Podcaster and author Leesa Barnes is organizing a virtual Social Media Telesummit, with sessions taking place February 20 – 29. Dozens of talks are being presented throughout the Summit, by such podcasting and new media figures as Paul Colligan, The Engaging Brand’s Anna Farmery from the UK, Australian government science video podcaster Kylie Johnson, and virtual podcast event organizer Penny Haynes.

Barnes’ book, Podcasting for Profit, published last fall, is an overview of business podcasting: who should consider creating a podcast, how to do it, and how to use the podcast to build your profitable business.
I caught up with Leesa earlier today, to find out more about the event.

Elisabeth McLaury Lewin: Tell me about what will be going on.

Leesa Barnes: It is an eight-day virtual event that’s geared to teach business owners and business leaders how to use social media as a business tool. I am finding that many people think that Facebook and MySpace and blogs and podcasts are simply just a way to find old classmates, or swap songs and recipes, but all of these media can be effective sales tools. As a virtual event, even if you aren’t there at the live Summit session, you can gain access to the recordings later on.

Elisabeth McLaury Lewin: What inspired you to create this event?

Leesa Barnes: I’ve been to a lot of events in the past couple years, and spent a lot to travel to conferences. There are so many more things I’d like to attend, but for a variety of reasons, can’t be there in person every time. I realized this is the case for many of us. I wanted to give participants the opportunity to participate and hear cutting edge sm information, regardless of their location and ability to travel. This is targeted at the small businessperson who is interested in social media as something other than a playground, but doesn’t have a big marketing budget.

Elisabeth McLaury Lewin: Tell me about the subject matter. Looks like there are a lot of sessions over the next week.

Leesa Barnes: The Summit is going to introduce people to 4 things: How to find new clients, how to make money, how to create a personal brand, and how to create an ideal lifestyle. Some of the topics include using video marketing to attract clients; using SecondLife to build business; Paul Colligan is giving a talk on five ways to sell content you once gave away for free; Scott Allen has a session on how to price, position, and promote your social media services.

People can choose different levels of participation. The cheapest option is $197 and gives people access to the session handouts, live sessions and recordings, but streaming only. Other options get you sessions delivered afterward on your choice of CD or on a pre-loaded mp3 player and greater access to the content and presenters during and after the Summit.