Biz Tips 4 You

Seth Godin on Social Media

2009-07-24T06:38:00.002-07:00

Social Media is a "Big Deal" right now. But can you REALLY monetize it?
Seth Godin says it all. (Read what I say after the video).

There is one person who has taught me how to really monetize your social media by always staying within your "brand." You connect. You make real friends. It takes time, just like nurturing any realationship. I will introduce you to this fabulous teacher in a future blogpost. Watch for it.

The Story of the Star Spangled Banner

2009-07-04T18:00:00.002-07:00

It's the 4th of July and here in the U.S. we celebrate our Independence Day. So today I'm being a bit patriotic....

Many of you know we are a VERY Patriotic family. In fact, my husband has even written a book "Founding Fathers -- Uncommon Herores" (http://uncommonheroes.us/book.html)

I thought you might like this video about the the story of the Star Spangled Banner as much as we did.

Happy 4th.

Hold Your Company Annual Meetings at an Exotic Location.....Here's How:

2009-06-21T21:39:00.003-07:00

Here's a great tip from me and my partner, Kari VanNoy at "Just A Minute, LLC." We decided to go to San Diego for our company annual meeting. Here's how you can do that, too.

Here's how to hold your annual meetings at any exotic location you would like:

1. Login to your account at http://www.JustAMinuteLLC.com and create a resolution to hold your annual meeting at the location you have chosen. Be sure to include the date of the meeting.

2. Talk to your CPA or tax strategist to make sure you make the most of your business tax deductions.

3. After your meeting login to your account at http://www.JustAMinuteLLC.com and create your annual meeting minutes.

That's all there is to it! We make it simple for you.

Until next time,
This is Kari VanNoy and Linda Allen making every minute count at Just A Minute, LLC

Social Networking and YOU

2009-05-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Five Ways You Can Build Your Reputation With Social Networking
By Bob Jenkins

Are you using social networks to build your reputation online? Whether you already are or you are just getting started with sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Ning, building your online reputation is your biggest responsibility.

Here are five ways to make sure you do it right.

#1: Be Proud Of Being You

The first thing is, you have to be yourself. You have to be who you are. Because although you can get away with being fake for a little while, as soon as one person realizes that you're not who you say you are, your reputation is destroyed almost instantly because of the power of social networking.

So be yourself. And don't be afraid of being yourself. Realize that you have some gifts and some knowledge that people need to know about, and those that want to learn from you are going to gravitate towards you. Those that don't think you're worth listening to are basically going to ignore you. And it's at their peril, so don't worry about them.

#2: Transparency - Never Hide From Your Audience

The second thing about your reputation is you should try to be transparent at all times. This means you keep everything real with your audience.

For example, over the last year, I used social media to show you my move from Maryland to North Carolina, including drama with the movers, picking the house, and getting it set up. I also pulled back the curtain to show what it takes to run a product launch.

When I did my last product launch, I was Twittering every day what I was doing to get ready for this site. Most of the gurus out there would keep everything under lock and key, and I was being very clear, saying, "This is what I'm doing to get ready for this launch." It actually helped me have a better launch, even though I told everybody exactly what I was going to be doing.

They didn't think that they had some surprise or whatever like most people teach; they just were excited to be part of it and part of the story. So be transparent. Let people know what you're doing and why you're doing it, and they're going to learn how to trust you.

#3: Be Positive For Positive Results

The third way to build your reputation is to be positive.

There are folks out there who generally can do a good job of being negative. I don't know about you, but I don't find that to be a very long-term profitable strategy.

It may get you some attention at first and spark some controversy, but that's not the way to go. Be looking forward to the optimistic of your industry, of your business and what the results are going to be.

It would be easy for you to go onto Twitter or onto Facebook and talk about how you're having a bad day or this product sucks or this week sucks or this relationship sucks. But you're not really there for a support network, per se.

You'll find some of that. If you have something bad happen in your life, sharing it with your followers will be very therapeutic for you and you will get a lot of support back. But when you're just blasting negative things out, you're going to get negative things in return, usually.

So try to be positive as much as possible and look for the opportunities that are out there and look at them from that positive perspective.

#4: Build Your Reputation And They Will Come

The fourth thing you must do is to be patient. This is because, initially, your reputation is going to be built only by yourself and the first initial people who get to know you. But as time goes on and you get more followers and you build a larger network of friends and peers, your reputation will solidify to allow your business to grow.

Once it hits a tipping point, your reputation and business accelerates at a very quick pace.

So be patient and let it happen. Don't try this stuff out for a week and then come back to me next week and say, "Well, it didn't really work. I didn't really get any results yet." You've got to let social networking play out over a few weeks and then a couple months and so on. A year from now your business is going to be tremendously different compared to where it is right now.

#5: Contribute To The Conversation – Every Day!

The fifth thing about your reputation is you need to be someone that people look to as a contributor, not as a leech, not as a mooch, as a contributor.

You have to be willing to be involved in the conversation, and you have to be willing to give as much or even more than what you're going to get in return. The people who do that are growing so fast it makes my head spin.

I feel that I'm a pretty giving person but I see some other folks out there that just keep on giving, giving, giving and they just build up a huge following and that social capital is a real asset to your business. So you need to make sure that you're contributing as much as possible to the conversation.

I don't mean that as just go around randomly and try to help people. Within your specific task, your specific industry, the things you know well, you need to be at the forefront of letting people know how to do what you know how to do without charging them money at first.

They'll come and find your site and your products and they'll pay you for that as time goes on and their needs grow. With social networking you need to be building your reputation up first.

If somebody has a question, you should be one of the first people who answers and you need to answer without reservation not just, "Oh, I answered that in my eBook; go buy it". They're going to find your eBook if you just talk to them and give them solutions to the problem they are struggling with at that moment.

Give people your input, your encouragement for them to get better at what they are trying to do.

Any little quick free advice you can give, give it.

Actively Build Your Reputation With Social Networking And Reap The Rewards

You've got to be in this for the reason of having fun and really building that relationship. Dollars will come, there's no doubt about that. But first, connect with people and really help them out. Understand that they'll become loyal followers of what you do and see you for who you are.

Follow these 5 steps to building your reputation online and you'll not only beat your competition, you'll have more fun doing it!

Bob Jenkins teaches business owners how to use internet marketing strategies effectively to attract more customers and get more sales without spending a fortune on advertising. Get more free social networking lessons at www.DiscoverSocialNetworking.com.

8-Point Website Check-up for 2009

2008-12-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

As 2009 begins, it’s a great time to check your website to make sure everything works and is up-to-date.
Here are the 8-Points to Check:

1. Make sure your copyright is current. Change all the © 2008 at the bottom of your web pages to © 2009. All copyright symbols should be followed by the year, your company name, followed by “All rights reserved.” For example, mine reads: © 2009 Business Recipes, LLC. All rights reserved.

2. Check for any dead links. No one likes to get that dreaded “404” message when they click on a link from your site. You can go through each page and click on each link. Or you can do it the easy way: go to http://www.dead-links.com/ and get a full report of all dead links on your site.

3. Check all your pictures. Make sure all pictures have an active link (no white boxes with red x’s in them). If you should see a white box where a picture should be, be sure the link to the picture is actually on your server. If not upload that picture. If the picture is there, then make sure the link is spelled correctly. In addition, be sure all your picture have alt tags. This will help with search engine optimization.

4. Check your opt-in forms. The best way to do this is to get a new email address from hotmail or gmail (most autoresponders don’t allow the same email to subscribe more than once, and you probably are already subscribed with your current email address). You should receive an email shortly. Make sure it doesn’t go into your “junk” email. If it does, check your autoresponder message with a spam filter and correct it if necessary.

5. Test all your order forms. Be sure to go past the place where you put your credit card information. You may have to ask your merchant provider for a Test credit card number you can use. If that’s not available, then you may need to use a card that is not on file with your merchant account. Paypal wont’ allow you to use your own Paypal account, so you may have to ask a friend to purchase the product and then give them a full refund. This way you can be sure that the purchase process works all the way through to the “thank you” page or if the product is a digital download , you can make sure that works, too.

6. Check your privacy statement and legal disclaimers to make sure they are up to date. If you don’t have them yet, now is a good time to add them. It’s the law.

7. Check your server speed. This is a really fun and eye-opening test. Type this into your browser: http://www.hostpulse.com/hosting/networktools/speedtest.asp then type in your URL into the box and press “go.” You will get the results in a minute or two. If your site is listed too far down on the list, call your host and ask them to test their speed and correct any problems there may be.

8. Be sure you have an analytics on your website. I like to use google analytics….and it’s free. Go to http://www.google.com/analytics . And here’s the important part….use it to analyze your site. You may be leaving money on the table.
Now your website is in great shape to make 2009 your best year ever!

Until next time,
Linda Allen
www.biztips4you.com
www.twitter.com/lindaallen