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Be Social Be Rich

Guest interview today – enjoy!

Martha Giffen speaks out on social media marketing and her book, “Be Social Be Rich”.

What is your personal definition of “social media marketing”?

My definition of social media marketing is reaching out to others and expanding my sphere of influence.

How do you leverage social media to build your business?

Well, the wonderful thing about social media platforms is they give you so many different ways to get your message out. The internet is truly a “web” and the more places you interact with people, socially, the more intertwined in the web you become. Others begin to see your work, like it, and refer their friends and clients to you.

Congratulations on your book! What prompted you to become a published author?

You know, “Be Social Be Rich” isn’t my first book! Ok, it’s my first solo book, but I got the bug when I was a contributing author to two other books, the latest being “Money From Anywhere” with Pat O’Bryan and a host of other influential marketers.

What were your greatest challenges in getting your book into the marketplace?

My challenges are always personal. My personality is such that I usually create my own obstacles and this was no different. Writing the book was the easy part. Putting myself “out there” was a little more challenging. You know, when you do something new for the first time, that self-doubt can sometimes seem like a mountain!

In fact, I have a chapter about it in “Be Social Be Rich”. I thought it was that important! It’s entitled “Taking Risks” and I am honest about how it shows up in my own life and what I do about it. I think many readers will relate.

What are you hoping will be your readers’ biggest takeaways from reading “Be Social Be Rich”?

I’m hoping that they will increase profits to their business, of course, but I also hope they will begin to enjoy their own network and find that it’s fun connecting with others. There’s a “richness” that comes into your life with your social sphere. I would hope they would find the truth in that. Of course, increasing the bottom line is a great perk!

In what ways do you plan to use your book as a marketing tool?

Books always give the author more credibility. At least, if you write an informational book, which this is. I will use it to increase my own business (imagine that!) and use the enhanced visibility to expand my social networking, teaching programs, and speaking gigs.

What’s next for Martha Giffen? What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

My passion is helping others. I enjoy encouraging and motivating people to be successful entrepreneurs. You can look forward to seeing more top-notch programs and books to help and inspire new biz owners on their way to a lucrative business.

Martha Giffen is the author of “Be Social Be Rich”. She has built a successful online biz using social networking as her focus. A popular blogger, Martha dishes out plenty of southern charm as she helps entrepreneurs build their own lucrative businesses using her proven formula. You can find her at MarthaGiffen.com

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Business, Facebook, Internet marketing, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter

Two Ears and One Mouth – Do the Math

By Melanie Kissell 41 Comments

Have you noticed how much talking everyone is doing on the internet?

Some people refer to it as noise.

People are Tweeting up a storm on Twitter.
Blog posts and articles are being published by the thousands.
Facebook status updates are rolling in like there’s no tomorrow.
Teleseminars and webinars abound.
Group discussions on LinkedIn are too numerous to count.
Internet tv and radio channels are sprouting up faster than weeds.
New freebie offers keep appearing as if magic.
Podcasts and videos are being produced at lightning speed.

To coin a phrase from my friend, Martha Giffen, “It’s all good!”

It’s not only good, but all the talking people are doing is essential to success as an online marketer.

BUT …

With all the “talking” going on …

Who’s doing the “listening”?

Do the math — Maybe there’s a reason we have TWO ears and ONE mouth.

Listening is a critical communication skill. If you want people to listen to what you have to say and your intention is to build a lasting relationship with your target audience, you’ve got to stop some of the talking and learn to be a better listener.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who won’t let you get a word in edgewise? You can’t shoehorn in a word if you tried?

That person was doing zero listening.

So don’t just jump from one online activity to the next, to the next, to the next in an effort to gain the attention of your target market.

Instead, become a better listener by tuning in to the needs of your prospects, customers, and clients.

Listen to the questions they’re asking.
Listen to the problems they’re facing.
Listen for emotional triggers and clues to their frustrations.
Listen to the comments they post on your blog.
Listen to discussions they’re having on forums and in groups.

How well you listen has a major impact on your effectiveness as a small business owner, your ability to influence and persuade, and on the quality of your relationships with others.

So listen up!

Have you mastered the skill of listening?
How do you listen to your target audience?

Filed Under: Blogging, Building relationships online, Customer Care, Entrepreneurs, Online Marketing, Small business owners Tagged With: Facebook, Internet Radio, LinkedIn, Listening skills, Online marketing, Small business, Target market, Teleseminars, Twitter, Webinars

Limit Email To 140 Characters

By Melanie Kissell 33 Comments

Wouldn’t THAT be a novel idea?!

Think about the time you or your virtual assistant could save tackling the big mound of mail in your inbox every day.

Heck, the amount of time spent on rifling through email could easily be cut in half if the messages you received were limited to 140 characters.

Consider the benefit to your productivity!

Reading your email could actually turn into an enjoyable task that’s quick and easy. Who knows? You might even start looking forward to checking your mail.

Are you grinning just thinking about the notion?

I am.

Those of us already using Twitter have become very adept at 140-character communications, right? We’ve mastered all the Twitter shorthand skills and we can sometimes convey our thoughts in LESS than the maximum number of characters allowed!

Creating Tweets is really no formidable challenge at all.

So why not transfer that talent over to crafting email autoresponders?

Your list would love you!

I know what you’re thinking. You like to tell your subscribers a little lead-in story or send them a list of benefits about a product or program you’re promoting. Maybe you like to include audios or inspirational quotes with your autoresponders. Or the majority of your autoresponders are set up as e-courses.

I get it.

But wouldn’t it be interesting to do, let’s say, a 30-day experiment and send your list 140-character messages to see how they’re received?

There’s always the possibility your subscribers would respond by saying, “Give me those longer messages back! I want to spend more time reading email!”

But, then again, you may give them cause for celebration.

How much time do you spend every day checking and responding to email?
Is your inbox stuffed on a daily basis or does it resemble Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard?
Would you be willing to craft 140-character autoresponders as an experiment?

Filed Under: Email Marketing, Email Marketing Campaign, Productivity Tagged With: Autoresponders, email, Email Marketing, Email messages, Productivity, Twitter

“Tug of War” For Entrepreneurs

By Melanie Kissell 30 Comments

Website or Web Presence.

Which one is tugging harder?

You can have a website that resembles designer fashionwear — with all the latest trendy tools and trimmings.

Peachy.

I mean, after all, who doesn’t want to LOOK good, right? And not only is form important, so is function. You’ve got to have a website that’s working for you — easy to navigate, captivating content, and one that won’t have people clicking away in seconds.

Your work is cut out for you.

It’s not an onvernight accomplishment to design a website that educates, enriches, entertains, and engages your target audience.

Website is pulling pretty hard on that rope!

But what about web presence?

I’m sure you know this by now. To have success on the internet, you’ve got to be seen everywhere. You can’t hang around on your website all day and expect to create a presence online. Ain’t gonna happen.

But being seen everywhere takes mounds of time.

Joining conversations on Twitter, answering questions on Quora and LinkedIn, participating in forum discussions, submitting articles to article directories, interacting on Facebook, recording audios, doing interviews, hosting teleseminars, publishing blog posts — WHEW! And this is only a partial list.

Looks like web presence is pulling pretty hard on that rope, too!

So which one is going to win the entrepreneurial game of “Tug of War”?

Website?

Or Web Presence?

You tell me.

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Internet Marketing Tools, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Facebook, LinkedIn, Online Communities, Online Visibility, Quora, Social Networking, Tug of war, Twitter, website design

Emotions And Business Make For Lousy Tango Partners

By Melanie Kissell 41 Comments

Some of my loyal readership is not going to take this information lying down.

Might make a few people pretty miffed.

I can see the feathers ruffling already.

However, I don’t envision any picket signs, flying daggers, or bad press on Twitter, just some ruffling feathers.

But I’m going to trust my readers know me well enough by now to graciously and respectfully grant me my own opinion, even if they don’t share it.

Okay, here goes …

How many times since you bravely crossed over that line to become an entrepreneur have you heard, “Dream BIG!”? “Ya gotta dream BIG!”

I’m the last person on earth who’d set out to squash anyone’s hopes, but …

Dreaming (or daydreaming) about great entrepreneurial success is not productive.

Becoming emotionally vested and all wrapped up in the thoughts of making a gazillion dollars, traveling around the world in your yacht, and having a garage full of luxury vehicles … uh, not productive.

Sorry if that statement comes across as harsh. But spending time with your head in the clouds dreaming about having a successful business is not going to get you any closer to having one.

Taking time to throw some wishful thinking out into the universe is not productive (or lucrative).

If you want to be a successful business owner, you’ve got to leave your emotions out of it and simply do the work of building your business.

Emotions and business are a bad mix.

Any thoughts?

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: Business, Dream, Entrepreneur, Feather, Psychology, Ruffle, Tango, Twitter

20 Best Blogging Tips – Compliments of Members of the Tweet Like Comment Club

By Melanie Kissell 27 Comments

Enjoy these blogging tips from 20 members of the “T.L.C. Club”, jot down the ones that resonate with you, and get out into the blogosphere and rock your blog!

Sweepy Jean: I try to limit the post length to about 500 words. We all have good intentions, but with so many blogs competing for attention, the shorter ones are going to be read fully, the others maybe will be skimmed over. I don’t go crazy over it, and occasionally the subject matter requires more space. But when I hit the 500 word mark, I know it’s time to wrap it up or if possible, edit it down.

Maureen Hunter: Although a relatively new blogger I would have to say from my own experiences, blog about what fires your Mojo. Write about what you know of, inspires you, or feel would be of most benefit to others. Don’t be afraid to show something of yourself that others can relate to.

Hajra Khatoon: One thing that I keep in mind is that I keep my posts within a word limit. When I hunt blogs, I find that I lose interest when the post is way too long. So I decided to keep mine at a length that is able to capture and hold the readers interest and attention.

Veronica Campos-Hallstrom: Although I have a running list of ideas, in the middle of the night something may come to mind that is worth writing down. So, get your fresh idea on paper or print before it slips away, even if you sacrifice your sleep – you can always take a power nap the next day!

Dani Nir-McGrath: I always get inspired at off times when I can’t actually write a blog…kids are in the tub, driving, or putting the kids to sleep. So, when my brain is creative, I want to capture the thought so I don’t lose it. I just jot down the theme and maybe a sentence or two (or maybe a heading) that I’m thinking. If I can’t write, I call and dictate the thoughts on my home voicemail from my cell while I’m driving or send a text on my phone with the thoughts from tub-side. Then when I’m sitting down to blog, I have a concept, a few sentences, and even a heading to build from!

Melissa Austin: Write about whatever “lights your fire”. Find a niche and go with it. By writing on a certain niche, be it business, a mommy blog, or fitness – makes it so your blog is easier to find. Readers will be more attracted a blog that has a niche and stays on topic. Also, don’t forget spell check. It seems so simple, but it is often forgotten. You want people to come back to your blog, not avoid it.

Leanne Chesser: My best blogging tip is to have a theme or topic or niche for your blog and write within that area. Write what you’re passionate about. Also, respond to all comments. This creates a culture or an atmosphere on your blog of “interaction” and “relationship”. And design your blog so that it’s easy to read and navigate.

Janette Fuller: My best blogging tip is to “know your audience”. Who are you trying to reach? Who are you trying to appeal to? What are their interests? What do they do for fun? To be able to able to effectively communicate, you have to have some idea of “who” is reading your material so you can package it in the best possible ways.

Leona Martin: This is from the 31 Days to A Better Blog: Day 1: Develop an Elevator Pitch for your Blog. Why? ”YOU as a blogger need to have thought through and crystallized in your mind what your blog is about.” I like this idea because I have an elevator pitch for my business when I attend networking events so why not my blog, too?! Put your Elevator Pitch on your business card, email signature, and on all your social media profiles!

Amberly Mauszycki: Just simply “be yourself” when writing. If you are writing and your true personality comes out in your blog posts, people will relate more with you on a personal level and want to read your articles more than a post that sounds too stiff and un-natural. Blogging should really be about branding yourself, and if your true personality isn’t coming through in your posts, people aren’t getting to know YOU. I also suggest doing vlogs (video blogs) to develop more of a connection with your readers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Business Card, Email Marketing, Following Your Passion, Niche marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Blog, Elevator pitch, email signature, Facebook, Mojo, problogger.net, Twitter, WordPress

Social Media: Express More Vulnerability

By Melanie Kissell 21 Comments

As entrepreneurs, we are taught to create personal brands that, proudly and prominently, place our strengths in the spotlight.

And we are also taught to carefully and cleverly mask our weaknesses.

This flies in the face of traditional business school wisdom. Having said that, are you suddenly getting that inflexible, conservative “stuffed shirt” feeling?

Heaven forbid our target audience should find out we goof up sometimes and don’t know everything about everything.

Mistakes.

Errors.

Typos.

Faux Pas (a social blunder or indiscretion)

Boo-Boos.

Raise your hand if you’ve never made any of these.

Imagine that. I don’t see one hand going up.

Here’s a BIG newsflash!

Trust requires vulnerability. If you value trust in your social media network and you want your target market to trust YOU …

You’ve got to remove your mask and start talking about the really tough issues you’re wrestling with and let your human, far-from-perfect self show through.

My personal favorite social media marketing tip:

Express more vulnerability.

Filed Under: Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Business, Facebook, Faux Pas, Marketing and Advertising, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, Vulnerability

My Twitter Motto: “There’s More to Life than Life Insurance”

By Melanie Kissell 10 Comments

You never want to be thought of as “THAT guy” or “THAT gal” on Twitter or any of the social media marketing venues.

You know, the person everyone finds distasteful and avoids like the plague!

Have you ever followed someone on Twitter who only talks about themselves or their business and products?

They’re either touting how wonderful their company is or how outrageously fabulous they are. Yuck.

Very UN-attractive social media behavior.

Using Twitter for business really is easy, you just need to know “how” to go about it.

3 Steps to Avoid Becoming “THAT guy” on Twitter:

1.) Listen

2.) Respond

3.) Engage

Define Your Twitter Strategy – “Why” are you there?

Supporting a cause
Lead generation
Customer Support
Education
Product and Service Awareness
Mix of all of the above

Get Your Twitter Mix On

As an example:

10% – About yourself, your company, and your products or services

50% – Useful information for your target audience

20% – Joining interesting and fun conversations

5% – Posing thoughtful questions (which stimulate response and interaction)

5% – Tips which can make your followers lives better and easier

10% – Follow-ups and notes of appreciation for your peeps

Your Twitter-for-Business Plan

At the very least decide:

When (what days) and what time/s you’ll use Twitter and …

For how long – 15 minutes every morning? 1 hour every evening?

**If you’re an online marketer and small business owner who’s using Twitter successfully for business, what tips or suggestions can you add here?

Please leave your comments and help others who may not be having much success or finding much value in using Twitter.

Thanks!

An Irritating Neighbor – You – Your Business – And Twitter (melaniekissell.com)
8 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Get More Out of Twitter (mashable.com)

Filed Under: Brand yourself online, Building relationships online, Business Plan, Micro blogging, Small business owners, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking Tagged With: Business, Online Communities, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Twitter

I Don’t Care if Your Only Talent is Loading up the Perfect Pencil Holder with Pencils

By Melanie Kissell 37 Comments

The title of this post is a quote from my friend, Lisbeth Tanz, of Your Words Your Voice. She’s a one-of-a-kind amazing lady. Check her out and be sure to follow Lis on Twitter.

Have you ever heard entrepreneurs saying things like the following?

“I don’t know fancy stuff like FTP.”

“I could never create videos. That’s too hard.”

“I’m not good at writing.”

“I don’t understand social media. It’s complicated.”

“I’m a small fish in a big pond. No one will ever notice me.”

“I can’t do anything technical.”

“I know I need to craft an irresistible freebie. But I don’t have anything special to offer.”

“I can’t compete with the gurus. They know everything.”

“I’m just a mom. I don’t have any profitable skills.”

Yikes!!

Allow me to jump right up on my soapbox and set the record straight!

Every one of us knows how to do SOMETHING.

Just start THERE.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was a website, a blog, or a business!

Being an entrepreneur means being willing to learn as you go and learn as you grow.

What advice would you give a newbie entrepreneur who thinks he or she is lacking in skills or talents?

Filed Under: Blogging, Brand yourself online, Following Your Passion, Improving writing skills, Making money on the internet, Moms in Business, Online Marketing, Small business owners, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: Business, entrepreneurs, newbies online, small business start ups, Social Networking, Twitter

Two Ears and One Mouth – Do the Math

Limit Email To 140 Characters

Emotions And Business Make For Lousy Tango Partners

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Let’s stay connected!

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Hey Mom Entrepreneurs! Do you have your “Mompreneur MBA”?

Please Note