Do you spend a bit too much time on Twitter (no, not me!)?  Facebook? Reading the news?  If you find it challenging to stay focused when you’re online, try this Firefox add-on to help remind you which sites you shouldn’t be at:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476

(more…)

Don’t let your email newsletter get tossed into the virtual trash can before it’s opened, or lead your customers to the wrong place when they’re ready to purchase.

Be sure you aren’t making these three common mistakes.

(more…)

Ready to lose your friends and connections on social networks?  Let me share some tips that may help you.

Here’s how you can get me to un-friend or un-follow you.
(more…)

You need to know what you want and need before you start looking for an e-commerce solution. The more details you plan in advance, the better off you’ll be.

As a website designer I’ve worked with clients all too often who had chosen their e-commerce solution only because it was “free” or because their website designer recommended it. Your designer can be a wonderful resource in choosing the right e-commerce solution, but only if they know enough about your needs and the available options, and are used to working with a variety of e-commerce solutions instead of focusing only one or two. One size does not fit all in e-commerce.

(more…)

Are you drowning in email? Got dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of messages in your inbox waiting for you to sort through and respond to them? Do you feel overwhelmed just thinking about clicking the “check mail” button? Don’t panic! You can overcome that flood of email!

(more…)

You wouldn’t start a road trip across the country without a map.  Or, you probably shouldn’t unless you don’t care where you end up.  So even if you’re a care-free, by the seat of your pants type of woman, a business is best run with at least some basic goals in mind.

(more…)

As a small business owner, it’s important to your success to understand social media’s benefits and why it’s worth the time to learn and make a part of your marketing routine.

So why care about social media right now?

Proves You are a Living, Breathing, REAL Person
It sounds kind of funny but it’s crucial. Humans need to feel they are connecting with others and that their voices are being heard. You can’t really get away with being a faceless entity doing business on the web anymore. Those who are still doing it that way risk alienating those making the buying decisions.

Branding
There is plenty of opportunity to build and make visible your particular brand–while still being human. You don’t need to think of this in terms of the big boys like Starbucks or Pepsi-type branding. It could even just be colors, a logo, your avatar picture or tagline. If you use the tools regularly, each impression strengthens others’ awareness of what your products or services are about. Keep your messages and branding activities consistent and cohesive and you have a powerful way to promote yourself and what it is you offer.

Viral Word of Mouth
Is every friend or follower you have on social sites going to be a member of your target market? No, but it doesn’t matter. If you are providing good content, helpful links and regularly contributing something useful to the community, the viral nature of social media will help push this content through to the people who
need to hear it.

Speed of Results
While building up the ranking of your website takes time and often can’t be predicted, the impact of social networks and tools can be instantaneous.

Traffic
When you list your link in your profile or direct people to your latest post or article it is just another way to drive traffic to your blog or website. I’ve had great results with Facebook and Twitter by looking at the traffic source stats in my Google Analytics page.

Value Contribution
You have something of value to offer others–that’s why you’re in business. The conversational nature of social media makes it easy to engage others in discussions which naturally reveal what you may be able to help them with. Be authentic, stay involved, an give regardless of how much you get back.

It’s Not Going Away
The names and faces of the latest tools and networks may change but the benefits that their interactive nature provides are real and working very well for countless small business owners.

Isn’t it time you discovered that for yourself? :)

© 2009 Communicate Value. All Rights Reserved.

Christine Gallagher, The Online Marketing and Social Media Success Coach, is founder of Communicate Value, where she is dedicated to teaching small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course and receive her weekly marketing & success articles on leveraging technology, building relationships and boosting your profits, visit http://communicatevalue.com

If you’ve been following me or subscribed to my newsletter for a while, you already know I love article marketing as a promotional strategy.  One place I regularly submit my articles to is WAHM Articles, and you can find more info below about the site.

This week we’ve been authorized to giveaway ONE Platinum membership to the article marketing forum!  In addition, I’ll include a free copy of my guide to article marketing for the winner.  Would you like to enter?  Just post a comment below and we’ll draw a random winner on May 6th then announce it in the newsletter next week.

Many women with home businesses discover that being a work at home mom requires a lot more time, money and energy than they had expected.

If your time and energy is in short supply, and your business needs a boost, WAHM-Articles.com has launched a new social networking community that might help.

The WAHM-Articles Forum helps work-at-home-moms learn how to market their businesses in less time and more effectively by using article marketing. Article marketing is a marketing strategy where you write articles to promote your products and services and let others publish them for free in exchange for a link back to your site.

Many of the members at the WAHM-Articles Forum are experienced article marketers and publishers, so it’s a great place to hook up with website owners who are looking for articles like yours and ask all your article marketing questions.

In the forum, they talk about everything to do with article marketing, including:

-   How to write articles that get more traffic to your website or blog
-   How to use your articles to get more subscribers to your mailing list
-   How to get your article readers to visit your website
-   How to convince those website visitors to buy from you.

Joining the forum is free. There is also a Platinum membership that gives you access to article reviews, article marketing training, and valuable resources and discounts. Platinum memberships are available for an introductory price of $50 a year.

If you want to learn how to get more traffic and sales in less time, I recommend you go to http://www.WAHM-Articles.com/forum and register for a free account.

I’m a member and I’ve already learned a lot from the community there. If you join us, you can discover how to spend less time on marketing your website so you have more time spend with the kids, or on taking your business to the next level.

I’d love to see you there! You can register at http://www.WAHM-Articles.com/forum

Want to keep up with my articles?  Looking for free content you can reprint on your blog or website, or in your newsletter?  Check out my new articles website at http://articlesbymichelleshaeffer.com

Subscribe to the RSS feed and you’ll be the first to know when I post new articles.

Do you write articles for marketing your business?  It’s a great way to share what you know and promote your business at the same time.

Want your own ArticlesByYou.com website?  Here are the steps I took to create mine:

1) Register a domain.

2) Set up hosting (if you’ve got a website hosting package already you can probably setup an add on domain at no additional monthly cost).

3) Install Wordpress.  I did this through Fantastico in my cPanel, takes just a couple of minutes.

4) Add and activate your theme.  I used Revolution 2’s Office theme and hacked it just a bit to make it work nicely for my articles.

5) Set up categories and post your articles.

And that’s it.  :)

Clients and friends frequently approach me with questions about emails regarding their domain names that just don’t “feel” legitimate, and for good reason! Domain name scams are becoming more and more common. These scam attempts are also becoming more sophisticated, less obvious and using unethical techniques that cause the domain owner to worry that they may lose their domain or another company may be trying to steal it. Depending on the scam, they may be after your domain name, your money in transfer fees, or your credit card details for fraud and identity theft.

Fortunately, there are seven easy things you can do to keep your domain name and related information safe, and they only take a few minutes each.

1) Know who your domain name registrar is.

When you purchase your domain name be sure to print out your receipt and keep it somewhere safe. The original registrar is the only company who should contact you about your domain renewal, and their website is where you will go to renew your domain name. One common scam involves a company sending out official looking renewal notices through the mail. If you send in the renewal notice with your payment they’ll transfer your domain to their company where you’ll be stuck paying higher fees or dealing with other problems.

2) Use a secure password as your domain registrar (not something like your name or a password you use for other things).

We all know passwords should be secure. Is yours? If not, go to www.random.org and generate a secure string including both letters and numbers and update the password you use to access your domain records at your registrar. Make an note for yourself so you don’t forget your password. It’s important to use a different password for different sites. Otherwise, if someone hacks your email account password they may suddenly have access to your domain name account,
your PayPal or banking accounts! Don’t allow that opportunity.

3) Keep your personal contact information up to date on your domain
records.

If your email address changes, update your domain registrar so your renewal notices and other important communications from them can reach you. Your mailing address also needs to be kept up to date.

4) Lock your domain name at your registrar.

Domain registrars offer a feature called “domain locking” that can help your domain stay safe. It’s usually free and will prevent someone from transferring your domain to another registrar without
your permission. It’s simple to unlock later if you decide you’d like to transfer your domain.

5) Consider using domain privacy protection.

Most domain related scams learn your contact information by doing a whois search for the publicly available domains records. Search for your domain at www.domaintools.com to see what information comes back about your domain. If your personal name, address, and other information is available, contact your domain name registrar and ask them about privacy protection.

6) Renew your domain name early and for as many years as you feel
is reasonable considering the purpose of the domain.

If your domain is your business name and you know you’ll want to keep it for a long time, go ahead and renew it for 5 or 10 years. If it’s a temporary domain that you may not keep, register for a
year but renew early each year you decide to keep it. Never wait until the last minute to renew a domain.

7) Never click the links in an email about your domain, always go
directly to the website of your registrar.

Many phishing emails work by sending out an “official” looking email that links to a website that looks almost like the real one, but it’s a fake site setup to gather login details and credit card
information. You can protect yourself by never using links in email to access websites. Instead, go to your browser and type the real address directly into your browser bar to get to the website.

Taking these seven precautionary steps can help ensure that your domain name stays protected.