Business Women Network
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
WE HAVE MOVED
Ladies! Don't miss out! We have moved our blog to www.businesswomennetwork.com, and unfortunately the blogger followers and wordpress don't transfer. So, come on over and subscribe to the feed ( no charge ) and you can continue to follow our great blog. You are already missing out! We love you all and will see you there!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Social Networking, it's Hot!
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to.... Whatever!
Social Networking is so hot right now, it is almost ridiculous. You need to join and frankly host the party. But as we wind our way through the social networking maze, there are some great tips to remember.
#1 Don't over commit.
So, yes, I have joined too many social networks..... so many in fact that I am wasting my time away and not maximizing my business effectively. Pick 5 of your favorite social networks and do just that, network. At Twitter Wahm we have a printable spreadsheet that allows you to write the networks down that you want to keep up with and allot the amount of time (15-30 minutes) you want to schedule towards each network. You don't need to join 25 networks and fail miserably at providing a platform for your business, just pick five and commit to doing a fantastic job at each. Social Networking is a great free tool to get your business out there, but it is not the only tool. There is much more work to be done.
#2 We don't want your business, we want to get to know you.
If you plaster your business all over your tweets and posts, it doesn't really do it for me, but if you make a joke, let me get to know you better, then I am more apt to listen about your business, and better yet, refer it! It doesn't mean you shouldn't always link to your blog or business page, but you do need to talk about something else at the same time. Be personable. Let me in, I will bite.(that is a good thing)
#3 I know you will cry if you want to.....but do you want to?
Stay away from negativity. If we don't know you and don't have the passion or interest in your complaints, we will stop listening. Yes, in politics and celebrity, negativity and rumor sells, but for lasting customer relationships, it doesn't. We have enough on our own plate, why do we want your plate too?
#4 Remember who your friends are.
Just because you said "hi" to someone on a post or tweet doesn't mean they will remember you. Talk with those that reply to you over and over. This is your customer service angle. Just because they aren't a customer yet, they will be your friend. And good friends make great customers. Don't forget, a lot of business is about perception, the more people you talk to and respond to, the more friends and customers you are perceived to have, thus the more successful you look. If they are buying, then why aren't I? I probably should.... I will....give me 5. (See how this works)
Remember to work the network, don't let the network work you. Personalize all of your profiles with links, emails, quotes, anything that allows another person in your network to attach to you.
Go out there and get your network working.
And as always if you would like to comment on this blog or would like to contact me with questions about your business, don't hesitate to email me at info@businesswomennetwork.com.
DON'T FORGET OUR "HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON TWITTER" report.
Social Networking is so hot right now, it is almost ridiculous. You need to join and frankly host the party. But as we wind our way through the social networking maze, there are some great tips to remember.
#1 Don't over commit.
So, yes, I have joined too many social networks..... so many in fact that I am wasting my time away and not maximizing my business effectively. Pick 5 of your favorite social networks and do just that, network. At Twitter Wahm we have a printable spreadsheet that allows you to write the networks down that you want to keep up with and allot the amount of time (15-30 minutes) you want to schedule towards each network. You don't need to join 25 networks and fail miserably at providing a platform for your business, just pick five and commit to doing a fantastic job at each. Social Networking is a great free tool to get your business out there, but it is not the only tool. There is much more work to be done.
#2 We don't want your business, we want to get to know you.
If you plaster your business all over your tweets and posts, it doesn't really do it for me, but if you make a joke, let me get to know you better, then I am more apt to listen about your business, and better yet, refer it! It doesn't mean you shouldn't always link to your blog or business page, but you do need to talk about something else at the same time. Be personable. Let me in, I will bite.(that is a good thing)
#3 I know you will cry if you want to.....but do you want to?
Stay away from negativity. If we don't know you and don't have the passion or interest in your complaints, we will stop listening. Yes, in politics and celebrity, negativity and rumor sells, but for lasting customer relationships, it doesn't. We have enough on our own plate, why do we want your plate too?
#4 Remember who your friends are.
Just because you said "hi" to someone on a post or tweet doesn't mean they will remember you. Talk with those that reply to you over and over. This is your customer service angle. Just because they aren't a customer yet, they will be your friend. And good friends make great customers. Don't forget, a lot of business is about perception, the more people you talk to and respond to, the more friends and customers you are perceived to have, thus the more successful you look. If they are buying, then why aren't I? I probably should.... I will....give me 5. (See how this works)
Remember to work the network, don't let the network work you. Personalize all of your profiles with links, emails, quotes, anything that allows another person in your network to attach to you.
Go out there and get your network working.
And as always if you would like to comment on this blog or would like to contact me with questions about your business, don't hesitate to email me at info@businesswomennetwork.com.
DON'T FORGET OUR "HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON TWITTER" report.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Radio Schmadio
Well, I have made my radio debut on Blog Talk Radio. I am partnering with WAHM Addicts for a WAHM 101 radio show. It is amazing the comments that I have received about the program and hope you can all follow along. You can check it the past programs out at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/WAHM-Addicts.
Our first show was about analyzing your business and customer base. My second show was on financing and budgets.
Wow! Can I tell you how much I hate talking about money. It is never easy to budget and manage your business, but necessary.
If we like it or not, the most important step to success is organization. I am not talking just about blackberries, outlook and calendars, but also spreadsheets, Quickbooks and understanding where your money is coming from and going.
One of the biggest mistakes that one can make when running their business is co-mingling their funds. If you have thousands in your business account or $30, keeping the funds separate can only help you and your business, separate receipts, accounts, accounting sheets, etc.
It is easy to lose sight of your financial stability when funds are moving freely between your business and checking accounts.
If you are organizationally challenged and the task seems too daunting..... take a deep breath.
Give yourself a few goals every week to take your steps towards understanding you finances. Dec. 31st is a long way away.
But just as importantly, give yourself a break. Once you have made the steps to keep your finances in check, you need to relax. Yes, some of us may have debt for years, but as long as we are paying our payments and not continuing to spend, there is nothing else to do but to live your life. Don't let your business finances ruin the time spent with your loved ones.
Get your work done, then go live your life.
Our first show was about analyzing your business and customer base. My second show was on financing and budgets.
Wow! Can I tell you how much I hate talking about money. It is never easy to budget and manage your business, but necessary.
If we like it or not, the most important step to success is organization. I am not talking just about blackberries, outlook and calendars, but also spreadsheets, Quickbooks and understanding where your money is coming from and going.
One of the biggest mistakes that one can make when running their business is co-mingling their funds. If you have thousands in your business account or $30, keeping the funds separate can only help you and your business, separate receipts, accounts, accounting sheets, etc.
It is easy to lose sight of your financial stability when funds are moving freely between your business and checking accounts.
If you are organizationally challenged and the task seems too daunting..... take a deep breath.
Give yourself a few goals every week to take your steps towards understanding you finances. Dec. 31st is a long way away.
But just as importantly, give yourself a break. Once you have made the steps to keep your finances in check, you need to relax. Yes, some of us may have debt for years, but as long as we are paying our payments and not continuing to spend, there is nothing else to do but to live your life. Don't let your business finances ruin the time spent with your loved ones.
Get your work done, then go live your life.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
This is America, I want a bailout!
Absolutely, this is America, and I am sure all of us would welcome a bailout, but at what price?
As you turn to the news, you see bank after bank, company after company getting bailouts. I have come to wonder, if one of my businesses were close to bankruptcy who would offer me a bailout? No one.
When starting or trying to grow a business, fiscal conservancy is paramount. Yes, there will be time you will have to take a risk. There will be a time when your business may have to borrow money.
Don't do that now. Pounding the pavement for free advertising is a lot of work, but worth it.
Don't rush to borrow money for your business.
If you have a local product or business, then get out there locally first.
Join groups, invite those you want the attention of to lunch, make yourself known to be the first customer and cheerleader for your fabulous business.
Don't feel that it would be a stretch for individuals to be interested in you or your business. Your confidence is essential in sales.
Don't be made to feel like you are imposing, the fact is, everyone has an agenda, if they admit it or not. Just make your imprint on individuals a positive one. If someone you know isn't interested, don't be offended, say thank you and move on. It isn't your problem that they will miss out. This works online as well.
Once you have tried every physical and digital option to market your business for free, then you can consider a loan or line of credit.
I knew a woman that had a successful sales pitch, her own board of investors, and needed to grow her business further to maximize its potential worth. But, every time she wanted to expand or try a new concept she would ask for more money from her board. Or, she would ask new investors to participate. Rather than build her business the hard way with less debt to repay, she would keep hiring and expanding off of borrowed funds, eventually those funds will run dry and she will have less profit and capital at the end for herself.
To me that is silly, yes, business takes time, good business takes even longer time. But when an investor does come in to look at your company, you need to show them the lengths you have gone to to build a customer base and profitable business.
Easy money, is as likely as winning the lottery. Don't sell your abilities short. You have a lot more to offer than a borrower. You have a goal and the will. Show 'em you can take the reigns and run with them. That is the most attractive and impressive of all.
As you turn to the news, you see bank after bank, company after company getting bailouts. I have come to wonder, if one of my businesses were close to bankruptcy who would offer me a bailout? No one.
When starting or trying to grow a business, fiscal conservancy is paramount. Yes, there will be time you will have to take a risk. There will be a time when your business may have to borrow money.
Don't do that now. Pounding the pavement for free advertising is a lot of work, but worth it.
Don't rush to borrow money for your business.
If you have a local product or business, then get out there locally first.
Join groups, invite those you want the attention of to lunch, make yourself known to be the first customer and cheerleader for your fabulous business.
Don't feel that it would be a stretch for individuals to be interested in you or your business. Your confidence is essential in sales.
Don't be made to feel like you are imposing, the fact is, everyone has an agenda, if they admit it or not. Just make your imprint on individuals a positive one. If someone you know isn't interested, don't be offended, say thank you and move on. It isn't your problem that they will miss out. This works online as well.
Once you have tried every physical and digital option to market your business for free, then you can consider a loan or line of credit.
I knew a woman that had a successful sales pitch, her own board of investors, and needed to grow her business further to maximize its potential worth. But, every time she wanted to expand or try a new concept she would ask for more money from her board. Or, she would ask new investors to participate. Rather than build her business the hard way with less debt to repay, she would keep hiring and expanding off of borrowed funds, eventually those funds will run dry and she will have less profit and capital at the end for herself.
To me that is silly, yes, business takes time, good business takes even longer time. But when an investor does come in to look at your company, you need to show them the lengths you have gone to to build a customer base and profitable business.
Easy money, is as likely as winning the lottery. Don't sell your abilities short. You have a lot more to offer than a borrower. You have a goal and the will. Show 'em you can take the reigns and run with them. That is the most attractive and impressive of all.
Friday, March 27, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, March 23, 2009
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.
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.
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