Author: Christine

Want to know what makes successful internet entrepreneurs…well, successful?  Without paraphrasing or stealing other writers thunder I’ve come to realize a few things.

Successful people (SP’s) know what they want to accomplish.  Not a new concept, Dr. Stephen Covey talked about this idea in “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”  Yet most people don’t know how to accomplish a mission.  For example, they might say “I want to earn a million dollars!”   Really how is that going to happen…wishing, magic, lottery, or the money tree in your back yard?

SP’s know today we are interconnected.  SP’s know they must protect their time, but also participate as a “value add” person within the society at large.  SP’s don’t waste time and energy on the latest business fad.  Smart entrepreneurs are not people who follow the crowd.  They are also experts at delegating tasks.

Last, SP’s are really good at saying NO to activities that won’t add value to their life.

Which got me thinking about my life.  I realized I wasn’t acting like a SP.

My past motto – “live by the seat of my pants type of gal” (thank you Pretty Woman).   I love that creative crazy energy, but frankly it was so exhausting.  I was drawn to “start-up” companies.

Then I picked customers who rarely had a goal, game plan, and cash flow was always in flux.  Plus, the owners were usually terrible at delegating and sharing information.  It was a recipe for disaster, and I suffered some miserable failures.

So my new year’s resolutions was FOCUS.   Each and every day I know what I want to accomplish.  My other goal is protect my time and energy.

Last I realized that hoping is not a mission statement, and doing to the same as everyone else is not a strategy.

Successful people developed an approach which serves as a road map for everyone to follow.  They have a major network of people, and they stay in touch with them.  Successful people prepare thoroughly, and focus attention on profitable business activities.

Last thought for today…What do you want to accomplish and is your plan in place?

As always please add a comment, friend my fan page on Facebook (the box is on my page), follow me on twitter, but lets become SP’s together.

Christine & Bailey

The web has been the place to be seen lately. Take the case of Ted Williams a/k/a “the man with the golden voice”, or the story about the 13th sign of the zodiac. This week the web was all a twitter about the demise of Facebook. Even my mother, a dedicated technophobe, asked about it. Mark Twain once said – “the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Hmmm, was Mark the original social marketer?

All these stories this week are examples of social marketing in hyper drive. I find it funny how something can catch fire, and go viral on the web, even if the information is unsubstantiated. How can a business owner take two of this week’s social marketing skills to use them in a marketing plan?

#1 – Use social media to share your message. Ted Williams is example of using video marketing. The amateur video was taken from a smart phone and posted on YouTube. The man who had the idea was a reporter, so he knows something about the power of the visual media. Most business owners don’t realize how easy it is to use video, audio and content marketing. The SM lesson – put together a relevant video that shows you & your business, link it back to your site. YouTube is a great place to share your video message.

#2 – Encourage followers to become your sales & marketing team – The rumors of the Facebook demise was a hoax, yet it went into the stratosphere quickly via reposts, tweets and email. People wanted to be the first to share the news. A smaller example of viral internet marketing is posting something a customer might want to share about your business. The SM take away – Use the web to post coupons on social media sites, share special promotions to your email list, or tweets with “insider” deals (like airlines).

This week’s most important point about social marketing…stay in front of your customer as often as you can. A business of any size will benefit from adding a social marketing to their existing website. I promise I’m still going to write a post about using a Social Marketing Virtual Assistant – just thought these two examples were more timely and relevant today.

As always sharing is caring, so share my post with friends.

Christine
Your Social Marketing Queen

Howdee everyone my name is Bailey

Well my full name is Chestnutland Pearl Bailey, and I have a kitty friend named Putnam.  We watch Mom work on the computer all day.

I look so cute and innocent, but I’m keeping my ears open.

Love Beagle Bailey ☺

P.S. – Here’s a picture of my friend Putnam

This weekend between watching football games, and shoveling snow, I updated my website(s).  Something occurred to me “hey updating websites feels like being on a diet.”  Diets feel tedious, and even monotonous, but it is also necessary for a healthy body.  My past NYR went the same way every year.  I start off strong, and have great results, but something happens.  After seeing some results I take my eye off the target. Then I step on the scale and nothing, or worse, weight gain.  YUCK!

The reason I saw this NYR analogy.  About a year ago I launched my first website.  I was a house on fire and I promoted the crap out of it.  I drove traffic to the website – my traffic rank was awesome.  Then I started to work on some other projects.  I wasn’t promoting and watching the website like I did in the beginning.  You can guess what happened – my traffic went away, and my hard work was gone.

Often people pay a website designer to put together a website, or do it themselves.  It’s expensive and time consuming, and they figure “glad that’s finally done…I’ll just check that off my to-do list.”  So it occurred to me…What happened to me with my past NYR could explain why a business owner doesn’t have a strong SEO or social marketing plan.   No time, no money, and a million other excuses.  Unfortunately a website will die of boredom and lack of visitors.

So let’s fix the problem with four “C” plan.

Content – face it, people like to be in the know.  You can add different types of content – video, audio, written, and social.  There are so many ways to keep your website interesting. You can add a little or a lot but you must remain…

Consistent – New content on a daily basis is ideal.  Weekly is a minimum requirement.  When a business owner doesn’t have time to add the content, hiring a social marketing assistant is a good alternative.

Comment – Give your audience a voice.  People love to voice an opinion, and the internet is a perfect place.  Frankly the internet is the best market research think tank available.  Use it to your advantage.

Competitive Intelligence –  This is an idea.  You can watch your competition in real time.  Using social marketing to watch your competition allows you time to mix and match your marketing strategy.

So I’ve changed my resolution this year.  I’ve decided to be consistent in achieving my small daily goals.  What is your internet marketing resolution?

I say raise a glass to 2011 social marketing.  Consider social marketing your “New Year’s Resolution.”  Visit me online at (http://www.ladyinredmarketing.com) and subscribe to my email list.  Join my Facebook fan page (Lady In Red Marketing), and get social today.  Keep this moving forward – retweet – give me feedback – but get off the sidelines and get social!

Paint the Town Red with Lady In Red Marketing!

Christine

I’m changing the formula for writing on the web –  forget AIDA I want you to think of MILK.

When you are creating your social marketing plan you need to stop, look and listen to your prospects/customers.  Think about who will be reading your blog.  What information and message do you want your writing to impress on the web public.

Here’s a big change for social marketing writers – if you have a background in direct marketing, scrap it.   Most copy writers know that AIDA formula – I propose for social marketing you need to think of the MILK formula.

M- stands for medium – Are you sharing your message through blog posts, video message, podcasts, opt-in newsletters, Facebook events?  Where does your customer live, work or look on line.

I – stands for iPhone – Think of the future.  So many people are accessing information via mobile technology make sure that you’re visible to the mobile public as well as your traditional blog readers.

L – stands for Length – Keep your message short and to the point.  Don’t write War and Peace emails/blogs.

K – stands for Keep it going – Encourage your readers to share your information. Make sure you have ways for people to share your message through every type of social media.

Next blog I’ll cover why a social media assistant is a key component to your marketing team.

Social marketing is a dog-eat-dog world…