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Are you using Social Media like Twitter and Facebook to build your list? Are you building a list?

One thing you must be doing if you’re going to realize any level of business empowerment is list building.

One of the most important things in an Internet Marketing business is a list of contacts. It’s important for you to build relationshpswith your customers. Your contacts are called subscribers on your listsand they are the most important asset of your business. List buildingincorporates building relationships. Your prospects are encouraged tovisit your website through your marketing efforts. Hopefully they signup to receive your free offer which should be of value to them and youare given an opportunity to build rapport with them and share thesolutions you have with them.

You notice I said you have the opportunity to share your solutions with them. Unless you have the opportunity to build rapport andincrease the know, like and trust factor you will only share yoursolutions and never have the opportunity of actually add them to yourclient/customer community.

One way to build your list is to use Social Media.

Social media includes Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace and it actually includes blogging. There are many other Social sites, however,my focus at this time is on Twitter and Facebook.

If you don’t have an account on Twitter you can go to www.twitter.com and you’ll see a prompt to register and you’ll need tofollow each one. The one thing you need to keep in mind is that thefirst impression is important having said that you need to have aphoto. If you have a business you might opt for a business logo,however, I would suggest that you have at least one account with yourpersonal name and then add another one. The other important thing is tohave a link to your blog or website. I suggest your blog or if you havea free offer (recommended) have a link on your page to direct them toyour free offer. This will also enhance your list building endeavors.You can only use one email per account.

If you don’t have an account on Facebook go to http://www.facebook.com you’ll see a link to register. Follow theprompts. Same thing with regard to your photo. Don’t post every linkunder the sun on your profile. Be intentional and don’t confuse yourfriends.

You need to know the proper etiquette for each site. Twitter is a fast mover. You can actually tweet all day, however, there is a rulewith regard to the ratio. You want to do more original tweets, followedby retweets and then maybe 20% tweets to your own offers, links etc.

Facebook is a little slower. You don’t want to post updates all day and resist posting links to your business for the majority of yourupdates on your profile wall. Your profile is for personal and there isa facebook fanpage that can be used for business.

Now back to the idea of list building. You need to know what your target market is and your goals for Facebook and/or Twitter. Withoutthis you won’t have any real results.

You’ll want to know your Twitter and Facebook strategy.

Then there are followers and friends. How do you add targeted followers on Facebook/ How do you add targeted friends on facebook?

These are all great questions. I can’t answer everything in this post however, I do want to invite you to request free access to myTele-training “I Rock on Twitter and Facebook and you can too!” Go to http://budurl.com/irocktwitterfacebook and you’ll receive immediate access.

If you want advanced support I invite you to learn more about my “I Rock on Twitter and Facebook Social Media Empowerment Coaching club.”You can go here
http://budurl.com/irocktwitterfbcoach there are limited spaces for the Early Bird level so I suggest you enroll now!

Let’s Rock!!

Robin aka The Empowerment Diva
The Authentic Life and Biz Empowerment
Mentor,Coach and Trainer to women across the world

Why should you listen to Robin?
Robin has a combined total of over 10,000 followers on Twitter which she accomplished au naturale’ (no gimmicks)
She was named 1 of 25 urban woman entrepreneurs to follower on Twitter

She has a nice following on Facebook and her Facebook Fanpage fans grow by the week without intentional effort, however, she plans tointensify her efforts.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all of the talk about Social Media? Are you spending more than 30 minutes max per day on Twitter? Facebook?You don’t have to spend most of your day on these sites. I’ll sharewith you a couple of resources that can assist you in leveraging yourtime.

Some of what I’m going to share can also be applied to other Social Media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, however, in this post I willfocus on Twitter.

What is Twitter? Well, where have you been? LOL

Twitter is a great resource to enhance your marketing efforts and will definitely offer
Business Empowerment when you know what you’re doing.

Twitter would have to be one of the fastest growing sites on the web today. It is taking the internet by storm and there are around 10,000new users per day signing up to participate in this internet revolution.

Twitter is best described as a micro blogging platform. You are limited to 140 characters each time you do an update, which initially,may seem a small amount. However, as you become more experienced, it’sjust amazing what you can fit into 140 characters.

That said, Twitter is much, much more than that. It is like one huge global chat room, but then again, it doesn’t have to be. It all dependson how many people you follow on Twitter. If it’s in the thousands,then your “Tweetstream” will be running fast and furious witheverything that’s coming in. If you are only following a few hundred,or even less, then things are much easier to keep up with.

Twitter is also a great way to meet new people online, particularly those with similar interests to you. It’s a great way to be visible andposition yourself as an expert in your field to your target audience orniche.

You can set up an account by going to www.twitter.com you’ll see prompts to guide you through the process. If you need support I dooffer mini coaching packages to help you develop a strategy,get set up,and get targeted followers.

Now here are a couple of resources to help you leverage your time on Twitter.

Continue reading here

Given all of the pressures and issues today’s tweens face, the internet is both a blessing and, potentially, a curse. Many local companies and entrepreneurs are taking up the cause to make the internet, and specifically social networking, a safer environment for tweens.

Many tweens are just being awakened to the allure of the internet world. Their initial exposure may be limited to just sending email or looking up items on Google. However, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter usage will likely come into play for tweens as well.

To assist in the issue of protecting tweens online, a new social networking site, called BFF less than three, is being created. The creators, Roy and Ed Suda, are recent Illinois Institute of Technology grads. For those new to social networking and internet lingo, “BFF” is short for “Best Friends Forever” and the less than three (the number three) looks like a heart laying on its side.

This new network will focus on the security and safety of tweens by employing a couple of methods. First, the network will use the idea of “necklaces” to not only verify the user, but to also make it possible, once the user is verified, to connect only to others that the user knows. Secondly, the network will provide parents a report, via email, so that they can regularly see the communication trail of their tween. Such safeguards will help parents to mitigate the risk and exposure of online predators.

While the BFF network sounds like a potentially great social network for tweens, there will still be the need for parents to actively monitor their tween’s online usage. Starting with mentally accepting that the online world is a major component of how this generation communicates is key. Parents who may not already be internet or computer savvy will need to educate themselves more thoroughly in order to effectively help in the safeguarding tweens as they mature in their own personal internet and social network usage.


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About the Author:
Traci S Campbell is the top advocate for tweens and teens from single parent homes. She is the host of Heroes at Home Radio dedicated to providing single parents with inspiration and motivation by featuring other single parents and the author of The C.H.A.M.P. Within program designed to enrich the lives of children and teens from single-parent homes.

How I Maintain My Social Network Without Losing My Shirt

Thank you for the great collection of comments, tips and insights you are sharing on yesterday's post about making connections on Twitter. One of the themes of the comments is that, if you're not careful, Twitter and other social media become colossal time suckers with little to no return. Indie Beauty Network member Anne-Marie wrote, "It can be a bit of a black hole if I follow all the cool links that show up on people's Tweets." And Indie Beauty Network member D'Anna Catterson said, "It can be quite addicting!"

I have found these things to be true. If you don't discipline yourself in any fun social situation, you'll find yourself hopelessly unproductive. Who hasn't experienced staying at the party or talking on the phone so long that some other important detail of life or business is not tended to? We've all done that, so we all appreciate the power of using a system to ensure that our social connections are maintained while our businesses continue to thrive.

Here are my Social Media System recommendations and a little about how I incorporate social media into my business model.

1. Reserve Your Brand At Major Social Media Outlets

Using a popular social media outlet just because I or someone else says you should is a reason to at least make a note to check out the website so you can make a first impression decision about whether it might work for you. If it does not appeal to you, open a free (if available) account in your brand name anyway so that, if you decide to use it at a later date, it's available to you. This prevents others from reserving an account at that site using your name.

2. First, Observe Others

If you decide to start using the account, first watch how other seasoned users of the technology use it. There's no need to schedule this observation time. Just do it as you go throughout your week, hearing about it in blogs, the news, etc. As you learn more about it through your network of business friends and colleagues, you'll develop a framework to prioritize checking it out further.

Take your time. There's usually no need to rush. Look carefully at how the most proficient users of the technology operate. Make mental notes of what they do that is effective and efficient in terms of time. For example, if a successful Indie Tweets 5 times a day on average, and you have a business similar to his or hers, perhaps this framework is a good one for you to consider.

Similarly, if someone blogs 3 times a week, and each blog post is about 5 paragraphs long, use this as a framework for your blog. Do they use pictures? Video? There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Look at what successful people in your field are doing. Listen to what they say about the frequency and manner in which they use the technology and pattern yourself after them. You'll find that you make changes and adjustments as you go to suit your own personal style and business model

3. Use Cross-Posting Where Available

If you decide to take advantage of a new social media outlet, look for ways to syndicate or repeat your content across your different social connections. Most new social technologies are sensitive to the fact that, there are so many of them that users need to be able to do something one time and post it across multiple different networks.

For example, when I post a video to Blip, with the click of a mouse, I cross-post it to my Myspace page. When I post an Utterli audio clip, I choose the option to automatically cross-post it to my Twitter stream. When I post a Tweet, it automatically cross-posts to my Facebook page and to this website in the right column.

Cross-posting allows me to reach multiple people with one activity.

3. Set a Time Limit For Eact Activity

You're busy running a business and a home. You have to fit online social networking into your week, but you also have to set time limits. Otherwise, you'll be closing down the bar every night and waking up the next morning wondering why you have no customers, why you overslept, and why everyone else is bright-eyed a bushy tailed.

Look at your weekly schedule and schedule in time for social connections. Spend the most time at the social outlets that serve your business best. This may change over time.

I receive note regularly from Indie Beauty Network members who say they are tracking new business directly from Twitter through a blog, and then to an e-commerce site. I would say these people need to keep blogging and Tweeting a certain amount each week, and devote smaller amounts of time to other avenues. But again, because business and technology are fluid, not to mention people are fickle, always be on the lookout to change the balance for a good reason.

4. Focus On 3 Social Media Outlets That Work Well For You

As I said earlier, it's important to defend your brand on line, including registering it as a trademark and using it in so many places that the incentive for someone else to do so is significantly diminished.

Having said that, once you're registered for 25 social networking accounts, you can't possibly use them at once unless you hire people to help you. This is a good option if you can afford it, and if you need it, but if not, carefully choose the spaces where you'll invest the most time, and make sure you're getting as much out of it as you're putting into it. Then use other times as available, for other social networks.

For example, you may have found that your blog, your e-commerce website and your Twitter stream form a triple header for you. This is the case for many startup Indies. You Tweet your new blog posts and people comment on them. You comment back to create community at your blog. While your readers are commenting and engaging with you, they also naturally discover links to your shopping cart, so they head on over there with a credit card. Focus on your website, blog and Twitter stream if that works for you.

This is the method I recommend for most Indie Beauty Businesses selling products. As your business expands, add other social outlets that seem feasible and which you can predict hold the most promise of a return. Again, take your cues from your successful industry colleagues.

What I Do

1. Each weekday morning (well, mostly each), I post a short Utterli audio feed to my Utterli page, and cross-post it to Twitter. I sometimes cross-post it to this blog as well, and now and then, I add it to my newsletter (but I have to do that manually so it doesn't happen very often).
2. Each Monday, I publish a newsletter. This is not exactly social networking, but since I have contests and other ways for my readers to respond to it, it's sort of interactive.
3. When I load a new blog post, I Tweet it.
4. Each Monday, I host the Indie Business Radio Show. People can call in their questions live. After the show, streaming and MP3 links are made available so people can enjoy the show, discuss it and share it with others.
5. I Tweet 15 to 20 times a day. This is greatly reduced from when I first started using Twitter, when I Tweeted far more than that. It was not pretty. But I have found my footing at last I think. The only time I may Tweet more frequently in a day than 15 or 20 times is when I'm at a conference, in which case I Tweet more to share helpful business tips with those not in attendance. I also share pictures, audio and video, time permitting.) I use my Tweets for my Utterli post, maybe a blog post of mine, Retweets of other people's blot posts and responses to other people's Tweets. (You can't sit at the cocktail table and just talk. You also must respond to others, yes?) I also Tweet helpful news articles, YouTube videos, etc., that are of interest to people who keep up with me on Twitter.
6. I usually cross-post my blog posts at a few Ning groups such as Twittermoms and Black Business Women Online. I also update and socialize at Facebook, LinkedIn and Myspace when I have time, when I have something helpful to contribute or when something new and interesting catches my attention there. Finally, I invest time commenting at other people's blogs, Indie Beauty Network member and blogs in particular. Because I am the founder and president of the Indie Beauty Network, many of my Tweets deal with starting a small cosmetics business. The rest generally deal with business issues that any Indie Business owner can benefit from.

I vary these activities depending on everything from the work load on any particular day, to the volume of interesting and helpful things I discover and want to share with others.

Just Be Helpful!

At the end of the day, connecting with others is all about being helpful. Sure, I do my fair share of Tweeting about a new service I am launching or my next radio show, but the vast majority of my social networking is designed to help others. And I like to connect with people who share my philosophy of using technology to enhance people's lives.

Ask yourself whether the next social media activity you plan to do will help someone else. If it will, chances are it's a good investment of your time. If not, just as you would at a cocktail party, keep your mouth shut and wait for the next opportunity to help another person.

What do you think?

Whatever you do, don't let being a social butterfly interfere with making a profit in your business. On the other hand, in order to be profitable, you have to interact socially. You can't just set up a store or website and wait for people to come to you. You've got to get out there and meet people, right?!

Do you have a system? Feel free to share it in the comments section below.

If you don't have a system and this post is inspiring you to create one, please let me know that too. I want to know whether my articles are helpful to you!

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