85% of all marketers say social media efforts generate exposure for their business.

As a local business you can’t afford to ignore the social media phenomenon. You must: conquer the time drain, decide exactly where you will focus your efforts, and act immediately to claim your share of the market.

In a presentation entitled “Social Media: Get Strategic, Get Results,” Mary Ellen Merrigan positions social media for local usage. The 45-minute presentation includes:

• Best practices for Facebook pages, the hottest social media turf out there today
• Examples from Albuquerque businesses making effective social media efforts
• Tip sheets you can use to elevate your brick and mortar visibility starting immediately

“Social Media: Get Strategic, Get Results” is part of a half-day marketing and communications workshop sponsored by the City of Albuquerque Business Center. The purpose of the business resource center in city hall is to make the daunting job of starting and growing a business easier.

The workshop, presented 8am – 12:30pm, Tuesday September 21, 2010, at the WESST Enterprise Center, 609 Broadway NE, includes these additional offerings:

Tom Carroll, Carroll Strategies “Basic Marketing 101 – The ABC’s of Marketing
Doug Turner, DW Turner, Inc. “Press Release 101 and Earned Media – How to achieve successful PR”

For more information or to register, call 505-768-3222.

About Merrigan Group
Mary Ellen Merrigan, owner of Merrigan Group LLC, has developed successful, sales-building D.I.Y. (Do it Yourself) smart marketing strategies for a wide range of clients and promotes the benefits of combining traditional and social media. A known marketing trainer and speaker, Mary Ellen recently published “The Six-Week Marketing Master Plan,” a workbook offering a step-by-step guide to marketing. Learn more at http://www.sixweekmarketingplan.com.

The immediate past president of Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance, (AIBA) Mary Ellen knows well the problems facing today’s entrepreneurs. She delights in presenting practical, low-cost solutions that help you achieve a positive bottom line. Follow her blog, ProfitMeister, for DIY smart marketing strategies.

Technorati Tags: marketing, social media, training

If you’ve ever asked, “What’s the point?” this seminar is for you.

If you’re positive you could do than ask people to buy, this seminar is for you.

If you’re not sure that your time online is well-spent, this seminar is for you.

In the second workshop of a three-part Do-It-Yourself series for the Albuquerque South Valley Small Business Development Center, (SBDC) Mary Ellen Merrigan discusses social media for entrepreneurs.

“Get Strategic, Get Results!” provides guidelines for business owners who want to do more than simply get on board with social media.

• Learn why engaging customers online is a must.
• Transform your efforts with five big “Best Practices.”
• Build your foundation for Facebook with 10 tips for using a Facebook page.
• Discover when to hire it out, and what you should know before you do.

To get effective you may only need to tweak your current efforts. Find out more in this free, two-hour workshop sponsored by the South Valley Small Business Development Center.

Details: 10a – 12noon, Tuesday, October 20, 2010 at the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, 1304 Fourth Street Southwest. For additional information or registration, call 505-248-0132.

Mary Ellen Merrigan has developed successful, sales-building D.I.Y. (Do it Yourself) smart marketing strategies for a wide range of clients promotes the benefits of combining traditional and social media. She is the author of “The Six Week Master Marketing Plan: An hour a day to take your business to the next level,” available online at http://www.sixweekmarketingplan.com. Join Mary Ellen to learn how you can use smart marketing to achieve a positive bottom line.

Technorati Tags: SBDC, social media, step-by-step, training

Experts agree today’s nutrition falls short of perfect. The reasons vary. In general, busy schedules favor processed convenience foods, drive-in options and quick, easy meals.

So, vitamins matter. A multi vitamin compensates for a lack of planned food, erasing mineral deficiency in the process.

Now, think about the ways in which you learn about the benefits of vitamins. Information is readily available in books, magazines, on the Internet, or from experts.

With little effort, one can learn about the benefits or side effects of most vitamins (and marketing efforts).

Need a special supplement? Vitamin D promotes stronger bones; get it from a pill or drink more milk. Use vitamin C for faster healing. You get the idea.

Like vitamins, marketing enhances your business.

“Marketing: Vitamins for your business,” an offering from UNM Continuing Education, takes a fresh approach to generating visibility, sales and profits for your business.

In this lively, three hour course, Mary Ellen Merrigan uses an interactive approach to diagnose and recommend the tactics (marketing supplements) which could work best for you.

How vital is marketing to your business?

Register for class #55621 and learn more.

55621 Marketing: Vitamins for Your Business

Look at three essential updates to get you out of the same old marketing rut. Increase visibility and stoke profits by assessing your competition and positioning your business to distinguish it from others. Understand the relationship of sound business principles and good marketing practices. Leave with a list of tactics you can use immediately to find more customers and generate more sales. Prerequisite: None.

Technorati Tags: marketing, UNM Continuing Education

“Do-it-Yourself Planning, A Simple Marketing Plan to Finish 2010 with a Bang!” takes gnashing of the teeth out of the equation.

The presentation, part of my Smart Marketing Series, will help you make any course corrections for the year. You’ll get these takeaways:

• �
  • Learn the two tactics you must use to re-focus your message and really connect with your audience.
  • Hear about the three keys to successful communication no matter what media channel you choose.
  • Discover how to use a one-page template for your plan.
  • List the strategic questions you need for year-end review.

Attend at no charge and receive a FREE 25-question business analysis along with a 15-minute customized follow up session.

Let go of coulda, woulda and shoulda statements for good.

Adopt an action plan you can live with. For more information or to reserve your space, call 505-248-0132.

Details: “Do-it-Yourself Planning,” 9a-11am, Tuesday July 27 at The Albuquerque Hispano chamber of Commerce, 1309 Fourth Street SW. Sponsored by the Albuquerque South Valley SBDC.

About ME:
Mary Ellen Merrigan has developed successful, sales-building D.I.Y. smart marketing strategies for a wide range of clients. She promotes the benefits of planning in “The Six-Week Master Marketing Plan: An hour a day to take your business to the next level.”  Read more.

Technorati Tags: marketing, marketing plan, training

Your competitor likely used a press release to alert the media to a newsworthy event. Now you can do the same.

No need to pay a professional public relations person to write a formal press release. Learn this important skill for yourself in a two session workshop Mary Ellen Merrigan presents for WESST, 4 – 6pm on June 16 and 23.

In an interactive seminar cover the reasons to generate a press release and then review an easy formula to produce one. Test your press release idea in front of a small group of participants and get input from other small business owners who, like you, prefer to market on the cheap.

You’ll write your own release during the week between sessions using guidelines provided. In part two, discover specific media outreach techniques, best practices and ideas to align your business with other community partners. The workshop concludes with a discussion of free publicity outlets.

Registration is $59, $49 with seven-day advance purchase.Register online or call Lorena Schott at 505-246-6939 to reserve your space.

Technorati Tags: PR, public relations, step-by-step, training, WESST

The 157-page e-book, now available online, serves small business owners with no marketing department, service providers, coaches and consultants.

A series of questions and exercises guides participants through the experience offering an all-in-one guide to marketing. As users complete the program they produce a solid foundation for their own visibility program.

The master plan idea began as an outline for one client. Then, as Mary Ellen collaborated with Maria on a website revision, the two challenged each other to walk their talk. The two made a 45-day pact to work on their business.

Discussions with other clients developed into a beta test.

“The book almost wrote itself,” Merrigan said. Every Monday I delivered the next week’s assignments to my beta group of ten.”

“This is a 360-degree view of a firm. It can be a daunting experience, overwhelming even, to consider on your own,” Merrigan continued. “Realistically, 6WMMP solidifies everything and lets you streamline your communication.”

Within 45 days working just one hour per day, participants have a complete plan for their business. The guide helps them assess their current efforts, evaluate specifics, list to do’s and set immediate goals.

Designer Maria G. Nozza made the user experience easier with a visual presentation to support the user. High-impact visuals, easy-to-follow directions, and a consistent presentation make this workbook appealing.

Feedback has been gratifying. One experienced entrepreneur printed the workbook and now uses it for a reference. Others mention the opportunity to concentrate on one facet of the business at a time.

Chapters include:

Week One, “Getting Started,” concentrates on overview, offering a template for evaluating current marketing efforts. This module supports existing businesses as well as startups.

Week Two, “Find Your Audience and Seek Them Out,” offers an in-depth look at target marketing as participants research and reach for their potential customers.

Week Three, “Find Your Competitors and Your Keywords,” begins to define the nuances separating a business from others with flagship content.

Week Four, “Social Media,” concentrates on incorporating social strategies into a marketing plan, exploring tips on bios, “about my company” paragraphs, email signatures and more.

Week Five, “Develop Content Plan,” helps participants outline promotional collateral as well as media to showcase on the website.

Week Six, “Strategic Marketing,” discusses promotional strategies, editorial calendars and long-range strategic solutions. A one-page marketing plan incorporates the previous week’s work into a marketing visual for the future.

The final three days in the Six Week Marketing Master Plan include a review of accomplishments, challenges and an implementation schedule.

Each week of the effort builds on the previous work. By the end of the 45 day period, an entrepreneur will review every aspect of his plan from branding and visual image to aspects of search engine optimization including keywords and backlinks.

“We wanted to make it easier for solopreneurs,” Merrigan said. “They really can do it themselves, thanks to the plan.”

The Six Week Marketing Master Plan sells for $69.95 and can be purchased from http://www.sixweekmarketingplan.com.

Additional offerings including video as well as teleseminars will be forthcoming from the Merrigan-Nozza duo.

Technorati Tags: coaches, consultants, marketing, marketing plan, service-based businesses, step-by-step

Mary Ellen Merrigan, one of the participants, offers Simplify Marketing in Five Easy Steps. She plans to use the booklet as a bonus product for her consulting practice.

In discussing the booklet, she emphasized the importance of bite-sized information for solopreneurs in particular.

“Most service-based businesses live in overwhelm. The urgencies of day-to-day deadlines prevent them from concentrating on the important, long-term development issues. A harried person will read one tip; tackling an entire book takes too much of a commitment.”

 “Communicating for Profit offers realistic ideas,” Mary Ellen adds. “If you feel stuck, read one of these tips and act. You’ll move.”

From improving a website to leveraging case-studies, writing faster to making each phone call count, the Tips Booklet offers suggestions anyone can leverage to profit.

In true social media style, Mary Ellen discovered the booklet opportunity through a LinkedIn message from fellow participant Casey Hibbard, a case-study expert. Hibbard, author of Stories That Sell, first collaborated with Mary Ellen in a 10-year anniversary project for the Santa Fe Business Incubator.

The booklet, published by Paulette Ensign, Founder of Tips Products International, The Booklet Queen, includes the following experts from across the US plus Canada and Australia:

Denise Clancey, Teledirect Partners   - Make each telephone call count 

Thomas G. Crane, Crane Consulting  - Leaders get what they coach to – not hope for

Philippa Gamse, CMC Total ‘Net Value, Inc.  - Web strategies that win  

Daphne Gray-Grant, The Publication Coach  - How to write faster            

Samantha Hartley, Enlightened Marketing - Enlightened marketing grows your brand                    

Casey Hibbard, Compelling Cases - Selling with customer success stories        

George C. Huang, M.D. Freedompreneur Coaching - Paid introductory sessions that sell                           

Helena Kaufman, Express Lane Writing & Speaking - Use the 5Ws to organize your communication success

Barbara McNichol, Barbara McNichol Editorial - Write persuasively                  

Sarah Mitchell, Global Copywriting - Successful lead nurturing strategies   

Mary Ellen Merrigan, Merrigan Group LLC  - Simplify marketing in five easy steps

Linda Claire Puig, Claire Communications - Newsletters: The #1 marketing tool                      

Keri Stewart, Keri Stewart  - Increase your bottom line with assessments

Trudy Van Buskirk, Smallbizbuilder  - Overcoming perceived or real barriers in business

Contact Mary Ellen via email (Maryellen at Merrigan Group dot com ) to get your copy of Tips Booklet, to purchase printed copies of this booklet as a customized promotional tool for marketing your own business, or license the downloadable version for other promotional applications.

Technorati Tags: coaches, consultants, resource, service-based businesses, Tips Booklet

No surprise then you’ve been dipping your toe into the world of social media. But who has the time to figure it out?

What does it mean to your business? How can it help? Can it help?

Face it. Social Media is now mainstream. If you haven’t implemented a comprehensive social media strategy now is the time to do so.

In a three-part series for UNM Continuing Education Mary Ellen Merrigan explores social media for today’s business.

“Marketing With Social Media” is presented 6pm – 9pm on three consecutive Mondays, April 26 through May 10. You’ll explore these ideas:

Why social media is the new “MUST” and which social media is right for you

Review best practices for social media

Learn the three ingredients to produce better results regardless of your social media choice

Discover why Facebook is the new powerhouse

Examine Twitter and how to use it effectively

Develop a social media roadmap

Create a social media implementation plan

Request class #55623: Marketing With Social Media through UNM Continuing Education, offered through the Digital Arts Department.

55623 Marketing with Social Media

Expand awareness for your business by combining traditional and online media. Market 24/7 with an Internet storefront showcasing who you are and what you do. Learn about a range of tactics that can help you stand out: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, plus social bookmarking, blogs, YouTube and many other options add exposure to your website. Take charge of your Internet reputation. Focus on strategies for distinguishing your company from that of your competition.

Mary Ellen Merrigan presents high-content, practical ideas in easy-to-learn ways. She gets high marks as a facilitator/presenter. Participants get questions answered and leave with plans that can work immediately in their business.

Recent comments include:

“Mary Ellen is vibrant and refreshing, makes learning much more exciting.” – Vicki Goss, USPS

“Mary Ellen is very professional and I felt very informed to new opportunities in marketing.” –Sandra Day-Peck, Moses Design Group

“Your workshop was informative and easy to follow. The recommendations you made can also be easily utilized in my business.” –Philip Thal, Laht Communications

“I appreciated the practical tips that Mary Ellen provided.” – Kim Marko, New Mexico Legal Group

Technorati Tags: marketing, social media, training, UNM Continuing Education

If you’ve rushed to find your prospects on Facebook, then added video or other social media, and suddenly realized you still must update your website, you’re not alone.

Join Mary Ellen Merrigan for a session packed with practical strategies to “Up-level Your Marketing Strategy for 2010,” 10am-12noon, March 9, 2010 at the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, 1309 Fourth Street SW.

Learn to “tarket” as you establish priorities for getting your message to customers and prospects. Mary Ellen explains the need for discipline and continued education in today’s marketing arena.

The series gets consistent high marks from graduates with favorable comments about subject matter experts, peer advice and networking. It begins March 1, 2010.

Mary Ellen Merrigan facilitates Marketlink for the fifth time. She characterizes the program as an overview of business fundamentals. “For many participants, this may be the most significant work on business foundations since beginning their business.”

The curriculum, featuring subject matter experts each week, includes these highlights:

• Define Your Competitive Edge and Consider Key Legal Issues
• Deploy Market Research to Find Your Target Market
• Understand Financial Statements and Why They Matter
• Increase Visibility with Advertising, PR, and Internet
• Refine Pricing Strategies and Sales Techniques
• Map Your Growth with a Marketing Plan

“Marketlink features outstanding information from the local community as well as from other nationally known resources,” Merrigan said. “It’s completely updated. For those who want to revamp their business to deal with today’s economics, this is it!”

Students receive a two hours consulting block, a textbook and numerous digital resources as a part of the course in addition to the opportunity to network with fellow participants.

Get more information or apply for the program at WESST. A roundtable introducing the program is scheduled for 5:00 pm Monday, February 22, 2010 at WESST, 609 Broadway NE.

Technorati Tags: marketing, training, WESST