Creating the registered trademark symbol ®

To create the registered trademark symbol so that you can type ZUMBA®, hold down the ALT key while pressing 0174.

On a laptop you may have to turn on numlock and use the number keys on your keyboard. On my laptop, I turn on numlock by holding down the function key and pressing F11. Then hold down ALT while pressing MJ7U.

On a Mac keyboard, hold down OPT and press the R key.

To create the symbol in HTML for a website, use ® OR ®.

Free and Easy Email Marketing

Check out http://mailchimp.com/ for sending easy email newsletters. After signing up, create a new list. You can add your email contacts, but make sure you're adding people who have expressed an interested in your business. Once you start sending emails, they will have the ability to opt out of future emails. After you create a list, create a campaign. You can use the built-in templates as a starting point.

Before you send your newsletter, make sure you send a test to yourself. If possible, send it to an email account that can be viewed with Outlook because if it looks OK in Outlook it should look good anywhere. But watch out! You can only send 6 test emails per campaign with a free account. When you send the test, make sure that ALL links and images appear correctly, particularly the links that MailChimp includes for you in the footer such as facebook and twitter.

Don't forget to add your branding to all list-related pages and emails, not just the email you create. These pages include the signup form, email confirmation of signup, etc.

Check out my last newsletter or Zumba Fitness with Adrienne's newsletter for inspiration.

Drive Traffic to Your Site with a Short URL

Recently I organized a flash mob event which required participants to register by making a donation. Instead of giving everyone this link: http://www.capbigs.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=165 I created a shortened URL: http://tinyurl.com/bigflashmob

TinyURL is a free service that is easy to use and doesn't require you to create an account. You just enter the long URL and it can generate a random tiny url such as http://tinyurl.com/8xognkl  or you can specify a "custom alias" which is what I chose to do. As long as the custom alias isn't already taken, you can use it for your short URL. For example, you can't use "google" as a custom alias because it has already been used. Just go to tinyurl.com/google to find out.

There are many URL shortening services to choose from. I see bit.ly used often in twitter posts because it creates a very short URL. When posting on twitter, you want a URL with the least characters so you can use the remaining characters for your post. However, you might prefer a service like TinyURL to create short URLs for posters, fliers, business cards, class schedules, etc or even for saying out loud so that someone can remember. Bit.ly allows custom URLs but does require you to create an account and sign in.

I also like to use http://goo.gl/ for short URLs. I haven't found a way to customize the URL, but you can track the clicks to see how many people are using the link.

Swipe Credit Cards on Your Smart Phone

More and more people are starting to ask if I will accept a credit card for Zumbawear purchases. The answer is YES! I can process payments on my smartphone using an app or with a card reader. There are a few companies to choose from, but for the occasional sale, I recommend Square. See https://squareup.com/.

There is a 2.75% swipe fee per transaction, but there is always a fee to accept credit cards no matter what service you use. If you type in the card number instead of swiping, the fee is 3.5% + 15 cents. Why? Because swiping proves the physical presence of the card, lowering the risk of fraudulent charges that the credit card company would be responsible for.

One downside to this technology is that it makes people nervous. The card reader doesn't always pick up the card information on the first try, so the customer needs to trust that if you swipe her card 10 times, she will only be charged once. After you swipe successfully, your customer signs the screen and will receive an email receipt.

Class Notes no longer appear in Zumba.com "Find a Class"

If you got the newsletter today, then you know that the "Find a Class" feature on Zumba.com was recently updated. Go to http://www.zumba.com/en-US/parties/search/ and find your class. Click on the day/time of your class in the search results to see details. There, you will see your name, the class days and times, and the location info. However, your class notes are NOT there. Instead, you will see an "Additional Information" section that says "N/A". Yikes!

Hopefully the Home Office will discover this issue and resolve it ASAP, but until they do, here's how to get your class information back on the website:

Log into your ZIN account at Zumba.com and go to Marketing > Manage Classes. Click "edit". In the bottom right, there is a "Notes" section where you have entered important information about your class. For example, you might explain where to park, how much the class costs, which days the facility is closed, etc.

Copy the notes, then click the "Edit Locations" button in the top left. Click the "edit" link next to your location. Paste your class notes into the "Location Description" field. If you have multiple classes at this location and you have different notes for each class, you will need to rewrite the notes somewhat.

Now go back to your "Find a Class" search results. The "Additional Information" section will show what you saved in the "Location Description" field. Problem solved!

Your class notes will still appear if someone searches for your classes using the "Find an Instructor" feature, but the people who know the least about your classes are most likely using the "Find a Class" page, so you need to get this information to appear there.

Edit the **** out of your music.

If you need to clean up language in your music, you can do it yourself for free using a music editing program. Zumba.com has recommended two free options for Zumba in the Circuit instructors. See more info here: http://www.zumba.com/en-US/zumbainthecircuit-tutorial/

Do NOT download Audacity using the link on that page because it's not the newest version. Instead, download the latest version here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ I had trouble editing my music with the old version until I upgraded to a newer one.

Once you install Audacity, open the program and go to File > Import > Audio. Choose the song you want to edit. Click the green play button and listen to the song until you hear the offensive section. Using the View menu, zoom into the section that you want to modify. Highlight the section of the song and click the play button, zooming and highlighting until you are highlighting the exact part that needs to be changed. Under the Effect menu, choose "Reverse".  Highlight a larger section of the song and listen to that phrase with the updated audio. If it doesn't cover up the lyrics enough, you can try some of the other Effects. Click File > Export to save the new song as an mp3.

Or watch this video I found that explains those steps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy3JrZHJrX4 

Avoid creepers with a Google Voice number

If you aren't comfortable publishing your personal cell phone number on your business cards, fliers, posters, etc, consider using a Google Voice number. Google Voice is FREE, just like many of the other Google services I love to blog about.

You can choose a phone number in your own area code (if available), but choose carefully because it costs $10 to change it. Once you set up a phone number, you can configure the settings in a variety of ways. My suggestions:

• Under the Phones tab, associate your GV number with your mobile phone so that you can forward calls to it.
• Click "Show advanced settings". Set the ring schedule so that calls to the GV number forward to your other phones only during the days and times that you would want to take business calls. Otherwise, send calls directly to voice mail.
• Under the Voicemail & Text tab, forward voice mail messages and text message to your email. Or get them texted to you. The coolest feature of Google Voice is that it will transcribe voice mails to text so that you have the option of listening to a voice or just reading it. 
• If you are using the number just for your business, record a special greeting such as "Thank you for calling Zumba with Kim Quigley." 
• Under the Calls tab, you can turn on call screening and this will deter automated dialers from being able to leave a message. This feature could also make less technical people nervous.
• If you're using the number for business, set the incoming caller ID to show your own Google Voice number rather than the caller's number. That way you will know to answer the phone with your business greeting rather than a casual "Hello?"

Collaborate with Google Docs

With Google Docs, it's free to create and share documents. You can access your documents from the web or an app on your smartphone, download them to your desktop, email or print them. Google Docs has 3 formats that are editable: document, spreadsheet and presentation. These document types are like very simplified versions of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. In addition to the built-in formats, you can upload your own files and use Google docs as "cloud" storage, meaning that you are saving your files in an accessible place on the internet rather than your hard drive at home. Read more at wikipedia.

Some ideas for using Google Docs (I do all of these!):

• Planning a Zumbathon event? Keep track of ticket sales using a spreadsheet. Give the other event organizers edit access to the spreadsheet so they can see how many tickets were sold and add their own sales. Create a second tab for the playlist where each instructor can enter the songs they want to use.
• Do you know so many routines that sometimes you forget your moves? Enter your choreo notes in a document. Pull up the document on your smartphone for a quick review before class. I use one document for each song.
• Need to stay organized for tax time? Create a 2011 Tax folder and save all of your documents there. Did you make a charitable donation? You can save it right from your gmail into a Google Doc. Scan receipts and upload the image files. 

Before you upload your entire hard drive, be aware that stored files (.PDF, .DOC, .JPG, etc.) count towards your 1 GB free storage limit, while Google Docs formats don't use up your storage space. If you run out of space, you can purchase additional storage for only $5/year.

While your documents are safer in the cloud than on your hard drive, it's still a good idea to keep a backup, especially if you have essential items such as tax receipts.

Get cool with a QR code

QR codes are those square barcode images that have been popping up everywhere. Anyone with a QR code reader app on their smartphone can scan one and they will be taken to a website, see a message or see a phone number... whatever the QR code was set up to do. This marketing tactic isn't gaining popularity as fast as predicted because people find it cumbersome to have to scan the code without knowing where it will take them. However, it's still pretty cool and there are some creative ways you can use them. For example, get a QR code printed on the back of your business card and have it link to your class information. Or make t-shirts with a QR code on the back and have it link to your website or facebook page. The one place you probably don't want to put a QR code is on your facebook page or website because in those cases you would want to put a direct link rather than make people scan their computer screens.

Creating your QR code is free and easy. Go to http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and enter a website that you want to link to. Your QR code will appear and you can start using it right away! Here's the QR code that links to my website:

How to avoid PayPal fees

PayPal charges a fee for accepting payments, but there is a loophole for avoiding the fee, as shown in this chart.

Give these instructions to the person sending you money:

1. Log in and click on "Send Money". 
2. Enter the recipient email and amount, then choose "Personal". 
3. Select "Payment owed", then click "Continue". 
4. Choose your bank account or PayPal balance as the funding source. DO NOT pay with a credit card! The "Your fee" section should say "$0.00". If it has a checkbox that says "I will pay the fee", then you need to change the funding source.

Keep in mind that some people will not follow the instructions and you will be stuck with the fee. Sometimes the best option is to adjust your price to cover the fee and allow people to use any payment method. When selling tickets for an event, I would recommend accepting credit cards, but if you are selling your used cargo pants to an instructor in another state, I would ask them to use these instructions.

Music Beta by Google

Google's new cloud music service is so cool, you need an invitation to use it. But is it right for you as a fitness instructor? If you answer yes to all of these questions, then you should consider trying it out.

1. Do you have a Google account? 
2. Do you have an Android smartphone?
3. Is your music in MP3, AAC, WMA or FLAC file format? Sorry iTunes users... your music is probably in M4P or M4A format.
4. Do you want to create and edit playlists from your computer without having to connect your mp3 player?

Once you sign up, you can upload all of your music to the Google cloud. Then you can access your songs by going to music.google.com or from the Android app on your phone. When you edit playlists from music.google.com, they will automatically synch with your phone.

The best feature of the Android app is that you can choose to make a playlist available offline. This will cache the playlist on your device so that you can keep your phone in airplane mode while you're teaching. 

Google Plus Business Pages

Google Plus announced today that you can now create business pages. I don't want to use Google Plus because my business model is already focused around my facebook page. However, I created a page there to direct people to my website and facebook page. Google Plus has not yet taken significant market share from facebook, but that could change at any time. If it does, I'll be ready. Will you?