If you’re finding yourself spending a lot of time going to several blog sites to read articles, there’s an easier way to stay up on your blogs. You can use a blog reader. There are several readers out there; select the one you like best and subscribe to your blogs using that reader. Here’s what you do…

1. Select the blog reader you want and set up an account. The standard ones are Bloglines, Google Reader, Netvibes, and Pageflakes. I personally use Bloglines. I really like the ability to organize my blogs into categories/folders, like “Faves”, “Video”, “Thesis”; and then sort the categories in whatever personal order I want; Within those folders, I can further sort the blogs by ones I most don’t want to miss. I’ve used Google Reader, and it does that as well. I also have a bookmark to the Bloglines site so I can immediately go to it.

2. Go to the blog you wish to subscribe to. Somewhere on the page, usually near the top, will be an RSS icon, typically orange with white “waves” on it. When you click on it, it will pop up with a list of readers for you to choose.

3. Select the one you want. There are also usually settings options. Set it how you like.

Another advantage of a blog reader is that every time the author publishes a new post, it is automatically sent out their RSS feed directly to your reader. No more wasting time constantly checking blogs to see if there’s a new post. And you won’t accidentally miss one.

So tell me, what is your favorite blog and why?

New Media Cincinnati is a group that meets at Rookwood Pub on the second Saturday of every month. The group is made up of enthusiasts for all things social media, such as photography, podcasting, facebook, linkedin, twitter and of course, my personal favorite, video. It’s open to the public so if you would like to attend, contact me.

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This is an exciting time of year for VS Productions. This is our first year in Loveland and, as an active Chamber member, we are excited to use our skills to promote the “love” of Loveland. It started January 9 with the announcement of the Valentine Lady, and the unveiling of the official Loveland Valentine card. It’s an easy sell, really. The card is absolutely beautiful–a painting of a park gazebo by a local artist–and being blank on the inside makes it appropriate year round.

Normally I might not send Valentine cards, but such a beautiful card has inspired me to do that this year. I didn’t send out Christmas cards or New Year’s greetings to my clients, so I thought this would be a fantastic way to express my appreciation and stand out from the crowd as well. Now, you may think Valentine’s Day is not quite appropriate for business, but believe me, it is. What better time to express your gratitude to your current clients, or get back in touch with previous clients you maybe haven’t worked with in a while, or even prospects you want to pursue?

So now for the special part…after you’ve addressed and stamped your cards, send them to (in a big envelope) or drop them off at the Loveland Post Office. The Valentine Lady, along with area business owners, will stamp them and hand cancel them so your notes are postmarked from “LOVEland, the Sweetheart of Ohio”. Now I know you’re really thinking “mushy,” but remember this…it’s about relationship. Even though you’re doing business with a company, you’re doing business with people. Everyone likes to know someone is thinking of them. And appreciates them.

So show a little love this month. You can pick these gorgeous cards at Loveland Chamber of Commerce, Loveland Kroger and several other Loveland business, or email me and I’ll arrange to get you some.

Check out our official Valentine events at AllAroundLoveland.com and our Facebook Fan Page.

Well, I hate to completely jump on the bandwagon of setting goals, but we are in that season. I don’t set resolutions, but I do take a look at different areas of my life and evaluate what’s working, what’s not, where do I want to go, and what do I need to do to get there. This is especially true about my business. My business had terrific growth in 2009, and as that success grows, so does my confidence that I can reach higher goals. I see the possibilities and know they are truly possible and not just lofty.

This year, more than ever before, I’m looking what I accomplished in 2009, where do I need to improve, and what do I want 2010 to look like. And I’ve actually SET goals this year. Concrete goals. Not just “I’d-like-my-business-to-grow-this-year” kind of goals. “I want to do xx this year, which means I need  to make $xx this year.” I can put my hands around that. It gives me direction and helps me stay focused on those goals.

So as you may be evaluating 2009, in the arena of marketing your business, are you happy with your efforts? Did they get you what you wanted? Are you tired of doing the same things and getting the same results? Are you ready to try something new? Even if all the answers to these questions are yes, let’s try something new anyway.

If you’ve never used video to promote your business, there’s no better time than now. With the continuing exponential popularity and growth of video, there has never been a better time.

Reasons You Need Video

1. It’s there 24/7. When you can’t be. Imagine hiring someone to promote your business all day every day. No bathroom breaks. No meal breaks. No sleeping. It’s there when you can’t be. Why not take advantage of every tool possible to market your business? Salvage some of those hours that you’re just sleeping anyway.
2. Consistent message. Now imagine that message being delivered 24/7 is the same message every time. You don’t have to worry if you forgot something one of those times or perhaps even missed a point entirely. Can you say that about a sales staff? Video will give your same message every time.
3. It’s Personal. Human nature just likes connection. And video gives you connection. Video is literally you, talking to them. People can see you, read your body language, get to know, like and trust you.
4. Google Love. Now connect all this power to the power of Google and Youtube, and you’re set.

If you’re open to new possibilities, new markets, and new growth for your business, give me a call now. Let’s get video working for you!

I originally posted this video about twelve days ago, but never got around to actually writing a post about it. So I’ve watched it again and am, again, blown away by these numbers. This video is super fast-paced, so it can be a little too quick to see everything, but you can still pick up the point that social media is BIG. And by big, I mean GI-NORMOUS!!

Social media is quickly becoming, if it isn’t already, as essential to your business as your website is (or should be!). As a small business, one of the most difficult issues has always been marketing. There’s just never enough money to do it right. And even if you have enough money to do the marketing you want, you wish you could see a better return on that investment. With social media, those issues are resolved.

As you can see in the video, Gary Vaynerchuk’s business increased more through Twitter, than anything else he’d ever tried. (As an aside, with that kind of success in your business, imagine the new dreams you can have; dreams even greater than you ever thought you could dare to hope for.) Twitter it is a free tool and, while Twitter cannot save your business, there are ways to use it effectively to drive success. There are, in fact, many free online tools for you to take advantage of. There are also TONS of free tools you can take advantage of. The key is, you have to be smart and choose the ones most beneficial to your business (yes, I did say ‘oneS’). Those may or may not be the ones you hear about all the time; there could be others you’ve never heard of that are perfect for your business. That’s where your investment comes in.

The first investment is time. How much time do you want to spend finding the right tools, learning those tools, then using those tools every day? Or just about every day. How much is your time worth? Now you will need to spend more time online, but it will be time that is most effective to marketing your business.

That’s where the second investment comes in, actual dollars.

There is some investment required to set up a successful social media campaign, but that initial investment vs. the increase in sales or sales leads, is difficult to determine. One of my favorite quotes from the video is, “how do you measure the ROI of your phone?” Have you thought about that recently? What is the dollar value of your cell phone to your business? Kinda hard to figure, huh? We all know they’re invaluable, just not quantifiable. It’s the same with social networking. You can’t always place a dollar value on how it’s affecting your bottom line, you just know sales are up, and you’re busier than ever. So the lesson here is, just because you can’t quantify it, doesn’t mean it’s not valuable or you don’t need to do it.

That being said, however, just pouring money into social networking doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how much more profit you’ll make; it’s not a vending machine. However, there are levels of investment that can be made. The most important factor in any social media campaign is participation. The point of all this is relationship, so you must participate.

That is the REAL investment to social media. YOU. As a consultant, I can set up accounts for you; I can help craft a plan for you; I can even do some posting for you. But I can’t BE you. One of the deepest tenets of social networking is authenticity. It needs to really be you that engages. It’s your business and your passion that people respond to. That’s what I can’t duplicate.

So to recap, marketing can be expensive for small business, but social networking can level that marketing playing field. There is still an investment to be made, in both time and money, but now that money can be spent on training to learn how to use these tools effectively, which will determine how that money should be spent to reach a better qualified demographic.

CTA: “What is the cost of doing nothing? Do you really want to take that risk?” Think about these two questions from the video and let me know your answers. Comment below.

This video is just so beautiful I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it.

While I believe this title to be true, I bet it’s not for the same reasons you’re thinking about. Blogging is fun. Whether personal or business, a blog is supposed to be about something you love and are passionate about; so writing about what you’re passionate about is fun. BUT! If something is fun, how do I make money with it? This is where my bait and switch comes in. The “profit” may not directly be monetary. Except for a select few, blogging in and of itself does not a business make. BUT!!! If your business were to embrace blogging, you are more likely to profit in reputation than dollars and THAT will increase your bottom line.

Why #1 – Think of it as an ongoing, updated unlimited brochure.
Remember when you were designing the company brochure? Maybe you started out with just a tri-fold page; then that grew into a front-and-back glossy, which morphed into a multi-page glossy, then perhaps pocket folders with tabs…you get the idea. The problem was, as you were designing it, you kept thinking all that important information needed to be in there. Your potential customers needed to know everything. Then what happened was the budget wasn’t there for your “dream” brochure. Enter blogging. With a blog, you can include all that information you wanted. Now don’t necessarily put it all up at once, but use it as a starting point for your blog’s content. Now this may not directly give you profit, but it will affect your bottom line in money saved on printing. (Of course you can’t necessarily completely avoid having any printed materials, but it should be easier on your budget.) Next time, Why #2.

My Twitter Follow Friday for December 4, 2009 is @CinciSams. They are Samurai Sam’s Teriyaki Grill in Blue Ash, Ohio. You should follow them because they post specials every week and kids eat free on Tuesdays. They are a client of mine, but I was a customer of theirs before they were a client of mine. Their food is excellent, and I highly recommend eating there and following them on Twitter.

This is actually a re-shoot from the video I made the day before. As I was editing that video, it was just too dark to be worth posting. But I really liked the content; it truly captured my thoughts at that time. So I thought the content was worth re-recording and this is that recording. I hope you enjoy it.

Leave me your comments below. What is it you need to clear out to make room for more success…even if it’s just a box? What is holding you back? Why? What are you making room for? What is that ONE thing that is standing in your way? And WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO DEAL WITH IT? (I say in love! )

Small business needs to change the way they do business. And it doesn’t have to be a big change. Being willing to open up your mind beyond “the way we’ve always done things” could be all it takes for a new idea to occur that could seriously grow your business.

Take, for example, this article I found on Twitter. Most people think that to start a restaurant, you have to have a full-out, brick-and-mortar building, but as this article states; with a little creative thinking, these people are opting for a truck instead of a building. The part that resonated with me was, “Take the restaurant TO the people.”

It made me think about one of my clients, Samurai Sam’s (@CinciSams) because that’s exactly what he does. Now there’s still a brick-and-mortar restaurant (in Blue Ash), but in the course of our work with him, he wanted us to highlight one of his regular services: the mobile lunch. Similar to catering, Samurai Sam’s goes to an area business complex and sets up his catering trays in the lobby. For $5, anyone in the building or outside the building, can some over and get lunch, not just the “customer” company. He’s taking his business TO his customers.

To this point, the only people who would know he’s there would be people in that building and maybe people they told. We’re now using social networking techniques, such as Facebook and Twitter, to increase awareness which will, in turn, increase his business. And by offering to do this all over the city, he has essentially opened up satellite restaurants all over town without having to invest in other storefronts at enormous expense.

See: a little creativity, a new twist on “the way we’ve always done catering”, and Samurai Sam’s has not only expanded their market like not otherwise possible, but is still taking it to the people.

Call to Action: So what is something you wish you could do differently? Is there something in your business that could use a fresh outlook? Have you already made some transformations in your business? I’d love to hear about them. Leave a comment below and tell me about it.