I spent a gorgeous weekend in the Adorandacks, we were in a spacious cabin with a fireplace, hottub and all the amenities anyone would ever want. We were on a lake with trees all around us, nobody in sight, snow coming down in buckets, we actually got snowed in and stayed an extra day. It seemed that all was very, quiet and still until I got on my blackberry and looked at all the tweets from twitter in one hour. So many conversations, people, places, things, ideas, it made me think of all the people I haven’t met yet and all the possibilities of great things to come in the new year.
Christmas is upon us, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, no matter how bad the news is all around you, there’s so much opportunity and hope all kinds of things are about to happen to you, and it’s just around the corner. Social media is the greatest thing to happen to us ever, it’s like getting a huge gift, you open it and you find another package, then another and another. It seems to me that you just have to know what you’re looking for, where you want to go and what you love to do because there are new friends, clients, partners, collaborators out there waiting for you on twitter, facebook, linkedin.
Not sure where you’re going, how to get there, what to do next? I’d love to hear from you. I’d also love to hear from people who have a great story to tell about meeting someone in one of these communities. No matter what you’re doing or not doing, there’s someone out there who can spark a creative thought that leads you to take an action that could change the course of everything. Maybe someone out there inspires you to do something you’ve wanted to do for a long time and just maybe there’s a person or persons out there you might collaborate with on a project. You never know unless you get out there and jump in.
Cyberland is offering classes on blogging, social media marketing and online networking in January. We’re going to bring you the best and brightest people who will show you how to charge up and go forward in ways you’ve never known possible. Look for announcements in the next couple of weeks with dates.
Have a very merry Christmas, enjoy your families and friends, the greatest gifts we’ll ever have. Just for a few days, time will stand still, savour every moment, make new memories and think of all the things you’re grateful for.
Have you ever thought of partnering up with a business who has a similar target market but who doesn’t compete with you? Your choices of who to partner up with is as limited as your imagination. Al Lautenslager writes in his article in Entrepreneur Magazine .
I have always loved collaborating, brainstorming and working with partners who have a compatible business that provides outstanding service. When you think of all the possibilities, new distribution, new clients or customers, new ideas, it’s exciting!
Social media allows you to build community around common interests, values, public service, hobbies and what better way to find a “power partner” to grow your business? Being a pioneer on the web in 1994, helping companies form such alliances, I have had the great fortune to build long lasting relationships in different industries that my clients have benefited from. I won’t hesitate to pick up the phone and plug them into someone I’ve known for years. They might not be the ideal partner for this particular client, but as Steven Covey said in “7 Habits of Highly Successful People”, one of my all time favorite books, “everyone has a circle of influence, those people have circles of influence”. I’m sure you get my point.
No matter how bad the news gets on any given day, I try and live by these words from a song I heard in Spamalot a few weeks ago, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”. This is a great way to keep focusing on solutions to grow your business, reinvent your career or whatever your particular need is at this time. The point is, you don’t have to do anything alone, there are so many wonderful, inspiring and enterprising people on the web, and now you can find them through blogging and social media.
We’re about to enter 2009, just think of all those incredible people you will meet, it’s like serendipity, my favorite word. You never know what’s around the next corner, no matter where you are, there are so many opportunities just waiting for you!
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends, the most precious gifts of all.
Hats off to Tamar Weinberg for creating “The Ultimate Social Media Etiquite Handbook”. I found this extremely useful, if we’re all building relationships online, we have our reputations to protect and this is new territory to many of you. This is an excellent guide to help you navigate through unknown and sometimes murky waters.
http://www.techipedia.com/2008/social-media-etiquette-handbook/
About the Course/Register
Become a Blogging Maniac is a 12-week program designed to teach business owners each and every detail of blogging and how to use a blog to build credibility and attract your target market. Here are the details:
Dates: 12 Consecutive Mondays from January 5-March 23, 2008 from 1-3 Eastern
Cost: $97.00
Faciliator: Bea Fields
Sign Up Today for Become a Blogging Maniac
Benefits: The Become a Blogging Maniac 12-week course is designed to not only teach you all the ins and outs of blogging but to provide you with a community of like-minded people to collaborate with. Once you join this content packed program, you will be able to:
1) Build credibility and share your expertise by hosting a beautifully appointed, media rich blog.
2) Connect with other bloggers through our community forum.
3) Post your upcoming events on our “Special Events” page for additional exposure.
4) Join our weekly calls so that you get each and every question answered about blogging, podcasting, video streaming and online social networks.
5) Gain access to scores of free resources to help you keep your business fresh and in the black.
6) Spend 2 hours in a private coaching call with me (Bea Fields) to help you iron out any issues you may be facing with your blog or attracting visitors.
7) Build a pipeline of readers who are perfectly designed to become your clients in the future.
What the Program Includes: The cost of the 12-week Become a Blogging Maniac Course is only $97.00 (a bargain indeed.) The price includes:
- 12 (2 hour) telecalls
- Access to our community and blog
- One (2 hour) call with Bea Fields
- Access to all audio recordings and handouts from our calls
- Video tutorials and pdf files to get your questions answered
- A copy of the 19-page Become a Blogging Maniac e-book
Sign Up Today for Become a Blogging Maniac
An outline of our weekly calls:
Week 1: Installing a blog on your own unique domain and choosing a theme to reach your target market (NOTE: If you are in need of a customized blog OR you want your blog to match your website, please contact Dale Noles: dale@dalenoles.com)
Week 2: Using keywords and search terms to build tags which will drive your target market right to your blog
Week 3: How to write over 25 compelling, popular blog post titles
Week 4: How to add plug ins which will turn your blog into a podcast, video blog and photo album
Week 5: How to turn your blog into a podcast
Week 6: How to add video to your blog to create a dynamic experience for your readers
Week 7: How to collect news-breaking content for your blog
Week 8: How to download and add plug-ins
Week 9: How to use Feedburner to optimize, market and monetize your blog
Week 10: The 25 ways to market your blog
Week 11: Social Networking Part 1: Getting your blog connected to My Blog Log and Blog Catalog
Week 12: Social Networking Part 2: Getting your blog connected to Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In and 20 other online social networks
Sign up today for Become a Blogging Maniac
Jan and I were talking yesterday about the article in Fast Company by the title of Is the Original Blogging Dead?
I think the article makes a few good points that blogging is not dead, but we are certainly moving in the direction of integrating social networks into this process. With the tools which are emerging, you can get your blog what I call “hyper connected” to over 30 social networking sites. If you are reading this post today via Twitter or Facebook, it’s because I know a few tricks to take this blog out to the world.
So…for 2009, start considering how you can get “hyper connected.” I believe the upcoming year is going to be “the year of social networks.”
If you are ready to start using blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In and 20 other social networking sites to build an online web presence, Cyberland.com is now open to the public. We offer a variety of consulting and training services to help you make the most of web 2.0 marketing and new media outlets. To learn more about our process, click on the Our Process tab to get started today!
