Blogs

Good morning BBWO!

If you are in need of some serious Monday Motivation join me live today on Wealthy Sistas Radio12pm EST hosted by Deborah C. Hardnett!

Click link for details: http://www.blogtalkradi...

BBWO50 Buzz is in the air! Did you make the list this year? Do you know who's on the list?

In celebration of the BBWO 5 year anniversary, I proudly present the 2012 “BBWO 50" Honorees; 50 Fabulous Women Entrepreneurs who also happen to be members of the Black Business Women Online Social Networking Community.


BBWO Memories
Click here and share some of your favorite BBWO members in honor of our 5 year anniversary!  As always, my goal with BBWO is to inform, motivate, inspire and connect us. As women entrepreneurs of color our hard work too often goes unnoticed, so I want to personally applaud all of you for being the strong business women that you are! Keep going, keep moving, we are all watching.

You can now find the BBWO50 List featured in the SistaSense Magazine, special summer edition. Honorees will also be showcased on BBWO within the next few weeks.

Link to magazine issue: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/419697
Happy Birthday Black Business Women Online; 5 years young and aged to perfection! It has been both an honor and a privilege to be the founder of the best online networking community for women entrepreneurs of color.


If it's been a while since you have been on the BBWO, come back home! Take a minute to add your latest videos and update your blog with some of the wonderful things you have been doing this year.

Hope you join us on the call today! And be sure to share some of your favorite BBWO memories by clicking this link. Be apart of the conversation. More to come!

LaShanda H.

p.s. This post is brought to you by BBWO Sponsor Lamzu Media. Find out how Lamzu can take care of your press releases, websites, and publicity needs. url http://lamzu.com

I have had such an amazing time building the Black Business Women Online Community. There are so many moments in the last 5 years that I can recount as some of the best moments in my life.

All great memories should be shared. I would love for you to take a moment and join me in sharing some of your favorite moments and memories as members of Black Business Women online.


When we share together, we grow together!

Motivate.Inform.Inspire.Connect
BBWO 2012 and Beyond

_______________________________________________________________

I am going to use the space below to share some of my memories and also spotlight quotes from the comments you post below (more to come). -lh

In celebration of the BBWO 5 year anniversary, I proudly present the 2012 “BBWO 50" Honorees; 50 Fabulous Women Entrepreneurs who also happen to be members of the Black Business Women Online Social Networking Community.

As always, my goal with BBWO is to inform, motivate, inspire and connect us. As women entrepreneurs of color our hard work too often goes unnoticed, so I want to personally applaud all of you for being the strong business women that you are! Keep going, keep moving, we are all watching.

You can now find the BBWO50 List featured in the SistaSense Magazine, special summer edition. Honorees will also be showcased on BBWO within the next few weeks.

Link to magazine issue: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/419697

Happy Birthday Black Business Women Online; 5 years young and aged to perfection! It has been both an honor and a privilege to be the founder of the best online networking community for women entrepreneurs of color.


If it's been a while since you have been on the BBWO, come back home! Take a minute to add your latest videos and update your blog with some of the wonderful things you have been doing this year.

More to come! -LaShanda Henry

p.s. If you are a proud BBWO and would like to show your support, please feel free to add one of the badges below to your website.

Changes in the Making
Is it your website? Have you seen all the wonderful BBWO businesses being featured on the top of each page on the network and on our Facebook page?  Visit our new areas Books, Services, Shops and Business Profiles. Don't forget the submission changes from 10 back to 45 dollars after this week. Browse, Buy and Sell - Supporting Black Business Women One click at a time!

One Thing You Want? 2012 Mid Year Resolutions
It's 6 months into 2012 and 4th of July is just hours away, what is one thing you want for your business come December? Before I say anymore, let me say this ... Don't take this question lightly. There is power in the words that we speak. What you claim today will be your destiny for tomorrow, so take a minute from the busy todos of today and declare your vision.

I'll start...
By December 2012 I want to plug at least 5 wholes in my business. You know what wholes are right? Those little things you keep saying you are going to do (that can really make an impact on your day to day), but somehow they keep getting pushed to the bottom of your list of priorities. One of my biggest accomplishments last year was creating SistaSense in Print Magazine (an idea I always though about). This year I dared to dream even bigger and host my first 3 day workshop, She Rocks the Web.

Think about what you dare to do by December. Think it, speak it, write it, remember it, and make it happen! I've got a few more months to make magic happen. What's one thing you want?

Hello BBWO!

I hope you are having a wonderful week. A few quick things to share with you today. As you know BBWO is designed to connect women entrepreneurs from across the globe.

Many of these women are looking for service professionals to work with and I often get their requests for VAs, Planners, Designers, etc., which has lead to the creation of the new Services Area, where the BBWO Community can post and share unique offerings.

As a new feature, be one of the first 100 women to post your service today: http://services.mybbwo.net And also note that you can post your Business Profile via our growing Profiles directory: http://profiles.mybbwo.net

Latest profile by Andrea Foy author of "In the Still of the Night". These new areas are extensions of BBWO that I hope will make it easier for you and others to find exactly what you are looking for.

In the coming week expect to see the 'STORE' area too! This will be where BBWO members can finally showcase their products in one place!

More to come. Till then have a great one!

LaShanda

There’s a pretty well-known online marketer whose favorite quote is “Hope is not a marketing plan”. In other words, you can’t just pick a marketing strategy and “hope” it will work. Instead, you have to put together a detailed marketing plan where you lay out your bevy of strategies for meeting your business goals. I don't mean a comprehensive list of daily tasks...rather, it's about breaking down each tactic you want to use and the process you’ll put in place for its implementation.

Start With Your Business Model

Not every marketing strategy will work with every business model. You’ll hear lots of promos about “proven” tactics, but that doesn’t mean they are the right ones for you. First, examine your own business model then outline some of the characteristics of that model and your market, including:

• A detailed description of the key features of your target customers
• Where customers will come from - is it organic search, paid search, joint ventures, offline sources, affiliates, etc.?
• What are the buying triggers for your prospects buying triggers? Where or when do they usually make a purchase decision? For example, it could be from a personal referral, a product review, a trusted expert's endorsement, through surfing content sites, through email suggestions, etc.

What Are The Most Popular Marketing Strategies?

Now, look again at your business model and the most popular marketing tactics used by your competitors and what I like to refer to as "role models of excellence". How do they convert from prospective client to paying client? For example,

• Do they have sales pages that lead to freebies that put prospects into an email series
• Do they host regular free teleseminars that include a special offer at the end
• Are they using straight SEO and traffic generation
• Are they engaged in multiple joint ventures and recruiting affiliates

Which Attraction and Marketing  Strategies Will You Focus On?

If you try to do several marketing campaigns at once, it's hard to do either one of them just right. It's probably better to focus on one to start with. Test it out, see if it’s working, and then look at adding more strategies. There are endless methods to choose from. Try choosing the easiest marketing strategy so you can put it in place and get moving straight away. You should always have at least one easy tactic you can use that doesn’t require a lot of thought and planning. For example, you can create an autoresponder series that starts every time a person signs up for your list. It’s a very passive form of marketing that requires almost no attention once you have it up and running. Then you can start planning out more campaigns.

Try Working Backwards

In order to put your marketing plan down on paper (or computer), start by looking at all the steps involved from the end result back to the first step. What are the activities you need to complete in order to implement and maintain each strategy? Now put those steps into order by priority and use a process you can follow. Which steps are interdependent? Which ones need to be managed first? You can even use a mindmap to lay out a visual of the process, which makes it easy to move things around. Freemind is a great, free tool for creating mindmaps on PCs. SimpleMind is another one that works well on iPads (this is one I use frequently) and it has a desktop version as well. You can export any of the mindmaps to a pdf so that you can print them and post them by your computer.

Make sure you set deadlines for achieving each step in your marketing plan.The success of much of your strategies will be dependent on a specific timeframe, like the length of time between emails or follow-ups. Get it on your calendar and set firm dates for yourself. Your marketing plan will help you determine what actual tasks you'll need to do from day to day. For example, if you know that your emails need to be set up in daily intervals, then you’ll need to put the outlining and writing of those emails down on your to-do list every day. Just don’t make the big mistake many impatient, overambitious marketers make by trying to do everything at once. Focus on a single strategy at a time, set deadlines, and follow it through to success.

 

Beyond telling you I love the look of these new watches, I'm not so great with all the specifics (lol), so I thought I would share a few details from the website:

Swiss watch and jewellery maker Swatch unveils two new watches in its signature collection of Swiss made precision Irony chronographs. The Chrono Collection presents a pair of Irony Chronos featuring the popular model's classic good looks and timeless style.


Polished stainless steel gives the polished 40mm case, brushed bezel and brushed bracelet a distinguished and self-assured look and feel, while sun-brushed black or red dials present a fashion-wise contrast, with the tone-on-tone counters adding just the right touch of cool, understated elegance to the design. Smart, poised and stylish-the Chrono Collection says it all.


For my fellow moms out there trying to stay in style, do take a look at this new collection and let me know what you think.

Shop Swatch Red Circle - $175.00 or Fuchsia Circle - $175.0

Registration for 
She Rocks the Web 2012 Ends in 10 days.

Hosted by LaShanda Henry, BBWO Founder


With so many ways to start up online and/or market your existing business it's easy to get lost and feel overwhelmed. In an effort to help you become more profitable and productive online, SistaSense founder LaShanda Henry will be hosting She Rocks the Web; a 3 day weekend workshop for web women entrepreneurs. This event will be hosted June 15-17th at the Aloft Hotel in Chapel Hill, NC.

She Rocks the Web is designed to show women entrepreneurs how to:

Make a Desired Living from your Online Business
Gain the Attention of Customers, Media, and Advertisers
Create Online projects that are purposeful and profitable
Create engaging websites and blogs
Achieve personal happiness and success

To register or learn more about this event visit http://www.sherockstheweb.com/

I hope you are having a blessed day today! When you are a busy mompreneur its hard to stop (trust me I know). There is so much you want to do, have to do, feel you need to do to build a legacy for your children. Whatever you do just know that on your path to greatness you are already great SO continue to shine like the stars that you are!


• What do you love about being a mompreneur? (join our conversation)


• For You: The BEST Thing to Help with Your Web Business this Year

• Surrender: Let Oprah Show you her Secret to True Success


• Get Focused: Discover the only 7 things You Need to Be Doing Online


• For Everyone: Fix My Follow Up Workshop
• 


LaShanda Henry, BBWO Founder and Full Time Mompreneur

p.s. I hope to see you at 
She Rocks the Web 2012! We are going to have a GREAT time bonding over business AND I've recently added a special sign up for mompreneurs, so be sure to take a look at that as well.

Oh NO,  My Mom Is On Facebook!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my ‘mom’ readers!  As a mom, you know how hard it is to stay connected to your teen—especially if your teen has a busy online life in addition to all the activities and events they are participating in offline.  I encourage parents to be involved in the online communities of their teens—especially when it comes to Facebook.

“Friending” your child on Facebook is just the first step.  The next step is making sure you keep this “Friend” connection alive and well.  Here are some of my tips for having a great Facebook relationship with your teens:

Do not be an editor:  Opening yourself up to their online world means you will see the good, bad & ugly from your teen.  Do not feel the need to discuss each and every post with them in detail such as correcting their grammar or asking them why they had such a terrible time during that recent family reunion.  Only step in when absolutely necessary.

Watch what you post:  Think twice before posting on your teen’s Facebook page.  This really isn’t the place to reprimand Jimmy for not cleaning his room or for telling Sally what a sweet daughter she is for helping you with the laundry on a Saturday night. 

Do not embarrass your teen:  In addition to not posting embarrassing comments on their page, do not share embarrassing information about your teen with your own group of Facebook friends.  No teenager wants to find themselves tagged in a photo from their 2^nd birthday where they are wearing nothing but a diaper and cowboy hat.

Remember, their friends do not have to be your friends:   Do not make it your mission to be Facebook friends with all of their friends or to comment (either online or offline) about their friends’ activities and posts.

Pay attention to your own page:  Now that you can see your teen’s page, they can also see your page.  Do not post comments or pictures you would not want your kids to see—show them the appropriate way to use this great social networking tool.

I am also running a contest for a Kindle Fire. Like my page and you can enter. I have my whole website on my blog app. Have a look.

I would love to know what you think of my new pages and my new website.

Let’s protect our Teen’s, while they are texting and using social media site.

www.protectyourteen.com

www.securityfirstassociates.com

Yesterday I had a great conversation with a dear friend about how she is ready to step out on faith and move towards opening her business. I was so excited to hear that she was ready to start because she has shared that she has had this passion since grade school. However, as we began to discuss what her next steps were she was giving herself a deadline to the end of summer for brainstorming. I feel like this is a lot of time to squander for brainstorming. Well, let me put it this way, if I were passionate about something like starting a business, it wouldn’t take me 3 months for the initial brainstorming. So, I shared with her how to break it down and brainstorm in a timely manner and get moving on her business:

1. Get a trusty notebook

... and highlighter. Here is a picture of ONE of my brainstorming notebooks. I take it EVERYWHERE (as you can tell) because I never know when I am going to get a brilliant idea. I have an Ipad as well, but there's something about the good ol' fashioned pen to paper that is convenient and gets a lot of creative juices flowing. Now, that works for me. Find what works for best for you and USE IT! You may have a better memory than me :) and can remember things easier. You may enjoy typing or using a stylus better. But whatever it is, use it and have it with you at all times. EVEN when you sleep! You never know, you may come up with great ideas while you are dreaming! Have that notebook/Ipad/journal handy to record those things immediately. You can ask my husband how many times  I wake up in the middle of the night to write stuff down (of course he doesn't like it) but it's what I have to do to get the information down fresh.  So get a trusty notebook.

2. Research your target market

This may take you a little more time than jotting ideas down but it's very key to your success. The web defines a target market as a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise.  If you research and discover there isn't much need for your business, you may have to revamp your services or think of some other ideas. However, you may find that there’s at tremendous need for your business in a certain market or industry. Therefore, you will know to move forward with your plans. Research by calling certain businesses or people you know and conducting surveys that will give you direct answers.

3. Find out what others are doing

After you find out who needs your services research companies that are in the same industry look at their pricing, website setup, which market they are trying to capture and make yourself a competitor. You want to be better than everyone else so how can you set your business up to be better? Feel free to even call companies and ask them questions as a “potential client”. Check out their customer service and what they offer and strive to be better.

4. Plan as far as your mind will take you

If the industry you plan on going into has potential for franchising or to become a corporation make your plan up to that point. Come up with your company name, your corporation name, and your franchise name. Come up with how the company would operate as you expand. Are you starting with partners or will they come later? Are you going to start with a blog and move to a website? Are you going to eventually have employees, etc? All of these things need to be a factor in your brainstorming. Always have a plan so you know where your business is heading.

5. FINALLY, Answer these 2 questions:

Why are you going into business?

Why would someone want to do business with you?

I consider myself a go- getter. When I am passionate about something, I cannot rest until it is in fruition. That is what I expect from the people I work with. No need to give yourself a year or two to get your business off the ground if you are working day and night. No, everything won’t be figured out by the time you open your doors but life is about learning lessons. Pricing, customer service, invoicing, etc. may be trial and error. The key is to start getting customers through the door. Otherwise, who knows if you’ll ever start your business? If you wait too long you may lose your steam and your business idea may fade away. So, start brainstorming today and get started tomorrow!

Tamara Garrison-Thomas

www.garrisonprosperitysolutions.com

www.busy925.com

Introducing our PWP feature of the week, Courtney Crosslin. Courtney is the creative owner of, haveAwonderful. After a tough divorce, Courtney explains how she had a mini breakdown and moved across country to start a new life. She began dating and sharing stories with her colleagues who began asking her tips on how to enjoy being single and begin dating again. Eventually, her advice turned into her business. She is now a successful work from home mom and coach offering outings, mock dates, image consulting, and date planning for divorced men and women looking to get back on the dating scene. It was a pleasure hearing Courtney’s story and inspiration to take her pain and make it her gain.

1. Tell me your story. What were you doing before you started your own business?

Before starting my own business and getting married, I worked in IT sales. After getting married, I was a stay at home wife and mother.

I've since divorced, traveled, learned to love life, and I'm happily dating.

2. What made you want to start a business and what is your mission?

I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I remember other kids playing house (changing dolls, grocery shopping with the little plastic carts, cooking, etc.), I never really did that. I would always figure out a way to play corporate woman. I'd shuffle papers, hold meetings and hand out money. I'm not sure where it came from, but my Mother says that I've always been bossy -- but I know I got it from her, my Grandmother and Great Grandmother.

I run several businesses, but my mission has always been to make a difference. Be it teaching a small business owner how to update their website or a divorcee how to enjoy dating again. I just want people to learn how to haveAwonderful...

3. What inspires you? What keeps you motivated daily to keep growing your business?

Life inspires me! I love to travel and meet new people. My love of travel definitely came from my parents. We (they) were master road-trippers. My Father (who passed away from cancer 13 years ago) was a master storyteller -- and I loved that about him -- and to this day, I'm a sucker for a great life story.

I've always been and have felt blessed. I've had a good life. I have an amazing family, a great circle of friends and I've never been seriously ill. This is something that I'm grateful for. As I've gotten older, I have realized that not everyone can say that. Therefore, I feel like I have a responsibility to do good and work hard. That notion alone, keeps me motivated.

I'm also madly stubborn. My Mom says that as a kid, I would physically shiver when she would say "No" and that I would always follow her "Maybe" responses to my questions with, "Maybe yes or maybe no?"

4. Do you have a mentor? Who is it and why? Do you believe it is important to have one?

I can't say that I have one mentor, but I do have people in my circle of friends whom I trust and go to for professional advice. I have an accountability partner and friend that I meet with once a week and I value that relationship like the air I breathe. Since we're both entrepreneurs and work from home, it's good for us to have someone to check in with to discuss our goals, wins, losses and challenges. We keep each other on track.

So, I would say an accountability partner is very important! I guess a mentor is too as long as they have the time to help you get where you want to be in a manner you want to get there -- hopefully ethically.

5. What would you tell someone who wants to get involved in your line of business but doesn't know how to get started?

Research, find a niche and just do it!

6. What advice would you give to someone with an entrepreneurial spirit?

If you're already out there pursuing your entrepreneurial dream, keep at it.

If you're just getting started (or are afraid to start), understand that you will have good days and will have a lot of bad days. You HAVE TO be fearless and tenacious. Oh, and watch the movie "Random Lunacy”.  It's a great movie about what can be accomplished with very little and the worst thing that can happen is that you hit bottom -- but you're still alive to fight another day.

Courtney’s story is a true testament of how to make the best out of a difficult situation. If you are looking to revive your self-esteem and confidence because of a failed relationship, I would encourage all of you to contact Courtney. You can visit her website at haveAwonderful.com. Follow her on twitter @haveAwonderful and contact her office at 914-816-1129. And in the words of Courtney,

haveAwonderful…

 _____________________________________________________________________________________

Be someone’s motivation and tell us your story! To be featured on PeopleWhoProsper.com email Tamara@garrisonprosperitysolutions.com. Put PEOPLEWHOPROSPER in the subject line and share a little about yourself.

Reputation management online is a huge deal these days. It's so important to keep up with your brand, to know what's being said about you, how you are being perceived as a professional, as an entrepreneur, as a person.

Why? Because how others perceive you determines how they will interact with you. Your job is to eliminate any potential barriers that keep your message of service to the world from being shared.

But how do you do that? What does it take to monitor your brand online? The good news is - it doesn't require that you invest in some high cost tool (unless you are a larger company and you have lots of information to mine). If you are a smaller business, or a solopreneur there are some affordable and even free ways to create your own "listening board".



What is a listening board

A listening board is a dashboard of sorts. Its a way to keep track of what's being said, how often, and what sentiment - i.e. positive, negative, neutral is out there on specific topics, or even people.



How do you create one

Basically, you put together keywords and phrases (including your name, name of your company, common words you use in your content, etc) into a search system and let it email/text you with results when it finds something.

Here is one very straightforward, simple way you can start a listening board. There are others as well but this can be done literally in about 5 minutes.


1. 
List out keywords and phrases as I mentioned already that might be used to find you online

2. Go to Google Alerts:
http://www.google.com/alerts

3. Select what type of alert you want to monitor (i.e. videos, blog posts)

4. Determine how often you want to see it

5. Click Submit


Wa-la, you now have alerts coming to you so that you don't have to constantly search online to find out where you are being referenced. Now again, there are other much more savvy ways to get this done. In fact, my team even does it for some of my small business clients. But if you're looking for quick and free? This is one way to tackle it.



Hot tip:
if you're using a mail system that allows you to filter email, set up a folder or label to pull all your alerts to one place so you don't have to swim through your mailbox to view them.

Impacting the way the world sees you is far easier than you might expect. By taking specific actions, you can manage your online brand reputation and create a consistent brand and image that bridges both the online and offline world. Crafting your message and delivering it to the world online is just another component of marketing. It truly is one of the most important business strategies you can use.

WANT TO RE-POST THIS ARTICLE ON YOUR BLOG OR USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

About the Author: Tanya Smith is a creative business strategist and coach specializing in showing service based solo entrepreneurs how to simplify, save time & stand out with simple but transformational strategies that engage more quality leads and clients. Her company Be Promotable provides fresh actionable strategies and virtual resources to promote business owners as power players in their market. For instant access to your free 7 secrets to online time management report, visit us at: www.tanyasmithonline.com.

Cheryl Garrison

http://www.topleaderstraining.com/

http://www.mytopleaders.com

In honor of Mother’s Day on May 13, 2012, I would like to dedicate this post to my mother, Cheryl Garrison. In my interviews to business owners for PeopleWhoProsper.com, one of the questions I ask is, “Do you have a mentor? Who is it and why?” Commonly, the answer is the entrepreneur’s mother OR they will definitely mention their mother as an inspiration and/or help in their business; someone they can call on for advice.

Fortunately for myself, my mother is actually a business woman herself.  Therefore, I am able to confide in my mom on a personal and professional level. She is truly my inspiration, mentor and accountability partner to keep me on my toes. It is very rare that I make a business decision without consulting my mom.  I mean, why wouldn’t I? She has been in business for HERSELF for over 25 years JUST to take care of my siblings and me when we started school. I truly admire her for that. Even now, she continues to build successful businesses; mentoring women and helping people live a healthier life. I hope to make my child as proud of me as I am of my mom. She has made so many sacrifices in her life for her kids and sometimes we just need to recognize our mothers for that. That’s why I love Mother’s Day. It’s a chance to really thank your mother for all that she has done (whether living or in heaven). So, as we approach this day, I want to encourage you to continue to ask your mom for her advice and take it. Most times, it’s the best advice you will get!

"A  mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon   us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice   with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still   will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to   dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our   hearts."

~ Washington   Irving

Tamara Garrison-Thomas

 www.garrisonprosperitysolutions.com

 www.busy925.com

Nobody Told Me...

Do you have questions about running your business? There are so many important things people did NOT tell me about starting up and keeping it together so now is a good time to watch the video replay of my last Webinar: Nobody Told Me: How to Startup and Stay In Business.

LaShanda Henry

p.s. I have more stuff to share with you (click here for details).

At a recent workshop I facilitated, a participant shared that she didn’t understand the big ‘hype’ about having a website. Though she had one; she hadn’t attained any customers from it. I explained that having a website is a good first step, but not enough to gain clients. If you are not engaging your visitors, chances are they will never return. Do you have a website but not sure how to guide traffic to it? Here are 5 ways to steer traffic to your website:

Register with Major Search Engines

An important step to steer traffic to your website is to make sure is it is listed on all the major search engines such as Bing, Google and Yahoo. This is one of the most efficient ways of directing free, targeted traffic to your website. It’s easy and takes just a few minutes of your time.

• Bing
• Google
• Yahoo

Respond to Questions and Comments

People leave comments for a reason; they are interested in your response. By responding, you’re letting them know that you’re actively involved in reading the comments and encouraging them to visit again. In addition, this is an effective way to become known in your industry as an expert.

Develop Article Marketing Strategy

Blogging is an easy way to drive traffic to your website and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. If executed effectively, this can be a smart online marketing strategy and an affordable way to grow your business. Blogging is ‘big business’ among entrepreneurs, writers and those who just want to express themselves thru electronic communication. More and more businesses are blogging as they realize the benefits. There are several online sites where you can submit your articles for publication and back link to your website:

• E-zine Articles or www.ezinearticles.com
• Associated content or www.associatedcontent.com
• Articles base or www.articlesbase.com

In addition, posting your articles on various social media sites is a great marketing strategy to generate traffic back to your website. Post your article using the following FREEsocial networks:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Use Social Bookmarking Services

Social bookmarking sites allow you to search, organize, share and store the bookmarks of different web pages. You are also able to promote articles and stay ahead of your competitors. Here are 3 popular social book marketing services:

• Digg– The ultimate social media site; it’s become notorious for producing traffic waves so massive that they can have a DOS-style impact on smaller hosts.
• Stumble Upon – Helps members discover and share great websites. As you click Stumble, the site delivers high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of 8 million+ other web surfers with interests similar to you.
• del.icio.us – A social bookmarking website; users can mark their favorites with del.icio.us and share them with each other; making it onto the front page of the “recently popular” section on del.icio.us will send a decent amount of traffic so long as the category you’re tagged into is popular.

Create Videos

Video marketing is all the RAVE! Whether creating how to, testimonial, product review or interview videos for your website, it increases brand awareness and creates viewer action leading to more inquiries and sales. In fact, according to Online Video Marketing Statistics, adding video to small business profiles:

• Increases number of business profile views more than 100%
• Increases number of profile clicks more than 30%
• Increases number of calls generated by more than 18%

In conclusion, by using these FREE methods to create visibility to your website, you will be able to generate more traffic over time, thus, have a steady flow of potential leads.

As the CEO of your business, I think it's most important to evaluate and know the results you're looking for each week.  That won't happen if you don't have clarity in your business and if you haven't identified the "to-do" items that will support your goals.

So, I'd like to share 3 things that you can do to have a successful business week every week:

1. Gain Clarity on what you want to experience for the week financially.  Now divide that figure by the average cost of your service or product and it will give you how many customers you'll need. Stay focused on that number and write down at least 5 ways to reach your goal.

2. Identify 3-5 new contacts to connect with each week (daily M-F).  Create a script in advance and remember that if they have a business allow them to share what they do as well.  Discuss ways you can help one another and directly ask if he or she could use your product or service at this time.

2. Review your schedule every Sunday evening.  If there are any business to-do items, appointments or activities that don't support you meeting your  overall business vision or goals for the week - eliminate them.

Here's to your business success!
Trina

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This video series inspired by She Rocks the Web, SistaSense 3 Day Weekend Workshops: http://www.sherockstheweb.com.