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Gevril and Haurex Italia dinner during Baselworld in March 2011 with Larry Brauner standing in the background.
Baselworld 2012 is right around the corner!
Mar
24
Social Networking vs. Advertising
Filed Under Best of 2008, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Outside the Box, SPAM, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 15 Comments
I just made my first video, a replay of my August 8, 2007 conference call.
It’s too long to upload to YouTube, so I uploaded it to Google.
It’s all about offline and online social networking, and about how networking differs from advertising. Hope you like it!
I recommend looking and listening, especially if you’ve ever used Direct Matches or any of the other social networking sites. Without further ado, here’s my video.
If it doesn’t play right away, try again. Google sometimes needs coaxing. If the situation gets desperate, download it from the Online Social Networking video archive.
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Tags: advertising, Direct Matches, My Private Classroom, online social networking, social media marketing, social networking sites, video
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Mar
18
Social Networking Sites: Your Web Presence
Filed Under Blogging, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Social Media and Social Networking Sites | 7 Comments
Google™ Larry Brauner and you’ll find several pages of entries that pertain to me. A dozen entries or so link to profile pages in various social networking sites. Several of them link to pages in this blog.In a recent post I listed ”web presence” as one of the Top Reasons Why I Blog. Blogging is a marvelous way to build a web presence.
What about online social networking?
We think of social networking sites as places to meet, network and communicate with people. This is true.
But consider this: Online social networking sites are hosts to personal profiles. These profiles showcase you to fellow networkers, and at the same time they build your Internet presence, Web 2.0 social media style.
You can join a practically unlimited number of social networking sites and post your profile. Many of them will let you link to your blog or other favorite website.
Social networking software of your own may also be an option to consider. With social network software, you control and customize your own social networking site as you wish.
In any case, post a social networking profile that “brands” you. Do not post blatant advertisements.
I close with a note of caution: Don’t try networking actively on more than one or two social networking sites. You’ll spread yourself too thin and fail to develop the credibility and key relationships you’re looking for.
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Tags: Blogging, Google Me, Larry Brauner, Marketing, online social networking, social networking sites, Web 2.0, web presence
Mar
17
Don’t Make This Mistake
Filed Under Blogging, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Search Engines | 2 Comments
Since I submitted my last post listing the Top Reasons Why I Blog I had an important exchange with a gentleman who I will help with his blogging.
He said that he wanted to write a blog for personal branding, and that he didn’t really care much about keywords.
I told him that he’d be better off to define his keyword niche and build on it, so that he could earn his rightful place in the search engines. Why shouldn’t he grow his personal brand and his search equity at the same time?
When I set up this blog last November my goals were fuzzy. I made frequent title and meta tag changes. This hurt my credibility with the search engines and delayed my progress. I believe that had I not done so, my page rank would now be 2 or 3 instead of 1, and I would be further along in my marketing.
Keyword research is very important. I recently acquired a keyword tool that helps me make more informed and decisive keyword decisions.
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Tags: Blogging, keyword research, keyword tool, keywords, Marketing, niche, search engine marketing, Search Engines, self branding
Mar
12
Top Reasons Why I’m Blogging
Filed Under Best of 2008, Blogging, List Building, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Personal Development and Success, Search Engines | 19 Comments
We all like lists.
Now that I’m blogging for a few months, it’s time to list my top reasons why I blog.
If you blog, feel free to share your top reasons for blogging. If you don’t, perhaps my list will motivate you to start.
So here we go. These are the top reasons why I blog:
- I value a web presence, and blogging is the cornerstone of my web presence.
- It was easy to get started.
- Blogging organizes my ideas.
- It helps me communicate and to disseminate my ideas in posts such as Critical Success Factors.
- It tests my ideas.
- It preserves my ideas.
- My blog can provide value for my readers.
- My blog is a free sample of me.
- Blogging helps establish my credibility.
- It’s a form of online social networking.
- It works well with social networking sites and other social media sites.
- Blogging helps implement my personal branding strategy.
- It attracts people to me and helps me build my list.
- I can blog to promote people, products and services.
- I can blog to create viral marketing.
- Blogging is interactive. I can use it to share my opinions about business in posts such as The SpiderWeb Marketing System and ASD Ad Surf Daily Cash Generator and allow readers to provide feedback.
- Blogging endears me to the search engines.
- I can use it to stake out search engine keyword real estate. You can learn more about this from my Blog Marketing and SEO Training series.
- Blogging anchors me.
- It builds my writing muscle.
- It’s a learning experience.
- Blogging helps me with my personal development.
- It helps me reflect.
- It helps me develop consistency.
- It sets an example for others.
- Blogging is cool.
- Blogging is fun.
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Tags: Blogging, Communication, List Building, lists, online social networking, Personal Development and Success, search engine marketing, Search Engines, top reasonsSharing is Caring!
Mar
9
Building on a Budget
Filed Under Books, Networking and Marketing Strategy | 3 Comments
I was away yesterday with my family. About once a month we all spend a day in a group home for multiply handicapped girls. Our hope is that they will enjoy, at least for a brief time, a warm family environment.When I arrived home I found three pleasant surprises.
- Another reader had registered as a user of my blog bringing the total to 105.
- My blog had moved up to #8 in Google for the keywords online social networking. I’m back to #51 today, but it felt good to receive validation, however temporary, from Google.
- An envelope had arrived by Priority Mail with my very own copy of Mike Dillard’s Building on a Budget.
Today I’m feeling jetlagged from the advance to Daylight Savings Time, but I’m happy to report that I’ve already read Mike’s book cover-to-cover. Here is my feedback.
My book review of Building on a Budget is mixed.
The advertising promises to show network marketers how to leverage a one-time cash outlay of about $500 to acquire new skills and resources and generate a continuous stream of leads without further expense.
Building on a Budget outlines an excellent marketing approach and provides great tips that all marketers could learn from — not just network marketers. The Internet and social media marketing concepts presented in the book are explained very clearly and concisely.
The book discusses one pre-requisite and five marketing strategies which are more effective than the strategies that most marketers currently employ. There’s a chapter each for lead capture pages, Craigslist classified ads, video marketing, press releases, blogging and funded proposals. I feel that these are all excellent choices.
Social networking sites are mentioned but only in passing.
Here are my reservations about Building on a Budget.
I have the knowledge and the resources to implement Mike Dillard’s suggestions. I’m already using several of these techniques in my online marketing, but what about a newbie?
Let’s say that our enthusiastic new marketer decides to follow the book’s instructions. He or she sets up web hosting, domain names and an autoresponder, all absolutely essential tools, and purchases Magnetic Sponsoring, MLM Traffic Formula, Black Belt Recruiting, a camcorder, Camtasia Studio, and one or two other items. The $500 figure can very easily top $1,000, and paid third-party assistance might still be needed.
I have spent much more than that to educate and equip myself to market effectively in today’s environment, and I’m a former IT professional with more than ten years network marketing experience.
I don’t regret it at all.
What I object to is an unrealistic $500 price point established by Building on a Budget. And not only is it unrealistic, the book itself is a powerful sales letter — not an academic marketing text. It’s written to sell information and recruit affiliates. Mike points out that he’s a great copywriter. I totally agree. However, I don’t fault him one bit.
I will make good use of Building on a Budget. It’s a compact reference that I will want at my fingertips. You may find it useful too. However, please be careful about your expectations.
Oh, before I forget to mention it. I will schedule conference calls to help. So if you purchased the book, expect to hear from me.
I welcome questions and comments about the book, but please, keep them upbeat.
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Tags: autoresponders, Black Belt Recruiting, Blogging, book review, Books, Building on a Budget, classified ads, conference calls, Craigslist, domain names, funded proposal, Internet marketing, keywords, lead capture, Magnetic Sponsoring, Mike Dillard, MLM Traffic Formula, network marketing, online marketing, press releases, social media marketing, video marketing, Web HostingSharing is Caring!
Mar
5
Career Change: A Challenging Time
Filed Under Career Choices | 1 Comment
But One with Ample Resources to Help You Meet the Challenge
While some people make the decision to switch careers after relatively brief experience in the workplace, if my clients are representative of the universe of career changers, most people make the decision after 10-15 years in their first career. What’s interesting about this is that virtually all of these people told me that they were never satisfied with their occupational choices.
Why is there a significant lapse between the time people become aware of their dissatisfaction and the point at which they take action to remedy the situation?
My theory: All of these clients had bachelor’s degrees, with many having earned master’s and JD degrees. Rather than face the disappointing reality of having invested the time and money toward acquiring credentials that qualified them for a career they found unfulfilling, they kept putting off the decision, often thinking, wishfully, that merely changing employers – rather than careers – would dispel their discontent. But at some point, they realized that – contemplating an employment horizon of 20 or more years – the moment of truth had arrived: they had to make a change.
Delaying the Decision May Limit Your Options
While the task of pinpointing a suitable alternative career is always a challenge, that challenge is compounded to the extent that one has postponed the decision. The reason: The older you are, the greater your financial obligations will likely be, which, in turn, will limit your career options.
For one thing, it could prevent you from undertaking an educational program required to enter an occupation that promises greater gratification.
And, even if you gravitate toward a field that’s feasible to enter without further education, at the very least, you may have to accept a reduction in compensation – which could deter you from making the move.
Women Re-entering the Workplace
Many women who want to resume their careers formerly held professional positions in such industries as financial services, retailing, information technology, and packaged goods. But now, they are fairly flexible in their choice of a career – their overriding goal is to get reestablished in the professional workplace.
One of the challenges unique to this group is the need to identify positions that – while not necessarily high-paying – will be steppingstones to increasingly higher positions, along with a concomitant growth in compensation. At the same time, many women seek part-time work as their initial reentry point in the workplace so they can retain some flexibility in their schedules. While these two requirements – gaining a position on a professional career track and doing so initially on a part-time basis – may seem antithetical, they need not be – depending, of course, on one’s skills and interests.
A Plethora of Useful Resources
With the Internet, books, the placement offices of one’s alma mater, and an abundance of advice available from friends and colleagues, no one who desires a career change will lack for information. If anything, the sheer volume of resources may overwhelm people looking for a new career, such that they are at a loss as to what their first step should be.
Many people turn to vocational testing for guidance, sometimes spending thousands of dollars on such services. Fortunately, the Self-Directed Search, a highly regarded interest test, can be taken online for a nominal charge. You may find that completing the test provides you with the direction you need to identify a suitable alternative career.
Because vocational testing is a multifaceted subject that merits a more extensive discussion, in my next post, I’ll discuss the differences between interest and aptitude tests, as well as which type of test is most appropriate for particular categories of career changers.
Copyright © 2008 Janice Weinberg. All rights reserved worldwide.
Janice Weinberg is the founder of Career Solutions, a Westport, Connecticut-based consultancy that serves an international clientele, and the author of How to Win the Job You Really Want (Henry Holt & Co.). Her latest book, Debugging Your Information Technology™ Career (Elegant Fix Press, LLC), describes 20 careers that represent excellent alternatives for those seeking a career change from IT because computer proficiency is a strong asset in both entering and succeeding in these fields.Don’t miss any posts. Register, it’s easy, or subscribe to my RSS feed!
Mar
2
Personal Development: Intention
Filed Under Best of 2008, Books, Personal Development and Success | 6 Comments
I promised in my recent post on The Law of Belief that you would hear more from me on the subject of changing beliefs. I said that I would discuss replacing disempowering beliefs with empowering ones.
I’m not ready for a broad treatment of the subject. However, after Robin’s touching comment I feel compelled to write something more without delay.
Robin’s words inspired me to pick up and re-read one of my favorite books, The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything You Want, written by Mike Hernacki in 1982.
What is “the ultimate secret”?
Know what you want and be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it.
This is called intention. It is tied in with commitment and is one of the critical success factors.
Please, don’t say “duh” or tell me it’s merely a matter of semantics.
Most people have difficulty with either the “know what you want” part or the “be willing to do whatever it takes” part of the principle, and Hernacki’s book addresses this difficulty. The book also explains how the Law of Attraction comes into play.
The Ultimate Secret has been in and out of print a number of times since its publication in 1982. I suggest you buy it now while it’s available. Over the years I have repeatedly bought and given away copies of this book to my friends. I read it myself over and over again and grow from it each time I do so.
In connection with Robin’s remarks, I want to focus on the “willing” part of the formula.
Mick Hernacki says that we must have a sense or a belief from the outset that we will be able to handle anything that comes our way — “whatever it takes”. All accomplishment stems from this particular form of belief even if we’re not consciously aware of it.
Here’s the good news as I see it.
We don’t have to line up all our beliefs like ducks in a row to be successful. the only belief we need to succeed at something is the belief that we can handle whatever challenge that might arise with respect to that one objective. One empowering belief can bring enormous success even if our overall belief system is far from perfect in other respects.
When I prepared to run the New York City Marathon in 1984 and 1985, I knew precisely what I wanted — to complete the marathon.
I assure you that I didn’t have my act together at all. However, I did have confidence that I’d be able to overcome all obstacles — discouragement from friends, athletic injuries, rain, snow, cold weather, hot weather, lack of sleep, and whatever would come my way.
I did just that.
I even dealt with severe leg cramps both years towards the end of the race.
What a wonderful accomplishment this was! I even have a picture from 1985 which I may very well scan some day and post online for my readers to gawk at.
So my advice to you is to know what you want. Be passionate about it. Be open-minded too. And believe that you will handle whatever challenges lie in your path. Your eventual success is assured.
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Tags: Books, critical success factors, intention, Mike Hernacki, New York City Marathon, success secrets, Success Strategies, the Law of Belief, The Secret, The Ultimate Secret to Getting Absolutely Everything
