As my avid readers would know… I HEART Facebook!!  Everything about it, everything it stands for… just LOVE it.  I also HEART Skype, I have written many posts on just how much I love it, how to use it… etc etc… However when it came to the two of my most favourite products/platforms “hooking up” I have to say my response was a bit lackluster to say the least.

Now don’t get me wrong… I don’t hate the idea but I don’t LOVE the idea… I guess I just don’t “get” the idea.  When I say I don’t “get” it, I could quite possibly be more referring to “I don’t get what the big deal is” rather than “I don’t get how it works or how to use it”. It’s very simple to use, as I’m sure you have all tried it out already.  Go to Facebook Chat (the new sidebar is highly annoying), click on a Facebook Friend who is online, and you will see in the top window a small video icon, click on that and the rest is gravy!

But back to my point…  Like I was saying I just don’t get the big deal.  Months ago Skype released updates that essentially allowed Facebook Integration… that in itself was a non-event really.  It created confusion+ … and has that kind of “MySpace” ugly, confused look about it and lets not forget the part that every time you click on something a new window opens up!!  Either way, we all got use to it and it’s just… well it’s just Skype now isn’t it?? Like all new things with technology we can’t live without, we just become accustomed to the changes and embrace them… not without the initial whinge and the “FFS, when are the changes going to end” response though

I watched David Fitzpatrick on Bloomberg the other day, giving his take on things and what he sees this doing for our Social Circle, was interesting and definitely got me thinking. You can also check out an awesome article here from David - Facebook Becomes Your Phone Company.  I get what he’s saying and his points are well made (as usual)… but I’m still waiting for that “Big Bang” or “Checkmate” move that is going to make me go… WOW I want, I need it, I’m all over it!!

There are some glaringly obvious points such as the downloading of the Skype software will slowly become redundant… meh… Or that we can start to slowly merge all of our contacts/friends into one platform… cool one less thing to have to use each day.  But I’m actually a TOTAL fan of all Skype’s features… what is to become of these?? How will I record my calls, or make conference calls or set up my call forwarding

On a serious note, I would love to know what your thoughts and feelings are on this new “SkypeBook” merge… Is it a big deal for you?? Do you think you will use it?? How is it going to change the way you do business?? Let me know below and also please share with your peeps on Facebook and Twitter, I always appreciate that!

Cheers

This morning I woke up and as usual went over to post an update on my Natalie Louise page to see how everyone was doing and spend some time engaging with those who stop by to check out what I’ve been doing.  But what I found got me excited… Facebook finally had a Fan Page Upgrade for us.  Being in Australia as always we are behind the 8 ball as Facebook generally updates things like this when we are sleeping!  I for one am loving the changes, however word on the street is, is there are some buggy things going on… but when have we ever expected a perfect roll out of anything with this ginormous company??  I mean it’s the online equivalent of New York City… “The website the never sleeps”!

And that is not to have a go at Facebook, as I do believe they do their best to keep things going. I mean we all know that Zuckerberg is dead against Facebook being down for 30 seconds let alone it being down while they upgrade our pages and make sure everything is running perfect with every single application and profile out there…..  Just not going to happen. So grin and bear it through the bugs because as always Facebook will rectify these and you will be back in love quicker than you can say “Zuckerberg”

Some Major Facebook Fan Page Changes

So at a glance some of the major changes to the pages include:

• New pic strip across the top
• No more tabs – they are down the side
• We now get notifications
• My favourite – you can use Facebook as your Fan Page

You can check out my quick video below to get some more details on what has changed.

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebooks Deadline

So it has been said that Facebook are going to force people to change to the new format in March, so in the meantime that gives you plenty of time to move over.  But to me it’s kinda like the whole bandaid scenario…. Rip it off quick so it won’t hurt… Just go upgrade now and enjoy the new format. The earlier you adopt the quicker you can move on with your business!

I will be updating my Facebook Fan Page Tutorial videos in the next week to bring them into line with these changes. So if you are on my newsletter make sure to keep an eye out for these.

Have a great week guys!

Cheers

Don’t get me wrong I have been working on many things in the background here, mainly on myself, no products but many ideas for how I want to take my brand forward online.  You see, I only started really building my “Brand” online in mid 2010.  As most of you know, I had been working online for many years before that, but under Business Names. So the back half of 2010 was a whirlwind.

So, now after my HUGE hiatus, I am back but I intend on shaking things up around here on Natalie Louise. I’ve always been someone that believed if you are going to bring your “Brand” online, and for the long haul, you absolutely have to come from a place of authenticity. I can’t imagine anything worse than having to keep up this facade of pretending to be someone you’re not.  I was absolutely one of those people last year who was always thinking:

• What will <insert name here> think of this
• What would <insert name here> do if they were me
• What if I piss off <insert name here>
• Would <insert name here> do this
  

I have come to realise that there is no point in wondering what someone else would do in a situation if they were me because “they are never going to be me”!! I know I can already hear so many of you saying…. “yes we’ve known that forever Nat” but like so many things, sometimes you just aren’t ready to hear it but I think in my case I really didn’t see that I was worrying about these things so much until I took my break. I wasted soooo much time sitting here last year worrying what someone else might say or do or think about me and my opinions, worrying about “saving face” to keep a “Brand” in tact.  I tell you at the end of the year the sheer exhaustion of it all was overwhelming.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m very much all about “what you see is what you get” from me, and that’s just how I played it out last year, however I felt myself holding back on so many things that in the end I couldn’t wait to get away from it all.  Sad really because I love blogging and sharing things with those I have connected with.

The way I see it now is that there are literally a gajillion people (well maybe not quite that many ) on the internet, I’m bound to run into people who like me/my Brand for me and appreciate the no BS approach that I’m now going to be taking! If that upsets those people who are continuing to peddle BS tactics to so many people to make themselves a quick buck…. well quite frankly I don’t care!  I’m going to continue to act with honesty, integrity, bluntness, openness… doing what I want to do, when I want to do it and of course share with you those things that are working for me and those that aren’t. Might even throw in a rant and a rave every now and again, but as you know from my previous post on “Disrespecting Your Fellow Entrepreneur” I don’t believe in attacking others to put myself on a pedestal or attacking others to try to make myself appear smarter than the next person…. Gets you nowhere! There is room for tact in every situation!

So with that being said, I am now taking the opportunity with the beginning of 2011 to make the changes I want to make and make the moves I want to. For those of you that don’t know… I’m not in Network Marketing or MLM, so if you’re looking for specific help in NM or MLM you’re on the wrong blog   I will however, delve into many different facets of being a Strategic Entrepreneur by covering Social Media, Blogging, Marketing and Strategy. I will continue to use video as I have in the past to demonstrate things, as I find for me personally, that it’s the quickest and easiest way to get my point across to show you what I’m on about!

So much has happened over the past couple of months, but one thing I know for sure is that I can’t wait to get back into this with you all and make 2011 an absolutely fabulous year.

Cheers

PS –> I feel a huge weight has been lifted after writing this post… how weird

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I haven’t done this myself, and probably won’t use this system, this is just for those of you who are interested in using it! Hope this helped guys, let me know if you have any questions – here or on my Facebook Fan Page! Also let me know how you go with it, did you get different results using this to maybe just suggesting it to your current list of friends??

Cheers

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now like I said in the video, this was something that you had to do for each video you had on YouTube but I did notice this morning that when I did it for one video, all the others seemed to instantly default to that option also, which is a huge timesaver!!

Please remember, that when you do this, it’s not just a matter of unticking and moving on. With your videos that are currently on your blog, if  you want to take the “related videos” off them, you are going to have to embed each one again. If you have a lot, maybe you just want to consider
starting to do it from this point forward

So what did you think, did you already know how to do this? If not, are you going to head over to  your YouTube Channel now and get this done??  Please leave me a comment below and let me know if this was helpful or if you know of any other ways to remove the “related videos” of your YouTube hosted videos.

Cheers

In a recent post, I spoke about “Being A Rebel” and leading your own charge, and not being afraid to do so. This post doesn’t take away from that, the following people are those that I believe would be great for you to connect with, simply because they are awesome people with fabulous blogs and information to share!

• Michaele Harrington – Michaele is without a doubt my “partner in crime” when it comes to all things online! She has the most amazing mind and centered presence, and very much helps me to keep my creative, and at times “manic mind”, under control.  Michaele is very much behind me finding my “Alpha” recently and has gone above and beyond in her support for me and my brand. Michaele’s blog is all about Strategies on Social Media and when she isn’t on there you can catch up with her on her Facebook Page! This girl is smart and so talented, go connect with her now, she shares great insights and strategies in Social Media and can create the most engaging conversation on her wall with any topic
• Ken Pickard – well this Network Dad has to be one of the most driven people I know. Ken is so creative and never running out of ideas! The great thing with Ken is that he not only has fabulous ideas, he acts on them as swiftly as they pop into his head. He’s definitely my “partner in crime” when it comes to Creativity and Action. Ken’s blog is all about community and creating success for yourself, and when he’s not busy on his blog you can catch him on Facebook! Go and connect with him now!
  
• Aziz Abdur-Raoof – My friend Ziz (as he is known by)  is my mind and body guru… This man has an incredible passion for how to create and maintain a healthy mind and body through alternate paths. His passion for Health, Fitness, Sport and Personal Development combined, is incredible. Ziz has been an amazing mentor when it comes to me looking after my body and mind and helping me to grow.  Ziz is just getting started on his blog, but you can also find him on his Facebook Page!
  
• Val Wilcox – I’ll be honest, I don’t keep up to date with many Personal Development blogs anymore for a variety of reasons, but Val’s is one that I frequent.  I love the way that Val writes from the heart and that she is so passionate about Personal Development.  Val is one strong woman, super driven and doesn’t waiver on her morals or ethics, she has this way of telling it like it is (In Her Honest Opinion) but doing so with a great amount of respect and tact. Val’s blog is full of great info on Personal Development, and when she isn’t there you can catch her on her Facebook Page!
  
• Steve Scott – Steve is going to be the last person to expect to see his name here!  Steve and I don’t connect on Skype or any of the other Social Networks, but I have a massive amount of respect for this guy just from connecting on each others blogs. He has been traveling for the past 7 months and has just arrived home, during this time he has managed to blog several times a week continuing to teach us great things about the balance between having a life and online business. Steve has an amazing amount of knowledge when it comes to working for yourself online as this is all he knows, he has never been tied to a job. Check out Steve’s blog here, where he teaches a great balance between owning your life and running online businesses.  And as for Facebook… who knows, we aren’t connected on there
  
• Sye Wells – This woman is amazing! So smart, creative and giving. Sye is the only person I have connected with on Twitter and created a relationship with.  She literally came from left field.  We very quickly became syndicating partners with our blogs and never looked back.  Sye has taught me how important it is to keep relationship harmony and balance between being a Mum, Wife and running online businesses.  Sye’s blog is all about Personal Growth and Mastering Online Marketing. Sye is a master Networker, and is very successful in her Network Marketing business. When Sye isn’t on her blog, you can connect with her on her Facebook Page!

These names you might not recognise and they might not be “celebrity” bloggers (just yet), but like I said earlier this is about those people who I have deep respect for and are very much in my circle of influence.  On a more personal level, some have been a phenomenal support and are always cheering me on from the sidelines!

There are so many other people who I’m connected with and I know share great info or who I see creating great things, but I’m going to save those people and their blogs for my next post, so keep an eye out

Make sure to go and connect with these guys in this post, either via their blogs or Facebook!

cheers

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A Rebel Is Born

As far back as I can remember, I have always been the person to do everything different from everyone else. Yes this drove my parents crazy and got me into trouble at school for not just doing what I was told to do, even if I could see a better way or another way that made more sense. I’m sure many of you reading this can relate to what I’m saying. When someone tells me

“we do this because that’s they way it’s always been done”

well you can imagine what that does to me. I immediately go into

“well too bad” mode

and start doing things the way I want them done. Maybe that’s why I have never been able to stand working for someone else!

A Blog Is Born

I remember when I first got started with my blog I was heading in this direction of blogging for Mumpreneurs raising a family and working at home in their online businesses.  Well I think I was about 4 blog posts in and I realised – I didn’t even want to read what I was on about! I had no interest what so ever in what I was putting out there so why would anybody else have any interest in what I was writing about. I realised what I was doing was wrong, I was trying to find any old market to tap into that I thought would be huge, rather than one I had a passion or interest in. So within two weeks of starting by first blog ever I made my first major change in direction.

It didn’t stop there, a week after that I realised that my theme was one that everyone was using and I couldn’t have that, so I changed it. Then I changed my direction again and honed in on the tutorials that you have seen to date here on Natalie Louise. I did all this in a matter of my first 4 weeks, it was a busy 4 weeks but I loved every bit of it.

You see, I have never been one to follow rules, the crowd or to do something just because “someone else” was doing it. I do take inspiration from people, I do watch what a lot of people out there are doing but I never copy. You will never find me sitting here waiting to hear back from someone on what my next move is or what I should be doing next. I don’t wait for validation from anyone and I certainly don’t sit here waiting for the next wave of “guruism” to take over and start following on that band wagon either.

Points Of Influence v Points Of Difference

When I first started out, I would have to say my main person of influence was Katie Freiling, having never done a blog before she seemed to know what she was talking about so it felt safe to follow her. I was into my first 2 months of blogging and realised I didn’t have time to sit around and wait for the next webinar or blog post or bit of information from Katie to tell me what I had to do next. I just had to keep moving in the direction that I wanted to go in. So off I went, feeling my way, putting things out there and leading my own charge.  All I kept thinking was

“if I sit here waiting for someone to tell me what to do, then I’m only going to move as fast as THEY allow me to”

Once you get into that mindset of being a follower and waiting around for others to tell you what to do, you are allowing them to set your pace for how quickly you can move forward.

I think my main point of difference to others is making it a point to be the main point of difference.  I do things very differently to a lot of people, but from what I can see it’s working for me.

• My Alexa has dropped like crazy – from 4.6M to currently 188K in 4 months
• My Google Analytics stats are fabulous and my bounce rate is in the 40′s which I am really happy about at this stage
  
• My Fans or Likes on Facebook book are at 756 after just under 3 months
• My list is sitting at 1216 subscribers after 3 months
• I have made $400 USD in the past month from my list – just from “growing” my list

Now I know you’re probably thinking – is that all… but like I said this was just from “growing” my list, I haven’t created any of my own products and I’m not even in a Network Marketing or MLM business. This was simply activity from growing my list, which I have only been doing since the end of September! Did you know that there are other ways to grow your list than just on your blog?

I decided to share these few dot points with you simply to show you that being a rebel and going against the grain and not sitting their at your desk everyday waiting for someone, anyone, to give you your own creative license is going to pay off. Did I feel the need to do a screen capture of all my stats, no, simply because this is not about my stats. This is about you choosing to continue to sit their and wait for someone to tell you what to do or deciding to stand alone and bust it out yourself!

More Change Is Brewing

I’m going to go as far as to say that I’m even going to be removing my Optin off my blog sidebar and see if that makes a difference to my optins. Currently around 90% of my optins from my blog campaign come from my Facebook Fan Page Landing Tab. On my blog I have a pop up to capture details as well as the sidebar optin.  However, my bounce rate is ok but not the best… so if my bounce is average or high (about 50% and higher from what I understand) people aren’t spending enough time on my blog looking around other than the page they land on. So I need to capture them quicker than just an optin down the side. There are going to be those of you who disagree but like I said before, if I sat here waiting to hear what other people thought I would never find out for myself if its going to work for ME or not!! This might not work, but I’m not going to know until I give it a try right

I’m not here for you to copy me, that is not what I’m trying to achieve.  What I hope to achieve is to let you know that it’s ok to try new things regardless of what the masses are doing. Sometimes riding that wave of

“you must do it because everyone else is doing it”

causes mass saturation and can be a huge set back and detrimental to your own growth and will lead to stagnation in your own business!

Has this opened up your eyes at all? Are you a follower or a rebel go getter that does things to suit themselves? I would love to hear your stories on what you’re up to, where you have come from, what you’re doing that’s different to everyone else, what have been your proven success and failures? Please leave me a comment below and share with us your stories!

And of course if you found this valuable please go now and re-tweet and share on Facebook, I really appreciate you helping me to stand out from the crowd

Keep an eye out of the rest of my series coming this week where I will share intimate details on my strategies and what has given me such great leverage in a short amount of time!

Cheers

I have always maintained to you that I’m not an SEO guru, I know enough, I know what I need to do to get my site ranked and I also know that SEO can be really overwhelming, expensive and time consuming especially if you don’t know what to do. Or maybe you do know the basics but don’t know how to implement SEO effectively into your blog.

My Favourite Easy To Use SEO Plugin

I meet a lot of people who are choosing to DIY for nearly everything on your blog, whether it be because of finances or the fact you want to learn as you go along. Now SEO can be tricky but this plugin is amazing. I’m of course talking about the SEOPressor Plugin. Now unfortunately this is not a free plugin, however it’s worth it’s weight in GOLD to me, well maybe not it’s weight… but you know what I mean !

In this video about the SEOPressor, I’m going to take you into my own back office to show you what it looks like, how easy it is to use and of course how easy it is to understand and implement the changes you need to make to your posts and pages for top notch optimisation! Check out the video, you will find out all about this awesome plugin and how it’s at-a-glance easy to optimise each post perfectly!

Enjoy!

Click here to view the embedded video.

My Final Word On SEO with SEOPressor!

When it comes to SEO, I don’t think it could get any simpler than this, do you? You can see just how easy it is to determine what you need to SEO each individual post and page for your blog! I love that at-a-glance I know what I need to do and I treat it as a challenge to get the highest score I can for each post. I hope you thought that this plugin looked amazing, here is the link where you can grab it:

SEOPressor Plugin <— Affiliate Link!

So what do you think? Are you using SEOPressor or another SEO plugin that’s similar? Would love to hear your experiences and thoughts on what you’re using. If you’re not using this yet, are you going to go and grab it for your blog so you can really pimp out your posts and pages for the Search Engines? Leave me a comment below and share with us your thoughts!

I hope you found this video useful guys, if you did please go now and Re-Tweet and Share on Facebook with all your friends, I know there are so many people there who are looking SEO their sites as easy as they can!

Cheers