Facebook has been in the news a lot lately. They were slammed about the, “privacy settings” well that is all done now and they have given us back our control on our privacy. I have to say that Facebook on a whole listens to its public, they make mistakes or leaps that are not progress to us but in the long run they go back and modify it so everyone is happy once again, or at least the majority.

Facebook has developed a “script” you can add to your website that will show a “LIKE” button adding this button to your website allows your readers to click on it, activates a count on that page along with notifies the “readers” facebok page/profile” that they liked this page! How great is that! Advertising you cannot pay for!!! The secret is writing posts that give value or a website that is useful to the visitor!! You can do it! You can find the instructions for adding this button to your website at http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like OR if you are like me and LOVE wordpress you can log into your plug in area and search for the plug in called WP FB Like – you can simply install it there! (be sure to check the settings when you install it)

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I am HUGE on calendaring things! I currently use Google Calendar. It is Free. It has collaboration qualities. It will sync with Outlook (if I needed it to). It will sync with Blackberry and an iPhone well there’s an app for that! The Google Calendar allows me to create several different calendars on one account – I can share just one of the several or I can share all of them with an assistant or business partner or my husband. The calendars are color coded – one color is Clients, once color is Personal, one color is Meetings and so on (I have 6 total) this allows me at a glance to see where my time is spent in addition to see all of my commitments and make sure there is no overlapping! WONDERFUL! There is a task list you can have right on the side, you can have multiple time zones accounted for in your view and even a world clock! The calendar is VERY easy to use and I mean EASY! It will even email you a daily agenda every morning if you would like! I love FREE tools and especially ones that work! If you have any questions on how to set a calendar up, what is the best way to organize them or even more about how to use them – feel free to contact us using the “contact” page.

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There are a lot of blogs out there and just as many “whys” for people putting them up. Most brick and mortar business owners here in Santa Clarita think, “why do I need a blog?” “No one wants to know what I am doing everyday” (same oppositions to Twitter when I introduced Twitter in my articles but hey now look at the amount of BIG businesses now on Twitter, not because of me but they see the usefulness!) Blogging for a business owner is not about what you ate for lunch or what you are personally doing (even though this does have a place in your blog). It is about VISIBILITY and we all want and need that! In your company blog you want to begin to create a voice of authority. You have categories in your blog – one should be tips or tools, one should be status or relationship centered, one could be personal, one could be events and so on! Blogs are very helpful to get information out there and gives you another outlet! Some examples – a realtor can create a blog that contains trends in the neighborhood, community events, and pictures and listings (yes those can be blog posts). A dentist can blog about tips to strengthen teeth and better health, about information coming from the “dental professional’s community”, and myths/truth’s to teeth cleaning. A Plumber can blog a weekly tip for fixing “small fixes” around your house, about water saving tips and tools, and about their involvement in the community. A company offering products can blog about the facts of using their products – not based on their self promotion but about facts they find around the world, blog about new techniques used to create what their product is, about their “customer of the month” and do some cross promotions, and of course tips and tools for their industry! Your goal is to start a way for people to look to you and your blog for answers! I hope you are starting to see some important reasons why and how to start a blog.

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Having a successful business is what we are all looking for, right? We each may have our own definition to “successful” but success is what we strive for! In working towards success we do a lot of things… network, advertise, get out in the community and volunteer, do “pro bono” work and so on. Each of these items brings attention to your business but each has a life span to it, would you agree? Each of those items are built around getting your business noticed, create longer term visibility, friendships and increase your business traffic but don’t you feel that a lot of the efforts, not to blame anyone are short lived, advertisements are read and thrown away, networking is a chat for that hour or two once a week, volunteering is one event after another – DON’T GET ME WRONG THEY ARE ALL VITAL AND NEEDED AND EVEN ENJOYABLE, DON’T STOP DOING THEM! But by starting a “web-blog” a “blog” site you give a longer life to your activities. Share an event, a meeting, a new relationship, a conversation and facts in your blog. Build leverage using this blog site and spot-light things you don’t want people to forget or things you want them to share! Start out by planning your blog in your head and on paper – do you want a specific “theme” or look to your blog – visit some blog sites and see the differences – start getting used to them!!!

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In March of two years ago I did an article on “Why Blog??” I wanted to take a bit to revisit this idea.. blogging is getting more and more attention! We have all heard of Twitter, right? And if you have not – call me you MUST know what it is!! Twitter is a micro-blog and it is taking over! Static websites are becoming less and less featured by Google and other search engines because they are just that “Static” no movement, no growth, no sharing of new content! Of course you can pay for placement on Google and the others, but have you earned it? Are you sharing information?? Blog sites can be combined with the information from your static site it will just have a “blog” page that will be updated with information hopefully every week. I have a client, Casey Eberhart, that coaches people on “The Art of Networking” to build your reputation, your presence and your business (www.theidealnetworker.com) – his key point is, at a networking event is to find the “Yapper” (the person talking a lot, visiting a lot and making a point to be out there) well think of your blog site as the “Yapper” of the internet.. how is yours doing? In the next few weeks I am going to go over key reasons why to blog and some ideas of what you can blog about… I look forward to sharing this information with you and hope to create a lot of “Santa Clarita Bloggers” out there to build their businesses!

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Most people use electronic mailers to keep their clients/prospects updated throughout the year. Some are sent weekly, monthly or even quarterly. Popular programs are Constant Contact (very user friendly), their shopping cart program (helps keep their list together in one place), aWeber (offers the ability to have a structured autoresponder created) – if you have any questions about these feel free to call me. BUT what I want to talk to you about is Old Fashion Letters and Cards.. do you do that too or not at all?

• Old Fashion Mailings still work!: Now that I have said that – let me clarify, I am not speaking of the old fashion advertising mailers that just promote your business but the old fashion connecting mailings – letters and cards! There is a service that I have found to be a viable tool in my (and several client’s businesses too), SendOutCards. It allows you to pick from over 15,000 cards or create your own with your own logo or pictures! Reach out and touch your clients/prospects just because – touch them and ask about them do not advertise! Rebuild or Continue that relationship. We are all overwhelmed by emails and they are not personal! We are all guaranteed bills in the mail – why not send someone a smile in the mail and give them a card to brighten their day!! It makes a HUGE difference. Check it out and send 4 cards on me for free! Promise no hassles just an introduction to a great tool!! – click on the banner SEND FREE BRANDING/MARKETING messages and set up your free account!

Personal touches are so important – we need to get back into the habit of reminding people (friends, family, business connections) how important they are. We need to get back to “Relationships” with our clients and prospects! I hope you have gotten some nuggets out of this series!

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Now that you are getting all of your branding and materials together with BIG in mind, start working on image – remember when you were going to review your website? Do you have testimonials on it? These can be done in written form (add a pic), audio form (add a pic) as well as video form! Testimonials or Endorsements are the BEST way to gain credibility! People do business with people they can trust – by having recommendations and endorsements from your community members makes you one someone can trust!

• Don’t be shy, just ask!: I am sure you know of people that have or are using your product or services. Are they happy with what they get? I am sure they are if they are coming back for more. Ask a few of them for testimonials, be sure to show them some samples of other ones so that they know what you are looking for.. change it up and do one in writing, do one on a conference call line so you can download the mp3, and meet someone for a coffee and take your “flip” camera and record one – it will be fun and you will also get to see the fruits of your efforts!

Branding Branding Branding – just remember if people are doing testimonials for you, take a moment and create a testimonial for them as well!

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