The Southern Belle CEO

I ready this article and was going to post some highlights from it, but with permission from the author, I decided to post the entire thing.  It’s just to good!

Will Twitter Save Your Business?
by Jessica Swanson

Last Monday, one of my neighbors proudly announced her determination to learn the “secrets” behind marketing on Twitter. She thinks that Twitter will save her business.

Ironically, the very next day, one of my clients reported to me that if he only understood how to “power market” on Facebook, his business would catapult to the top of his industry. And three days later, I noticed a small business owner complaining in a forum that he will never succeed until he has unlocked the keys behind YouTube marketing.

Enough is enough! Without question, new media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) are wonderful places to market your small business. Obviously, I market my own business through every single one of those platforms.

Believe me, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, there is absolutely nothing magical or supernatural about any of the new media platforms. They are just platforms. Nothing more, nothing less. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are simply ways to spread awareness about your brand.

Mark my word, there will always be another “amazing” platform that will supposedly “save” you and your business.

But, before you tap into any marketing platform, you need to understand the basic philosophy behind marketing. You need to know “how” to market your business before you even dip your toe in the pool. Because if you don’t understand the basic tenants behind good marketing, Twitter won’t do a thing for your small business. Even if you spent eight hours a day with 2 million followers, you wouldn’t get anywhere if you went about your marketing in the wrong way.

Marketing platforms come and go, but understanding how to market will never go out of style.

Whether you are marketing on YouTube or running an “old-fashioned” ad in the newspaper, the same rules of good and solid marketing apply. You use marketing platforms as a way to drive your prospects back to a webpage, landing page or blog in which they give you their name and email address in exchange for free information from you and your small business.

You might offer a downloadable ebook, a special report or a 10-part audio class. It isn’t the format of your offer, it’s the offer itself that is important. Your offer must be perceived as a means for your prospect to better their life or solve a particularly stubborn problem. You want your free offer to be utterly irresistible.

Once you have obtained your prospect’s information, you can begin the task of building solid and significant relationships with them. This is when you are able to send your prospects’ additional educational materials, helpful advice and important resources that will position you as an expert in your industry.

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube marketing are only effective if you use them as tools to drive traffic to your landing page or blog. Newspaper classifieds are only effective if used as a tool to drive traffic to your landing page or blog.

So, yes, in essence there is a well-kept secret on how to effectively tap into the power of new media. Learn the basics of marketing. For if you understand exactly how to market, you will always be ready for the “next great marketing platform.”

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Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely FREE internet marketing strategies. To receive your FREE Marketing Kit,  which has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for NO-COST, visit: http://www.ShoestringMarketingKit.com

If you are using a social site like Twitter or Facebook to help marketing yourself then I have some a great tips!

#1 SocialOomph

This is a FREE site, (for the first level) that can help you organize your FaceBook post and Tweets!  If you are like me, I sometimes get on the different sites to update and then find myself staying for hours.  Now, I preset my Tweets to send through out the day and forget about it!

Usually I try and do the days tweets the evening before so that cuts  my time on Twitter by quite a bit.  My formula is something like:  2 or 3 personal tweets, 3 quotes, 3 links to information, and a couple of retweets!  I try and average about 10 a day, give or take!

Also, you can schedule to automatically follow any one that follows you and send them an automated “Thanks”.

Since I have started implementing these two tactics, my Twitter followers have steadily increase, without much work on my part.  Just giving out valuable information and being nice!  And every so many days I will spend time searching out keywording in Twitter to see if there are any interesting people that I want to follow.

# 2 Another great application is Tweetdeck.  This enables you to keep FaceBook and Twitter on one page.  The best thing I like about this is that you can see if someone mentions you on Twitter and easily respond!  Which is great because this is about building relationships!

So, if you aren’t using these, give them a try.  They are both free and can greatly help you in the social media area.

Hope these tips help!

Organization is not my strong suit….unfortunately. And I do realize that I am not supposed to store all of my log in information where it is easily found. But….I put my log in information where I couldn’t even find it! So, what good does security do for me when it keeps me locked out????

I should be laughing here, or finding some humor ~ but I am tired, can not find log in names and passwords… things need to be done and I am stressing.

Breathe in….Breathe out. This to shall pass and I will find a way to get the job done.

If you ever think that you are the only one that has “one of those” days…don’t fear ~ you are not. When you find yourself right smack in the middle of one, just ~

Breathe in….Breathe out.

Figure out what you may have done better and then do it! Learn and move on. My task is to find better ways to store my log in and password information that I can assess when needed!

WOW! Productive day…I have figured out what doesn’t work and now am making changes. Life is good!

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On a personal note…..need to check on log in storage software!!!!!

Yes you can!

Having a plan is a good thing…but as the saying goes, “To much of a good thing can be bad for you!”.

Example?  Glad you asked!  I tend to get caught up in the planning of, well, anything.  So much so that at time I don’t even implement the plan!

Sad, yes—but true.  Do plan, map out your business or schedule out your vacation, but remember…planning is only a small fraction of it.  You need to get off your duff and apply some action.

If you aren’t seeing results that you would like….check and see if you are still “planning”.  Sometimes just starting can create the motivation and momentum to get the ball rolling towards success!!

~~~On a personal note~~hubby agreed that a cruise might be a good idea! Woo Hoo….now to plan it!!  lol

Have a super week everyone!

I was sitting in church yesterday morning and our pastor was teaching on Grace….great subject as usual.  He said something that really stuck with me.  Reconcile with the past, then forget it.

Now, we aren’t taking about all the good things that have happened in our lives.  We are talking about our mistakes, things or situations that would have been better had we chosen differently.  We all have them ~ and I am not going to repeat the sermon ver batium…….

What I am going to ask you do to is forget…..forget that bad business decision you made.  Move on.  Don’t do it again. And move on.  There are things that we allow to repeat, like a bad movie, over and over in our heads.  It does no good to dwell on the bad things of the past.  If there is a lesson to learn, then ~ please ~ learn it, apply it, and do better next time.

Stinking Thinking is what some call it.   Whatever you chose to label it, you need to deal with it.  Create an atmosphere of good thought to produce good actions and then, of course, great results will follow.

Forget yesterday, live in today, and plan for tomorrow!!

So, what do you balance? We all have a couple of things going on at any given time…and if we aren’t careful, we can get caught up in one area to much, which will leave other areas lacking attention.

Kinda like my flower garden. Some days I just don’t have enough time to get it all done, so I just weed a small area when ever I can “find the time”. The only problem is if I don’t delegate enough time, just weeding a small area, now and then – well, let’s just say the weeds grow much faster than what time I find.

And ~ who can find time? Really! It’s not like we lost some hours somewhere that we can go claim and add to our day. We all have 24 hours to do with as we see fit, but without a plan of action or somesort of goal, we get unbalanced quickly and leave things, sometimes very important things, undone.

I am not a list maker, but I am making a simple one with what I want to get accomplished and putting it by my computer. I am also going to try and stay on track. I can easily burn hours on the internet looking for information.

It’s all a balancing act, and before we can balance anything, we have to know what we are balancing, and exactly what our priorities are.

Time to get your thinking cap on!

And on a personal note….I am so ready for the weekend….Hubby is going to a friend’s home for some football and I may actually get to sleep in!!  Woo Hoo

OK I am not SuperMom… nor do I try to be. I realize that I cannot do everything…nor do I try to!!

But I am learning that I still may think I can do much more than I really can…Unfortunately, at the expense of my business…or some other priority.

So, I urge everyone…get a note pad and write everything down!! Doesn’t have to be big, fancy, or leather…. it just needs to get the job done. Have one in your purse, or briefcase. Put one by your computer and in your car. And, as I have come to learn, one by your bed is a good thing….you see I had the most fantastic idea for an article the other night, it was such a great idea that I “knew” I would remember it in the more. In fact, I had it half way written as I was falling asleep. And the next morning…all I could remember was that it was good. Not one speck more.

So now I have a notebook on my night table, just in case it comes back!

We aren’t perfect…so don’t press yourself to be. Help save your sanity with the little things!

On a personal note~~it’s almost time to start planning for my trip to Jamaica!! Planning is as much fun as the trip!

I am no fan of doctors….dentist even less. It probably has roots in my childhood although I don’t necessary remember any horrible experiences. Just a fear of them.

I have never really overcome this fear…never tried to and because of it haven’t made the yearly check-ups and appointments.

No time.

No money.

The excuses went on and on…..and now I have teeth that need root canals, crowns, some have been pulled and bridge work is needed.

No time? No money? Why yes, I will find both because I really want to keep my teeth. Vanity trumps fear.

“A stitch in time saves nine” is now haunting in my head because more time and so much more money is needed than if I would have originally overcome my fear and just had regular maintenance done!

How about my business… what do I fear? Because the thing that I fear may be the thing that could possibly cause my business to flounder.

What is your stitch? What do you fear? What are some of the little things that need doing today which will save you countless hours and save you money?

Ahhhhh we sometimes look over those mundane things, yet a business minded person will attack those little foxes before they spoil the vine.

So find the foxes today….

And on a personal note….make a dentist appointment if you haven’t been for a while….remember, vanity trumps fear!

The future depends on what we do in the present. – Mahatma Gandhi

Consistency - Discipline … these can also make or break you.

A slow steady drop of water will eventually wear down a boulder or possibly drive some one crazy…like me — drip, drip, drip — in the middle of the night — I can’t stand it.

And that will also drive up your water bill if not fixed.  That slow steady drip can cause quite a spike in the monthly bill.  So if something so small can drive up your living cost — then it stands to reason a steady dose of focused work can drive up your income.

If you want to see a marked difference in your home business.  Target a problem area that you have and work on it EVERYDAY.  You don’t have to spend hours upon hours of daily work – just a focused amount everyday and you will be amazed at the difference this will make.

This is a simple yet profound approach to your business.  The basics – yet again — I am floored with the number of people that I talk to that totally miss this concept.

They spend a fortune on the newest book looking for a miracle pill that will blast their business off the planet.  And they don’t focus on their everyday business plan, so it never takes off.

Working from home takes a major amount of discipline.  Especially if you are the mom….or even the dad… that takes care of the home.  The laundry pile calls continually….the baby needs attention….we can easily let our house work take over.  I fight this continually.  It takes the discipline to focus on the work that needs done now.

WAKE UP!!  REFOCUS!!  AND GET STARTED!!

Set goals – and follow through — everyday.

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On a personal note – these blogs on consistency have really hit me square between the eyes — I tend to hit something hard then slowly taper off… a habit that, fortunately, I have acknowledged and am doing my best to change…. so jump on board and let’s do this together.

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Sometimes the hardest part of anything is beginning. That first step. Forward motion from a state of inactivity takes great energy and motivation. It takes determination and a large dose of initiative.

One of my greatest faults is the feeling that I need to have everything perfect before I can begin a project. The plan has to be completely mapped, all the wrinkles ironed out. This frame of mind has stopped me from doing many things. If you are anything like me, get over yourself and get started.

I just read a quote from Napoleon Hill which fits this topic, “JUST WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR AND WHY ARE YOU WAITING?” (If you ever need a great read then pick up something, anything, by Napoleon Hill – he will get you focused, fast!!)

Now if you ask that question and have a legitimate answer, then by all means wait, get whatever needs done, done….then get started. But to often I hear excuses, not reasons.

So don’t let excuses stop you. Don’t wait for everything to fall into place. Get started and work out the kinks as you go. Remember, starting is the hardest part, not the planning, the initiating is… so, as the Nike slogan says so well, “Just Do It.”

I have heard it said that the hardest thing that needs doing in your business, will most likely be the next thing that needs doing. That is such a profound statement. For me it was starting this blog. I knew all the reasons why I should, and I knew the benefits of doing so….and I actually like to write.

So, what was stopping me?? Fear. The fear of failure is often the root cause of not getting started. I will write on this later, but, it often helps us to recognize our enemy. Once I realized what was causing me to hold back on starting, I could take action.

Once you are started, the motion will create more motion, science proves this everyday. And I am sure you know this also.

So, do something today. Whether it be in your business, something personal, or an odd job that needs your attention at home. Take control and take action. Just Do It… Today.

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