EClick Business Services

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:46:54 +0000

24 Productivity Tips From the Best Productivity Blogs

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:32:13 +0000

I’ve been looking through the productivity blogs out there and I’ve chosen some great tips from what I consider to be the best productivity blogs that are still being updated on a regular basis. (Yes, I included my own blog, there I am at number 20. What can I say, sometimes you have to toot your own horn.) I hope you enjoy these 24 productivity tips:

1. Work in a field you love. “Do what you love” is perhaps the most basic productivity tip of all. You’ll be much more productive when you do work you enjoy. Unfortunately, this tip is as obvious as it is ignored . . . When you enjoy your work, you’ll tend to enjoy a fast tempo. You’ll also do better quality work, and high-quality work is more efficient than low-quality work. Low-quality work generates inferior results and often has to be redone.

Don’t waste your time trying to become more productive in a field you don’t enjoy. Such a struggle is a complete waste of your life. You deserve better than to subject yourself to such punishment.” — “Personal Development for Smart People”

2. Goodbye Gadgets, Hello Moleskine. “After years spent tracking the latest gadget trends, handing over my credit card for a PDA upgrade every 4-6 months, and receiving odd glances in public for reading “The Gawkish Geek’s Guide to Gadgets” (monthly), I gave up my fancy gizmos and electronic organisers for good . . .

In recognition of the intense effort it takes for a self-confessed gadget geek to drop his ‘habit’, I hope you won’t mind when I admit to replacing it with another: the love of Moleskine notebooks. These simple notebooks are both beautiful and relatively gentle on the wallet.” – “Put Things Off”

3. Focus. “We previously defined simplicity as the key ingredient in productivity, which makes multitasking the antithesis of productivity. In order to get things done, and make serious progress on projects and tasks, it’s essential to stick to one project at a time and one task at a time. This is accomplished by tuning out all distractions and blocking off periods of time to work without phone/e-mail interruptions.” — “Practical Personal Development”

4. Invest in Yourself. “Make sure you take the time to invest in yourself. This may mean going to a conference or training. It might mean reading a book or regularly checking a blog for productivity tips. (Had to throw that one in there.) The point is to make sure that you are doing things on purpose to better yourself. Showing yourself that you are valuable and worth investing in will increase what you are able to accomplish, both from the new skills you acquire and from showing your subconscious that you believe in yourself.” – Productivity 501

5. Beware the optimism bias when setting task-completion times. “In my days as a project manager (and in another life as a freelance designer), I got into a habit that has served me well to this day: get the best estimate of both job requirements and time-to-completion that you can find. Then add 20%. Then, when nobody is looking, add another 20%. Then pray.

Although it’s no inoculation against the (apparently immutable nature of) Hofstadter’s Law – and you’ll still end up short most of the time – it can help you do one thing much better: manage expectations.” — “43 Folders”

(Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.)

6. Take Breaks. “Instead of increasing the amount of time you work, try to increase the quality of the time you work. Focus on single-tasking and eliminating distractions. Train yourself to focus on one thing for a designated period of time. 30 minutes is usually a good starting point.

Then focus on taking breaks that rejuvenate you and recover your ability to focus. You may be resistant to this idea at first; taking breaks is seen as lazy and counterproductive. Warriors push through it and suck it up, right? Maybe, but they’re also the ones with the shortest careers, who burn out the fastest.” — “Zen Habits”

7. If you have to swallow a frog (completing a task that you dread doing), do it first thing in the morning. “The longer the task sits there, the more you think about it, and the amount of time you’ve invested in thinking about and putting off the task somehow gets added to the psychological “size” of the task. The frog gets bigger and wartier, and the warts themselves start growing hairs and warts. It feels that way, at least.

At a certain point, the distinction between directly working on that task and indirectly working on it blurs to the point in which it doesn’t make sense to make the distinction. If you’ve spent all day (or week) avoiding and fretting about it, then you’ve spent time and energy on it that you could have spent on other things.” — Productive Flourishing

8. Productivity starts with a clear desk. “During his initial description of the collecting process, David Allen talks about taking everything off of (and, in some cases, out of) your desk and plopping it into your in-basket for processing (whether it will ultimately translate into a task/project notwithstanding). Having a desk at home (which I share with my wife) and a desk at the office (all mine), I’ve come to realize just how great an impact the state of your work area can have on productivity.” — “The Cranking Widgets Blog”

9. Schedule your priorities. “The way to make sure that you do the things that are really impactful is to put them on your calendar . . . When you are scheduled for the things that are really important and let the less important thing take only the ‘extra’ time you have, you are on the road to feeling in control, productive, and being successful.

The opposite of scheduling your priorities is letting other people take your time, reacting to the emergency of the moment (found when you checked your email no doubt), and losing site of what you’re responsible to do. This usually is accompanied by stress, overwhelm, and working overtime.” — “Productivity Cafe”

10. Follow the 80/20 Rule. “The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. If you can identify and focus on the 20% that matters most, you can be more productive (and impressive) without increasing your workload. Try to automate or delegate the less productive 80% whenever possible. When random emails and phone calls start pushing you off course, remind yourself of the 80/20 rule and make an immediate course correction. If an emergency arises and you absolutely need to eliminate something from your schedule, make sure it’s not part of the vital 20%.” — “Marc and Angel Hack Life”

11. Do not work more to fix overwhelm, prioritize. “If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of letting little bad things happen (return a phone call late and apologize, pay a small late fee, lose an unreasonable customer, etc.) to get the big important things done. The answer to overwhelm is not spinning more plates — or doing more — it’s defining the few things that can really fundamentally change your business and life.” – “The Blog of Tim Ferriss”

12. Give yourself daily quiet time. “I like the way John Assaraf puts it. He says, “You want to slow down inside so that everything speeds up on the outside.” Take a manual transmission car for example. When you shift from first to second gear, the engine slows down but the car speeds up. As you shift from second to third, the engine slows down again, but the car speeds up even more.

You want to do the same thing: slow down on the inside so that you speed up on the outside. Make it a daily ritual to mediate, breath or visualize every day to become calm of mind.” — “Dumb Little Man”

13. Keep an empty “inbox”. “Allen (David Allen, author of “Getting Things Done”) advocates keeping an empty email inbox for the same reason he advocates processing your physical inbox down to empty every day – if your inbox isn’t a place where you trust yourself to get the information you need and is instead simply a place to store things that could very well be important, you’ll never be able to relax and trust your entire system. Everything in your inbox represents a potential task or project that you are not doing – and you don’t even know what it is.” — Stepcase Lifehack

14. Turn your email alert off. “The October issue of Real Simple magazine quotes a Microsoft and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study that claims it takes 17 minutes “for a worker interrupted by e-mail to get back to what she was doing.”

If this statistic is true, and I know from experience that there is a refractory time after any distraction, it is strong evidence against leaving the notification alert active on your e-mail program. Instead, you should schedule time in your day to check your e-mail. Based on the type of office environment you work in, you might need to check your e-mail at the top of every hour. However, most people can get by only checking their e-mail two to four times during the work day.” — “Unclutterer”

15. The two-minute rule. “One of the main, and easiest to remember, principles of GTD is the simple yet powerful rule: If it takes less than 2 minutes – do it now. Everything else is placed into one of the buckets that you will implement when designing your system. It’s amazing how much impact that one little rule of thumb has on your life. Try it out for a week, and see what I mean.” – “Ririan Project”

16. Use time boxing. “Putting it simply, time boxing is the most effective time management tool that I know of. Even if you already know and use it to some extent, there is a good chance that you can make it even better with some of the tips that follow.

For those new to it, time boxing is simply fixing a time period to work on a task or group of tasks. Instead of working on a task until it’s done, you commit to work on it for a specific amount of time instead.” — “Litemind”

17. Conduct a GTD Brain Dump or a Mind Sweep (Get all of those thoughts you have floating around in your head as loose ends out of your head and onto a piece of paper.) “When we’re constantly having to remember what to do, we spend less time doing actual work. When we doubt that we’re remembering everything we have to do, or suspect that there’s something else we are supposed to do first, then that’s even worse. GTD addresses this by emphasizing the “front-end” decision making to reduce the number of tasks, and by using what he labels as distributed cognition: the offloading as much crap out of your brain into physical systems that are easily accessible and reliable.” — David Seah

18. The most important part of any productivity system is simplicity. “Here’s the system:

Write 3-5 major tasks/small projects/etc. that have to be done today. (These are your Most Important Tasks (or MIT’s.) Do them.

Capture all of the other little stuff that you have to do in the near future. Try to do a few of these each day, in order of when they need to be done (if there’s a deadline attached to them).

At the end of the day, make a list of tomorrow’s MIT’s, and add some of the smaller tasks below them.

Do this every day.”– LifeDev

19. Learn to say “no”. “Not getting the wrong things done is just as important as getting the right things done. Of course, it’s up to you to classify something as the right or the wrong thing to do. But once you decide that something is wrong to do, you should not get it done and not even work on it in the first place. That ensures that you have the time and energy to get the right things done and done right. Reserve your mental energy and don’t waste your resources on something that will give you nothing in the end. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you should be selfish and not help others. What I mean is you shouldn’t help others in a way that will harm yourself.” – Life Optimizer

20. Gather all of the tools, resources, and instructions you’ll need before starting.” “Mise en place” (pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs) is a French phrase which basically means “to put the right things in the right place”. It’s used by chefs to refer to the process of getting things ready before they start to cook the meal. This includes reviewing the recipe, gathering the ingredients, laying out all of the cooking utensils that will be used, measuring spices and other ingredients that will be needed, washing and chopping vegetables, preheating the oven, and so on.

When the chef does start cooking the meal, everything he needs is already laid out before him and all he has to do is work his magic. The concept of mis en place can be applied to almost any other area of your life to help you be more prepared, organized, and productive.” — Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online

21. Make your tasks easy for you to do. “At any point during your work day you are in one of two modes: thinking mode (that’s you with the Boss hat on) and action mode (that’s you with the Personal Assistant hat on.) When a project or task comes up, the steps you’ve got to take start to form in your mind. Now you’re in thinking/Boss mode – the guy/gal who gives the orders. Your to-do list is a collection of those orders, which your Assistant personality will later pick up and do.

So when you’re wearing your Boss hat, it’s up to you to write down the instructions in such a way that your Assistant self can just do them without having to think. . .

The best way to make yourself avoid a task like the plague is to make it a vague monstrosity. The Getting Things Done productivity system defines projects differently from tasks: projects have multiple sub-actions. That’s an important distinction – internalize it, because your to-do list is not your project list. Don’t add multi-action tasks to it, like “Clean out the office.” Break it down to smaller, easier-to-tackle subtasks like “Purge filing cabinet,” “Shred old paperwork” or “Box up unneeded books for library drive.” Because Assistant you is going to run for the hills when Boss you says “Clean out the office.” — “Lifehacker”

22. Keep a daily log. “I have long been intrigued by the usefulness and power of keeping a daily log of ones activities. . . . Recently, I have been coming across many articles surrounding the methods and values of “life tracking”. . . The options and possibilities for how to keep a log are nearly endless. For instance, a simple piece of paper or notebook would suffice. The key, for me at least, is to make your Daily Log as simple as possible to add an entry to.” — “Patrick Rhone”

23. Get Regular Aerobic exercise. “The central part of any productivity plan is aerobic exercise. It seems like it would make you tired. But consistent heart work keeps your body in tip top shape. An efficient body works efficiently and is more streamlined for the zone.” –“Persistence Unlimited”

24. Focus on providing value. “One of the easiest ways for me to discover whether I’m working on important or urgent items is asking myself how much value it will provide myself or others. I know going to the gym, writing articles and spending quality time with my wife will have a more long term impact than sorting files, checking my site stats every 30 minutes and playing Tetris. Ask yourself: ‘How much value will this provide me, or someone else?’” –“Pick the Brain”

5 Conflict Resolution Strategy Tips Anyone Can Use

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:26:26 +0000

Conflict resolution isn’t just for the business world. Conflict Resolution Strategies are helpful in every aspect of ones life. Use it with your colleagues or your hubby.

Here are 5 useful tips that will get you pointed in the right direction.

1. LISTEN BEFORE MAKING SUGGESTIONS.

Some people already have their mind made up and it will make no difference how long you let them rant and rave. The key here is to convince your colleague, partner,teenager, that you are sympathetic to his or her plight.

2. GET TO THE POINT.

In order to get someone to pull his/her weight, you’ll have to be clear that a certain deadline must be met. In other words, don’t just ask the person to do better. Tell him/her what you need. The problem with telling someone exactly what you need is that you come off as brash, which in turn makes the incensed person even angrier. While you should be direct, it’s just as important to cover your behind in case others happen to renege on their promises. This isn’t meant as an invitation to backstab the individual. Just be ready for Plan B.

3. MODEL THE BEHAVIOR YOU DESIRE.

I understand where the developers of these motivational materials are coming from on this one. However, this simply isn’t rational. Quite frankly, I desire for people to leave me alone, never fuss, and do what I say. This won’t be happening any time soon. I’m actually ok with that. The “Do Unto Others” sentiment is certainly the most diplomatic I can think of. But the truth is that you can smile and suck it up all you want to. A really gritty problem is not going to be solved with smiles and handshakes. Mimicking your “aggressor” won’t help either. The best thing to do is keep calm, and be yourself. Think through the problem. But don’t let the other person cause you to become irate as well.

4. ADAPT YOUR APPROACH TO THE PERSON.

This one is also a little tricky. The conflict resolution experts believe that you should tailor your responses according to the personality type. This only works if you’re good at lying—not lying to the other person, lying to YOURSELF. In other words, if said colleague is dead set on leaving you with most of the work on a project, there is no way in the world that simply asking politely is going to solve your problems instantly. Asking is a great place to start. But more than likely you’re going to have to pull some extra long strings to effect this kind of change in a habitual Deadbeat Colleague.

5. ACKNOWLEDGE IMPROVED BEHAVIOR.

How does one do this without seeming condescending? The answer is: I have no idea. Strokes to one’s ego about a job well-done are only effective if there has been a huge effort on one’s part to make a situation better. Giving your irate colleague a pat on the back after you’ve gotten your way just seems slimy. I t’s like telling a robbery victim ‘Thank You’ for letting you rob them. Bad example, but you get the point. Acknowledgement is terrific. It lets the person know that you appreciate their efforts. But after a tense conflict, it’s best to simply put the incident behind you, and try to work better together in the future.

Top 5 Mistakes that Can Kill A Proposal…Dead!

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:58:31 +0000

By Felicia Vaile

Proposal writing is a hot topic. Everyone wants to learn how to write winning proposals.

In some of my past posts I have provided detailed information on how to write a successful funding proposal. Here are the top 5 mistakes that can kill your funding proposal ….dead:

Not following the RFP instructions –
If you haven’t followed the RFP requirements, the funder may not even read the entire proposal. An otherwise amazing proposal can instantly be disqualified! Review the RFP in detail and include keywords from the RFP in your proposal.
Not being clear- Good proposal writing should be easy to read and understand. Use proper grammar and spelling. Use active not passive verbs. Your goal is to create a unique, interesting and persuasive application for funding.
Not providing enough detail – Contact the representative before writing your proposal to ensure you understand their guidelines. Provide details and remember the funder could possibly be handing over a substantial amount of money to the project. Details are imperative.
Forgeting to include an Abstract- The abstract is the meat of the proposal. This paragraph should include why you are seeking funding, what you plan to do with the money and why.
Forgetting to include measurable outcomes – You should be able to clearly identify the projected outcomes and how you plan on measuring these outcomes to prove the project was successful.

Good luck and happy proposal writing

The Road to Realizing Your Passion: 6 Tips to Get “Unstuck”

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:55:29 +0000

By Felicia Vaile

Do you feel life is passing you by? Middle age is creeping up faster than you would like and you still don’t know what you want to do when you grow up? You feel stuck, frustrated, and discouraged that you still can’t figure out what your passion is? You’re not alone…many people just like you experience the very same feelings and frustrations. Here a six tips to help you get unstuck;

1. Get motivated – Easier said than done, right? Well, not necessarily…a few subtle changes can make a big difference. You could be in a rut and if you are I guarantee you won’t find your passion while you’re stuck in a rut. Start by looking at your diet and exercise habits. Even if you don’t have to lose weight, poor eating habits and lack of exercise will definitely affect your ability to focus and concentrate. Decreased energy levels will cause you to become exhausted from your regular day to day routine leaving no energy for exploring passions.

2. Quiet time – Allow some time before bed (an hour if possible) to relax quietly by yourself before falling asleep. This will allow some much needed down time to mentally prepare you for the next day and quiet contemplation and exploration of ideas and thoughts.

3. Avoid negative people – nothing can bring you down faster than hanging out with a Negative Nellie. Whether it is a relative, friend or coworker keep interaction to minimum. Surround yourself with upbeat positive people, their disposition is sure to rub off.

4. Explore your interests – Spend sometime looking at your activities, what you do on the weekend for fun, the books you read, and the shows you watch. Any extra curricular activity you find yourself doing could be a valuable tool in determining what you really want to do!

5. Practice positive self talk – What is your inner voice telling you throughout the day? Negative self talk is a habit and habits can be broken. It will take a conscious effort at first. I use motivational quotes or phrases that I repeat to myself. My latest is “God wouldn’t have given you the desire if he didn’t give the ability” This one makes me feel that I have the abilities to accomplish what I desire to do. Find a couple that mean something to you.

6. Find a Mentor – This doesn’t have to be a person that you follow around like a puppy dog 24/7. It’s just someone you admire and would like to mirror your success after. It can be someone you know personally or someone you admire from afar. Learn about there success story, their outlook and philosophy.

Dancing With the Stars: 6 Reasons Why You Should Associate With the Successful

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:12:54 +0000

By Felicia Vaile

Successful people have qualities that have contributed to their success. By associating with the “Stars” of the business world you not only gain wisdom and great business contacts you will also pick up on some of the following “Star” qualities that set the super successful apart from the rest:

Hard Work

It takes WORK to succeed and successful people understand this. Successful people are up early and work hard to succeed. When the going gets tough the tough get going.

Knowing what they want

Successful people have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish focusing their energy on reaching their goals.

Passionate about what they do

This is a big one…Successful people really do love what they do. Find something you love and you will never work another day in your life!

They Invest in Themselves

Successful people invest in tools that help with personal growth and development. Educational seminars, reading, podcasts are a few ways to invest in personal and business growth within yourself.

They Don’t think they act

Successful people don’t just think about goals they act on them. Write down your goals or use a vision board to focus on the big picture.

They Network with other successful people

Networking with other like minded successful people is key to continued success in business and life. I’m sure your Mother must have told you “birds of a feather flock together.”

How To Set Up A Joint Venture, Even If You Have No List!

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:09:31 +0000

By Jeremy Gislason
If you’re marketing a membership site, or any site for that matter, knowing how to set up a joint venture (JV in short) is one of the best free methods of promotion. In this article, you’ll discover how to increase your chances of success in getting a reciprocal JV partnership, whether you have a list or not. Are you ready to learn how to set up a joint venture that can explode your earnings? Read on…

Reciprocal joint ventures can be easily understood as the “you market my product, and I will market yours” phenomenon. It is one of the simplest yet most effective methods for making fast money on the internet, simply because you get to leverage from the assets or resources of another marketer.

Once you’ve persuaded a reputable marketer and he accepted your proposal, you can expect to make boatloads of money – if your product is in demand and he has a large database of responsive subscribers.

The secret on how to set up a joint venture successfully is to select and convince JV partners who have established credibility in your specific target market, and who have a special bond or relationship with their audience.

So do you know how to set up a joint venture from the “big dogs” in your field? If you have a good-sized list yourself, then getting a reciprocal JV partnership won’t be difficult, since it’s a win-win situation for both of you when you cross-promote each other’s products.

If you have a sense they won’t promote your product because they’re unsure of the response rates, ask them if you can pay a fixed amount in exchange for them promoting your product. In this case, you can get 100% of the earnings since you will pay them a fixed amount. But to entice them even more, you can pay them a fixed amount for sending your promo email, but with their affiliate links intact. This way, they can be assured of a fixed amount of money plus potential commissions from the mailing. And to make it more worthwhile for them and earn their trust, endorse their products to your list for free, even if you’re paying them to promote yours.

A vital key on how to set up a joint venture is to always think of what’s in it for them. How can they benefit from your JV proposal? How will you get them to accept your offer by receiving something equally (or more) valuable in return? Find out (if you can) what the guru wants most, and give it to him.

Another key is to offer or give first before asking for your request. That means asking how you can help them in their business, and probably promote their product first, before you make your JV proposal. That’s the right way on how to set up a joint venture.

But what if you’re new to the industry and just starting out? How can you increase your chances of setting up a joint venture with a big fish in your industry, if you don’t have a large list or money to offer first?

One solution is to ask if you could do some work for him at no cost. That’s the closest irresistible asset you can offer a top marketer. Since the possibilities of having him partner with you are slim to none (as they receive too many offers in a single day), exchange your time for something that they want or need. This way, you could get the attention of the top-ranked gurus with your irresistible offer.

You can offer your writing or graphics services, or any other work that you think will give a favorable impression. You can make an offer about being in his customer service staff for a period of time. Tell him that there’s no strings attached; you simply want to develop your skills.

The downside of this strategy is the lost time, but at least you’re building that all-important relationship with a top marketer. Once you’ve established a close bond or rapport with the guru, you can subtly ask him if he can take a look at your product and ask his opinion if it’s something that could sell well. If he praises your product, ask him something like, “Since you’ve said that Product XX could sell really well, I was wondering if you’d be willing to tell your list about it.”

By doing this, you’re using the persuasion laws of consistency and reciprocity. The marketer has the tendency to stay consistent with his words, and he’ll want to repay you for all the services you’ve rendered for free.

And to entice him even more, give him the largest commission you could possibly give. Hey, you could even give him 100% commissions if your aim is to build a customer list which you can market to, as many times as you want.

So know that you know how to set up a joint venture, whether you have an existing list or not, go out there and make some money!

Want to know proven ways to dramatically increase membership sales? Want to take membership marketing to a whole new level of overflowing profits? Build high-earning membership sites like a pro by going to http://www.membershipmillionaire.com

Article Source: http://www.free-articles-zone.com

5 Ways To Prevent Swine Flu From Affecting Your Business

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:35:21 +0000

By Felicia Vaile

Pandemic is a scary word, the affects of a global pandemic on a small business can be devastating . Proper planning is the one sure fire way to protect your small business from the economical implications of a potential natural disaster such as Swine Flu. Here are 5 ways to prevent Swine Flu from affecting your business:

Limit all non-essential travel to affected areas including Mexico, Texas, California, New York, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
Be prepered for staff issues related to employees taking time related to illness or illness of spouse or family members
Conserve cash Flow: A pandemic flu could reduce revenue by 8% and profit rate by 16% or more during the quarter of the pandemic.
Keep the office clean, post “wash your hands” reminders, keep waterless hand cleaner dispenser readily available for clients and staff to use.
Hire a Virtual Assistant to handle business administration remotely.

How To Use Twitter And Social Media Marketing To Explode Your Online Profits

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:41:38 +0000

By Jeremy Gislason

It’s not surprising that social media has become so popular in so short a time. Not only is it a source of entertainment for most people, it is also the newest strategy for acquiring customers for businesses. And with hot new tools like Twitter, social media marketing has only become more progressive and popular!

What Is Twitter?

In case you’re not familiar with Twitter, it is a social media tool that allows people to know what their fellow twitterers (people using twitter) are doing at this very moment.

Are you getting ready for bed? Put that on Twitter! Are you buying a new couch or writing a report on the effects of social media marketing? Put that on Twitter! Are you throwing a birthday party for your golden retriever? Well, you can put that on Twitter as well. There are no boundaries as to what you can put on Twitter. In Twitter, even the most mundane updates about your life can be pretty liberating.

Sounds simple, right? Perhaps, it is this simplicity that has made Twitter quite a sensation on the Internet. There’s also something amusing about knowing what other people are doing and letting them know your own business as well. This combination of fun and simplicity is what ultimately appeals to Twitter fans.

Applying Twitter In Business

If you’re business-minded, then you probably already have more than a few ideas on how to make this social media marketing tool work for you. Having a Twitter account allows you to inform your clients and would-be clients the progress in your company. You’re not putting up an ad every week (because that tends to be annoying). However, you get the chance to share with them what’s happening to your company’s products, people, tools, etc. right now.

Twitter, unlike MySpace and Facebook, poses an advantage for new and advanced marketers. As an efficient social media marketing tool, Twitter allows you to build a giant list of followers. It allows your clients and subscribers to see what you’re doing right now. It gives them access to your immediate profile and permits you to share your ideas with other twitterers. All free of charge.

How Twitter Can Explode Your Profits

While many people have other purposes and values for the use of the free service, the marketer can use Twitter to jumpstart a list of followers that can grow into thousands.

If you’re someone who sells used cars, you can use Twitter to attract members who are interested in automobiles. When a new shipment comes in, you can use Twitter to announce that the latest Ford model has arrived. Or if you’re having a sale, you can use Twitter to let everybody know about it.

These followers are the next best thing to customers. If they haven’t bought anything from you yet, then you can rest assured that they will be buying something soon. As long as you keep providing them something nice to look forward to, they will always be enticed to purchase something from your company.

Think of it as fishing. You already have the fish interested in your bait. All you have to do is wait for the fish to bite. According to quantcast.com, Twitter reaches about 6.1 million U.S. people every month. This social media tool has also reached other countries and is hugely popular in Japan. In fact, there are other Twitter-like applications that have popped up due to its insane fame!

Despite the huge popularity of Twitter, it is not a disorganized system that doesn’t have any limits. For example, you can only send 1,000 updates, 100 API requests and send 250 direct messages each day. And while there is no limit to the people who can follow you, the same freedom doesn’t apply vice-versa.

The maximum number of people you can follow is limited to 2,000. In Twitter-speak, to follow means to receive Twitter updates. This limit will only be lifted if you manage to attract more than 2,000 followers to your account.

According to Twitter, this is done to prevent SPAM users from adding up into their system and to prevent abuse from all current members.

It’s not that difficult to attract more followers into your account. In the long run, this will only make your Twitter account more meaningful because of the effort you’ve put into it.

The beauty at this stage is that once you are at such a level, it’s easier to attract new followers into your account. The benefits from taking such steps are acquiring your own list of eager followers (in which you can pitch your own products and services); and more importantly, gaining new business contacts.

Other Social Media Marketing Methods

There are other methods of social media marketing available for your use. Twitter isn’t the only way to enhance your business and get a constant flow of leads.

Other methods you can explore include:

1) Blogs

2) Community forums

3) Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn.

4) Video-sharing sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, Google videos, Yahoo videos, and AOL videos.

5) Content sharing sites such as Squidoo, Hubpages, Wetpaint, Qassia, and Google Knol.

These days, you shouldn’t just limit yourself to one thing. With the Internet as vast as it is, you should use every opportunity to make new contacts and establish yourself. Besides, think of all the new things you can learn from interacting with other people online!

Leave comments on your choice blogs and participate in forum discussions that allow for signature files after every post. Make informative videos and upload them to video-sharing sites. Explode your list of contacts through social networking sites. Share your knowledge and be recognized as an authority by submitting your content to content-sharing sites.

Not only will these help you establish credibility, you probably won’t even have to worry or stress about making money in the future. Remember that social media marketing, like any other marketing methods, works if you work it! Now like many of our mentors say – get to work!

Jeremy Gislason is co-founder of the world’s leading client and content management system, the professional’s choice all-in-one “create and manage your own membership sites” e-commerce solution: http://www.memberspeed.com

Article Source: http://www.free-articles-zone.com

How To Use Facebook To Build Up Your Business

admin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:26:48 +0000

By Jeremy Gislason

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking mediums, and their membership numbers are increasing quickly. It is a great tool for networking; but like many tools available for networking on the web, promotional or marketing activities are frowned upon.

So be careful when using Facebook and do your online marketing activities under the radar, or you might miss out on a powerful tool to boost your business.

In this article, I’ll give you some vital pointers to maximize the power of Facebook.

1) Just like any other social site, be careful what you put in your profile.

You don’t want to be seen as a link spammer. And you don’t want to give away too much personal information either (unless you don’t care that thousands of people may see your profile).

Just be careful with any personal details you put out there for others to see, such as where you live and pictures of your children. You do not want to pick up a stalker, especially when you are networking with strangers.

2) Don’t make the mistake of using your business name as your profile name, as this is against Facebook’s terms of service.

You are allowed to create other Facebook pages to brand your company, products or websites.

3) Respond to any friend requests and carefully send your own invitations. Make them personal and interesting.

Developing a great network is your long-term goal to generate a slow, but steady traffic stream to your websites. Use this tool to your advantage without being pushy or overbearing. Facebooks members hate spamming (who doesn’t?) and will carefully watch out for anything that violates their Terms of Service (TOS).

If you want to see profiles of those from another network, add them as your friends using the “Add to Friends” button. Follow the steps in the Edit tool to fill out any information you want others in your network, or others you accept as friends, to view.

4) Use various applications of Facebook.

Facebook has many applications which would make your networking experience easier or more enjoyable. Examples are applications for adding footage or photograph albums to your profile for others to see.

I’ll discuss two other powerful Facebook applications in a moment.

5) Use Facebook’s “My Questions” application to find out what people are exactly looking for concerning your niche.

This is where posters answer certain questions about themselves and what they are looking for on Facebook. They will also list their interests. Use this in your networking activities.

Unless they have expressed an interest in your field, do not invite them to join your friends list. Of course, you can still ask them if you genuinely want to be their friend.

But if you are there to network for your website business, then choose your friends wisely. This is how you are building your list and getting traffic to your website. So you have to manage your time well and eliminate non-productive activities.

Again, be very careful about Facebook’s TOS. Do not go against it because breaking the rules will get you banned.

6) Use “Facebook Discuss.”

It is Facebook’s answer to instant messaging. Chatting, or IM’ing, on Facebook is truly quite easy when you use Facebook Discuss .

Just go to your Facebook page and you can start using Facebook Discuss immediately. At the base of each Facebook page, you may see your Facebook Discuss tools.

The first of the 3 Facebook Discuss tools is the online friends tool. This simply tells you which of your Facebook buddies is online at this time. The next Facebook Discuss tool is notifications that may let you know if you have any new Facebook notifications right from the tool. The 3rd tool in Facebook Discuss is the real discuss tool.

7) Create and join Facebook groups.

Just as they have subscribed to your blog, they’re going to join your Facebook group. So people looking on Facebook for related groups would feel welcome to join.

Facebook groups are viral selling mechanisms. Search Facebook for groups on your topic and related ones. In each of these groups, you can post a message on the group Wall or debate board, or you may use the Post a Link feature to inform the group’s members of your group and your blog.

By promoting your Facebook group at first, rather than promoting your blog, you decrease the chance the group director will remove your message. Any Facebook member can make a group and invite users on their pals list to join.

A form prompts you to give the group a name, passing outline and class. At the following stage, you can customize your group’s available applications, upload a profile photograph and set privacy levels.

A secret group is fascinating for work-related activity, but it will not show up in search results. Choosing a closed group might be the best idea for you to protect your privacy. You will be inspired to choose members from your friends list to join the group.

When you start a group on Facebook, you can invite members to join the group and share their thoughts, viewpoints and consultations about your product, idea or start-up. Invitations to join a Facebook group can be through your Facebook buddies, your Yahoo contacts, etc.

Integrate your application into specific areas of the Facebook profile.

A Facebook application can take on a lot of forms; but in order to entirely implement the selection of integration points and deliver a full user experience, it is advised that you integrate your application into specific areas of the Facebook profile.

This permits millions of viewers to see your business everywhere on Facebook and attract potential patrons, who would naturally visit your start-up Internet site.

Remember to follow all Facebooks rules; otherwise, you’ll risk getting banned and your account deleted. This is not what you are looking for. Instead you want to use the group feature to promote your website within Facebooks rules. Do not overstep by thinking you can get around the rules. Use Facebook features to your advantage and you will see an increase in your website traffic.

Want to know proven ways to tremendously increase membership sales? Want to take membership marketing to a whole new level of overflowing profits? Build high-earning membership sites like a pro by going to http://www.membershipmillionaire.com

Article Source: http://www.free-articles-zone.com>