about when you get a kitty. If you decide to not declaw, try to clip your kittys nails at least a few times, so if you do get scratched, it will not be so bad.

Its Playtime!

Playtime. I am sure you all know when that time comes in your home. It is the time when your cat becomes utterly wild and starts to run around like a wild animal chasing toys, other cats, or maybe nothing. They all do it, they get their burst of energy in spurts. Older cats (usually 10+) do not play very often if any at all. All cats require play though. It helps keeps them lean. It is good to play with your cat with various toys until they become tired, then feed them. It is a good way to tucker them out and reward them with a treat.

Catnip is a great treat for your kitty that can cause them to get excited and act very wacky. Some cats do not all get nuts from it. It also can cause a sexual arousal for some cats. Bacardi is the only cat I have which does not get affected by catnip. He becomes very sleepy and wants more. He loves to lick it until it is gone, but he doesn't get all wacky like the girls do. Its a great tool to try especially if your introducing play into things. You can put the catnip in your hand and let them eat it, some treats have it in it, you can put it on their toys, or some cat scratching stands have pockets to put it in. It will not hurt your cat to try it, and you really can't give them "too much." Just sprinkle a pinchful wherever you choose to.

Laser pointers are another great tool to use to make your cat play. Their fairly inexpensive and they love chasing that red dot. I can get my cats to chase it for about a half hour before they start to lie down and just watch it and stop chasing it. Play sticks also work great. Walmart, Petsmart, Petco, Target, and many other stores have them. They are those little sticks with feathers, bells, mice, and other options to get your cat to play. Toys to have around the house are good as well. Mice, bells, balls, scratching posts, things to climb on especially going up and down, and tubes are also all fun for cats to play when your away from the home.

If you have 2 cats or more, play is not as hard, as they tend to play with each other, even at times when it looks like cats are fighting, it is normally just a more rough play. If you do have more cats, they will most likely play at night, when your dead asleep in the night.

Cats will need to play no matter what. It will help them live a much stronger, happier, and healthier life. Don't forget to squeeze some much needed playtime into your cats life, and yours. It will be a much funner and better experience with your kitty.

Eww... what stinks!!!

Happy Gobble day!  

for everyone on this awesomely snowy Thanksgiving day. I just wanted to say I am thankful for everything I have my family, friends, husband, and my kitties.

Now onto the fun.. the litter box. We all dread this nasty stinky ole thing. Its a plastic box that has tons of gross stuff in it. But all cats need it, unless you potty train them. But, who has time to toilet train your cat? I love cats, but I am not crazy enough to potty train my cat to go to the toilet. A cool technology that some people use are cat genies or automatic boxes. I have heard good things about them, but I don't want to get five of them at $100-300 dollars a piece.

The cat genies are the best ones to get, because there are so many options for them and you can connect them right to your toilet water line or washer and dryer line to use for the water to clean out the boxes. I prefer to use my plastic ones that have the cover. The cover because then my kitties cannot throw the litter all over. In every household, they say for every one cat you have, there should be 2 litter boxes for them. I agree with that, because some cats can be territorial over their "private" space. I have 4 of them in my home, with 5 cats and it works good.

For litter, I use Tidy Cats. It is a non scoopable litter because with my cats, I have to change it out so often, so I just replace all of it. Tidy cats is good with a little baking soda on it, and the smell will be very small for the first few days. If you do not change it within 6-7 days, it will get a hint of kitty poo scent. A lot of people like to use scoopable litter because then they scoop it out every day, so it can last a long time. It usually works well with 1-3 cats. Another litter I have tried is corn litter, a more natural litter. I do not recommend using it... it is very stinky within a few hours. Not a smell I would like to have linger. Bottom line, when you buy your cat litter, buy middle priced stuff. I buy Tidy Cats because it is not bottom line, but I don't spend all my money on cat litter. The store brands like Walmart's Special Kitty or any other similar, are terrible and stink right away. Better off going a step up.

Now that we got poo out of the way, what about cats when they play? .... Tomorrow will be the day we talk about all of it, from laser pointers, catnip, balls, mice, when to play, how to play, feathers, and anything else that relates to it!! Playday Friday!!

Have a great Thanksgiving! Don't forget to get your kitty something special. 

Talking..or maybe meowing..Sleeping..Eating..the very basics to know,

Have you ever talked to your cat? Does your cat meow a lot? The more you speak to your cat, the more it will talk to you! When a cat meows, it is usually speaking to you, not other cats. Cats do not usually communicate through meowing. My cats talk all the time, probably because I talk to them all the time. Speaking to them, they will communicate back even if it means they want to be petted. My cat Peaches tends to communicate a lot, from telling me she wants attention, to that she doesnt want me to go to sleep, she does it all. She is a constant talker, and she tends to get my other kitties going.

What about feeding? What does your cat want? What is good for them? Talking to them is the best, but knowing what is good for your cats health will do your cat the best. Hard food should be a primary food for your cat. Any food that starts out with an sort of meal is not always the best choice. It is just a filler, in other words, the cheaper you go, the worse it is for your cat. Cats need meat, and any food with meat is good. I use Purina Pro Plan, it is not the most expensive, but it is not the cheapest food. It has exactly the ingredients I am looking for in a cat food. But what about soft food? Soft food is actually good for them too. I feed my cats soft food twice a week as a snack. It has extra water and nutrients any growing kitty needs.

What about sleep? My cats tend to sleep all day, although I do not know exactly what they are doing throughout the day... Hannah and Laney are the main sleepers in my family. They sleep all day, and have only a few short moments throughout the day that they play. But does it affect anything for the cat? No, cats sleep and it will not cause any problems. As kittens they play until they are tired, then the sleep to rejuvenate all their energy. Never worry about how much your cats are sleeping; they will always get much more sleep than you, and will never be able to catch up to them.

Tomorrow I hope to talk about play, and using the ole so favorite litter box, we will see you tomorrow.

---Ashley

Cats & the funny things they do!

Cats. We all know what they are, those cute little four legged creatures with the long tail and makes the meow noise. But there is more to it, why do they have some parts that they are given? Why do they sleep all day? Who doesn't have a unique cat in there home? I sure do. I have five of them. They all have their own personalities and little quirks about them that make them such interesting creatures.

Throughout this blog, I will be referencing to my cats. So, a mini introduction for them is necessary in order to continue:

Bacardi: He is the only male cat in my home, he is black and white and size wise, he is the biggest. He watches over the home, and has time for you when he makes it on his turf. He is very intuitive, and knows he is the king of his four ladies.

Tinkerbell: She is Bacardi's sister, and is a white calico cat. She was the runt of her litter, and to this day is still the smallest cat I own. She is very whiny kind of like a prissy little school girl. She is my baby, my first, and she loves to snuggle the way you hold a baby with her belly rubbed. She does not like when other kitties try to come in her area when she is snuggling with mom.

Laneybell: Laney is our tiger kitty. She is part bengal and has tons of spots on her belly. She is a snuggler as well, but only under the blankets. She must be under the blankets and must have her neck or belly rubbed. She will always push her way under the cover, and will be upset if you do not want her there. She is a quiet cat, usually sleeps up in the bedroom all day, until bedtime when she wants to snuggle. She has the best teeth out of everyone in our little family.

Peaches-bell: Peaches is our orange cat, the baby as well. She is a year younger then all of them, and has been the most difficult to handle. She has a personality like a child in their terrible twos. She is a clepto, she takes anything shiny if you leave it lay out, and hides it under beds, in sink drains, or anywhere else she finds necessary. She is allergic to collars, most cat litters, suffers from very dry skin, and is the only cat who eats any flowers I bring into the home. She is an accident-prone kitty.

Hannahbell: Hannah is my black calico. We saved her from a junkyard when her sisters did not make it. We brought her inside, and she had a lot of scavenger habits. She is our most overweight cat, she loves to eat. Her favorite is pizza (is she can get her hand on it) and will eat all day. She is also our friendliest cat. She loves attention, all the time. There is not very many moments where if she is in the room, you cannot not be petting her, or she will be meowing or bunking you for that attention.


Now that I have talked about my cats, you will have some what of an understanding of who I am referencing to when it comes to any stories or facts I post about my own cats. But now are some cool facts about cats.

Did you know cats have 5 front toes, and 4 back? Cats purr at 26 purrs per second which is the same frequency as an idling diesel engine. Your cat uses her whiskers to see if they can fit through things or not. Your cat must have taurine, or it will go blind. A cat can run 30 miles per hour. Cats also spend 2/3 of their day sleeping....

This will conclude this post, but next time comes the fun, with the funny stories and great information to know about cats.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Ashley Ernst. I am writing this blog for my class at Moraine Park called Business Technology and Innovation. I am working on my Associates degree for Administrative Professional which I will finish this following spring 2014. I am recently married, and have a handful of cats I absolutely adore. My blog is going to be a killer blog all related to cats and awesome facts and stories behind them!



Why are you creating the content you're creating?
 Because I love cats, and cats are an awesome thing to talk about!
Who is your audience?
Anyone interested in cats!
What do you want the content to achieve?
To inform my readers as much as I can about cats!
When and how are you going to develop the content? Share your schedule for posting to the blog.
I am going to develop the content from my own personal experiences, and from some online research. My schedule for the blog is to post every day hopefully!
Where are you going to publish?
I am going to publish on Blogger. It is free, and I have a gmail account, so it is very convenient.
wordpress.com, www.weebly.com, www.mydiary.com are all other options I had for creating my blog.