But when you message someone you don’t know, let alone not check out what they might do for a business- it’s just WRONG.

This is the message I got in my “other” message box on Facebook.

Here’s what is WRONG with it:

1. I don’t know this person

2. We don’t even have one mutual friend

3. Why would I like this page?

Epic social media fail!

Are you making this mistake?

Are you sending messages to unknown people and asking them to “like” your page?

I used to think that leaving a post on my page to like your page was tacky- but I think sending a message to someone you don’t know, have no clue who they are- is …. Just WRONG.

What do you think?

Good social media skills or not?

Please leave your comments below.

As I was working on getting it opened- I thought about how things like this happen in my line of work or anybody’s line of work. It’s not always text book. You can’t always follow the rules. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to make things work.

Sound familiar?

How many times have you been up the creek without a paddle?

How many times have you had to re-think how you were going to achieve what you set out for?

When you want it, really really want it- you find a way.

Just like I did with the soda can. I found a way to get it opened.

So don’t give up- go get what it is you want!

Think outside the box- YOU CAN DO THIS!

What is it that you really really want?

How are you going to get it?

Leave your comments below- and let’s compare notes.

Check out this video that Stacey Myers did for me on Kelley ProMedia:

I was thrilled to hear that I was doing a great job of building my business on solid ground!  Whooo woo!

I’ve got some GREAT NEWS for you:

Stacey Myers is  hosting a webinar on May 8th at 3pm EST

In this free webinar Stacey will take you backstage, share with you some of the real stories  that so many others keep hidden. She is going to take you through the online business-building process that changed everything for her. Her step by step proven model that has worked not only for her, but for her clients as well. Whether you are a complete newbie or someone that has been online for a while, but not getting the results you want, this webinar is for you.

Stacey will go over:

* The biggest mistakes she  made when starting online. How you can avoid them, or stop doing them, and what to do instead.

* The strategies she wishes she had put in place straight away, and the massive difference it made when she did.

* How to keep it simple – it is pretty much guaranteed you are making it more difficult than it needs to be.

By the end of the webinar you will know the key fundamentals to building a solid business with sustainable growth and profit.

If you want to build a solid online business, or retool your business because it has not brought you the results you desire, sign up now for this free training!

So tell me- do you have a solid foundation?

Did you sign up for the Free Webinar?

So let’s help to clear up what’s the difference is between a Group and a Business Page.

A Group can be:

Open- anyone can see the group, who’s in it and what’s been posted in it.

Closed- anyone can see the group and who is in it, but NOT what is posted.

Secret- shhhh it’s a secret- nobody can see anything except for those that are in it!

When you visit a person’s Timeline- it will reveal Open Groups that that person is in. If you have the new Graph Search you can search for Groups that that person is in and it will show you both- Open and Closed Groups that that person is in. You can’t see Secret Groups.

What you post in Groups – the post stays in the Groups and can’t be shared. And as of this writing, the posts are in chronological order- the most current on top. However there is a search tool to help you find a post- if you can remember the key words.

Some good reasons to have a Group:

A club such as Bridge club, Crochet group, any type of hobby

A membership site where you can ask questions and have a classroom environment

Or a group just for your family- to share things

Business Pages are public- all can see them, all can comment on them. You don’t have to like a Business Page to leave a comment. You can share their post on your own news feed.

As the Business Page- you do need post content that is valued by your readers. This content can be entertaining, education, or just fun. And as most of you already know- pictures help to get more engagement with your Business Page.

So why did I suggest that the Closed Group be a Business Page- it was for the “local” happenings. With it being a Closed Group- only those that were members could see what was being posted. They were missing a whole bunch of people by making it a Closed Group. If they were to make it a Business Page- they could reach more people. Keep more people informed with what was going on locally, and still have people share information that would go into their news feed and reach more people.

Hopefully this has cleared up the difference between a Group and a Business Page.

Question- how many groups to you belong to?

And did you know that they are visible to those visiting your Timeline?

What I didn’t know – was that there would be more than just a few days that were tricky.

• The Global Attack on Work Press Sites
• My Computer dying and being out of commission
• A family member health concerns
• A planned vacation
• And Life

Lucky for me I had done the Ultimate Blog Challenge before and keep trying to stay ahead of the game. I would do a few blog posts and schedule them only to be thankful that that had happened due to the other things going on. And then trying to catch up- oh boy.

But I did it.

I posted every day for the Month of April. Whooo woo!

I also read some of the most wonderful blogs along the way.

I was committed and I did it. And now that it’s coming to an end… I must say that even if I hadn’t been able to participate every day I would still be a winner. For each day that I was able to join and take advantage of the blog challenge was remarkable.

So if you were on this journey with me- whooo woo! We did it.

And if you haven’t done the Ultimate Blog Challenge- please join me next time!

Are you in?

Question is – do you take a vacation from Social Media? You know- unplug?

You should.

Now I’m not a fan of announcing it to the world that you are going on vacation. I don’t know why you would do that. Yet- I see it all the time:

• I’m unplugging for the next couple of day-
• I’ll be out of town so I won’t be online….
• It’s vacation time- so I’ll be gone….

I wrote a blog about how to handle the holidays and scheduling your post – you can read that post here.

But this post is about taking time off from Social Media?

Just like a real vacation, you should take a break from Social Media. It’s good for you!

Now this mean totally un-plugging and taking a break. It might only be for one day or it could be a whole weekend. And I challenge you to do it for a whole week!

Un plug.

Yes- I do. I schedule one day a week that I un-plug. And you know what?

It’s so refreshing. It’s like a day off. A little mini vacation!

Did I miss anything by un-plugging? NO

Did you miss me by un-plugging? NO (because you don’t know I did! See the Link above how I do that.)

Can you do this? Un-plug?

Let me know in the comments below how it works for you.

One of the things that Phyllis Diller stated in an interview was that she could do “The Magic of Believing”- it did not have all the religion like the Law of Attraction Books do.

This book came out in 1948- and that’s one thing you have to remember while you are reading it. So when Claude M Bristol talks about how much money someone made, just remember it was many years ago and that it would be much more money today!

It’s a skinny little book only 180 pages. Claude M Bristol is good to give tons of examples. Though out the book there are hints as to the “Believing” and then there are the techniques that need to be practiced.

The Visual Techniques and the Mirror Techniques

• Mentally see a picture of what it is you want.
• Write it down.
• Have it so you can see it throughout your day
• BELIEVE
• Learn to be quick decision maker and take action
• Keep telling yourself that you can do it
• And WORK- don’t just sit and wait for it to happen- go make it happen

Phyllis Diller said she practiced his techniques, and frequently re-read this book. I highlighted a few lines and “dog eared” a few pages too for quick references.

I do BELIEVE that when we put our minds to something we find a way to make it happen. It could be the Magic of Believing…..

Do you believe in magic?

Or in the Magic of Believing?

I must say that it’s been a rather quiet change as I haven’t heard too many complaints.

But then I asked the question- how many times to you go to your Timeline or someone elses?

And the answers were – not very often.

So the new Timeline doesn’t have that big of a bang and isn’t that difficult to accept.

And once you have the new Timeline- then the Profile Timelines you visit will have the new “look” too.

I was actually visiting a friend’s Timeline and they had the new “look” and I was taken by surprise. I had not gotten it yet and couldn’t believe that I was seeing their new look. But hold on to your hats- I was just a few moments ahead of Facebook letting me know that – BAM I had new LOOK!

“We’ve made some updates to how your timeline looks. Your post and life events are on the right with everything else on the left.”

Once you visit your own Timeline and you see the changes, at first it’s like WOW and then you’re over it and move on.

Have you gotten the New Timeline?

And How are you liking it?

The same can be true for the cute little Tag Clouds- there could be a zillion words and sometimes it’s hard to know what one to click on.

Well that is exactly what happens when your readers go to your blog if you aren’t using the Categories and Tags correctly.

So I did some digging around to find out the best way to use the Categories and Tags.

The best description I found was the Categories should read like a table of contents, and the Tags like the index.

Catergories are to make it easy for your reader to navigate around your blog.

There should only be one Category per post! (oops-How many of you have more than one?) However – it’s okay to have more than one, it just isn’t recommended.

Categories need to be specific- so the reader knows what it is about.

And one of my favorties- If there is only one post in that Category- maybe it should not be a Category.

Now before I talk about the TAGS- let’s talk about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and your blog.

According to SEO 2013 & Beyond by Andy Williams:

Each time you post a blog- on the back end of your WordPress site, a page is made for:

The post

The Category

Each Tag that you use

And the author

That being said- that is why you should only be using one Category per blog post and just a few Tags. When you use lots of Tags- duplication takes place and this is not a good thing for your SEO.

 TAGS- are more like a compliment to your Categories.

Yes you can use the same Tag over and over again.

Never use a Tag that is also a Category.

And never use a Tag if it will not be used in several of your other posts.

And a side note- you do not have to use the cute little Tag Cloud if you don’t want to.

And last but not least- you should never have one of your blog post in the Uncategorized section!

So how many Categories do you have on your Blog?

Yes in their eyes- the photo copier was cool. The chalkboard now whiteboard was fun. All the paper and the supplies were entertaining. Plus I think they really liked visiting with my students and fellow employees.

Fast forward to their high school years- and I’m pretty sure they did not want to go to work with me! That would not be cool.

The reason for Take your Kids to Work Day was to expose your children to a career. So they could learn what it was like to go to work.

Now I’m pretty sure this day was created to advance the kids to start thinking about what they wanted to do “when they grow up”. However, I’m thinking that it might have taught them what they didn’t want to do instead!

Either way- it worked.

The kids got to go to work with their parents. They got to see what their parents did. They got to share a fun filled day at the work place.

They may have decided that they didn’t want to do what their parent did, or they may have been more eager to do what their parents did.

From the parent side of this day- I always enjoyed it. It’s a little piece of what I do that I got to share with my kids. And any day that I get to share with my kids is a good day!

So did you get to take your kids to work with you?

Please share how it went in the comments below.