Don’t let the Tools Of Technology intimidate,  overwhelm you or stop you from engaging with your peeps – your people, your tribe, your community, your FFF’s (Fans, Friends, Followers).

When you know how to wield the Tools Of Technology (TOEs) then you have empowered yourself to build the life you envision.

TOEs give you the power to change things in your business and in your life. Just like the hammer, the screwdriver, the pliers and the nails enable you to fix things around your house. All you have to do is pick them up and start pounding. Bam, bam, bam. That loose piece of wood is fixed and functioning.  Same thing with technology tools: pick them up and begin using them. Don’t try to learn how to use the entire toolbox all at once, just pick one thing, get proficient with it and move on to the next thing. Bam!

TOEs: Tools Of Technology + Willingness To Learn = The Life You Envision

What are the TOEs? Anything that helps you connect to like-minded people;  empowers yourself and others; and achieves goals.

Here are a few of my TOEs, which all help me attract my tribe and interact with them:

• Twitter and Tweetchats and Hashtags 
• Google+ Hangouts
• Blogging
• Facebook posts and likes and comments
• My website
• My LinkedIn profile  
• My smartphone
• My iPad
• Apps
• YouTube channel  

All of these are tools you can use to engage with your tribe, your community, your followers, friends and fans. Pick one (pick up one) and start learning how to use it. You can follow me or any other professionals who specialize in helping business owners learn how to use the tools of technology to create the three C’s: Content, Community, Commitment. Just take one step today.

Here’s how that one step can look:

• Search in Google or search in YouTube for the task you want to master today. Perhaps you simply want to know how to upload your video to your YouTube channel. Copy this or click on this link and go right to the resource: How to upload my video to my YouTube channel When you use YouTube as a resource, you’ll have video tutorials (sometimes hundreds or thousands) to choose from. Always be as specific as possible in your search query and always include the year so you don’t waste time looking at old content and old interfaces of websites.
• Search in your own social networks for your ideal teacher, trainer, coach or guru for the social network or type of technology you want to learn about. Or you can search in Google. But when you turn to your own social networks, chances are you have already connected with an expert whom you like and already trust.
• Attend a webinar or seminar or conference about the “thing” you want to learn. It’s fun to be amongst your tribe, who are all passionate about the same thing you are. Make new friends and stay in touch to deepen relationships.

What are your own TOEs and how do you use them? Please share in a comment below.

The audience was a mixture of two different types of business owners: those who WANT to build business with social marketing but don’t know how to start; and those who have been using social media sites and blogging to raise brand awareness but haven’t gotten any new clients from time invested.

My two biggest concepts I wanted them to understand and embrace were these:

1. Social Media Marketing is really about building relationships.

2. Focus on relationship-building and don’t let technology trip you up or stop you from moving forward.

I see too many women entrepreneurs who are allowing technology to intimidate them or stop them from making their dreams come true. I drove home the point to them to get past the fear of the “techy stuff” and instead, use the tools of technology to actually build the life you’ve always dreamed of having.

A couple of the powerful tools I mentioned were Google+ Hangouts and Google+ Communities. I talked about harnessing the power of a Google+ Hangout and using it to communicate with friends and colleagues and potential clients. And I explained how you could start your own Google+ Community based on your subject matter and attract clients by helping them before they are clients. You can also start a community of like-minded people that support each other, share resources and advice and lift each other up the ladder of life.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear from several of the ladies afterward that they were going to start doing their own Google Hangouts and start their own communities on Google+, where the “noise” level is not nearly as high as in the crowded halls of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

As each person shared her action step with me, I become more and more excited to see they “got” my message: don’t let technology stop you from creating the life of your dreams. Use technology to HELP you build that life you envision.

My epiphany

One woman excitedly came up to me and began telling me she loved finding out about Google+ Hangouts and Google+ Communities and what SHE could do with them for her own tribe and her business. And that’s when it hit me: I can be a bridge to connect these women entrepreneurs to the tools of technology so they can build their dreams. In that moment, I became the person I’d always wanted to be: to empower others. Empowerment through education, enlightenment and efficiency of Internet marketing tools and technology.

Even though I’ve known for a long time that my purpose in life is to help others by empowering them, I did not fully embrace that until that moment.

I’ve hesitated too long. And I think there are others who feel the same way. You might be reading this right now. It’s time to act. It’s my time. It’s your time.

I’m seeing this happening more and more, both online and in person: women empowering the women around them. Like concentric circles. And their circles create more concentric circles and the ripple becomes a tide in an ocean full of entrepreneurial women, building a new world with digital media, their brains and an Internet connection to plug into the  matrix of online matriarchs.

Don’t get me wrong: I love men. But until women earn as much per dollar as men do, and until women of color earn as much, as well, I will continue to do as much as I can to get rid of that “Ad Men” mentality left-over from the 50′s and 60′s.

My big question to you today is: Do you keep hearing that 2013 is the breakthrough year for you but a small part of you thinks “yeah, but how can I really shift my business into a profitable one when, half the time, I feel like I’m falling behind and overwhelmed?”

That’s how I felt last year and, really, when I look back, that’s how I’ve felt for the past few years. I kept planning my life, planning my goals, purchasing programs that promised to help me achieve my goals but nothing really clicked into place.  And that led me into a winter hiatus of my eZine.  I put my eZine on pause and actually stopped blogging for several weeks. I figured if I weren’t “walking my talk,” then who was I to advise my peeps?

But I’m back and hoping you’re still there with me because it’s time to break through and blossom into your true self!

My new website is coming, just as surely as springtime flowers are about to burst through the ground, despite any last-minute winter storms.  And, so, too, are YOUR goals, dear friend. I’m not going to allow anything, (myself included) hold me back any longer from achieving my own goals.

Action is the key to the door that unlocks your future

I don’t have a magic wand that I could wave over you right now and instantly make YOU richer, happier and (fill in the blank with what else you’d like in life!) but I do have my brain and my laptop and Internet connection. All you have to do is simply read and apply some or all of the advice I share in my blog and eZine and you’re taking action. Action is the key to your door that unlocks your future. It makes your future start to happen!

Start with one action step. Just one and when you’re ready to take another step, go ahead. Just keep moving forward.

Want to know what it was that made ME shift? In a nutshell, I learned that I had to stop planning; I had to stop dreaming; and I had to stop wishing. Instead, I had to take action. Obviously, I was already taking action  but there was a part of me that was holding myself back from being living my true purpose.

I was afraid I wasn’t really that important. But, like Marianne Williamson said:

“We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?  … as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

So, that’s what I’m declaring I’m doing in my blog and eZine and videos and all the content I share: I am letting my light shine so that I may unconsciously give other women permission to do the same. I’m still going to share tips, strategy and advice on how to increase your online visibility with social media, SEO, good web design and other online marketing tips but I’m going to mix in my business advice and my spirit, too.

If this doesn’t sound like the type of content you’d like to read and soak up and empower yourself with and if you want to close this and move on, I totally understand. But I hope you’ll come along with me.

Sometimes all that planning can make you feel overwhelmed and stuck and afraid to move forward

I used to believe that, simply by affirming positive statements, wishing and dreaming for my future self and future life to appear, that then it would suddenly all appear. And I do believe in vision boards and writing down goals and creating action plans. But I realized that sometimes all that planning can make you feel overwhelmed and stuck and afraid to move forward because there was so much to do.

In the coming weeks and months of 2013, let’s really shift into high gear and build momentum together because…as Marianne Williamson declares:

Your playing small does not serve the world

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson

How to Set Up Google Reader

I have to assume that you already have a Gmail account. If not, go here to set up your free Gmail account. Your Gmail account is like a passport to a world of tools and resources and apps that help you either manage your business and/or manage your life, if you want it to.

Login to your Gmail – by doing that, you’re actually logging in to Google. You should see a black menu at the top of your browser window:

By the way, all Google tools operate better within Google’s browser, Chrome. But you can still use Internet Explorer or another browser.

This is a screenshot of Social Media Strategist Laura Rubenstein’s website and blog. To subscribe to her blog posts, simply click on the RSS link (the orange icon) and add to your Google Reader. (See the next step for what to do next.)

Click on “Subscribe with Google”:

Click on on “Add to Google Reader”:

Explore all your subscriptions by clicking on “Explore”:

Content Marketing Strategy for Using Google Reader

You can either spend an hour going to each of your favorite blogs and websites and adding them into your Google Reader by subscribing to their RSS feed, like I showed you above or you can do it more organically, over the next several weeks and add them one at a time as you read them.

After you have a few subscriptions in your Google Reader, use Google Reader’s search box and type in a topic that you want to be known as an expert in. For example, if you want people to follow you in Twitter (or another site) because you frequently share content related to Colorado wineries, then type “Colorado wine” or “Colorado wineries” into your Google Reader search box. All the blogs and websites that you’ve subscribed to that have that articles pertaining to your keyword search will then appear. You can quickly read the article and decide if you want to Tweet it or share on Facebook or LinkedIn or Google+ without even leaving your Google Reader. Very convenient and efficient.

As you decide once a week (or daily) which articles to share with your followers, come here to your Google Reader and you’ll save a ton of time. Time is money. That old cliche has never been more true than now.

How do YOU use Google Reader? Do you have a suggestion or ninja trick you’d like to share? Please write a comment and share your tip.

UPDATE: March 24, 2013: How ironic: a few days after I wrote and posted this post, Google announced it is going to retire Google Reader. I suggest you consider Feed.ly. Here’s a brief article about it at Mashable. I’m trying it out now, myself. If you have any comments about Feed.ly or suggestions for other substitutes, please do comment below. 

Lori Gama is The Online Visibility Expert and founder of DaGama Web Studio where she guides entrepreneurs and corporate managers on increasing online visibility through services she offers such as web design, SEO, social media marketing consultation, video marketing, e-mail marketing and other Internet Marketing related services. She enjoys speaking to groups about the power of the Internet and technology.

Social Media Detox Diet

It’s not complicated, really. All you need to do is put these steps into action.

Promise yourself (for your sake and the sake of your family) that you’ll devote a specific number of hours per week to your social media marketing instead of constantly “getting high” on it. If you’re used to having your smartphone on you or near you during dinner, make a new rule to turn off your phone during dinner. If you’re at the playground with your kids, you’re there for one reason only: to spend time with your kids, not your phone, i.e. your social networks. Leave the phone in your pocket or purse but turn it off while you’re there. You’ll never get these precious moments back again. Trust me: when your kids become teenagers, they will be the ones busy with their phones and YOU will be asking to spend some quality time with them.

Decide which social network is the most popular with YOUR ideal clients and begin with that one place. If you’re a B2C type of company, LinkedIn is the best place to begin because the decision-makers are here. If you’re a B2C type of company (restaurants, dentists, plastic surgeons, and hundreds of other types of B2C’s), start with Facebook and Yelp. Technically, Yelp is not a social network but I must encourage you to manage your Yelp (and while we’re at it, your Google+ profile) to manage those online consumer reviews that more and more of your customers are writing and reading. No matter which social network you choose to concentrate on: you need a strategy and a plan. Don’t just jump in or you’ll soon find yourself Tweeting and posting without a purpose and back in addiction and in need of a detox again.

Use simple tools to help you stay focused: like a calendar and a timer. Schedule a time to plan and then schedule 1-7 times during the day to respond to people.

• Time to plan: Set your timer for 60 minutes and record your ideas and/or actual things you will say and share for the next six or seven days. Write your Tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn updates, GooglePlus posts, video ideas and blog topics in your calendar. You can use a spreadsheet as a calendar or hang a big desktop-type of calendar on your office wall and hand-write, if you prefer. Depending on how many social networks you are visible in, you should post at least once per day in each one. If you don’t, people forget about you. When you’ve completed your hour, it’s time to pat yourself on the back because you’ve just scheduled all your content for the next week! Some people like to go ahead and schedule these to automatically appear in their Twitter profiles, Facebook pages, etc. rather than post in real time later on. If you do this, be sure to reply in real time, within 1-8 hours (again: the timeliness of your replies to conversations with friends, fans and followers depends on your strategy and how aggressive you want to be in responding. Always be on the lookout for business inquiries and respond to those right away. Others can wait until your scheduled time to respond.) Scheduling tools: Buffer is a relatively new tool that’s really good; Hootsuite is a popular and fairly easy tool to learn to use to automate with; Facebook currently provides an auto-schedule tool in business pages; then there’s Tweetdeck and many others you can find by doing a search in Google for “free social media scheduling tools”.)
• 1-7 times during the day to respond: You’re in control of this so choose whatever works best for you but remember to use your timer. You might want to only respond during your lunch hour. Fine. Just set your timer for 15 minutes and go check your social networks and thank people for re-tweets or sharing your posts; answer questions posed by your followers; click the “like” button on Facebook posts you like and quickly write comments on others. Share or re-tweet content. Make a commitment to ONLY do these things. Don’t get caught up in “shiny object land,” viewing new websites or watching talking dog videos . If you break this commitment, you’ll find yourself wasting time. This is the equivalent of committing to eating only one piece of chocolate instead of the whole candy bar. Remember: this is a detox and not a binge!Another way to respond is to spend only 5 minutes of each odd-numbered hour of the day: at 7 a.m.; 9 a.m.; 11 a.m.; 1 p.m.; 3 p.m.; 5 p.m. and one last time at 7 p.m. Or do it during even-numbered hours. The point is to figure out a system that works well for YOU and be super-committed to using your timer and stopping when the timer dings. I know this sounds tough, especially for those of you who’ve spent literally hours in Facebook looking at your old high school friends’s Timelines but I know you can do this: you CAN do the Social Media Detox Diet.

Remember when I mentioned having a strategy and a plan? If your goal is to raise brand awareness, there are dozens of strategies you could implement for each social network you belong to. Here’s  one example: start a community in GooglePlus about whatever your particular expertise is. If you’re a career coach who specializes in helping people figure out their passion and create a career out of it, then that’s your topic. Invite people to your community who could either contribute or ask for help. Be committed to nurturing your community. Think of this community as your tribe. You need some members to be experts unless you want to be the only one constantly  answering all questions posed by newbies to your topic. You could create a community in Facebook or LinkedIn in the “Groups” section but I recommend GooglePlus because it’s currently less noisy and has more opportunities for you to stand out. Your social media signal will get through loud and clear when you know how and where to point your antenna.

Let me know how you’re doing. Please share your own time-saving detox tips in the comments below. Good luck!

Here are some Online Visibility tips for you.Pick just one and do it today. Your future self will thank you for planting the seeds that later grow into big Online Visibility. Feed your marketing to move your life forward.

Online Visibility Tips

•  Outline or write a rough draft of your next blog post and schedule an hour in your planning calendar later this week to finish it up and publish it. (Then remember to promote it in all your social networks).
• Tweet to 4 people on your VIP list by ReTweeting their latest blog posts or do a #FollowAlways hashtag and tell your followers why they should follow these experts (Don’t have time to do 4 Tweets? Do at least one Tweet).
• Comment on three Facebook friends’ posts. Be conversational. Be real. People LOVE it when we are brave enough to share our imperfections because we can all relate to them. (Just be sure you don’t venture into TMI Territory – “Too Much Information”).
• Comment on three Facebook Fan Pages where your type of clients are also fans. Again: remember: don’t pitch yourself. There are exceptions to this rule: if someone specifically asks for expert help or if you’ve written a recent blog post about whatever the comment was about, go ahead and help out and link to it. Try to do this in a humble and nice way.
• Update your GooglePlus page and Yelp page, especially if you own a local business.
• Call one of your current and/or past clients and tell them how much you appreciate them. Don’t pitch: just support.
• Ask your Facebook fans or friends what they’re having for lunch today. Or ask them what YOU should have – and be sure to post two choices: a fattening, indulgent type of lunch or a healthy one (describe it).
• LinkedIn is critical to your Online Visibility – especially if you’re a B2B type of company or consultant. Be sure to update your status on a daily basis to be visible to your network peeps who are online right now. Go do this now.  For tips about LinkedIn, follow The LinkedIn Expert, Viveka von Rosen and be sure to read her book: LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day .
• Spend 30 minutes today, writing ideas in your Content Calendar so you’ll be efficient when you sit down here tomorrow and the next day and so on. Always make your future self say “thank you” to your past self for thinking ahead.
• Remember that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) should be a big part of your Online Visibility Plan. One simple thing you can do is to have proper page titles for each page of your site. Make sure the page title describes what the page is about in five words or less. These should be researched keywords that describe the content of your page. Consult with a SEO expert who has years of experience and tons of results.

Let me know if any of these suggestions was helpful to you.  And be sure to share one or two tips of your own here.

Own some other type of store, like a hair salon, spa, auto repair shop or anything in which customers get served in any way? This article is for you, too, if you want to stay in business and keep ahead of your competitors (or, heck, just keep up with the ones who are already actively managing their online reputations).

Do online consumer reviews affect restaurant demand?

That was the question posed in a recent Harvard study that showed that “[A] one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue…,” according to a working paper written by Michael Luca.

Yelp has risen to become THE website that hungry diners search when they want to find out which are the best restaurants, bakeries, cafes and other other places to spend their hard-earned money on. Pulling out their iPhones and Droids to look up local information, these technology-armed consumers are the most educated consumers on the planet. And technology-armed business owners can greatly increase their revenues and remain competitive when they actively manage their online reputations through Yelp, Trip Advisor, GooglePlus/Zagat and even BedBugRegistry.com.

“Let’s YELP it!” declared my 30-something young professional friend several months ago, as we walked downtown Denver, on our quest for food during a break from the business seminar we were attending that day. We had several eateries to choose from in LoDo. Looking around, nothing really made us drool enough to walk in. After pulling out her iPhone and browsing to Yelp.com, my friend had, all within a matter of seconds, immediately started naming some choices where we could eat lunch. Of course, her phone knew where we were.

“Hard Rock Cafe…The Brown Palace Hotel…Biker Jim’s Gourmet Hot Dogs…Oh! The Cheesecake Factory!” That was it. Next thing I knew, we had hopped on to the LoDo trolley and were headed up a few blocks to the Cheesecake Factory where we could choose lunch from a 12-page menu and eat the best cheesecake ever to be invented. Why the Cheesecake Factory, really? At that time, The Cheesecake Factory in downtown Denver had 4 out of 5 stars and the first few reviews we read were positive. If there had been 2 out of 5 stars, which meant more negative reviews than positive ones, we wouldn’t have bothered to go there. Why waste your money on a place where most of the reviewers said was bad and the managers hadn’t bothered to respond to those reviews? They must not care, right? Or they weren’t aware of this powerful habit of the digital consumer: to do her research online (a lot of the time via her mobile phone) before she spends her money.

It was at that moment that I knew our world would never be the same. Once again.

I mean, I’ve had several of those moments over the course of the past 17 years that I’ve been online and in-touch with the connected world. The first moment was when I bought my first computer in the mid-90′s, navigated to Yahoo! and envisioned all the companies and small business owners who would one day be found online and NOT in the yellow pages. That was in 1995.

But here we are in 2012, soon transitioning into 2013 and it astounds me that so many business owners have not yet heard of Yelp; and aren’t building a community of fans, friends and followers in Twitter or Facebook or haven’t optimized their websites to be found in Google. And most are not even capturing email addresses to stay in touch with customers on a weekly basis.

A 2011 Cone research showed that “four-out-of-five consumers have changed their minds about a recommended purchase based solely on negative information they found online. This is up from just 67 percent of consumers who said the same in 2010, according to the 2011 Cone Online Influence Trend Tracker. Positive information has a similar effect on decision making, with 87 percent of consumers agreeing a favorable review has confirmed their decision to purchase. But, negative information is gaining traction and is now just as powerful in tipping the scales against a recommended purchase.” – From the 2011 Cone Online Influence Trend Tracker.

Practical actions steps you can take to manage your Yelp

YOU are ahead of other business owners who aren’t taking time to go online to see what people are saying about their products and services because you’re here right now reading this blog post. I’d like to help you succeed and stay in business.

So here’s my advice: yes, go set up your free Yelp account and your GooglePlus page and add your hours of operation and photos (and a video would be great, too), but more importantly, be sure you apply my five tips for managing your online reputation on a daily or better yet, a minute-by-minute basis via your smartphone in your pocket. Do these things to set yourself apart from competitors and earn more good reviews and more stars on your Yelp page. We now know that more stars means more revenue:

1. Set up Google Alerts for your business name and your name. When those are mentioned online, within minutes, you’ll receive an email alerting you of the mention and linking you directly to it. Get Gmail on your phone and keep your phone on you. As a busy, busy restaurant manager, you barely have time to go to the bathroom, let alone, go sit down and do payroll and inventory and manage your online reputation. So be like your customers: use your phone like a tool that helps you get through the day smartly. Note: there is another resource but at the time of this writing it was having a problem querying GooglePlus: MyReviewsPage.com. You can set up an email notifier there, too.
2. When you get a Google Alert, read it right away. (That’s why you should have your phone on you). Chances are, it’s a review that just went live on Yelp or GooglePlus (sometimes both) or elsewhere online. Respond to it immediately. IMMEDIATELY. Yes, I’m shouting. Why? Because this is your business, your revenue, your kid’s future college fund and your survival. The consumer that just posted a review about your place of business cared enough to take the time to do that. You should at least take time to thank her or him. But, better than that….go do this…(see my tip #3).
3. No matter if the review is negative or positive, first begin with the words “Thank you.” You could model or modify the following script: “Thank you for taking time to post your review. I very much appreciate that you came in today to eat lunch (get your hair styled/buy some cupcakes/have hot chocolate/get your vehicle fixed) with us and….(here is where you need to address the fact that either the reviewer had a good experience or bad experience. For a negative experience, see my tip #4. For a good experience, read on:) “…your kind words just made my day!  I’ll be sure to share this with my team ( or staff/assistants/the gals and guys) who work hard here every day. Please say hello next time you’re in!”
4. What if the review was negative? Depending on what happened and how detailed the review was, you’ll know what to say. Basically, apologize and offer to make it right. Invite them back in and ask if they could please call you as soon as possible so you can give them a complimentary meal (or haircut or oil change) on you. All you do is treat this the same way you would if the customer were standing in the middle of your dining area (or shop) and was loudly stating her opinion about her negative experience.Remember this review is ONLINE (and yes, I’m shouting again). So, however you would handle this in-person, handle it online the same way but go above and beyond because everyone is watching online.Remember: four out of five people who will see this negative review will decide NOT to come in to your place of business that day -and maybe not so much because there were one or two bad reviews out of 25 reviews but, more likely, because you, the owner, never even bothered to respond. The online consumer thinks that if you’re this way with your online reputation, how are you at managing your business? (Sort of like having dirty bathrooms: “Wow, if the bathrooms are this dirty, what’s the kitchen like?”) Pretty soon, several days and weeks and months go by and those technology-armed consumers who do their research in Google don’t bother to spend their money in poorly reviewed places on Yelp, GooglePlus, etc. One day, you look around and the place is empty and you’ve become another casualty of the 21st century of commerce: the dinosaur who couldn’t adapt. Please don’t let that happen. Our economy needs smart business owners can adapt to a fast-changing world of commerce.
5. What if you suspect a review was a fake one? Yelp has created a filter to kick out reviews that it feels are suspect. These filtered reviews don’t count as part of your potential 5-star rating but they are still posted online at a link at the bottom of your Yelp profile. Read more about Yelp’s filtered reviews here. Note: the Wyoming-Colorado Better Business Bureau has human-verified complaint system and takes more detailed steps than Yelp and Google does. 

Are you still not convinced? Still resisting?

In case you still aren’t convinced that you should manage your online reputation – at least manage your Yelp and GooglePlus reviews – here’s another study that was done that proves that people read online reviews and make a purchase decision based on those reviews: a 2011 Lightspeed Research survey discovered that after reading just two negative reviews about a company, consumers won’t bother doing business with that company, no matter that two total strangers posted those reviews.

BizReport.com reported this about that survey:
“….a quarter (24%) said they had changed their mind about buying a product or service after reading two bad reviews while a further 39% said three negative reviews would deter them from making a purchase. Just 8% said they found online reviews unreliable.”

What can you, the business owner, do to educate your customers to go post their positive reviews online?

First of all, making your customers happy on a consistent basis is the number one thing you can do to build a positive reputation (online and everywhere) and you can achieve that by recruiting good, happy and productive employees whom you properly train and certify before they ever come near your customers.

When educating your customers about online reviews, definitely do NOT bribe them. And do NOT ask your employees to post reviews because this is a conflict of interest. Legally, you cannot ask your employees to pose as consumers because this violates the Federal Trade Commission’s rules.
Here’s what happened to the first company fined for doing that:

“…the national plastic surgery company Lifestyle Lift had the dubious distinction of being the first to be punished for astroturfing. It agreed to pay $300,000 to New York State for having its employees post positive reviews of its products without revealing their connection to the company, a practice the state called “deceptive commercial practices, false advertising, and fraudulent and illegal conduct.”  http://technology.inc.com/managing/articles/200912/reviews.html

Yelp and Google’s policies on asking customers to post reviews

“Does Yelp mind if I get a freebie in exchange for my review?
Actually, we do. Please don’t write a five-star review of your local watering hole in exchange for a free drink. That said, if you independently luck into a free drink or two because of your charming personality, by all means, enjoy the largesse but don’t forget to mention the free perks when writing your review.”

Google says this:
“Conflict of interest
Reviews are only valuable when they are honest and unbiased. Even if well-intentioned, a conflict of interest can undermine the trust in a review. For instance, do not offer or accept money or product to write positive reviews about a business, or to write negative reviews about a competitor. Please also do not post reviews on behalf of others or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with the place you are reviewing.”

So, if you decide to give your customers instructions on how to post a review online, make it clear that you can’t give them anything other than your thanks. Make it clear that you believe in always following the rules and respecting them. You could say: “It’s up to you if you’d like to post a review online about us. We really appreciate it! Here’s a card that has step-by-step instructions, just in case…” Then hand them your card with step-by-step instructions. Your customer will be impressed with your integrity for following the rules.

And if you take my advice to continually monitor your reviews, you’ll see when your customers post them. If it’s a customer whom you already have their contact information on file, why not send a thank you card? Those customers who post their reviews without any prompting from you did it out of the goodness of their hearts. At this point in time, since you did not offer a freebie for her to post her review at Yelp, you could legitimately reward this person for her review. Give her flowers or give her a free shoulder rub if you own a spa or a 15% discount on her next visit.

An increase of one more star in your possible 5-star rating can add almost 10% revenue

It’s those consistent 5-star rated businesses that are thriving and increasing revenue because more and more online consumers find them after consulting their smartphones for where to invest their money that day.  The business owners who respond, show that they truly care.
The least you can do is thank that person for taking the time to let you know how her experience at your place of business went.

Why would I want to get noticed by my peers?

Answer: to grow my business and make new friends who are playing in a sandbox that I’d like to play in, too.

Groups are like mini-conferences

I belong to a few very powerful groups in Facebook and LinkedIn. As I visit each of my groups, I feel like I’m attending a conference. At conferences, you have many opportunities to boost your business and inject new energy and enthusiasm about what you do. At a conference, you get educated about things you can immediately apply to boost visibility (which, in turn, grows business) or improve how you operate your company. You meet online friends in person and deepen these friendships; you create new friendships; you create new collaborations. You also gain new business or at least get your foot in the door as someone inevitably tells you “Here’s my card. Please call me next week because I really need your help.” If you know how to serve people instead of pitch at them, then you’ll come home with several leads to follow up on. You can work your Facebook and LinkedIn groups like you work your conferences and networking events and get similar results.

Serve: Don’t Pitch

Don’t approach your groups with the mindset of “get their business.” Nope. That’s the same mistake as entering a room full of business owners at your local Chamber of Commerce networking event or workshop and thinking “how many clients can I get here?” Then you start immediately handing out your business card without anyone having asked for it. Wrong mindset.

The correct mindset and attitude to have in all of your networking, both online and in person, is to serve others and serve them consistently so you stay in TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness). When you are consistently helping people without any strings attached, you’ll be the first one they think of when they need to hire you or know someone who needs your services.

Serving others is a good thing to do in life, in general, by the way. You can easily do that whenever you meet new people and old friends and colleagues.

A word about in-person networking…

Before I finish explaining how to grow your business by participating in online groups, you should know how to network in person. At an in-person networking event, after you’ve introduced yourself to that person who looks lost, like it’s their first time attending, ask them how things are going and find out what their biggest challenge is right now. Quite possibly, YOU have a solution for them, whether it be a resource to connect them with (like your local Small Business Development Center, whose services are free) or a book you’ve read that totally boosted your own revenue after applying its advice; or you could be of service by simply and sincerely listening and empathizing. Quite often, the solopreneur or the CEO or manager of her department has no one to brainstorm with and you could be the one person who helps them get to their next level in business or in life. Maybe by simply helping them set a goal right here, right now and offering to text message them or call them later in the week to see how they’re doing.

I could go on and on about what giving of yourself and what bringing value means and looks like. But for a deeper lesson on that critically important attitude, go read GoGivers Sell More by Bob Burg. After reading Bob Burg’s book recently (and Tweeting with him now and then), I was delighted to find out that I had already naturally been practicing the attitude of the “GoGiver” mindset all these years. It’s just ingrained in me, having been raised by a mother who can’t sit still and be waited upon when she visits her daughters. She’s feels complete when serving others. And so do I.

Treat your group members like you would want to be treated: with kindness and respect

To serve people means you bring value to them in a big or small way. It means you give them a gift with no strings attached. And it means treating everyone with kindness and respect. These are not new concepts but worth being stated because sometimes group members casually spout off opinions without being mindful that everyone in the group is reading what they’re saying and getting a feel for the character of that person.

Results of my group efforts

Depending on what type of groups you’re in, you could gain extremely valuable visibility of your brand and/or get referrals to clients you would have never had access to had you not been of service to your group members.  Here are some of the results I have been blessed to receive from having been of service in my groups. Remember: I did NOT set out to get these results. I joined these groups so I could learn and contribute. Recently it occurred to me that groups have been way more beneficial to my business growth and self-growth than other “traditional” ways of marketing myself – even from my Facebook fan page.

Keep an eye out for people asking for help or advice. I saw opportunities that were offered and I took advantage of them. But I also simply shared my expert advice and ended up with gifts that others generously bestowed upon me afterward, like this first example:

• A Facebook group member asked for advice about an article she was writing for a national publication about the subject of online reputation do’s and don’t's. I wrote a lengthy response to help her. She was so grateful. Her gratefulness was enough for me to feel good about helping her. But the surprise gift I received is this: she is going to include me as a source in her article. She asked me for my full name, business name and website link. So, now I will appear in this national magazine that’s the “bible” of this niche group who happen to be part of my ideal client avatar. The icing on this cake is free publicity in a popular magazine for ten minutes of my time in writing my helpful answer to my Facebook group member. A possibility is that I could obtain a new client who reads the article and needs my services.
• Another person in that same group above, also appreciated my answer so much that she asked me to be a guest on her popular radio show.
• I’ve contributed several paragraphs to a book about mom entrepreneurs. Upon publication, the authors went on a book tour all over the country and appeared on NBC Miami TV.
• I’m a BETA tester of a new media website that posts questions from journalists in need of expert quotes for their stories.
• By becoming part of a Joint Venture group, I received several leads to develop websites and do SEO work for clients of my co-Joint Venture members.
• In another of my Facebook Groups, there have been a few opportunities that I simply didn’t have the time to pursue but could have probably closed the deal on. One opportunity was to pitch to write a column in a national magazine. Yes: I’m kicking myself now for not dropping everything at the time and filling out the detailed pitch papers.

So there you have a few examples of my own recent opportunities that arose simply by being a member of a Facebook Group and by bringing value to the group by sharing my advice, opinion and by cheering on my members and promoting them.
What about YOU? Do you already belong to a group in Facebook or LinkedIn or another social networking group but might need to step up your contribution? Can you  promise yourself that you’ll share your advise when asked, promote a member, or just have a thoughtful conversation?

I promise that when you do start contributing and bringing your expertise to the group on a consistent but none-obnoxious way, you’ll soon spot an opportunity to shine your bright light and possibly gain an extra benefit, such as a new project or greater brand awareness.

At the very least, your fellow Group members will begin to trust you and want to help you.

Does this sound like you? Have you been hearing about blogs and blogging and been intrigued by the fact that YOUR opinion about a certain subject actually does matter and could attract an audience that might even end up buying your products and services? If you’re an expert at what you do and have valuable advice to share and love to write, a blog is the perfect digital media for you to establish yourself as an expert in your subject or advance a cause you’re passionate about. If you don’t like to write and love to talk, then a video blog (vlog) is perfect for you.

It takes a lot of work to build a community of blog fans. Depending on what your subject matter is, it can take 5-7 years or more to get 20 million monthly unique visitors (like Mashable.com has built up to since it first launched in 2005) or “just” three years – like PickYourBrain.com  to grow a community of fans who enjoy reading your blog. You have to be prepared to write (or video tape) your blog posts consistently: at least once a week and work your way up to two or three posts a week. Some people write daily (The Pioneer Woman is one my favorite bloggers.)
Usually, when you get that big, you have a team supporting you and your vision.

You also need to learn how to use social media to attract your tribe with your vibe™

Every blogger blogs because she’s passionate about her topic or cause. Do YOU have a topic or cause that you love talking about and doing? Topics range from fashion to food to breast feeding to working at home to entrepreneurship to …. you name it, women are blogging about it and vlogging about it. Blogs are the most trusted social media channel for parenting advice and information.

Some of these bloggers that attended BlogHer12 are beginning bloggers, seeking the wisdom of experienced writers, and some have been blogging for years. They even have sponsors, like: Disney, Ford, Wells Fargo and many other companies, some non-profits, too.

What’s the Big Deal About BlogHer 12?

Though there are numerous gatherings of bloggers around the world throughout the year, this one, in particular, was very important. Why? Consider the following:

1. The conference is produced by BlogHer, which is a blogging network made up of 40 million women who blog each month. (Statistic: Nielsen Site Census, April 2012.)
2. BlogHer, Inc., is “the premium cross-platform media network and publisher for women.” BlogHer is “the largest audience of influential online women nationwide,” says one of their media releases.
3. Brands like Hillshire Farms take women bloggers seriously. “We have seen incredible engagement with the women who are digitally driving the conversation, allowing us to create a powerful dialogue with this important audience that directly reaches our consumers,” said Jon Harris, Chief Communications Officer, The Hillshire Brands Company.
4. BlogHer, Inc. pays its bloggers. “We paid over 4,250 bloggers 17 million dollars in revenue!” declared the co-founders of BlogHer,  Elisa and Lisa, in their live-blogged closing remarks of BlogHer12. Find out how you can get paid to be syndicated by BlogHer.
5. President Obama kicked off the conference by addressing the attendees via satellite.“The fact that Sasha and Malia can go to places like BlogHer and find thousands of women who are writing about subjects from health to family and food and politics and careers, means a lot to me and Michelle,” President Obama stated.

As I followed the #blogher12 hashtag in Twitter, off and on, (in between time spent with my family and time writing this post over the weekend) I caught whiffs of the “air” of BlogHer12 by reading Tweets written by attendees, like, @Cecily, who said things like this:

 I had a Twitter conversation with @GoArmy about BlogHer12 after I responded to their Tweet:  

Even though I was not physically there at the BlogHer 12 conference, I made a few new friends who kindly reached out to me as they saw my Tweets. Here is @HeiddiZ (we tweeted each other more but here’s one of the Tweets):

And I reached out to an old friend who attended BlogHer12 and was a speaker, too: @latinaprpro, Ana Lydia Ochoa Monaco:

I asked @NancyCollamer what her biggest takeaway was and she Tweeted me this:

“Blogging has clearly gone mainstream.” – Nancy Collamer

I have a feeling that these newly empowered five thousand women bloggers will inspire millions of more women bloggers with knowledge; creativity; technology; and advice. Yes, I know that’s just my own guess and I have absolutely no scientific data to base my opinion on, other than my intuition and knack for spotting trends but I’m sayin’ it anyway. This BlogHer12 gathering, at this point in herstory is going to bear fruit that will nurture and feed these bloggers and empower them with knowledge that will get them to their next levels. And they will pass that knowledge and inspiration along to others, too.

Be sure to sign up for BlogHer 2013 when the tickets become available September 1, 2012. Previous conferences have sold out four months ahead of time.

Why Did Five Thousand Women Bloggers Convene at BlogHer 12 and why do women blog?

“Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.” 
- Rumi, Sufi poet & mystic.

If you’re reading this blog, then you already have a desire for YOUR work to be known.

If you’re reading this blog, then you need to know how important, no… how CRITICAL it is for your voice to be heard and listened to. By writing a blog or recording videos in which you share your expertise, experience and creativity with your tribe, your important work, your passion, your cause will connect and impact with someone. Maybe you’ll impact the lives of several hundred people, maybe several thousand or millions. But even if you end up changing the life of  ”only” one person for the better, then you are living your life purpose.

For those about to rock, er, blog, we salute you! Here’s a blog post from BlogHer to help you get going. Good luck! You have a community of bloggers rooting for you. We got your back.

Figuring out which social network is being used by your clients – also known as your tribe - is like feeling around in a dark cave.  You think you’re making progress but then stumble and commit a big faux pas or give up because it seems so overwhelming.

Don’t give up – Here Are Two Reasons to Push Forward

You were born to do great things and there are women (and men) who need to hear your story so they can get inspired and commit to action daily until they, too, are leading their own tribes.

Your tribe is searching for someone like YOU to work with. There are probably hundreds, maybe thousands of subject matter experts, entrepreneurs, speakers, authors and business professionals who offer the SAME services that YOU do BUT no one is like YOU. You lived “it”; you struggled through “it” and kept going and achieved success in your own unique way. You tell about “it” in your own unique style, with or without the cuss words, with or without some sugarcoating. Just be real in the telling by being YOU.

People make choices based on emotion. When they feel the love and get that Social Crush™ on you, they want to work with YOU and no one else.  So be yourself and flaunt it so you can ATTRACT your TRIBE with your VIBE™. Keep this in mind as you build relationships in all your networks, online and in person.

Which Social Network Is Right For Me and Other Women Entrepreneurs?

Well, before we explore that very important question, first you need to get clear on three very important things:

1. Decide on the reason for doing this. Unless you are financially free and don’t have to attract new clients in order to pay your bills and eventually become financially free, you probably want to learn how to use social media in order to amplify awareness of your brand. So, the goal is to raise brand awareness, without pitching and spamming people. Start attracting with your VIBE, not your elevator speech. Save that for later. Trust me: the opportunity WILL arise for that all-important pitch.
2. Decide who your ideal clients are. Really get detailed and write down who she or he is, as though you’re writing about a character in a novel. You have to be detailed or you’ll always end up attracting the wrong people and be miserable.
3. Write down what your clients’ problems and challenges are. Then write down YOUR solutions. These are usually your services or your expert consultation that solves the problems and challenges for your clients.

Okay, now you’re ready to attract your ideal clients (your tribe) because your “signal” is clear

Next, you’re going to learn how to find out what each of the most popular social networks are like, plus their demographics, so you can easily pick out which network to invest time in first. Hint: It’s going to be the one in which you have the most fun and get the best results. It’s the one where your tribe is hanging out. If at first it doesn’t seem like they’re there, do a deeper dive into the site (I explain this below).

The biggest tip to help you avoid the biggest amateur mistake

THIS IMPORTANT TIP APPLIES TO ALL SOCIAL NETWORKS: in all your Tweets, Facebook posts and other status updates: don’t pitch your services all the time. Instead, serve as a resource and/or connector so people know they can trust you. It’s okay to promote yourself about 10 per cent of the time but if you do it the other way around and promote yourself 90% per cent of the time in all your networking, you’ll be ignored and thought of as a spammer and a selfish person. Not good. Yes, it’s true, girlfriend (and guyfriend): social networking is NOT about self-promotion. It’s about being yourself and Attracting Your Tribe with Your Vibe™ by serving them, educating them, supporting them. You’re building relationships and in the process, your business naturally grows as more people are attracted to your style, knowledge and results. There’s no need to pitch: just be yourself and be helpful.

Identify the demographics of each social network

Before deciding WHICH social network to start learning about, it’s critical to identify the demographics of each social network so you can determine where your ideal clients are hanging out and social networking.  By the time you finish reading this blog post you will have the demographics, plus tips, plus strategy to begin with, so you clearly know which social network to consistently concentrate your precious time in and start cooking up some new friendships and attracting more clients. Note: In this post, I’m not going to go into great detail about HOW to properly network within these websites – I’ve written various articles/posts about this in the past and will continue to do so in the future (be sure to subscribe to my blog and eZine so you don’t miss out). This post today is intended to provide you with enough information for you to make a choice about where to begin concentrating your social networking.

Here are the top social and business networks I recommend you start with. Pick one; get comfortable and consistent; then move on to your next choice. I start with LinkedIn because everyone should have a LinkedIn profile if you want to be found by decision makers like your future clients.

LinkedIn is a Professional Business Network

This is NOT a social network but a business network. Treat this like you would if you were an active member of your Chamber of Commerce – you know – join a Group or two in LinkedIn (just like joining a sub-committee in a Chamber of Commerce) and serve the group with your wisdom. Show your business personality. Share your knowledge in the Answers section and in Groups. Never do a drive-by promotion – where you only show up to the group to self-promote. Uh-uh! Be helpful and be trust-worthy. People are watching you. Very Important People who are the decision-makers, HR and job recruiters, marketing directors, CEO’s and founders of companies. I have obtained some of the very best clients within my LinkedIn network simply by leveraging all the layers within LinkedIn on a consistent basis. (And there are lots of layers that most people don’t take the time to learn about and use.)

LinkedIn Is the Number One Place to Attract Employers and Clients
As of March 31, 2012 (the end of the first quarter), professionals are signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate of approximately two new members per second, according to LinkedIn’s About page.

• Who’s here: There are 43% women members and 57% men. Though there are more men than women here don’t let that stop you from being here. There are plenty of groups that skew high for female members. At least 80% of companies use LinkedIn as a recruitment tool.
• The tools: There are so many tools you can pick up and build your network with here. Besides optimizing your own profile with keywords so your profile shows up in searches and is seen by the right people (potential clients/employers), you can join groups where your ideal clients are members and you can start serving the group with your valuable tips (never pitch). Why not start your own group so you gain high visibility all the time? You can also position yourself as an expert in your subject matter by answering questions posed in the “Answers” section. That’s just the very tip of the LinkedIn iceberg – there’s a whole lot more. If you want to learn more, just give me a holler.
• Groups: ”LinkedIn members are sharing insights and knowledge in more than one million LinkedIn Groups,” according to LinkedIn. Remember earlier when I said that if you don’t see your ideal network here to do a deeper dive? Do the dive into the Groups section. Use the search box in LinkedIn and type in “Women Entrepreneurs” or some other keywords that will reveal search results that you’ll love. Go to the group of your choice and review its members and its protocol and decide if it’s the right group for you. If it is, then join it or ask to join and mark it on your calendar to show up consistently every week or every morning and contribute and “like” and comment (positivly and thoughtfully) on other people’s posts.
• Goal: Make it easy for future clients to find you by optimizing your profile with keywords in your job titles (current and past) and by presenting credibility and trust with at least 20 recommendations of you by past clients. Attract Your Tribe With Your Vibe™ by hanging out with them in appropriate Groups and serving them.

Twitter (My Personal Favorite)

Twitter is what you make it be. I advise you, (the woman entrepreneur  or man, wanting to build friendships and attract clients and gigs), to think of it as though you’re in a cocktail party in which you make your way around the room, getting to know people whom you have rapport with. When you find your tribe, you’ll know it. You’ll come across a Twitter chat or a hashtag (a keyword with a pound symbol that describes a topic) that leads you to your tribe.

• Who’s here: 59% of Twitter users are women, according to OnlineMBA.com. Something that’s really interesting and a huge opportunity for you is this: only 5% of Twitter’s 200 million users account for 75% of all activity. That means you have less competition in making yourself visible to your ideal clients. Just be sure to do this the right way.
• The tools: use the search box to find people who have keywords in their Tweets that match your search term and be sure to use the hashtag symbol: #. For example: type #womenentrepreneurs into the search box and you’ll see the latest Tweets from people who have mentioned that hashtag in their Tweets. Follow the ones who interest you the most. Then see who THEY follow and who follows them – you’ll find more people who may interest you. That’s just one tool to pick up and build with in the beginning. For more information about how to use Twitter to grow your business (shameless self-promotion here) read my book: Become a Twitter Pro in 20 Days. It’s an eBook, so you can purchase and download now and begin right away. Or just download the free chapter I give away on this page in my website: Become a Twitter Pro in 20 Days.
• No Groups here yet but there ARE TweetChats: Meet people in Twitter who are interested in discussing the same topic as you are (or maybe just lurk until you feel like jumping in.) You’ll absolutely LOVE doing this for one hour per week (gotta be consistent) once you find the right Tweetchat for you. Use this Google Doc to find a Tweetchat that’s right for you. Use TweetChat.com to make it much easier to participate in the chat.
• Goal: Your Tweets can be thought of as though you’re a radio station that broadcasts the type of news and information that YOUR audience (your tribe) would find interesting and useful – stuff that will help them get great results. The “frequency” should be sharp and focused (not all over the place about every subject on the planet) and Tweet often – Tweet at least three to ten times a day. Share your thoughts to show your brains. Some of the people who follow you will be watching you to see how knowledgeable you are and how pleasant you are. They might be hiring you so be sure to be good, polite and timely.

Facebook: The Neighborhood Block Party

• Who’s here: 64% of Facebook users are women. The fastest growing group of members on Facebook is women aged 55-65 years old. And 78% of users trust the recommendations made by their friends than they do by the advertisers.
• Time: Be here morning, noon and night or find some other time periods in which YOUR peeps hangout in Facebook. Use both your own personal profile to do “water cooler” posts about general topics and use your business page (fan page) to post helpful information relating to your subject matter. It’s perfectly fine to link to your latest blog posts, eZine, video or article from your business page. But do talk about your personal life, too (on your business page). People love to get glimpses of your “behind-the-scenes” life, just don’t be too personal. Whatever you’d announce to a group of people at a social gathering, is what you should announce on Facebook (and that advice goes for all your social networking and online activities).
• Groups: These are extremely valuable in so many ways: they are great for building deeper relationships more quickly. Find a Group where your ideal clients hang out AND find a group where your mentors hang out.  You can find people to do JV’s (Joint Ventures) with or collaborate in other ways. When you find the right group for you, ask to join and start serving up some valuable advice; connect people to helpful blog posts and other articles you find online and share some fun personal stuff, too, so the group members get to know your personality. Spend at least five minutes per day in your group and increase your time as you become more comfortable and start bonding with group members.
• For business: create a business page, also known as a fan page, where you’re allowed to talk about your business. Facebook frowns upon talking about your business from your personal page, though, in my opinion, it’s okay to mention what’s going on, of course, just like you would in a face-to-face meeting with a friend. Just don’t do it all the time.  Read my blog post about the strategy of a business page, which I wrote when Facebook switched over to “Timeline.” (Still valid information). One more tip: Facebook strongly recommends using photos in posts. Here’s what Facebook says: “User sentiment research has shown that the emotions triggered by images of real people, real situations, and real objects are more lasting and more compelling than those that include words or text.”
• Goal: To raise brand awareness by staying in TOMA: Top Of Mind Awareness with your fans so that when they need your services they’ll remember you. And when their friends need someone with your services, you’ll be the one who gets recommended. Also, consistency is key. Give a good reason for fans to keep coming back: share tips, link them to helpful articles, show pictures of your work, your pet, your lunch with fun, one-sentence captions (“water cooler” conversations bond people together) and ask questions that start with “would” (“We’re thinking lunch in the park or hunker down and eat at the desk. What would you do today?” If you’ve had some engagement with your fans around lunchtime before, then you could possibly get some comments like “Life is short, go to the park!”). This type of talking on your page makes people like you. Once they like you, they begin to trust you. Winning the trust of your fans is HUGE. Now all you need to do is stay in TOMA so that when they need you, you get remembered.

Pinterest: The “Good Old Girls Club” – At Last

• Who’s here: 97% of Pinterest users are women. If this is your tribe, you gotta be here. And if you’re a crafter, a foodie, a designer or do anything that can be seen in a picture or summed up in a picture (bloggers, too) and your audience is women, then Pinterest is a place you want to invest some time in. It’s kind of like a boutique.
• Time: I like to go in and get out quickly, within 10 minutes once per week. If I were a craftswoman or chef or photographer or designer of clothing, jewelry, etc., I’d be here every day, perhaps three times a day.
• The tools: After creating your free Pinterest page, grab the “Pin” button and add it to your browser’s toolbar (Pinterest gives you easy instructions to follow). Then, as you come across interesting blog posts and articles online, “pin” a picture to your Pinterest board. You choose an image from the page of the website you found an interesting article or photo and then, just like cutting out a picture or article from your favorite magazine and pinning it to your refrigerator, you pin it to your virtual board.  Make pins searchable with descriptive names that are keywords. More tips coming up in a future blog post next week.
• For business: you’re really not supposed to promote yourself, as that would be perceived as spamming. But it’s okay to promote sometimes. Times to promote yourself: when you’ve got a new blog post; new video; new product; or pictures of you and your friends at a conference. Get creative. I’ve got a Blog post board in which I pin my latest blog posts. And I have a board where my products are pinned. For the most part, I pin other people’s content and it’s always valuable information that’s visually appealing.  I also pin personal things that show the many facets of me and some of my interests. This strategy works well to attract your tribe.  Check out my Pinterest boards here.
• Goal: Brand awareness. Be found by your tribe by posting things they would enjoy and find useful. Stay in TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness).

YouTube and Vlogging: Broadcast Yourself

•  Who’s here: it’s only the second most popular search engine (that’s right: it’s a search engine but with videos) in the world. 71% of both women and men use YouTube, according to this Mashable article.
• Time: Your branding is like a candy wrapper. But nobody knows what you taste like until they can bite into you. And that’s what the power of video marketing does for you. Your tribe can connect with you more accurately and more quickly when they see you and hear you on video. If you do nothing else other than video marketing, properly and consistently, you will attract your ideal clients.
• The tools: Get a webcam or Kodak video camera; start a WordPress blog and and create your own YouTube channel. Then study how the very best do their videos, like Marie Forleo. Find other people you admire and see how they do video. Find the best and create your own style but always be yourself; be upbeat; and don’t be boring. Don’t worry about “homemade” videos at first. That’s how I’ve started out. I’m getting ready to evolve to better lighting and sound but I didn’t let that stop me from creating my own first videos. Yes, I’m still learning how to be better on video. But I’m not letting that stop me in the meantime. We learn as we grow. And we grow as we learn. Hey, by the way, you can see my videos here.
• For business: tag your videos with keywords to attract your tribe who’s looking for someone like you to work with. Customize your YouTube channel with your own branded design. Start passionately sharing your advice.  Review this infographic over at Mashable for a quick overview of YouTube statistics.
• Goal: Be sure your energy level is high and your message is succinct in your videos. Follow video gurus like Lou Bortone and Sandra Dee Robinson for expert advice on how to present yourself in videos and how creative you can get with videos. Remember: your videos capture YOU, the “candy bar” underneath the “wrapper” of  your branding, and convey how you “taste” — so be tasty! Be yum-i-licious!

Blogging: Like Having Your Own Newspaper Column Except Your Audience is National Instead of Only Local

• Who’s here: If you’re a subject matter expert, you must, must, MUST blog about your topic. It’s one of the best ways to establish yourself as an expert in your field, whether local or national or global. I am an original blogger who blogged in the late 1990′s and then when my son was born, I let blogging go until about four years ago. I’ve always enjoyed writing but if you’d rather share your wisdom in a video, have a Vlog – a Video log (or do both).
• Time: If you keep your posts short (two or three paragraphs) you can blog more frequently. My blog posts tend to be pretty long (like this one) so I devote about five or six hours a week. My challenge is to be more consistent, on a weekly basis, with both my blog and my eZine. So I’ve renewed those goals.
• The tools: WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, Movable Type – there are quite a few tools to start blogging with. Or you can be part of a blogging community like IHaveaTeenager.com or Latina Lifestyle Bloggers or BlogFrog or BlogHer or Blogalicious. There are tons of social networks made up of women who blog. Google “women blogging communities”  or “bloggers” or “blogging” and you’ll find lots of resources.
• Goal: Credibility. Position yourself as an expert in your subject matter so that when your readers need your services they remember you. As they grow to trust you more and more, some may end up purchasing your products or services. Write about topics that are relevant to your expertise and helpful in getting your future clients results as they apply your advice. Blog at least once per week. Ideally, three times a week if you’re wanting to build your audience quickly. You can re-purpose your content in your eZine, videos, and presentations. You can also pitch to appropriate popular blogs of your genre and ask to be a guest blogger. Study their style, then create your pitch and go for it. The higher visibility of a hugely popular blog can be a major turning point for your career so be ready before it happens.

Google+

• Who’s here: It’s, roughly, about one quarter women and three quarters men. You should be here to leverage the power of the +1 which is much more powerful than a Facebook “like” because people go to Google to search for products or services and when they see their personal search results from their Google+ network of friends recommending your website with their +1′s, you’re going to grow your business.
• Time: Realistically: you could get by with three times per week, as of this writing, because there are not a lot of people here yet,  and so, you have an advantage to attract those who ARE here. There’s less “noise” (less posting) because there are less people. But don’t let that stop you from starting to find your favorites and building a community here, too.
• The tools: Oh my gosh! Google+ has some great tools for finding and networking with your ideal clients and future friends because, after all, it IS Google. So go searching for your peeps with the keywords they’d use. Other tools: Google+ uses hashtags like Twitter; Google+ has a video meeting tool called a “Hangout” so you can easily Hangout with people. Why not start having a weekly Hangout with local people you already know and take their questions as though you’re at a free seminar? Then invite others outside your local area. Great way to build business and help people at the same time. More tools to be talked about in my future blog posts (or go ask me now on my Facebook page).
• Goal: Right now, while Google+ is still so wide open with low numbers of people (compared to the millions and millions of Facebook and Twitter users) you can stake out your territory and start building a community of fans here. Apply the same tactics as I wrote about in the “Goal” section for Facebook (above). No: Facebook and Google+ are not really the same kind of social network but you CAN use the same tactic. Getting people to click on the +1 button of your posts will get you valuable search results in the personalized search results that Google now includes. Google says search is about people and relationships.

Whew! That’s a lot to review, huh? Just remember to start with one thing. Be consistent in your showing up so people can rely on you and start to get a social crush™  on you. You could start getting a return on your investment within weeks when you do social networking the right way and do it consistently. What do YOU think? Would you please connect with me in any way you’re comfortable with and let me know how it goes for you after you read this and start applying some or all of my advice? I truly hope I’ve helped you become more successful, efficient and profitable in your business and in your life.

Find out more about Lori Gama by visiting this cool page all about her.