Today’s fast-moving society and the slow pace of yesterday have similar goal setting strategies.

In both cases, business owners must survey the landscape to convince prospects to become clients.

The big difference today is that the Internet acts as a powerful magnet, drawing thousands of followers to your virtual spaces through this online portal.

Here are 10 ways to organize your online success strategy and achieve your goals.

1. Register your personal name or business/brand name on social media programs. This step prepares you to announce posts, send tweets, and also keep cyber squatters or others with similar names from grabbing your identity.

2. Research popular keywords in your industry. You’ll be amazed at what search engine users type to find your products and services, and knowing these words and phrases empowers you to add them within your Web site to attract visitors and rise in search engine ranking.

3. Become familiar with analytics’ programs and the statistics you want to know most about new and returning visitors on your site and blog. These numbers uncover products and services with the best sales potential.

4. Gather testimonials to share and position as sales boosters.  Prospects who are prepared to become clients will do so willingly when they read opinions from current buyers. Place the testimonials on your site’s home page and order page, and share them with social media followers.

5. Create a list of three to five-minute videos for monthly distribution. Some site visitors will absorb and appreciate written content, while others will become frequent followers by watching your informational videos. Make sure your social media registrations, mentioned above in No. 1, include enrollment on YouTube.com to host videos on their site and yours.

6. Prepare to establish your brand through a Facebook fan page. This free promotional space allows you to market while encouraging feedback from followers. The page also includes options for marketing on other online properties you own.

7. Sign up for Google Alerts and Yahoo! Alerts. Why re-invent business planning when you can learn, through alerts that arrive in your Email box, how companies in your industry get promoted and distribute their marketing messages?

8. Plan to distribute a weekly online newsletter. Subscribers aren’t willing to read about buying what you sell; they want to know how to solve problems. Such information is delivered through storytelling that pairs what you offer with achieving success in less time. Make this the center of your newsletter, and you’ll gain loyalty and rewards.

9. Check competitors’ Web sites for strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what they offer and gauging each sites’ popularity helps you to create an online presence that visitors will select more often as their industry choice.

10. Subscribe to HARO. Three times every weekday, Peter Shankman’s Help A Reporter Out puts you in touch with journalists and other broadcasters searching for newspaper quotes, radio guests, book interviews, and more, all to get your brand name the widest distribution possible in media circles.

My topic, Guerrilla Marketing to Increase Online Sales, is a popular keynote presentation requested by conference organizers, meeting planners, and business groups.

Contact my representative through this link to bring me to your next event. Attendees will thank you for my presentation.

© 2008-2009 Shirley George Frazier. All rights reserved. Shirley George Frazier is a popular professional speaker who delivers insightful information on stage to business, college, consumer, and trade show audiences. She's author of several books, including The Smart Students' Guide Series and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today. Visit ShirleySpeaks.com to learn how to bring Shirley to your next event.

Now that school has started for millions of children and young adults worldwide, is it also time to extend and enhance your own education?

Traditional schools are a familiar option. In my area, 12 community colleges and universities can be reached by car in times between five minutes and one hour. But these schools aren’t always accessible, especially if you’re a busy entrepreneur. Thankfully, more options exist.

What business owners want to achieve today is concentrated learning to understand technology, increase their software knowledge, and expand skills specific to their industries.

This is also my focus. Frequent travel to speak in regions outside of my home state leaves me little time to sit in a classroom. Like many of you, I enjoy the face-to-face interaction as well as the networking opportunities with like-minded people before and after class. Time simply does not allow for the traditional environment.

Education centers that increase and expand your knowledge are available online, and most times, the courses are free of charge. Here’s where I find great classes.

Hewlett-Packard

HP offers eight learning categories, including home office, photography, Microsoft office products, and graphic arts.

These non-credit classes are led by an instructor but are self paced so that you can learn each lesson on your own schedule. There’s also a forum for each class where you can interact with other students.

Sony

Courses, videos, articles, and tutorials come together in Sony’s BackStage 101 Learning Center.

Although the four categories listed focus on and around technology, you can apply desktop, video, and more courses to all areas of your life.

U.S. Small Business Administration

Here you’ll find 10 categories of business, marketing, finance, and other topics essential to your success.

According to the site, each course requires registration (it makes sense that the SBA gathers statistics) and will only take 30 minutes of time to complete.

Now you know about three online portals where you’ll advance your skills and have no excuse to not go to school.

Conference, college, and company meeting planners frequently request my business and educational topics for their employees, students, and association members. Contact me through this page or call 973-279-2799 to schedule a seminar or workshop. It’ll be one of your easiest events and also one that the audience will always remember.

© 2008-2009 Shirley George Frazier. All rights reserved. Shirley George Frazier is a popular professional speaker who delivers insightful information on stage to business, college, consumer, and trade show audiences. She's author of several books, including The Smart Students' Guide Series and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today. Visit ShirleySpeaks.com to learn how to bring Shirley to your next event.

Social media tools may terrify you for one reason: there’s so much of it on the Internet that it’s difficult to decide what’s right for you and what’s not beneficial for your life or business.

I share the same anxieties, but rather than be completely terrified, I move forward to learn about new tools, similar to the way a baseball outfielder runs toward a ball.

There’s no getting past what’s coming at you; it’s either go after technology and familiarize yourself with it, or be left in the outfield, bewildered and out of the loop.

Here’s a quick tipsheet to consult with basic moves to make when something suddenly becomes the new IT tool.

1. Consult the program’s “What is it?” page, which may be termed with these three words or something similar to learn about the tool’s reason for creation.

2. Read trusted blogs to learn what popular bloggers are saying about it. You’ll find these individuals uncovering more about the tool than what is explained on the “What is it?” page, and visitors’ comments will also reveal ideas you may not have considered.

3. Subscribe to or register for the program if you believe it may be of benefit now or in the future. It’s smart to sign up with your name to, at a minimum, claim and protect your identity.

4. Do nothing, at least for now, if you find no reason to integrate the tool in your daily business or personal life. It’s okay to register and then wait until you are more clear about how to promote whatever you represent.

5. Monitor what the Internet and traditional media are reporting about the program. If reasons to begin including it in your everyday activities start becoming more apparent, you’ll already have an identity to sign in and join the community.

Like you, there are times when I wonder if burying my head in the sand is easier than getting on board to learn another social media tool. But consider this: making connections online is much easier and expansive than attempting to attend conventions, conferences, and meetings worldwide.

Why not include social media tools in your life and let audiences come to you?
Contact my assistant, Emma, at 973-279-2799, to bring me to your event, or Email her through the contact form. Everyone will thank you for a great presentation.

© 2008-2009 Shirley George Frazier. All rights reserved. Shirley George Frazier is a popular professional speaker who delivers insightful information on stage to business, college, consumer, and trade show audiences. She's author of several books, including The Smart Students' Guide Series and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today. Visit ShirleySpeaks.com to learn how to bring Shirley to your next event.

Staying positive during a down economy is difficult, especially if you allow the media to convince you that your future is all gloom and doom.

Entrepreneurs that I coach, operating small and large businesses, understand the circumstances, but more importantly, they see a very bright future in the short term for their businesses. How does each of them stay focused?

They:

1. Develop products and services required now and 10 years from now. The chosen programs are customizable, changed with minimum effort to accommodate clients. Programs that don’t match this requirement are shelved for additional review.

2. Meet clients for breakfast or lunch. Speaking with loyal customers in a casual environment allows them to uncover how best to serve clients now and later. The investment cost is minimal while the relationship-building strategy is immeasurable.

3. Continue their self development through education. Every conference is not within every budget, so the events that combine world-class marketing information with opportunities to network with speakers and like-minded business owners are given high priority.

This is the blueprint that business owners worldwide follow to guarantee that their marketing plans match long-term objectives.

Scheduling one of my marketing seminars right now for your organization will keep employees and members focused on productivity and strategic goals. Best of all, they’ll see a positive difference in outcomes, and so will you.

Contact my assistant, Emma, at 973-279-2799, to bring me to your event, or Email her through the contact form. Everyone will thank you for a great presentation.

© 2008-2009 Shirley George Frazier. All rights reserved. Shirley George Frazier is a popular professional speaker who delivers insightful information on stage to business, college, consumer, and trade show audiences. She's author of several books, including The Smart Students' Guide Series and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today. Visit ShirleySpeaks.com to learn how to bring Shirley to your next event.

How can you escape all of the buzz around online social media and its impact on strong business and personal relationships?

It’s nearly impossible, especially if the Internet is part of your success plan.

On the flip side, the number of social media tools can make your head spin. Everyone’s talking about the ones they favor, but which options will create a funnel of business rather than a torrent of wasted time?

Message boards (forums) and blogs were first on the landscape, though they appeared before the phrase “social media” was coined. Then came (in alphabetical order):

There are more, but these are most prominent. My seminar, 10 Ways to Market Your Business with Social Media, uncovers how small and solo firms turn online followers into loyal fans that buy often and refer friends. You’ll save lots of time and hair tearing once you understand how to navigate these tools for business success.

Social media programs have lots to offer, but it’s impossible to participate in all of them with the same success rate. Two or three at most will serve your needs. What’s critical is that you examine each one to decide which will be beneficial and time saving.

One task that may be wise, no matter which programs become your favorites, is to register your identity on each one. That identity will be your name or business name, whichever is most important to claim. From there, you can bookmark your page and develop it over time or simply monitor it for connection requests from other participants.

I find myself leaning more towards Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Visit my pages through the above links. If you’re not yet part of these programs, review my pages and consider them as a blueprint to create your own.

Contact my bureau today and schedule the 10 Ways to Market Your Business with Social Media seminar for your group or conference. I promise to make the ideas and information painless and profitable. You’ll laugh at the end, wondering why you hadn’t explored social media earlier.

© 2008-2009 Shirley George Frazier. All rights reserved. Shirley George Frazier is a popular professional speaker who delivers insightful information on stage to business, college, consumer, and trade show audiences. She's author of several books, including The Smart Students' Guide Series and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today. Visit ShirleySpeaks.com to learn how to bring Shirley to your next event.

Whenever I buy a major appliance, I receive a thank-you note and business card from the sales rep.

It’s a small gesture that I expect when buying a product that’s worth more than a $300 investment.

It’s also a technique that rarely occurs when I make purchases from other stores, specialty or otherwise.

This is the main reason why clients will return to you and refer others to your products and services more often than to competitors.

Sending a thank-you note is so easy that it’s a wonder why most companies don’t express appreciation more often. Some business owners continue taking customers for granted, or they simply never learned how to properly close the sale.

Expressing your thanks in writing is a habit to make part of your daily business life.

Here are two more ways to give thanks:

1. Birthday Cards. Send one with a coupon for a dollar amount or percentage off any order during the birthday month. This is what cable shopping shows send me to acknowledge my birthday. Collect your clients’ birth months, and send cards to those proven buyers to get more sales.
2. Gift Cards. These cards, available through most retailers and credit card firms, cost pennies in relation to the goodwill that positive affects business. Clients who purchase a specific dollar amount in sales, such as $75 or more, could be your targets for this program. It’s a thoughtful and business-building product to consider.

Showing appreciation by saying “thanks” elevates the clients’ perception of your firm and provides incentive to continue choosing your service when their ready for help.

[tags]small business marketing, solo business marketing, client appreciation tips[/tags]

© 2008-2009 Shirley George Frazier. All rights reserved. Shirley George Frazier is a popular professional speaker who delivers insightful information on stage to business, college, consumer, and trade show audiences. She's author of several books, including The Smart Students' Guide Series and Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today. Visit ShirleySpeaks.com to learn how to bring Shirley to your next event.