So how do you do it? Below are 3 tips that work on all social networking platforms.

1. Find people yourself. It’s as simple as it sounds. Go out and friend or follow people. Chances are they’ll eventually follow or accept your friend request, and you’ll build your list.

The downside: it’s time consuming. It takes more time than you might expect to search and check out profiles. (And you want to make sure the people you’re friending or following are in your target market or you waste your time and energy.)

Some sites have limits on how many people you can friend in one day, which makes the process take even longer.

This is a good strategy to get the momentum going, but I wouldn’t rely on it long-term.

A much better way is to get your target market to come to you. How do you do that? Well…

2. Be visible. Whatever social networking site you’re focusing on, log on and do stuff on it. Update, comment, ask questions, tweet. If people see you around, they’ll start coming to you.

You can also use automated tools to cross-feed different social networking platforms into each other. For example, you can feed Twitter into Facebook, your blog into Facebook and Twitter, and Twitter and Facebook into your blog. That cross-pollination means you can choose where you’re posting for maximum effect.

3. Be a friend. What does it mean to be a friend? Well, friends help each other out. Make sure you spend some of your time helping out your social networking friends. Promote one of your friends’ products or services or free teleclass. Give a testimonial. Answer a question or give some free advice with no strings attached. Provide great content. Think about how you can help someone else and do it.

Do these tips sound familiar? They should. They also work in the offline world.

This is really important: social networking is just like networking in the real world. Yes, it looks different online. The tools you use are different. The etiquette is different. If you come from a place of truly trying to be a good social networking pal, everything else will fall into place. If you come to social networking looking for a shortcut to building real relationships, then you’re probably going to be disappointed with the results.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) is your Ka-Ching! Marketing strategist and owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a premiere direct response copywriting and marketing company that helps entrepreneurs attract more clients, sell more products and services and boost their business. To grab your FREE “Ka-Ching! Business Kit” with a FREE CD visit http://www.MichelePW.com/freecd

Five thousand years ago, people relied on rivers to provide pathways of commerce, of connection, of community.

Back in ancient Egypt, commerce was advanced by travelling Merchant Priests. These priests were trained to regard business a sacred practice, rather than just a financial transaction. It was considered a vehicle by which both vendors and customers could raise their vibrational consciousness, contribute to their communities and, ultimately, create their self-actualization.

The Merchant Priests were responsible for maintaining balance and flow of abundance with people and amongst communities. Business was their channel for making sure that there was a healthy flow of goods through and across the population geographically and amongst economic levels so that there was consistency in experiencing wealth.

They considered goods as a measure of energy vs. being a profit center; their emphasis was on prosperity as a practice and trust was the keystone of good business. Even more fascinating is that these merchant priests traded in precious goods as determined by their ability to carry positive energetic frequencies rather than focusing on their financial value.

This is radically different from today’s marketplace where you can find and exchange anything and everything, much of it without energetically supportive qualities or in a way that honors the connection as the sacred trust it actually represents.

The Merchant Priests were concerned with the overall health and well-being of the collective community and could actually monitor and manage the psychic tone of their culture, much like we rely on the stock market to tell us how our economy is doing. Sacred commerce, or the merchant priesthood, is the foundation and the future of business.

Business is a symbol for the health of our collective community. It’s an accelerator of cultural evolution and personal expansion. By allowing your spiritual practice to come through your business and online presence, you are walking the path of your divine purpose. By unifying your life and your livelihood, you are increasing your ability to contribute in a more powerful and profound way to your growth, your legacy and the greater good.

When you look at how you’ve been approaching your business especially online (using the river of life), and how people have been doing business with you, is it in integrity with higher consciousness? Or is it just a way to make money?

If it doesn’t feel good to think about your business in the light of sacred commerce, consider this your invitation to become a modern-day virtual Merchant Priest. You, your business, and everyone you touch along your Internet river, will benefit.

Making the most of human nature since 1998, Lynn Scheurell believes that business is your highest calling made manifest through service. By teaching the art of sacred entrepreneuring, she bridges the transformational gap that each business owner encounters in their journey toward conscious, and often dramatic, results. By honoring your natural gifts and living to what really matters, all choices become a purposeful expression of personal destiny which creates dramatic results quickly in both life and business. Learn more at www.MyCreativeCatalyst.com.

In the end, it catches a mouse – if you’re lucky.

Seeing how media has evolved reminds me of Mouse Trap. Get a mention in a newspaper article and find an online link to share on Twitter. Your followers retweet it to their followers, who post it on Facebook, where someone finds it and mentions it on a talk-radio fan page and, before you know it, you’re a guest on a show!

Of course, that’s a simplified scenario with a dream outcome, but it gives you the picture.

Connecting these different platforms integrates your publicity with social media. At EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), we have Jeni Hinojosa, our Social Media Campaign Manager, turning the crank. She writes and posts blogs and comments, and tweets updates, on behalf of clients to build a large, credible following for them. I asked her to share a couple of the ways she has spread our clients’ messages and to give you a few tips for handling your own social media.

Jeni, by the way, has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology with a specialty in social media. She studied the “socialsphere,” how it evolved into its own subculture and how we interact with it. In short, she knows how it works – and she knows how to work it.

Here’s what she wrote:

People who casually use social media may send a few Tweets, update their Facebook status and write a weekly blog post. They connect with people whose content they’re interested in: family and friends, co-workers, fellow hobbyists, groups with shared interests or causes.

If you have serious goals, however, such as building an audience for marketing purposes, you need to do all of that and more. One strategy I use for our clients is generating “third-party conversations.” Instead of simply postingon our clients’ own social networking sites, I visit blogs, websites and fan pages of people with similar interests. I comment on their content in hopes of engaging their audience in a conversation that ultimately brings new traffic to our clients’ websites.

Here’s a for instance: We have a client whose message involves maintaining healthy romantic relationships. I found a great article on this topic and shared it with a comment on other sites. The article prompted conversations and I stayed involved in the discussion. When it seemed appropriate, I shared a link to our client’s blog. In this case, she got new followers on Facebook and Twitter through that one action.

Another strategy I use is promoting our clients when they’re featured in traditional media, such as newspapers, radio and TV, which all seem to have an online presence. We recently had a client who was also on board for our talk radio campaign. I promoted her upcoming interviews to her friends and followers. Then I visited the stations’ websites for links to their Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. I joined their networks, friended their friends, and plugged the upcoming interviews there, too, e.g. “I’m so excited to be chatting with host’s name here on Friday about topic here.”

As a result, this client made lots of new connections among the stations’ listeners.

These are all strategies anyone can use; all they require is time and imagination. To help ensure your success, here are some tips:

• Don’t over-promote yourself. That’s the No. 1 rule. People are turned off by those who seem interested only in selling a book or product. A good rule of thumb is to make sure 80 percent of your content is light, interesting, informative or fun.

• Don’t bury your followers in an avalanche of content. Limit Facebook status updates and Tweets to three or four a day.

• People new to social media often regard those with similar content as rivals or competitors. Actually, these can be your new best friends. When you promote Chef Shane’s cooking blog, he’ll likely tweet about the great chocolate cake recipe on your website. Become a partner in sharing with online personalities where messages are similar to yours and you’ll soon have a vast support network.

Integrating publicity and social media takes some thinking, some effort and, as Jeni says, some creativity. But isn’t that always true when you’re trying to build a better mousetrap? And this marketing costs nothing – not with free Wi-Fi available almost everywhere you turn.

Marsha Friedman is a 22-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to corporations, entertainers, authors and professional firms. She also co-hosts “The News and Experts Radio Show with Alex and Marsha” on Sirius/XM Channel 131 on Saturdays at 5:00 PM EST.

I love the internet and everything about it. I read everything I can on social media marketing and watch tons of videos and attend webinars. Some things just strike me when I see small business owners and entrepreneurs struggling with the idea of presenting their businesses online. I do know that not everyone has the time or the desire to invest in learning how to market their business using social media marketing (that’s where I come in) so understanding a few basics is vital.

1. When I mention social media marketing, I get the all too familiar glassy-eyed stare and comments like “I have a facebook.”

Social Media Marketing is so much more than a facebook page. Yes, most businesses have a facebook page, but that is only one little baby step. Facebook may be a good way for you to start learning about social media or a good step in the right direction, but it’s really only one step.

2. You have a private listing on LinkedIn where only the first initial of your last name is given or someone must have your email to connect with you.

LinkedIn is about finding business connections. Those valuable NEW CONNECTIONS that can lead to a new job, more sales or promotion of your company. How can you accomplish these things if no one can find you or connect with you? I don’t know about you, but I joined LinkedIn to network and get my name out there.

3. You tweet the same thing over and over and follow no one.

This tells me that you really aren’t interested in new connections and that you really just want to spam the world and hope something sticks. This also tells me that your twitter is on autopilot and finding that one person who will rocket your business really doesn’t matter to you.

4. You only talk about you.

You post about you and you and you and you. You don’t really care what I have to say, and love talking about yourself. Sorry, but with my connections I hope to hear about other things. Yes, I do want to know about you, but I also want to know what goes in the world around you. A good rule of thumb is 9 posts about other things and one promotion about yourself. That’s an excellent rule to follow. Remember the Toby Keith song “I Want to Talk About Me.”

5. Your profiles are incomplete and you use only an avatar.

Maybe you are in the witness relocation program and really don’t want anyone to find you or to try and reach out and connect with you. This totally defeats the concept of social media marketing.

Social media is about being social. About making those valuable connections that can take our business out of our own little box and move it to something bigger and better. I hope you’ll join me on the big highway.

Kim Tranter is the owner of ULearnSocialMedia.com, teaching small businesses and entrepreneurs how to grow their businesses using social media marketing. She is the author of The Ultimate Social Media Success Guide available on amazon.com and teaches social media marketing at Herkimer County Community College.

… on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN by Michele Scism

Do you know the power of a few friends? If your a mother, a friend can save your sanity by watching your child for a little while.  If you get ill, a friend will bring you medicine and soup, like my friend Peggy did for me last time.  If you have a death in the family, a friend will sit with you while you mourn and if you get married, a friend will dance the night away with you and then drive behind you honking her horn as you leave for your honeymoon.

But what does it mean to be a social media friend?

If you have been paying any attention, you know that I preach the necessity of building your network of friends on social media.  Whether that be adding friends on Facebook, connections on LinkedIn or followers on Twitter the key to creating success using social media is through your connections.

I know that a lot of times these are just shallow relationships; acquaintances that we know online but have not taken the time to get to know.  What I want to talk about is how you can pick a handful of key friends on social media and make a big splash!

Your Social Media Safe Circle

Here is a simple way to turbo-boost you’re the reach of your content – with a little help from your friend.

You create, what I call, a Safe Circle simply by gathering a small group of your colleagues and friends, who are willing to truly support each other. I would recommend 5 or 6 people.

Then you just start sharing each others information using your social media options.  If they have created an event on Facebook or LinkedIn you click the “attending button”.  When you do that their event is shared with your personal friends in their news-feed.  When you see them place an update on Facebook you click the “like” button or comment – both of these things will put that in your news-feed for your other friends to see.  You re-tweet them on Twitter. And they are doing the same thing for you.  You visit their blog and share their posts on Twitter and Facebook.

In return they are doing the same thing.  If each of you has an average of 1000 friends on Facebook then instead of your blog post being in front of your personal 1000 friends it will now be in front of the combined 5000 friends (your 4 friends and you).

This is a really easy way to get your name out using social media.  This is one of the things that I did so I know it works.  Start making your list and make sure they understand that it is reciprocal.

Are your online strategies getting you massive visibility, credibility and profitability? Michele Scism and Decisive Minds partners with business owners that are tired of being the best-kept secret on the web. If you are ready to get the word out about your business and really start making money online Michele and Decisive Minds are here to help. For more information go to http://decisiveminds.com

GiveBackMail donates to a charity for every e-mail that its users send through its site. Registration is easy and does not cost users a single penny. GiveBackMail allows users to manage all of their existing accounts within one interface. The service works with Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, and other POP3/IMAP e-mail providers; so there is no longer a need of logging in to multiple accounts. GiveBackMail not only offers regular features that any e-mail provider does, but it also offers additional options such as previewing attachments before downloading, un-sending e-mails after it has already been sent, sharing large files of up to 100MB, integrating social network and music feeds, and much more. The GiveBackMail team is working to add new and innovative features such as a chat and Smartphone App within the next few months.

Check out GiveBackMail TODAY! It is free, easy, secure, convenient, and helps support favorite causes and non-profits. Help GiveBackMail donate millions! Please visit http://www.givebackmail.com to learn more and register!

By Kyra Howell 

The advent of technology has provided many opportunities for advancement to individuals and businesses. We are able to communicate with each other in a multitude of ways, whether it’s to send a family photo instantly via email, receive a payment from a client via an Internet credit card merchant, or broadcast our inspired business messages through YouTube videos.

The ways we are able to use the Internet has brought about social change across the globe so rapidly in recent years. Governments that still attempt to control their people are finding it harder to stave off the flow of democratic thinking and freedom-seeking citizens. Regimes have toppled – and the rest of the world has been able to watch, witness and support the change.

Another way in which we are able to use technology for good is to seek out organizations we can support with our philanthropy dollars. There are a number of organizations that conduct research on charitable organizations and post their reviews based on various factors. These summaries of activity are extremely useful to those of us looking to put a portion of our earnings toward social good.

If you are philanthropic or want to start on the path of having a giving plan, the first thing you want to do is to understand your own unique mission for giving. We all have one that is unique to us, but most people don’t take the time to understand what that is. That’s the main reason I have put together a program for determining your mission. Each of us is here to accomplish something on own path. Where your philanthropic dollars go and what you decide to do to in the name of societal progress is part of that path.

The next thing you need to do is determine which charitable organizations are doing good work in the area of most concern to you. That’s where the reviewing organizations become extremely helpful.

To research charitable organizations, you can utilize sites such as www.philanthropedia.com, www.givewell.org, or www.guidestar.org. This will give you a great start in determining the types of organizations to which you may want to contribute.

If you would prefer a pre-compiled list of some terrific charitable organizations to jump-start your giving, simply visit www.FoundationsforGiving.com to obtain a list of 25 Top Charitable Organizations that cross the spectrum in terms of their missions for giving.

Electronic technology has been, and will continue to be, very instrumental in summoning change for the better. The sooner each of us decides to be a part of that change in whatever way we can, the faster we can continue to move all societies forward and be the change we want to see in the world.

Kyra Howell is the founder of Foundations for Giving and The Howell Law Firm, PLLC. She works with inspired entrepreneurs to develop their unique missions for giving and to create private and family foundations to put wealth to work for individuals, their families, and society. Kyra is also on of the Top 100 women in ecommerce™ for 2012.

Special thanks to Christopher Novak, one of our advertisers in the Who’s Who in Ecommerce Special Edition 2012!

Why Writing for SEO Can Hurt Your Website Rankings

In my copywriting trainings, this topic invariably comes up. Usually it’s because I’m questioning my students’ choice of words on their websites or other online promotional copy.

The problem: they choose words that are good SEO words – but certainly not good people words.

Let me give you a little background. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This means you make your website and other online copy “search-engine friendly” so the search engines will rank you high for your chosen keywords. The result: you get more online visitors to your site.

On the surface, it makes sense. Your website ranks high on the first page when people do a search for your keywords, they see your website and click on the link.

Easy, right?

Well…

First off, SEO (like everything Internet-related) has changed. A few years ago, SEO WAS the main way people found things on the Internet.

However, with social networking taking the world by storm, and more people on Facebook and YouTube than Google, people using search engines have dropped significantly.

People are still using search engines. But their habits have changed. Now they’re more likely to search for you after hearing about you via offline methods (like newspapers, magazines, television, direct mail, speaking, meeting you at an event, etc.)

Of course, people will still do generic searches for keywords that relate to what you sell. But trying to get yourself on page 1 of those rankings can be difficult.

So what do you do?

While optimizing is not a bad idea, I wouldn’t put too much energy into it. I certainly wouldn’t put words that sounded weird or off to my ideal clients on my online materials even if they were strong keywords. (You did all this work to get your ideal clients to visit your site. Do you want to turn them off with bad writing and poor language choices?)

Google and the other search engines reward you if your website isn’t deceptive, offers great content, and the content changes regularly. If you do that, search engines WILL like your site regardless of your SEO.

It makes more sense to focus on other avenues for people to find you. Be active on social networking sites, post articles, upload video, blog more. This increases your visibility out in the wild world of the Internet FAR more than focusing only on SEO.

Focus on those activities, then put your very best writing on your website — writing that makes your visitors eager to learn more about you and do business with you — instead of suffocating your copy with keywords that may make those very same visitors click away.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) is your Ka-Ching! Marketing strategist and owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a premiere direct response copywriting and marketing company that helps entrepreneurs attract more clients, sell more products and services and boost their business. To grab your FREE “Ka-Ching! Business Kit” with a FREE CD visit http://www.MichelePW.com/freecd

Only time will tell…

Have you heard about the newest auction site? One that can rival Ebay or Craig’s list?  It’s called Auctiontopia and its liking going to change the way auctions are handled online. Why? Because they don’t charge any fees to list your products (unless you want an enhanced listing) and buyers and sellers can chat through Instant Messaging so there is little or no wait time to find out more about what you are buying/selling and other questions you might have about a particular auction item.

Here’s what it’s all about (according to their website):

Auctionopia is an online marketplace that is designed to simplify and foster communication between buyers and sellers.

In order to make the bidding experience more convenient, Auctionopia has taken the messaging technology as a core of the communication process. Instant messaging is easy to use and makes the negotiating process more convenient. It is something that most of us use in everyday communication process.

Why wait 7 days for an auction to end, when you can talk with the other party over instant messenger and close the deal in five minutes?

For your convenience, Auctionopia has taken away some things that frustrate you while using typical auction sites. There are no listing fees or hidden costs (final sale fees), meaning that you can list anything on Auctionopia for free. We only apply fees when you want to “enhance” the position or visibility of your listing.

Finally – buying and selling online is no longer time-consuming or costly!

WE encourage you to check out Auctionopia.com, Today!

This is pretty funny because women are NATURAL MARKETERS!

We LOVE to share our opinions, our passions, and our assistance!

In fact, just try shutting us up…

And that’s what Marketing is:

1. Sharing what we care about

2. Building real relationships

3. Giving free value to the people who need us… until they’re ready to invest in themselves.

In fact, the more you make your Marketing about giving—giving useful information, resources, and the sincere caring in your heart—the easier it’ll feel, and the better it will work for you financially.

We’re so lucky… it’s as if the Internet was designed just for women. We get to sit at home and form meaningful connections and relationships with people around the world who share our values and want to hear our voice… safely, at our own pace, in our own environment… for free or cheap…

What’s not to like?

The biggest challenge for us women (because our brains are set up to think globally and see a all our options all our time) is figuring out where to put our effort first.

What’s the one activity that will give you the most bang for buck (and your time) in terms of creating relationship, offering value, and making you money?

In my business, it’s been my ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER.

I love Facebook, my websites, all my social media tools, etc, but I MAKE MONEY every time I send out an email.

Even when I’m not “selling” anything.

When I don’t send out my newsletter, money stops coming in.

My newsletter has been my number one tool for business growth since November 2002. It took me from earning a hundred dollars a month in my business to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

It’s front and center, my top priority in marketing.

HERE’S WHY YOU WANT AN ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER:

• It gives website visitors something TO DO on your site besides hire you or leave.

• It builds relationship, familiarity, and trust over time.

• Good content sells you better than selling does.

• You develop a clear voice that builds your BRAND.

• You discover what your audience wants. It’s EASY to sell what people want…

• You build up a body of writing that you can REPURPOSE later.

• It’s a mitzvah, a GOOD DEED. You’re sharing wisdom freely. Whatever topic you address will be exactly what a reader out there needed at that moment.

• You build customer LOYALTY: your subscribers are likelier to buy from you than anyone else. They are more likely to re-buy from you.

• You can give them SPECIAL GIFTS and freebies that aren’t on your website.

• When you want a QUICK INFLUX OF CASH, you’ve got a list of fans. Come up with a special JUST FOR THEM!

• It’s CHEAPER AND MORE EFFECTIVE than print ads.

• It’s the most respectful and unobtrusive (and realistic) way I can think of to stay in touch with thousands of friends, clients, prospects, fans, and curious strangers on a REGULAR BASIS. People want to test you out before they buy. They may want to test you out for a lot of years before they buy!

• An ATTRACTIVE, FUN, HELPFUL, GENEROUS, CONTENT RICH newsletter makes your case for you.

GROOVY TIPS FOR NEWSLETTER GOLD:

1) Don’t send emails to your subscribers from your home email. Your email account will get marked as a spammer. Use a professional service like “Constant Contact” or “Aweber.”

2) BRIBE BRIBE BRIBE BRIBE: you exist to build your list. Record a free audio class, offer a free report or assessment… ANYTHING that gives away something someone wants in exchange for signing up. If people come to your website and they don’t give you their information, it’s as though they were never there.

3) Send out emails FREQUENTLY. It’s counter-intuitive. You’ll worry you’re bugging people if you send out more than one a month. But it’s necessary send them out more frequently–at least twice a month, if not once a week. Frequency creates a sense of relationship and keeps you Top Of Mind. After years of sending one email and month and seeing no growth to my subscriptions, I switched to weekly emails and quadrupled my subscriber base in six months.

4) Comply with the law! Only send emails to people who sign up to receive them, and clearly post an “unsubscribe” link for people who change their minds.

5) Connect your newsletter to you blog to increase website traffic and your search engine ranking on Google.

6) Connect your newsletter to Facebook and Twitter to get even more exposure and subscribership… without doing any more work!

7) Have fun. Make it easy. Sound like yourself. Talk about what you care about. Keep it short!

Warm regards,

Morgana Rae
Money Goddess
www.abundanceandprosperity.com