What's next on your list?

If you're not learning something new, then you are in Neutral. It's good to go in neutral every once in a while and give your mind time to process new information and apply it to your life. However, it's not good to sit in neutral for very long. I like to take one or two days off per week and just process. I usually don't read or get on the computer for at least one day per week.

The other 5 or 6 days of the week, I am constantly learning and applying my new found knowledge to my life. The "applying" part of the equation also applies to learning, because if you pay attention to what you are applying to your life and how it effects your life, you will learn what does and doesn't work in your lifestyle.

So, I always keep a list of things that I need to read next handy. Right now, I've got three lists.

1. Books to read next

2. Audio tapes or CDs to listen to next (or again)

3. E-books or Magazines to read

All of these lists have several items within each topic. The list never gets smaller either. The more I read on the list, the more my knowledge and mind are opened to new books or ventures. Life is always an adventure when you are learning something new. So keep reading, learning and growing and life will never get boring. Plus, you will become a better person because of it!

Here's a taste of my current list:

Books:

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

The Art of Exceptional Living

Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Audio tapes or cds:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Foundational Principles

There are a few to get you started!

{Creative Advertising}

It's easy to draw attention to your business when you've got your business name on a piece of candy! This is one of the coolest advertising techniques I've seen in a while.

You just put your company information on the candy! And just think about all the word of mouth advertising you'll get for being one of the first to do this.

Do you have a wedding coming up? Put your picture and date on the M&Ms.

Got a new baby in the family? Or how about a baby shower. Wouldn't it be so cute to put a picture of the ultrasound on the M&M and then the shower date on another?? The possibilities are endless!

So jump on it and get your name out there.

{Are you a shameless self promoter?}

If you think that eventually your business will get discovered and everyone will want what you are selling, you are in for a rude awakening. There are millions new businesses out there and they all hope to find the key to success, reach the top of the status ladder, and make millions of dollars selling their product. So what do you do when there are so many other businesses competing for the same customers?

Find your niche and...........Promote, promote, promote!

Diligently and consistently keep bringing new and potential customers to your business. Find ways to remind current customers and business associates that you are there. In such a lucrative market, if you aren't reminding them, chances are they will forget you. It's nothing to feel bad about, it's not personal. It just goes back to the swarms of competition that's out there and the consumer will usually pick the one that they have most recently used or have seen advertisement for.

Success is never by accident and there is no magic solution or potion. It all comes down to planning, hard work, smart work and tireless promoting.

How can you promote yourself? The Internet is a great tool for self promotion, and there are many ways to promote on a budget. There are the social networking sites that I referred to in recent posts. There are groups, teams, and industry specific social platforms. Link share, banner exchange, and paid advertising are options. Sales, or any kind of contest are great promotional tools. Collaborations with fellow business associates are a great way to increase exposure too. Oh and product testing sites can be a great way to get your product out there.

So get out there and promote!

Now that you're blogging.......

Is anyone reading your blog? Well how would you know if they were?

I've got answers to your questions! There are a few things that are vital if you want to keep track of your blog traffic.

1. Get a stat counter for your blog

2. Sign up for Google Alerts

3. Add a "follower" gadget to your sidebar

4. Google Analytics

5. That cool site I mentioned yesterday too!

So there you go. Now you can see if anyone is reading your blog.

 

I know you are reading mine, I can see youuuuu lurking quietly. Go ahead and follow me, I know you want to. Just click follow over there in the sidebar. Then you can easily stay updated on my new posts!

Are your ears burning?

Want to find out who's talking about you? Check out this cool site I just found

http://readwire.com/

and you can see who is linking back to your blog from their's

http://readwire.com/link/

 

Still not sure what that site does? Basically, it tells you every (or most) blog  out there who has your blog linked on their blog or any blog that has the content that you search.

Cool huh?

So if your name is Jamie Sanders, then you could type in "Jamie Sanders" in the search bar and it will list any blogs that have your name listed in there. Now you're thinking it's cool huh?

Just go and type in your business name and see if someone is blogging about you:)

Are you blogging yet?

Since you're reading this blog, you obviously know how blogging can bring many people together to accomplish the same thing.

This blog in particular was brought about to help my fellow associates who were making their way into the Internet world with their business and needed some help with that transition. In the process, I realized that there are so many people out there who are trying to do the same thing. And so this blog was born.

A place where many people from all walks of life, can come here and get some friendly help getting their business up and running on the Internet. Or can learn of options to get a business of their own going.

So what are you waiting for? Get started blogging!

You can bring your current customers to your blog. They can refer their friends to your blog. You can get potential customers coming back to your blog over and over and sending their friends. Pretty soon, you're a rock star! You could have a huge following before you know it. I look at blogging as a tool for putting the best advertising to use. Word Of Mouth, it's the best, most efficient, and most cost effective way that I can think of to advertise. No overhead. Your customers tell a friend, they tell a friend, and so on. You didn't spend a dime.

Blogging can help you in giving those customers and potential customers a way to find you and get to know you without spending a lot on a website. The time invested is very minimal too and you don't have to be a computer wiz to update your blog.

You might want to invest some time into your blog in the beginning, just to get it set up right and looking great. You want to put your best face forward, because that is how people will remember you. If you're stumped on setting up your blog, there are many professionals who can do it for you. There are also a lot of resources on the web that you can read and research to learn how to do it on your own.

The basics are:

*Set up your blog (there are free blogs and blogs that cost a minimal amount. Blogger is free)

*Customize your blog to fit you (blogger will walk you through these simple steps. If you have some computer experience, you should have no problem with it.)

*Start posting blog entries

The more you blog, the more people will follow your blog. A stagnant blog is boring, so change it up often and keep it fresh. If you want to keep the same thing on your blog at all times and not change it, make sure it is fresh, interesting, and will keep people coming back. Otherwise, your blog will go stagnant and people will stop visiting.

So get on there and write something!

If you're using Blogger, here is a helpful link to get some knowledge

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=112498&topic=12470

Got questions? email me: wordywahm@live.com

More Free Advertising

I told you about the Wahms and Wahds top 100 list already, but if you are a Networker, then here's a list that is perfect for you.

Like I said, advertising is free!

Need a banner? You can find some here.