ALL SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES HAVE THE FOLLOWING AS A MINIMUM:

1. A planned marketing focus that goes as far out as possible on their calendar
2. A play by play plan on how/when they are going to market each of the items on that marketing focus set out on a timeline as time moves forward
3. A checks & balances system to insure that their promotional efforts are accurate, of good quality and aesthetically pleasing to the potential customer’s eye. Paying attention to the details is very important.
4. A priority list & plan for what steps to take if/when things change due to unforeseen circumstances
5. A requirement that anything new that is added to the plan does not hinder that which is already in process and in place

WHY ARE THESE THINGS IMPORTANT?

I want you to imagine, for a moment, how things work in nature. If a particular species wishes to continue along in the world without becoming extinct, those capable of reproducing must take certain steps. A male cardinal, for example, must first begin doing the work of attracting his mate by eating properly, learning how to build a sturdy nest, getting the proper exercise, choosing a suitable location from which to attract his mate. Only after accomplishing those things will he be successful at attracting her. Once he has done all of that, he then begins to seek out the perfect female to produce with – it takes a bit of time, but eventually he will find a match and you can guarantee there will be no lack of competition, which is why his first steps will come in handy.

Upon choosing his target mate, he must then begin going step by step through the processes that will attract her to him above all others. He must, under all circumstances, stay focused upon that one target mate if he is to succeed. If he allows his focus to waiver, even for a moment, that is the moment his competition steps into the space he provided and takes the attention of his target. If he decides that his focus is on promiscuity and fun, rather than on spreading his product, then he becomes easily distracted by every female cardinal that flies by while he is in the midst of his mating ritual & in the end the likelihood of him having the chance to spread his product will be nothing more than a 50/50 toss-up between being a complete failure or merely a lucky fluke. The only logical time for that male cardinal to take his focus off of his primary target is either when he reaches the extreme of failure or success. Only then must he move on to the next target. If he focuses on too many things at once, he will never have the time or energy to complete them all with any sort of success.

This is exactly what you must do in your own online marketing situation. Prepare yourself for attracting your target customer/niche. Get a website up, Create a way to collect email addresses, Create an email distribution schedule to communicate with those on your list, Know your audience and plan relevant topics to share with them, Create a blog, Create Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, LinkedIn accounts & pages, YouTube Channels etc. and plan exactly what will best attract your target customer/niche on each of those channels. Stay focused on your plan and your niche only changing when your target niche changes or when an unforeseen circumstance occurs where you have no choice but to cancel your focus.

There is a certain maturity that customers expect when working with someone in business & more than that, it is the logical and linear flow of nature that we must follow a plan in order to continue with success. When I consider those who are just living life without a solid plan that takes priority, those who are easily distracted from one thing to the next based on not much more than a goal of finding the quickest path to being satisfied & happy – the first thing that comes to mind is the image of a toddler crying over their mom leaving them at daycare and their caregiver dangling a toy in front of them. The speed at which they lose their focus on keeping their mother there, is a direct reflection of just how quickly their mom is willing to leave. In business no one wants to be a toddler – our goal is to be mature in business and proceed with a linear, logical approach to a focused plan. I urge you all to set a clear plan & keep yourself informed on the time & energy it may take for you or your staff to complete that plan with any success before allowing yourself to be distracted by everything that someone dangles before you as a potentially satisfactory tool.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

It’s that knowing – that inner voice that pushes me forward through the fear and onto stable ground. I think all of my clients have that same knowing. It’s why they keep going past the fear and frustration and keep trying. All of us have a connection to something bigger – we know we are supposed to do something… No… BE SOMETHING that will change the world. We know that it isn’t our ego that fuels our desire to BE THAT CHANGE as much as it is our ego that feeds the fear of that change we know is coming.

All that said, I wanted to take the time to write this post for the sole (or should I say SOUL) purpose of reminding you of the spiritual concept that exists in almost every path. We bring back to ourselves, the exact thing we put out. This doesn’t mean if I give a sandwich to someone I’ll get a sandwich back tomorrow – it means that if I give a sandwich to someone with fear in my heart that I may be giving up my last sandwich, I will sit tomorrow in fearful wonder of when I will eat again. We all know the motivational phrases that come through various spiritual teachings, but how often do we LIVE those phrases. How often do we focus directly on the how, rather than the energy, of the task no matter what that task may be? It is the energy we put forth in combination with our actions that really sets things in motion. Our energy in each action is like the Butterfly Effect creating energetic ripples that not only affect our own lives but the whole world. So my question to you is why fear? Why allow yourself to fear what social media brings? I would suggest instead that you focus on excitement and possibility or even better… on that knowing within you that pushes you forward in every other area. Focus on your divine purpose and use social media as simply an additional tool you use to change your world, so that you can change everyone else’s world.

Fear breeds fear, loathing breeds loathing, frustration breeds frustration and so on and so on. Is that what you want to build as your foundation as you spread your purpose across the globe? I’d suggest that you let go of the fear and start with the things you know actually work to manifest what you want for yourself. If you put out the energy of fear in your marketing process, then you will become easily swayed from one thing to the next as you try to scrap for a piece of the pie. If you put out the energy of love & peace, it allows you to operate logically and enables you to see more clearly the steps that truly need to be taken in your process, so that you may assess what will and won’t work without worry over whether or not you will waste your time. It is no surprise that the clients I mentioned who question and fear while working hard to accomplish things are just simply treading water in their business, while the ones who have taken the time to set their energies and attitudes in the beginning, as a part of the creation process for their marketing plan are moving forward at a steady pace. Which group would you rather be in? The success of the journey is entirely up to you!

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

When I first joined the social media world it was for personal connections, not just to be talking. By creating those sincere and consistent connections I created my rankings (now in the top 1% individuals in social media across the globe) and eventually a career. The point of social media is not to broadcast – it’s to engage & connect in a way that is mutually beneficial for you and those you connect with.

HERE ARE 4 CLIENT ATTRACTION TIPS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA:

ADD VALUE
It is important that you add value to the lives of those who read your posts and come in contact with. You know just like I do, that the world is a busy place – much too busy for us to spend time on something that isn’t adding value and benefiting us in some way. Make sure that what you share adds value without cost to your customers at least 80% of the time and then make sure that whatever you sell to them the other 20% of the time is also something of value.

NETWORK
Reach out to your customers and connections. Do not just broadcast all your promotions and views to the world without interactions and reaching out. Spend a little time each week looking at what others post (even sharing it when it’s relevant to your niche), comment on their posts or just say hello or happy birthday on their wall in a sincere way. Re-Tweet what others are posting on Twitter (when it will benefit your target niche), reply to great tweets posted by others & interact with those who Re-Tweet your stuff. Make true and sincere contact with people you meet just as you would if you were at a physical networking event. No one likes a narcissist or a wall-flower at a networking event and that is just what social media is – A 24/7 online global networking event. Find your niche and get to networking!!

HELP
When your customers, contacts, potential customers ask for help, do what you can. Do you have advice? Perhaps you have a connection you could put them in contact with who can help them. Zappos is a perfect example of this – they make millions of dollars online and have only increased that income after they began helping their customers locate products online that they themselves do not even sell. Their customer service reps take turns sitting at the help desk making sure to answer questions pointing their customers and followers to companies that can help them. It’s just a simple, sincere approach to helping their customers & potential customers that establishes them as someone everyone can trust who isn’t too busy worshiping the all mighty dollar to help someone out without expectation now and then. The same thing can work for you if you just spend a bit of time helping when you can.

USE KEYWORDS IN YOUR CONTENT
When posting online whether it be on your website, your blog, your YouTube channel, FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social media or online forum, make sure to use keywords in your content. By keywords, I don’t just mean keywords that will be relevant to your particular target niche, but keywords that have been tested to show results online. There are simple searches you can do to figure out which keywords may work best for what you are trying to say & they are free via Google. Use the tools at Google to improve your keywords every chance you get. My personal preference is to write my content first and then use the keyword tool at Google to tweak my words and change them here and there for better effect.

These are some great tools to assist you in your process of reaching your customers and potential customers in the online social media forums and to assist you in bringing them home to your email lists in a way that will be beneficial to both you as an individual as well as your financial stability.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

We’ve already covered in past newsletters how important it is to make sure at least 80% of what you post online will add value to the lives of those reading your posts without directly selling them something. We’ve also covered how the majority of what you post needs to be relevant and applicable to your niche, while at the same time working to establish you as an expert in that niche. These are important things to remember with regards to posting and are almost equally important with regard to engagement of your customers and potential customers. Customer engagement is the bread and butter of online marketing these days and requires not only consistent participation from your customers/potential customers, but also, your consistent and sincere interaction with them.

THREE TOP CONSIDERATIONS IN ONLINE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT:

• SINCERITY – All things posted by you or your employees/representatives must be sincere. Not only does this make sense on a human and spiritual level (you are a spiritual entrepreneur after all), but also on a marketing level. The buying trends in the last few years have grown toward relationships involving trust and away from those which do not. This is why brands must actively, directly and sincerely engage with their customers. Not only must you establish yourself as a sincere and trustworthy expert to your current customers, but you must also do this with your potential ones. Statistics show that over 60% of buyers won’t buy without a testimonial from someone they trust and that number is steadily growing day by day. You have no choice but to build trust online – whether that be with current customers or potential ones – it’s a fate that you cannot escape if you wish to make it in business.

• FREQUENCY – In order to successfully reach and engage with your customers/potential customers, you must be there consistently communicating with them (notice I said WITH them not to them – engagement is a two way street). It is important to remember that with online marketing the market is expanded worldwide so you are reaching people on a global scale. This means that you must be aware of the fact that there are potential customers to reach 24/7. That said, I would suggest that you post to your FaceBook fanpage at least 4 times each day, that you blog at least 2 times per week (if not more), that you post to twitter at least 20-25 times each day, that you post/interact on a LinkedIn group at least 2 times weekly & that (if/when applicable) you post on YouTube a minimum of once monthly if not more. If that sounds a little overwhelming, don’t worry, there are a multitude of free tools you can use that will assist you in auto-posting so you can work, sleep and live while your social media is running in the background. I will likely post about those in the future, but if you’d like to set an appointment to go over some of these feel free to email me.

• RELEVANCE – We all have a plethora of interests and therefore it’s easy to want to share things about all of them. In online marketing, however, this is not a sensible thing to do. The key in your online forums is to have as targeted an audience as possible to increase your email lists and customers. This cannot be done if you post about random things every day that don’t relate to your particular niche. Keep that in mind when you are sharing links and updates or liking/favoriting things online. It is fine to post things that may be political or controversial if you are a spiritual entrepreneur, or to post products you use, books you read, articles you are interested in etc. – but just keep in mind that all these things need to fit into two categories: A – they must be relevant to your niche while providing something of value they can use & B – They must not compete with your business in any way.

These three points should help you in establishing your presence online, being consistent in your marketing focuses and processes & engaging customers in your target niche.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

I remember seeing the cartoon below in a book when I was a kid and thinking “that’s how I feel when my dad is talking to me”. This all too familiar scene is the same whether it’s a parent and his teenage daughter or a person in an online social media platform trying to convince everyone to purchase their product. Keep this in mind when you are about to pitch something and remember that no one wants to hear sales language whether on the phone or when they’re reading it online.

Are You Just Another Sales Puppet?

What is sales language?… Simple – It’s any language that includes a pitch of some sort – sales, marketing, campaigns, verticals, leveraging etc. These are all examples of things that use sales language. Sales language generally serves only to alienate your potential customer rather than actually sell them, & the only time it really succeeds in this day and age, is when the net is cast so wide that it simply can’t help but to scoop up a few fish as a default of the numbers game. We all have an inner lie detector that goes on immediately when we know we are being pitched to, that has us seeking out the thing within the pitch that makes it too good to be true. When that “too good to be true-o-meter” goes off (which happens quickly) you’ve lost your audience, and have become just like that time share salesman who looks up after talking for 2 hours, only to realize that no one is in the room and he’s been talking to the dust mites.

Just remember, online marketing in social media is all about engagement, interaction and value. Those things don’t come from you posting your events, products and services out the wazoo on your pages, and they surely don’t come from you blocking people from commenting or posting on those same pages. Your level of interaction and sincere engagement with your potential customers about things of value related to your niche, is going to be directly reflective of your level of success with social media marketing.

Always remember that the person who posts their own views without interaction with others, or the person who’s only emails to people are about their own products, events and services is no different than the telemarketer with the lame joke on the end of your phone during dinner. Just like you tune that telemarketer out – your followers and friends will do the same to you – that’s why FaceBook has the option to hide people from your news feed and many other platforms have similar capabilities. Don’t be deluded into thinking that because you are posting everyone is reading what you have to say. If you are just posting sales lingo posts and/or are blocking people from engaging your page, you’re most likely like the time share salesman who looks up to find he’s talking to the air because I can guarantee you that most people are simply hiding your posts from their view.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

I was lucky when I began my foray into the world of social media because I didn’t begin my journey for the purpose of marketing. I was merely seeking a place in the world. That purpose is the reason that I came to understand that “the market for something to believe in is infinite” and social media is where the human race is going to find their connection, their something to believe in, their hope. The internet is to some extent, today’s way of rebuilding the Tower of Babel, a way to connect, a way to seek unity, a tangible recognition of humanity as one, and this social connection puts an extremely high value on engagement, trust, sincerity and testimonials from those in their network who exude those traits. These are the reasons we now have to begin thinking out of the box in our marketing techniques & the reasons I believe that Spiritual Entrepreneurs have the biggest potential to make change (& dollars) on the internet.

As a Spiritual Entrepreneur, you are already thinking outside the box on most levels. What you believe your intent and purpose in the world to be, is completely out of the standard box. Most Spiritual Entrepreneurs want to connect with people at a heart, mind and soul level rather than just approaching people from the standard position of fear and scarcity. You know that what people are looking for is hope, or at least if you don’t know that is what they are seeking, you know it’s what they need. People want something to believe in, they want hope, they want unity, they want to belong to something bigger than themselves, they want to be happy and to live lives of purpose, and you understand that. You yourself are striving for the same thing. Those desires and connection to a bigger purpose are what makes you a good friend, a good leader, a good teacher etc. Those traits that make you good in those areas are the same exact traits you need to be displaying online.

Think of your online connections on the same level you think of your friends, your family, your students etc. The point is, that if you think of them in this way, you will be sincere with them and you will share with them, give them advice, help them with whatever you can, share stories with them regarding things that have improved your quality of life etc. This is what we do with our friends and it is no different with our online connections. It is true that many of them may not actually be your friends, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t share with them as if they are. I don’t mean tell them your private business or give them your home number and address – I mean be sincere, sell to them only 1% more than you sell to your real friends when you go out to dinner or coffee. Establish yourself in their hearts as a sincere, trustworthy and knowledgeable expert in your niche who is willing to share not just a bit of your time, but the truest essence of who you are.

Use social media to connect to the integrity of the human race & mirror it back to those you connect with online in a way that allows their spirits to be renewed.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

I personally discovered the power of words after having experienced a bad relationship breakup that put me into an 8-year cycle of negativity and skepticism where my cup was always perceived as half empty & I was sure to be heard telling everyone else that they were delusional if they thought theirs was half full. One day on FaceBook something prompted me to comment on a post one of my friends had just put up and she told me about a 40 day process she had once done where she focused on only the positive that came from or existed in every situation. She then made sure to use those positive feelings as her motivation throughout her day. At the end of the day she made sure to state how grateful she was for all of those positive things in her day. I was prompted by her description of the experience to do my own 40 day experiment just to see how it turned out (of course skeptical about whether it would make any sort of a difference). That experiment changed my life. The next thing I know, I’m watching spiritual films and seeing the point in an entirely different way, meeting Dr. Masuru Emoto in person and speaking with him about his water experiments and changing the world, loving The Secret Life of Plants and working with Colin Tipping. My life was radically changed by a multitude of experiences that came after that one simple 40 day experiment.

So why does all of this matter? Am I trying to tell you that social media changed my life? In a way… Yes that is exactly what I am saying… social media changed my life, but on a much deeper level than that.

SOMEONE JUST LIKE YOU CHANGED MY LIFE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

Do you see the difference now? The different choice I chose in my words made a complete difference in the perception.

It changed from a scenario where social media simply changed my life – which produces images of me all alone somewhere tinking around on the internet slowly but surely raising my rankings and little by little becoming the full time social media consultant I am today & blah blah blah blah. Whoopidy doo!

To a scenario where someone like you changed my life on social media – which produces images of someone with a depth of knowing on a spiritual and personal level, who has endured many years of training and learning in their own lives and who cares exactly what happens to every individual in the world because they care about the world – that person YOU sitting behind a computer sending LOVE through their wireless connection and saving my life like an electro-magnetic interference of the heart! WOW! That’s all there is to say about that…. WOW – what a difference you can make by being here!

That is exactly what this video below is telling us in its simple way. Change your words, Change your World!! Notice the point of this video and this post. By simply changing your words to elicit a different vibration not only will you change someone’s world, but there will begin a flow into theirs and your own life that brings exactly the abundance you believe exists.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

When I first started in social media, I created an account on all the various forums and then sat there wondering what to do next. At first my friends and family located me and friended/followed me and then that was about it. At some point (after observing what the other monkeys in the forest were doing) I started talking about whatever it was that I was thinking. I began speaking about what was important and then the people who cared about the same things came around to have discussions about it all. At that point I had created a following and a ranking but it was merely a presence. I had to do a lot more talking and a lot more believing and a lot more talking about what exactly it was I believed before anything monetary came of it and even that took 2-3 years. So you see, good things do come to those who wait, but there’s something to be said about waiting for a response rather than waiting for a savior. We are all the savior we’ve been looking for – our savior exists within us and what we put out comes back. So let’s discuss what you’re putting out there into the social media universe.

MOST IMPORTANT – you must have & be actively working, a defined social media plan/strategy that defines your target audience, places you in the appropriate social media platform in which to reach that audience, gives you insight to the key topics that audience cares about & how they want to hear about it, and that enables you to have a timeline of what should be going out… and when.

INTERACTION – after putting your social media strategy into action the second most important thing, is your interaction with your target audience. Your inputs, comments and advice to your target audience are what is going to draw them in over time, in turn leading to increased conversations, added value and the eventual request for services.

If you’re looking for a quick win – rethink why you’re using social media. There’s an old, but well known, saying in the urban community “don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing” and that saying however lacking in grammar, makes its point perfectly. Work your social media platforms with a defined strategy and good things will come.

Because I’m addicted to smiles and fun, I’ll end this post with a video link to Billy Preston singing Nothing From Nothing – perhaps you remember it (if you’re as old or older than I) or perhaps you can have a listen to something old but new to you, and have something to bop your head over while sitting at your computer wondering about your social media plan.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

For me, it took at least 2-3 years before I ever made any money worth mentioning via social media. That time frame isn’t necessarily the standard for every person or product but it is a good time frame to keep in mind. Just last week, I listened to/watched two separate social media webinars. One of them was hosted by HubSpot and the other by David Riklan of SelfGrowth.com . Both of these people/groups are very well known and both of them referenced how both the general social media statistics as well as their own experience don’t show a significant profit from social media until around the 3 year mark. Why is that? Part of the reason for that is because there is almost always a learning curve & the other part is because social media is a different kind of marketing than other marketing routes. So what is the reason for a person to make a go at social media?

First – everyone is moving toward social media and all of the experts are predicting that any company that is not consistently doing a portion of their marketing on social media within the next 5 years will not be lasting.

Second – social media is a perfect, tangible symbol of the spiritual concept of how we are all connected. I believe that all people are seeking that deeper connection and that quest to find a deeper connection is what pulls them toward social media like an moth to a light.

Third – Social media provides a lower cost of sale. With a properly functioning plan being put into effect, social media can be very cost effective in comparison to the cost of standard marketing. Whether you do your marketing on your own, hire a full time employee to take care of it all for you or hire an outside company, you are still spending less money than you would on comparable standard marketing endeavors.

Fourth – Social media provides you with the opportunity for longer client retention. In social media marketing, you are literally creating a relationship with your customers/potential customers and it is relationships in combination with a good product that creates loyalty in the hearts and minds of those customers. Social media is all about a personal, trust-based business relationship & it creates a feeling between the business and the client that is much like the small mom & pop shop where the owners knew everyone who came in & were willing to help them with much more than a simple sale.

That relationship and that connection is what social media is all about, it’s what makes social media work, it’s what attracts your customers and potential customers to it like moths to flames. In fact, even if marketing and making money are not the focus, I don’t believe it makes sense for the spiritual community to not connect and inspire the world via social media. The general spiritual community believes that there is a deeper connection that unites us all & the world is seeking that connection through social media….. so why not you?

I’d like to share another video with you – This one was shared with me by one of you who receives my newsletter and it happens to go perfectly in line with the video you already watched in the article above. Where do you fall on the bell curve?

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.

This week someone I work with sent me a video from the TED conference that I think makes the perfect point on what your marketing focus should be as a spiritual entrepreneur so I’ve decided it only makes logical sense to share it with you. The man in this video (Simon Sinek) tells you in 18 minutes just what it is that makes a person or company an inspiring leader to the world. This is a great video to watch before you create your social media marketing plan or if you want to tweak the one you’ve already got.

Here’s a link to the video and below that link is a short explanation of what he covers in the video.

HOW GREAT LEADERS INSPIRE ACTION

The video covers (not listed in order of importance):

What:
Your Products/Services

How:
What about you/your product sets you apart from everyone else out there?

Why:
What is the deepest thing that drives your soul to do what you do – What is your purpose – What drives you to share your product with the world – What is the deepest, soul-feeding reason that the entire world needs to have access to whatever it is you have to offer?

Be Inspired – Simon Sinek’s website where his book is available if you’re interested in knowing more after you see his video.

Good luck on your quest toward a smoothly running social media system for your business & be sure to let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to Fill in the form on the Contact Us page, or Email Me or even come to the Facebook Fan Page and ask questions/make comments.