Shirley George Frazier

Five Easy Tips to Bring Social Media Tools into Your Business Life

Shirley George Frazier — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:33:12 +0000

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.

Three Marketing Steps You Can Accomplish Now

Shirley George Frazier — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:03:32 +0000

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.

Adding Social Media to Your Marketing Mix

Shirley George Frazier — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:30:27 +0000

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):

De.li.ci.ous

Digg

Facebook

MySpace

Plurk

Ryze

Twitter

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.

A Success Formula for Returning Students

Shirley George Frazier — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:05:22 +0000

Speaking to students at high schools and colleges is one of my career’s highlights.

The ability to present ideas and information to young minds and the interaction with them after the event reminds me that there is still hope for the future.

Each time I’m invited to speak, I ensure that my presentations stay on track as I combine the topic with:

A history lesson based on the subject
Present trends that shape their lives and the world
How the music they love interacts with the subject

Becoming comfortable with new surroundings, both inside the classroom and with peers, are incredibly important to today’s students. I remember how critical it was when I was in school.

That comfort zone helped me to form great relationships that I still maintain today. Here’s the educational success formula I followed and discuss in the book, Smart Students’ Guide to…Successful Transition into College.

Immediately review the student handbook. This manual was created with you in mind, explaining campus procedures and identifying counselors who are there to assist you. The handbook smooths familiarity all around campus.

Find and join a group. Being part of an organization is one of the quickest ways to find lifelong friends. The group may be a fraternity or sorority, or it might cetner around music, sports, or science.Best of all, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded individuals while you learn about other positive traits you have in common.

Choose a study rhythm and stick with it. Do you study better on your own, or is a group setting more your style? Is it easier to retain test information while reviewing notes at night or first thing in the morning?Once you determine your study strengths and weaknesses, you’ll know when to concentrate for best results.

There are many more success formulas to share with your students, and I look forward to elevating their progress when I speak at your school. Email Emma to arrange a presentation.

How to Avoid Distractions in School and in Business

Shirley George Frazier — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:32:16 +0000

Who has the best widget, program, or software this week? I guarantee that no matter where you’re located, someone wants you to see the latest, greatest something, and if you try it once, the creator promises that it will change your life.

I’ve heard this claim hundreds of times while in college and operating a business. How about you? Very few times, if ever, has this claim positively altered my study practices or post-college goals. Three things have occurred in most cases:

Time drain while attempting to learn a process that took me back to the basics (what I had been doing)
Energy overload becoming enthused with a product that promised a positive result but did not deliver
Wasted money (if available for a fee) due to a convincing sales pitch

I’ll admit that some items do deliver, but many more are a distraction, delaying your arrival from the goal you want to reach.

Here are three methods I suggest to students or business owners when speaking at seminars throughout the world to determine if a new program is a distraction or good deal:

Ask yourself before opting in, “How will this item create a better experience from what I use now?”
Search for comments from other users. You’ll be able to tell the good reviews from those that are planted or mean spirited.
Compare the pros and cons with competitive options.

You’ll deal with many distractions throughout your life. Develop good habits now to make the best decisions as you sidestep your way to success.

Technorati Tags: college success tips, business success tips

Home-Based Gift Basket Book Introduction

Shirley George Frazier — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:15:24 +0000

How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, 4th edition, 281 pp.
by Shirley George Frazier
Copyright 2006, ISBN 978-0-7627-4177-9

Partial Excerpt

Picture this: After ten years of unquestioned loyalty, you march into the boss’s office to ask for a bonus.

It was you who brought in those new accounts that tripled the company’s revenue. You make your case, and then it happens. The boss announces that not only won’t you get a bonus, but your job is being phased out, and this is your last day.

Dazed and humiliated, you take a box of empty memories out to the car and sit slumped in the driver’s seat. How will you start over?

All of a sudden, a beautifully stenciled delivery van pulls up. You gaps with excitement. “Why didn’t I think of it before” you shout out loud. “I’m creative and have lots of contacts. I’ll start a gift basket business!”

Three years later, you’re a success and up to your designer nails in deliveries. Today is your driver’s day off, and strangely enough, you have a delivery to make at your former building.

On the way in, a man exits holding the obligatory “just fired” box in his hands. Your eyes meet. It’s your former boss. life is sweet.

It’s a twisted tale that’s very close to the way I began my career in the gift basket business. The part about being a success is absolutely true and gets better every day.

The notion to enter this $4.2 billion industry doesn’t hit you like an oncoming train but rather surfaces little by little from the recesses of your mind. It seems as though it was deep within you and finally rose to the top, commanding your full attention. That’s what happened to me in December 1988.

After I had contemplated and dropped the idea of starting a word-processing service and been on the verge of opening an intimate apparel shop, the thought of gift baskets took hold of me and never let go.

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Read more about the book at How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business.

Shirley George Frazier is known worldwide as “the gift basket expert” and speaks about solo (independent business), small business marketing, and gift basket business topics at meetings, events, and conferences.

Bring Shirley to your next event. Complete this contact form to reach AVG Talent Management for details.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, gift basket business, How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, Shirley George Frazier, professional speaker

Marketing Strategies Book Introduction

Shirley George Frazier — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:50:07 +0000

Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today
by Shirley George Frazier
Copyright 2008, ISBN 978-0-7627-4240-0, 174 pp.

Partial Excerpt

There you are, changing a baby’s diaper or completing a clinical trial on stem cell research, when suddenly a life-changing business idea jumps into your head. The concept borders on brilliant, and it’s perfect to launch as a solo enterprise maintained at home.

You can see people of all ages, living in different parts of the world, buying and requesting help for extra services needed to successfully use the product. Your bank account grows – first by thousands and then hundreds of thousands – until you reach the one million dollar mark and more.

Life is poised to be a bed of roses. There’s just one thing standing between you and success. That obstacle is marketing. It’s the hurdle that wasn’t conceived in the initial idea.

Marketing, as defined by the American Marketing Association, is “an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”

That’s the clinical definition. Marketing is much more to the person who invests his life savings. It’s:

The unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work performed on a daily basis to make the dream a reality.
A review of problems and pitfalls associated with why the idea may not launch according to schedule.
That question everyone asks (”How do you market?”) to learn your secret as they attempt to incorporate your genius in to their own master plan.
A time-draining activity that all aspiring business owners should perform but many negate, which is a common reason why most great ideas follow us to the grave.
The main ingredient that commits your passion to paper, ensuring long-term success throughout the business life cycle.

Marketing isn’t just for large corporations. Their inaction shows that this essential component isn’t always taken seriously. The speed at which some big firms close shop proves that their marketing failed. All the layers of management couldn’t devise one workable plan for success.

Things will be different for you. There’s just one layer in your organization. You are the person who sets the groundwork and implements the strategy that puts the product or service into the hands of individuals and/or businesses that need it most.

Your marketing campaign starts with this book. Within these covers, you will learn all of the options to successfully market in your backyard and around the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This book contains many ideas that solo business owners are able to complete on their own. However, no reference source helps if you are not committed to positive action. For example, a plan to contact a television producer to book an appearance is no good without the physical action of picking up the telephone and making the call.

If you’re ready to be proactive, this is the resource that gets the ball rolling.

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Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today is available through Amazon.com.

Shirley George Frazier speaks about solo (independent business) and small business marketing topics at meetings, events, and conferences.

Want Shirley to speak at your next event? Complete this contact form to reach AVG Talent Management for details.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business, Shirley George Frazier, professional speaker

Three Cards That Guarantee Frequent Sales

Shirley George Frazier — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:07:47 +0000

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:

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.
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.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, client appreciation tips

Leadership Lessons that Last a Lifetime

Shirley George Frazier — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:59:23 +0000

Look at children playing together in any playground or classroom setting. Some find comfort and joy on their own, and other guide their playmates in team-based activities.

This innocent environment uncovers, at an early age, who will lead, who will follow, and which children will march to their own tune. But this young interaction is not an absolute indication of future status.

I was fiercely independent in kindergarten, not needing playmates to satisfy my curiosity. Things changed 10 years later. My high school gym class was separated into two teams. We raced against each other to win bragging rights.

After watching the first race, I assessed weaknesses on the opposing team and shared the news with teammates. That strategy gave us the winning edge, and we claimed the trophy.

Although my strengths serve my individual needs, I’m always ready to set up to team leader status. College students, entrepreneurs, and employees must also learn to balance both sides, and there are plenty of opportunities for this at work and in social environments.

Convincing others to listen and act on your words takes confidence and compassion.

Iron-fisted individuals need not apply. Your mission is to convince team members that you have the wisdom to get them to the goal line, even if this is your first time at the top.

Remember these three leadership traits.

The manner in which you conduct yourself in front of others is key to winning their trust.
Successful completion of independent tasks helps to elevate your leadership potential.
Giving up is never an option. Leaders always find or inspire others to develop an alternative method to get the job done.

This lesson is an excerpt from my keynote presentation, 10 Leadership Skills that Build Success in College and Life. Audiences leave the event with a clear understanding of how to mold and strengthen their own leadership styles to motivate teams in every environment.

Email AVG Talent Management through the contact form to bring this inspiring message to your students. Ask me about free copies of my book, Smart Students’ Guide to…Leadership Lessons that Last a Lifetime, when I speak at your school.

Technorati Tags: leadership lessons, college success

Quick and Easy Tips for College Success

Shirley George Frazier — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:24:37 +0000

Attending college was one of my smartest decisions.

It’s not because the courses helped me to achieve success in my career, although learning paved the foundation, but because interactions with the faculty and fellow students taught me about leadership and teamwork.

I achieved my 3.62 grade point average through sacrifice and lots of dedication.

Today’s students are in a position to consider putting aside some outside interest that will not benefit them in the long run in exchange for the traits that will create a successful learning experience throughout the college years.

Here are three methods that helped me achieve academic success.

Connect with the teacher on the first day. Focusing on the course curriculum as the teacher explains what he expects of you during the semester sets the tone for a great experience.

Teachers are often asked, by students, to explain what was already established on the first day. That will win you no points or exemplary grade.

Select a seat in one of the first two rows. The visibility allows you to better review everything written on the board, slides projected on screens, and hear communication between the teacher, invited guests, and fellow students.

In most classes, my seat was in the first row. No one wanted my seat until I scored highest in the first test, which occurred in a majority of courses. For some reason, other students thought my class seat contained magic to attain higher grades.

I soon found myself arriving for class 25 minutes early just to keep my seat. It was not only a great place to hear the lecture; it also provided me with a panoramic view and easy access to the teacher when I needed help.

Participate in every class. Interactive participation is crucial to ensure that you understand the course concepts, and debating facts from your point of view makes for a lively discussion between you and fellow students.

This interaction will also help at test time because you will clearly remember critical points shared by the teacher as you review your notes.

There is more that I will share with students at your college on strategies for success to encourage them throughout their education.

My keynote address, How to Program Yourself for College Success, outlines what I’ve experienced, how to ensure memorable class interactions, and why doing well in school sets the tone for exceptional careers after graduation.

Email AVG Talent Management through the contact form to bring this inspiring message to your students. Ask me about free copies of my book, Smart Students’ Guide to…Successful Transition into College, when I speak at your school.

Technorati Tags: college success, transition into college, how to succeed in college