Like many skills, the ability to meaningfully and productively communicate takes practice. Maribeth Kuzmeski tells parents how they can organically teach their kids to connect with others—so that when they do become teens they can do more than shrug, grunt, and send another text.

Teens and technology. These days they’re as inseparable as toddlers and their teddy bears. When your teens (and, increasingly, tweens) aren’t updating their Facebook pages they’re probably texting friends or blaring music through mp3 players. And here’s the irony: Today’s young people are more “connected” than any other generation in history, but they have a general inability to, well, connect. In fact, says Maribeth Kuzmeski, many can barely carry on the most basic conversations and have trouble articulating what they want or need.

“I’m not saying the digital world is the reason why young people struggle to function in the real one,” says Kuzmeski, author of the new book The Engaging Child: Raising Children to Speak, Write, and Have Relationship Skills Beyond Technology (Red Zone Publishing, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-9717780-3-0, $18.95). “At least it’s not the only one. It’s more like a crutch. Because technology is so pervasive, teens use it as a substitute for real conversations. And so they don’t hone those critical skills.

“The ability to engage and collaborate with others in a meaningful way is critical in a global society,” she adds. “So when young people don’t learn how, they really do hurt their chances for a successful life.”

Learning to engage and connect, of course, begins long before the teen years. Kids learn by doing. And just as we must push kids to clean their rooms and do their homework, it’s up to us as parents to force them to interact with others in persuasive, polite, and engaging ways.

Technology is only part of the problem, Kuzmeski points out. The other part is that we tend to do things for our kids that we need to be teaching them to do for themselves. We set up their dental appointments, for example. We place their orders in restaurants. We talk to their teachers. We call in sick for them when they need to miss a day of school. We do these things because we’ve always done them—and in the process we squander what could be rich learning opportunities.

“The truth is, parents just don’t think about turning these tasks over to their kids,” says Kuzmeski. “It’s never occurred to them. But when they step back and let kids manage these kinds of everyday situations—and provide plenty of coaching along the way—they’re surprised by how quickly they begin to blossom.”

Giving parents the tools they’ll need to help their children develop a strong ability to connect with others is the focus of Kuzmeski’s latest book. As a bonus, the author’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Lizzie, wrote the last two chapters. They are meant to be read by Lizzie’s fellow teens and tweens in order to provide a peer’s perspective on the elements of building and maintaining real relationships in a wired and fast-paced world.

Read on to learn about six strategies that you can incorporate into your family’s life, as well as the skills they’ll help your kids develop naturally and organically:

Have them place a restaurant order. If you’re like many parents you’re eager to hurry things along in restaurants so you get in the habit of ordering for the whole family. The next time you’re dining out, though, use it as an opportunity for your child to interact with the server in a way that gets results. Instruct him to order his own meal, complete with requests to hold the pickles or bring extra ketchup or ranch for the fries. You can also prompt your child to thank the waitress when his meal is delivered and encourage him to engage with her in positive ways when she checks in throughout the meal.

“This is a good chance for your child to see firsthand which words and even which tone get results,” Kuzmeski explains. “During this type of interaction, kids learn to manage and impart several specific, personalized details. Be sure to explain to them how much more smoothly all transactions go when you, the customer, are clear and accurate. You can also point out that you get better treatment—more attentive service and maybe even free dessert—when you are polite and respectful as opposed to demanding or rude.”

Help them return an item to a store, especially at a busy time. At some point, your child is going to receive a birthday gift she already owns, a sweater from Aunt Grace that might have fit her two years ago, or a toy that’s damaged or missing a part. When you make the trip to the customer service desk, be sure to bring your daughter along. Ask her to explain why she is returning the item and to specify whether she’d like an exchange, cash, or store credit. And (as always) remind her to use “please” and “thank you.”

“Dealing with long lines, hassled employees, and confusing return policies can be a challenge even for adults!” Kuzmeski admits. “Having your child take the lead might take a bit more time, but it’ll be an invaluable lesson to her in negotiating using what she knows (the store’s return policy) for the outcome she wants (like a sweater that fits). Especially if the customer service rep is frazzled or if your child is in the wrong (for example, she lost the receipt), she’ll be able to see firsthand that politeness and understanding can—sometimes—smooth things over. Also, seeing positive results will teach her that it’s worth the effort to correct a problem rather than just ‘letting it go’ and absorbing the financial loss.”

Ask them to set up an appointment. Whenever he needs to visit the doctor, dentist, or hairstylist (or even when your dog needs to go to the vet!), ask him to call and book the appointment. Instruct him to be as detailed as possible when requesting a visit time, and help him to look at the calendar before confirming to make sure there’s not a conflict.

“Making his own appointments will help your child fine-tune his phone etiquette and ability to pay attention to details,” Kuzmeski points out. “He’ll also learn to make decisions and navigate his own schedule while working with someone else’s. As he gets older, you can begin to let him request specific services, relay insurance information, and more. Lastly, if you need to cancel an appointment for any reason, allow your child to make the call and reschedule. The lessons he learns about time management and dealing with uncomfortable conversations will be invaluable well into adulthood.”

Help them to decline invitations. Between friends’ birthday parties, cousins’ graduation celebrations, classmates’ bar mitzvahs, and more, your child is going to be invited to events that she is unable to attend. Once she has looked at the calendar and seen that she’s already busy (or in a more extreme instance, you’ve looked at plane tickets and decided they’re too expensive), go over polite refusals with her so that she knows what to say. Then ask her to call the event’s host and explain why she can’t attend.

“Even in adulthood, it can be difficult to say no, even when it’s in our best interests,” says Kuzmeski. “It’s uncomfortable to disappoint people. That’s why we so often ‘cop out’ and send an email or just don’t show up. We may even make up a reason we can’t go to spare people’s feelings. It’s smart to teach your kids early how to say no, and to do it without softening the blow with a lie. By learning to politely decline requests when they’re young, your kids will be more fully in control of their lives. Plus, by seeing the world didn’t come to an end when they said no, they’ll learn to tell the truth.”

Equip them to converse with a stranger. Most youngsters are very comfortable “LOLing,” “BRBing,” and “TTYLing.” But when it’s time to have a good old-fashioned verbal conversation, especially with someone they don’t know well, many kids tend to clam up. Whether your child is a chatterbox at home or not, opening up to strangers (in your presence, of course!) can be quite intimidating. The next time your family is in a larger-scale social setting (like a holiday party, family reunion, or worship service), give him a few ideas of how he can strike up a discussion with people he doesn’t see every day.

“Even before the days of smartphones and Facebook, it was completely normal for youngsters to feel reluctant to approach older adults,” Kuzmeski points out. “You’ll be doing your kids a big favor if you arm them with icebreakers that they can use to proactively connect. Before social events, discuss what some good topics of discussion might be and help them to make a list of strategies for drumming up conversation. They’ll also be able to power through any awkward lulls in conversation that might otherwise discourage them from taking the connecting initiative in the future. And they might also find a new friend or mentor!”

Maribeth Kuzmeski, MBA, CSP, is the author of six books including …And the Clients Went Wild! and The Connectors (Wiley), and is a frequent national media contributor and international speaker. Maribeth and her firm, Red Zone Marketing, Inc., consult and train businesses from financial services firms to Fortune 500 corporations on strategic marketing planning and business growth. She has personally consulted with some of the world’s most successful CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Maribeth lives in the Chicago, IL, area with her husband and two teenagers.

Lizzie Kuzmeski is a teenager and a natural connector. She enjoys theatre, horseback riding, and, yes, Facebook. 

Results are in:

Rebtel, the world’s second largest VoIP company after Skype, today announced new results from a recent research study conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Rebtel. The study was conducted from November 18-22, 2011 and gathered responses from more than 2,000 U.S. adults, with the intention of showing the frequency and means of communication between American adults and their family and friends living abroad during the holiday season.

According to the report, online women who plan to communicate with family and friends who are abroad over the holidays are more likely than men to use free services such social networking sites to do so (47% vs. 34%) and more than twice as many U.S. women indicated that they plan to spend less than last year (11% compared to 5% of men). Overall, the study shows that approximately 39% of Americans have family and friends living abroad, with nearly one in five (19%), or 44.6 million American adults planning to communicate with their family and friends who are abroad over the holiday season.

The survey focused on four specific aspects related to the means of communication between Americans and their family and friends living abroad during the holiday season (defined as the time between Thanksgiving and New Years Day):

• Expected number of people planning to communicate with family and friends who are living abroad over the holidays.

• The methods, programs, applications or devices used by those who are planning to communicate with family and friends abroad over the holidays.

• The amount of money Americans plan to spend on international communication over the holidays compared to last holiday season.

• The frequency of mobile application use to communicate with family and friends abroad this holiday season compared to last holiday season.

Are Women Smarter Than Men When it Comes to Holiday Communications Spending?

According to the study, women are much heavier users of alternative methods of staying in touch over the holidays compared to men, and more than twice as many U.S. women than men indicated they plan to spend less money communicating with family and friends than last year:

• Among the 19% of the U.S. adult population that plans to communicate with family and friends abroad over the holiday season, 8% plan to spend less than last year, with more than twice as many women (11%) indicating this than men (5%).

• Among the 19% of the U.S. adult population that plans to communicate with family and friends abroad over the holidays, 23% plan to spend more money communicating than they did last year, with U.S. men being significantly more likely to indicate this than women (30% vs. 16%).

• Among the 19% of the U.S. adult population who plan to communicate with family and friends abroad over the holidays, 69% plan to spend about the same amount of money as last year communicating with family and friends who are abroad, with no significant differences between women (73%) and men (66%).

When given the option to decide which types of communication methods would be used to stay in touch with family and friends abroad over the holiday season, men were significantly more likely to prefer traditional methods, such as home phone/landline (51%) and email (76%). Whereas, half (50%) of U.S. women indicated that they planned to communicate with family and friends via social networking sites, compared to only 41% of U.S. men; furthermore, one third (33%) of women indicated that they planned to use video chat on their personal computer.

Regarding VOIP calling services, like Rebtel and Vonage, nearly three times more online men (11%) than online women (4%) indicated that they planned to use this method to stay in touch with family and friends abroad this holiday season. In terms of communicating via mobile applications (e.g., apps for Facebook, Skype, Rebtel, Kik, What’sApp) on their smartphone, tablet, or eReader, it should be noted that while online men and women plan to use that method about the same (15% and 16% respectively), 45% of online women plan to use mobile applications more than last year, compared to 18% of men.

Among the 19% of U.S. adults who indicated they plan to communicate with family and friends over the holiday season, here’s a break down of their communication preferences, as well as how the responses differed between male and female respondents:

Methods American Adults Plan To Use to Communicate with Family and Friends Abroad Over the Holiday Season:

Email: 71% (Men 76%, Women 64%)

Mobile Phone (using minutes through cell phone provider): 43% (Men 47%, Women 39%)

Home Phone (i.e., traditional landline): 44% (Men 51%, Women 36%)

Social Networking Sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) on their personal computer: 45% (Men 41%, Women 50%)

Txt Messaging (through cell phone service): 33% (Men 35%, Women 31%)

Video chat (e.g.,Skype) on their personal computer: 31% (Men 30%, Women 33%)

IM (e.g., AIM, Google Chat,): 22% (Men 26%, Women 18%)

Mobile Applications (e.g., apps for Facebook, Skype, Rebtel, Kik, What’sApp) on their smartphone, tablet and/or eReader: 17% (Men 16%, Women 19%)

VoIP Service (e.g., Vonage, Rebtel) on their personal computer: 9% (Men 13%, Women 6%)

“Our findings show that almost two out of five American adults (39%) have family and friends living abroad, and while men tend to prefer traditional methods of communication when it comes to staying in touch, women appear to be opting for alternative methods like social networks. I think the larger trend is that women are making smarter communication choices, which has the reciprocal affect helping them save money during a time of year where almost everyone can benefit from a little more cash in their wallet,” said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Rebtel.

Survey Methodology: Harris Interactive® fielded the study on behalf of Rebtel from November 18 – 22, 2011, via its Harris Poll QuickQuery(SM) online omnibus service, which interviewed a nationwide sample of 2,160 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Eric Gonzalez at eric@vscpr.com.

* According to 2010 U.S. Census estimates, there are approximately 235 million adults living in America (119 million women and 116 million men). Total population is approximately 309 million, with an estimated 24% of the population less than 18 years old. http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf

With the ever-increasing use of social media by young people

In a national telephone survey of registered voters, 53% said it is harmful, 20% said it is helpful in the social development of youth, 17% said it is not making a difference either way and 11% did not offer an opinion.

Men and women shared similar views on the question with 53% saying social media is harmful to the social development of young people.

Among men, 22% said it is helpful, 17% said it is not making a difference and 9% had no opinion.

Among women, 18% found social media helpful in the social development of young people, 17% said it is not making a difference, 13% did not have an opinion.

By a smaller margin than the national average, young people in the 18-29 year old age group found social media more harmful than helpful with 47% choosing harmful versus 35% who thought it was helpful to the social development of today’s youth. Sixteen percent said social media is not making a difference and 3% did not offer an opinion.

See a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation in crosstabs for this poll at http://media.pollposition.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/Poll-Position-Crosstbas-Social-media-helpful-or-harmful.pdf.

Poll Position’s scientific telephone survey of 1,200 registered voters nationwide was conducted November 13, 2011 and has a margin of error of ±3%. Poll results are weighted to be a representative sampling of all American adults.

What do you think? Is social media helpful or harmful to the development of today’s youth? Vote in our online companion poll and comment at http://pollposition.com/2011/11/15/53-social-media-harmful/.

The online companion poll in which you can vote provides unscientific results, meaning it’s a tally of participating Poll Position users, not a nationally representative sampling.

Poll Position is committed to transparency and upholding the highest professional standards in its polling, explaining why we provide you with the crosstabs of our scientific polls. Crosstabs provide a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation.

Learn more about Poll Position’s polling methodology at http://pollposition.com/2011/09/26/our-polling-methodology/.

Poll Position is a unique non-partisan news, polling, and social media company founded and lead by two award-winning CNN news and polling veterans. The company’s goals are to engage, enlighten, and entertain millions of people with exclusive news-making, buzz-generating public opinion polls and giving people everywhere an opportunity to vote and comment on hot topics, while learning the views of others.

To learn more about Poll Position, go to http://www.pollposition.com

New poll results found that there is a partisan divide when it comes to the choosing the best e-mail service provider. 

Poll Position asked Americans which company they choose as the best e-mail service provider and Google topped Yahoo by a 23%-20% margin.

Even though AOL trailed the pack with 12% picking it as the best e-mail service provider, AOL’s e-mail was number one among Republicans with 20% picking it best. Google trailed closed behind among Republicans at 19%, with Yahoo at 16%.

Democrats frown on AOL’s e-mail service, with only 5% picking it best. Democrats picked Google over Yahoo by a 27%-25% margin.

Among independents, Google was tops at 23%, Yahoo at 20%, and AOL at 10%.

AOL’s e-mail service was rated best among 18-29 year olds, with 32% picking it versus 10% for Google and 18% for Yahoo. Google did best among 20-44 year olds (37%), while Yahoo was best among 45-64 year olds (27%).

See a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation in crosstabs for this poll.

Poll Position’s scientific telephone survey of 1,184 registered voters nationwide was conducted November 10, 2011 and has a margin of error of ±3%. Poll results are weighted to be a representative sampling of all American adults.

What do you think? Which e-mail provider do you consider to be the best? Vote in our online companion poll and comment at http://pollposition.com/2011/11/13/best-e-mail-service-provider/.

The online companion poll in which you can vote provides unscientific results, meaning it’s a tally of participating Poll Position users, not a nationally representative sampling.

Poll Position is committed to transparency and upholding the highest professional standards in its polling, explaining why we provide you with the crosstabs of our scientific polls. Crosstabs provide a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation.

About Poll Position - Poll Position is a unique non-partisan news, polling, and social media company founded and lead by two award-winning CNN news and polling veterans. The company’s goals are to engage, enlighten, and entertain millions of people with exclusive news-making, buzz-generating public opinion polls and giving people everywhere an opportunity to vote and comment on hot topics, while learning the views of others. 

Learn more about Poll Position’s polling methodology at http://pollposition.com/2011/09/26/our-polling-methodology/.

How Social Media is Changing the Way the Media Markets Itself

By: Marsha Friedman

You don’t have to tell Kevin Reilly, entertainment president of Fox Broadcasting Company, that social media is a good way to market new shows. He already knows.

At the MIPCOM show, a TV and entertainment conference and market held in Cannes, France every year, Reilly said the network is using social media to build awareness of new shows with tremendous success. Reilly gushed over how social media has made shows hits like Glee and New Girl, almost before they even hit the airwaves.

“In a connected world in which individuals have the ability to choose from the best of TV past and present, more and more the audience will rely on filtering mechanisms and social networks to navigate and inform their choices,” he told the crowd in his keynote:

“There is a reason that Facebook just kicked social TV into high gear. As one blogger said: ‘When people start consuming content through Facebook, it enables a new world of friend-to-friend discovery that is potentially worth more than any promo campaign on the planet.’ In other words, better than any network today can provide.”

I read his speech on deadline.com; by the way, it’s a great site to keep track of what is going on in the film, TV and media businesses. Their coverage of the social media explosion, which has included several similar speeches about social media (from the announcement of Yahoo! doing a Web-only TV series and the expansion of Facebook’s strategic deals with, well, just about everyone), is another demonstration of social media no longer being a trend. It’s now clearly part of the foundation of the media. Don’t look now, but TV, radio, print and online just moved one chair down to make room for social media at the grown-ups table.

Think about just what Fox has just done. For their new hit comedy New Girl, Fox pre-released an episode on iTunes and VOD, before the pilot was even aired on TV – and they scored 2-million downloads. Reilly also said that another one of their hit shows, Glee, was the guinea pig for social media. First, they streamed the show on HULU.com before they aired it and all of the songs from the show’s musical numbers were released on iTunes, to provide fodder for social media followers.

But this is the real telling quote from the speech: “The series premiered as a bona fide hit, which I am certain would not have been the case had we marketed it in a more traditional way.”

My point? Simple. If you’re using social media for your business today, that’s good. My advice would be to make sure you are doing everything you can within reason to capitalize on the marketing opportunities it provides.

And if you’re not using social media, you need to start now. It’s where everyone is conversing, sharing information, referring favorite books, products and services, and researching their next purchase. It’s where you need to be.

Marsha Friedman is a 21-year veteran of the public relations industry and a sought after national public speaker on the power of publicity. She is the founder and CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.GuaranteedNationalPR.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy, promotion and publicity services to corporations, entertainers, authors and professional firms. Marsha is also the author of the book, Celebritize Yourself: The 3-Step Method to Increase Your Visibility and Explode Your Business. When she is not running her business, she has Cherish the Children, a non-profit foundation that helps under-privileged local foster children.

Why You Must Suck It Up & Create Your Facebook Business Page Today By Suzen Pettit

If kids, soon-to-be-adults and millions of not-so-young adults are your future audience, then you need to have a Facebook Business Page as you need to be where your audience is. And, today, our children, teens, young adults and even older adults like my former room mates and my ex (who deny they are addicted to Facebook) can be found updating their profile, commenting and changing their status updates regularly.

The New York Times even wrote an article recently that showed kids are finding crafty ways to get around the increasing number of Facebook bans their schools are implementing. One eighth grader, who preferred not to be named, said he coached a school administrator on avoiding the ban last year. “She hated not being able to get on Facebook at work and asked for my help one day in the office,” the boy explained, more than a little sympathetic to her plight. “What could I do?”

It came as no surprise to me, and it’s speaking volumes of the need for small businesses, as much as they want to continue down that stream of FB Denial, to get on board and create a Facebook business page. It is time for them to put themselves in front of this next generation of Facebook addicts.

Need more proof?

5 Reasons Why You Must Setup a Facebook Fan Page Fast!

1) Kids, soon adults, and millions of young and not-so-young adults are your future audience and they are all there, “friending” Justin Bieber under their covers (like my daughter last night) when they should be asleep.

2) With over 600 million users and almost 50% of them on Facebook daily…. stop…. think about it….., AND over 40% of existing businesses already up and running on it, you want your business to be where your customers and potential customers are going, right? If you knew that your customers were passing by one of the huge billboards in Times Square every day and those billboards didn’t cost millions per month to be advertising there, you would want to be up there…wouldn’t you?

3) Your Facebook business page is like the huge billboard in Times Square except for the fact that it’s free. Your customers are there, their friends are there. And you can say a heck of a lot more on a FB page than you can on a billboard.

4) The search engines love a Facebook Business Page. Because a business page is a public URL and not a private one, your site will have a much easier time making it to the top of a Google search than your website.

That’s unless you’ve invested a lot of $ into SEO (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

5) As mentioned earlier, your competition already has a Facebook business page, and not because they want to share about their favorite rice and beans recipe. The “like” button has become the new “link.” Many online marketers, myself included now believe that the Facebook “like” button is becoming just as significant as backlinks to a website. In other words, the more “likes” your page has, the greater the chance of it ranking high in the search engines for your specific field and keywords. So think of it as a link and encourage your customers to press it. Every time you update something on your page these customers will now see it as they have been “linked” to it.

There are so many good reasons to create one of these Facebook business pages I could blather on and on about them forever. For now, think about the math. The average Facebook page has 140 friends. When you post to Facebook, your “friends” and all their “friends” will view your post. Can you spell V-I-R-A-L? As insane as it might sound, there’s a reason why Shop Rite wants you to “like” them on Facebook.

Suzen Pettit specializes in designing, building, marketing and maintaining optimized websites and social media profiles for busy small business owners. By using her strategic internet marketing techniques you will ensure your business is being found and that clients are seeing what YOU want them to see on the internet about you. For even more free tips, tools, strategies and resources, read her free articles at: http://www.omaginarium.com/blog/

This special online event, a week of unique blog posts, is brought to you by Biba Pedron from

Today I introduce you to Mari-Lyn Harris a Relationship Marketing Specialist

How does or is Social Media networking/marketing working for you? Are your connections helping you? Most people like Artists and other professionals like to think that Social Marketing is a fad, or it’s too time consuming, they all have merits and need to be considered. However every person has a Social Net – whether it’s in a forum, a discussion group your friends on and off line, places that you can go for help, your co-operative or Business Association. Your Social Net, is wherever you go to be social, to use the tools that are made available to all of us. Here are seven people who share how their social net is working.

“The paradox for many artists is that they desire intensely to communicate and be understood but find the expression of this need through their work and not through more active, fluid and immediate channels such as live communication.

Perhaps the answer is that with indirect media such as this one, or blogging, or other social media, the artist has much-needed time to reflect, to write and edit, to experiment with one idea then change it — without the pressing need to be socially “interesting,” with all the pressure that entails.

What if there were a social media in which texting-level word babble were not permitted, and only those media capable of complex and subtle thought such as music, images and poetry were allowed? Would we end up talking to the choir or would we find a new level of interchange?” By Eric Olson

“The last 6 years I’ve used some form of social networking. It’s increase traffic to our web to over 1 million visitors a year. Now we’re working on our “Tribe” Love to talk more with you about it. After all my mission is to bridge the gap between art and commerce.”

By Scott Hull

“I use social networking like Twitter and Facebook to promote my blog posts and Etsy shopping cart. I think it helps bring people to my shows and to look at my blog but it has not helped with sales a whole lot. I am still plugging away at hoping people will buy a few photo prints on my site.” By Kerry Ann Hawkins

“I am a truly devoted fan of social media networking. I’m also a person who easily makes new friends, who loves to socialize, spend time with people all over the world, work on art project with others – and so on. For me – the social media networking just makes it even easier to connect, and stay connected, with people. It makes me feel that I belong to a larger society of artists. It makes our planet smaller in a way. I really like that. The main thing about successful networking, though, is to always remember this: The question should never be “What can you do for me? – but always “What can I do to help you?”

Do not expect people to help you, but be very grateful if they do. The network aSmallWorld is based on this: how can we help each other? I recently posted information about an up-coming art project I am doing in San Francisco. Immediately I got constructive and good response with suggestions to whom I could contact. Some days later I even got a mail from an investor who is a partner of one of the largest independent galleries in the Bay Area, asking if we wanted to have the exhibition there. Amazing!

Promoting my own art feels like holding my heart in my hands, hoping that someone won´t step on it. It was less scary to be in charge of a budget of several 100 millions than opening an exhibition. But the good thing about having this experience is that I know that I just have to do it! I have to be out there – I have to talk about my art – I have to visit galleries – and so on. But I also have to find a way of doing it that is in accordance with who I am. And in that sense social media networking is perfect. I can connect to a lot of people in an easy way. I make valuable connections that are fun and rewarding (hopefully) for both parts.” By Kristine Maudal

“Social Media is not a fad and has in fact made a great impact on the ability of artists to network, share resources, get advice and make sales. As for Twitter, like anything else it is a tool to be used judiciously. I only follow other professionals in my field who have useful information and can direct me to relevant content.

It is true that outgoing people pick up social media pretty quickly. That is why they put me in charge of internet marketing and social media three years ago. I’ll talk to a telephone pole if it will stand still long enough. In the beginning I thought it would be laborious and time consuming, and it was for the first two weeks or so until I got the hang of what worked, who was a waste of time and where the smart people hung out. Now I spend two hours a day or less keeping up with and making new contacts, leaving comments, but remember, I am doing it for a company, not just for myself.

Social media, can absolutely have an impact on how to connect to the “average person who hasn’t a clue”. Blogging is one of the best ways I know to get information out to a broad audience. Buying original art online or otherwise isn’t the hip, hot thing to do but I guarantee you, if Oprah talked about it, encouraged it, or wrote about it in her magazine, the whole world would start buying art.

We can’t afford to be elitist about anything anymore. Do we want people to buy art or don’t we? WE have to be the educators, the communicators, the marketers and the advocates. In order to reach people we have to go where they are, and that is on the internet.

Social media is a way to determine your audience, generate interest, get valuable feedback, connect with other artists and professionals and get your work in front of millions of eyeballs.” By Mary Lawler

“I see the value in social networking, but my biggest problem is that there are only so many hours in my day. I believe in the whole concept, but it so much of a time investment. If your business IS social networking, then yes, this is great to be able to spend hours and hours talking about it. But if you’re a solo entrepreneur who has to create your own work and then manage all the other aspects of running a business, it gets very overwhelming!

I fit more into the introvert category; I force myself to go to networking events because I know I need to.” By Debbie Viola

“ Social networking should be about creating relationships. That is hard to do when you are all over the social networking map. It takes time to cultivate relationships online. How do any of you create the time to devote to one forum, one Linkedin group, enough to create relationships which are meaningful enough to enhance your art related businesses?” By Kirstie Bennett

How do you get your social net to work for you?

1. Ask questions, answer other peoples’ questions in forums or groups

2. Engage the members by sharing an article or post or resource, not just to your site but to other things that are relevant to the groups needs.

3. Do a poll

4. Put yourself out whether it online or offline, if you don’t show up know one will have an opportunity to know and like you

5. Start loving people, guide them, mentor them

6. How can you help someone else? Ask them.

7. Be your own friend and think about how you can be a friend for someone else

8. Be positive, update your profile

9. Be friendly, encourage others

10 Share your ideas

Mari-Lyn Harris is a Relationship Marketing Specialist in customer retention. Get your FREE report on why you need a customer retention program. http://heartatworkonline.org. http://XeeMe.com/Mari-LynHarris

Groubal.com, a premier consumer advocate Web site, is championing the consumer voice to provide authority and create awareness between consumer complaints and corporations, in hopes of generating solutions to improve the customer experience. As many consumers have encountered negative customer service or faulty products, they now have an outlet to unite with other consumers as the authority to be heard.

Groubal.com is not just a consumer complaint Web site, but focuses on advocating the rights of consumers. Consumers are encouraged to submit groubals to Groubal.com, and the Groubal team champions the most popular issues by taking the problem directly to the company or industry named in the groubal. Each company is given the opportunity to respond to the consumer complaint, while the Groubal team seeks others in the perspective industry to do the same until desired action is achieved.

“In today’s world, millions are strugggling for their survival, as many encounter a variety of problems and might not have the financial resources to properly solve them,” stated Robert Doner, founder, Groubal.com. “If one person experiences an issue that’s being ignored, chances are many others are in a similar situation. We’re here to create awareness and provide consumers an outlet to be the authority in creating change for improved customer experiences.”

Although consumers can submit their groubals through the company’s Web site, Groubal.com also encourages consumers to bet against companies they believe will fail their customers the most in Groubal’s free Facebook game, Groubulation. In addition, consumers can also visit the Groubal Community Sentiment Index (Groubal CSI) to view the barometer that measures real global customer sentiment.

Additional information about Groubal.com, Groubulation, Groubal CSI, and how to create, sign and support a groubal, can be found by visiting Groubal.com.

This special online event, a week of unique blog posts, is brought to you by Biba Pedron from

You’ve done your research, blocked out your time so you wouldn’t get distracted or interrupted, wrote the article, posted onto your blog and hit publish. Now what? Is that all you have to do?

Unfortunately, just like writing and publishing a book, once the material is out there promoting becomes the most important part. If you don’t promote, you won’t sell copies. The same is true for online articles and blog posts. If no one is reading them, no one is buying. In other words if you don’t generate traffic to your blog, your hard work is for naught. I’m going to tell you how to get a good ranking and guide readers to your blog.

1. Use Keywords

– Make sure your article contains keywords related to the subject, including in your title.

Check on Google/Keyword Took External to find the best keywords . Make sure you know where to add the keywords and how to separate them according to the site.

2. Install the plugin All in One SEO Pack -

This plugin will generate META tags automatically, fine tune page navigational links, automatically optimizes your titles for search engines, avoids the typical duplicate content found on WordPress blogs. Installing this plugin will save you time and energy you can otherwise use to generate great content.

3. Post on article directories

– Adding your articles to article directories gets you more exposure because people have more ways to access the information you have to offer. Always make sure to put a call to action at the end of your articles to direct traffic to your blog. Use enticements such as more information or free gifts. The object is to motivate people to act and to tell them what it is they need to do. In this case it is to go the your blog to get more traffic.

4. Install plugin to share on social media

– In order to save time, install your plugins once and only click on the Facebook or Twitter button as soon as you publish a new blog post. This way, simultaneously all of your followers will see your new article or blog post. As an added call to action, ask you followers to share with their friends, for a viral effect.

5. Subscribe to RSS

– This application will allow you to plug in your blog with other social media sites with just one click, instead of having to deal with each one on its own.

6. Use bit.ly to track your readers

– Webistes like bit.ly allow you to shorten your URL, which is convenient to reduce the number of characters, allowing you to tweet the address of your new posts. You will also be able to get some valuable information such as the number of people who click on the link to read your post over all or per day and which countries those people reside in. This information comes in handy when keeping track of who your target market is.

7. Publish it on your Linkedin groups

– Review the LinkedIn groups and choose those that relate to the topic of your blogs. Once you join them you can mention on each one that you have just posted a new article and include the shortened link to track how many people from LinkedIn click your link. You can only join a maximum of 50 groups, so select them according to how many members and how close they are to your target market. There is no reason to waste your time with tiny groups or people who have no interest in the information you can provide.

8. Comment on other blogs related to your topic

– Each time you put a comment on other blogs, and eventually answer questions, your credibility as an expert rises. If people come to know you as the ‘go-to- person in your field they will come to read more about you on your blog. An added benefit is that by clicking on your link these readers will give you a backlink, which only helps your ranking.

9. Participate on forums related to your topic

– Just like the blogs, participation in discussions on forums raises your credibility. Always make sure your profile is completed so that those wishing to get more information are directed to your website and blog.

10. Mention your blog or article in your newsletter

– If you send a newsletter every week, mention that you’ve written something new on your blog or that you have a new article coming out. If you don’t tell people on your mailing that you have new information, they won’t know to read it.

11. Exchanges links with other bloggers

– Contact other bloggers who touch on the same topic as you but are not your competitors and ask to exchange links so you can cross promote each other. You benefit from his or her readers and vice-versa.

Now that you know how to promote your blog postings and articles to get more traffic and exposure be sure to block out adequate time to write your next article. If possible, post at least once a week on your blog. The more often you post the better as you get a higher ranking. And we all know a higher ranking means more exposure, more readers, more feedback and more money for you and your business.

Still need help to build your blog?

Visit www.TheConnectionQueen.com, and download 3 free gifts including a 60mn audio, 6 videos and an ebook on networking and marketing strategies.

Biba Pédron, also known as “The Connection Queen”, is a business coach and personal stylist who helps solo women entrepreneurs to attract more clients with proven marketing strategies, like networking and social media. She also helps them awaken their personal look, dress to impress, achieve greater self-confidence, and stand out from the crowd thus skyrocketing their income by creating their signature business style.

OhThatsYou.com has arrived just in time, as Fashion Week is under way.

OhThatsYou.com solves this disconnect by putting the consumer in control.  The new online platform provides an integrated array of tools that enables members to interact with their trusted circle, including their friends and other members with similar attributes and lifestyles, to make style and purchasing decisions. “Our personal style is a combination of our unique physical attributes, the sum total of our experiences and our environment,” stated Azita Gandjei, founder, Oh That’s You! “OhThatsYou.com enables members to find their own unique personal style, whether they want to fit in or stand out.”

Members of OhThatsYou.com can use the OTY Window-Shopper to collect fashion images that suit their tastes, as well as mix and match items to create different looks. Lastly, members will receive OTY generated personal fashion and beauty recommendations on items that suit their face and body type.

Sample Screen Shot for Oh, That's You Website - The Pear Shape

Finding the perfect look depends on many things, including your tastes, shape and location. The OhThatsYou.com community enables members to swap advice and find items that are relevant to each style. Next time you can’t decide what to buy or wear for an event, just check in with OhThatsYou.com!