Recently I received a request on LinkedIn for a recommendation from a woman that I don’t know at all. There were just so many things wrong with this request that I admit to being startled by it.

For starters, as I just indicated, I don’t know this lady. So of course there can be no thought at all about giving her any kind of recommendation. That should have been self evident. The second thing was that she was wanting me to recommend her as “Who Else Wants to Turn $5 Into $99,460″ on a website that gave every indication of being a scam, parading as a “movement”.

I did give her the courtesy of responding to her email to ask if we actually did know each other in some way, which of course we didn’t. That prompted a response from her telling me that she had simply contacted all of the people in her contact list, and sorry if her offer didn’t suit.

My take away from this was that this lady did not know that the purpose for the LinkedIn Recommendation feature is that it was designed to help you improve your credibility, not to drive traffic to a possible scam website.

I wish her well, but this is NOT the way to do business on LinkedIn. Or Facebook. Or at all.  Keep this in mind: You only want to ask for recommendations from people who know you well and can vouch for your skills and abilities, not someone you hardly know, or worse yet, don’t know at all.

Blogs are popular ways to create an online presence for personal and business reasons. You can build a blog for free and begin posting content right away. But, what good is that content if no one is reading it?

Here are ten ideas to bring in the traffic your blog needs to survive.

Of all the successful blogs on the Internet, hundreds more have failed. Running a blog is like running a business website. Unless you are willing to put the time in and treat it seriously, you won’t be blogging long. You will lose interest when you find that traffic is not what you had envisioned it to be and the blog will languish in the breeze.  Just building the blog doesn’t mean that people will necessary come to you. You pursue the audience and give them a reason to see what you have to say and to keep coming back!

1. Fresh Content – no one wants to visit a blog day after day and see the same posts. Update your blog content at least twice a week. This will be easier if you write several posts ahead of time and upload them at the appropriate times.

2. Article Marketing – the niche you’ve chosen for your blog is clearly one that interests you. If it is something that you are passionate about you will spend more time doing it. Create content not only for your blog but that can also be repurposed to be submitted to article directories. Use the resource box to advertise your blog so people can find you. Read more here.

3. Social Networking– these sites are everywhere!  Join Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Twitter or a dozen others and make connections.  However, DON”T get carried away and spam people’s walls. You will find yourself alienating the very people you want to connect with. You can, and should  join groups of like-minded people who are also bloggers or entrepreneurs.

4. Viral Marketing – this is where you spread the word about your blog. Talk to friends, family and even strangers. Give out business cards that have your blog address on them.

5. Use RSS Feeds – RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Readers can subscribe to your feed and get email updates when new content is posted. It is an easy way for them to keep up with your blog without spending all day online. If you have a Google account look into using Google Feedburnerfor your feeds. You also have the option of creating a signup box that allows visitors to get your blog posts and updates delivered directly to their email box. You can see an example of that on this blog in the right sidebar. I invite you to sign up!

6. Submit Blog to Search Engines – doing this allows your blog to be ranked. Google and Yahoo! are two of the most popular search engines you want to crawl your blog pages. It doesn’t guarantee top ranking, though. You’ll have to do a little more work for that. You will absolutely need to provide the search engines with fresh and relevant content in order to earn that oh-so-critical search engine love. Click here to submit your website/blog to Google.

7. Joining Forums – as a blogger you are a budding entrepreneur. Right now you are marketing yourself to find traffic and then profit. Become a member of business forums, work at home forums and others to meet new people and share ideas. You can add a link to your blog in the signature line so others can find you. But, don’t make this the only reason you are connecting with other people in forums. If you are truly interested in what other people are talking about and what they have to teach you,  the experience can be remarkably rewarding for all concerned.

8. Visit other blogs– show your appreciation to those who visit you by also posting comments on their blogs. It is a kindness that shows others you are not just out to advertise your blog alone. Add links to your blog in your comments. BTW, if you haven’t created your gravatar, be sure to do that right away.  Read more about that here.

9. SEO Marketing –whatever you write, use relevant keywords. Keyword density between three and ten percent is good for getting higher page rankings in search engines. Base your keywords on a research you do to find the most popular words used in search engines for your niche. If your website or blog is built on the WordPress platform two of the best SEO plugins are Yoast SEO and All In One SEO. You can install them directly from your dashboard. Just type in either name in the plugin search box and off you go.

10. Social Bookmarking – submitting posts to social bookmarking sites allows others who are members of those sites to track you back to your blog.

Using any of these ideas will start the traffic moving in your direction. It takes time but you will build the readership you want.

What is a gravatar and why would I want one?

Gravatar is an abbreviation for globally recognized avatar – an avatar being a picture or logo that you can use to brand you or your business such as those you will see when you visit your favorite blogs  and view the comments that have been left.

Then, whenever you comment on a WordPress blog that has had a Gravatar plug-in activated, your gravatar will appear with your comment. The Gravatar image is stored on the Gravatar server and is triggered by filling in your email address when you leave a comment.

The main reason for wanting a gravatar is to increase brand awareness – a picture of you or your logo is going to be seen and, hopefully, remembered by everyone who reads your comments on Gravatar-enabled blogs.

This is a very easy process and will take just a few minutes.

• Sign up for a free account at http://en.gravatar.com/
• Verify your email address by clicking on the link in the email you are sent
• Choose a nickname and password (only lowercase letters and numbers allowed)
• Upload a picture to the site from your hard drive or use an online image
• Crop your picture to suit (slide the slider to the left to shrink your picture)
• Choose a rating
• Click on the image to associate it with the email address

Your gravatar should now show up next to your email address. You can add also one more email address on this account.

Are all the recent changes and upgrades on Facebook driving you nuts?

You are not alone!

It seems Facebook makes changes every single week. And, lately, the massive changes to Business Pages created a TON of confusion.

Thing is, Facebook is the #1 online social network on the planet with a whopping 600+ Million active users. To really get ahead in today’s economy, you absolutely have to learn how to master marketing on Facebook? or you?ll be missing out on so much business.

Guess what? Help is at hand!

I have exciting news to share with you:

World-renowned Facebook marketing specialist, Mari Smith, is leading a totally free webinar TODAY, February 22nd. She’ll walk you through all the recent changes on Facebook and how to best take advantage of these features.

Be sure to put the date and time on your calendar right now:

Today!!! TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND, 2011
10:00am PST / 1:00pm EST / 6:00pm GMT

Then go save your seat right away: Click here.

Along with demystifying all the recent upgrades, Mari will also share her proven 7-Step Formula for generating measurable results on Facebook. In this packed session, you’ll walk away with:

• A clear understanding of Facebook’s changes and how to take full advantage of the best features. (Hint: it doesn’t have to be time-consuming!)
• A content, engagement and conversion plan that yields profits. (Hint: you’ll find out the #1 reason businesses fail on Facebook!)
• A handy guide for best practices, unspoken protocol and general etiquette on Facebook. (Hint: everything you do and don’t do speaks volumes about who you are and how you conduct your business.)

If you’re not able to participate live today, Mari will be recording the full presentation and will send you the link for the replay in a variety of formats: Video + Audio (MP3 download) + Transcript (PDF download). And if you register, you?ll also receive handouts too!

Register right away here: Click here.

PLUS, stay tuned for special prizes during the webinar too! It’s going to be a packed house – be sure to register right now even if you can’t make the live session, because I want to be sure you receive the replay materials.

P.S. Mari is one of the most dynamic and entertaining presenters out there. She has a fun Scottish-Canadian accent and is a delight to listen to. Not only that, her extensive knowledge of Facebook – specifically for small business marketing – is incomporable. You won’t want to miss this dynamic webinar: Click here now!

Table of contents for Weekly Recommended Resource

1. Weekly Recommended Resource
2. Multi-Tasking with Dual Monitors
3. Free Press Release Generator
4. Client Management Systems
5. How to Get Publicity Interviews On Talk Radio

Everyone’s an expert at something. Sharing your expertise may land you that big media opportunity you’ve been looking for.

We all know about HARO (Help a Reporter Out) which was founded by in 2008 by Peter Shankman. Every day, HARO brings nearly 30,000 reporters and bloggers, over 100,000 news sources and thousands of small businesses together to tell their stories, promote their brands and sell their products and services. If you are not on this email list, you need to be!

Another resource for experts looking for more media exposure on the talk show circuit is Radio Guest List.com. Here you can get radio interviews and podcast publicity guests interview bookings for free.

Free radio, Internet radio, satellite radio, talk radio, podcast and TV talk show guest experts interviews booking service and call for sponsors and advertisers. Post your radio show guests, publicity or sponsorship needs online and they will  email their list of experts, authors & PR firms automatically.

Source: Radio Guest List.com

If you are an author, guest expert “source” or PR firm looking for publicity interviews, or interested in sponsoring or advertising on radio talk shows or podcasts, please register to receive our FREE emails from radio, podcast, and TV talk show producers and bookers who want to meet you. 

Here’s the deal: 

• You will get emails from local radio stations, online talk show hosts, podcasters, satellite radio (XM/Sirius), and even the occasional TV show looking for guest experts to interview (or sponsors for their shows).
• These shows are not usually big names – this service is designed to help smaller stations and podcaster shows that are looking for guests.
• While these shows do not all have big audiences – their listeners are usually very targeted. 
• You can also request a link back to your website from the hosts (good for SEO!).
• Most important:  ONLY RESPOND TO SHOWS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR YOUR EXPERTISE.  Do not spam the bookers!  You will be REMOVED from the list if I receive complaints.
• The emails are free.

 Please drop back by let me know how this free service works out for you.

Are you ready to grow your business quickly and profitably?

This week I spent a good bit of time on the phone with Infusionsoft on behalf of one of my clients who has really been wanting to use their system for a long time, but the monthly subscription price was always a show stopper for him.

Imagine my surprise when after several discussions not only did they allow me to negotiate a huge (lifetime!) discount for him, but apparently they were giddy enough with exhaustion that they are allowing me to offer the same discount to my clients and my list….. but only until tomorrow, Friday July 30, 2010.

CLICK HERE

If you, or your client(s) have been considering switching from 1ShoppingCart/Aweber/Constant Contact and all of the various and separate systems that you currently use to run your online business then please consider Infusionsoft. This is the system that the big internet marketers use and there are many, many reasons for that. The primary reason being that they can manage their online marketing in one spot. Rather than piece together your business, with Infusionsoft your system is working as one, comprehensive unit. The individual features “talk to each other” on a regular basis to give you a clear view of everything that’s going on, make managing your business easier, and build better, more profitable relationships with all your customers and prospects.

Right now if you make the switch to Infusionsoft you’ll get Infusionsoft Deluxe which is regularly priced at $299 per month for the price of the Basic plan, meaning that you will not pay $299 per month. You will pay $199. For life! There is no sign up fee, or set up fee.

Let me assure you that I am in no way disparaging the above-referenced systems. In fact, I work in each daily for myself and for clients and highly recommend them on a regular basis. The fact remains however, they as good as they are, they are separate systems that of necessity need to be “duct taped” together which takes time, skill and a fair amount of energy. After a while you realize just how much time and money is being spent on maintaining these systems.

BTW, I am moving all of my businesses from 1shoppingcart and Aweber to Infusionsoft today. Over the next few weeks you will see a definite shift in how we deliver information and material to you and I am very excited!

Click Here to see the offer and tell Cory that I sent you

Just for the record, I am not deleting my Facebook account, or advocating that you do. In fact, I find that Facebook is a tremendous resource for both of my businesses.

But… navigating the site’s increasingly worrisome privacy settings has many users seriously considering leaving, and leaving permanently.

If you are considering deleting your Facebook profile permanently, these are the three steps you will need to take:

• Login into your FB account and navigate to this page.

• Confirm your decision by entering your password and completing a “CAPTCHA” test.

• Don’t login to Facebook for two weeks! Facebook gives users a 14-day window of opportunity to reconsider their decision. If you are absolutely positive that you do not want to reopen your profile, don’t login. 

Quick question.  Does your small or home-based business lose potential business or miss connections with a potential client by refusing to answers callers with a blocked number?

This post is going to explore how accessible your business phone should be.

Recently I was given a couple of recommendations for (insert service here) by somebody whose judgment I trust. I called both people and had no problems at all  connecting with the first person on that very short list.

However, the second recommended business person would not allow my blocked number call to go through. Now understand that my phone number is blocked for some very legitimate reasons, one being that if my direct phone number became widely known, I would never get anything done. That number is given to my clients and team members. Period. My toll free number is published on all my websites/blogs and is embedded into my business emails. We are easy to get in touch with!

Now, I really did want to speak with this person about a project for a client and just kept going down the numbers given me until I reached a toll free number where I was relieved to be able to leave a message. That was three days ago. 

This is where the accessibility question comes in.

Today my call was finally returned and when I mildly expressed my concern with not being able to reach this person’s business phone I was treated to fairly huffy explanation of their reasons. When I explained why my number is blocked (remember now, I have several reasons, all of them legitimate) the response was, “Well that’s weird.”  Not a great start to a working relationship.

So my question is, why would a business, whether brick and mortar, or home-based block callers who may not want to show their phone number right away? Isn’t this where voice mail becomes a wonderful business tool? I have to wonder just how much potential business this person is actively turning away by refusing to accept calls.

Your thoughts?

If you are a Constant Contact subscriber you will be happy to know that there is now a much easier way to add contacts to your mailing list by using the new, and free,  Contact Capture Tool.

This widget allows you to sign up or modify a contact’s information, such as their first and last names and email address directly from your desktop without having to login in to Constant Contact’s website. Not only can you upload or update your contacts, you can also add the contact to multiple lists simultaneously.

This tool replaces the Constant Contact Capture Version 1.0 that runs on Yahoo! widgets meaning that you no longer have to install Yahoo! widgets. You will have to have Adobe AIR installed on your machine however.

As with any new tool or applications, there may be a “honeymoon” period and I would appreciate your feedback on this tool as times goes on.

**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Denise Griffitts found on this Website as long as Denise Griffitt’s name and contact information is included. Denise Griffitts, Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, http://denisegriffitts.com, 888-719-6711.

Well ….. kind of.

My family shopping is complete. The Christmas cards are even ready to mail as soon as the Post Office starts selling beautiful Christmas stamps next month. Our holiday travel plans are done and we just bought tickets to see Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre next month while we are in San Francisco. 

What had me in a type of quandary however was what to get my business clients that would be welcome, usable, and takes their personal and business interests into account and lets them know just how much I appreciate them every day of the year.

My staff and I considered the usual type of “corporate” gifts, you know; gift baskets, Christmas wreaths, magazine or journal subscriptions, etc., but nothing made us sit up and pay attention until we decided that a gift for the office was something that made good sense. That led me to looking around my own office for inspiration which took absolutely no time at all as it happens.

Journaling Gems by "The Journaling Jenius"

Judy Peebles, The Journaling Jenius gifted me with a set of “Journaling Jems” cards earlier this year and I USE them! As you can see by the picture they are front and center on my desk.  Since this is where most of my waking hours are spent, I peruse these cards regularly and they are a source of inspiration each time I rifle through them for ideas.

If you are looking for a thoughtful, inspirational and very practical gift for your clients or customers visit The Journaling Jenius for some great holiday gift giving ideas. I did!

**You have permission to reprint in your publication or to your website/blog any articles by Denise Griffitts found on this Website as long as Denise Griffitt’s name and contact information is included. Denise Griffitts, Virtual Assistance Industry Expert, http://denisegriffitts.com, info @ virtualassistantindustry.com, 888-719-6711.