It's Official! Our Garden Club Is Launched!

Hi everyone ...

My weekly mailing is not able to keep up with all the little and big things that are going on and that I want to make sure you all know about ... so I have officially launched  The Keep Your Business Growing Garden Club!!

Join me every Thursday on the telephone at 4:00PM (PST)  Dial In for 30 minutes, or so, to hear a conversation about a  ... 
"How To" ~ "What's New" ~ "Did You Know" ~ "Anything Happening Online!"

It's Open To All  ~  No Sign-Up!  Just Dial The Numbers Below Every Week ! 

Call-in Number & Access Code   Will be the same each week.
 218-632-1688    873572#

Topic For April 5th 
Anyone looking for NEW Prospects? 
Looking for specific needs? Got special requirements? 

I'll be talking about ... 
How To Find & Connect With Qualified Prospects  via LinkedIn and Twitter! 




 Really hope to hear you on the line later today ... if not,  join us next week!

 Keep your business garden growing ...
 margie

What Day Is Best For Sending Email Broadcasts?

What is the best day to send an email broadcast?  This question is asked by just about all my clients and more! To answer it one must start with looking at one's list and the lifestyle of the recipients.  Then the best you can do, because people are checking their emails all day, every day, in today's world .. is go with your gut feel.

If the gut feel leaves you a bit "unsure" here is some recent research for the positives and negatives (of sending email broadcasts) for each day of the week. Enjoy!

Monday 
Positive: Office work has not filled inboxes yet
Negative: Consumers are in work mode and won’t be focused on non-work tasks
Best Practice: Send emails late Monday morning, after consumers have cleaned the weekend spam from their inboxes

Tuesday
Positive: People have organized their week, and can find personal time for emails
Negative: Emails poised for a weekend response may be too early
Best Practice: Use Tuesday for emails that request action during the workweek

Wednesday/Thursday
Positive: Consumers are planning their weekends and gearing up for personal time
Negative: Time during the workweek is running short, and requested action may be pushed back to the following week, or even forgotten about
Best Practice: Focus leisure and weekend notifications during these key weekend planning days

Friday
Positive: Studies indicate fewer total emails sent compared to the rest of the week, increasing visibility among the myriad of other messages
Negative: Consumers hurry to leave the office early, and may not take time to view non-work related emails
Best Practice: Send emails early in the day to give consumers more time to take action. An unopened email from Friday will sort to the bottom of an inbox on Monday, and is often discarded

Weekends
Positive: People check emails on weekends, too, so weekends may have untapped potential
Negative: A weekend email may seem overly-intrusive to some people
Best Practice: If possible, try to avoid Sundays and focus on Saturdays, which may have a better response rate

Keep your business growing!
margie

Oh That "Captivating" Power Of The Internet! A Personal Experience!!!

Woo Hoo ... it's 2012 and a new commitment to my blog!! 

It's been too long and I miss you.   Hoping to keep it handy so as my blogging thoughts happen I can do what I'm doing now!  Share them with you! 

Most of you know how I have "always" promoted the power of the intimacy of the internet ...how you have so much opportunity via the hypnotic state people are in as they read your communications .... Right?? 

Just found myself in one of those modes and had to smile.  Am sitting here at my computer and even though all I have to do to refill my coffee cup is stand up and turn to my left ... I was NOT budging because I did not want to take my eyes off the computer.  Was I reading just one article? No .. was scanning from article to article on the Linkedin NEWS page. 

Then it got worse! My left contact lens got realigned in my eye somehow and was causing discomfort and was kind of fluttering.  There was a moment when I asked myself can I endure or "must" I leave this compelling screen.  That's when I had to laugh and got up and fixed my eye and yes, refilled the coffee cup.  BUT also thought what an example of what I preach. 
The internet gives you a captive audience!!  Maximize those interactions for your business success. 

Happy New Year everyone!  Anyone else have a similar story to share?? 

Keep your business growing ...
margie

How To Make A Transition To A WordPress Blog or Website!

 
Hello ...

Once you know "if" WordPress is for you, what's the next step to take? 

Making a transition to WordPress deserves serious thought as the entire direction of your online presence will at some point be supported by a content management interactive hub.  It is the way the online world is headed for a multitude of good reasons! One major reason is the ability to have up-to-date information immediately available for your prospects and clients! A bit of a competitive "must" .. yes?

Right now the proven leader for an easy to use content management system is WordPress.  It's an excellent platform to implement and will serve you well.

So where do you begin? 

STEP 1: GRASPING THE CONCEPT
The best first step, from my experience, is to understand the WordPress platform.  The end result of a WordPress product can look pretty similar to a traditional newsletter and/or website.  However the "behind-the-scenes" - the how, where and why content is applied within the platform is a bit different and is what makes all the difference!

A kaleidoscope is a great analogy to what happens on a WordPress platform. Do you remember playing with one?  Watching all those different shapes of colors of glass rearrange themselves and take on different looks based upon "reflections from internal mirrors." 

In WordPress, the individual pieces of your business content and the pieces of the WordPress platform become the pieces of colored glass. It can appear in different ways for different types of buyers in different sections of your blog/website as the season, month and time of day changes!!!  AND ... you get to do all this yourself .. without having to pay your web person!

For some of you, the above example might be a "stretch" .. but it gives you at a minimum the right mindset to continue. 

STEP 2: IDENTIFYING YOUR COMMUNICATIONS   
Once you have an understanding of the dynamics, you need to put your basics (the pieces of your business) on paper. It's the same exercise I have my clients do with a traditional website, blog or any communication.  Who are you talking to? How many different types of people do you talk to? What actions do you want these readers to take?  What do you offer, what information is needed, to make them take those actions?  What are the different "seller to buyer" types of connections that will be required?

If you want to go slow you might want to pick just one segment of your business for the above exercise.  Once these elements are identified  you will want to think about how many different combinations, sorts, tallies, etc you will want to create from all your pieces. Again, what are the different "seller to buyer" types of communications that will be required?  Get that nailed and you can move onto setting up your WordPress structure.

STEP 3: CREATING THE STRUCTURE
WordPress Themes are the heart and soul of your structure.  They provide the basic components that will support the presentation of all your different seller to buyer communications identified in step #2. Themes all do different things and have to be chosen carefully. You do not want to be restricted by a theme and not be able to maximize your communications! 

Within each theme, you create the pages of your WordPress blog and/or website. Each page (or communication) will have a different purpose. Which pages have postings? Which are static? Which are both? Where on each page do you want a sidebar? What type of "widgit" will support the type of info you want in a sidebar?  What type of "sorting" of data do you need to give access to (archives, categories, etc)? Are any plug-ins necessary for supporting your varieties of content and/or coding,... and so on. 

One very practical part of a theme is if you outgrow a beginning theme you can just change the theme and your content will find their respective home immediately on the new theme!  It is a transparent transfer!!

Most people require some instruction on the above components of the
WordPress structure.  Some components are pretty self-evident but not all. A good place to "play around" to get familiar before you get serious is on www.Wordpress.com.  Activate a free WordPress blog on the WordPress servers and play!! 

STEP 4: GOING FORWARD WITH YOUR BUSINESS
Transitioning your business to a WordPress platform can be done in different ways. It depends mostly upon your schedule, the amount of content, the timing, the desire, the ability and sometimes the budget!

Some people begin with a WordPress blog. Over time the blog is expanded and enhanced and before one knows.... they have a WordPress website. Anyone who begins this way is more apt to apply self-instruction! Not necessary as there is always instruction available, but often the case. There is a chance of missing some core capabilities if you are on a novice level.

Other people are ready to create a WordPress website immediately.  There are many free themes available to use. However if you go this route of creating a website, let me recommend you invest in a custom designed theme. Get the layout, components, functionality, colors and other that you need for your unique branding and communications. Todays Way offers this service so make sure you speak with us before going forward without!

Know that Today's Way is here to help you with your transition, of any kind.  Don't let yourself be left behind. On your own or with our help, go to www.wordpress.com for free themes and hosting.  You can also go to www.wordpress.org  for themes to install on a private web-hosted wordpress program.  If you already pay for web hosting there is a huge chance that you have Wordpress already sitting there waiting for you to activate.

Visualize that kaleidoscope I previously mentioned and place your business communications inside of it. How great would it be to have the pieces of your business that were just presented to buyer A  be able to appear for  buyer B with just a click. As long as you submit your content to the platform  ... you, yourself, can make all the updates, changes, and additions to your WordPress platform that will achieve this and more!

Structure, step #3,  may require some assistance and I strongly suggest that you do get help in understanding "structure."  It is your driver's license for  driving your business forward into 2012. Well worth any investment

Check out my current Special on "all" of my trainings .. Back To School For Business Owners!  There is a training listed for creating a WordPress blog for $110.  90 minutes plus a 30 minute follow-up call.  Don't miss out!

Keep Your Business Growing!
margie

Small Business Online Marketing Resource Checklist

Hi ..

Are you a small business? Using the internet?  Got it under control or are you confused and overwhelmed?

Just sent out my weekly mailing with a checklist of online marketing  resources for all small businesses. Trying to help businesses create a platform, upon which they can create a communications strategy.  A strategy puts all the pieces in their place and allows a business to make sense of what they are doing!

Beyond the selections that work for all businesses some resources on the list were specified for retail and some for businesses who rely upon being "found" via internet searches. You can see my mailing here!

Am curious what "you" find to be your top 4 "must use" online resources?  Can you share?  Here's a list of what was included in my checklist:  Local SE Directory Listings,  Online Newsletter, Social Networking Presence, Video, and for the retail store- Four Square, for the retail store with a storefront window, QR Codes, and for the business who relies upon "being found" on the internet, Stumble Upon.   Websites and Blogs are mentioned as important but not, in most cases, what needs to be done first. 

If you agree with some or all of my list please share your personal "why" .... it just might make someone out there jump in and give it a try for their business!    If you have an addition to my list please also share with us and include your "why" ... think we all love to know more about online resources.  It's impossible to study them all. I welcome your contributions!

Can't wait to see what you have to say.....   and in the mean time,

Keep Your Business Garden Growing,
margie

What Do You Think About Google+ ??

Hello all ... Happy 4th of July!

Google has been making some fireworks of their own this past week ~ wow, what a lot of announcements! Google+ was the BIGGEST announcement and I'm wondering what you think of it? (Visit my weekly mailing if you haven't reviewed it at all, click here!)

Am hoping that you look at each new social network as an opportunity for new ways to connect to your buyers. If you do take that approach you won't be overwhelmed with each new resource AND you won't see it as "another" social network. You'll see it as an additional "way" to create and strengthen connections.

That said, my favorite piece of Google+ is the new video chat. Never have I had any interest in using the live chat platforms in facebook or anywhere else for that matter. BUT, Google+ has what they call a "hangout" section that sounds more inviting and a bit more casual. They compare it to seeing some of your friends hanging out on the front porch as you walk by vs having to up and knock on the door! If it is really that convenient, I'm thinking this would offer more opportunity to get to know some of the "friends" I have that I really don't know well. Some of them being business opportunities. What do you think?

The other "piece" that I like is called Circles. It is where you can drag your friends, etc. into different circles based upon how you know them. Kind of like our email groups. This I really like for business reasons. Not sure yet how easy it will be to manage ... but sounds appealing right now.

Would love to know your thoughts! Are you looking forward to a new social network to use? Are you overwhelmed? Are you ready to leave facebook behind and move on? What do you think?

Please share!!

Keep Your Business Garden Growing!
margie