Creating With Impact tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1464606 2008-11-16T10:24:50-08:00 WOMEN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP = A WINNING COMBINATION All about passion, commitment, and energy for women with THE BIG IDEA of creating a business TypePad CreatingWithImpacthttp://feedburner.google.com Social Media is Growing Like the Proverbial Weed tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58573654 2008-11-16T10:24:50-08:00 2008-11-16T10:24:50-08:00 Should you Twitter, Plurk, Pownce? How about Myspace, Facebook, Bebo or LinkedIN? What you do know is that you must blog, digg, and Stumble to be successful right? And at the end of the day you'll want to post a... Robin Matuk

Should you Twitter, Plurk, Pownce? How about Myspace, Facebook, Bebo or LinkedIN? What you do know is that you must blog, digg, and Stumble to be successful right? And at the end of the day you'll want to post a video to YouTube, and upload photos to Flickr before going to bed. Right!

There's got to be a better way!  Check out this article from SmallBizBee.com, dedicated to providing quality information on startups, development, and planning resources for your business.

Their post Small Business and Social Media - A BETTER Approach suggests a B.E.T.T.E.R approach for small business owners which should help them expand into the opportunities social media is offering.

Belong: Belonging is crucial

Engage: You must engage the community

Transparent: You have to be prepared to be transparent

Trust: You absolutely need to build trust to thrive in social media

Explore: Don’t be afraid to explore

React: Social media is in a constant state of change as it evolves and matures


Get out there and have some fun.  Remember to be yourself and the rest will follow.

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/11/social-media-is-growing-like-the-proverbial-weed.html YOUR NETWORK IS YOUR NET WORTH! Promote Your Business with Social Networking tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58403860 2008-11-12T07:13:19-08:00 2008-11-12T07:13:19-08:00 The Big Idea Meetup Group - Women Starting & Growing a Business, is for any woman who wants to take the first steps to becoming an entrepreneur, any woman who already has a business but feels stuck and needs new... Robin Matuk

Big-idea-woman-logo5 The Big Idea Meetup Group - Women Starting & Growing a Business, is for any woman who wants to take the first steps to becoming an entrepreneur, any woman who already has a business but feels stuck and needs new and fresh ideas, or any woman who wants to take that business idea out of her head and turn it into reality!

We are an idea sharing community where women entrepreneurs and small business owners can share and grow their business ideas. Using a feminine, collaborative, business development & coaching club model, we provide a supportive place where women can create momentum to bring their ideas to reality.

Join us for our next monthly meetup:

Date: Saturday, November 15th, 10:30 AM
Location: Novato, CA
For more info

The term social networking site encompasses a wide range of websites and applications where the goal is to let users of a certain group, or users who have a certain interest, to connect, interact and share things. If you are an entrepreneur or just starting out, you need to be literate in the current world of social networking profiles, tools, and online connections to stay competitive and promote your business. Participating in social networking is an often-overlooked small business marketing tool.

Does it work? Yes, provided you are minimally active on the sites where you plan to promote your business. The traffic to your website or blog can be significant depending on how popular your “profile page” gets. With social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you can hold personal conversations with each of your customers, telling them about new products, services, suggestions and tips – the topics are endless. Your small business can compete with larger companies. You open up the line of communication between business owner and millions of potential customers.

At this monthly meetup, we will plan your own personalized social business networking strategy:

1. Why use social business networking

2. How to get started

3. Using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

4. Building your profile and making it work for you

5. Using connection strategies

6. Getting testimonials/recommendations

7. Participating in Q & A

2009 will be the year of the personalized social business network. Don’t take a pass on the whole social networking trend. Millions of business folks are learning how social networks work, how social networking works, and how shared applications can be viral and ever-present. Your customers and prospective customers will soon know how to use social networking tools like building profiles, sharing video, and connecting based on mutual interests. Your challenge is to build your own social business network around your very specific community or business niche to promote yourself and your company. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/11/your-network-is-your-net-worth-promote-your-business-with-social-networking.html How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58255256 2008-11-09T09:10:31-08:00 2008-11-09T09:10:31-08:00 The Common Craft is really watching out for us now with their new video, Phishing Scams in Plain English, a short guide to recognizing and avoiding phishing scams. What a great topic and a very timely video! These types of... Robin Matuk

The Common Craft is really watching out for us now with their new video, Phishing Scams in Plain English, a short guide to recognizing and avoiding phishing scams. What a great topic and a very timely video!  These types of scams are more prevalent than ever with the recent credit crisis. As entrepreneurs, this is such important information and explained clearly and simply for anyone to understand.
 

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/11/the-common-craft-is-really-watching-out-for-us-now-with-their-new-video-phishing-scams-in-plain-english-a-short-guide-to-re.html Is Web Entrepreneurship the Wave of the Future? tag:typepad.com,2003:post-58083778 2008-11-06T07:45:44-08:00 2008-11-06T07:45:44-08:00 There is an explosive growth in the field of online marketing. Web entrepreneurs, or "webtrepreneurs", are making the business world sit up and take notice. What is a webtrepreneur? There isn't a definition that will fit the myriad of business... Robin Matuk

Entrepreneurship There is an explosive growth in the field of online marketing.  Web entrepreneurs, or "webtrepreneurs", are making the business world sit up and take notice.

What is a webtrepreneur?  There isn't a definition that will fit the myriad of business types and practices that compose the webtrepreneurial marketplace.  Web businesses are so diverse, so multi-faceted, that one could say anything is possible as an online business venture.  Basically, webtrepreneurship is the ability to make a living online.

Webtrepreneurial businesses are largely initially home based, with no real physical office space.  Once a venture becomes successful, and needs to hire staff, then an office space becomes essential.  Businesses like Craigslist, started by Craig Newmark in his bedroom, operated without staff for years.  The highly successful free dating site, Plenty Of Fish, is still owned and operated by a single person out of his home.  Amazon started in Jeff Bezos garage.

In addition, web businesses often start with little or no capital, other than the cost of an internet connection, domain name and internet hosting fees.  Selling on Amazon or eBay, for example, requires nothing more than an internet connection, a PayPal account, and a site membership.  Those who have turned blogging into a full-time occupation have little to no operating costs.  While those who sell a product or service will need a website, many use what is called "bum marketing" techniques, setting up their business site on free servers.

Webtrepreneurs often start businesses that serve the internet community, and have little or no interaction with the outside world.  Sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Digg operate entirely as an online enterprise.  While the larger companies like Yahoo and Google now have corporate offices with hundreds of employees, still, their sole purpose is to serve the internet community.

A growing sector of webtrepreneurship is dedicated to teaching others how to successfully build and succeed in internet businesses.  Ebooks and ecourses, free and paid, abound online.  Whole sites are dedicated to teaching others how to be just as successful as they are.  In fact, some of the most successful webtrepreneurs made their money by teaching people to do exactly what they are doing.  Sites like EHow and Suite 101 exist solely to provide tutorials on how to do whatever it is anyone wants to learn.

Freelance writing exclusively for web content is also growing exponentially.  Professional web freelancers take their businesses very seriously, and while they are technically private contractors, many set up websites and online resumes for their ventures.  The bulk of their marketing is done online, either through content marketing sites, or independently through networking sites and forums.  Some very popular websites are constructed completely of content written by and purchased from web content freelancers.  While you may think you are reading the original thoughts of the website owner, the content may in fact have been written by someone else.  The buying and selling of online content is a business in itself, with some content wranglers making into six figures a year.

Of course, we cannot leave out affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is huge.  Most major brick and mortar retailers now have online affiliate programs, including Target, Sears, and K-Mart.  There are literally millions of internet users who regularly post affiliate links and ads on their blogs and websites.  Some dedicate entire websites to one product, or group of products, while some set up online stores to sell a variety of affiliate products.  Free online blogging and writing sites are getting into the affiliate marketing boom by allowing affiliate partners' ads on their users' content.

Webtrepreneurs are the wave of the future.  They are here to stay, and are proving every day that it is still possible to start with nothing and build a good income.  While brick and mortar businesses suffer greatly during times of economic slowdown, web entrepreneurship seems to maintain and even grow during these times.  As the new generation of people who have been literally raised with computers grows, web entrepreneurship will only become more prolific and powerful, and a real force in the business world.

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/11/is-web-entrepreneurship-the-wave-of-the-future.html Fresh News: My Digital Coach November Ezine Available tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57905159 2008-11-03T06:49:31-08:00 2008-11-03T06:49:31-08:00 The My Digital Coach November 2008 ezine is now available! You can easily subscribe using the link at the end of this post. In this issue: A Note from Robin 5 Quick Tips to Successful Social Business Networking Robin Recommends... Robin Matuk <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><A style="DISPLAY: inline" href="http://mydigitalcoach.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fb81bd28833010535cabd10970c-pi"><img class="at-xid-6a00e54fb81bd28833010535cabd10970c " style="WIDTH: 300px" alt=Ezine src="http://mydigitalcoach.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fb81bd28833010535cabd10970c-300wi"></A></P> <P>The My Digital Coach&nbsp;<A href="http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs062/1102110441382/archive/1102287136757.html" target=_blank>November 2008</A> ezine is now available!&nbsp;&nbsp; You can easily subscribe using&nbsp;the link at the end of this post.</P> <P><font color=#000000><strong>In this issue:</strong> </font></P> <ul> <P><font color=#000000> <ul> <li> <DIV align=left><font color=#000000>A Note from Robin </font></DIV> <li> <DIV align=left><font color=#000000>5 Quick Tips to Successful Social Business Networking</font></DIV> <li> <DIV align=left><font color=#000000>Robin Recommends&nbsp;Easy Ways to Follow Your Friends and Clients Online</font></DIV> <li> <DIV align=left><font color=#000000>Online Ebooks, Audio &amp; Video</font></DIV> <li> <DIV align=left>The Big Idea Community</DIV></li> </ul> </font> <P></P></ul> <P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><A style="DISPLAY: inline" href="http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54efb3ea8883300e554973b678833-pi"></A></P> <P></P> <DIV align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=200 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD noWrap width="100%"><A style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" href="http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1102110441382&amp;p=oi" target=_blank>Sign up for my Email Newsletter</A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV> <DIV style="PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=center><A href="http://www.constantcontact.com/safesubscribe.jsp" target=_blank><img height=14 alt="" src="http://img.constantcontact.com/ui/images1/safe_subscribe_logo.gif" width=168 border=0></A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: #999999; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" align=center>For <A style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: #999999; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp" target=_blank>Email Marketing</A> you can trust </DIV></div> <img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/CreatingWithImpact/~4/ktMl9Pvh4Lo" height="1" width="1"/> http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/11/fresh-news-my-digital-coach-november-ezine-available.html Eliminate Obstacles to Your Success tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57775707 2008-10-30T07:46:48-07:00 2008-10-30T07:46:48-07:00 THE BIG IDEA Meetup Group is pleased to present a special workshop, Eliminate Obstacles to Your Success with Susan Hanshaw, Founder and CEO of Inner Architect Date: Saturday, November 1st Time: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM Location: Robin's home in... Robin Matuk

Global_5524337 THE BIG IDEA Meetup Group is pleased to present a special workshop,
Eliminate Obstacles to Your Success
with Susan Hanshaw, Founder and CEO of Inner Architect

Date: Saturday, November 1st
Time: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: Robin's home in Novato
Fee: $20
Learn more

The secret to your success as a business woman lies in your ability to eliminate obstacles that get in the way of moving your vision forward. Learning to develop a habit of identifying your obstacles and creating solutions for them puts you in control of your challenges. By focusing on your solutions, you can overcome your obstacles. This workshop will show you how to get in touch with your obstacles and provide you with techniques for breaking through them time and time again.

• Get grounded in your vision
• Define your major goals and their necessary steps
• Identify the steps in your vision where you recognize obstacles
• Get in touch with the ideas and beliefs that are creating the obstacles
• Learn the process to get beyond obstacles
• Create new beliefs that support your forward movement

Susan Hanshaw left a 20-year direct marketing career, which culminated at the corporate Vice President level to pursue a more purposeful calling. Susan is CEO/Founder of personal development firm Inner Architect and the author of two books about creating a career with passion, Inner Architect and Unleashing Your Soul. Susan will be giving away one free copy of her book, Inner Architect.

To learn more about Susan, visit her website Inner Architect.

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/10/eliminate-obstacles-to-your-success.html The Do's and Don'ts of Exchanging Business Cards tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57608943 2008-10-27T08:00:59-07:00 2008-10-27T08:00:59-07:00 In some parts of the world, a business card is considered an extension of a person. Etiquette coach Syndi Seid goes over the do's and don'ts of presenting and receiving a card. I was familiar with some of the etiquette... Robin Matuk
In some parts of the world, a business card is considered an extension of a person. Etiquette coach Syndi Seid goes over the do's and don'ts of presenting and receiving a card. I was familiar with some of the etiquette but it's great to see all of the protocol in one video.
 
Watch this simple but powerful video and learn the proper way to give and receive business cards. I'm sure you will learn something new.  It's interesting stuff.
 

The Etiquette of Exchanging Business Cards

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/10/the-dos-and-donts-of-exchanging-business-cards.html Shameless Self-Promotion: Do-It-Yourself PR tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57449481 2008-10-23T08:06:27-07:00 2008-10-23T08:06:27-07:00 From Sales & Marketing Conference for Small Business Owners. SCORE volunteer, Peggy Duncan, presents how she's received major media coverage with do-it-yourself efforts. Shameless Self Promotion: Do-It-Yourself PR - Presented by Peggy Duncan, Personal Productivity Expert View SlideShare presentation or... Robin Matuk
From Sales & Marketing Conference for Small Business Owners. SCORE volunteer, Peggy Duncan, presents how she's received major media coverage with do-it-yourself efforts.

Shameless Self Promotion: Do-It-Yourself PR - Presented by Peggy Duncan, Personal Productivity Expert

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: owners counselors)


SlideShare Link

http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/10/shameless-self-promotion-do-it-yourself-pr.html Get Your SEO Education All on One Page with The Internet Marketing Handbook tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57215823 2008-10-20T07:46:27-07:00 2008-10-20T07:46:27-07:00 Danny Glover from SEOmoz has made a very impressive effort with his Internet Marketing Handbook. It’s is a compilation of posts, articles, videos and tools put together as a result of literally hundreds of hours spent learning and perfecting his... Robin Matuk

Seo Danny Glover from SEOmoz has made a very impressive effort with his Internet Marketing Handbook.  It’s is a compilation of posts, articles, videos and tools put together as a result of literally hundreds of hours spent learning and perfecting his SEO and marketing skills. 

The handbook is divided into six sections:

  • Link Building
  • Keyword Research
  • Content Creation
  • On-Page Optimization
  • Crawling and Indexing Issues
  • Social Media Marketing

The information represents the best resources and tools available to the general public and most are free of charge. A great list of must see links and a top-notch resource for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Check it out and get your SEO education all on one page.

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/10/get-your-seo-education-all-on-one-page-with-the-internet-marketing-handbook.html 5 Quick Tips to Successful Social Business Networking tag:typepad.com,2003:post-57083199 2008-10-16T08:43:30-07:00 2008-10-16T08:43:30-07:00 Social Business Networks inexpensively interconnect professionals online, in particular, independent entrepreneurs and smaller companies. Social Business Networks also give you the opportunity to showcase your experience and achievements within your network. If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner,... Robin Matuk

Social networking Social Business Networks inexpensively interconnect professionals online, in particular, independent entrepreneurs and smaller companies.  Social Business Networks also give you the opportunity to showcase your experience and achievements within your network.  If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, you need to be literate in the current world of social networking profiles, tools, and online connections to stay competitive and promote your business. Participating in social networking is an often-overlooked small business marketing tool.

In the real world, our networks are hidden.  Social networking sites solve this problem by letting you see who your friends and connections know, who your friends, friends know and so on.  You then are free to contact anyone that interests you by inviting them to join your own social network.

Very few social networks charge for membership.   Many networking sites need large memberships because they sell online advertising.  Some sites such as Facebook are seeking other ways to make money, such as creating an online marketplace (Facebook's Marketplace) or by selling professional information and social connections to businesses such as LinkedIn.

If you are looking to expand your contact base, LinkedIn and Facebook are two of the more popular services that facilitate business-oriented connections.  Facebook showed a 270 percent increase in visitors in 2007 over the year before according to comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world. Ecademy and Xing are also popular business networking sites.

Here are 5 Quick Tips to Successful Social Business Networking:

  1. Take the time to learn how to properly use the business social networking site that you join.   Most social networking sites offer online tutorials.  Many sites allow you to post your own user generated content in the form of blogs, pictures, slide shows and videos. Many users do not use the social networking sites to their fullest potential by taking advantage of these features. 

  2. Don’t let your ego take over and join in the race to build up a massive list of contacts to show off your "social power."  If you have more than 500 “friends,” take the time out to sort through these “friends” to be aware of the people you may be attracting to your network. 

  3. Build and manage your online reputation.  According to a report on MSN.com, several companies are now using the "friends" on an applicant's social-networking page as references. Not only are they looking at your page on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, they may also take the next step in contacting your friends. The old days of a page with three references and three phone numbers on it that you controlled are over.  With social business networking, you open up your rolodex for the whole world to see.

  4. Be professional.   Type your posts, e-mails, comments or chats in a professional manner and do not use internet slang such as “lol”, “omg”, etc.  Type your email, comments or chat messages as if you were standing in front of the person speaking face-to-face. Let’s face it; this could be your first impression with a potential client or HR recruiter.

  5. Establish a Routine.  When logging on to your preferred Business Social Networking sites, set aside a designated length of time to spend here. Have some specific goals in mind when visiting the site.

Don’t take a pass on the whole social networking trend. Millions of professionals are learning how social networks work, how social networking works, and how shared applications can be viral and ever-present. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to create a successful social business network of your own.

 http://robinmatuk.typepad.com/creating_with_impact_blog/2008/10/5-quick-tips-to-successful-social-business-networking.html