Hi,

Happy new year to you, your family and friends. I found the following image as part of a collection of Happy New Year 2010 Wallpapers for your computer. Check it out. You might find something you like.

This month we are going to focus on Social Media and a few ways you can use it to promote your business. As a first step, I created a fan page on Facebook. I figure in order to be able to help other small business owners with their Social Media Marketing I need to go through the process myself. I have my profiles set up on all the major sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, but up until now I haven't done much with Facebook Fan Pages. Well, now I have. I would really appreciate it if you would consider becoming a fan of IPG Search Marketing on Facebook.

I've got lots of good information for you this month so enjoy. If you have any questions about any of the material in this newsletter you can reach me at 1-877-334-8022 or email me at kenpartain@wemakemarketingeasy.com.

Developing a Social Media Strategy

When it comes to social media small business owners get a little scared. Sure, they've heard about it. They may even have a personal page on Facebook, but when it comes to promoting their business through social media, they are not quite sure how to proceed.

Well, just like any other business endeavor, before you get started you will need a strategy so you will know if you are accomplishing the goals you have set for yourself and your business.

Over at Jay Baer's Convice and Convert Blog he outlines The 7 Steps to Developing a Social Media Strategy. In that post are additional links to expand on the points and really help you understand how to move forward with this.

Jay also shares several worksheets and tools that can help with your social media marketing efforts.

You are going to want to find a comfortable chair before you open this next link because over at the Conversation Marketing Blog, Ian Lurie shares The Social Media Marketing List: 45 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren't. It looks like I have a little work to do myself.

Resources

Every day I spend time online and I come across some really great people and ideas. A few that I have come across recently on Twitter are Steve Kimball from Richmond, VA, Tom Martin from New Orleans, LA and Thubten Comerford, a Social Media Strategist from Portland, OR, very close to my good friend Matthew Scott.

Another resource I want to share with you today is Michael Senoff's Hard To Find Seminars. It is the world's leading FREE digital audio business library that uses the power of personal interviews and storytelling to capture and relay the advice of world-class business experts. Get free audio interviews of the experience and guidance of business leaders on the subjects of  business growth, direct marketing, business buying, writing, effective advertising, referral marketing, negotiating, product development, marketing consulting, and the art of buying advertising.

I signed up for Micheal's email updates and I constantly find new and interesting interviews that have helped with my business. At the very least I can get a new idea or two out of each interview he does. I just download them to my iPhone and listen to them when I walk each day. That way, that hour I spend excercising is also spent learning. A word of caution: Michael sends out a new email just about every day, so set up a folder in your email client and then create a filter so that all his emails go into that folder. When you have some time, go check them out and download the gold.

What I'm Reading

Since our last newsletter I finished reading The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. and William Danko, Ph.D. I have re-read Elsom Eldridge Jr.'s How To Position Yourself as The Obvious Expert. I also finished Rules for Renegades by Christine Comaford-Lynch, and am also re-reading Tom Peters' The Pursuit of Wow! - Every Person's Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times.

As I said last month, I bought The Millioniare Next Door back in 1996 when it first came out but never did finish it back then. I am kicking myself in the butt because of it. I guess I just wasn't ready for it then, but I sure wish I had followed tha habits of the people surveyed in this book. I think we would be in a completely different place today if I had.

 

This is a great book for any consultant or coach who wants to grow their business. As a matter of fact, this would be great reading for any professional service firm that wanted to establish themselves as the Obvious Expert in their field. There are some great tips about publishing, speaking, conducting seminars and workshops, using the media to your advantage and building out a website that attracts your ideal client and reinforces the fact that you are the obvious expert.

 

This book was a fairly easy read and it has some very valuable lessons. However, I really didn't like the fact that the author felt like she had to share her exploits with a few tech billionaires to get her point across. I think she could have done it in a different way and I would have liked the book much more.

 

 

I read this book back in 1994 when it first came out and when I came across it on my shelves recently I just knew I had to read it again. The byline 'Every Person's Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times' really caught my attention. It seems to me that we have definitely been going through some topsy-turvy times recently. This book really has some great tips and ideas for improving your business.

Here are just a couple of nuggets I found:

"It takes forever to maintain change...but it takes just a flash to achieve change of even the most profound sort." p. 3

"Almost nothing, small or large, was ever accomplished without setback after setback after setback." p. 49

You can do anything and you can improve your business right where you are. It just takes a single idea and implementation of that idea. Go for it!

January Deals

There are a lot of small businesses that could use some help marketing their websites but just can't afford to do a full-scale optimization. So recently we added the SEO JumpStart to our offering of SEO Plans. This will allow the truly small business to get some help optimizing their site without a big expense or long-term committment. Check it out.

If you know someone who could benefit from this please forward this newsletter on to them.

To your success,

Ken Partain

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Ken Partain is a Marketing Consultant who helps small business owners realize their online marketing potential through search engine marketing and search engine optimization. Ken has helped companies in dozens of industries get top search results for their web sites and other online content. Call 1-877-334-8022 today to schedule your free 30-minute consultation.

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