You are a smart cookie. You have something to teach. Why not host a workshop? But how do you get started? First you need to be able to have a place where people can learn more about your workshop and register for it. I reviewed three sites that can help you set up the registration and gave you the pros and cons of each.

1. Meetup.  This is a great site for connecting with people and finding local meetings and networking groups.  You can also host your own Meetup for $45/three months.  You can have as many as three groups with each account.  But you can also charge for your events.  All you need is a PayPal account and you will be all set to host your own workshops.  A word of warning, many meetup groups are free so there is an expectation that most events are free here.  So if you use Meetup for your workshop, I recommend you have a combination of free and paid events.  Many people are browsing through Meetup so there is a good chance people will “stumble” upon your workshop.

2.  EZRegister.  This site will help you register your attendees and it is reasonable.  Only a $1/ticket.  You can create a very customized registration page that looks fabulous. Again, this site uses PayPal.

3.  Eventbrite.  Eventbrite has a couple of nice features including the option to embed the registration form in your website and the ability to have affiliates who can promote your website and earn a commission.  The benefit to having affiliates is that other people are promoting your event to a wider audience and increasing your exposure.  Who does not want to be more exposed?   The fees can add up for a higher priced event since they charge 2.5% per ticket (up to $9.95) plus a 3% credit card processing fee (PayPal charges 2.9% so that’s almost even steven).  But it can be worth it for the ability to add affiliates.

Watch my video for more pros and cons and to see the sites in action. Also, watch for my next post where I will talk about how to promote your workshop – the most important part. This is not a “build it and they will come” kinda thing!

What is up with the hype around Quora? And what the heck is Quora? In a nutcake, Quora is like Wikipedia except for questions and answers. Quora is a place where you can ask questions and have them answered by by the masses but there is a consensus component. People can vote on the answers, even suggest edits for the answers and even edit the questions themselves which is a little scary.

But it has a social aspect that Wikipedia doesn’t have. You have followers and following. You can follow subjects, you can follow questions, you can follow people. All the things you are following end up in your stream.

Do we really need another social site? Will Quora be bigger than Twitter? Does this site have any staying power? These are questions I want to ask. So far most of the questions that get any traction are technology-based questions. It’s a great place to get your technology questions answered.  Other than that, I’m not sure what this site may be good for.

One thing I like about Quora is their basic principles:

1. Make the site a great resource for people who want to learn.

2. Be nice

3. Explain why.

Seems like some good basics.  Keep your eye on Quora.  We haven’t heard the last about it.  And feel free to ask me a question:  http://www.quora.com/Grandma-Mary Or you can ask me a question on Facebook.  Or ask me on Twitter, e-mail, blog comments, or what the heck – give me an old fashioned phone call!

I am so excited! I have been working hard lately so I’ve been a little quieter on the blogging front. I haven’t even had time to eat my usual amount of pastrami. But I wanted to let you know about my new Social Media Training – 30 Days to Social Media Mastery – it’s available now at www.30DaystoSocialMediaMastery.com. It’s fantastic if I do say so myself.

I want you to STOP trying to learn all this Social Media craziness on your own. I am here to help you get started and I will cut your learning curve in half. You are going to be up and running with your Social Media faster without all the hassle. As a small business owner, you know you need to be taking advantage of Social Media but you just don’t have time to learn it all on your own.

What it includes is a daily video tutorial, a step by step guide and a homework assignment. Plus I have plenty of tips and tricks included to turn you into a Social Media ninja and getting more clients for your business. Find out more at www.30DaystoSocialMediaMastery.com

You may have heard some things about FriendFeed but you still don’t know what it is. Who really knows? Do you need it? All this and more in my video:

Also you may have heard that Facebook just bought FriendFeed.com for $50million. Nice. So FriendFeed may become more important to Facebook users going forward. Stay tuned for more information on this development.