With all due respect to Jason and to Inc. it was a pretty boring piece. You know how people complain about those mundane Twitter updates about what someone had for breakfast? That’s kinda what this article is like.

Except for this quote from Jason:

It really bothers me that the definition of success has changed from profits to followers, friends, and feed count. This crap doesn’t mean anything.

Thank you!! That’s got to be the most intelligent tidbit of common sense I’ve heard in a long time. Since when did success depend on how many Twitter followers or Facebook fans you have? Unless you’re actually having some kind of influence on all of those fans and followers, Jason is right…this crap doesn’t mean anything.

Quantity versus Quality

Take someone like Lynn Terry, for example. At the time of this post, Lynn has over 9,000 followers on Twitter. Sure, that’s impressive although when you look at someone like Darren Rowse a/k/a ProBlogger, it may not seem like a lot. But when you look at WHY Lynn Terry has that many then you can start translating those numbers into how successful she is. She doesn’t have that many followers because she spends all day on Twitter trying to pump up those numbers. Most of her followers are people who read her blog or have a membership at her Self Starters forum. She is successful because she provides value to her readers, subscribers, members and followers. She is successful because she learned the hard way what it takes to make money online and she continues to learn and share what she’s learned with those 9,000+ people. Lynn is successful because she is working.

On the other hand, I’ve seen people with just as many followers, if not more, who really don’t seem to be doing anything. I check my list of followers regularly and, before I decide to follow someone back, I check their Twitter updates. I don’t look at their numbers and think “Wow, they’ve got 13,000 followers, they must really be Someone Important!” I look at what they’re actually doing on Twitter. Are they interacting with followers and giving suggestions or advice? Or are they just spewing out their affiliate links for the Next Big Thing or sharing links to their own blog posts hoping that at least a handful of those 13,000 people will read it?

Having a ton of followers or fans is another one of those “quality vs. quantity” arguments. It’s about the message, not how many people you can shout it out to.

It’s NOT a Numbers Game

Don’t get all caught up in the numbers. Don’t compare yourself to other people and think they’re doing better than you because they have more followers. Look at it this way… if they’ve got all of that free time on their hands to spend on Twitter then they must not have very much work keeping them busy. Unless someone is paying them based on how many followers they have – and I know some of these ads or sponsors or PR people do take things like that into consideration but they’ll learn – then it just doesn’t equal success.

The next time you’re checking your own Twitter profile and you find yourself obsessing over how many followers you’ve gained or lost, ask yourself: Would I rather have 500 people who actually care about what I have to say or 5,000 people who don’t even listen to me?

One particular piece of advice I remember getting that went against everything else I’d been learning was that, if you’re running a service-based business, you shouldn’t be worrying about blogging. The advice-giver said it was just one more thing you’d have to fit into your schedule and gave an example of one particular service-provider who had plenty of business yet they don’t even have a blog.

This didn’t really sit well with me but every time I’ve started to feel guilty for letting my blog go stale, that little piece of advice would pop into my head and I would wonder “do I really need to be blogging regularly anyway?”

Since I don’t have an answer to this question, I decided to ask people I trust and admire: Michael Martine, Grant Griffiths, John Haydon, and Danny Brown.

When I say “ask”, what I really mean is that I fired off an email at 1:30 a.m. sucking up to them and telling them how awesome I think they are (I do!) and by the time I woke up and checked my email this morning, they had all taken the time to respond which really says a lot about what kind of people they are to take time out of their late-Friday/early-Saturday to share their thoughts with me. Great guys, I tell ya.

Ok, enough of my rambling….here’s what they had to say:

From Michael Martine

You need to be blogging regularly if the date of post publication shows, because people have a bias against what they perceive as “old” information on the web. If you’re not displaying dates, then it doesn’t matter as much, but it still matters. The reason why it still matters is that regularly updated sites get crawled and indexed more frequently by Google, and this is generally better for your search rank position (provided you’re doing other necessary search optimization tasks). If you’re using WordPress self-hosted and you have the Google XML Sitemap plugin (which you should), then you can alter its settings to tell Google to crawl your content according to the frequency with which you publish.

People crave consistency, so establishing a rhythm is key, regardless of how many times a week you post. Posting frequently means you’ll generate more content at a faster pace, and the more relevant content found via search, the better for a site’s search ranking.

Your readers will respond favorably or unfavorably to changes in posting. Pay attention to their reactions, and adjust accordingly. On Remarkablogger, the majority of my readers indicated in a poll they’d rather receive larger doses of content less frequently. When I delivered, my numbers shot through the roof. You’d think posting less frequently would mean less traffic, but that has not been case. I now receive more traffic.

From Grant Griffiths

Short answer, yes.  And to even be more knee jerky, why wouldn’t you want to post regularly if you have a service-based business?

A service business is just that, it is a business.  And like any business, you want to market and promote your business.  You want to be found and you also want to be known as the place to go for information about your particular type of service-based business.

In fact, it has been shown that in today’s business world, 75% of those looking for a service-based business are going to the internet to find what they need.  And if you have a presence online, you are going to be found. But, more than that, you need to make sure you can be found and blogging will accomplish this.

Blogging as a service-based business on a regular basis also positions you as a thought leader or opinion shaper in your particular area of service.  There is no reason that a service-based business should not be blogging on a regular basis.

From John Haydon

Yes, yes yes! In order to create trust with folks, you need to give them value first – then they buy. Blog  posts (to me) are ways to give away free stuff to thousands of people at a low cost (you write the post only once, but it gets read a thousand times). You’ll notice that all of the successful real estate agents teach people how to buy a home or select a mortgage.

The second reason is SEO. I rank #1 on Google for “how to make a Facebook Page”. Part of that result is due to the sheer amount of posts I have on Facebook. I’m no expert, but I think Google also looks at how current an article is.

Note: John also followed up his email with a link to this post about relationship management.

From Danny Brown

I’d say you need to be blogging as regularly as you have something worthwhile to share to your readers (whether they’re potential clients or not). It doesn’t even have to be about your particular service, but an off-shoot of it that’s still relevant. It’s a great way of showing your skill sets, knowledge and passion all under one cool roof. But… if it’s just filler for filler’s sake, this will come across and put you back a bit.

So… yes, but only if it’s “worth it”.

Now watch the other guys completely contradict me

Nope, Danny, they didn’t! In fact, all four of you gave some great advice! And it confirms some of my own thoughts, especially when it comes to two of the main reasons I think blogging is a great “tool” for marketing your business – you’re providing fresh content for the purpose of search engine ranking and you’re providing value to your clients and readers who may become clients.

Thanks again to Michael, Grant, John and Danny!

To anyone else who may be reading, what do you think? Do you have a service-based business? If so, how has blogging (or not blogging) affected your business? If you don’t have a service-based business but you’re a consumer, would it influence your selection of a provider if they were blogging regularly?

Today I unsubscribed from the list of a major, well-known Internet Marketer. Why? Because of the subject line of his email… “Copywriter Commits Suicide?”

I understand that you’re supposed to use your subject line to catch their attention and stimulate emotion but sometimes the reaction your subject line gets may not be the reaction you wanted. Sure, I opened his email instead of deleting it…but that was just to get to the unsubscribe link.

Did the copywriter whose product this marketer is trying to sell actually kill himself? No. It was a reference to “professional suicide” which he’s supposedly doing by giving something away for free.

So why make light of something as serious as suicide just to earn some affiliate commissions? Is it really that effective? I’d love to find out his stats and see how many of those emails were even opened and if there were others that unsubscribed.

There are better ways than this to write attention-getting subject lines. And if you’re delivering quality products and valuable information to your clients and customers, they’re going to open your email and read it no matter what the subject line is.

In fact, I don’t even pay attention to headlines. I check to see who its from, because there are certain marketers I trust…and one that would use a sensitive topic like suicide for profit isn’t on that list. I don’t care how rich he is or how many others may trust him. I don’t.

P.S. Avoid the cuss words in subject lines too…unless you’re Frank Kern.

Actually, I say “running” your business but your target market should be something you figure out when you’re starting your business. Looking back at the planning I did when I started my own business, I didn’t realize what a huge piece of the puzzle I was missing by not doing more research and carefully considering and evaluating my target market.

When someone asks you who your target market is, what’s your answer? (If it’s “I don’t know”, we need to talk!) Do you just have a one or two word response? If it takes you a nanosecond to answer that question, you probably haven’t put enough thought into it. Your answer should be something more than “parents” or “small business owners” or “work at home moms”!

Don’t just write out a list…try to really picture your ideal client. What is their day like? Are they busy? Are they checking their Blackberry while they brush their teeth and taking conference calls on their Bluetooth on the way to their corner office downtown? Or are they so busy with kids and school and appointments and carpooling that they haven’t had time to check their email in a week!?

One of the first questions people will ask when thinking about their target market is “How much income do they have?” Take that a step further and ask yourself what are they spending their money on. Do they travel? Do they invest? Do they splurge? If you’re marketing some kind of luxury item, you may not get very far with the frugal types. But if you’ve got some kind of info product or other item that helps people save money, then frugal folks are your friend!

There are plenty of outside-the-box questions you can ask when you’re evaluating your target market. Instead of listing what kind of job they may have, think about what they do on the weekends. What are their hobbies? Would they rather read People magazine than the Wall Street Journal?

You get the idea, right? Don’t just make a list…create a character!

Oh, and once you’ve chosen a target market, don’t think of it as being set in stone. Times change, needs change, even your business changes. If you’re feeling stuck or like your business has hit a plateau and you still feel like there’s room to grow, go back and revisit this process. You may benefit from  changing your target market, adding an additional one, or just try to get to know your existing market a little bit better.

Now on the surface, it may not be obvious why I’m just so tickled with Headway because you’re just seeing the standard stuff – header, sidebar, posts, footer. The beauty of it is under the hood. Kinda like seeing a beat up rusty old Camaro then popping the hood and seeing an absolutely immaculate 502 big block engine! (Ladies, keep reading, I’ll have an analogy that makes more sense in a minute.)

But you can’t make a car look pretty just by throwing a kickass engine in it. So just imagine if, by turning the key in the ignition, the exterior magically transformed and you were left with a shiny custom paint job. That’s how easy Headway is! Well, not literally…but close.

From the minute I installed the Headway theme, it took me all of about 30 minutes to get it looking the way I wanted. Thanks to a “drag and drop” layout editor and theme options that allow you to choose font styles, size and colors right from the menu, what usually takes me a couple of hours was done in a fraction of the time.

I didn’t have to tinker around the CSS at all. In fact, I only added one single line of code and that was to use a tiled background image instead of a solid color. One. Freaking. Line.  You can also edit each page’s layout so that, for example, your ‘About‘ page doesn’t have a sidebar but your ‘Blog’ page does.

Now, with all of that time I saved, I spent some time playing around with different layouts, widths, colors and other style changes. Changes are easily made, whether its the location of your navigation bar or whether the ‘Comments’ link on each post goes under the post title or to the right of it. No minor detail overlooked! Even adding a favicon (that little image that shows up in your browser’s menu bar when you visit a webpage) was as easy as just pasting the link to the location of your icon file.

I’m sure there’s a lot more to it that I haven’t discovered yet and I had to force myself to move away from the laptop because anyone who knows me knows how much I love customizing WordPress blogs. I can totally see myself changing my blog design like I change purses. (See, ladies? You know what I mean, right?)

Don’t just take my word for it. I want you to see what others have said about Headway and how they’ve customized their own blogs using it.

• Here’s my good friend John Haydon’s post about why he switched to Headway. He’s got some great videos that will let you take a peek under the hood. (See the differences in how his blog looks compared to mine? Headway works great for both business and personal blogs…not that mine’s “personal” but it certainly doesn’t look as ‘professional’ as John’s.)
• Danny Brown is also using Headway but not just as a blog theme. He’s donating 50% of any profits he makes from affiliate links to the 12for12k.org charity.
• And another post from another friend, Michael Martine a/k/a Remarkablogger who, even though he’s a devoted Thesis user and has not switched, is still very impressed with Headway and has a better detailed explanation of why than I do.
• Of course, you can always get more details and take a tour at the Headway Theme website.

P.S. Just a quick disclaimer…yes, those are affiliate links and I would earn a small commission if you were to purchase Headway through those links. My opinion of Headway, however, would be just as high even if I never made a single penny from singing its praises.

Transferring domains is a lot more of a pain than I thought it would be. There’s all of this back-and-forth between the old registrar, the new one, the people who do the private domain registration thing… but its finally done! And I now have one less domain registered with GoDaddy.

I’ve been transitioning all of my domains over to Name.com for a while now – I have about 30 domains – and I’m down to about 4 left that haven’t been moved yet. Someone asked me on Twitter the other day why I switched.

My response? Name.com is extremely simple. The layout of the account management page is very clean, navigation is uncomplicated. Take a look at this screen shot comparison. The first image is what Name.com looks like when I log in and click on “Account” at the top. On the right, GoDaddy.

(Click thumbnails for larger images.)

Now, maybe its just me, but GoDaddy is much more complicated when it comes to navigation. Actually, the way it looks now is a recent improvement. It used to be a lot worse but it looks like they’ve cleared out some – but not all – of the clutter and extra menus. Without bogging down this post with a bunch of screen shots, I’ll just tell you that something like changing the nameservers on a domain takes about 2 clicks of the mouse. First, on the menu on the right, click on Edit Nameservers, then enter the new nameservers and click ‘Submit’. Oops, almost forgot….it’s actually 3 clicks because you have to click ‘Remove’ to get rid of the old ones.

On GoDaddy, I’d have to sit here and stare at the screen for a couple of minutes to try and remember where I even go to start the whole process. Do I look under the “Domains” drop down menu across the top of the screen? Do I look under “My Products” on the left and then click on “Domains” or “Domain Manager”….?

There are also a few other reasons why I’ve been moving all of my domains to Name.com, including:

• Google App integration
• Free (and simple!!) private WhoIs registration
• Cheaper prices on renewals and transfers
• Quick & personal customer support

Anyway…all of that just to tell you why AprilTara.com was down for a few days. And if you’re a domain addict like I am, try Name.com next time. No affiliate links or anything here, just personal opinion.

Now that I’m back on track, I’ll be posting more often and I’ll be doing some guest blogging for others so keep an eye out for those!

Basically, I’ve spent the past year struggling to obtain and then maintain a decent income from my own business..and it just became way too stressful and overwhelming! Between the economy and the constant struggle to find more clients and projects (plus some “brain fog” issues caused by my health situation), I was burning out FAST.

Now instead of struggling to keep my head above water and get my bills paid, I’ve taken on an amazing job that was a perfect fit for me – combining my tech skills and my interest in both marketing and the legal field – that will allow me to keep my business albeit on a part time basis yet still have a steady income. In addition, I’m also doing some work on the side helping local bands create and manage an online social network to promote their music.

So what am I going to do with my blog? Well, since there’s really not much need for a blog over at my business site, I’m going to use AprilTara.com to share what I’ve learned over the past year while building my business as well as any advice I have as a result of my experiences and any resources I may have or that my colleagues and social media friends send my way.

Thanks for your patience and, as always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email me at April@AprilTara.com

Twitter is basically just a simple form of communication, much like the telephone.  Do you need anyone to tell you how to use the phone? Didn’t think so. So why do you need someone to tell you how to use Twitter? You don’t.

Just use some common sense.

Remember that Twitter is a public place. Anyone can see it once you’ve posted it, even if you delete it later. “Anyone” includes your boss, your ex-spouse, your babysitter, your neighbor, your son’s soccer coach, your mother-in-law, your daughter’s boyfriend…not just now but in the future too. So don’t say anything that you don’t want to become public knowledge.

Have a personality.

When I gain a new follower, I do a quick scan of their latest tweets. There are a few things I look for:

• Are they updating often, or do their last tweets say things like “Happy Thanksgiving” or “Merry Christmas”?
• Are they carrying on conversations, or are their tweets just about the mundane details of their own life?
• Are they just here to spam everyone by posting nothing but links to a sales page or blog post?

If you’re not interacting on a consistent basis and contributing to conversations, then your Twitter account is just going to be very dull. Even if your tweets contain inspirational quotes and similar Deep Thoughts, its still just lifeless. When you log in to your Twitter account, think of it as walking into an informal dinner party or some kind of social gathering. You wouldn’t stand there talking to the wall about what you made for dinner every night last week, and you wouldn’t stand on a chair in the middle of the room spouting off scripture or random quotes from the latest Oprah book club selection.

I’m not saying that every tweet has to be an @ reply and that you shouldn’t share an inspiring thought or two. Conversations have to start somewhere, right?

So as long as you’re not totally blowing it like this chick who cost herself a job offer with just one Twitter post, don’t keep wasting your time reading every new blog post or e-book about “How To Use Twitter.” Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.

P.S. There are always exceptions, of course. Those blog posts that tell you how to use new Twitter tools or those Twitter accounts that post things like limited time kickass deals or breaking news can be a good thing.

1) Are you hiring?

2) How can I start my own VA business?

While I was flattered that someone thought, at that stage, that I was successful enough to answer those questions, I was also baffled because I just didn’t know how to answer them.

Now if someone were to ask me that today, I would know exactly what to tell them: Buy a copy of Cindy Greenway’s Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways for Virtual Assistants to Find (and Keep) Clients.

First, let me tell you a bit about Cindy. She’s been a virtual assistant since 2003 when she launched Victoria Business Solutions. Since then, she has grown her business to the point where she’s been able to work with just a few select clients and still have the time to support others who want to develop a successful VA business.

In her book, she addresses the two most common questions new VAs have – how do I find clients and how do I keep them? But rather than just give you a bunch of lists and general concepts, Cindy walks you through various exercises, beginning with finding your niche and your target market and ending with effectively communicating with clients and maintaining a successful working relationship with them. She also covers some of the more technical aspects of running a VA business like creating a work agreement/contract and setting up payment processing.

Throughout this book, Cindy includes numerous resources, checklists and exercises and relates her own personal experiences with the various issues you’ll face as your business builds.

If you’re still in the research and planning phase of starting a VA business, Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways for Virtual Assistants to Find (and Keep) Clients will provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to get your VA business off to a great start. If you’ve already started working as a virtual assistant but you’re struggling with taking it to the next level, Cindy’s book can provide you with the solutions to help you overcome those obstacles standing in your way along the road to success.

Purchase your copy of Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways for Virtual Assistants to Find (and Keep) Clients at Amazon.com.

Oh boy, was I wrong! The reality is that dinner sometimes comes from a box, laundry piles up, and I’m rushing through the bedtime routine so I can squeeze in an extra hour or two of work before I finally pass out.

Between the crazy hours, the late nights, the stressful clients…I’m really forcing myself to make the extra effort NOT to wear myself thin. 

I’ve suffered from burnout before, in my corporate life. But I never would’ve expected to deal with burnout as a work at home mom! Now that I’ve spent the past year networking with other work at home moms, I’m actually finding out that its pretty common.

Fortunately, Mom’s Talk Ebooks has recently added a new guide to their “Moms Talk Network” library. Its a Guide to Surviving Mommy Burnout for Moms who feel like a wad of putty, being stretched into a hundred different directions.

Inside you’ll find:

• Why you absolutely MUST make time for yourself in the midst of all everything else putting demands on your time.
• How to organize a Mom’s Night Out – without the kids.
• Ideas for boosting the romance in your marriage.
• Mom’s Secret Weapon: Laughter! It IS the best medicine and so easy to find in our crazy lives.
• How to deal with your daily habits to avoid burnout.
• Why you should care for your appearance – even when only the kidlets are going to see you.
• Learn what sort of exercise many moms finds very relaxing and energizing.
• Why exercise makes you feel better.
• Great calming breathing techniques that will help you cool down when things are getting hot.

So now here’s what you need to do: get your copy of the Guide to Surviving Mommy Burnout (just $9), print it out, find some time for yourself to read the guide – even if you have to sit in the parking lot at the grocery store or lock yourself in the bathroom – and then apply it to your life, starting tomorrow.

Its time to say enough is enough and start taking care of YOU!