Attention all parents of small children, grandparents and baby boomers who want to color in the lines. Join the Crayola Facebook Fan Page!-84,965 current fans!
Exciting Features
A cool CREATIVE tab that features “How to Videos”. The video featured now has a mom and child showing you how to create something called a spiral spinner. Plus there are more. What a great idea for working with your child or grand. But wait, this would be good if you were working with seniors at a center. The idea is “creativity”.
ACTIVITIES tab has oodles of coloring pages you can print then color. Wow, who can get bored?
LIGHTS CAMERAS COLOR tab gives you an opportunity to turn your photos into coloring pages. They stream your current photo ablums in your Facebook. Need I say more?
So, yes, this is a fun and safe place to play. it is also a stroke of genius by Crayola.
Have you decided to revamp your advertising, marketing and sales efforts this year? If yes, take few minutes to read this post. YES, stop what you are doing and read this UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY AN ADVERTISING MARKETING EXPERT.
My friend Greg Francis Brown sent me chapter 1 of his book, “Advertising for Results,” and I like his approach. He focuses on getting the phones to ring, and that’s what counts in today’s world. In his book, he goes step-by-step and tells you how to produce a marketing campaign that generates sales leads. You can reach chapter 1 in this post. In addition and you can download the entire book for FREE
Advertising for Results – Chapter 1, Gathering
This 13-chapter book is a step-by-step guide to getting strong results from your advertising. You’re reading Chapter 1, “Gathering.” For the entire free download, go to Greg Francis Brown’s website, http://gregfrancisbrown.tripod.com/.
Chapter 1. Gathering
The blank screen
You have an advertising assignment of some sort. If you’re sitting with a blank computer screen and struggling about what to do, stop. There’s a better way.
To start with, forget that daunting assignment for a while. Instead, gather facts that will interest and inform your audience. And hey, take it easy. This gathering process won’t stress you at all. Rather than grappling for the right words, you can turn the radio on, muse about good things, and — oh, yeah — collect information.
Best of all, fact-finding is the right thing to do at this stage. Ultimately, delivering advantages to the audience will produce more than pulling everything out of your head…or somewhere else. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Have you checked to see if you have unclaimed property held by your State? It really works. I checked the site, saw my name, submitted my paperwork and got the check in the mail. One more bill has been paid.
Sure, it was small but more than I had. Here is the link to a site that you can check to see if friends or family. One day I found several folks names and notified them so they could put in their claim. So check for your name now.
Donna Satchell is a motivational speaker I interviewed for a site called Baby Boomers Bustin Loose. As a special treat I wanted to share the insights from this baby boomer with you this holiday weekend.
Are you making mistakes with your SMM? (Social Media Marketing)
I am honored to have Pam Lontos, a Public Relations Specialist as a guest blogger today. She has a powerful message on Social Media Marketing for every baby boomer business owner who has taken the plunge into the world of social media.
The Top 5 Mistakes of Social Media Marketing
By Pam Lontos
The Top 5 Mistakes of Social Media Marketing
By Pam Lontos
As a business owner, you already know the importance of utilizing traditional PR – print, radio and TV exposure – to keep your name circulating in the marketplace. Now, however, there’s a new PR outlet you need to become familiar with. It’s called Social Media Marketing, and when combined with your traditional PR efforts, Social Media Marketing can help you penetrate the marketplace with your message quicker and easier than ever before.
What is Social Media Marketing? It’s utilizing the various social networking sites to enforce your brand and market your business. A social networking site is simply an online meeting place. Think of it like an eHarmony or Match.com for business people. On such sites, people can post a profile with the hopes of meeting other like-minded professionals for business reasons.
According to the Nielsen Research Group, social networks and blogs have moved ahead of personal e-mail among the most popular online activities people engage in. Additionally, USA Today reports that the time spent on these sites is growing three times faster than the overall Internet rate. More than two-thirds of the world’s online population now visits social networking and blogging sites.
Knowing this, it’s clear that if you haven’t yet engaged in Social Media Marketing, the time to start is now. But before you do, you need to be aware of the top mistakes businesses make with this PR outlet so you can avoid them and get the biggest return for your marketing investment.
Mistake #1: Having more than one face on the Internet.
When you’re engaging in Social Media Marketing (called SMM from here on out) you’re really building your image from the ground up. The goal of SMM is to virally spread parts of your image across the Internet. The word “parts” is important. Basically, you’re starting with a holographic image of yourself in the virtual world. You then need to break that hologram apart and find the appropriate places on the Internet where you can frame certain pieces of that hologram.
When someone looks at all the pieces at the various sites, they should be able to put them together to see a single whole. They should not see multiple images of who you are, as that would ruin your credibility. Therefore, if you have multiple Facebook accounts, for example, your personal one has to be hidden and by invitation only. You don’t want that other image out there confusing people and possibly diminishing your reputation.
Mistake #2: Collecting friends.
SMM is how you create instant buzz on the Internet by getting the same message out over and over. It’s spreading your message and getting yourself branded so you can get more business. Social networking, on the other hand, is about making friends. For example, you’ve likely seen someone on LinkedIn who has 25,000+ contacts. That’s great, but what do you do with all those contacts? Remember, just because you have a phone book in your office doesn’t mean you can open the book at random, pick a name, and call them for business.
When you collect a contact, you’re supposed to be opening the door to exchange information and build a relationship. Think of it as relationship marketing in the 21st century, and the same rules apply. The only difference is that you’re building the relationship online rather than over coffee.
Mistake #3: Putting out the wrong messages.
You’ve likely seen people put posts on Twitter or Facebook that say something like, “John Smith is watching a great movie and eating popcorn.” Such messages may be fine for personal networks, but for business networks you need to put out messages that are useful to your readers. In other words, don’t talk about yourself. You want to give valuable tips and advice so that the people who read your posts want to repost them to their own sites. That’s how your message spreads virally.
The key is to keep your messages consistent. Remember that people are subscribing to various feeds in order to get your information. They are essentially saying that your message has value. That’s why you can’t do a series of sales tips and then post a couple of your favorite omelet recipes. You have to stay on message, and your message has to be for your readers.
With that said, it is okay to occasionally have a press release type message that says something like, “John Smith is speaking at ABC Convention on employee productivity today.” Such a message does two things: 1) It tells people they might not get a tip today or tomorrow because you’re busy, and 2) It shows that other big-wigs out there think your message is important. It’s a positive reinforcement that boosts your credibility, so long as you don’t do it too frequently.
Mistake #4: Posting inappropriate information.
Don’t allow yourself or anyone on your site to post anything online that you don’t want your most conservative client to see. You never know where something will end up, especially since the nature of the Internet is for things to spread virally. For example, a CEO of a corporation had a picture of himself and his girlfriend on a topless beach in Mexico. In the photo she’s riding on his shoulders with her breasts exposed. For some reason, he decided to post the photo on his personal invitation-only Facebook site.
The only problem is that he was married. His wife (or rather, his now ex-wife) saw the photo. How? Someone on his invitation-only Facebook account thought it was a great picture and decided to repost it on the public Internet. To top it all off, his board of directors got wind of the photo and fired him. Now he’s no longer employable in that field or that position again. The moral of this story: Never post anything on any site that you wouldn’t personally show your own grandmother.
Mistake #5:
Assuming that it is better to have your message in only one place on the Internet.
In the “old days” of the Internet, people believed they had to keep all their content on their own Web site. The theory was that spreading it out ruined your credibility and diminished your reputation as being a unique business. Not so today. In fact, with SMM, the opposite is true. The more places you can get your message to appear simultaneously, the more effective your message will be.
Think of it as constructing a funnel. You want to lay several trails of information, all of which lead to your main site. Therefore, no matter how someone stumbles upon you, as long as they “follow the trail,” they’ll eventually find you. That’s essentially what you’re doing with your Twitters and other SMM messages. You’re putting out kernels of information. If someone wants the next kernel, they have to follow the trail. Eventually it funnels them to one Web site, which is where you wanted them to be anyway. You’re creating an environment where people see your message everywhere. As a result, you now have their attention and you have the opportunity to sell your product, your services, or whatever you’re selling at that point of distribution.
Here’s an example of the power of funneling: Recently Aaron Chronester posted a message on Twitter. Someone saw his post and reposted it on their blog. CNN and the New York Times found the post interesting and reported on it. Because of that exposure, Chronester got a book deal from Simon and Schuster. So, what was his post about? Current events? Global warming? A tell-all celebrity biography? Nope. It was a Twitter post with a unique bacon recipe, as Chronester was trying to get publicity for a barbeque club he belonged to. That’s how powerful funneling your message can be.
Get Noticed with SMM
The marketplace is changing, and you have to change with it. Your name has to be everywhere – in print, on radio, on TV, and on the social networking sites. The more you can get your name and message circulating in the various mediums, the higher your chances of clients seeing your information and ultimately hiring you. Thanks to SMM you can get your message out to thousands of people in an instant. And the results are greater credibility, more exposure, and higher sales – all of which positively impact your bottom line.
Pam Lontos is president of PR/PR, a public relations firm based in Orlando, Fla. She is author of “I See Your Name Everywhere” and is a former vice president of sales for Disney’s Shamrock Broadcasting. PR/PR has placed clients in publications such as USA Today, Entrepreneur, Time, Reader’s Digest and Cosmopolitan. PR/PR works with established businesses, as well as entrepreneurs who are just launching their company. For a free publicity consultation, e-mail Pam@prpr.net or call 407-299-6128. To receive free publicity tips, go to www.PRPR.net and register for the monthly e-newsletter, PR/PR Pulse!
I have had painful fun doing meeting my own Inventory Challenge. I am comparing it to the work that must be done in my attic. Some things can be pulled out and used, sold or trashed. Below are some of the things I have done:
I revisited the blogging directory I joined called Blogged and added more blogs. There are still more to add. I discovered that one blog I have, Baby Boomer Pocket Change does not get accepted by any of the two blog directories I have attempted to submit them to. Think it looks too much like a static site or too commercial looking. But need to work on that. So far have some fomre folks following me and I am following more on Blogged. USE
I set up my hubby into an artist discussion board but that was such a long time ago. So, I just reminded him about it, sent the info and he can decide if you wants to stay involved or not. But right now this can be removed from my inventory attic. TRASH
Revisited a site called PodCast Ready. Now this one I am going to keep for now but I need to get some HELP
I reviewd a note about upgrading my web cam. It did not mean a lot then but now because of Boomer Diva Tv, I will probably do more webcams. I am going to upgrade. Check out the reccomended camera;
I have decided to sell some of my domain names. Yes, I know sounds awful doesn’t it? But note that domain names are just like real estate. Sometimes you desire to sell some of your property. Someone wrote me and with great concern said, “Why are you selling your domain names?” I explained that I was not using them or planned to use them in the future. Now, don’t get me wrong you should hold on to some domain names for affiliate use, future sites, or redirects. But sometimes you may decide to SELL.
I saw where I signed up for Ublog2 When I went to the site it had an annoucement tha Wordpress was now on Version 2.0. Now that was old. So, TRASH
I have begun the process of transitioning from one of my host sites. I will not mention which one it is. But they are a nightmare for blogs but great for static sites. I tried to set up a blog with them and their instructions were wrong and their easy to set up blog script provides a horrible 2.2 version of Wordpress. TRASH
I am transferring my static brochure speaking website to a blog site format starting next week. Why? Because it will be so much easier to update the pages. finally
I started my Zumba Classes again. Why, because I needed to move away from this computer more often.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT MY ATTIC, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH YOUR INVENTORY CHALLENGE?
Here is a short note I received from a friend of mine, and baby boomer real estate attorney in New Jersey. She hates the “R” word. She also offers a service to help others recover from the use of that word.
Any time someone starts talking about these tough economic times and the “R” word (recession) comes up, I reply that “I am not participating in the recession.” A great way to not participate is by reducing and/or eliminating household debt.
If I could help you substantially shorten the time to pay off your mortgage and/or other consumer debt (e.g., car notes, credit cards, etc.), would you let me show how much you can save in time and money?
To see how much time and money you could save, please check out my website below and click on Free Money Merge Account Analysis. The analysis is confidential.
Abundantly Free If you have questions or need help completing the analysis, please e-mail me and let me know the best time to contact you. I look forward to helping you not participate in the recession by reducing and/or eliminating debt with the income you currently have.
Lisa Richardson
Exceeding Abundantly Above All, Inc.
P.S. If you or someone you know has a small or home based business the following website provides an introduction to a package of business tools to help grow and manage the business.
I stumbled upon a really cool baby boomer blog while participating in a discussion on videos on your blog. The blog is AskCherlock.
The insightful and opinionated blog authors started the site in March 2008. He is Fiscal Analyst and small business ownerand she is a Licensed Private Detective. Both of them are from Pittsburgh, PA.
Their blog mission is to provide: Boomer Thought Mode-Politics-Opinions-Life Issues-Impact. They are, after reading several of their posts, successful with each post.
But then in the midst of the thoughtful posts is a page with a single video. Their love of music provides a fresh new video every week. How cool
