Marketing: Do you use these resources?

Fast Company:
Four Awesome Marketing Vehicles You Probably Take For Granted
Read more:  http://goo.gl/mag/XzuMf

10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips

I suggest you begin by outlining clear goals for your social media marketing efforts and figuring out how you’ll measure success. Once you’ve outlined your goals, let’s look at 10 great ways you can begin to leverage social media for your marketing efforts. Read more online.....
10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips


I have also published an eBook on the topic of Social Networking.... available in the Amazon Kindle library for Free or for Purchase $8.

 

Take Twitter to the Next Level

I'm not that great at "Tweeting".  I found this article to help me Take Twitter to the Next Level
(click on the link to read the entire article.) Here's the 10 Tips that were listed:

Tip #1
Be funny and/or interesting. Although the Twitter feed moves very quickly, you never know who will come across your tweet, so make sure it is relevant and thoughtful.

Tip #2
Tweet quotes and statistics, but keep them under 120 characters so people can retweet with ease.

Tip#3

Find, follow, and talk to people who like to talk about what you like. It is important to follow people who have the same interests as you. From there, you can start conversations and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Tip#4
Make influencer lists. In order to be an expert in your area, you need to know what people are talking about. When you follow someone, add them to a public list. This is also helpful in organizing your followers and then easily finding information when you need it.

Tip #5
Use a dashboard—this is helpful because you have the ability to schedule Facebook posts and tweets in the future. With the help of a dashboard, you don’t have to be sitting right in front of your computer to tweet. You can schedule your tweets to post whenever you want! (Shameless plug: iContact now has a way to schedule your Facebook and Twitter posts. Read more about it here.)

Tip #6
Go mobile! In a world where the majority of people have smartphones, it has never been easier to tweet on the go. Make tweeting second nature.

Tip #7
Tweet live events, and remember to use the hashtag for the event. It’s another great way to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Tip#8
Embed Twitter and Facebook into publications. Make it easy for your customers to tweet and Facebook you by including your Twitter page in your email signature, on your website, and through direct mail.

Tip #9
Track and analyze to see the impact that you have! This is a crucial part of social media. How will you know where to go if you don’t know where you have been? Measure clicks, @mentions, and retweets.

Tip #10
If all else fails, use the Beibs. Look at what is trending, and join the conversation!


This post was written by Lucy Welton.

How Do You Stack Up: Self-Diagnostic Marketing Assessment Test

Are you questioning your marketing strategy or putting a new strategy in place for 2012?  Take this mini-Marketing Assessment Test, courtesy of William Stewart. 
Let me know how you score.  Comment below or send me an email to Nakia@NakiaBrands.com
We can discuss & come up with a Plan that gives your business a boost!!

Open publication - Free publishing

Optimize Your PDF Documents

How to Optimize a PDF for Search

Five Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

Five Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
Written By:
Lucy Welton, iContact Social Media Marketing Coordinator

What’s the one thing that every single person is guaranteed to do? Make mistakes! Some of us make more than others, but we can all learn from them. (Trust me, been there, done that!) As the social media marketing coordinator for iContact, I spend a great deal of my time on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus each day. I recently got to thinking about common mistakes that people and businesses make on social media channels and thought I would share what I’ve learned.
Click below to read the five easy-to-fix mistakes.

Five Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

Keys to Writing a Solo Email

By Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero

The day you hung out your shingle as an entrepreneur, you also took on the job of marketer. The minute you stop marketing yourself is when your profits dry up, so you may as well get used to your role. If you don’t let people know what your business has to offer, you will NOT run a thriving business.

You may not want to hear this – in fact it may even make you mad. But a great way to let people know you have something special for them is through a solo-mailing (an email with a single offer sent to your permission-based list of subscribers). 
Solo-mailings are so prolific because they WORK. While I don’t advocate abusing your list by sending them more than a few times per month they ARE effective when done correctly. They have kind of a bad rep because some marketers have a “buy or die” attitude. They send solos out daily or every couple of days until you either buy or unsubscribe. They aren’t worried about building loyalty and trust. They just want a quick buck. (I do not share this philosophy.) Even when you offer something of great value

I’ve found three definite trends you can count on with a solo-mailing:

1. You WILL get unsubscribes
2. You WILL get hate mail
3. You WILL make money

It is number 3 that I want you to laser focus on. See, I WANT you to make money. Since you have entrusted me with your email address, I consider it my job to show you as many tactics as I have learned about how to run a successful online business. That being said, here are the 5 keys to making solo-emailing work for YOU:

1. Attention-grabbing subject line. Do you sort through your email and select “delete” without even opening some? Me too. But if the subject line is intriguing the email is much more likely to get read. It’s really the headline for your email. Also try to keep the number of characters on the short side so the words don’t get cut off in the email program. Here are the maximum subject line lengths for some commonly used email programs:
Outlook: 64 characters AOL: 52 characters Hotmail: 45 characters Yahoo: 80 characters
Some of my more successful subject lines were: I’m not that kind of girl She didn’t want me to tell! May I critique your copy? How to get lucky on Valentine’s Day Are you in?
Remember, you’re competing with hundreds of other emails so make your subject line strong.
2. Make it Personal. Studies show an increase in response when first names are used in the copy. Think about it. If you were in a busy airport and you heard someone holler out your name, wouldn’t you turn to see who it was? Of course you would. Works in email too. (Techno Tip: The code looks like this: {!name} but when it comes out it reads as the subscriber’s first name. You have to use a delivery system that supports this mail merge tactic.)
3. Dazzle them with your hook. Nothing kills a sale faster than boring copy. So throw in a little soft shoe entertainment. Give your readers a reason why you are having this special sa!e or 0ffer. Tell them a (brief) story. Marketer Jason Potash does an excellent job with hooks. One email explains how he needs his subscribers help to get him out of the doghouse with his wife… so they should buy his product. Tellman Knudson caught my attention with a tale of how he was unable to sleep at night… so I should buy his product. Perry Marshall spun a brilliant story of how as a kid he wanted a robot to do his chores for him but that was just a fantasy; today he knows copywriting is as close as you get to an effortless marketing solution… so you should sign up for his teleseminar. All of these hooks tie back into the offer. A good story keeps them reading.
4. Don’t forget the 0ffer! Let’s have a little chat between the two of us, k? The purpose of your solo-mailing is to generate cash. So remember to ask for it. Allow me to grant you permission to ask for business. Poof! It is okay to ask for business. It is okay to market. It is okay to make money. You, like me, are in business to make a living, correct? So marketing ourselves is a given. I expect to be marketed to… and so should you. Like the late, great Ray Charles said, “If you think in pennies, you get pennies. But when you think in dollars, you get dollars.”
5. Make your P.S. work harder. Your post script, or P.S. is a very highly read bit of copy. It’s that last afterthought of the email. And our eyes are drawn to it like a magnet to steel. So this is a great place to encourage them to take action NOW and place the order link. Even scanners are likely to read the P.S.

For better or for worse, we are all in sales. So face your fears, gulp hard and get out there and market!

Author Resource -> Copywriting guru Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero has been helping entrepreneurs and copywriters get their marketing messages razor sharp since 1999. Get free access to 5 tips to turn your “blah” sales message into red-hot copy that ROCKS… at  http://www.redhotcopy.com/

Ask the Marketing Team: Website or Facebook?

Which is better for your business?
Written By:
Randall Rozzell, iContact Creative Designer & Developer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recent Ask Marketing question:
I am preparing to start my own business, and I’m unsure of what to use to promote myself. What would you say are the advantages of having a website instead of Facebook?

Take a look at the answer here:
Ask the Marketing Team: Website or Facebook?

Twitter for Brands... now available!

Check out Twitter's announcement:  Twitter Launches Brand Pages for Business Accounts

Social Media Buttons; which one works?

Social media is an extremely valuable tool for promoting your great marketing content. But with so many social media platforms providing their own individual content sharing and follow buttons, it's often difficult to differentiate between which social media button to use for what purpose.  
Read more....
The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Creating Social Media Buttons

Want to Start a Blog? First Things First. You’ll Want a Great Web Domain Name!

By Nicole Dean

More and more moms are getting into the blogging scene. Some for fun, some for profit, and some for both. Why not make money while you’re blogging about your favorite stuff, right?
It’s easier than ever to get started blogging. But the first thing you need before you begin is an idea for your domain name.

What is a domain name?
It’s the “www (dot) SOMETHING (dot) com” that people will type in to get to your blog. It’s like your address.

How do you Know What is a Good Domain Name?
There are some standards for what is a “great” domain name verses one that makes you wonder what on earth that person was thinking!
In order to help you to come up with a great web name that you’ll love for years, here are my unbreakable rules for choosing a domain.

1. No hyphens. Avoid dashes and hyphens. I’ve been there. Done that. Regret it to this day.

2. No numbers. Do I spell it out “seven” or is it the number “7??

3. Avoid words that are difficult to spell. Although I once was really excited about using a domain with the word “catalyst” in it — I found that no one could spell the darned thing.

4. Domain should end in .com. I don’t bother with other endings like .info or .biz. People tend to type in .com at the end of everything, so it’s usually best to stick with a .com ending.

5. Domain must NOT have any copyright names in it. I would not recommend using “Starbucks”, “Disney”, or any other company name in your URL or you may get a “cease and desist” email. Yes, even though you’re starting as a little mom blogger, eventually you might get huge. So, it’s best to plan for success in advance and avoid using trademarks in your URL.

6. If I’m looking to sell your blog down the road, it must be generic enough. For instance, I wouldn’t buy “NicoleKnowsFootball.com” to talk about my favorite football team if I planned to sell the site ever, because I’d have to find someone named Nicole to buy it.  And my big, bad unbreakable rule.

 7. It must pass the Oprah test.


Nadine Thompson, CEO ~ Soul Purpose Lifestyle Co.
and Oprah Winfrey

What exactly is the Oprah test? Well, I picture Oprah saying it out loud. “Today I have with me, Nicole Dean, author of Blah blah blah and owner of NicoleontheNet.com”. Is it memorable? Easy to spell?

You can’t do that with MyNumber1-BestHome-Remedy-Treatments4New-Mothers.net.

Why is this Important?

A difficult domain is actually wasted opportunity and wasted traffic slipping through your fingers. If you’re promoting via audio or video (maybe on podcasts or on YouTube) – you need a domain that is EASY to remember. It has to make it into the person’s ears and to his brain and stick. Heck, even if you run into an old college friend and say “Stop by my site www (dot) somethingcool (dot) com” – you’ll want her to remember long enough to actually come to your blog, right? So, make it simple. Make it memorable. And you’ll be glad.

Plus, honestly, it’s a credibility issue. Would you really buy something from MyNumber1-BestHome-Remedy-Treatments4New-Mothers.net? I hope you wouldn’t even think of getting out your credit card for a site like that. SCARY. And would you feel comfortable referring it to your friends? Not a chance.

How do you get a domain name of your very own?

You can get a domain at https://www.momwebs.com which is also my recommendation for Web Hosting. As you sign up for your domain, you can get hosting at the same time. And… they’ll even set up your blog for you for only $10. Plus, there’s a phone number that you can call if you have any questions.

 With all of that help, there’s nothing stopping you from setting up your first blog.

I hope this has been helpful. And, I really look forward to seeing YOU on Oprah!


Nicole Dean is co-owner of Mom Webs Hosting – https://www.momwebs.com where you’ll find the host with the most. It offers everything a mom blogger needs – reliability, unlimited hosting, and customer service that never makes you feel intimidated — all at a price you can afford. MomWebs.com was created to help overcome the technical hurdles that may be preventing moms from sharing themselves with the online world. Check out the free training at MomWebs.com

vCita.... a new Scheduling Tool for Blogs, Website, Facebook & other Social Media Sites

I'm using this new online tool, vCita to Help SET UP APPOINTMENTS & TRAININGS with my TEEam and to set up Soul Purpose LIFESTYLE PARTIES & PROSPECT Meetings.
If you have a website or facebook page, you can try it out too! It's FREE, It even works with your Gmail calendar!

Click here, Register & then Check out my Profile, also.

What is vCita?

vCita is a new way to engage and meet your online audience, acquire clients and provide services online. vCita provides a meeting scheduler, online video meeting room, phone conference service, online payment system and a single management dashboard.


vCita enhances your online presence, making it more actionable. Anyone can start using vCita for free, as a standalone contact webpage or incorporate it into any existing website, blog or social network page.
Once you are contacted using the vCita widget or contact page, vCita helps you effectively manage your interaction with your target audience, facilitating communication, meetings, payments and even recording your video meetings for future review.


You can send messages, schedule and conduct video meetings or phone calls, collect payments and obtain insights on who approaches you as well as on the effectiveness of your online presence. All these are easily accessible through a single web dashboard.

Who Should Use vCita?

Anyone who wishes to be contacted online, acquire new clients by offering introductory meetings or provide advice and services for a fee. vCita is a great way to create a new revenue source for you and your business.
vCita can be a great fit for: bloggers, consultants, personal and business coaches, technology experts, lawyers, financial and tax advisors, psychologists, medical professionals, career advisors, and many more.

How Do I Start?

Signing-up to vCita is quick and easy:

• Start here by filling in your email address.
• Set your payment preferences (free meetings, hourly rate, and optional introductory meetings).
• Create your vCita Widget or your standalone vCita Contact Page – depending on whether you wish to integrate vCita into your existing website or create a standalone contact page.
• Set your work hours or automatically synchronize availability with your Google Calendar.

Once you are done signing-up:

• Your followers and clients can send a message or schedule a meeting with you right from your website or your vCita contact page.
• Your meetings take place in vCita’s video meeting room or in your private vCita phone conference.
• You may send meeting invitations to your clients.
• You may use vCita to send payment requests for any other services you provide, and even set an hourly fee for meetings – vCita will verify the payment method upon scheduling and will complete the transaction after the meeting has taken place.

Book an Appointment with me, now!



Have you used vCita?  Please tell us how you are using this tool below.  If you LIKE this posting, Please SHARE!

The Four Pillars of Business Success

Business success is built on a strong foundation and four pillars.  Just like any good structure, each of these is built strong and each is essential to the overall structure.

The four pillars of business success include:
--Pillar #1: Vision, Strategy & Implementation
--Pillar #2: Marketing
--Pillar #3: Operations
--Pillar #4: Products and Services: Creating Multiple Streams of Income   

All on a FOUNDATION of Life Balance/ Life Health.

Pillar # 1 • Vision, Strategy & Implementation: (I have found in all my work with clients that this is the best place to start.  What is the vision of the future?) Strategy is what gets you to that vision.  AND, Implementation -- This is where so many small businesses fall short.  Great ideas, great plans and lack of follow through.
 
Pillar #2 • Marketing: Dreaded by many but a cornerstone of all successful businesses.  Effective marketing is essential. As a small business you need a comprehensive marketing plan.  A plan that you can implement and a plan that produces consistent and reliable results.  Some of these components are:

Lead Generation Strategies
An effective follow-up system so that those leads convert to business
An effective web presence
Brand and Identity
And much, much more.

Pillar #3 • Operations:  Each business needs to have it's own unique way of doing business. It is part of your brand, part of who you are.  By creating operational systems you document that part of your business.  This in itself makes your business more valuable.  Even if you are a one person show you need to have operational systems.

Pillar # 4 • Products and Services: Your products and services are what make you a business.  Your products and services make your business.  It is vital to keep evaluating what you are offering and whether it is what your customers want.

The Foundation of it all is your work/life balance.  Creating a business that you love and one that fits into your lifestyle.  I will share with you some keys for building that balance into your business and into your life.  When you put all of these together and work on them each consistently you are able to build a strong and effective business.  Business success happens with work on the business and not just working in the business.  When you take the time to focus on the four pillars of business success you are more likely to increase your success.



ps. Don't forget to Grab a copy of your Bizology.Biz Membership!  (click the link)

Improving Your Online Business through Quality Customer Service

Improving Your Online Business through Quality Customer Service

Quality customer service does come with treating the customer right, all the time. Following the rule of thumb, that the customer is always right, even when you know they are dead wrong. It doesn’t matter because without your customers, you have no business.

Facebook Status Update ideas

Take a look at this article. It will help you with your Facebook postings.
(click the link)
  50 Fabulous Facebook-Status-Update Ideas for Small Business Owners — Shoestring Marketing University

Women in Business: 4 Ways to Position Your Business for Success!

Women in Business: 4 Ways to Position Your Business for Success!

Google+ Pages Launched

Check out this Blog Article! This will be one of our first TRAINING TOPICS with Nakia Brands! (click this link) Google+ Pages Launched

8 Important Features of Professional Website Design

By Angela Wills

 

Many people who are just getting started online want to create a free professional website so that they can prove to themselves that it will make money before they spend hundreds or thousands on a full blown web design. That’s usually a smart move.

You will, however, at the very least want to pay for hosting so that the content you post online is yours. If you post to free website hosting sites then you are often giving up your authorship rights and your control of the website. If at any time, for any reason, they decide to shut down your website you will have no recourse or ability to get it back.

With that in mind, it is entirely possible to create a free website that is both professional and profitable.
Here are some features you’ll want to include to ensure your website is a success:

1. Includes an ‘About’ Page – To new visitors you are a stranger and they don’t trust you yet. An about page will start to build that trust so that you can make offers they will respond to. All good websites must include an about page.

2. Includes Contact Information- Now imagine your visitor is ready to buy but they just have one quick question they need answered first. They look around but can’t find your contact information anywhere! Don’t let this happen and make sure your website has full contact information including phone number, email and mailing address so your potential customers can choose their preference.

3. A Clear Call to Action – No matter what the purpose of your website is you must let your visitors know and call them to action. Are you looking for them to call you, order a product, sign up for a free consultation or hire you? Tell them in clear, direct words so they don’t miss the entire point of your website or individual pages.

4. High Quality Graphics – I once heard a colleague say that it’s better to have no graphics on your website than have poor quality graphics and I completely agree! Make sure any graphics, logos, backgrounds, etc are of the highest quality.

5. Easy to Read Font – The worst websites are the ones that nobody can read. The best font color for reading is black with a white background. Don’t put a barrier between you and potential customers by making your website hard to read.

6. Free Newsletter/ Ezine or Giveaway -A large majority of first time visitors will never buy from you and never return. What you need to do is catch their attention before they leave by offering something free, a sample that shows them what you offer. Do this in combination with an opt-in form so you can build your list and build the trust that is so important to future sales.

7. Privacy Policies, Website Disclaimers and Copyright – Again, trust is huge. The online world of marketing is very easy to break into and that means there is a massive problem with scammers and thieves. Show your potential customers you are not one of them by having proper disclaimers, privacy policies and protect yourself with copyright notices.

8. Well Thought-out Website Navigation – You want your visitors to find what they are looking for quickly. If they can’t find it in short order, they will leave. Make sure you have a well thought out website navigation that isn’t overpowering with too many links. It’s better to make sub-pages than to give your reader too many options right on the home page.
WordPress has many great free and paid templates available that let you create professional websites quickly.

So there you have some of the most important features of a professional website design.
If you want to learn how to make your own free professional website, join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating professional website designs with WordPress.

Seven Qualities of a Good Website

By Angela Wills

What are the qualities of a good website?
It’s a lot simpler than you think!

A good website is simply a site that provides it’s target market with what they desire. Now this wouldn’t be a very long or useful article if I left it at that so I’ll expand on this idea by providing you with seven tips to reach your target market with your website:

1. Easy to Read -Don’t make it hard for your visitors to read the information they’re looking for. Use a font that is large and easy to read. Also don’t make the background of your writing dark and your actual writing light. For example white text on a black background is terrible for reading, so are bright reds, pinks, greens, etc. Don’t mess with this or you’ll lose readers. Keep your text black on a white background for the easiest readability.

2. Easy to Find – Don’t hide the good stuff. Make sure your website navigation makes sense and makes it easy for your visitors to find what they need. It’s best not to have a huge selection on the main  page of your website. When faced with too many decisions people usually choose none. Make main categories and then drill down to deeper pages if you need to.

3. Lead Them Through – Don’t expect your visitors to find their way through your site. Take every opportunity you can to lead them through and show them the way.

4. Provide Basics – The basic pages most websites will need are a ‘Home’, ‘About’, ‘Contact’ and ‘FAQ’ page. Most people expect these pages on a website. Provide them.

5. Have a Clear Purpose – Do people know what your website is about when they hit the main page? Is the purpose clear? Make sure your visitors know what your website is about and how it can help them. Don’t make them search for this information or they might end up going somewhere else.

6. Offer Solutions – Are people coming to your website with a problem? Don’t just offer information, make sure to offer solutions. If you are providing information be sure to lead them towards the next step. This will help connect your visitors to what you want and allow you to make more money.

7. Test, Track and Tweak – No website is perfect in the first go. Think of your website as a brand new baby and stay by it’s side as it learns to talk, to walk, to ride it’s bike.  Make sure you pay attention to your website and watch as it grows and you’ll be amazed at how intuitively you will be able to make decisions as time goes by.

There you have some qualities of a great website.
Knowing how to best build your own website is how you build a strong, unshakeable foundation for your online business for years to come.

Join me as I teach you in this online video, webinar and email coaching program everything you need to know about creating websites and blogs with WordPress.

Nakia Evans Featured in October's Issue of Family Circle Magazine!

Nakia Evans Featured in October's Issue of Family Circle Magazine!

How 4 Moms Made Money from Direct Sales

By Ellen Parlapiano

Nakia Evans, 35
Mom of three, ages 18 and 16 (twins)
Lives in Baltimore, Maryland
Product: Soul Purpose body care (soulpurpose.com)
Started: April 2009
Works: Around 35 hours per week
Manages: 257

All it took was a few minutes of soaking her feet at a cousin's spa party for Nakia to fall in love with Soul Purpose all-natural scrubs. She started selling on nights and weekends to supplement what she earned as a full-time commercial property manager and subsidize her children's school trips, extracurriculars and proms. As she grew her team (which includes her mom and husband Robert, 39), she realized this was a great opportunity for teens too. "They always need money but have limited time to work," she says. Her son, James, 18, had already made some sales to friends and teachers. But Nakia envisioned a formal entrepreneurship program, with training and mentoring from seasoned sellers, teaching teens how to grow businesses that fit around schoolwork and activities.

Backstory: Nakia drafted a proposal for her Essential Soul Purpose Youth (ESPY) mentoring program, for ages 14 to 17, and pitched it to company CEO Nadine Thompson, who loved the idea. Nakia found 15 interested teens through her kids and sales force. They kicked off with a fashion show fundraiser in February 2011, with aspiring entrepreneurs modeling Soul Purpose makeup and clothes from local boutiques, to build buzz and recruit community mentors.

Then what? After training, teens consult with their mentors for a year, corresponding twice a month. "It's not just about business," says Nakia. "They cultivate life skills like goalsetting, decision-making and money management." The objectives mesh perfectly with the company's mission to empower women of color, and Soul Purpose is rolling out the ESPY mentoring program nationwide. "This prepares teens for the future," Nakia says. "I was a teen mom who struggled at times to make ends meet. I believe in teaching kids how to become financially independent."

Read the rest of the article and about the other 3 moms at: http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/money/direct-sales/?page=2#