Reciprocity

Give and you shall receive. The beauty of reciprocity is the mutual respect or action taken toward another individual or in our case business.
Now the mom blogger's of the world have this step down pat. But we need to understand the steps and importance to being reciprocal and how to do it effectively.
Some businesses out there would say, "I'd rather pay a large site with more traffic to put my ad on", or "I want someone to pay me to put their advertising on my site or in my comments".
Here is the deal, yes you can make money by others advertising on your site, but two paid ads with blank or "advertise here" space won't give your site the credibility that 7 free ads will. With your site advertising for 7 others, it makes your website look more read, more visited, therefore more credible, transversely, 2 ads may have made you $50 for the month but made the site look new, not desirable, or lower traffic. And, although posting other blogs that you read is fun and sweet, I would only post the ads for blogs that tie in a business or service, again a credibility issue. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of good blogs out there, but in the business world, the perceived success is how much money you are bringing in from advertising, products, etc.
You may need to try this step for a few months to make sure people are seeing and believing your presence online.
Obviously once you are contacted for advertising that pays, then you send a thank you note to those free ads that will be replaced for paying ads and maybe make a mention of how much you like the products/blogs from the free advertisers in a post or two.
REMEMBER, there is no reason, other than the other advertisers themselves, that the public needs to know those ads are free. In addition you should have an ad rate card ready from the beginning so you are prepared when you receive these requests.
It is all about the give and take, with the nagging reminder of perception. Do another business a favor, they will almost always return it.
Other ways to reciprocate other than advertising space, is mention of other businesses in posts, comments, thank you's, etc. Or, try a partnership for a giveaway. I am not talking about a $10 cooler, but with two or three of you partnering, you can afford a more comprehensive giveaway. Even if it is a compilation of all the partners products tied up with a bow. The way to make that work would be that all three partners would advertise the giveaway with a tile ad, a few posts and links to the other partners. Work together. There is no reason to go it alone, especially if you are a new site, that does not matter, if your information is smart and actionable, you will start to see the response.
Business is all about working the outlets you have available, and reciprocity is usually a free or low cost way to build visibility, confidence and credibility. If someone turns you down, go onto the next. Don' waste your time on those that have the huge numbers, focus on those that will appreciate and return your business, because they see the value in the partnership too.

Good Luck!

ERROR!

Well even the people that know about business have an error even now and then. Yesterday I posted information about our new FREE Twitter Tutorial.....but we had an error on the sign up sheet! If you are interested in maximizing your visibility on Twitter and the effective use of time, please try again. We have fixed the bugs and you can now sign in with ease. Just go to Twitter Tutorial, or copy and paste the following link. www.businesswomennetwork.com/Twitter.html
And thank you all for the comments on this new blog. We look forward to providing you with new information that will assist your business.

TWITTER!

Well, I try not to always just plug what we are doing, but this time I am so excited, why not?
Twitter is hot, even if you don't know what it is, you have definitely heard of it.
Have you also heard of the Twitter time suck, or the Facebook time suck? When time, applications, or mere confusion overwhelms your time and before you know it, your day has been whizzing by!

So, a major portion of us not only want to be on the latest trend, but we want to master it. There are literally over 30 Twitter applications, some better than others. And then there is the question, what do I say? Again, some tweets are better than others, or the "why would they follow me"....because that is the point.

Well, we did it! Business Women Network put together a free 10 page tutorial on Twitter. Not only on tweeting, but the best applications, what to tweet, how to conference and network, how to get a bigger network, how to monetize Twitter, etc. You can print it out, mark it up and give your business that leg up on Twitter that you have been wanting for that last 4 months.

Check it out here! Its Free to sign up and then we will email it to you!
Sign up at www.businesswomennetwork.com/Twitter/html.

Top Social Media Sites

Ning, Twitter, Blogger, Flckr, Facebook, and the list goes on and on. So, I have my favorites like Twitter, TwitterWahm.com, Facebook. But when listing your business, networking and making friends, what are the Top Ranking sites Obviously some social sites we visit are more because we like the nature and people of the site, rather than their popularity, but in our marketing arsenal we also need to know what sites get the most traffic.

ALEXA.com was my new best friend today as I researched the top social networking sites. While I was there I came across the top 200 most visited sites, in those 200 I found 15 social networking sites (english speaking).

(If you don't know what alexa.com is, it is a ranking website for websites all over the globe and it ranks each sites traffic.) Yes, I was totally intrigued....or bored, I really couldn't tell.

So here are the 15 sites in the top 200:

Youtube.com,
Myspace.com
Facebook.com
Blogger.com
Hi5.com
Photobucket.com
Flickr.com
Friendster.com
Skyrock.com
Perfspot.com
About.com
Bebo.com
Digg.com
Imeem.com
Linkedin.com

Now, we all know how popular Twitter is and with all the press lately, I am sure it will shoot up the list in the next 5 or 6 months.

So I would include Twitter.com a must.

Yes, I know no one would be perfect in implementing all of these social networks, but how about trying one network for each media source. A balanced portfolio for Social Networking would look something like this, Twitter (real time chat/party), Facebook, actual friends and associates, Youtube.com for how to's and webinars (invite friends to view), photobucket.com, post pictures and share with your old and new network, Imeem.com pick and share music, and Blogger.com (every good business and networker needs a blog). To recap, we have chat, video, photo, friends, and blogs, then include one specialty site like ActiveRain.com if you are in Real Estate, or TwitterMoms.com if you are focusing on mothers, etc.

I know this looks daunting, but some of these networks take more time then others, like for photos,videos, or songs, just post your favorites, then move on, Twitter and Facebook however are definitely time suckers, so you have to regulate your time spent on each site.

With each of these sights the goal is to make friends, meet more people and link, link, link to your blog and main website.

Are you not entertained? (I always wanted say that)
Ok so get ready..get set...GO OUT AND GET STARTED.

P.S. Often when businesses are started, or are just barely surviving, we make choices that are not always effective. Sign up for this free news letter to free yourself from the guessing game of social media, SEO, marketing and keeping your focus. Click here for your free Newsletter http://www.businesswomennetwork.com/ .

What do you do when there is no one there?

So, as much technical and financial startup new businesses can require, there is also the emotional.
You may read this and think that this post is a little touchy feely. It may be. But, if you haven't experienced real disappointment yet, brace yourself, it will come.

In my varied background, I have experience as a realtor. Someone once told me, "Dont get in this business if you can't take it that your Grandma may list with someone else."
It's true. As it is with web, retail, design and any other business.

What do you do when your support system has let you down. When those you have trusted are no longer reliable, or worse yet, they try to sabotage your business in some way.
Hurtful? Yes. Life changing? Maybe. A sign to throw in the towel? No, definitely not.
There is nothing that knocks the wind out of you more than a little betrayal.

But, here is the solution to your new found suffocation...... So what? So what if your closest friend throws you in front of the bus. Who are they? Why do we care? Because we are human, women, and possibly emotional (totally, me), that is why we care. But, no one is your bigger advocate than yourself. Your friends betrayal.......(listen to me closely)...... it is their problem!

You need a confident sales person for your business, and that person should be you. Business brings about many obstacles and it is when we pass the first one, that we gain the courage to jump over the next. "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again".

Really, no one can get in your way but yourself. Show those that doubt you, that they really are as stupid as they have acted. Remove them from your life and get going again.