Blue Gypsy Inc. Blog

How are You Making Twitter Work for Your Business?

2012-01-26T07:58:00.003-05:00

Do you keep asking yourself how can twitter help my business? How can I use twitter? And what is the point? If so you are not alone. Many people get started on twitter and don't know what they really want to use it for. It is not a business tool for everyone, but it can be a powerful business tool if used properly and with a plan.

The types of questions you want to ask yourself when using twitter are the following:

What is my focus for using twitter?
Are using twitter because someone told you to put a twitter page up and your clients will find?
Are you trying to sell something?
Are you trying to make friends?
Are you trying to increase your influence in your field?
Are you giving advice?

Who is my Audience?
Are you trying to engage an audience of your colleagues and friends?
Are you trying to sell a product or a service?
Is your audience a specific demographic?
Who else engages your demographic?

How am I trying to engage them?
Are you engaging people on a one on one basis, are you posting articles and ideas out there?
Are you simply reguritating other peoples articles and ideas?
How much of your content is original?
Are you using search tools to find other people talking about your topics?
Are you interacting with people?

What is my call to action?
Are you driving people to your website?
Are you filling your fan page on facebook?
Are you trying to get people to attend a seminar?
Are you getting people to read your blog?
Are you getting people to look at your products?

Once you answer these kinds of questions we will get into more detail on how to put together a twitter stradegy that is right for your business.

Goals For The New Year - They Might Surprise You

2011-12-29T11:30:00.000-05:00

So here we are almost the last day of 2011. Blue Gypsy Inc has nearly completed it's 2nd year of existence and through hard work, top notch service and dedication we've doubled the gross income of the company and pleased many clients throughout the year.

But the blog for Blue Gypsy Inc has taken a hit, as has the twitter feed. Which is somewhat ironic since we've probably put out an average of about 2000 tweets for clients this year, About 500 facebook posts for clients, and written upwards of 150 blogs and articles for clients this year...not to mention everything else we do!

But Blue Gypsy Inc. went from 66 blog posts in 2010 to 22 blog posts in 2011. And the numbers for tweeting and facebook followed suit. My goal for 2012: Step up the social media engagement for Blue Gypsy Inc. I feel the most important element is blogging. My goal is to write a minimum of 2 blogs per month for Blue Gypsy Inc. I also write 1 blog per month for Business Chopstix. Business Chopstixs is a Business Talent Collaboration blog focused on all things Business, Marketing, Tips, Advice, Technology, Social Media and more.

With this in mind I plan to balance work for my clients and work for Blue Gypsy Inc better. I also plan on balancing my personal goals which are more exercise and fitness. By this time next year with as much hard work and dedication that I put into my clients I plan to put that dedication into myself and be 50 lbs lighter!

What are your business and personal goals for the new year?

Thankful for The Amazing Blue Gypsy Road

2011-11-23T13:13:00.001-05:00

What are you Thankful for? These are the days when we start asking this question. Just before thanksgiving between the craziness of the holidays we begin to ask ourselves what are we thankful for.

I am so thankful that in less than two years time I've been able to build Blue Gypsy Inc into a thriving business with amazing clients who respect me as much as I respect them. As a gypsy wanderer it was a hard transition when I tried to stay in one place and work in the environs of a cubical. I felt boxed in both mentally and physically. Too many people live their work lives saying I can't do that and I can't do this, and that's not my job. I almost feel it's the nature of the cubical compartmentalizing their people.

Now as my own boss I feel that if I can dream it, I can do it. (that was always the way I lived my life when traveling...why not when working) When people come to me and ask me what I do. The question really is what am I willing to do. With my dedicated work ethic, ability to research and learn I can do just about anything I set my mind to. Or I can find the professionals to employ to help me as a team get it done.

So when someone comes to me and asks me what I do. I always laugh and say what do you need to have done.

I'm thankful for the spirit and the way in which I live my life. I am thankful for the amazing winding road that I have chosen to get me to where I am today. I'm thankful that I have clients that believe in me and know that I am always out to do the best and give 150% to their projects. I'm thankful for wonderful friends and family that support me on a mental and spiritual level.

Always and forever thankful.

Steve Jobs: Words To Live and Work By

2011-10-06T10:10:00.001-04:00

Steve Jobs was an innovator and a visionary. He pushed the envelope and strove for excellence in everything he did in his short yet amazingly productive life. If we could all strive to be the best at what we do in life, in our work, with our family we will be lucky and full filled.

The following are quotes from Steve Jobs to help inspire in many areas of our lives. On this sad day when we lose an amazing American, let's remember him and the lessons he can teach us to create our own amazing lives.

Try New Things: “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”

Strive for Quality and Excellence: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Make Your Mark: “I want to put a ding in the universe.”

Lead Or Follow: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Focus: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.”

Persevere: “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

Think For Yourself: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Choose Your Battles: “I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”

Quality vs. Quantity: “Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”

Learn How To Say No: “It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much.”

See Things Differently: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Change the World: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”

Focus on Simplicity: "That's been one of my mantras -- focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains."

Be an Innovator: "It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

Trust Your Gut: "[Y]ou can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Balance: "My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That's how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people."

Money Isn't Everything: “You know, my main reaction to this money thing is that it’s humorous, all the attention to it, because it’s hardly the most insightful or valuable thing that’s happened to me.”

Values: “The problem with the Internet startup craze isn’t that too many people are starting companies; it’s that too many people aren’t sticking with it. That’s somewhat understandable, because there are many moments that are filled with despair and agony, when you have to fire people and cancel things and deal with very difficult situations. That’s when you find out who you are and what your values are."

America: “I’m an optimist in the sense that I believe humans are noble and honorable, and some of them are really smart. I have a very optimistic view of individuals. As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups. And I remain extremely concerned when I see what’s happening in our country, which is in many ways the luckiest place in the world. We don’t seem to be excited about making our country a better place for our kids.”

What Matters: “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

Don't Settle: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

What's Next: “I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”

Relationships: "If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, Like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."

No One Wants To Die: “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Remember That You Are Going To Die: “Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Life: “We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life."

Thank you Steve Jobs (1955-2011) for the innovative gifts you've given society. May you rest in peace.

Time and Priorties: Event Planning for Your Business

2011-09-22T10:30:00.000-04:00

Now if there's one thing I can emphasize to individuals and companies, and especially to individuals who are sole proprietors, it's to have a very clear business plan for your event.

My plan for Blue Gypsy Bluesfest was, "hey I want to have a party and brand my company!" At first it was targeting the real estate industry in Hampton Roads, but then I just said, hey lets do this for charity and get anyone and everyone who loves Blues, BBQ, a great family day....and the list went on. I lost my focus and got caught up in other things, which was fine, I had the time and I had the energy, and I kept looking at it as a learning experience.

You need to make sure you have the time, and you can prioritize. At some point depending on what kind of business you have and the work you already have on the table you may want to consider hiring a professional event planner. One who is familiar with all the ins and outs and can give you a realistic idea of time in to plan an event.

If you want to take it on yourself you need a clear picture of what you are doing. Define the following.

What is my purpose for this event?
Who is my target audience?
How do I intend to reach my target audience?
What am I offering?
What am I not offering?
What kind of time do I have to plan this event?
What time frame do I need to create to reasonably put on this event?

If you are planning an open house, a small luncheon, or a small informal gathering of contacts that you already have you need a lot less time to plan an event. Anywhere from weeks to months. But if you are planning an event that means selling tickets or seats to an event or a seminar and you do not already personally know your target audience you are going to need to create a comprehensive marketing plan and give yourself a minimum of 1 year for a first time event. I know, that doesn't hit the instant gratification button. But in order to put on a successful event you need the time to develop a plan and execute successfully.

Business Coach Vs. Snake Oil Salesman

2011-09-20T13:44:00.002-04:00

Wow folks, I've just got to get this out there in a post to go on the record. I am very skeptical of business coaches, and people who train business coaches. There I said it.

My skepticism comes from watching a whole business arise in this flagging economy. Have you ever heard that old Woody Allen quote, "Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach, teach gym." Well when it comes to your business, wouldn't you want the person coaching you to have real world experience, firsthand knowledge and years of experience as a successful professional, preferably an entrepreneur who has owned and run a business? Especially if you are paying them big bucks? I would!

Placating me with motivational sayings and asking me rote questions to get me to think about my business is not my idea of business coaching.

I think you need years of trials and errors, successes and failures in order to impart a full understanding and important insights into a business in order to help it grow. Yet all over the place there are people coaching others to become business coaches. Now if all these pupils were successful business owners in their own right who have gone from rags to riches, or built their own organization from the ground up but they just need to transition into helping others that would be one thing. But sadly, I see people who have no real world experience turning to coaches to coach them to coach...now follow that one.

How long would you want your coach to be in business for themselves before they took on the task of coaching you? How successful would you hope that their business would be before you had them coach you? How much coaching experience would you like them to have before you pay them lots of money to coach you? How much money should you pay a business coach? What should you get for that money? These are all important questions!

Even more important, what would you like your coaches credentials to be? What if their client list consisted of lots of big name companies...and yet later you found out those companies didn't hire your coach directly or for the services that coach is selling to you? What if they worked with those companies on the periphery while working as a mid to low level employee for another business? Can they genuinely list them as clients?

Words that would come to mind for me to describe those individuals are snake oil, or bait and switch. Yet those people exist out there. They pay other coaches lots of money to teach them how to coach. Why wouldn't they when business coaches can earn upwards of $100 - $500 per hour, and life coaches (that's a great one...how are you qualified to coach about life) can charge between $100 - $300 per hour. So you may not have a successful business, but if you can take enough classes and convince others to hire you you surely can create a successful coaching business, if you are motivated enough. (By money)

When choosing a business coach be skeptical. After all you are paying your hard earned cash for someone who is supposed to help you improve your business.

Balance: Work and Life

2011-09-14T11:28:00.001-04:00

When you work in front of computer all day, and you own your own business, the tendency is to work to fatigue. At least that's what I do. There is always something that needs to get done, and there seem to not be enough hours in the day to get it all done.

At some point, you, have to step back and say, it isn't all going to get done today. Set reasonable expectations for yourself, and for your clients. Develop a routine for yourself so that you can do things for yourself, like eat right, exercise and get your work done.

Some of this is about goal setting and creating manageable business goals for yourself, but it's also about personal goals. While growing your business, you can't let your personal life, and your personal health go. It has to be a balancing act. Just like a high wire acrobat. You've got to create balance in your life.

It may not seem like it when you are building your business, but if you are happier, and healthier you are going to be more productive in your actual time you spend working. You will also project a happier more confident aura to your clients and potential clients which will increase your business over time.

When Social Media Works and Doesn't Work in a Crisis

2011-08-28T18:09:00.004-04:00

There were very good ways that social media was a huge help during and in the wake of Hurricane Irene. And there were many ways where it was more of a hindrance than a help.

Living on the Eastern Seaboard in Northern Virginia and owning several properties nearby the Chesapeake Bay both in Norfolk, VA and in Mathews VA there were times that I was very frustrated with general media and the news services. And there were times that I was thankful that they had social media streams, though ironically not because of their use of it but because of their fans and followers.

Let me elaborate. Sitting in northern Virginia, I wanted to know what was happening around the southern areas where the hurricane was making it's presence known. Yet over and over and over again, the reporting up in my neck of the woods was about the early rain bands we were getting, and what New York was doing to prepare for the storm, but very little of what was actually going on where the southern Virginia areas were getting pummeled by the storm. Huge fail, in my opinion, on the part of the networks. If you are going to go to a 24 hour news only cycle, give us some news. I only heard over and over again about the sensationalized parts of the storm that were happening.

I heard about the tornado touching down in Sandbridge for hours and hours after the event, yet nothing useful like flooding information in Ocean View (Nearby one of our homes) and other important information. Further more the social media sites and many of the websites of the news programs were streaming video, but they were not WRITING anything about what was going on. Okay folks, what happens when lots and lots of people are trying to download larger bandwidth items like, say, video? That's right and add to that the slower nature of doing it on phones and other devices. A little written information would have gone a long way for many of us trying to find out what was going on.

But the place where social media paid off was when I went on WAVY TV 10's facebook fan page and started reading the local accounts by local people (not the news) on what was going on in specific neighborhoods, towns, and zip codes. And when I posted that I was trying to find out information about Mathews County (Something no one was reporting about) I got some responses so that I wasn't totally in the dark (Like my neighbors had been since 1:00pm yesterday)

So there were pros and cons to the media coverage and the grasping of the necessity for social media during this disaster. There were many people on the social media sites for the main stream media asking them to write some reports. Spread out their coverage and stop covering only the fatalities and the attention getting stuff. If people are safe and sound during a hurricane it is news to report that as well. We want to know about people and properties fairing well against the storm, not just the people who are surfing or getting caught in the rip tides.

Hopefully traditional media will get the hint and implement a little more diversity the next time we are faced with such a wide spread incident that begs for this kind of coverage.

How Much Time Does It Take To Plan A Successful Event?

2011-06-17T08:03:00.004-04:00

How much time should you give yourself if you are planning an event for your business? That is an excellent question everyone should ask themselves as they embark on the journey of putting on a function or corporate event.

No really, I'm telling you, ask yourself how much time you think it will take to plan, execute and have create a successful outcome for the event. And then at least double that time.

I learned this lesson trial by fire. Last year when I planned the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest and BBQ, a first time charity event, I gave myself 6 months. I thought, wow that should be plenty of time...and then the event grew...and grew. I was pulling my hair out by the time the event actually happened, and while I hear the music was great and the food was amazing I really couldn't tell you because I was so busy managing the process.

The next series of blog posts will be valuable information to help newbies who want to do events for their company but aren't quite sure where to begin.

I will share what I've learned and help other businesses and individuals get a better handle on the amount of time and the key elements that are necessary in order to plan a successful event.

Buyer Beware: Your Daily Deal

2011-05-31T10:42:00.003-04:00

So many "Daily Deal" sites are cropping up these days and one has to ask, how much of a deal are they really? It's hard not to blink at a deal for a luxury hotel offering 70% off on a 3 day trip, or special deals on tubing, water sports etc, not to mention the facials and more.

On some items it's easy to know that the deal is genuine. $50 worth of flowers for $25. Easy.

I tend to look at travel. Always trying to find inexpensive ways to escape, even if it's just for the weekend. But more and more I think we need to ask ourselves, if it sounds too good to be true, maybe it is. I've been looking at a deal for a Wellness Spa in Mexico. They advertise Yoga, Tai Chi, Meditation, Massage services, spa services and more... They tell you that if you purchase the daily deal you will get a 70% discount on the package...

But upon closer scrutiny, there are no rates on their website. They could tell you the rates are anything they want. In this day and age of shopping online, if you are offering certain products and services your rates should be clearly spelled out online. There are definitely exceptions to this rule. If your services are customized, if the scope of work determines your pricing, or if each quote depends on unique circumstances then by all means don't list a rate on your website.

But I'd say that if you are a hotel you're going to get better booking turnover if you have your rates, especially for packages, listed online.

As I dig deeper into this "Deal" I find that if I were to "Book directly through them" I would receive all the wellness activities: i.e. Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation and other things as part of the booking. But on the Daily Deal site, this is not the case. Instead each class is about $45 per class. If you were to take 3 of these activities a day, all of a sudden you are increasing the cost of the trip by double....hmmm not such a deal anymore.

Now if you were going to this hotel to simply sit by the pool, then no problem. However there are daily deals for all inclusive resorts that are great for sitting on the beach or by the pool and don't hype themselves as a Wellness Resort and Retreat. In that case you are getting 50% off their true value. But if your reason for going to a Wellness Retreat is for....uh....wellness services, then this no longer looks like a good deal.

Okay end of rant. Buyers beware.

Anti Social On My Social Networks

2011-05-10T06:37:00.004-04:00

I find it ironic that a large part of my business is helping other companies with social networking as part of their lead management and interactions.

I currently teach companies how to target their message while not selling. Socialize, while not bombarding people with their product through social networking tools. I help companies search out groups and followers that will be the right place to interact with on the web. I write and or edit blogs for targeted markets, and I even do some twitter and facebook updating for certain clients. I create and send eblasts as well. Generally I help people come up with a plan to interact, and then a follow up plan for when people begin to communicate.

I evaluate websites and help companies see they need more calls to action, more ways to interact with traffic they drive to their site, and more ways to drive traffic to their site.

Yet when it comes time to do all this for my own company, I tend to allow it to fall by the wayside. It's a case of the shoemaker's children having no shoes. I'm on facebook, twitter, linkedIn and wordpress all day long for clients. I'm in Vertical Response, Constant Contact, and Buildtopia all day long. I work with an amazing team to help build economical websites for small and new businesses.

And yet I haven't updated my own website in over a year, I barely tweet, I haven't sent out an eblast for Blue Gypsy Inc. in ages nor updated the business page, and I've got writers block when it comes to blogging.

I need to hire a company like Blue Gypsy Inc.

The irony.

Does Facebook Rage Exist?

2011-04-20T07:46:00.004-04:00

What are your thoughts? Do you think that with the growth and popularity of facebook there is now something called facebook rage?

Yes I've coined this term myself...though I googled it and I found this in the Urban Dictionary: When a person getting angry at another person for interrupting their Facebook time...this isn't what I'm talking about. Yes the bad sentence structure is in the urban dictionary. I'd have said when a person "gets" not "getting".

But this is not the facebook rage I'm talking about. I'm talking about when you read stupid stuff and it gets you mad and then you experience the same feelings when some idiot cuts you off on the highway. (Yep I have road rage too) There's so much stupid stuff out there. And it's not just in your friends' feeds, it's in the way the news is reported as well.

I recently commented on a news organization reporting something. All I said was "really reaching for news." The news organization responded "have a nice day Leah." Hmmm do I read that as, middle finger in the air, have a nice day Leah? It's just an odd response....but then someone else follows with, Really, Leah? Hardly "reaching" for news.

So the article in question was about the routine fly around that the first lady's plane had to make while they cleared another plane off the runway....really. All of a sudden "John" made it into an I must hate the Obama administration for thinking it was not news worthy.

But the fact is, that all the accounts I heard YESTERDAY was that this is routine, the first lady was never in danger, and the only reason it is making the news at all is because the first lady was on the plane. If they reported this every time it happened for us common folks on planes there would be a huge fear of flying.

Yes I don't dispute the fact that there have been some near miss incidents lately and the FAA is under fire to take a look at how they are staffing air traffic controllers. But I think this is another case of the 24 hour news cycle making a mountain into a molehill.

But here's where the facebook rage comes in. So "John" has his panties in a bunch. But then "Drew" writes, "To bad the president wasn't on there and it crashed"...first off, someone should educate this man. Not just because of his poor sentence structure, and incorrect use of the word to, but also for the inappropriateness of his statement.

Just because you can say anything on facebook, doesn't mean you should. It's these kinds of things that start to get people inflamed. Hence facebook rage.

TED Talks: What Does It Feel Like To Be Wrong?

2011-04-19T10:34:00.006-04:00

What does it feel like to be wrong? We can all learn from Kathyrn Schulz on being wrong in this TED Talk. If you've never visited the TED Talks site you are missing out. These talks expand your mind, make you think, and help you become a stronger individual both in your personal and your professional life.

If you take 20 minutes a day to listen to a random TED Talk I'm sure it will create many ah-ha moments for you.

Here's a link to Kathyrn Schulz: On Being Wron g

Nothing Like Under Estimating How Long A Project Will Take

2011-03-21T21:02:00.006-04:00

Time management. A key ingredient to being an effective small business owner or independent contractor. Your time is literally money. You need time to spend on each client and project. And you need to know how effectively to manage all that time, juggle your projects and keep your clients happy.

But there are times when a project balloons out of control. A contractor quits, you run into glitches, simple things become more complex and all of a sudden a project that was supposed to take weeks ends up taking many many weeks. What do you do?

How do you explain it to your client?

You create a contract, you set a deadline, you quote a financial estimate....and none of it matches up. At what point do you bite the bullet and absorb the cost of things, and at what point do you say to your client, "Look, this is far more than we bargained for, and it's going to go over the price quote."

No really, I'm asking you to give me some insight into this kind of situation!

I'm such a giver and a people please-er I don't know when to say, "no." One thing I've learned is to be very very clear on the scope of work. I think there can be some ambiguous loop holes and nothing worse then getting caught in a perpetual loop.

Be precise in what you will and wont do. For instance, today, I was talking with another company and they said to re-wrap their plug-in for the website was free the first two times, but after that they charge. Okay fair enough. How about 2 edits of a website and after that, charge for changes. (Yes I know this is probably typical of most web design firms yet it wasn't spelled out in my contract) This will cause a client to really be clear on what they want on the website. This would be a smart thing to write into my next contract.

Please pass on any sage advice and ideas for creating stronger contracts, better scopes of work, and keeping projects from ballooning out of control, while still keeping clients happy.

When it Comes to Email Communications: Stop-Breathe-Think-Act

2011-03-16T21:26:00.008-04:00

Okay everyone, deep breath. I've seen a lot of miss communications via email lately, not just in my business, but others seem to be having the same problems as well when we compare notes. This happens in a fast paced, stress filled environment both on personal and on professional levels. There's a good reason for this. Black and white typed emails are only one third of the story.

Communication is a fragile and tricky thing.

We've gone from personal meetings and phone calls, to emails, texts, facebook communications, and the limited field of twitter as a means to do business. This is great! And this is awful at the same time. In speeding up life, we've lost two thirds of the sensory input in understanding communications. We no longer hear vocal intonation, nor do we see body language or facial expressions.

Just imagine, if you are stressed out and you read an email you may read it with your own tone, not the intended tone of the sender. Same thing if you are frustrated. If you are feeling frustrations, inadequacies, or annoyances on either a personal or a professional level you may transfer this to the reading, and at times the writing, of an email.

When I was teaching scuba diving we used to teach in an underwater stress situation: Stop - Breathe - Think - Act.

Always easier said than done, but it's important to take a step back. Are you really reading what is being said correctly? Or are you reading it through the filters that you have personally put in place that have to do with the things you are going through?

Read all critical communications several times, and read non-critical communications at least once. This goes for receiving and sending. By dashing off an email and sending it without a re-read you may find that either something seems unclear, or something sounds inappropriate when written quickly. Always try to think, how will the other person read this.

And be careful when you write a veiled snide comment to someone. You may think they wont get it, but guess what, they probably will and that will make a situation worse. When you read the written word you are missing 2 thirds of the communication that is actually happening.

When it doubt talk it out.

Get on the phone, have a skype video call, meet in person to discuss the situation. Something small and inadvertent can turn into huge miss interpretations when they go unchecked.

So remember, before you jump to conclusions, Stop - Breathe - Think - Act.

Successful Email Marketing: Permisson Is The Key

2011-03-01T12:08:00.002-05:00

Scraping emails off facebook, linkedin, or business cards for your newsletter is not cool. This is why email marketing gets a bad name.

First off the key to correct and effective email marketing is to have a permission based list.

Translation: a list of people who want to get your emails.

Just because someone hands you a business card at a networking event or accepts your friendship on a social network does not mean that you can troll through their personal data and add them to your newsletter.

Huge companies like Constant Contact will shut you down if you get too many spam reports, and people who haven't given you permission in the first place are very likely to report you as spam. Besides, uploading a ton of emails that you haven't earned through generating interest in your product or service defeats the purpose of email marketing.

It's not how many random people you have in your database that counts, it's how many actively engaged people you have in your database that matters.

In fact it's not a bad idea to take the pulse of your database every so often with surveys to see how engaged your audience is with your content. Emails letting them know, "It's okay to unsubscribe....really." Are a great way to see who will take you up on it. What? You are afraid of losing the sheer numbers you have in your database? Don't be. The more targeted your database, the more targeted your message.

Email marketing is still one of the best ways to get yourself in front of your client base, people who request information are interested. Now figure out how to engage them. Use social media to engage the people in your circle who haven't added themselves to your mailing list. If they become interested enough or have a need for your services and information....they will ask to be added.

Singing the Blues About Blue Gypsy Bluesfest 2011

2011-02-21T11:01:00.007-05:00

I'm singing the blues about the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest. As successful as the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest was last year grossing almost $15,000 and bringing together over 350 enthusiastic people in the Tidewater Area to enjoy a day of blues and BBQ, I had to make an executive decision.

Sadly I've tabled the event indefinitely for the future.

There are two major factors that contributed to this decision. The first is the fact that I am not a non-profit. The second is that in the interest of a growing business and having to take time management into consideration, I know I don't have the amount of time to devote to the bluesfest and still keep my clients happy.

Because my business is not a non-profit there are many issues that were stumbling blocks in setting up the event for charity last year. These would continue to be a problem and would continue to grow as the event grew. I did a lot of research and soul searching about setting up a non-profit to handle the event in the future. I just couldn't see myself running a business and a non-profit at this time.

I asked several local non-profits if they wanted to take it on under their umbrella, but for each, very understandably, they had various reasons why the bluesfest would not fit into their mission or their fund raising needs. Events are time consuming to plan and in the early years do not raise nearly the amount of money in correlation with hours put in as other fund-raising efforts do. I'm well aware of this after taking on what grew into a huge project last year.

I wanted to put together committees to assist with the bluesfestival. However I added several new clients in succession last year and I didn't have the time to translate all the information that was in my head, in order to be able to guide a group of individuals. Especially since I couldn't meet with them on a regular basis due to the physical distance between Northern Virginia and Virginia Beach.

The truth is, the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest was a huge undertaking last year for a single individual.

I did everything from updating the website, canvasing for sponsors, setting up and planning the actual event, pounding the pavement and burning up the phone lines for sponsors, BBQ restaurants, and charity auction donations. I fumbled through photoshop to put together banners, advertising, flyers, bags and mugs and more. I wrote press releases, articles, and maintained all the social media while finding media sponsors and the list continues. And I fronted all the money for advertising, deposits, and services in the hopes that I'd be able to raise enough money to cover the costs. Only those closest to me knew that I wore the hats for everything.

I met some amazing people throughout the journey of putting together the event. People I hope to continue to know and possibly work with on efforts in the future. I was so pleased and happy with all the vendors, sponsors and supports who dove in and believed in the event. Every time I talked with someone about the idea, they gave me several more contacts to call. So while I did it alone, I was never really alone.

The Blue Gypsy Bluesfest was a full time job and a labor of love.

Countless unpaid hours went into the effort. I kept chalking it up to a learning experience and at times I'd worry that I would go into debt verses raising money for the charities. I was so happy by the time the day rolled around and everyone seemed to have fun, enjoying the food, the music and the sentiment of the day. I was ecstatic that we were able to not only break even, but raise money for the two charities. (Not going into debt from the event was payment enough for the amazing and at times stressful experience.)

However this year I had to make a decision. Without the proper organization, back up, and taking into consideration the distance, and the committment I owe to my clients I came to the conclusion that I had to consider my time and what the best use of it could be. With much less time than it takes to put an event of that magnitude together, I can help other local charities in many ways that have as much impact if not more.

Before the event I was always involved in charity work and after the event I realize how important those seemingly little efforts really mean.

I continue to support Habitat for Humanity and the Natchel' Blues Networks in their efforts to achieve their mission. I'm sad to let the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest go. I know it would have continued to grow and would have become an amazing annual event in the area. But in the end decisions have to be made as a small business owner. In order to grow, I knew I couldn't continue the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest in it's current model.

I want to thank all those who got involved with this fledgling event last year. You are an amazing group of people.

The Power of Social Media: Should Jewish Organizations Jump on The Social Media Bandwagon?

2011-02-17T11:16:00.010-05:00

So I thought I'd share this interesting debate I'm having with my sister with you.

My sister, like me, has traveled the world. She's lived in foreign countries and traveled Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and the Middle East. She's visited small little villages in South East Asia and she's even been stranded in a Typhoon on Mauritius, a tiny tiny island off of Africa.

My sister used to be a costume designer and then worked in sportswear manufacturing in Hong Kong. She led a pretty interesting life. Most of her travel was related to her business, unlike me, who was a vagabond backpacker traveling the world for discovery and adventure.

At some point in her travels, and the details are too many to go into, she became more and more devoted to her religion. And with that she became a part of Modern Orthodox Jewish society, in Hong Kong no less.

She now lives amongst the religious community in Baltimore and has traded her exotic travels and creative clothing design for creative teaching methods while working with an Orthodox school for girls. It's an interesting juxtaposition sometimes since my sister has chosen to conform to a more traditional lifestyle yet she herself was very unconventional for many years. She definitely keeps within the parameters of the society and yet she pushes the envelop at times with her creativity and worldly experience.

Her most recent venture is to win a grant to help her school. This is actually a contest where you can vote on your favorite idea. This is where the debate comes in. Her community, her school and her family embraces the belief that social media is something to be kept at arms length. They are wary of the addictive behavior some take on when using facebook, twitter and the like, and they want to safeguard their children from the ills that lurk on the internet. Fair enough.

The Jewish Communities' plight to figuring out the appropriate and best use of Social Media is no different than that of businesses when they first dipped their toe into the Social Media Stream nor that of Charities, non-profits and philanthropists.

My sister believes that what she is applying for while marketed as a "Grant" is not really a grant because it has nothing whatsoever to do with the merits of her idea for education, it has more to do with popularity. So I in turn have explained the trend toward public opinion choosing the receipts to such grants as the Pepsi Fresh Grant and others like it. These large companies that have always done philanthropic works are not only giving money away for a good cause but creating a social media playground surrounding the "Grant" contest.

This is a changing trend, and without the support of a whole community much needed money for ideas and improvements can be given to others simply because they understood the need to go "viral" with the idea to the masses who would support it.

Because of the current uncertainty in the community about the good of social media, her school did not want the fact that she was applying for this "Grant" in an online contest to go out to the parents.

What parent wouldn't want to see more money come in to their school? By allowing the parents to know about the grant contest, I'm sure this could up her number of votes. They reluctantly agreed to let the faculty know about it. My sister herself is not on facebook to support and convey the value message that has been formulated in her family and in her community.

Well of course when I heard about this contest, I took to my favorite medium, facebook. No stranger to the power of social media it was primarily my contacts through facebook that powered the positive outcome of the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest last year.

With my facebook efforts (And a little twitter thrown in) I've seen her ranking in the contest bump up from number 27 to number 14. I've been posting it on my wall, within a group of friends and family members my mother started, and most recently to Jewish fan pages on facebook.

I'd love to make a case to open her school and perhaps her community up to the positive impact social media can have on a project, a community or a cause. It's not all addictions and child predators. There are 130 people trying to win this grant. The top 10 will win.

Please go to this link and help my sister win so we can prove a point to her community about the power of Social Media and how it can be used for good.

Voting closes tonight at midnight.

Groupon Super Bowl Ads: #Fail? or Success! - New Media Vs. Old Media

2011-02-07T08:24:00.005-05:00

Every year, when the Super Bowl rolls around there are some of us who tune in for the action, and some of us who tune in for the advertising.

It's the only time of the year we don't want to fast forward through the commercials.

With airtime priced at a premium, and millions of viewers expected to be attached to their TV's in real time, this is an opportunity for products to hit their target market... Well, their target has got to be in there somewhere since over 151 million people will watch at least part of the Super Bowl.

At least this was the theory Groupon was going with when they decided to break their air-wave silence and go from being the word of mouth internet coupon brand to finally smashing into prime time with over 3 million dollars in controversial advertising. I don't think they set out to create offensive advertising when you see the full story on their point of view in their blog.

But they definitely raised the twitter alert after they aired their, "Save Tibet" commercial.

Tweets looked like this:

Wow, Groupon's SuperBowl ad managed to piss off Tibetans, Chinese, even the Himalayan Restaurant's owner. Good job!

Worst Ad? Groupon.com. Opression of Tibet is funny? Tim Hutton - what happened to you?

Having a brother-in-law who escaped from Tibet/persecution, feel Groupon's leverage of Tibetan plight for humor in poor taste

Groupon seems to have achieved the unique feat of paying $3M to lose customers who previously loved them.

Groupon spends big on Superbowl commercials, but ads anger many viewers

Groupon久慈版でないかしらね (All I know is <---That can't be good....)

Now they are under fire from many bloggers, and loyal fans as being insensitive to the very causes they actually are supporting on their website. Would have been nice if they'd fit the fact that they are supporting these causes into their advertising.

The problem with a commercial is that you only have 30 seconds to convey your message. If you are trying to create a complex tongue in cheek poke at yourself while exhibiting that you support causes, that's a hard thing to create in a 30 second span.

This backlash may be what happens when social media brands try to go "Old School."

You can write nuances down in a blog, which they did in the hopes that people will better understand the intended humor behind what they were trying to accomplish. But if no one reads the blog, and no one realizes that they are actually trying to support these causes with both their commercials and with donation ports set up on their website...well then their "Old School" commercials fall short of their mark, and their "New Media" message, save the rainforest, save the whales, and save Tibet.

They could have better conveyed their message in a longer 2-5 minute mocumentary style video blog and had better success promoting that across their usual social media channels. The following three super bowl commercials has everyone talking about groupon. But is it all good?

What you don't get from the ads below is that if you make donations to the three featured charities on their site, they will make matching donations up to $100,000 per charity. So in essence they meant to encourage people to donate to the causes if they feel they've saved enough money by taking advantage of their daily deals...would have been good to get that into their ads somehow...

Save the Whales

Save Tibet

Save the Rainforest

I'm a huge advocate of large companies teaming up with causes and charities, to help create awareness and help increase donations to these worthy causes. But I think groupon may have fallen short due to the limitations of the medium they picked to convey their message. It will be interesting to see how this foray into television advertising effects their brand.

Will their loyal fans be forgiving? Will the message that they were trying to convey eventually get out there?

Only time will tell.

Texting While Driving: Watch This Video

2011-02-02T10:55:00.003-05:00

In this mobile world we live in sometimes we forget to turn off. Sometimes we forget that there's not anything that's so important it can't wait. This is especially true while driving.

With our smart phones, ipads, GPS systems, XM radios and so many other distractions it's not just the stuff of fast food taking our attention off our driving any more. I remember when I learned how to drive 25 years ago it was a hard and fast rule that I was not allowed to change the radio station. Now there are so many more distractions for teenagers, and for us old people too.

But to what end? Is there really a text, email, facebook update, tweet or post that we can't live without during the same moments we are speeding at each other in death machines? I know I'm hugely guilty of this. That's why for many many years I had texting disabled on my cell phone. I didn't want to be distracted by trying to read things while driving. As it is I'm a huge offender of talking on the cell while driving.

Watching this video by AT&T brought it home that there is nothing so important it can't wait:

It's just not worth it. Let's all try to remember that even though we live in a world where communication over many devises is instantaneous, we are allowed to ignore these devises and should when safety is at stake. Don't think you can look away just for a second to see what someone has written or write a quick note back. That one character punched into the phone could be the instant of life or death for yourself or someone else.

Have you ever wished you could take back a second and redo it because you've broken a glass, or lost something important? Well, this could be the most important second of your life. And there are no take backs or do overs.

Cutting Down On Random Facebook Friends

2011-01-21T09:30:00.005-05:00

I know I've done similar posts before. But in this I'm including some tools for you. Please feel free to use.

I know for some facebook is the wild wild west full of people willing to take their chances to accept anyone that will ask to be their friend because they use it for "networking."

Nothing wrong with that shot gun approach if you choose to use facebook in that way.

But I guess I'm more picky with my friends, and the time I spend weeding through stuff on facebook. I'm starting to eliminate people who just don't fit with my values, and who are complete strangers to me. After all 200-300 quality friends on facebook are much more important than 700-1200 people who are meaningless.

Questions I have to ask myself. Am I really interacting with all of them? Is it the best use of my time?

Here are a few great questions to ask yourself about your facebook presence:

Am I here to meet people for business networking? If the answer is yes then you may want to define what exactly that entails. People in your field and related fields, people who can be potential clients, and people who can give you referrals. But how do you know that people who are requesting your friendship fall into any of these categories? Perhaps they are just requesting your friendship to push out their message. They don't really care about who you are and what you do...because you could be one of those people who can give them referrals.
Am I here to socialize with old friends and family? Well if the answer to this one is yes, you must ask yourself do you want your business associates to see what kinds of things you'd be sharing with friends and family? That information could be of a much more private nature and not something for public or business consumption. If that's the case you will be constantly monitoring your image if you have business friends and networking opportunities on your account yet you are using it freely to talk with friend and family about deeper more personal information.
Am I here to play games? If facebook is an outlet for you to veg out and take breaks from other things in the form of games you'll probably only want to find others who are interested in gaming. That or at least ask them when you friend them if they are interested in gaming and if they say no, do not send those people endless gaming requests...just common sense there I think.

Okay so now you've decided how you want to use facebook, and you get a random friend request. If you've decided you'll accept every friend request under the sun so you look influential and have a huge base to push out your message to, then fine your all set. Hit accept.

But if you are like me and fed up with the treadmill of random people you care nothing about and who have no interest in you as a person, here's a form email you can feel free to copy and send to anyone that requests your friendship who you don't know.

Dear (insert name here)

I don't think we know each other and I'm trying to cut down on accepting random friend requests. Please let me know why you are requesting my friendship.

Have we met at a networking event? If so I apologize for not remembering. Do we have something in common that you'd like to talk about? Are you interested in some of the organizations I'm involved in? I'd love to know more about you.

Thank you so much for understanding.

I highly recommend when you request someone's friendship and you think that they might not know you, to take a moment to put a little bit of an introduction into that friend request. After all you wouldn't walk up to a stranger on the street and say hey, you want to be my friend? : )

Just a suggestion.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,
Your name here

I think this is a good way to test the water with people. if they reply, then great they are actually putting some thought into why they are requesting your friendship, and if they don't, is that someone you really want on your list anyway?

Just some ways to cut down on Random Facebook Friend requests, if that is something that is starting to become an issue for you.

What Is Your Time Worth?

2011-01-18T09:22:00.003-05:00

When is it time to hire help? It's hard as a small business owner to make the decision to "cut into your earnings" to hire help. But that's just what you may need to do in order to increase your revenue.

It's a huge leap of faith, but if you are organized and know what you need and what you want it can be well worth the expense to hire help.

It can help you go after new business and not worry about the little things. Sure many of us can't take on a full time employee and pay benefits and so on. But there are so many options out there from temp services to virtual assistants, to outsourcing. See my last post on outsourcing. All of these are short term solutions to help you grow your business, and not go insane while trying to do it.

I just saw a tweet at 9:30 am from the same person who was going nuts trying to figure out something on their Wordpress blog at 10:30 pm last night. How many hours has she sunk into her frustration with trying to get a certain function to work?

Wordpress is great. I love all the options and I recommend it to clients who want an inexpensive solution to creating an interactive presence online. And while I know "Just enough to make me dangerous" I realize I know far more than the average bear. So I do help people with this service. I put out the disclaimers that I'm not an expert, I'm not a designer, but I can put what you want into the site if you are explicit on your needs. And I can do it for a budget that won't break your bank.

But when the time I put into it starts to exceed the amount I am making from it, that's when I have to decide, is it worth while to put in that time, or is it a function that I can outsource to share the load? This is when I cut my losses.

If I know something is going to take me 15 hours to do, and I have someone that can help me with that in a couple of hours, it may be better for me to pay them for the 2 hours, and take back my 15 hours for other tasks.

This is just smart business.

If your time is worth $50 an hour, and you can pay someone $10 an hour to get something done or even $35 an hour. (And they really do the work and don't just wallow on your clock) Then you are gaining so much productivity!

Yes your overall profit is smaller, but you will deliver a quality product more quickly to your client, you will gain recommendations, and you still have control over the finished product. And while the work is being done, you are pursuing new business, or providing top quality service in a more specialized expertise to your existing clients. It's a win win all the way around.

Some questions to ask yourself when trying to decide if you need help, and what kind of help:

Where do you need help with your time?
What projects could you give to someone else who will do as good or better a job than you?
What are the ideal skill sets you would need in an assistant?
Have you priced your work in such a way to afford help?
Have I created a process that someone else could follow? (if not, how easy would it be to do so and would this help you get more organized)
How many hours a week/month do you think you could keep someone else busy?
How much supervision do you have time to provide?
What could you do if you took back X number of hours from a certain type of work?
Where avenues do you plan to investigate to find help?

The nice thing is there are options out there that can help you only with the skills you need and the time you need to use. This cuts down on having employees who have little to do or need lots of training. Until you get to the point where you can consistently keep a full time employee busy there are some great ways to get the help that you need, and nothing more.

As your business begins to grow you need to start evaluating your time and make sure you are using it to the best of your abilities. I used to laugh at that saying, time is money....but it really is!

Outsourced: Not the Show

2011-01-10T21:22:00.005-05:00

Blue Gypsy Inc has grown so much in it's one year of existence. This is a wonderful thing! This time last year I sent my first proposal out into the world and was busy getting my company name Blue Gypsy, incorporated.

Now I have several happy clients who keep me very busy. I'm not complaining! In this economy it's so nice to be needed and wanted, and actually lead management should be the business of the future. All businesses should be focusing on how they are going to engage and retain a clientele and provide excellent customer service while meeting their needs. That's what I do, take care of my clients' clients.

However in order to continue to give the top notch service my clients expect, I need to be more organized. I need to prioritize. And in some cases I need to replicate myself.

I don't have the resources to hire a full time, or even a part time employee. I don't have enough work to make it worth someone's while. I can't pay enough money for someone who possesses potentially 5 different skill sets. And I don't have time to train someone.

But I do need someone who can do the repetitive work I do, such as sending out template emails, transferring leads to data bases, looking into my computer files and organizing them, setting up leads on campaigns, and even researching certain topics and companies that may be of benefit to my clients. Later on I may need someone who can help with copy writing and more creative stuff, but on a very limited basis. As my business continues to grow I might need someone who can set up new accounts, and get them started, learn their data bases etc.

The problem is, it's hard enough for me to do it all myself, much less to ask someone else to have all the same skill sets, and explain, oh, I don't know how often I'll need you, what kind of thing I need you to do, I won't have time to train you, and I can't pay you much. That just wouldn't fly with most people looking for a job.

However my situation is a perfect experiment for Outsourcing.

Yes you hear people complain that all the jobs are being outsourced to India. Some say it's not fair, some people blame the collapse of the economy due in part to outsourcing. I agree to the point that when large corporations outsource 100's if not 1000's of jobs overseas because the guys at the top make huge bank, and the stock holders want to see huge profits, this is a sad situation for middle America who depended on those jobs to live.

But for small little one woman businesses like me, this is a great opportunity to get the help I need to grow my business to the point where I may be able to actually hire an employee, but for now, I can get someone who works fast, and can do the things I need for an affordable rate that works well for my small start up company.

I did some research online and came up with a company called Talent Gurus. They have a lot of different expertise, and I wanted to know more. So I filled out their online information sheet, and less then a half hour I got an email from Heidi. She was very nice on email and set up a phone call. When she called me and I gave her all the criteria I was looking for, she explained (in a very easy to understand accent...please get rid of the stereo type that you can't understand people from India) that what I would really be getting was several people with different focused skills to do the things I needed to have done.

When I asked about hours for training since there were a number of different database programs I worked with, she explained that I didn't have to provide the time nor did I need to pay for the training.

I can purchase as many or as few hours as possible, and if I don't use all those hours in a month, they will roll over to the next month.

I can split the hours up any way I like and I can get time progress reports to see how long it takes to do a certain task assigned. The more Heidi talked the more excited I became, because this was exactly what I needed to take some of the stress off. I dreaded some of the routine things that needed to be done in order to maintain my leads, because with more and more clients, I needed to be on the phone more and more. There were just not enough hours in the day. And as my time becomes more valuable, I have to find ways to replicate myself.

So I signed on, for my 20 hour experiment. Heidi called me back and introduced me to Nancy. She is my executive assistant, she can take care of data entry, organization, and more! I created a detailed step by step set of instructions for transferring leads from my email, into my database and assigning them to a task, campaign or follow up plan. Then she filed them all away, and I can't tell you how nice it was to slowly see the back log leave my in box and go where it was meant to be.

I thought this task might take her 5 hours. It was so exciting to see that she did it in 3 hours and it was very accurate and well executed.

Sure there were minor glitches, but hey it's her first day in my data base. I didn't have to pay to train her, she simply took my instructions, learned the database and only charged me for the time she put in on the work. She tripled my productivity and what I paid for 3 hours was what less than one hour of my time is worth. (And I calculated had I done that work, it normally would have taken me a couple hours more because of all the interruptions with other things I have to do) She was focused and quick.

One key though, that I read during my research of outsourcing and that I think is a key element that helped Nancy get up to speed quickly is that you need to clearly define the parameters that you want for the work. It's like creating a mini business plan, the clearer you are in your direction the more accurate the end result will be. I tried to look at every detail in the rote process that I do every day, so that I could break it down and make it as easy as possible. Not because Nancy isn't smart, I'm sure she is, but being halfway around the world, she isn't going to easily read my mind. I need to be clear with my goals for the day.

For instance she said, "I'll make you a spread sheet of all the people...." I stopped her before she could finish. Nope nope nope, no spread sheets, that's what the database is for. Know what you want, and know what you don't want. A spread sheet could have easily added unnecessary time and busy work to her day.

I feel like this experiment may turn into a permanent solution. At least until I can generate enough work to justify hiring someone full time.

But for now, outsourcing is helping to alleviate some of my stress and make me more productive.

Thousand Crane Project: Touching The World Through Ripple Effect

2011-01-02T11:00:00.007-05:00

Have you ever heard about the Legend of 1000 origami paper cranes? Ancient Japanese folklore promises to grant a single wish to anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes.

Well yesterday I came across the fan page, Thousand Paper Crane Project. Rich Greenhagen, a resident of Virginia Beach, has a unique goal.

He's folding 1000 paper cranes to spread love around the world.

It started out as a poem, then became a story and then transformed into a love letter. Rich's goal is to write a 1000 word love letter and send one word at a time out around the world, each on a single unique paper crane. The letter is already complete.

Now the hard part: he needs to get the words out into the world. Preferably around the world before February 14th.

He only asks that the stranger requesting a crane give their address to post the crane, and then when they receive it, take a picture of the word (folded inside the crane) so that when all 1000 cranes go out he will have a photograph of every word and will then finally reveal the love letter.

Now apparently he does have a wish in mind, but rather than this being a totally selfish act, he is sharing his journey with the world if they will jump on board and fly with the cranes.

Even if ultimately he envisions his wish being granted, already a ripple effect is happening.

Recently Rich got word from a friend that for each paper crane sent his friend will donate 10 cents to Child's Play Charity and Rich has decided to match this donation as well. Child's Play, started in 2003, consists of gamers around the world who have banded together to donate more than 7 million dollars worldwide to sick children in over 70 partner hospitals around the globe.

It's simple to help and it's an effortless way for you to start your new year helping others:

Fan the page Thousand Paper Crane Project (Just so you can keep track of Rich's progress)
Send your mailing information to Rich at thousandcraneproject@gmail.com and let him know if you'd like 1, 2, or 3 cranes. He will not use your mailing information for anything other than sending out the cranes
When you get your crane, take a picture of the word with a camera phone (or low resolution camera to keep the files small) and email it back to Rich at the same email address, thousandcraneproject@gmail.com
Follow his blog on Tumblr to see the words uploaded in order to reveal the love letter.

Help Rich meet his goal, and create something bigger than a simple wish. Something that with my predictions will grow with the potential to reach out like the ripples that reach out when a rock is cast in a pond.

Twenty Christmas Light Displays I'd Hate To Disassemble

2010-12-27T17:56:00.005-05:00

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, but taking down all the lights and decorations is not my favorite....I take heart in the fact that I don't have to deal with the disassemble of the following Christmas displays. (But man I love to watch them!)

Take a look at these 20 amazing works of art!

1. Music Box Dancer

2. Frisco Christmas Lights - Wizards in Winter

3. Coca Cola Holiday Song

4. Amazing Grace

5. Carol Of The Bells

6. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

7. Symphony in Lights Contest

8. Guitar Hero

9. Charlie Brown Christmas

10. Carol Of the Bells

11. You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch

12. Comfort and Joy

13. Bohemian Rhapsody

14. Sandstorm Techno

15. Santa Clause Is coming To Town

16. Jingle Bells

17. Nut Cracker

18. Animated Christmas Tree Farm

19. Collingwood Road in Alexandria VA

20. 2001 A Space Odyssey

Lead Conversion Optimization: Lead a Horse To Water...And Make Them Drink

2010-12-23T18:49:00.005-05:00

My previous blog post talked about developing a system to manage your leads. If you generate leads and then do not have a systematic way to deal with them, you might as well not have paid to generate the leads.

Darin Persinger of Productivity Junkies has some great insights in the following video into the topic of Lead Conversion Optimization.

The fact is you can't convert a lead if you don't have a system. But more importantly you can't implement your system if you aren't optimizing your website to interact with your target buyer who will then inquire and allow you to implement your system. Take a look at Darin's tips and tricks to optimize lead generation for a real estate website. Traffic to your website is no good without lead generation, people actually asking for information. Darin talks about ways to increase your ability to interact with the traffic you drive to your site.

As he indicates, SEO is fine and good, you need to drive traffic to your website, but if there is not a reason for them to interact with you, you've spent money leading the horse to water, but you haven't made them drink. Once they begin drinking, you need that system to then convert the prospect into a sale.

At the end of the day it is still not about quantity but quality, however the more leads you drive to your site, the more leads you should be able to get to communicate with you. You do still want some volume. It's not likely that if 5 people visit your site, all 5 people will inquire. It still holds true that you need to have some SEO to drive traffic to your site. But make sure you know what to do with them, once you get them there.

Lead Management: Having a System

2010-12-20T10:09:00.004-05:00

When I tell people my business is Lead Management, sometimes I get weird looks. What is that? What do you mean lead management? Do you generate leads for clients?

Lead generation and lead management are two different things.

You can't have one without the other. But if you only generate leads and you don't manage them you might as well not bother. There are services out there. Especially in the real estate realm that will generate leads for you. But depending on what you do with them, or how the system is gathering information you may be throwing your money away.

In order to put together a lead management system here are some things to think about.

Consistency: You have to have a consistent systematic way to deal with the leads.

Promptness: If you do not reply promptly to leads, why are your generating them? Put yourself in the place of the potential client. If you can't get a hold of someone to answer your question, do you sit there patiently waiting for days for someone to get back to you? Or do you move down to the next listing on the internet who might be able to answer your question when you have it hot on your mind? What do you think your clients are doing?

Campaign Planning: Identify the different types of clients you have, and what kinds of campaigns will best suite them. A blanket campaign may not work if you have long term and short term buyers. Buyers with different product needs, price points, or financial requirements. You need to have all these scenarios thought through and addressed so you can plug each new lead into the proper plan.

Dynamic information delivery: You need to have more than just one way to touch people. They may not respond to phone calls, but they may respond to emails. They may not respond to emails but to video emails. They may not respond to questions but they may respond to surveys. They may not respond to photographs but they may respond to slide shows. By having an arsenal of methods to contact your leads it will help you identify what works best for different products, people and situations. A same consisting only of canned emails becomes something easy to delete for the would-be buyer. It's kind of like fast forwarding through commercials.

Calls to Action: You can't Tell it to Sell it. You have to have ways to find out what your clients need. You can't just keep pushing out information, you have to make it an interactive dialogue. Not always easy and this involves the use of some of the dynamic delivery above, and the tools below.

Tools: You can't just have an inbox and hope to remember every email you get, every email you've sent and when the next one is due. Even scheduling it on your calender isn't quite as good as having a system that schedules and integrates with your database. Don't try to keep it in a spreadsheet. That's insanity.

CRM - Customer Relationship Management. You've got to have a way to systematically touch your clients. The CRM helps you achieve the Consistency above.

Does it allow you set reminders?
Does it allow for long term campaign follow up?
Does it have dynamic features that allow you to set up email, direct mail, and calls to your client?

Email Marketing Program - This may be part of your CRM, but you want to make sure it has several key features.

Can it track what people are clicking on in the email?
Can it track how many people are opening it?
Does it allow people to unsubscribe?
Does it allow you to set up email campaigns?
If it's not part of your CRM does it integrate with it?

Finally, having a system is something that is developed, tested, and refined. You can't just say okay one, two, three go. Especially if there is not a full robust system already in place. One of the biggest problem is most businesses is knowing how to manage the leads they generate. As a business gets off the ground, and just a few leads are coming in they think they can handle them in their inbox, but as these leads build and build each month eventually the reality kicks in that business is being lost because it's impossible to keep track of all the people in the system, past customers, and current calls and emails. This is why a lead management system is essential. A well thought out plan.

One of the most important things, is to realize that you need to work on the system and you may have to concede that if no system was in place you may have lost leads already. But how can you capture the ones that are coming in now, next week, next month? Developing that system does not happen over night. Time and thought needs to go into it if it will be successful. You can't just say, we need an email marketing campaign. Boom. You still have to have an overall marketing plan.

You can't just said we need a lead management system and Boom. There it is. It has to be developed, it takes time and it's worth the effort.

A Soldier's Silent Night: How To Get Involved During The Holidays

2010-12-08T08:36:00.005-05:00

I love this time of year. It's pretty to drive down night streets and see lights and colors aglow. There's the smell of cinnamon, spice, evergreen and woodsmoke in the air.

Visions of fires in the fire place and chestnuts roasting take me back to my childhood.

People are a little bit nicer as you smile and chat with strangers in stores. More bells appear to mark your entrance into shops and homes. Winter scenes blur around the edges and have a greeting card quality to them.

December conjures up thoughts of friends and family, charity and giving. Peace on earth and happiness. What about the unknown soldiers that have fought for our freedom?

With over 307 million people in the United States and nearly 2 million in the Military, statistically so few people are directly effected by having a loved one fighting in the wars.

If you don't have a family member, friend, or loved one on active duty, or even if you do, this video is a great reminder of those we should have gratitude for as we partake in our holidays. And the following organizations are great ways to get involved and give back.

There are some great programs that you can participate in to let the soldiers know you care. Check these out:

Trees for Troops Help get Christmas trees to active duty service members and their families
Holiday Mail for Heroes Through the Red Cross. Quick you have to get your cards in by December 1oth
Soldier's Angels Provides aid to men and woman in the military and their families check out their holiday initiatives
Operation Gratitude sends care packages to the troops
Operation Military Pride has an adopt a soldier program, find out his or her wish list and send a gift
Quilts of Valor Foundation create quilts for all military members and veterans touched by war with Wartime Quilts
Baking Gals a group of volunteers baking and sending cookies overseas to soldiers.

These are just some of the great ways to get involved and give back to the soldiers for the holidays. But check them out quick, many of them have deadlines in order to get everything in the mail by Christmas.

Make sure you check out the validity of any organization you wish to donate to sadly there are some that are hoaxes like sending mail to Walter Reed, and there are some that do not get where you think they should go. Please check into any program you come across that proclaims itself as being a charity or organization for helping anyone.

A little note on the video and song "A Soldier's Silent Night"
The poem was originally titled "Merry Christmas, My Friend" and written by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt in 1987. The audio recording was done by Father Ted Berndt and his daughter Ellen Stout in one take. Father Berndt has since passed away in 2004, but his life's mission lives on - "to touch lives and make a difference."

Chanukah Ham...Is It A Hoax? A Little Holiday Humor

2010-12-06T12:12:00.008-05:00

Today I opened up facebook and was greeted by this picture one of my friends posted. Hysterical--->

The tag line on it read: Dear Walmart, I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Love, The Jews.

This is a true case of not knowing your audience. And hopefully striking funny bones and not stepping on toes.

Being the unobservant Jew that I am, (while born Jewish, I have more Christmas lights on my house right now than Santa's landing strip in the North Pole) I'm still culturally Jewish. I'm aware of most of the traditions, and things that are considered off limits in the Jewish religion.....ummmm ham is one of those things.

For anyone in the dark about this, ham numbers among the most identifiable "not kosher" things that exist. There are a myriad of Kosher laws, and we could get into a whole dissertation....but we won't. However for most gentiles (those are non-Jews) unless you live under a rock you more than likely have heard something or another about Jews and ham not going together. It's definitely not a peanut butter and jelly scenario.

The humorous irony this picture represented was enough to have me pushing the "share" button. Then I saw several other people re-post it on their walls, just as I had done earlier.

I began to think wow this thing is funny, it's got the makings of something that could and would go viral. And as I thought about it, long after I posted it, I thought gosh, I really should look and make sure it's not a hoax. Normally I'm on top of something like that if it's political and sent by my mother.

If it's humorous like this, it sometimes flies under my radar, and I don't think to check it out for accuracy. I've been lulled by the fake Church Sign gag, or Catholic/Presbyterian Church Sign Wars. With that in mind I wanted to do my due diligence and check this one out.

Sooo I began my little research project on it. Here's what I found:

The picture was taken in 2007
It was at Balducci's, a specialty grocery store in Manhattan (not Walmart)
The photo was taken by NancyKay Shapiro a writer in NY
She now has retired off selling gag gifts on Cafe Press (Just kidding but I'm sure it hasn't hurt supplementing her income with these novelties)
The head of the marketing department for the grocery store issued an apology on the company website and said employee training would be reviewed

So while funny, it's old. The person who added the comment about Walmart starts to move it into the inaccurate arena. Will it eventually end up on Snopes.com Yep it already has. And it's marked as true. (Check out the church sign wars on Snopes)

Hopefully no one takes offense to this post and just enjoys the humor in it, and remember it happened 3 years ago. I find it amazing that someone in a New York food store had no idea that ham was not Kosher. On that note, make sure you enjoy your Ham for Chanukah. Top it with cheese, it's delicious.

Happy 6th night of Chanukah.

Pay it Forward: Random Acts of Kindness and Deliberate Acts of Kindness

2010-12-01T08:38:00.008-05:00

Hey folks did you get the invitation? It's circulating around Facebook and it's about Pay it Forward day.

If you haven't seen the movie it will make you cry! And then it will make you think why don't more people do this kind of thing on a daily basis. What a better world we'd live in.

I need your help paying it forward today.

Every year there is a Dream Home giveaway in Hampton Roads for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. This year's Dream Home is being built by Stephen Alexander Homes and Neighborhoods. Besides just raffling off this beautiful home, there are 22 other prizes valued at $1000 that are also raffled off leading up to the big prize. Not only is this an amazing opportunity to do good, but it is also an amazing advertising opportunity for those 22 businesses. Right now they only have 12 local businesses signed up for the $1000 donation of services, merchandise, and gifts. They need 10 more by Monday, the deadline to get on all their printed materials. Here's what you get as a business if you make a $1000 donation toward a raffle prize.

Your company will be recognized as an official prize sponsor of the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway throughout the entire four-month campaign. During that period, your company will enjoy the following benefits:

Include sponsor on 250,000 direct mail pieces, event brochures and posters.
Promote prize sponsor as “official prize sponsor” in addition to the St. Jude Dream Home house.
Name mention on official St. Jude Dream Home website, www.dreamhome.org, throughout the duration of the campaign.
Name mention on Official Prize Sponsor sign in front of the St. Jude Dream Home house.
Opportunity to display promotional items at the open houses.
Name mention on placard inside home to be viewed during open houses by 5,000-7,000 visitors over an approximate 6 week period.
Name mention on Open House Booklet along with donated prize to be viewed during open houses by 5,000-7,000 visitors over an approximate 6 week period.
Invitation to campaign events such as the VIP Sneak Peek and post-campaign thank you party.
Opportunity for one-(1) representative from your company to appear on camera during the live WTKR NewsChannel 3 /St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway on May 8, 2011.
Name mention in the credits at the conclusion of the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway special.

This kind of advertising would cost you thousands of dollars on your own.

St. Jude was founded by Actor Danny Thomas in 1960. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is the charity ranked highest in trust in the nation, according to public survey. Peter Decker founded the South Eastern Virginia Board in the 1980's and the organization is honored to be a part of Danny Thomas' Dream, "No Child Should Die, in the Dawn of Life."

This is a great way to Pay it Forward today. I hope to hear from you if you'd like more details! Hit me up on my email leahATbluegypsyincDOTcom.

What Level Do You Live On?

2010-11-29T17:53:00.009-05:00

As we wind down the year, and especially during this season of giving, not only is it a great time to take stock of how we met our goals on a business level, but also on a personal level. It's also the time of year to be calibrating those goals for next year.

It's important to set both business goals and personal goals.

But sometimes it's hard to decide or understand the importance of what kind of goals will help move us along in our lives.

I often wonder how many people take time out of their busy lives to contemplate the ultimate goal. Where they really want to be, what truly is important in life to achieve.

Some people get stuck on certain levels. This happens mostly because they are not aware of creating a path through life. There's an importance to setting goals for many aspects of life. It's easy to stagnate at a certain level simply by ignoring important aspects of life while in pursuit of other levels.

Let me explain. I remember years ago while I was still traveling around the world and sailing, I was working with non-profit organizations and teaching teenagers a myriad of experiences on boats, from scuba diving to environmental education. I was taking a break and visiting my father in Rockville when he said, "You know, you live your life at the highest level of the pyramid." He proceeded to explain to me the five levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Just as a quick overview, Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who introduced this concept in 1943 in his paper, A Theory of Human Motivation. The gist of it was that Maslow envisioned human motivation as a pyramid with the most basic needs at the bottom, as the foundation and self-actualization at the top.

First we must fill our Physiological Needs - Food, water, air, sleep, and warmth. Without achieving these everything else is secondary.
The next level is Security Needs - this is comprised of money, job, health, secure neighborhoods and a roof over your head.
Once these are fulfilled needs such as Social Needs begin to take priority - the need for love, friendship, manifested through involvement with social, religious and community groups.
This kind of involvement leads into Esteem Needs - these needs encompass self worth, a need for social recognition and acceptance.
But the highest level of the pyramid is the one that interests me the most. Self-Actualizing Needs. People who are operating on this level have shed concern for what other people think, and work toward their purest potential. They are self aware and begin to work on a level not only for themselves but for others. Not because they are seeking approval, but because it's part of full-filling their ultimate potential.

When my father said I lived at the top of the pyramid, he meant that he saw someone who was no longer concerned about what other people thought. I was living in the moment not conforming to the traditional expectations and completely immersed in experiencing the world moment by moment.

Because of these world and life experiences I developed a deep empathy for others, and was always on a quest on how I could help or do good for others. Not for the approval of others, but for the sheer experience of giving.

When you give of yourself unconditionally you get back 10 fold. But it's not always a quantifiable item you get back. And really those are the best kind.

I have to admit though, it's not always easy to stay at the higher levels of the pyramid. When we get involved beyond our needs to our wants we can get stuck in the lower levels. Missing the point of the possibilities of progressing to the higher levels. Please don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with focusing on the levels which involve security and social needs. But once you experience what it's like to shed some of the baggage that goes along with these levels;

The petty bickering
Concern with what other people think of you
One ups contests in business and friendships
Gossip
Keeping up with the Jones

You start to get down to the root of what really makes you happy. Your higher cause if you will. What makes you truly tick. I've found these moments sitting on a rock near a river in Lesotho, sitting on a beach during a lightning storm in Australia, sitting on the bow of a sail boat at anchor under a star-filled sky.

I've found that joy talking about all the possibilities of life with teenagers while sitting in a trampoline on the bow of a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, seeing how people improve their lives by educating themselves about crops in coffee fields in La Paz Honduras, seeing the sense of discovery in the face of a child in poverty with a camera in their hand documenting their life in the city dump in Guatemala City.

I find that joy again as I get involved with projects and people who are giving of themselves to help others. More and more since I've been able to break away from the rat race of an office cubicle work which I experienced briefly. I'm able to get back to that place where I can figure out how to give back. Which for me is what is ultimately fulfilling.

So it's that time of year to take stock of what you are doing, where you are going and where you want to be. And it may be helpful to examine what level you live on, and where you think you might want to go.

Epic Change: Small Donations Create Cumulative Effects In The World

2010-11-23T08:50:00.010-05:00

I can't believe it was just one year ago that I was arranging Tweetsgiving in Virginia Beach with my friends Sonya Schweitzer and Karen Clements at Gordon Biersch. It was a wonderful evening of positive energy for an amazing cause to help build schools in Africa through Epic Change, a 501 (c) 3 organization, while giving thanks for all the things we have in life.

I'm grateful that we were able to be a part of building schools and libraries in Tanzania Africa last year.

This year has been a whirl wind. First starting Blue Gypsy Inc, then moving to Northern Virginia. Time flew by as I hopped back and forth between Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia while creating the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest. The Bluesfest is now moving in the direction to become an ongoing way to give back to Habitat for Humanity SHR and the Natchel' Blues Network.

Now it's already Thanksgiving again. This is a special time of year for me. Not only because it's a time to reflect, give thanks, and be grateful for all the things I have in life, both relationships and the ability to achieve my goals, but also because it's my father's birthday. Dad's birthday always falls somewhere on or near Thanksgiving. He's been such a positive influence in my life, not just as my dad, but as my mentor.

Three years ago I started the tradition on my father's 70th birthday of giving a nice donation to a worthy cause.

On his 70th I made a donation to the Food Bank so that other families could enjoy thanksgiving meals, something many of us sometimes take for granted. The growing number of people who are depending on the Food Bank in this current economy is staggering. To contribute to a Food Bank nearby you can go to Feeding America.

Last year for my father's birthday I made a contribution to Epic Change, the organization who started the tweetsgiving initiative, a global celebration of gratitude and giving. Because of timing this year I wasn't able to actively plan a tweetsgiving. If I were in Virginia Beach right now I'd be heading off this evening to the Geekette's Fun'd'raiser. Sonya and Karen are planning an event tonight for both The Geekette's Club, and for ForKids two amazing local non-profits helping women and children.

Just last week I was saying that I need to decide on an organization to make my annual donation to for my father's birthday.

Isn't it funny how things come into your life for a reason. I was at the airport looking for a book at a small news stand kiosk as I took off on my vacation to Dominican Republic. As usual nothing jumped out at me until I saw The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Recently I'd seen an interview with the author and knew it was the only thing on these shelves I had any interest in reading. This amazing triumph of the human spirit over adversity during famine and hardship in Malawi Africa reminds me how important my annual contributions are in honor of my father.

As I read about the true story of William Kamkwamba, and his struggles for education in Africa I know that I don't just have to be a passive observer. There are so many ways that we can give back to help with education in Africa. Through Epic Change you can make a donation as I did last year to help build schools in Tanzania. There are so many more great organizations as well. Another charity I'd like to get involved with is Room to Read building schools across Africa and Asia. The Central Asia Institute is another powerful force in education across Pakistan and Afghanistan.

While trying to decide which charity to choose, I did a little bit more digging and now I've found this year's cause to donate to for my father, Moving Windmills.

Moving Windmills Project supports Malawian-run rural economic development and education projects in Malawi, with the goals of community economic independence and self-sustainability; food, water and health security; and educational success. Moving Windmills Project is inspired by the story of William Kamkwamba, a remarkable young man from a remote village north of Malawi’s capital city. Forced to drop out of school due to lack of funds, William turned to self-education and, after seeing a picture of a windmill in a textbook, decided to build one to power his family’s home.

So now, in addition to making my Food Bank donation and my donation to Epic Change. I plan to make a donation to Moving Windmills as well.

Each small donation to any of these organizations is cumulative. There is none too small. It will all add to the whole which creates amazing changes for people.

As I look around me there are so many great people and organizations doing great things to help create change; to help ease the burden around them on many levels. I am thankful to be a part of that. For me it's hard to pick just one cause. And as I work toward starting my own non-profit I ask myself do I have to choose just one cause? How can I create a non-profit that raises funds for many organizations already in existence doing great things? This is one of my missions for 2011 as I move forward toward creating something to assist with other amazing organizations doing great things.

I don't need to re-create the wheel. I am thankful that there are so many organizations out there that give back. Perhaps my real mission is bringing all of those resources together in one place where people can all help create change.

Thanksgiving is always a great time of year to reflect on these ideas, and move forward. Okay now I'm off to go make a donation...or two....or three....in honor of my father.

What Do You Think Of Random Friend Requests From Random Strangers?

2010-11-17T00:46:00.005-05:00

When I was a kid I liked to pull things apart and see how they worked. That meant that I had stuffed animals that had their little sound makers taken out of them, and ballerina music boxes that no longer played swan lake.

I just like to know what makes things (And people) tick.

One of the things that makes me go hmmmm the most in Social Media, is the random friend requests from complete strangers who don’t explain themselves. I understand that many people use facebook for social networking...I do too. But when I come across someone I want to know, who I haven’t met before, or even someone I’ve met in person at a social networking event...99% of the time I put a little personal note in letting them know how they know me, why I know them, or why I’d like to connect with them.

I think this is a common courtesy.

You don’t just walk up to a stranger on the bus and say I’d like access to personal information about you, just because. That’s kind of what you are doing when you request someone’s friendship on facebook with out explaining why.

However sometimes I just go ahead and accept people’s friendships as I did recently. At the beginning of the day a request came in from someone who knew 4 other people I did..... By the end of the day this person was friends with 30 people I knew.

And already I’d received an annoying gaming request, something equivalent to Farmville.

So I decided to do some dissecting. I sent a private message.

So XXXXX, today you sent me a friend request, and I refrained from asking why? I often do wonder why people randomly send friend requests to total strangers with no explanation.

Throughout the day you've gone from knowing 4 other people I know to now 30.....all I can tell from your profile is that you like playing games on fb...and in fact sent me some kind of game request....(which by the way I don't play online games on fb)

Just trying to understand the point of your amassing of friends on fb. Would love some insight. I find it interesting and would love to get a little idea about it.

The only reply: The more friends on FB, the more to share gaming with. I take it you don't play games.

Okay to me that’s just annoying then, you just want to play anonymous games with people, really that's why you are randomly asking to be friends? So I sent the following reply.

No actually I don't game, and the interesting thing is, that as I see the people you've friended, half of them are busy business people, or social media and marketing people that I suspect do not have the time to game on fb either, and about a quarter of them are businesses that also don't play games online. So I'm curious how you choose whom you are going to send friend requests to.

(Please know that all these questions are just so that I can understand the logic and perhaps write a blog post about it)

I'm a firm believer in using facebook as a social networking tool for business and that's why I sometimes accept the friend requests of people I don't know.

Do you think you'd be more likely to get people that will be of the same mindset you are for using facebook if you were to put in the friend request field that you are interested in gaming and if they are too then you'd like to be friends?

Just curious?

And the reply.... a typed: no reply, please don't reply back.

Oh I'm sorry I think I hurt the gamers feelings with a logical question. I don't think my question was rude, and after all, the dialogue was opened when the request was sent from the other side. If I'm going to be bombarded with game requests, I will return in kind by bombarding with questions to understand this human's reasoning. Was I prying into this person’s privacy with my questions? Was questioning their reasons wrong?

Why do you request a stranger’s friendship on facebook? And do you think it’s necessary or even desirable to tell people why you want to be friends? Really just like with the gamer, I'm curious.

November: Two Powerful Days of Reflection

2010-11-14T21:16:00.004-05:00

In November there are two very powerful days of reflection. One just passed, Veterans Day. And one coming up in 10 more days. Thanksgiving. The following video drives home some powerful points to reflect on for both.

These are secular holidays. These are days that effect all Americans and have so much to do with how we came to survive in this land, and how we continue to do so thanks to those who make sacrifices for our freedoms.

Thanksgiving is a no brain-er. It's gotten enough marketing over the years that it's a household event in every home across the nation. Most everyone has a turkey to celebrate, gets together with family, and talks about giving thanks for the important things in life.

I can honestly say that until recent years, Veterans Day didn't have as much of an impact on me.

As a kid it was one more day off of school. That was cool! And as a young adult it probably passed often without any ceremony or moment of reflection. No more days off, a lot less PR, and most importantly I think I, like so many Americans, was so removed from Veterans that it didn't have a direct influence on my life. I was very distanced from anyone who served and I didn't realize the full ramifications of what veterans have gone through, and how they've impacted my life and my freedoms.

My own personal epiphany happened about 5 years ago.

I never had much direct contact with anyone in the military until I met Chris, and his amazing family with a long history of serving in the military, for our freedoms. A member of his family has served in just about every war we've gone through to create the freedoms that we are thankful for on Thanksgiving. And that many take for granted. I'm reminded every day of the sacrifices that our veterans go through when I see Chris dressed in his uniform every morning.

When I hear about the hardships his friends are dealing with away from families, newborns, wives and lives as they head off to Iraq and Afghanistan, it reminds me that they are doing this for me. And for people like me.

Until meeting Chris this never effected me, but often I'll see men and woman in uniform and I get a lump in my throat. Because now I know better. Now I am aware.

Being with Chris over the past 5 years has been an awakening of understanding and compassion toward our troops and what they go through. The following video from Ex-Con's Thanksgiving apology to the troops drives home the point that not everyone immediately realizes where our freedom comes from or what it means to have men and women sacrifice for us on a daily basis.

But when we have that epiphany it can be a powerful moment. It can be a turning point for some and a way to look into ourselves and ask, "What kind of difference can I make? Many people out there are sacrificing for me, doing something for me. What can I do to give back?"

This is worth a watch. What are you thankful for? Do you see places in your life where you already give back to others like the soldiers do for us? Is there more that you'd like to do?

Ya Gotta have A Plan: Goal Setting and Business Planning

2010-11-12T09:04:00.006-05:00

To expand on my last blog post about creating a vision, the end of the year is always a good time to examine goal setting techniques, business planning, and creative visualization.

This is true both for our personal lives and for our business lives. And the techniques are surprisingly the same.

There are a couple of key points to include when creating business and personal goals for yourself. This is part of the road map to get from where you are, to where you want to be.

On a personal level, you can't just say I want to be 40 pounds lighter by the end of next year and then "Throw positive energy up in the world" and hope things will change. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE proponent of positive energy!

The same thing goes for business planning. You can't just say, "I wanna be a billionaire, so fricken bad." (thanks Travie McCoy) There has to be a plan!

If you've read past posts from me, you know that one of my strongest beliefs is that positive energy creates positive thoughts, positive thoughts create positive ideas, positive ideas create positive actions, and positive actions create positive results.

But look at that formula. There are several steps past just positive energy and becoming a billionaire or skinny. You need to progress through all those steps in order to achieve that goal. In order to get to the end goal it's important to spend time developing a road map: a plan. There needs to be a directed flow of that positive energy.

So we all know with the weight loss example above you can't just simply put positive energy into the universe and change your body. You need to create the road map for success. First create the framework of the plan that will lead to success. Those elements may include.

Getting off my butt and exercising more
Eating healthier
Drinking more water
Gauging the effects of what I'm doing and making adjustments (Weighing and measuring yourself)

Okay so now you've jotted down a list of things you have to do in order to achieve that weight loss goal. Does it stop there? (I hope your answer is no)

Those are the thoughts: Now you need the ideas. How am I going to get there....

Getting off my butt and exercising.... Will one day a week make a difference? Will 3 days a week make a difference. And even more important if you jump right in to a 6 day a week workout will you loose your steam before winning the race? What do you need in order to move forward with this plan?

You could join a gym and go to classes 3-5 days a week
Commit to 30 minutes a day of walking (outside or on a treadmill)
Dust off the exercise videos and get up early 3 days a week and put on your spandex

I'm sure there are many more ideas to achieve this goal that you can add to the list.

This may just be the beginning stages of fleshing out our plan. These examples may be followed by....for the first 60 days to start forming better habits, then I will add more. By creating the whole plan in your mind and on paper. You begin to solidify that visualization of the idea. The more detailed the plan the more easy it is to follow. And also the more you break it down into manageable steps, the less likely you are to give up on it before reaching the target.

Do the same thing for the next element of making it to your end goal.

Eating healthier and drinking more water. That can be a pretty arbitrary goal. It's important first to identify what it is that you are doing that's not working and then figure out how to change it. So some of the steps to eating healthier may be as follows:

Write down what you are eating (Be honest with yourself)
Research or find an expert to help look at your current diet
Start making adjustments accordingly

Only with the knowledge of what you are doing, can you start to adjust that and make the changes necessary to help change for the better. One of my favorite quotes really hammers this point home.

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." - Anthony Robbins.

Finally it's important to test and measure your results.

If we stick with the weight loss analogy, then it's easy enough, you get on the scale, and you take a tape measure and check things out from time to time. But with any goal setting you need to know when and how to measure results. Do you get on the scale everyday expecting to see change over night. (Some of us do, but it will probably be a frustrating endeavor) Likewise do you only weight yourself once a month? This may not be often enough because you aren't fine tuning those adjustments that may need to be made in your diet and exercise to reach the end goal.

This is always the toughest. The measuring and reporting. The not frustrating yourself if you don't see changes immediately. So in the case of most goal setting, you can, and should, create mini goals. With the weight-loss scenario you can say 1 pound a week, 40 pounds 40 weeks.

If you are trying to get rich you can say one new client per month. (And of course you have to have the plan on how you are going to procure that new client)

This is just one way to take an idea from energy and vision through execution and fruition. But don't forget to add the dedication, the positive intention, and the willpower to do it. You can create plans all day long, but if you are waiting around for someone else to do it for you, or for it just to happen to you, it's likely going to stagnate.

By reading your plan once a day or at the very minimum once a week, and reminding yourself that the intention is to stick to these goals, then you will achieve your vision. Whether it's achieving weight loss, increasing your client base, becoming a billionaire, or even becoming famous, have a clear cut path to get from point A to point Z.

Notice I didn't say point A to point B. All too often people jump from the idea to the end without putting those important building blocks in place to create the solid foundation necessary to reach their goals.

The secret to success is taking the time to identify those critical building blocks, and to put them in an order of priority. It will only make the plan stronger and more complete in the end. Remember, the more detailed you can be in the visualization, the more likely you will be to achieve that goal.

What is your goal?

Don't Know If You Noticed But.....

2010-11-07T20:50:00.004-05:00

I took about a month off of blogging, and clammed up on tweeting as well. I'm not going to lie, the bluesfest took a lot of energy out of me. Doing it all was exhausting and I've taken the last month to regroup.

The Bluesfest went from vision to reality because I set a goal for myself to do it, and then progressed through the process of visualizing it, and creating it. While it was an amazing experience it was a huge learning curve and needed a lot of positive energy and focus in order to make it happen. I am pleased with the outcome. We had 350 people come out for the event, we grossed over $14,500 and fun was had by all....other than locking my keys in the trunk of my car at the end of the day I was very happy with the culmination of my vision, and I am moving forward to make this an annual event.

After the event was over, I pulled back, regrouped with my current clients to make sure I was putting forth the effort they deserved, and I've also taken on several new clients. Since the art of lead management is a time consuming process I allowed social media to fall by the wayside a bit. I needed to find a way to get some balance. It was a bit of a social media break....other than facebook, but even there I wasn't my usual chatty self for the past month.

There have been a lot of stresses, both work related and home. Some of that stress has been released with the success of the first annual Blue Gypsy Bluesfest, and the fact that we've finally re-rented our home in Norfolk.

Now I'm getting back into the swing of things, and beginning to set some goals as 2011 approaches.

I've got a lot of new things going on besides new clients going into the new year. They should make for some good lessons learned. And some interesting things to write about. Some of the highlights are:

I've started to create Wordpress websites for small businesses, on small budgets
I'm working on starting up a non-profit to do fund raising events for charities
I've taken over a Meet Up: The Woodbridge Ladies Get Up and Get Out Meetup
I'm doing some marketing and branding for small businesses, on small budgets

These are just a few of the things I'm adding to my plate for the coming 2011. With these new projects and ideas, new goals are being formulated.

Here are a couple of great goal setting exercises I used to teach teens and I think it's pretty effective:

Visualize in detail your goal
Write it down on a slip of paper that will fit in your wallet in as much detail as possible
Make another copy of it and put it on your mirror
Read your goal to yourself once a day and envision what it will feel like when you achieve your goal

This is not just goal setting but utilizing creative visualization to achieve your goals. But now here's the harder part. You can't just think about it and visualize it, you have to put positive energy and actions behind that goal or it becomes only a wish.

With energy and effort you will reach your goals. Getting toward the end of the year it always becomes a great time to think about the upcoming goals for the next. Start thinking! Start doing!

Blue Gypsy Bluesfest: Success! Planning for Next Year!

2010-09-30T10:30:00.004-04:00

The first annual Blue Gypsy Bluesfest was a success!!! We had 350 people at the event and we were able to raise money for both charities!

It was no small feat to put together an event of that magnitude all by myself, but as I've said before I had so much help from all the positive feedback and energy and ideas that were generated by those who participated. But only one person truly knows all the energy, effort and time that went into this event other than myself. That would be Chris, my very best friend in this world and wonderful life partner. When he said, "If I didn't know you did all this yourself, I would have thought it was an event that was done by a professional," That made me feel so good.

When another of my closest friends, Sonya Schweitzer, who also knew all the blood sweat and tears that went into it said, "Look around, you created all this." It was the the first time the whole day I actually had an emotional wave wash over me. (Unusual that it didn't happen sooner, for me who cries at dog food commercials...)

This was the first of many events I hope to put together for charity. And the common theme for me is one I used to teach to students on sailing and diving programs. The ripple effect. I feel that when we put forth positive energy in the world it circles out like the ripples in a pond when a rock is thrown. We never know who we may touch and what may be in store, but if we keep moving forward toward the greatest good, we can't go wrong.

That's what I hope to do in the future with more Blue Gypsy Bluesfests and other great events! So keep your eyes open and your ears pealed. We're about to do great things.

The Energy Is Building! Can You Feel It?

2010-09-23T22:44:00.003-04:00

It's amazing, the positive things that can happen when people come together under the umbrella of a great cause. Blue Gypsy Bluesfest is almost here. I can't believe this event that started with me saying, "Let's Have A Party and give back to Habitat for Humanity" Has taken on such a life of it's own.

It's funny. I've had people ask me if I'm the Promoter for the event. Well, I guess so...I mean I wrote all the copy on the website, have written all the blog posts, the tweets, the face book updates, wrote the press releases, sent them out to everyone under the sun, harassed people on facebook to get it into their feeds (I say that lovingly, I really hope no one felt harassed...rather I believe they "Caught" my enthusiasm.

But then there is the whole element of the event taking on a life of it's own. People caught the energy the enthusiasm and the focus of a great cause and took the ball and ran with it.

VBNightlife has helped me out so much and gave the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest a huge promo in the Weekend Update!

I've gotten to hang out on the Blues Traffic Jam twice now with Jerry Carter on WFOS 88.7. I never knew how much I'd love radio, but it's more about hanging out with Jerry. I'm so glad he'll be the MC for the event.

But it's more than that. Today I got a phone call from a guy who'd read about it in the "Navy" Paper....I'm still not sure which military publication it was that picked my press release up and ran with it....but Yippeee!!!

And then after running around all day picking up items for silent auction, signs and banners for the event, and talking on the radio (not to mention everything else) I was checking in at the hotel Because I just can't do one more drive back to Mathews County before the event, and the guy in line next to me said, "Blue Gypsy Bluesfest, I read about that in the Pulse today." WOW that's exciting!

Alt Daily put it in Reasons To Leave Your House This Weekend and the Beacon put it in their facebook feed since they weren't able to get anything in to the Paper this week. Several reporters will be out checking out this first time event.

It's just amazing how the energy is carrying this event on and each and every individual who is talking about it and getting the word out about it is adding more positive energy. That's what I'm talking about! Use that positive energy to create positive thoughts, Positive thoughts to create positive ideas, those positive ideas to create positive actions, positive actions to create positive results.

I hope everyone who can will come out this weekend and enjoy the festival. With Blues, BBQ, the Petting Zoo, Corn Hole, Amazing artists and businesses, and a growing list of great items in the Silent Auction you won't be able to help but have a good time.

Just mention you saw something about this event at the gate and only pay $40 at the door. That includes all your BBQ, two drinks and tons of fun. And you'll have fun while giving back to Habitat for Humanity and The Nachel' Blues Network.

Do You Have your Ticket's Yet? I Have Mine!

2010-09-19T11:58:00.010-04:00

Do you have your tickets yet? I have mine! In fact I was the very first ticket purchased online for the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest, and at the rate my procrastinating boyfriend is going, he'll be the last!

Here's the ticket site! Click here for Blue Gypsy Bluesfest Tickets. Use the discount code: habitat4blues and get 20% off tickets online.

If you are a last minute shopper the code will take $15 off the prices at the door (You're getting a better value if you buy them now!)

If you do or don't have your ticket yet there's a lot of fun in store for you. If you hadn't heard, we've got Gordon Biersch beer at the event, along with Bud Light thanks to the hard work of Aimee, the Social Media Director for Gordon Biersch. She's going to be out there serving it, she's putting great items and goodies into your welcome bag and if that wasn't enough she's donating a "Year of Beer" to the silent auction. We just love Gordon Biersch, especially Aimee and Mike who have helped to make this an amazing day.

Wait your asking what's the "welcome" bag....

well make sure you get to the event right at the start because the first 500 people there, (not the first 500 who have purchased tickets because sorry folks we just can't track that!) will get a goody bag! In the interest of going green you'll get your drinking vessel, a nice plastic beer stein from the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest. And many of the businesses and people who have made this possible will be giving you goodies, coupons and info as well, all right there in your magic bag.

You'll also get a couple of other things when you check in. You'll get 2 free drink tickets, after that any beverages you buy, the proceeds will go to the charities. But really important, you'll get your punch card and voting ticket for the "Battle of the BBQ"

This card is your free pass to visit all 5 BBQ competitors - Mick's Too, Mojo Bones, Jake's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, Big Knife Cooking, and Smokey Bones. It's a punch card, so you can only visit each stand once, but believe me you are going to get plenty of food! They'll be giving you pork BBQ and 2 sides each. But remember, your picking your favorite pork! The side dishes are just the icing on the cake. OOOOh and speaking of icing, you're punch card will also have a picture of a cupcake, and Just Cupcakes on there. That gives you 1 free cupcake as well! (there will only be 500 out there so get your cupcake early!) When their gone, they are gone and we thank Carla at Just Cupcakes for her generous donation!

Each food stand will be punching your card so please be patient and make sure you keep it handy.

There's a vote ticket attached to your punch card and when your belly is full please detach your ticket and drop it in the vote jar for your favorite. This BBQ competition is serious stuff! The winner will get a plaque and bragging rights at least until next year.

We have so many wonderful businesses that have made this event possible. Sajo Farm, one of our sponsors, is the most award-winning community in Virginia Beach, featuring single family homes and paired homes boarding the shores of Lake Lawson. More man made lakes pepper the community to make it a beautiful retreat just 10 minutes from Town Center. You'll get an inside look at the community as a slide show takes you on a virtual tour while you wait in line for your BBQ.

We have other great folks out at the event that can provide you with more information on buying or selling a home, or they can help someone you know who is looking for great people to sell there homes. Two of my favorite Realtors, Chris Faircloth of Realty Executives and Lisa Burrow of ReMax Alliance will have information for you. MilitaryByOwner.com (how I've rented my home in the past) is a great resource and they will be out there as well. Jim McNees of Union Mortgage will be out hanging around the Corn Hole (And possibly running the tournament for charity)

If you aren't going anywhere but looking to upgrade the home you're already in Bath Fitters will let you in on some inexpensive ways to make some changes and updates. While the Roofing Company and Remodeling Company won't be out there the day of, Jim Hicks has been great at getting the word out through his Radio Show, Hampton Roads Home Pros on WNIS.

There are actually a lot of great people who have gotten involved to get the word out for the event! Groupon ran a side deal for 5 days with great ticket prices. Nicole Maxino of VBNightlife and Norfolk Nightlife has put the word out all over her popular websites, and on facebook, and when I put out a call for more donations for the silent auction for Habitat for Humanity she was all about helping! The same goes for Fox43! We are so excited that we will have The Face Of Fox out at our event, and Sirece will be out there with the Hampton Roads Show Cube with some fun giveaways. Splash Magazine has published several articles in it's last two issues about the event and Jerry Carter on WFOS 88.7 the Blues Traffic Jam from 3pm-7pm weekdays has been talking up a storm about us.

There are ticket giveaways on 88.7, The Hampton Roads Show, and in Hampton Roads Magazine! The word is out! The cause is amazing, the day is going to be beautiful. I hope if you're planning on being there.

Not only will there be tasty BBQ, awesome Beer, and incredible Blues, but also we've got some great artists and vendors who will be out at the event. And if Beer is not your cup of tea, the folks from Holly Grove Vineyard on the Eastern Shore coming out to sell wine. They are also generously donating to the silent auction.

While you sip your beer, your wine, or one of the Pepsi products that have been donated, then you can browse through artists like Bill Campbell and his amazing pastel drawings, Gail Cunningham and her peaceful paintings of the water, Timothy Trout's metal sculptures, Rita Cutler's amazing Whiskey Bottle Art glass windows (I wish I was as talented as she is) Mandy Oram-Smith, who doesn't make a piece of jewelry I don't want to buy will be out there with her Wild Flower Jewelry, Creations from the Heart will have some wonderful custom pieces commemorating your favorite teams. Via Creativa will have a wonderful sampling of all the hand made crafts they sell from artists in Central and South America and more.

Essential Wellness will have chair massages and good energy all around and they are donating a gift card to the Silent Auction so you'll be able to get a feel for what you will be bidding on. We have some other great vendors like The Flea Market at SONO who is not only donating a couple of great items to the silent auction, they will help fun it. And other vendors like Evelyn with her magic water beads great for your plants. We hope you will come out to enjoy the whole experience. The petting zoo will be available so don't feel like you have to leave the kids behind, there will be something for everyone!

See you at the festival!

10 Days Until The Blue Gypsy Bluesfest: Giving Thanks to The BBQ Competitors

2010-09-15T22:52:00.004-04:00

Six months of planning is coming to fruition in just 10 more days. This has been one of the steepest learning curves putting together an event of this magnitude. The thing that has kept me moving along is that it's for such an amazing cause. Habitat for Humanity.

I've met so many wonderful people who have put their great energy along side mine, not just for the advertising, but also because they believed in the idea and the spirit behind this event. What better way to give then to have fun while doing it!

So many things are coming together at the last moment. So many great local businesses and people are donating to the charity silent auction. We are definitely going to have Corn Hole there to play. We may even (If I can find someone to run it) Have a tournament...but honestly I know nothing about corn hole competition. But hey, I didn't know anything about BBQ competition either when I started this whole thing (errr still don't) But I felt strongly about putting together a friendly (Even though I was told there is no friendly in BBQ) competition with a people's choice element. And slowly one by one the BBQ restaurants caught my fever and joined in.

The first BBQ restaurant to throw their hat into the ring was Mick's Too. They are around the corner from my old house in Norfolk, and when I talked to Mike, one of the owners, on the phone and told him what I was doing for charity he didn't even hesitate. He was all for supporting habitat for humanity, and his wife and partner Angel has lived up to her name. I always feel a warmth of great energy wash over me when I walk in there.

The second BBQ restaurant to agree to participate, Mojo Bones, was another risk taker. It was a lot to ask the two restaurants to participate with out any security that more restaurants would join in, and Don, the owner of Mojo Bones, also in Ocean View, and now with a second location in ODU, was willing to do it no matter whether any other restaurants joined in, or not. The early competitors agreed to provide all the food.

Then Kevin over at Jake's BBQ just around the corner from Hunt Club Farm, where we are having the event, said sure he'd love to. Again such nice energy over the phone and even nicer energy when I finally met him in person only last week!

Number four. The Guys at Big Knife Cooking, just coming off a fundraiser of their own, Ribs for Kids for CHKD (Another of my favorite charities) also have such big hearts. Here they were just in one charity fundraiser and they didn't seem to think twice about saying yes to getting involved in ours! They cater parties, and do competitions and it looks like their BBQ may be coming to the snack shack inside the Flea Market at SONO. So great things are happening.

Our final contender in this year's BBQ competition is Smokey Bones near Town Center. I confirmed their entry while at a family wedding in Colorado. Talk about stress taking off for a week with less than a month to go before the charity event! When I finally sat down with Mike and Mike, two of the managers at Smokey Bones, I realized I was in the presence of yet more great energy. Everyone was excited and the energy keeps building.

So this is just the great folks who have gotten involved from the BBQ side! I can't even begin to tell you about all the other wonderful folks. At least not in this blog post because a long day of getting the word out about the event has me tired out. More information to come about everyone else involved in this spectacular event.

Social Media Marketing: Like Herding Cats?

2010-09-14T16:41:00.002-04:00

This just tickled my funny bone and I thought I would share it for all those social media marketing pros out there.

From The Archives: Social MeetUps and TweetUps - Are They Like Online Dating?

2010-09-06T13:03:00.002-04:00

Attending a meet up is a great way to meet people in-person who are interested and involved with social media in the Tidewater Area. It also reminded me a bit of the time I spent internet dating...

When I embarked on my social media exploration I began following people with knowledge and expertise in several fields of interest. The great thing was I was not bound by their locality. I could follow, friend, and learn from anyone any where. At first, being such a newbie, I didn't know how to find the local social media people.

Little by little through involvement with various groups like The Hampton Roads Marketing and Technology Group, New Media Conventions and Now Social Media Club Virginia Beach, I've met some amazing people who have taught me so much in just a few short months. (Don't worry I'm still not an expert nor a guru, but I am quite a bit more informed)

Some local people I know in person, like @socialsonya of Wave Marketing -- I've learned buckets from her! Other people I've only followed through true SM channels such as facebook and twitter.

Social networking MeetUps and TweetUps remind me a bit of the 3 phases of online dating.

Phase 1: The Detective - You find out about people in online dating the same way you would in SM networking. Most people use some variation on the list below to decide if they are worthy enough for you to follow, friend, learn from...or date?

A Picture - Funny, goofy, serious, or otherwise this is what we picture when we read posts, write responses etc. This is the vision we are talking to in SM.
A Profile - Entertaining, intelligent, professional, intriguing...depending on what we are looking for profiles help us decide if we will fan, follow, retweet or contact.
Sources - Once we make contact we may use different media outlets to see if people are who they say they are. Remember, Google is your friend. People do research.
Followers - Do friends, fans, and followers overlap our own? Often times you are judged by the company you keep in the REAL world and online.
Do Things Match Up - Does your language and the way you carry yourself online match the bio, profiles, and information on the web for public consumption? Or are you a stack of contradictions?

Once you narrow down the pool with the techniques used above, reading profiles, finding similar interests a couple scenarios unfold. In both SM and in online dating, you may find the person lacking and unworthy of your attention and energy. No harm no fowl. Or you may want to move on to phase 2 Getting To Know You.

Of course in both online dating and in SM we meet in virtual spaces first during the getting to know you phase. And for many reasons in both situations we never meet in person.

Phase 2: Getting to Know You - With online dating, through trial and error I devised these 3 rules, almost in complete contradiction of social media networking.

Rule 1: Keep Your Emailing And Online Chat To A Minimum - (I know sounds crazy! Aren't we talking about socializing online?) But back in my internet dating days, when I sent too many emails and had too many chats with people online before talking with them on the phone, I'd put my own intonation on their words. It is very easy to read your own ideas into other peoples writing. Good in social networking...maybe not so good in dating.
Rule 2: Talk On The Phone But Not For Hour Upon Hour, Weeks And Weeks - Putting a voice to the words and really listening to how they are spoken is important. But still there is the trap of pouring your heart out when you can't even see a person's face. You are missing a key element of communication. Body Language. It may be easier to bare your soul like that...but not really wise. Again you build up an image in your head that may not match upon a true in-person meeting.
Rule 3: Meet Early On In The Online Dating Relationship - Okay so you've sent a few emails, had a few conversations, now it's time to set the online dater's MeetUp. While in social media and networking this 3rd rule really never has to happen it is essential for the internet dater. This is where you find out if all the words, both spoken and written, fit the body language and are compatible.

In social media you aren't necessarily preparing for phase 3 The Meeting. The point of SM is to have these rich dynamic trust filled online communities with people you may never meet. Ah if dating were only that easy, trusting, and we never had to meet in order to be fulfilled...in SM you can be caught in this euphoric loop in rule number one, never talking on the phone and never meeting.

But phase 3 does take place in both situations.

Phase 3: The Meeting - The MeetUp, TweetUp or Date can have similar -- great...or disastrous -- results.

Things we can find out pretty quickly when meeting in person is were the pictures real. This will give us the first indication as to how seriously, or truthful we take people. Then we watch their body language, do actions really match online words. In MeetUps and TweetUps this is where you know if they've just been regurgitating other people's information all along, or if they are real innovators. In dating you really find out if they are genuine.

In all reality TweetUps and MeetUps are far less pressure than online dating because there isn't that Is He Or She The One factor. In online dating you can build up so much significance upon this one meeting and that's why so many online dates fail. At TweetUps and MeetUps, unless you are coming in with an agenda, it should be a relaxing learning sharing environment. Are you there to meet people so you can sell them your stuff? Are you trying to figure out how this can make you money? Then it will show on your face and in your body language.

Most important is, that if you are who you say you are from the very beginning stages of phase one, if your message is consistent and genuine, and if you aren't afraid of letting people in you'll be successful in MeetUps and TweetUps and it won't feel at all like online dating.

But hey, even that's not so bad, 3+ years later I'm still with my match.com online MeetUp!

Face Of Fox 43: Sirece Dugard and Blue Gypsy Bluesfest

2010-08-31T08:32:00.006-04:00

I'm really excited to have Fox 43 involved with the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest. They are our newest media sponsor and they are going all out. We have the brand new Face of Fox Sirece Dugard coming out to the event, doing some giveaways and having some fun with us. And she's going to be announcing the event on the Hampton Roads Show as well. Here's an interview with her about her new job and her inspirations.

Since our blues festival is all about charitable giving back to two great charities, Habitat for Humanity South Hampton Roads and the Nachel' Blues Network it was great to find out more about Sirece and the charities she's interested in, as well as some fun stuff about music and BBQ.

What inspired you to become the face of Fox?
I graduated from the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications with a degree in Broadcast Journalism & Communications and a minor in Theatre. The Face of Fox position is all I could ever imagine in my dream job! I knew I never wanted to just report the news, but I wanted to inform people of everything in a very entertaining way and this job gives you the freedom to do just that. I am able to be myself on camera and allow my personality to shine!

Tell people what your job description is as the face of Fox?
As the Face of Fox you can find me at a lot of the events/concerts in the Hampton Roads area where I conduct live interviews, collect video coverage, sign interviews, and encourage the rest of the community to get off their couches and come out to meet me and enjoy the events! I also appear regularly on the Hampton Roads Show and I get to sometimes travel & interview celebrities!! I also record a lot of commercials and promos and you will soon see my face posted in some of our malls. I am truly and literally the FACE of the FOX43 TV Station.

I know you’ve just started, do you have a favorite part about your new job yet?
The most exciting parts about my new career are the flexibilities and opportunities provided to be creative! I get to use my own unique ideas and air them on television and on the internet. I get to suggest a lot of the events I attend and I get to meet and interview some really cool people of prominence! This creates awesome networking for myself and the station, while providing great opportunity for my future.

What are you looking forward the most to in your new position?
I am looking forward to learning, expanding my skills, and taking advantage of the awesome opportunities that will come my way. I am also looking forward to being a positive influence in this community and finding ways to give back.

What were you doing before becoming the face of Fox?
Before I became the Face of Fox, I was a sales agent at Ferguson Enterprises Inc. It is a very commendable company and we were all like a big family in the department in which I worked. They all supported me tremendously throughout the entire course of the competition. They were sad to let me go, but they were elated about my accomplishment!

What kinds of community organizations and groups are near and dear to you and why?
Any type of community organizations that focuses on the betterment and support of our youth today are those that are very dear to me. I have always had a heart for the youth. It seems like each generation becomes exposed to too much too soon and it has affected them in negatives ways tremendously. I desire so much to be an influence to young people; encouraging them to get a good education and pursue their dreams. I admire organizations that take the time to reach out to them. Places that provide facilities and resources for our youth to grow in safe, well-educated environments that open their eyes to the opportunities they have to succeed are places that breed miracles. Our youth must realize that they do not have to succumb to the negative things life brings their way, and they need US to show them the way.

What would you like people to know most about you?
I am a very honest and down-to-earth person. You can talk to me about almost anything and I do not cast judgment on people. I have a very bubbly personality that is mixed with a huge sense of humor which attracts all kinds of people. I love to be personable and engaging and most of all…I LOVE TO ENTERTAIN. I am an aspiring singer and actress and I have a lot of Love in me to go around! lol

What is your favorite BBQ item?
OH MY GOSH... EVERYTHING! LOL! I must say …I love my BBQ Ribs! It’s all about the taste of the sauce and its thickness and the tenderness of the meat! I love BBQ RIBS!

Do you have a favorite blues band if so what?
I actually don’t have a particular favorite blue’s band. My father is actually a drummer and he plays A LOT of blue’s and jazz, so I have heard so many different songs all my life. I just love them all!

What is your favorite charity and why?
My favorite Charity is any College/Children Funding (UNCF,UNICEF), because it takes away excuses from any kid for not going to college. It provides them with a reason to go no matter what situation they come from.
What are you looking forward to most at the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest?
I am certainly looking forward to the great music! I have grown up around blues and jazz so its always lovely to experience the music outside of my home from some of the hottest bands out here. I also look forward to the BBQ!!!!! :)))

Gaining Momentum: Positive Energy Creates Positive Results

2010-08-28T14:52:00.010-04:00

I'm a true believer that positive energy creates positive thoughts, positive thoughts lead to positive ideas, positive ideas produce positive actions and positive actions garner positive results.

That's the operating principal behind Blue Gypsy Bluesfest and my efforts put for this charity event taking place on September 25th at Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach to benefit Habitat for Humanity and the Nachel' Blues Network. I've been making calls, sending email and talking about this event to anyone and everyone who would listen and now we have the involvement of many amazing people, businesses and organizations.

And people are talking about it! A friend emailed me the other day and said they heard me mentioned in an interview on the radio last week with Bobby "BlackHat" Walters, one of the musicians performing at the festival was talking about it on the radio!

Blue Gypsy Bluesfest is actually starting to get mentioned on the TV on Fox 43 and on the Radio.

Jim Hicks, Partner and Manager of The Roofing Company and the Remodeling Company is talking about it on his show Hampton Roads Home Pros. This is just one more great story about positive energy mixed with a little social media.

Jim and I had a gazillion friends in common on facebook so when I saw a friend requested from him I said nice to meet you, looks like we have some great friends in common. I'd never have bumped into Jim in the grocery store yet he cracked me up when ever I read his posts on fb and I could tell he had a great mix of humor and integrity in what he does and who he is. When the opportunity to meet him in person came up I made sure to take advantage of it and I wasn't disappointed.

There are so many great people I meet every day through social media and while you can't meet everyone on person, when you meet a person that exudes positive energy it's a good idea to try to get to know them in real time as well as in the Cyber world.

So far, the Cyber world has been instrumental in connecting me with so many of the great people who are involved with this event. I'm thankful for all the friends, networking buddies, and social media folks who are helping out with making this event a reality! Check them out!

Blue Gypsy Bluesfest Sponsors

From The Archives: A little Inspiration "Remember to Say I Can"

2010-08-25T23:09:00.003-04:00

Youtube is crowded with entertaining mindless videos of cats caught on ceiling fans, manatees bumping into aquarium glass, and giant slides that will land you in a kiddie pool of water...but every once in a while you come across a gem that brings tears to your eyes and teaches you real life lessons. This is why social media can have such an amazing impact on our lives.

I used to teach kids team building, leadership development, self-esteem building, goal setting and so much more, all in the guise of summer camp. I had the good fortune to work for an amazing program called ActionQuest. This teen summer program was a 3 week program filled with fun and sun in the Caribbean aboard 50' yachts while scuba diving every day...what more could you ask for?

ActionQuest sounds like a luxury retreat for kids on the outside, but in reality it is an amazing growth experience. Not just for the students, but for the staff members as well. Sometimes I learned as much from the teens as they did from me. I'm sure on day one, many really had no idea what they were in for... Oh they thought it was all about sunbathing, scuba diving and sailing. Along with the cool stuff came all the responsibilities to keep a boat moving. Cleaning and maintaining the boat, cooking meals, trimming sails, checking engine oil, plotting the course, studying for the exams, and so much more made up their daily routines. It's not just a vacation, but a total life experience. Some of these kids had never cooked macaroni and cheese nor cleaned their own toilet before, let alone sailed a boat or dived in the ocean.

So much to learn...so little time. Many came back year after year because they fell in love with the program and it took them outside the every day. Now many of those teens I once worked with have gone on to do amazing things. Some are marine scientists, environmentalists, some travel the world, and climb mountains. One student I had several summers in a row, who was dealing with anger issues, turned his frustrations toward restoring an old sailboat. He pushed his limits toward growth and change and graduated with honors, aspirations and will be going on to a graduate degree working in African nations. It just blows me away when I see many of my "kids' " (Not so much kids any more) status updates on Facebook.

I hope in some small way I took part in that ripple effect that moved them along their journey.

I loved seeing the light bulbs click on. I loved seeing those ah ha moments. I loved seeing them stretch their imagination and discover that boundaries are limitless. If you can dream it you can do it. These were always my mantras on programs like ActionQuest because these were the precepts I lived by alone on the travel road.

When I stopped living a life filled with adventure and working in jobs that motivated kids, I began to get caught up in the everyday. It was easy to forget the lessons I taught. It was easy to slip into a life that accepted limitations. This can happen without thought when you live by rote repetition -- wake-up, make breakfast, go to work, come home, sit on the couch...do it all over again--dreams are easily lost.

It's so easy to find yourself saying, "I can't do this..." "I can't do that..." "I wish I had done..." It becomes easier to feel trapped in a job, or a situation and not be able to see your way out. I know I'm lucky to have experienced what it is like to live my dreams. Thus, it's not a far stretch to recapture that desire. (but it still can be a stretch when mesmerized by the everyday)

When you begin to forget that the limits are as far out as your dreams can reach, when you begin to see the confines of your life contain you, you might be lucky enough to come across a gem like this on youtube. Then you can thank social media for connection you back to the things that really matter...at least that's what I did.

Seeing 2 short minutes can re-align your perspective.

For all those people who say they "can't..." For anyone who has ever had a bad day and let it continue for a year or more. For anyone who has ever quit before reaching their goal. For anyone who is afraid to try new things...you can't miss this short clip.

Frequently Asked FB Question: How Do You Tag Someone in a Status Update

2010-08-22T19:33:00.004-04:00

This is a very remedial blog post for novice facebook users who would like more dynamic interaction with their friends, networking buddies, and old high school friends.

Many people are aware of how you hot link a person in a status update, but since I've had 3 people in the last week ask me how I do it, I decided (In the interest of being on vacation and still wanting to put up a post) that I'd post a quick hot link lesson.

There are many great reasons to use this tagging feature on facebook.

Many people have a lot of updates in their stream and as much as you'd like to believe we are all hanging on every word, it's a good idea if you are going to talk about someone in your status to tag them in the post so they will know about it. Facebook let's you know you've been tagged in a post and then you can respond, laugh or start plotting on your advisory depending on the type of update.

On fan pages this is a great way to draw interest and interaction as well. But you can only tag people in posts, both on fan pages and personal pages whom you are friends with. So if you do want to talk about someone, make em your friend.

When you are typing in your status update simply type the @ symbol. Do not space after it (much like you'd type a twitter handle) and begin typing a name. If you know several Janes, you start to type Jane and you will see a list of your friends with those letters in their name pop up below the status update.

You then select the proper name from the list and a hot link is created in blue. This will than notify your friend that they are tagged in your post.

However facebook has not yet become advanced enough to allow you to do the same thing when commenting on status updates. Hopefully they will see the use of this in the future and comply.

Until then you now have another tool to make your conversations more dynamic on facebook.

It Takes A Village: To Put Together A Fundraiser

2010-08-15T11:21:00.004-04:00

It Takes a Village. I'm putting together a local charity fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity and Natchel Blues Network and it really does take a whole village to put together the event. While I'm planning this "alone" I'm not really alone in the world of Social Media.

Now I know many people think Social Media is the miracle fix for just about everything. You're throwing an event? Put it out on Social Media and people will come! Right? Well, it depends on exactly how you use Social Media.

If you think putting up a fan page and creating an event on facebook will lead to getting volunteers, donors and sponsors you probably aren't quite looking at the big picture. If you think just tweeting out, hey you want to be a sponsor or a volunteer for my event will have people rushing to your door with resounding yes's, well then you are a little naive.

Don't get me wrong, Social Media has been one of the strongest tools I've used to get the word out about the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest and to get Sponsors. I've combed my Social Media contacts to see who has businesses, values and desires that fit with my festival. I've looked for individuals, businesses and groups who may find value in participating. I've then reached out to those people to see if they want to get involved.

It starts with a great idea, I think a lot of people are caught up in the festivities. My enthusiasm and commitment are contagious and every day at least one more person is getting involved with the event at some level . The elements of great music, great food, great fun all provided by local people for local charities are all great catalysts to getting people excited. It's a great way to bring community together and enjoy. It's almost like a good old fashioned block party.

Many of my interactions may start with people through social media, but in order to make an event like this a success you have to be able to take it to the next step, the follow up the actual over the phone and in person interactions that solidify those contacts and create a great combination of people and businesses who have come together to make this event a reality. And the other amazing thing is with each person I talk with I am given 2 or 3 more leads of people who the event may resonate with. If only I could clone myself to make enough phone calls and send enough emails in a day.

But I am thankful for all my friends, my Social Media buddies, and the businesses getting involved with this event to make it a success.

The next few posts I'll talk more in depth about some of those great people.

From the Archives: 5 Twitter Duh's and No Brainers....

2010-08-10T08:28:00.002-04:00

Since it's a hectic month of planning for the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest and I'm sure there's lots that I can tell you about that and it's connection with social media moving it forward, right now....I'm pulling some oldies but goodies from the archives.

Here are just a few things to think about as you get up to speed with your twitter account.

1) If you have multiple twitter accounts (And I mean like 3,4 or more) Don't send the SAME update from all of them....especially if you are using hashtags then there is a long stream of the same update and to be honest you aren't helping yourself, you're looking like spam.

2) Don't use the bird...if you are ready to set up a twitter account, you MUST have a picture, logo, or jpeg of interest on your computer. Even if that is temporary it's better than the birdie! (And if you are one of those above who have multiple accounts and they are ALL birdies...oh how spammy you look! Fastest way to get unfollowed (or never followed in my book)

3) Take a moment to create a bio. Don't make people guess at who you are, if you are truly on twitter to interact and create a community and interact with people then tell them a bit about who you are. twitter doesn't give you room for a book, how hard is it to come up with a couple of lines to sum yourself up so we can see if we want to follow you!

4) If you have a website, a blog, a facebook fan page or any type of contact where people can find out a bit more about who you are and what you do...then put that link in there! It's only going to grow your business, your online presence, and your brand when you link it to your twitter profile, so why wouldn't you take a moment to do it?

5) Take a second to put up a background it's not hard and there are a lot of third party tools out there to help you create a background even twitter itself will at least allow you to customize a bit. Here's a great Mashable post from Ben Parr on HOW TO: Create Custom Twitter Backgrounds.

While each and every one of these five thoughts should illicit a "Duh" from most people, the number of people out there who don't do these 5 things is astounding. When setting up a twitter account ask yourself a few questions. Why are you on twitter? What's your purpose? Why wouldn't these be quick easy ways to increase your impact and grow within the twitter community?

How To Use A Facebook Personal Page For Your Business

2010-07-31T09:18:00.010-04:00

I know all the experts, gurus, and Social Media Ninja's are going crazy over the headline of this post. I can hear them yelling at me and I'm sitting in a quit room writing this.

Haven't we yet learned that all the definitive statements about Social Media are wrong? The only reason people write rules is so they can be expertly teaching their rules and by creating a wrong way to do something they create a need for there to be a right way to teach it.

Just my two cents.

Anyway, lately I've been seeing experts, gurus and ninjas spouting off that personal pages shouldn't be used for businesses. The only real reason I've discerned from watching the videos, reading the blog posts, and articles is that facebook has a right to shut down your page because it's in violation of the rules of facebook.

Okay folks there are over 400 million users on facebook. It is not an easy task to search all those pages to determine if they are people or businesses. And there are sites out there that will back up your facebook page. ArchiveFacebook is a free service to back up your facebook page including friend list, photos, lists and more. SocialSafe has a small fee and call's itself the facebook backup tool and also saves friend lists, photos and more.

So if your biggest argument against a personal page for your business is I might get shut down here are some ways to preserve your data.

Now I don't believe EVERY business should have a personal page only certain types of pages may need the interactive qualities that a personal page has to offer. If facebook would give more usability to the fan pages (should I really be calling them "Like" pages?) then there would not be a need for companies to break the rules and create business pages on personal accounts. So while this might be a longer blog post than usual, I'm going to give you three real life scenarios of businesses that are successfully using personal pages for their businesses and why they need to do it this way.

Just in the interest of not giving facebook a heads up to shut down these pages I will not name the companies but I'll give you some background.

Case One:
The first, is the most ingenious. This is a new home site that has a fan page, but also has a personal page. Some might say redundant but think about it. A new home site agent may not always be the agent in that community over the course of the build. If that individual takes the time to friend all the people who walk in the door, or buy a house, when that agent goes, that database goes. And there are several reasons why you want the administrator of your fan page to be friends with your prospects and customers.

Once they friend people they can suggest the fan page you can't go up to people you don't know and suggest a fan page
Once they friend people they can tag them in posts whether they fan the page or not and it shows up in their streams you can not tag people in fan page posts unless an administrator is friends with them. You cannot even tag people who "like" the page
In the case of new homes you can post pictures of the progress of their home and it shows up in their feed and their friends see it as well
Once you move on, that personal page belongs to the builder and not the individual and so do all the contacts

It's all well and good to meet people who walk through the door on your site and tell them to fan a page, but many people when they walk out the door, frankly are not proactive. If you want to engage them you've got to go out and find them! You know they are your target group. But fan pages don't let you go out and find your prospects, they wait passively by for people to find you. You can drive your traffic there through many means but just as the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them click the like button, but what if you write them a nice thank you note...through facebook.

Send them a nice thank you note through facebook in the form of a friend request.

Thank you so much for your visit today Mr. Buyer, I'd love to be able to show you and your friends the progress of your house through our facebook business page, I'll be able to tag you in the posts that pertain to you if you first accept my friend request and then become a fan of the page. Won't it be fun to share this experience with your family and friends on facebook!

Same goes for an A or B prospect.

Thank you so much for your visit today Mr. Prospect. I could tell from your reaction to our community today that it may be near the top of your list during your search. I'd love you to be able to be kept up to date on all the new building going on, as well as any special and handy information. We post it all on our fan page, please accept my friend request and then become a fan of the page and if any home sites or styles come up that I know you'll be interested in, I'll tag you in the post so you can check out the floor plan. How does that sound?

Odds are that is the most directed way you are going to get them to fan your page and they will have a much harder time saying no to something like that. Especially the buyer.

One site agent has found much success this way. She didn't want every prospect and client on her personal page. Yes, yes I know you can filter out who get's what. But it was easier for her, and for the builder if they all are in a separate account.

Not everyone needs their client base to know them intimately on facebook.

What she is NOT doing is going out fishing for people to friend. You know those annoying people that see you are friends with 50 people they know so they send you a request even though they don't know you because they are "building" their business online. I understand why that is annoying and why people say I don't want to friend businesses.

Case 2:
A start up with a national focus wants people who offer services to join their network so that their customers can post reviews, and prospects can find services based on those honest client reviews. (A new alternative to Angie's list) They need to get the word out to influencers who's followers may like the service but doesn't know it exists.

This business creates a personal page so that they can interact with influential bloggers on facebook and other business pages. The goal isn't to get anyone to friend them, but to interact with other fan pages.

This is active listening as well as interacting with other businesses.

You can't do that fan page to fan page, you can only do it on a personal level. By following the fan pages, the company can follow the conversations and see how it may relate to their product. When appropriate they work on engagement with in those pages.

You may be asking yourself, well why don't they just fan these pages in their personal account? Account managers for Social Media can change
Many People who manage multiple accounts don't want their personal facebook stream to be all about business
When the brand interacts with the fan pages the brand becomes more identifiable. It's business to business interaction.

These are simply things you can't do with in a fan page itself, they are not interactive.

Case 3:
A local business focused on promoting entertainment and events creates a fan page after years of having a personal page. The whole premise of the business is inviting people to the events and giving them follow up information on what, when, where, and why. People who fan the page are interested in events, or they wouldn't have bothered to fan it.

When you create an event through a personal page, you can communicate with the people who have RSVP'd, the people who are Maybe's and the People who don't want to come, even if you are not friends with them. As long as they were invited you can communicate.

From a fan page, this is not the case. When you create the event through your business page, you do not have the same interactive quality that you have with the would-be participants that have been invited by someone to the event.

This can be a problem if:

You need to cancel the event
You want to amend the event with important information
You want to remind people that the event is coming up
You need to direct people who have RSVP'd to please buy tickets from another site

By having a business personal page of the same name as the fan page, then when people get invited from the personal page, it's not Jane Doe who they don't know inviting them, it's the actual business known for putting out information about all the hot events. And they maintain the ability to interact as need be with the people invited to the event.

Again this site isn't actively going out finding people to push their message out to, they are the kind of page that people find and request their friendship. That means they are interested in the services that are offered.

With these three scenarios I think it's easier to see there can be no definitive statements in Social Media. The most recent definitive I've been hearing lately is don't create a personal page for your business. There are reasons why that is not true.

I agree that businesses shouldn't be fishing for my friendship if I have not indicated any association with them whatsoever. But if businesses that I've expressed interest in such as say my favorite jewelry store or something like that, found me on facebook and let me know they were on facebook too and requested my friendship, sure! I'll drool over their merchandise on facebook! Why not.

At this point in time there are so many proactive things you CAN'T do with a facebook fan page so therefore there are reasons to go around the system.

Social Media: Building Community or Building a Nation

2010-07-26T09:27:00.008-04:00

Build your "Nation" one brick at a time.

Take a page from my personal trainer when it comes to building community and Social Media. Sometimes there is an important element missing in many Social Media campaigns. The "Social."

Many people out there using twitter, facebook and the like are not building a nation, much less a community, they are pushing out their message. From time to time I'm sure we are all guilty of informing rather than interacting. There has to be socialization in order to really dig deeper into what the use of Social Media is all about.

Some products, services, and companies are more conducive to a whole community interaction too. GYMRATZZ Inc. is one of those places.

My theory is that Social Media needs to be more than just a cyber interaction. Let me explain.

GYMRATZZ Inc. is a company started by Erin Reilly a personal trainer who also teaches at Gold's Gym in Woodbridge Virginia. She has nearly 700 fans on her fan page and they are all people who are actively engaged. Not just with the fan page, but with the business. Isn't that what you are striving for with Social Media? You don't just want people to sit passively by and read your updates but not use your services.

Not only is her fan page active with comments, tips and trivia....it comes from the customers! Or as Erin likes to call it, her "RATZZ Nation."

Now Erin is no social media expert and she is not a marketing guru. Yet people gravitate to her nation because she is amazing at what she does. Because of her offline community and her method of training, she creates an online community that interacts as well and their word of mouth and enthusiasm for her nation brings in more business.

How often have you walked into an exercise class and people are there a half hour early at 4:45 am, just so they can socialize? That is Nation building. Because she has built this nation it keeps her Ratzz more dedicated to both her services and themselves. They attend her classes, her boot camps and her personal training sessions. They are getting something positive from her services and they keep coming back. And they talk about it. Word of mouth referrals are what her business is built on. Yet they come quicker when she has the rich interaction going on in her online community.

Her online community is the place where onlookers can begin to engage but then they must come and engage in person in order to benefit from her services. And they do.

The key to any community building, whether it's online or in person is to make sure you know the benefits you offer, and consistently match your message with your actual services.

Don't aim just to build a community, aim to build a nation one brick at a time.

The Power Of Positive Thinking: How Are You Going To Use It

2010-07-23T12:24:00.006-04:00

If you knew you couldn't fail, what is one thing you'd like to do in your life?

The power of positive thinking and positive energy is a real element in the universe. I truly believe this. I've climbed mountains with this energy, I've jumped out of planes with this energy, and sailed around the Caribbean with this energy.

These are just a few of the many achievements I've attained by implementing this method of positive thinking.

One of the things that I've noticed over the years is that there are always those people who want to tell you something can't be done. There are a number of reasons for this. They either believe that because they've taken so long to get somewhere and achieve a similar standing, goal or milestone that it should be the same for everyone. Or their vision is not big enough to encompass the idea of stepping out of comfort zones to achieve greatness.

Have you ever heard that phrase you have to pay your dues? This is true to some degree but did you ever thing that different people have different dues based on the life they've led, the people they know, and the things they can accomplish?

Everyone is on a different path. It's very important to not let other people's limitations become your limitations.

If I had a dollar for every skeptical comment I've gotten from people when I've told them something I'm going to do, I'd be richer in money but poorer for having not accomplished my goals and my dreams. I'm glad I don't listen. Maybe it's stubbornness. Or maybe it's because a long time ago I made a promise to myself that if I decided there was something I wanted to do, I was going to do it.

I never wanted to look back at my life and say I wish I had done.

This energy has taken me around the world to 32 countries and countless islands throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas. I learned to scuba dive and became a Master Scuba Diver Trainer and have taught diving in 6 countries even though a diving death of a relative caused my family to believe it was one of the most dangerous sports in the world. I learned how to sail and posses a 200 ton near coastal United States Coast Guard Captain's license even though the first boat job I ever had was in a galley and the captain thought I'd never amount to anything.

My point is, when I put my mind to doing something I do it. And it's important not to let people who say "you can't" infiltrate your thinking.

So think of all the things you want to do. Then think of all the excuses you've made as to why you can't, think of all the things that people have told you and then throw it all away and get back down to the root of what and why you want to do it.

Here's the hardest part. Now take the leap, invest the positive energy and whatever resources are necessary and do it.

Use positive thought to your advantage and leave the negative thoughts to those who will use it to their own disadvantage.

How are you going to use your positive energy today?

Grassroots Efforts: Cold Calling Under Rated Along With Other Outbound Marketing

2010-07-20T13:40:00.009-04:00

I know, you are all cringing right now. Yuck I hate it when someone calls me unsolicited and asks me to do something, pay something, buy something, or well something!

You hear so much about inbound marketing these days is outbound marketing dead?

Just one aspect of outbound marketing is cold calling. These days it seems that people are not only against cold calls, but they are into scheduling their phone calls as well. It is understandable, In the fast paced world we live in where meetings happen through Skype, Goto Meeting, and conference calls, it's necessary to get all the parties involved to synchronize their schedules and meet up in cyberspace at the same time. But you only do this once you have a relationship and are getting down to business.

Nowadays a big buzz word is inbound marketing. Organically positioning your company so that people looking for your services and products find you.

Inbound marketers tend to slam outbound marketing techniques as antiquated and useless often as New and Social Media people tend to look down their noses at old media. Well I believe there's a place for many different techniques when used properly.

Sometimes there's not always time to put your communities out there and wait for people to come to you and ask about your product. Take a time limited event for instance. Right now in planning the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest I've put my inbound marketing implementations out there. I've got a website, a facebook fan page, an eventbrite site, I've placed the event on 10 different local calendars and believe me this works to get the word out about the event and find attendees.
But what about sponsors?

This is an amazing event, everyone I talk with is getting excited about it, they want to be part of it....but wait, that's the key. Involvement in the process of putting together this grassroots first year event for charity is really word of mouth. The old fashioned way. Cold calling. Just one of many outbound marketing techniques.

As an online sales consultant who's bread and butter comes from targeted emailing, I'm no stranger to outbound marketing though there are inbound techniques interwoven with what I do.

Maybe people are affraid of cold calling because there is actually an art to the cold call. And when done right it can garner results.

When done wrong it stings like the rejection from a fledgling relationship. Kind of like a bee sting that hurts badly at first but fades quickly. It's not like the painful ache of a long term relationships gone awry but still no one likes to get stung.

Here are a few tips I have for cold calling that may or may not be beneficial to you. I've been using this technique a lot as I try to find sponsorships for the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest and so far I've really had only one person be absolutely rude to me on the phone, and I'd say 99% of people are asking me to email them information about the event. Now I'm working on turning over those emails to sponsorships....the hardest part. Ironically the easiest part is the cold call.

Here are some tips and tricks:

1) You've got to love what you are talking about. If you aren't thrilled about it the cold call will not warm up.

2) Pick the right time. Some businesses have an optimum time. For instance don't call a restaurant during their rush. If at all possible try to call them before 10 am.

3) Take breaths. Gauge what the other person is doing on the other end of the line.

4) When at all possible find out the name of the person you need to speak with. They may not know you but if you ask for them by name and then introduce yourself it goes a lot further.

5) Know something about their business before you call. Would they even be interested in what you are selling or talking about?
6)Be pleasant. If you are really cheery and nice, it pulls others into that mode...usually.

7) Don't let a negative response get you down. After all you are calling cold, you have no idea who they are or what is going on in their life. The easiest place for unhappy people to take out their frustrations is on a stranger. Be aware you may be providing that target. No biggie, move on.

8) Take a deep breath and make the next call. The only way you'll achieve your goals is through numbers. Do not give up after 3, 5 or 30 calls. There are a lot of people out in the world who could benefit from what you are offering and it's your job to find that right fit. In this economy it can be especially hard to get companies to part with marketing dollars, consulting dollars, and donations. But it doesn't mean it's impossible.

While cold calls can be daunting, they can be rewarding too. It all depends on how you approach the prospect of calling strangers and asking them to believe in who you are, what you do and the program, product or project you represent.

There is still a place in this world for outbound marketing techniques but over and over again, I believe the key is personal touch.

Not Created Equally: Find Your Unique Teacher, Coach or Social Media Advisor

2010-07-15T10:03:00.013-04:00

Not all business coaches, consultants or social media "experts" are created equally. Much like a personal trainer focuses on the individual, so too do you need to find a business specialist that focuses on your business as if there is no other business out there just like yours.

Recently I started to go back to the gym to take classes with a trainer verses DVD's at home. I just wasn't meeting my goals and it was too easy for me to back out on the workout.

As someone who works from home, it would be easy to take just any class, with any instructor, but one of the reasons I joined this gym was because of the great things I'd heard about Erin Reilly. She's a very motivational personal trainer who owns her own company called GYMRAZZ Inc. and teaches 5 days a week at Golds Gym.

I don't know about you, but my experience with most gym exercise classes I've attended is that the instructors are upbeat perky women with dancey music saying lots of "Great job's" "Your getting it's" "And 4 more's" By the end of the class, they didn't pay much attention to the differences between the people in their class because they are there to do the moves. They give an over all workout for all levels so it's not too hard, and it's not too easy, it's a middle of the road solution for getting people moving for an hour. That should be good enough right? Wrong.

The class I take is at 5:15 am. A Class not many instructors really want to take on. Yet Erin drives about 20 miles from the GYMRAZZ Studio 5 days a week on I95 (never pretty any time of the day) To teach.

There are no "Awesome's" or "4 more's" heard in this class. The first thing you notice when you enter this class is she asks you your name....and she uses it. The second thing you notice is that there's no fluffy morning wake-up music. You quickly learn that if you are wearing pink, you are in trouble. And it's very common to hear, "Twenty push-ups for crying." "Twenty push-ups for talking." What, your complaining to me? Add 10 more!" The other thing you get if you stay more than one or two classes and express a desire to be healthier is her book.

She gives you a book that not only gives you healthy eating tips but allows you to log all the food that you eat (which she looks at every morning and helps you adjust how you are eating) The other thing is that the book tells you about her journey, who she is and why she cares. These are things that sets an instructor apart from the rest. She is an individual and she understands each individual's journey is different.

I tried taking the same class from other instructors. For the most part the movements are the same, I'm doing the same kind of exercise, for the same duration but there is definitely something missing. I don't walk out of the class as energized and ready for my day...somehow I don't feel as prepared. And I certainly don't feel like somebody gave a damn whether I showed up or not.

Just as the instructors were teaching essentially the same moves, there is a huge difference in the impact it had on me and my desire to continue. This can be compared to choosing the right business consultant as well. There are a lot of people out there teaching the same stuff, telling you the same things, and regurgitating most of it right off the internet in the guise of helping your business.

Many newbie consultants, business coaches, and social media experts seem to be doing the same thing. They take the formula and apply it across the board. They don't know the "names" so to speak and they think that as long as they go through the same motions, each business owner will have a positive experience.

It's not that easy. It takes digging deep into each company and finding out what makes them tick in order to fix their particular pain. You can't just say, get on facebook, twitter, linkedIn and start a YouTube channel. What works for one person in their daily workout and eating is different then the next person and so too are marketing solutions for businesses.

I'm not a marketer though I know a few things from life and work experience. But I do know that you can't solve every problem with the same solution. It takes a unique teacher or consultant to make a difference in your business and in you.

Blue Gypsy Bluesfest: Great Things Are Coming

2010-07-12T14:20:00.004-04:00

When I first started planning Blue Gypsy Bluesfest I knew it was a big undertaking. But I also knew it was for a good cause, and in the end it would be a lot of fun.

One of the best parts about owning my own business is deciding how I'm going use my energy and achieve great things.

It was a little over three months ago that I decided I wanted to throw a huge party that would benefit Habitat for Humanity. At first I was hoping to have it at the Norfolk Zoo, but that didn't quite work out as I had hoped and I found an even better location, Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach.

The great thing about this venue and this idea is that it's an event that anyone can come to. It's not a closed real estate party though it started for that group of individuals near and dear to my heart who never really get a day off. It's not just for people who love the Blues. Come play Cornhole and enjoy some kickin' BBQ provided by Mick's Too and Mojo Bones. This is a day of musical fun for individuals, couples, families and friends.

And the best part is that is supports two great charities. Habitat for Humanity South Hampton Roads and Natchel' Blues Network.

Though I'm planning this event, mostly on my own, I never quite feel that way because with each person and group I talk with they have 3 more contacts or ideas for me to explore. It's amazing the coming together of help and hope that happens with an event like this.

I hope you'll come out and support this great cause while enjoying a day of fun at the same time!

Listen: If You Aren't Picking Up Cues You Lose

2010-06-30T08:30:00.005-04:00

Listen. This is the key to great service. Listen. Seems easy right?

This is the secret to capturing and keeping clients. Right now I'm sure everyone is saying, "Duh, I listen all the time." But no....no you don't.

Perfect way to alienate someone seeking your services is to not listen to what they are telling you. There is a reason why people say email me, don't call me. Call me don't email me. Text me, DM me, write it on my facebook wall. Send me a proposal, don't send me a proposal, send me a quick summary, what can you do for me in 10 words or less.

There are certain modes of communication some people monitor, while others don't. There is a certain threshold of time people have to listen to your pitch before they need to move on to the next item on their long "todo" list.

If you aren't picking up their cues you lose.

Remember that line, if you aren't picking up their cues they'll find the person who offers the same services who is listening to what they are saying.

I'm old school. Send me an email. I'd rather get an email about services I've put in an inquiry about. Recently I was inquiring about an online chat service. I want to put together a comparison sheet of services and prices for a client. I need to do my research and I want the information readily available. It's great that they have their live chat in action so I can check it out, but their site is void of any pricing and service information. Even after I provide them with all my contact information.

Hello?

So after "live Chatting" essentially texting back and forth with a representative I put in a request to be emailed a price sheet and list of services. One of the reasons I'm interested in this service is because many people don't like to pick up the phone and call for information but wouldn't mind chatting.

The following email (A whole 24 hours later) came to me.

Thank you for your recent interest in XYZ online chat solutions. My name is "Betty Smith", and I am your Product Consultant at XYZ. I see from your chat with "Herbert" that you are interested to use XYZ with BlueGypsy Inc. Will chat be a Service or a Sales tool? Leah, it would be my pleasure to schedule a time for us to speak, during which we can discuss your online business needs and objectives. Will you be available this morning for a quick call? I look forward to speaking with you.

UMMMMMMM HUGE fail!!!! Fist off I requested information almost 24 hours ago. Second off in my discussion with "Herbert" I told him it was not for my company directly but for a client and that I needed pricing and service information emailed to me. I duplicated the request when I put in a "request" I even said no phone calls just email. Now I'm getting absolutely not what I'm looking for.

I wanted a quick turnaround on this information because I have a client I told I'd have information to by the end of the week...

Who's not listening here?

This is the easiest way to lose business. So listen.

Who The Bad Owl? A How To Guide - Help Me Find My Wooden Spoon

2010-06-25T08:02:00.005-04:00

Okay so part two. While everyone else seemed thrilled to see HTML5 yesterday, I wasn't like most waking up to a very different owl.

I didn't have the time, I had 20 things on my plate and I was, as usual, trying to figure out how to cram 30 hours of work into about 17 waking hours.

I was in no mood for one of the major tools I use for work to be changed. As it is, when you are doing a targeted twitter campaign *right* for a client you need to do your research. It's not just about pushing out a message. "Hey buy our crap" "Hey buy our crap" "Hey buy our crap" and it's certainly not about clumping 10 twitter updates together in two minutes. (If you do this, it's annoying to all those who's streams you are peeing in)

I actually search topics and people talking about certain things and try to engage them in a conversation on twitter. Making their messages and ideas just as important (if not more important) than what I'm trying to sell.

So as I woke up ready to schedule a few retweets for the day that were actual interactions, not messages about my client's product. I was looking for great things I could retweet that would be of interest to both my followers and engage those who are tweeting. To my utter stress levels hitting above the roof before 7 am, Hootsuite had removed the ability to:

Hit retweet
See it all pretty in the window
Make my cute little comment
Schedule it

Instead they wanted to do exactly what twitter.com does which was just send it out into the world! Ummmmmm last time I checked that's why I don't use twitter.com.

I didn't have time to figure it out, but throughout the day I received other indicators that I wasn't the only "moron" who thought this was a stupid idea.

By the time the whirl wind of activity died down for the day and I could sit and concentrate on a tool that was on autopilot for me, like breathing, before, I started to unravel the mystery by googling. (Thank god for google....but still really 15 or so minutes in my day to re-figure something out that I already didn't have to think about is not a great addition to my stress levels)

I read people saying go into settings....well great I didn't see where settings were anymore on my damn hootsuite. Weren't they always at the bottom??? Google 5 more minutes....THE DAMN OWL! Sure it's very intuitive when you have used a tool for a while one way, for you to just KNOW that you should click on the owl to find settings? Come on...was there a memo about this that I just missed when I opened my work station at 5:30am?

Okay so if you were like me and wanted to change back to "Classic" i.e. more user friendly, version of retweeting on Hootsuite you need to:

Click the owl
Go to settings
Go to preferences
Uncheck the box Use Twitter Web Retweets
Hit Save Preferences

I know, I know I'm making a big deal out of this but I am of the mindset that if it ain't broke don't fix it. When I worked as a galley cook on a boat in the Cayman Islands the kitchen didn't make sense to me I wanted to rearrange it. But there were 6 other crew members on the boat that knew exactly where everything lived. On a boat you quickly learn that everything goes back to the same place it came out of whether it's a critical piece of equipment or a wooden spoon.

Stop rearranging things on social media if it isn't necessary...Hootsuite, facebook, you know who you are.

Hootsuite: Whooo I mean Boooo

2010-06-24T07:42:00.006-04:00

Hootsuite say it ain't so! I signed in this morning to get some work done and you've changed. And not for the better in my opinion.

I don't have the time this morning to explore your changes, but I do have to say as someone who uses you as a tool you have made yourself less user friendly. I am a busy girl and besides just working for builders trying to make them sales, planning Blue Gypsy Bluesfest to benefit Habitat for Humanity and Natchel' Blues Network, I also manage the social media for a large national brand. I like things to be as stream lined as possible in my day. I don't have time to get on every hour and retweet things. When I have the chance I site down skim through my various streams and schedule retweets and make comments on those retweets....but now? Do I really have to copy and paste someone's tweet to be able to do that?

Before on Hootsuite I could hit retweet, make my comment (Shorten their long comment if need be) and schedule it to go out. But this morning. Something changed. Now RT's just give me the option to Retweet yes? And if you hit no, there is no other option. You can't modify, add your comment be thoughtful and you can't schedule them throughout the day. Bad owl.

One of the reasons I went to Hootsuite was for this ease of use. Now you are taking it away from me and I really don't have time to research if there is a work around. When I have 25 things to do in the span of a morning, I really don't want my tools changing on me like that. There should be options to use classic version or some such thing.

I don't need a stream of my RT's I can see that. I don't need a stream of other people's RT's they show up when I'm monitoring my brand anyway. When I already have 10 tabs with 10 columns each on different topics I'm monitoring for work this is not a helpful change. I don't want to add more columns to see what is happening in RT land.

Get it together Hootsuite. Or explain to me easily in 140 characters or less how to get back my ease of use when retweeting.

Okay that's my rant, off to get some work done. But if you are reading this and you know the solutions to my dilemma please let me know!

Is Lead Management The Same as Gardening

2010-06-11T17:43:00.006-04:00

The other day I attended my first networking luncheon in Northern Virginia. I just moved recently and now that I'm starting out from scratch, it's an interesting process.

Sometimes networking is a little bit like traveling around the world. There are set questions that people ask as soon as you meet them. With travel it was the where have have you been, where are you going how long are you traveling variety of question.

But in networking many people ask right off the bat, "What do you do..."

For several years down in Virginia Beach about 1000 Realtors got emails from me about the builder, our home availability, and other information a couple of times a month. Usually when I finally met someone in person they would say, "Oh you're Leah! I get your emails all the time!" They quickly understood what I did for the builder and they also understood how I was able to help them as well.

Maybe it's just different with people who work in Real Estate but I've never really had people look so puzzled before when I said, "I do lead management for builders." Perhaps people get stuck on the word management or maybe they just don't know what a lead is....but if you have any kind of business this is an important concept to get the hang of.

In fact most people who are in sales, such as car dealers, mortgage lenders....well anyone that acknowledges that they are selling something, gets the concept pretty quickly.

Many proceed to ask if I can help them. While I don't mind doing some consulting for them to help improve their system, I don't want to move outside of my niche, builders.

But really anyone who has a business of any kind whether it's a service, a tangible item, or a concept like coaching is "selling" something. And the people that you encounter on a daily basis who express interest in your business whether it be through word of mouth referral, email marketing, Google searching or any other means, is a "lead."

Saying hi in an email or a phone call once and then dropping them because they didn't respond is...well...stupid. You need to put together a system that allows you to keep in touch with people and let them know that you are there to help, to provide information etc. They key is having a follow up system and knowing what is going on in your database of leads.

This, on a very simple level, is lead management. But add into the equation someone who is managing your leads with the purpose to sell your service, item, or concept then you have a powerful presence in your organization. The place where many people go wrong is they say yep we have someone answering the phone. Or yep we answer emails. Or sure we have an automatic system that sends out emails based on a touch system.

All of these are only as good as the person who is answering the phone, sending the emails, or operating the drip campaigns.

If you don't know how to ask the right questions and guide the lead toward the solution that will best work for them within what you offer, than you are paying a lot of money and wasting a lot of time generating leads that die.

And believe me some of them die a horrible death of dissatisfaction from lack of information or attention. It's like forgetting to water a plant for weeks on end. A lead manager nurtures and grows a lead until it is ready to turn into a sale.

A lead manager is patient and understands that no one wants to be "sold" but by providing an individual with timely information and a genuine concern for what one is looking for, eventually the lead manager will make the sale.

If you are still unsure what lead management is, feel free to contact me I'll be glad to help you figure out what you are doing now with your lead management system and where you need to go with it. But remember ultimately you need to have the patience of a gardener.

A good lead manager takes their thyme.

Miracles of Modern Social Media

2010-06-11T01:06:00.006-04:00

I experienced a social media triumph the other day. It just goes to show Social Media can really get the job done. Especially if a big business is doing its job and monitoring its online reputation. In that case you might even get positive results.

I did last week!

A couple of weeks ago I walked into my bank to open another business account, in the course of my transaction with the banker who was helping me, she asked me if I wanted to open a business charge card. Since this had been one of the many items on my list of things to do, I said, "Sure, why not." She explained to me with the tightening of banking rules I wouldn't get an approval on the spot.

That's fine. I wasn't concerned, between my excellent credit rating and my long history with the bank I didn't think it would be a problem.

Two days later all hell broke loose. I got a call from my bank. The same bank I've been using for 22 years and have had savings, checking, credit cards and business accounts with. They informed me that if I wanted a business credit line, they would take $5000 from my personal credit and, oh by the way, "you have far more credit than we think you should have right now so we are going to cut your credit down in less than half."

What???????

In 22 years, I've never had a late payment, in 22 years they are the ones who had given me nearly credit line increase upon increase for being such a secure risk. I barely carry a balance and I have a credit score near the 800's. So now, now when I've just started my own business and may actually need to use some of that credit, sparingly of course, you want to decrease my credit? (It was the principle of the matter that made me angry.)

Here the bank was, making a blanket call instead of looking at each case individually. This same bank almost single-handedly put many builders out of business by pulling their credit lines because of a blanket determination that it was all too risky to be involved in the building industry. They did this, of course, after contract were written. By denying the builds, the sales didn't happen. In essence the bank created a self full filling prophecy.

I said, "Thank you very much, I don't 'need' the business credit card, you can just leave my credit line right where it is."

"Oh no," the voice on the other end of the line said, "I'm sorry that's not possible, it's now policy to reduce down your credit line." At this point I turned from the polite person I usually am on the phone to....well....lets just say I wasn't green but you wouldn't like me very much when I'm angry. I tersely asked for a supervisor and of course there was none to be had. I was informed the supervisor would get back to me with in 48 hours.

48 hours??? Are you kidding me? What terrible customer service!

So of course, I broadcast my frustration over facebook first. I expressed how pissed off I was at this particular bank, and then elaborated that I was ready to pull all 6 of my accounts. In a matter of minutes I received 20 comments agreeing with me that they are the worst bank out there.

I then tweeted the same thing. Then went one step further and tweeted: (bank) if you do any social media monitoring and care what a customer of 22 years has to say, then step up.

In less than an hour I got a tweet from their "help" department. I DM'd them my displeasure. When they asked for more personal details like phone, zip etc. I said all I want is for the supervisor to call me back, all that information should be in my account.

Less than an hour later I got a call from someone in the "Office of the CEO" at first I was thinking yeah right, anyone could look up my phone number with a little detective work and claim that. But he picked up the comments in my file and knew exactly what was going on. He proceeded to say that, "You of all people, working in the industry that you do, should understand what banks have been going through." That was it, that set off the powder keg and I told him what I really though about their banking policies toward builders.

I tried to hold my temper as I told him how his bank was responsible for practically putting my former employer out of business, that while we could sell a home like nobody's business, we couldn't build the damn things because they pulled the credit lines.

I proceeded to chide them for lumping all building companies in with a host of other issues that on close consideration could have been sorted out by anyone with half a brain to see the bank was making a poor decision. On my soap box I told him, "But no one wants to think any more, no one wants to make decisions. It's easier to just say 'No.' And that's what you are doing without consideration for each individual."

I was surprised. He immediately backed down and gave me what I wanted. I received a business credit line as well as had his assurance that they would not touch my personal credit line.

I was actually quite amazed. I achieved a minor victory through the power of Social Media. A regular "Supervisor" never would have had the authority this VP in the "Office of the CEO" had. And without my tweet I never would have reached that level.

Thanks twitter! Another triumph for Social Media.

Tickets are Onsale Now For Blue Gypsy Bluesfest!

2010-06-07T07:02:00.004-04:00

This month only, take advantage of the early bird special and save up to $20 on your tickets for the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest. We are putting on an amazing third party fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity and Natchel' Blues Network. Two great local charities in Hampton Roads. Make sure you come to the event of the season on September 25th at Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach. And enjoy local blues music provided by Bobby "BlackHat" Walters, The Michael Clark Band, and Jackie Scott & The Housewreckers. And Enjoy BBQ from Micks BBQ and Mojo Bones (And hopefully more if we can get our Battle of the BBQ idea to become a reality!)

For more information on the event please visit Blue Gypsy Bluesfest

I can't make this a reality on my own. We have sponsorship possibilities from $100-$5000 depending on the level of advertising and involvement you are looking for. Please check out our sponsorship packages and download a copy.

Event Registration Online for Blue Gypsy Bluesfest powered by Eventbrite

Blue Gypsy Bluesfest: "Battle of The BBQ" Bring it on!

2010-05-28T21:44:00.009-04:00

Blue Gypsy Inc is unconventional (And so is the Lead Gypsy) so why shouldn't Blue Gypsy Bluesfest be unconventional as well!

Most muli-band venues become a battle of the bands! Well how about we enjoy the bands, they get along fine, no need to fight... but instead we have a Battle of the BBQ? That's right "Battle of the BBQ" is on. Now I just need to get the restaurants to comply!

Since we're having the Bluesfest at Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach, an open airy atmosphere where we can let our hair down, bring in the beer trucks and enjoy the Blues, I was trying to come up with just the right food for the event. A BBQ just seems appropriate for a party on the farm. But remember, this is for charity folks. Habitat for Humanity of South Hampton Roads and Nachel' Blues Network dedicated to the preservation of the Blues in Hampton Roads will be receiving 50% of the proceeds from the event.

In order to try to get as much money as possible to the charities I'd like to put a challenge out there to local restaurants that feature BBQ on their menus. I'd like to invite you to tantalize us with your tastes, razzle dazzle us with your ribs, roast your pigs, pour on the potato salad - bring it on! The more the merrier! And I know your BBQ expertise will complement the amazing talents of our bands: Bobby "BlackHat" Walters, Jackie Scott & the Housewreckers, and the Michael Clark Band. Three local favorites and help us draw in the crowds on September 25ht at Hunt Club Farm.

We'll feature each restaurant who participates in the event on our website, in our advertising, and anywhere else we can get your name out...we're hoping for some radio and magazine coverage as well. And of course we'll write blogs about you and tweet about you from @bluegypsyinc and @gypsealeah. You just bring the food.

Our judges will be comprised of our top level sponsors, who will also be featured in the "Battle of the BBQ" and any advertising associated with our savory competition.

So bring it on BBQ Masters in Hampton Roads! Contact me at leahATbluegpsyincDOTcom if you want to be involved in this great event for charity and our "Battle of the BBQ!"

Checking Out The International Building Scene: Costa Rica!

2010-05-26T23:02:00.010-04:00

"I'll go with you!"

As soon as my Realtor friend, Dawn Miller, said she was going to Costa Rica to check out some new homes communities for her international real estate business, those were the words that immediately flew out of my mouth. "I'll go with you!"

If you read my travel blog, you'd know I've been going through major travel withdrawal, and so the idea of taking a business trip to Costa Rica sent me packing. But in reality I'd love to find a way to combine my passion for travel with my expertise in lead management.

I was glad Dawn let me invite myself along.

While we investigated property in three different area's along the Pacific cost of Costa Rica ideas began to peculate.

It seems that while real estate in general has taken a hit in the last couple of years there are still people ready willing and able for a variety of reasons to purchase land overseas.

As we spoke with each developer, builder and real estate agent we heard many say that their experience with foreign buyers, and Americans in particular, was that many desire to move their money out of the country at this point in time. They cited reasons which included a perceived insecurity in the financial structures or the government in general.

Costa Rica seems more than happy to accommodate this urge by creating a number of investment opportunities. You can find properties in the hundred thousands to the millions and we saw the entire range during our trip. Anything from a very basic condo investments to homes that are built with multiple sections that can be rented out separately to capture the tourist rental market.

In several of the upscale condo and single family home communities we visited the craftsmanship and quality was incredible. And while there were hundreds of developments to choose from we managed to find some of the best. With the hundreds of developments all over Costa Rica it is impossible to know the reputation of them all.

We were impressed with the developments we viewed.

Many give back to the country by building schools and contributing back to communities. Since Costa Rica is a very Eco tourism minded country, there were also many green practices employed in both building the homes and creating the communities.

After working with builders for the past 4 years I feel I have a good eye for quality and craftsmanship and I was blown away by some of the beautiful details. I saw amazing finishes and features such as bamboo ceilings, hand sculpted metalwork railings, custom closets, private pools and endless outdoor verandas to take advantage of the views.

As we chatted with both the developers representatives as well as locals it became quickly apparent that it is important to go with established developers with a proven track record and one who is well established with in the area.

We heard stories of beautiful entry ways, slick brochures, and "bargain" pricing. Many investors have learned the hard way that if it sounds too good to be true... then it must be too good to be true.

We were impressed with the track record, the building quality and the environmental and philanthropic nature of all of the developments we visited.

If you are planning on investing in foreign countries, it can be a great way to create a vacation spot, retirement location, or simple investment for yourself. Finding someone who knows the right developments, the right real estate agents, and the right builders overseas is key in protecting that intended investment.

Singing The Facebook Security Blues in Costa Rica

2010-05-18T20:43:00.006-04:00

Facebook's silly new security measures at work....to hinder work.

I'm on a business trip in Costa Rica right now and ironically facebook shut me out of my own account....

Let me explain.

As I was passing time in the Charlotte Airport on Saturday before my flight out to Costa Rica I came across a rant by a friend about facebook's security policies and making it difficult for business owners. I really didn't give it much thought as I read about their new policy to help you secure your locations so that others won't be able to sign in on your account and wreak havoc.

The point is to keep people out of your account and allow you to register a computer as one that you use. I didn't think this would be a problem for me since I was traveling with my laptop and hoping to have internet in most places we were visiting. But sure enough day one and the internet in the room was down. Though it wasn't a problem to use the computer in reception for some simple work, and quick email checks. Facebook was an entirely different story.

When I tried to pull up facebook just to do a little catch up, it decided to employ its new security measures and asked me to identify "Friends" in pictures that it randomly chose from the 502 people I network with on facebook.

Hello! I use facebook not only to keep in touch with friends and family and reconnect with old high school friends but I also use it to network with countless real estate professionals. I can't identify them in some picture from a family vacation or bungy jumping off a bridge? And even some of my best friends don't look easily identifiable in a blurry picture with 5 people hanging around them that I'd never know in a million years. Are you kidding me?

So I was denied access to my own account.

Come on facebook! You must know that we use this for business and you must know there are some pretty crappy pictures online.

Good idea in theory, but as it seems with most facebook roll-outs, they aren't very thought out. And most of the time they seem to miss the mark.

Crazy Facebook Fan Pages: Why Do You "Like" Them?

2010-05-07T12:32:00.005-04:00

There are all kinds of crazy fan pages, or "like" pages as they now seem to be, popping up on facebook.

To me a lot of them seem like time wasters and I'm not really understanding the point of them.

I see people liking crazy things like:

We Will Be The Old Ladies Causing Trouble At The Nursing Home
Don't give up on God because he never gave up on you...:)
I Would Love To Repeatedly Smash Your Face With A Brick
I Wish Mosquitos Sucked Fat Not Blood
'Let's eat Grandma.' or, 'Lets eat, Grandma!' Punctuation saves lives.
Reading Someone's Status and Thinking "Oh Shut The Hell Up!"
Can this poodle wearing a tin foil hat get more fans than Glen Beck?
SLAP! "KEEP YO HANDS OFF MY MAMMA, KEEP YO HANDS OFF MY DORITOS"
Intelligent, classy, well-educated women who say F*ck a lot
I love you but I want to smash your head against a wall
IF I SPOKEN TO MY PARENTS HOW KIDS TALK NOW DAYS I'D BEEN KNOCKED OUT
Dear sleep I know we had problems when I was younger but now I love you
If You can't afford 20% tip don't go out to eat, Period
OMG I need a glass of wine or I'm gonna sell my kids
Yes I'm a badass that's why you love me

My question is what is the draw of these pages? What kind of interaction are you really getting out of all these things? Is it because they are funny and they give you a laugh? Give me some feedback on why you would or would not "like" a page? Does it bother you that it gives these page administrators the access to email you whenever they want through facebook? If they post often it clutters your feed. So what is the draw?

Realtors: Should You Push Your Listings on Facebook and Twitter?

2010-05-06T09:15:00.007-04:00

Are twitter and facebook the best places to push out your listings? If all I ever did was talk about my travels around the world, people would shut their ears, roll their eyes, and walk away.

If people can't identify with what you are doing they tend to filter it out. The same goes for listings on facebook and twitter.

I've noticed one local brokerage puts out listings only on twitter, and they do it in bunches, which makes it easy to skip over everything they write. Nothing catches my eye because they are only posting listings.

I know they sell houses, they are a brokerage. So tell me why I want to buy houses from you. What kinds of services do you offer...other than selling houses? About 50% of the people I follow sell houses so how are you different?

Should you post listings on facebook and twitter? I say no....and yes. But you have to know the right way to do it, the right time to do it and the right quantity. I'm writing this post because I follow a number of builders, brokers, and real estate agents. While yes, I am an affiliated business, I am also a consumer. And certain aspects about pushing listings feel like spam to me.

I don't think the majority of home shoppers go to twitter and facebook to view listings. I think they are there to socialize, especially in the case of facebook. And while there is a social aspect to twitter, it is also a place to go for articles, current events, new ideas and networking. I don't often go there to look for things to buy. And that includes homes.

If you do indeed have buyers following you, they do so because they want to learn more about who you are. They want to know if your company has a philosophy. Does it have a personality? Does it have good information? Is it funny and fun? Is it serious and professional? They want to know why they should buy from you, not what you are selling.

If I want to buy things (other than homes) I go to Craigslist, amazon.com, ebay, or the website that will most likely carry the item I'm looking to purchase. (This goes for homes)

Facebook and twitter are there to build a rapport with your potential buyer, not push your products down their throats 24-7. As you build relationships people will naturally be curious about what you sell and what you do.

Does this mean you can never post a listing or anything about what you are selling? Of course not! But you need to do it in a way that is appealing.

Here are just a few ideas on how to put your listings out without it feeling like you are pushing your listings at me:

Check out this video of our brand new listing 4 blocks from the beach!
Isn't this a beautiful view for your next new home?
Only 3 homes left in the last phase of (insert community name here) if you know anyone looking for a new home let me know! I'm here to help.
I have 3 wonderful families who have just signed me on to list their houses, if you know anyone looking for a new home send them to this link (insert link here)
Hey friends, I know you know I'm a real estate agent, but did you know that (x) number of my last listings have sold in (y) number of days or less? If you have friends who are trying to sell there homes I'd be glad to see what I can do!
We have the best selection of homes located minutes from (insert point of interest here) the if you, or anyone you know is looking tell them to check out this link.
I'm off to show an amazing home today in the $230's. Check out this virtual tour!
Know anyone looking for a home in (insert area name here) ? I've got several ready to go between (insert price range)
Look at these amazing pictures I just took at my new listing!
Wouldn't you like to call this your next home? (insert picture here)

Okay it's obvious I can go on, and on and on. When I see listings like this, even though I'm not even shopping for a new home, I'm more likely to click the link and may even find that I know someone that might be interested.

So can you use twitter and facebook to post your listings....sometimes. As long as it's not the only thing you talk about.

If you only ever talk about the same thing in the same way on twitter or facebook you are so easily tuned out and you won't even know it. Just like the local broker I follow on twitter. If all I ever did was talk about my travels around the world, people would roll their eyes and walk away. But if I save the tidbits for the right moment then it catches people's attention.

Question: Who Wears The Pants in The Home Shopping Process? Answer: The Buyer!

2010-05-02T19:20:00.007-04:00

I've been shopping some builder websites for an international project I'm working on. Perhaps I'll finally be able to combine both my love of travel and my love of selling houses, but more to come on that later.

It amazes me how much money is obviously put into some of these websites, yet they aren't getting their money back out. So far I'm on 72 hours out, and no follow up off of 3 different foreign builder's websites.

The shopping process that I use made me think of a recent blog post on Mike Lyon's site, Do You Convert. I was reading a guest blog post by his wife, the decision maker when it comes to buying a new home.

Mike's family is not unusual. In the home shopping realm women are usually the decision makers in the family even if ultimately the final decision is made together. That means women are the ones on the front line looking at all the information before the family ever leaves the house in order to narrow down the choices. They are shopping by elimination. And there is a huge list of reasons you, as a home builder, or even as a real estate agent, may be eliminated before the in person shopping even starts.

Is ignorance bliss? Not in this case, you should know what you are doing to be eliminated so that you can correct it. Don't you want a better chance at gaining a buyer?

Here is an important quote from Cori Lyon in Mike's latest blog post, "If I’m looking for a new home, I will search online for home builders, check out their website-focusing on floor plans, price ranges and locations. I choose services and products based on the website. I have two kids and not much time. If the site is confusing, I won’t stick with it to figure it out. If the information I need isn’t on the site, the chances of me calling to find out the basics are slim to none."

It's not just busy mom's who won't spend much time unraveling your website, it's also busy executives, and anyone (read everyone) who leads a busy lifestyle.

If you lock all your important information behind a permission based form, people will not take the time to fill that out. They will move on to the next site that has more information and less hoops to jump through in order to find what they are looking for.

Cori also goes on to say, "Most importantly- follow up- it really does work. If I contact you, I want to hear from you. AND I will remember you. I will go about my day- think of a question to ask you, forget that question and then I get an email from you and BAM, I remember."

If there is one important piece of information to take away from this post, it would be follow up. People go about their busy lives looking at a thousand things online ever day. If they actually bother to fill out information on your site that means they are interested to some degree. If you do not have a system in place to handle that inquiry immediately you are losing out to the guy selling the same thing, who does follow up.

If you want to be in the running for people's business the simplest way to do so is to follow up. Such an easy thing in theory, yet in practice it seems to be a major element lacking in even the best of businesses out there.

Key points here:

Busy people shop online!
Don't have a confusing site
Don't make them have to call to get information they need
Don't forget the floor plans
Don't lock away your important information behind a form
Follow up, follow up, follow up

While for the most part it is the woman who wears the pants in the home shopping process, it's important for builders to remember that it is the buyers who ultimately wear the pants and it is their needs you are trying to satisfy with your online presence. If you're not hitting the key points buyers are looking for, you are losing out to someone who is.

This holds true whether you are selling $100,000 town homes for first time buyers, or million plus vacation retreats in tropical locations. People will begin their process online. And if you don't have the information they are looking for you may be eliminated before you even knew you were in the running.

Buyer's Market Misconception

2010-04-24T14:02:00.007-04:00

Here is the gist of a current phone conversation I had with a potential buyer exhibiting a total lack of understanding as to what the term buyer's market really means.

The phone rings on an evening after 9:00 pm.

Me: "Thank you for calling our builder today, my name is Leah, how may I help you?"

Caller: "I'm looking at your community online and I want a 1 story house."

Me: "Great, we do have homes with a downstairs master, however there are no ranch style homes being built in that community. And who am I speaking with?"

Caller: Already has annoyance in his voice, "We don't want an upstairs, we live in that right now and we don't use the upstairs in our home." (Purposely still leaving out his name since it's okay to be anonymous on the phone at 9pm especially if you are about to pick a fight with someone who is just trying to help you with the call you have made.)

Me: "Oh, okay tell me what area you live in right now."

Caller: "We live in Suffolk."

Me: "I see, well, are you strictly looking in Virginia Beach or would you be interested in something out in Suffolk. Since we do have some homes in Suffolk that may fit your needs better."

Caller: "Just Virginia Beach." Terse response.

Me: "Great what price range would you like to be in?"

Caller: "We don't want to go higher than the mid $300's."

Me: "Well I wish we could help you, we do have a ranch style home in a custom community in the $500's but that won't fit your price range."

Caller: With indignant sound in his voice, "If I wanted to pay that much for a home I wouldn't pay it for a vinyl home, it would have to be brick."

Me: Well you can find brick ranch style homes in the resale market in Virginia Beach in your price point. But you aren't going to find new. With the cost of land it's more expensive now to build ranch style homes as they need larger lots, than it is to build a 2-story. The older homes you see were built at a time when land was not at a premium and builders could afford to build 1 story homes."

Caller: "Well I don't want any of the resale homes that are in that area, in that price point they all need a lot of work and updating." Now this line was spoken to me as if *Duh* I'm an idiot. We don't want what we can afford, we want what we want and we want you to give it to us.

Me: "We'll that's the trade off in trying to find something in that price point, in that area, and in that home style...I'm not sure that I know any new home builders in the area that can meet your requirements unless you are in the 55 and up age range."

Caller: (Now very annoyed with me because we don't build what he wants.) "I'm not that old, and I know what I want and why should I buy something I don't want..."

Me: At this point I'm thinking, really what can I do for you...I've politely told him we don't have what he's looking for..."I really do wish I could help you but we just don't build what you are looking for. I wish you luck on your home search and if your parameters should change please feel free to contact me."

Caller: "Nothing is going to change about what I'm looking for." (Unreasonable annoyance in his voice.)

Me: "If you'd like me to put you in touch with a resale agent to help you find the ranch you are looking for in Virginia Beach, I'd be glad to refer you to someone."

Caller: *Click*

Me: To empty phone line. "Thank you very much for rudely hanging up on me when all I'm doing is trying to help you out with the call you made to me....." (Sometimes you need that last satisfying line to end a rude conversation...even if you are talking to the air.)

It's conversations like these that make me realize buyers don't understand what a buyer's market means.

It's doesn't mean that it's open season on sales agents.
It doesn't mean you can throw all common courtesy out the window just because you want what you want when you want it.
It doesn't mean that you can pout and cry and get your way.
They don't understand that in order to stay in business there is a fair price for everything.
They don't understand that no amount of bullying will eventually get them their way when what they are looking for doesn't exist.
Just because you think something should be available and cost a certain price doesn't mean that's so.

Anyway, just an example of buyers market misconceptions and how not to treat someone trying to help you over the phone at any hour of the day or night.

Conquering FBML for the Novice: Like Hiking in the Himalayas

2010-04-20T09:15:00.012-04:00

I've checked off one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2010!

Yes I put together a short list of things I wanted to get more involved in in 2010 both for myself and for my business. I have started playing around with two of the three. First off I've been playing around a little bit, but not enough, with video email and not enough with video blogs....I don't feel as comfortable on camera as I do typing and I know I need to get over it.

But I've made amazing headway with FBML! I wanted to learn how to create those cool landing pages on facebook fan pages, so of course I used Blue Gypsy Inc as a guinea pig!

I created this snazzy new landing page! (Click the image and it will take you to the fan page layout so you can see the whole thing)

Now I'm not a code writer, I'm like HTML what?!?! And so FBML is even more WHAT!?! I'm really not a technically inclined person when it comes to computers, but I play one on TV.

Yet I managed to create this landing page with many moving parts. There's a YouTube video in there, there's a link back to my email database program and I've embedded it all over top of my signature photograph along with text and hot links back to my website.

There were many hours of frustration while working on this project. It often reminded me of hiking in the high mountains of Nepal. There were times when I was putting one foot in front of the other and asking myself why I was doing this. (In the case of the landing page I could have paid a lot of people to do it, and not have bothered myself)

But as with the hike in Nepal, when I'd take a moment to sit down on the rock, take a look at the views, and reflect upon where I was and what I was accomplishing, I was pretty proud to be me.

It's easy to pay people to do things for you, and there are times when it's warranted. But I was not just on a quest to have a facebook landing page, but also to have the experience of creating one myself.

Insomnia Plus Creativity Lights a Viral Spark

2010-04-14T10:08:00.007-04:00

Sometimes insomnia can be a good thing.

Many creative people are up in the wee hours of the morning working on projects and ideas. lately I've had so many ideas and projects floating around my head, I find it hard to sleep.

Recently one of my mentors sent me a twitter DM saying, "You do not sleep because you are full of ideas that have feet attached to them."

So it was no surprise that when my friend Sonya Schweitzer AKA SocialSonya, posted a free cool tool, Google Search Stories, all the night owls were off and running. Sonya's post took on a viral nature as people created stories about themselves, their businesses, and their interests all easily found on Google.

This is what Sonya posted which got us all off and running.

As soon as I saw the video my reaction was, "Wow that's COOL!" I want to make one! And of course I followed the information to the free program to make one, or two, okay maybe three of my own!

Here's my favorite!

But then my next question was...okay very cool, here's my 35 seconds of fame but how can I use it? Well here are just a few ideas I came up with:

Intro to other YouTube videos for your company or brand
Add it to an email you are sending to introduce yourself or your business
Use it as part of an overall email marketing campaign
Punch some life into a static website
It's fun at parties "Hey look at me..."

Okay so these are just a few ideas off the top of my head, but how would you use it?

My Twitter Stream: One Long Game Of Foursquare

2010-04-14T09:26:00.006-04:00

My local twitter stream is turning into one big foursquare stream....

The other day a friend of mine said, now you have an iphone it's your obligation to use every form of social media out there. I know she was totally kidding, but I do think that this foursquare is a bit over kill.

I used to go to my twitter stream to look for great articles, news happening, and to have a few conversations. But now it seems like the majority of what I see is, "I'm here, I'm there...."

As of today I'm still a 4 square hold out. I don't get the thrill... if I want to let you know where I am I can without logging in on 4 square and I don't need to tell you where I am 6 times a day.

And if I did, I'd be mayor of my couch as I sit here working.

The Three Rules of Bartending: Two Easily Apply To Social Networking

2010-04-11T14:26:00.004-04:00

There are three rules to Bartending. Don't talk about politics, don't talk about sports, and don't talk about religion.

Back in my previous life as a bartender, before I traveled around the world and then landed in real estate, these three rules were golden. When your life depends on tips from customers the last thing you want to do is to alienate someone. Inevitably people at the bar were going to talk about these things. But any good bartender knows, these are three taboo topics you don't want to get involved in, especially if you are going to take the opposite viewpoint.

IF you are going to break this rule, sports is the safest rule to break as it has the least "values" rooted emotions attached to the subject out of the big three. (But don't get me wrong it is still a highly volatile topic for some)

Now of course there's always the option to pick whichever favored party, belief, or team the group is talking about but then you have two problems. One; usually there is always a debate going on so inevitably you will disgruntle someone. And two; if you have integrity you can't just step in on the other side of your own belief system just to make a little extra cash.

I think in social networking (now this is just my opinion and some may share it and some may chuck it) one should be very introspective when deciding to express political or religious views. If your purpose for social networking is to gain clients and build a community around your brand, product, services or goods then you may want to be aware that your publicly expressed views could cost you business.

If your brand is your politics or religion then that's a completely different story. You are trying to only find like minded people to share your views and opinions so then you are using social media absolutely correctly in that sense. But if it's not...then you may close off a whole segment of the population who otherwise may have been interested in what you are selling.

Unless your goal is to only sell and retain a clientele that conforms to your political and religious views, you may want to think twice about expressing them in public forums.

I reserve these types of discussions and debates for friends. Not colleagues and not potential clients. Though I've been known to get into these kinds of debates with total strangers in far flung countries, but I wasn't trying to sell anything. A friend usually will forgive you for not sharing their beliefs, the rest could cost you a sale.

You've already got a lot of things to juggle in order to be successful in the current economy, why add something else?

Slow Economy Shouldn't Equal Slow Response Time

2010-04-07T13:12:00.007-04:00

Just answer the phone. Just send an email!

Do you ever get frustrated when you aren't getting quick answers to your questions?

Well think of how your customers feel when the same thing happens to them.

Do you know why, as an online sales consultant, I have so many people thanking me for my quick response to their questions? It's because I do just that... I RESPOND! It's an interesting world we live in. Everything is break neck speed instant gratification. The internet and our mobile society have made it so easy to get quick answers.

But sometimes, just sometimes, you can't find what you are looking for and you need someone to tell you over the phone or in an email.

If you have to wait too long you lose interest and move on to the next person who might be able to answer your question. Does that sound familiar?

If you are like that what makes you think your customers aren't. Yet time and again, I am either shopping businesses, or just plain need information for what I'm working on, and a common theme runs through. Lack of customer service. Lack of attention to the client inquiry. If you don't hook 'em on the inquiry, why do you think they are going to want to do business with you?
And did I mention personal response?

An auto responder is only okay if you are using it to tell people you will be back with them shortly with a more detailed response to their question....and you really do get back to them with a more detailed response to their question! This folks is customer service. If your competition isn't paying attention you'll be able to one up them and win business.

The common mantra in business today seems to be slow economy. Slow economy shouldn't equal slow response.

You need to service the people who are still willing to play. That should mean that if you have fewer prospects, you are treating them all like gold as they walk through your virtual doors. Or pick up a phone to inquire about your goods and services.

If no one else is responding quickly all you have to do is respond and you'll have a much higher likelihood of gaining the business. Doesn't seem like a costly business plan now does it?

Let's Have A Party! Blue Gypsy Bluesfest

2010-03-31T07:46:00.008-04:00

I don't know if it's a mid life crisis or what, but the day before my 40th birthday (March 24th) I decided to give myself 6 months to throw the greatest real estate party Hampton Roads has ever seen!

Put September 25th on your calendars folks. (Even if you aren't in the real estate industry this party is going to be a lot of fun and you are welcome to attend!)

No it's not going to have real estate awards, it's not going to have a fancy meal, but it's going to be something that no other real estate networking event has ever thought of....it's going to be a Blues Festival! And it's going to be a family day. How often do real estate agents, affiliates and builders get to enjoy a Saturday off with the family? This will be one you won't want to miss.

I know folks, we've been singing the Real Estate Blues across the country for the last couple of years now. But you know what? Our market in Hampton Roads really isn't as bad as the really bad markets around the country. Let's celebrate it! Let's embrace it!

Yes I'm putting together a big blow out party. Blue Gypsy Bluesfest.

This will be a truly fun family day for real estate professionals, affiliates and builders. We're going to bring in local Blues talent with the help of Natchel Blues Network, a local non-profit preserving the Blues in Hampton Roads for 25 years.

And the best part is a portion of the proceeds will go to two great local charities, Habitat for Humanity and the Natchel Blues Network.

Mark your calendars for the 25th of September and stay tuned for more information as the event takes shape!

If you'd like to find out more about sponsoring the event, getting your name out there and your business attached to the Blue Gypsy Bluesfest while supporting 2 great local charities, please contact me through my website. (See the contact button up there?) You'll get 4 months of publicity in conjunction with the event.

No More Mad Dashes: And That's No Bull

2010-03-19T10:35:00.009-04:00

No more mad dashes to the office.

Well, my office is only upstairs, but whenever I heard the phone ring I was off and running. Nothing like answering the phone breathlessly, "May I help you." Unless of course your business is an adult chat line. But mine's not.

When I started up Blue Gypsy Inc, I knew one of the important aspects was to be able to answer the phone with the name of the builder or business I was representing. I did my research and found that 8x8 a voice over IP system was just what I needed. I was looking for several key feature:

I wanted to be able to create a separate voice mail for each line or business
I wanted to be able to forward the phone numbers to my cell
When forwarded I wanted to be able to see which business was being called
I wanted to be sure it did not go to my cell phone voice mail if I missed the call
I wanted to have the ability to add lines as I get more clients
I didn't want it to break the bank!

And that's what I found! 8x8 does all that and more. And each time I add a virtual line it doesn't cost me much and I have the ability to call all over the United States, the Caribbean, some parts of Europe and so much more at a flat monthly rate. (Far less than my cell phone costs and less than most land lines)

But I think the very best part about it's amazing customer service. If you read my blog at all you probably know two things about me, I'm not very technically savvy....but I'm trying to get better. And, my belief that customer service is the cornerstone of any great business. Well, I'm convinced, after spending about 2 hours on the phone with Hugo yesterday to get everything set up precisely how I need it in order to be able to run my business from ANYWHERE, that I chose the right company to handle the telephone side of my business. If not for the fact that they all have a sense of humor, personality and empathy when they deal with me and my problems.

This phone system is one of the tools that makes my new business much more user friendly and streamlined. And with the added bonus of easy forwarding I don't have to make a mad dash every time I hear the phone ring.

Down To The Wire: Ready To Launch - Geekette's Club March 24

2010-03-19T08:44:00.008-04:00

It's coming down to the wire! This time next week, we will be doing the final clean and moving to our new location in Northern Virginia. Hard to believe but so glad we live in such a mobile society.

When creating Blue Gypsy Inc, my goal was to set up a business that could be done from anywhere. Just the nature of Lead Management lends itself to our mobile society. I don't need to be in one place to answer questions and set appointments, and as long as I have a solid system and adhere to that system the business succeeds.

But the truth of the matter is I couldn't have gotten Blue Gypsy Inc off the ground without encouragement. I had the skills, the knowledge and the motivation, but by adding in encouragement, that was the catalyst to help move me forward into a new phase of life. From employee to business owner.

There are different levels of encouragement. There is the encouragement you get from your family, from your peers, and from your mentors. While there are many who fall into those categories for me, there is one person that stands out right now as she gets her own baby off the ground. My friend Sonya Schweitzer. Sonya helped push me out of my comfort zone to take a risk and start my own business.

Right now Sonya is embarking on an incredible business of her own called the Geekette's Club. The Geekette's Club is all about empowering women in technology and business.

It's not only for business owners but for any woman who feels intimidated by technology, has a thirst for learning, and desires to grow in an atmosphere of support. This club will be a dynamic membership club that will offer educational programs, book clubs, networking events and so much more and it is targeted toward the non-judgmental growth of women.

Come on ladies, you know there's a stereo type that women can't work together, that women are catty behind each others backs and that women have a hard time watching other women advance in their field. But this club is about debunking that myth. I have had many influential and supportive women in my life to help move me along in my personal and professional development in every chosen field I've tackled from bartending, to sailing and diving, in real estate, and now toward owning and operating my own business.

The support of these powerful and caring women have meant a lot to me, and that's why I'm so passionate about what the Geekette's Club will bring to women in the Hampton Roads Area. (And further afield as it continues to grow)

So as my days grow short in Hampton Roads and this Blue Gypsy is about to move yet again, please join me at Aloft Hotel on March 24th for the launch of this new business, the Geekette's Club. I'd love to say goodbye and encourage you to go for those goals and join an amazing group of supportive women to help move you along your journey.

Goals: You Can't Set It And Forget It!

2010-03-13T08:46:00.006-05:00

Goal setting is something I used to teach teenagers on sailboats in the summertime. Goals are important and more importantly they need to be attainable.

Most of the time it's about incremental changes to reach your goals, and it's about focusing on mini goals that help you reach the final target. It is so easy to make excuses on why we can't achieve our goals but really at the end of the day...they are excuses. I've been making excuses lately about why I can't stay on my diet and exercise plan.

"Just started Blue Gypsy, Inc. I don't have time to work out." "We're moving soon, my whole routine is thrown off." "My clients come first." "The day just got away from me." "It's genetic, both my parents are big." "I used to lead a more active lifestyle when I worked on boats." "I'm getting older, my metabolism is slowing down." Do any of these excuses sound familiar to you?

The thing is, here we are mid-March and I've abandoned my goals of 5 pounds a month because I've made these excuses to myself and put everything else before my health. But, I'll do better work for my clients, and have more clarity with my business, if, first, I take care of myself.

The other thing I know about myself is that I eat healthier when I write down everything I'm eating. Then I'm less likely to put needless junk in my mouth because I'm much more accountable to the list. "But I don't have time to write everything down..." Another excuse.

Lastly, I have a shelf full of great books on both my industry, New Home Sales, and my interests, Social Media and yet they never get more than a glance. "I don't have enough time to read a book." Sound familiar?

So I've employed my skills of multi-tasking and a few great tools to help me put the excuses on the shelf and get down to some personal business. I have a treadmill. I thought I had to run on it. Everyone says run if you want to lose weight. But you know what, I HATE running. But it elevates up to 40 degrees. I was in the best shape of my whole life after hiking in Nepal. So I set the treadmill on a slow steady uphill pace and walk...for an hour...and read a book...for an hour....and burn 500 calories.

It's tough, I'm sweating, I'm reading, and I'm burning, but best of all I feel that much better afterward and can focus for the rest of the day. And because of my new iphone I have an ap now (thanks to a friend who was telling me I was making excuses) called Lose It! Where I can log all the food I eat and the exercise I do and it calculates the calories I need to burn in order to lose the weight I want at the rate I want to "Lose it!"

Goals are important, and if you can achieve your work goals but not your personal goals then you aren't balancing your life. I find that I'm a workaholic and focus on those work goals no problem, but when it comes to myself, I fall short. The secret is balancing both of those things for a happy life.

With goals, you can't just set it and forget it! Have you let anything slip since your New Years resolutions? Okay I'm off to grab a book and climb a mountain.