Let's Do A Fun Exercise

I am still working on Joel Bauer's book 'How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to be Persuaded'.

I am really enjoying reading it and have learned some fun and useful tools for interacting with people. I want to do a fun exercise with all of my readers.

So, think of a number between 1 & 10. Okay, now multiply that number by 9. If your result is 2 numbers (such as 18) then add those to numbers together. You should now have a one digit number. Subtract 5 from that number. Take the result and think of the letter in the alphabet that corresponds with that number (1 would be A, 2 would be B, etc.). Now think of a country that starts with that letter.

Take the second letter in the name of the country and think of an animal that starts with that letter. Now think of that animal's common color. I want you to focus on that animal and really picture it in your mind. Great! It is funny though because I don't think there are many grey elephants in Denmark! :)

BuildING Your Businesses Without Spending Money

I know I have talked a lot about how great these Web 2.0 social media sites can be for both personal and business contacts.

I was thinking about it again today and just being grateful for the opportunity we have to build these communities and build our businesses without having to spend money.

It opens up a world of opportunity for those that take advantage of it. You can give a business idea a try with very little risk which allows many a tremendous opportunity they may never have if they had to risk a lot and/or spend a lot of money.

Of course it also means there is a lot out there that isn't worth our time to look at and a lot of information overload. However, if you build your community correctly and really connect with them on a personal level you should be able to make periodic suggestions for products without offending even if you decide not to stick with it later. Just make sure you have done your homework and you are representing a product that you believe in and is a quality product that adds value.

Here is a challenge for you: Think about the time of day that you typically watch TV and how long you watch, an hour or two hours, etc. For the next week, take that time and instead of watching TV, work on building your social network community.

See how much progress you can make in the next week and pay attention to see if you enjoy it more or less than the time you are watching TV. Who knows, maybe you can replace your TV time with social networking time and build a business in the process!

Powerful Social Networking- My Connection with A Friend on Facebook

Have I talked about how much I love my social networking site? I know I am being repetitive but I have something great happen on one of them everyday!

For example, this week a friend of mine from high school that I haven't seen or talked to in probably 10 years saw that I was in the Indianapolis, IN network on Facebook. Her and her husband are in the process of moving to Michigan and she is staying with some of his family near Indianapolis.

So now we have a chance to get together and have lunch and do some shopping. I think that is very cool. If it wasn't for our connection on Facebook she would never have known where I was living and we wouldn't have this opportunity to get together! So go out there and start making those connections!

Still About Stumble Upon

Stumble Upon is great for searching for information on your personal or professional interests but it can also help you drive traffic to your own website or blog.

Once you have installed the Stumble Upon toolbar you can check to see if your own website is already listed. If it isn't, you can tag and review it and then give it a thumbs up.

Now it will be listed when someone else searches for the related topic. If you have just written a great article or have some great content on your webpage, you will want to get it listed with Stumble Upon. Once your site gets 'stumbled' by other users you usually start to see traffic immediately which can help you establish your reader base and generate exposure.

In order to keep those visitors, make sure you have a good website design and good content. Visitors usually only stay an average of 10 seconds before deciding if your site is thumbs up or down! In order to keep the visitor coming back, be sure to provide a place that is visable for them to sign up for your newsletter and consider giving away special content to subscribers only. Be sure to welcome new visitors and provide great content once your site has been stumbled.

Last but not least, try holding a contest-everyone loves free stuff and it will keep them coming back! Remember, Stumble Upon is a social website. Be sure to build your community and review other users websites.

As you can see, if used correctly, Stumble Upon is another great way to drive traffic to your website and build your social network.

The Training about Stumble Upon

This week I learned about Stumble Upon which is a another social website. What is unique about Stumble Upon is it allows users to experience the internet in a new way.

Instead of searching for things on search engines such as Google, on Stumble Upon you indicate your interests and then Stumble Upon brings the websites to you. You search the websites simply by clicking a button on the Stumble Upon toolbar.

This allows you to go through websites targeted to your specific interest fairly quickly and you are able to give each site a thumbs up or thumbs down depending on what you think.

If you have never heard of Stumble Upon or have never used it, you should check it out.

The Book 'How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to Be Persuaded'

I am reading the book 'How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to Be Persuaded' by Joel Bauer and Mark Levy.

I am only through the first few chapters but it is a powerful book and it provides great information. I heard Joel Bauer speak last week in Orlando and was completely amazed. He is an incredible individual and I learned so much in the two hours that he spoke to our group.

If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak or attend one of his events I would highly recommend it!

Here is one key takeaway from his presentation: Present yourself in a way that is unforgettable in the first 45 seconds, persuade those who are shut down and don't care, then preserve those relationships for a lifetime.

We are attending one of his two day events in November where he will go into a lot more detail regarding how to market yourself and present yourself as the only logical choice. I will post more about Joel after we attend his event. In the mean time, check out his book.

Below is a picture of my husband and me with Joel.

BuildING Communities with People In Social Networking

So, are you out there building your social media profiles and forming relationships with people yet? If not, go get started now!

I want to reiterate today how powerful these communities and relationships can be. We are at a unique time in history where we have the opportunity to build relationships like never before. How incredible is it that we can build these communities with people that we would not be able to connect with any other way!

Business owners and marketers before us didn't have the opportunity to market through relationships on this kind of level. They had to rely on TV, radio or print advertising which we all know is expensive.

Through social media we can get to know people from all over the world, learn about what they like and tell them about what we like. We can offer them products to solve their problems or give them more information on a topic they have questions about. Plus, we can get the same things-products that solve our own problems and answers to our questions.

These sites are the ultimate win win for everyone. I am going to give you a quick run down of the sites that I have learned about and joined so far: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Digg.com, Delicious.com and Technorati.com. Check out these sites and get started!

Of course, don't forget to start your own blog. Even if nobody is reading it right away, start writing about a topic that you enjoy and once you start working with the other sites you can drive traffic to your blog. You will eventually get some readers!