Own Your Power

Are you self-proclaimed geek or a technophobe? This month’s blog post is going to offer some key tips on technology and your business, no matter where you fall on the list. I wanted to touch on how many of us take advantage of the latest technology out there to advance our careers or businesses and also talk about how many of us HATE or are TERRIFIED of new gadgets, new programs, and even social networking.

I used to think it was related to age, but I find there are many folks that are under 30 who still haven’t seen a myspace.com page or still scared of purchasing anything online.Then you have 80 yr. olds running things on Match.com! You never know these days.This issue is going to dive into technology and how to make the most of it to improve your visibility and increase your productivity. We have loads of experts featured in this one offering some very cool time saving sites and tools, so take notes!

Lastly, in honor of Women’s Month I’m highlighting one of my favorite women-owned businesses and technology guru, Lena West of Xynomedia. Check out her interview below!

Social Networking, Not Just for Kids Anymore!

By Simone Kelly-Brown

“It’s the latest fad.”
“I’ve earned thousands in sponsorship dollars.”
“It’s where whackos, child predators, and stalkers hang out.”
“I reunited with many high school and grammar school friends.”
“It’s apart of my marketing strategy.”
“I’ve sold my books there.”
“I’ve received very nice testimonials and met some amazing people I would have NEVER met at a party.”
“Only teenagers have spare time to do that nonsense.”
“I’ve showcased my events on video.”
“I’ve gained new contacts and listeners for my radio show.”
If you haven’t figured out the irony in all of those comments, one person said them all: ME!

I’ve had so many experiences with the internet and social networking over the years. The funny part is that my background started in entertainment marketing and running online communities for companies such as BMG/Sony and HBO. So, I’m not the typical person who had a fear of technology or talking to ‘strangers’ online. During those years, I had a blast meeting new people online from all over the world, but yes, I have seen my share of lets just say “unique characters” that grace the many profile pages of social networks. Thankfully, technology has stepped it up a bit since the early 90′s and the advanced privacy blocks, pre-approval features, and abuse buttons are much easier to find to create a force field from those individuals ~shivers from flash backs~.

Well, I digress; I’ve been very happy to see that the circles I’m hanging out in online are like-minded people who are about business. Don’t worry, if you’re new to online networking, please just give it a shot. You have the choice of how much information you want to share. Hopefully, you’ll receive some tips from this newsletter to give you a jump start on what’s out there and how to take advantage of them. Of course, if you’re a woman in business, tapping into the Give ‘n Take Network is the best place to start since we’re all members with like-minds. If you see me out there in cyberspace, feel free to add me as a friend I’m on Facebook, Myspace, and Linkedin.

Love or Hate Technology?
Here’s what some members of The Give ‘n Take Network said…

“I love technology it makes things so much easier. I do every thing online.
- I buy books (amazon.com)
- Pay my bills, I rarely write checks
- Schedule oil changes and repairs for my car
- Look at the weekly supermarket circular and make my list before I
get to the store (Pathmark.com or Stopandshop.com)
- I do a lot of searches on products and learn all I can then go to
the store to physically view it. If I like what I see then I order
it online because, they can usually beat store prices. (I also look
for free shipping deals)
- I order movie tickets online so, I don’t have to wait on line and
have the movie sell out before I get to the counter (Fandango.com
or moviefone.com)
- I’ve started using text messages a lot more also.

So, technology has helped me over all. The one thing that I refuse to do is pay for the internet on my Treo. If I were to do that I would never get off.

What are your favorite social networks and how have they helped you
personally or professionally? I like myspace.com, it can be very time consuming in the beginning because you have so many creative things you can do. I recentlyjoined meetup.com there’s so many ways to meet people in your areas of interest. Anything from movie night to finance groups. Oh and of course The Give ‘n Take Network is a valuable social/business network also.

Favorite time saving web tool? mapquest.com, hopstop.com, m-w.com(dictionary)

You must never leave home without it gadget? My Treo (has my whole world in it!)”
Cathy Philbert

PROFILE: Lena West of Xynomedia.com

1. Tell me a little about yourself?
I am a serial entrepreneur, a journalist, an author, a technologist and a strategist.

2. How did you discover your passion?
I discovered that I had a knack for technology while working at a law firm.

I was the only one who could remember the DOS prompts and code strings. It was just second nature to me. After months of finding lost files for people and setting up directory file structures for people, it dawned on me that I might be able to make money with this skill.

3. What are some of the newest technologies that are helping advance the small business owner?
Of course, I would have to say social computing – blogs, online communities, social networking, etc. Business owners are starting to understand that no one cares what Company A has to say about their own products and services. What people do care about is what others have to say about Company A. That’s the basic premise of social computing…like-minded groups of people shar ing information that is relevant to them about brands they care about.

4. There are many folks out there who are still terrified of technology. They do things that might take them triple the time, because they aren’t willing to learn. What advice can you offer to these technophobes?
If they’re in business, I would say that they’re probably not very successful at it. Right now, all they’ve got is an expensive hobby. Successful business people don’t allow fear of the unknown to stop them – at least not for long. So, if they’ve been stuck for awhile, I’d tell them to get over it – that’s why there are qualified technology consultants.

5. Can you share the benefits of social networking? Can you recommend a few good sites?
Social networking allows businesses the opportunity to increase mind share about their products and services. And, who doesn’t want to do that? It’s a way for companies to be part of the collective conversation about their brand – without trying to control that conversation.
I rarely recommend social sites for businesses without knowing what their needs are. There are social networking sites for everything from real estate investing to eco-friendly business practices. The best thing they can do is go to an online community network – like Ning or Gather – and do a search to see if there’s a community dedicated to that topic – usually there is a thriving community just waiting to be discovered.

6. To work at a fast pace and juggle so many things, an entrepreneur really needs to have things in order. Do you have any time saving tools that we can use online?
I’m a big fan of structure. I’m highly structured…sometimes I’m better than others, but for the most part, I use time chunking and my schedule to make sure things get done and don’t fall through the cracks. I’m a big fan of David Allen’s Getting Things Done and I try to clear my email inbox daily and not let things pile up. Again, I’m not always excellent at that, so some weekends, I schedule work days with my friends and we just get things done together.

I am also very stingy with my time. There are some people who can call me and I’ll return their call right away any time, night or day because I value my relationships with those people – others are put on the ‘later’ list.
And, the first time I feel like someone wastes my time, they get dumped. Maya Angelou says, “When people show you who they are, believe them, the first time.” I live my life by that statement. How you do anything is how you do everything.
Stop trying to be all things to all people and you’ll have time to work on growing your business, losing those last 10 pounds, making steps toward meeting your annual goals, etc.

7. What do your find most rewarding about your career?
That I have built a business that can be run from anywhere. Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time in Miami – and thanks to technology, no one knows when I’m there versus in New York.
I am absolutely enamored with the fact that I can do what I want, when I want, and I don’t have to ask anyone about sick, personal or vacation days. I’ve paid the cost to be the boss and I love it.

8. What have been your major obstacles and how did you overcome them and OWN YOUR POWER?
I would have to say that managing finances was the one major obstacle in my business and my life. It just kept cropping up. I would band-aid it and it would rear it s head again. I finally gave in and realized that I needed to work on changing my relationship with money. I changed how much I thought I was supposed to earn and how much I thought I could earn. I had a lot of “stuff” to process when it came to money and that was no easy feat.
I read books and financial blogs, attended teleclasses and seminars, meditated, practiced yoga, worked on my spirituality and rela tionship to the Universe. I also worked with coaches. You name it. I did whatever it took to make sure that I shifted away from the scarcity mindset, permanently. No more band-aids.

To contact Lena, visit her website at xynomedia.com.

Techie Gurus Give Us Their Two Cents…
What trends do you see taking place with technology and the online marketing arena?
You know, technology is more often about automation than almost anything else. So, I see technology already starting to automate the social aspects of marketing. Websites are now “talking” to users in a PERSONAL way, such as actually speaking visitors names to begin building that relationship. Videos are becoming much more common, and are an excellent way to let your customers get to know you and your personality. They find some comfort in knowing that you are a real person, and not just a product seller, or fancy website owner.

What are some of your favorite time-saving websites to help a small business owner?
Google now offers a great set of tools called Google Apps. They say they are still in BETA testing, but the tools are pretty well polished. If you register a domain name, you can pretty easily set it up so that Google (Gmail) will handle the email for your domain name, host web pages, set up users and shared calendars, and now even shared documents. That’s a huge benefit for a small company, and they save a good chunk of change on hosting fees.

What’s your recommended tech gadget to help you through your days?
Smartphones and Blackberries are essential for the business owner on the go. With immediate and direct access to emails, calendar, to-do lists, and the Internet for web browsing, you have everything you need to stay in touch with vendors, customers, and employees and co-workers while you are out winning and keeping business. Oh yeah, and you can actually CALL people on
it, too!

Jim Dickerson, Tech Expert and CEO of i-SupportDesk.com we can help coach you on using your technology in your business marketing. We can help set up your website, provide hosting services, configuration, and ongoing support.

What is a Virtual Assistant?
Virtual Assistants (VA) are the non-traditional personal/administrative assistance that is taking business communities by storm. Virtual Assistants are independent contractors who provide administrative assistance, office management and a variety of other services that feed the need of hungry clients all through e-technology capabilities. As far as personal assistants go, it’s out with the stationary and in with the virtual. The Virtual Assistance world is being recognized across the United States and beyond thanks to Janet Jordan (Virtual Assistance U), who pioneered the industry.
Virtual Assistants are especially helpful to entrepreneurs who, at times, find it difficult to generate work for a secretary due to meetings and other interruptions. Businesses can find themselves paying for idle time spent by secretaries who have no work.

What are the benefits of having a virtual assistant?
1. Virtual Assistants can increase your business’ bottom line by more than 25% by reducing operating costs
2. No need to share space in home-office, or find additional office space for an employee
3. No need to deal with the administrative details associated with payroll
4. No need to pay associated payroll taxes, insurance, bonuses, and benefits
5. Delegating tasks gives you the time and focus to grow your business, spend more time with family and friend

Trenell A. McCauley, Give ‘N Take Member
President/CEO
Handy Business Solutions

http://handybusinesssolutions.com/

What are the biggest fears your clients have about technology?
I would say that I have several clients who are afraid of using 1shoppingcart.com. They’ve been told by others that it’s difficult to use and as a result they are missing out on a shopping cart that can serve multiple purposes. All it takes is a little practice and patience and you can master the cart in no time.
Key Tip for Website Owners:
The key to boosting your online sales is leads. You must have leads in order to have sales so it’s important that you build your list of subscribers. One of the things you can do to build your list is to have an opt-in box preferably in your masthead on your website. You may also want to do some article marketing by posting your articles on several free article sites. To benefit from the free article sites you will want to be sure you include a link back to you site within your article. You may also want to try using Google AdWords too. These are just a few things that you can do to build your list and boost your sales.

Chantal Lashon, Info marketing web design expert
www.webtoolsdiva.com

Social Networking, The New Frontier?

by Pittershawn Palmer

Social networking isn’t a new concept. In fact, it is a very ancient idea. For thousands of years, cultures have lived productively by recognizing that it is only in utilizing the village that the village can survive. That’s right, social networking is nothing more than the belief that it takes a village.

When we look to others to help support our needs, we are exercising a very old tradition that served to build some of the greatest cultures on earth. America is only recently, within the last 20-30 years or so, realizing the power of the village as practiced by cultures in Asia, Africa and India.

This wave of realization has given rise to organizations that focus strictly on teaching others how to use each other to build better lives for all involved. My personal blast from the past came when I joined Give ‘N Take, founded by Simone Kelly-Brown. This organization, centered around the idea of bartering, brings together women from all walks of life. It is through Give ‘N Take that the most powerful form of social networking, or using the village, is born. Networking is fostered in an atmosphere that allows for efficient and effective reciprocation—an idea that was all but lost until recent times. It is in reciprocal giving that we are most productive as people. And Give ‘N Take provides a comfortable atmosphere for this old idea to re-bloom.

Other social networking organizations that provide a corridor to connections, reconnections and information can be found all over the web. At the top of the list in recent times is MySpace.com, a website that allows for the free exchange of ideas as well as a haven for meeting someone to love, someone to work with, or someone to help you find a job. If nothing else, it is a place to just kick back and socialize, no strings attached.

Next in line is the ever popular Facebook.com. This networking site is like MySpace.com, with a slightly different focus. Although it provides some of the features of MySpace.com, it was founded on the idea of connecting with old classmates from High School and College. Through Facebook.com, one can find long lost friends and potential clients. Again, simple fun and chit chat are a huge draw for this site that has taken sites such as Classmates.com and Reunions.com to another level.

There are also networking sites for writers, such as Gather.com, which gives writers a forum to not only post their writings, but interact with other writers casually. For those who want to stay away from socializing and stick strictly to networking for business purposes, LinkedIn.com is a great spot that gives the professional a place to comfortably seek out potential connections, without the hassle of personal social invitations. You’ll get no “baby what’s your number?” on this networking site. And it is ultra private. No one can get into your networking without an explicit invitation.

All written, social networking is having a huge impact on modern society. As it continues to develop, I believe people will begin to realize that it really does take a village, especially in these trying times.
Network toward a better life for yourself and your community.

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